PUVA treatment of the nasal cavity improves the clinical symptoms of allergic rhinitis and inhibits the immediate-type hypersensitivity reaction in the skin

We earlier reported that intranasal irradiation with the 308 nm xenon chloride (XeCl) ultraviolet-B laser and irradiation with a combination of ultraviolet-B (UVB), ultraviolet-A (UVA) and visible light (VIS) is highly effective in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and inhibit the immediate-type hypersensitivity reaction in the skin. Since photochemotherapy with 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) plus UVA light (PUVA) is widely used in the treatment of different inflammatory skin disorders due to its immunosuppressive effect, in the present study we investigated the efficacy of intranasal PUVA treatment in allergic rhinitis and the effect of PUVA treatment on the skin prick test (SPT) reaction. An open study was performed in 17 patients with hay fever. Intranasal PUVA therapy was given four times weekly for 3 weeks. The treatment was started with a fluence of 0.5x of the individual minimal phototoxic dose (MPD) and the dosages were gradually increased. Evaluation was based on the symptom scores. The effect of PUVA treatment on the allergen-induced wheal formation was also studied in the SPT. PUVA treatment of the nasal cavity significantly decreased the nasal symptoms of the patients with allergic rhinitis. Treatment of the skin with PUVA also significantly suppressed the allergen-induced wheal formation in the SPT reaction. These data suggest that intranasal PUVA phototherapy is also an effective modality in the treatment of allergic rhinitis.     

A planar water tetramer with tetrahedrally coordinated water embedded in a hydrogen bonding network of [Tc4(CO)12-(mu3-OH)4.4H2O

A virtually planar water tetramer in which the water molecules are virtually tetrahedrally coordinated could be realized in the solid in a three-dimensional network of [Tc4(CO)12-(mu3-OH)4.4H2O]. The network could be produced by cocrystallization of the new cubane-like cluster [Tc(CO)3-(mu3-OH)]4 and water as a complementary component. The amphiphilic behavior of cluster and water results in a highly ordered three-dimensional network. The complementary components, the water tetramer and the cubic cluster, independently of one another form two interpenetrating tetragonal lattice networks held together exclusively by hydrogen bonds.     

On the combinatorics of an origami model

We consider the problem of how the assembly process of an origami model, made up of similar pieces, can be completed given that at each step there are several choices. A result is given in the language of graphs that provides a sufficient condition under which assembly of the model will never fail.     

Stability of periodic polling system with BMAP arrivals

This paper considers the stability of BMAP/GI/1 periodic polling models with mixed service disciplines. The server attends the N stations in a repeating sequence of stages. Customers arrive to the stations according to batch Markov arrival processes (BMAPs). The service times of the stations are general independent and identically distributed. The characterization of global stability of the system, the order of instability of stations and the necessary and sufficient condition for the stability are given. Our stability analysis is based on the investigation of the embedded Markovian chains at the polling epochs, which allows a much simpler discussion than the formerly applied approaches. This work can also be seen as a survey on stability of a quite general set of polling models, since the majority of the known results of the field is a special case of the presented ones.     

Optical conductivity of single-layer graphene induced by temporal mass-gap fluctuations

We consider the dynamics of charge carriers in single-layer graphene that are subject to random temporal fluctuations of their mass gap. The optical conductivity is calculated by incorporating the quantum-stochastic time evolution into the standard linear-response (Kubo) theory. We find that, for an intermediate range of frequencies below the average gap size, electron transport is enhanced by fluctuations. At the same time, in the limit of high as well as low frequencies, the conductivity is suppressed as the variance of gap fluctuations increases. In particular, the dc conductivity is always suppressed by a random temporal mass with nonvanishing mean value and vanishes in the zero-temperature limit. Our results are complementary to those obtained recently for static random-gap disorder in finite-size systems.     

Synthesis of Silolide Dianions via Reduction of Dichlorosiloles: Important Role of the Solvent

The reduction of 1,1-dichloro-2,5-bistrimethylsilyl-3,4-diphenylsilole to silolide dianion by alkali metals was investigated. As previously demonstrated, the outcome of the reaction depends strongly on the applied alkali metal, solvent, reaction conditions, and substituent pattern. We showed that lithium is a powerful reducing agent in THF or DME solvents, the reaction is even faster than the same reaction with sodium. The X-ray structures of the corresponding dilithio and disodium silolide dianion were investigated, interestingly recrystallization of the dilithio salt results in a coordination polymer. In order to support the synthetic work DFT calculations were performed.     

Stereostructure of 8-chloro-5,6-di(methoxycarbonyl)-4,7-dimethyl-2-ethoxy-2-phosphabicyclo[2.2.2]octa-5,7-diene 2-oxide

The first X-ray structure of a phosphabicyclooctadiene, together with the NMR and mass spectral characterization of its isomers, is reported. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.