A case of generalized pustular psoriasis caused by hydroxychloroquine in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been used to treat systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Japan since 2015. We herein report a case of SLE that developed generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) following the administration of HCQ. Twenty-one days after the HCQ treatment, a pustular rash with itching appeared on the auricle, scalp, and forearm, and spread rapidly to the face and body trunk with a high fever and arthralgia. Skin biopsy showed pustule formation under the cornified layer, neutrophil infiltration, the destruction of keratinocytes, and spongiform pustules of Kogoj. The patient was diagnosed with GPP. HCQ was immediately discontinued, the dose of prednisolone (PSL) was increased, and granulocyte and monocyte adsorption apheresis was performed. Her symptoms subsequently disappeared. Since arthralgia relapsed after the tapering of PSL, cyclosporine was added. Although single nucleotide polymorphisms (c.28C>T and c.115+6T>C) in the interleukin (IL)-36RN gene, which encodes the IL-36 receptor antagonist, have frequently been reported in GPP, these mutations were not observed in the present case. The potential development of GPP needs to be considered when administering HCQ to patients with SLE.

Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyl residues in foodstuffs and human tissues from china: status of contamination, historical trend, and human dietary exposure.

Concentrations of persistent organochlorine pesticides such as DDTs, hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), chlordane compounds (CHLs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were determined in a wide variety of foodstuffs and human tissues collected from Shanghai and its vicinity in China in 2000-2001. Among the organochlorines analyzed, DDT and its metabolites were prominent compounds in most of the foodstuffs. In particular, mussels contained noticeable residues of DDTs (34,000 ng/g lipid weight), which are one to three orders greater than those reported levels in bivalves from other Asian countries. Concentrations of HCHs, CHLs, HCB, and PCBs in foodstuffs were generally low, suggesting small amounts of inputs into the environment. Temporal trends examined by comparing the results of previous studies of organochlorine levels in Chinese foodstuffs in 1970s and 1992 revealed a greater amounts of declines of DDTs and HCHs residues and the average daily intakes during the past 30 years. In contrast, very high concentrations of DDTs and HCHs were detected in human tissues from Shanghai, with the maximum values as high as 19,000 ng/g lipid weight (mean: 7,600 ng/g) and 17,000 ng/g (mean: 7,400 ng/g), respectively. Considering that foodstuffs are a main source of human exposure to contaminants, the greater concentrations of DDTs and HCHs in Chinese people might be due to past extensive usage of these compounds as agricultural pesticides. Continuous monitoring and epidemiological studies of organochlorine pesticides in humans are warranted in China. To our knowledge, this is the first report to present the residue levels of persistent organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in human tissues of China.

Sample preparation with fiber-in-tube solid-phase microextraction for capillary electrophoretic separation of tricyclic antidepressant drugs in human urine.

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a solvent-free sample preparation technique using a thin coating attached to the surface of a fused silica-fiber as the extraction medium, which has been successfully applied to the analysis of a wide variety of compounds by coupling to gas chromatography (GC). In recent years, in-tube SPME using GC capillary column as the extraction medium has also been developed and coupled with liquid chromatography (LC) for the preconcentration of nonvolatile compounds. In this study, an on-line interface between the fiber-in-tube SPME and capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been developed, and the preconcentration and separation of four tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) drugs, amitriptyline, imipramine, nortriptyline, and desipramine, were performed with the hyphenated system. Under the optimized condition, a better extraction performance than conventional in-tube SPME was obtained, even the length of the extraction medium was much shorter. The results clearly indicated that the fiber was working effectively as an extraction medium. For the separation of these four TCAs, capillary electrophoretic separation with beta-cyclodextrin as the buffer additive has been employed and the application of the developed system to the analysis of complex sample mixtures in a biological matrix is also demonstrated.

Carbohydrate recognition of gramicidin S analogues in aqueous medium.

We have designed and synthesized of carbohydrate-binding peptides, gramicidin S analogues. Asn/Asp/Gln and Trp residues in the peptides were employed as the binding sites for carbohydrates by hydrogen-bonding interaction and the creation units for hydrophobic pocket to promote the interaction, respectively. The data of fluorescence spectroscopy and affinity column chromatography indicated that the peptides possessed the binding ability for some carbohydrates in aqueous medium. As a result of 1H NMR study, nuclear Overhauser effects between aromatic side chains of a peptide, [Gln(1,1'),Trp(3,3')]-gramisidin S and mannose were observed, indicating that the interaction of the peptide with the sugar occurred in the hydrophobic environment formed by Trp and Phe residues.

Direct coupling of microcolumn liquid chromatography with in-tube solid-phase microextraction for the analysis of antidepressant drugs.

The direct coupling of in-tube solid-phase microextraction (in-tube SPME) with microcolumn liquid chromatography (micro-LC) has been investigated for the analysis of antidepressants in human urine. The use of in-tube SPME has been clearly shown to be advantageous for the on-line coupling of the SPME method, as the sample pretreatment technique, with micro-LC as the separation technique. This is because much smaller amounts of the sample solutions, desorption solvents and the mobile phase are required compared with conventional SPME-LC systems. The parameters for preconcentration have been investigated for the extraction capillary with the newly developed 'wire-in-tube' configuration.

Computer simulation of the scatter plate interferometer by scalar diffraction theory.

Detailed computer simulations of the scatter plate interferometer with random scatterers in the scatter plate are performed, for the first time to our knowledge, by use of the scalar diffraction theory in the paraxial domain. It is shown that the computer simulations produce output image patterns of the expected qualitative characteristics. A qualitative comparison of the computed pattern with the experimentally observed pattern is presented. The effects of translation of the scatter plate and distortion and tilting of the test object are also successfully simulated by the computer.

Temperature and humidity control system in a lunar base.

An increasing number of lunar base construction programs are in the process of developing lunar resources such as helium 3. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the temperature and humidity control system, which will allow man to live and work on the moon while developing lunar resources. The results of thermal load calculation show that the load of electric lighting is a 80 to 90% of the cooling load in the habitat module and that only the cooling function is required for temperature control. Due to this, a fluorocarbon refrigerant heat pump system was selected to satisfy reliability, energy consumption, size and weight requirements for the lunar base equipment. According to the load calculation, occupants will feel discomfort due to radiant heat from lighting fixtures. To resolve this problem, an air conditioning system, used in combination with forced convective cooling and panel cooling on the ceiling, was adopted in the living space. Moreover, the experiment on the ground was carried out to evaluate the effects of panel cooling.