Extramedullary Plasmacytomas of the Oral Cavity: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction: Multiple myeloma is a hematologic malignancy characterized by the proliferation of plasma cells and typically presents with lesions in bone, known as plasmacytomas. Through hematogenous spread, extramedullary plasmacytomas can develop in soft tissue in any location of the body. This case report describes a patient with multiple myeloma who presented with an extramedullary plasmacytoma on his maxillary gingiva and provides an updated review on the classification and characterization of extramedullary plasmacytomas of the oral cavity. Case description: A 53-year-old male with a known diagnosis of multiple myeloma was referred to our clinic for evaluation of a gingival nodule, which was tender to palpation and had been present for a month. Clinical examination revealed a 1.5 cm violaceous, red nodule of the maxillary buccal attached gingiva, which did not blanch on palpation. He had a similar 1 cm, smooth, red nodule of his cutaneous skin on his left arm. Radiographic examination with within normal limits without evidence of dental or bony pathology. An incisional biopsy revealed the diagnosis of plasmacytoma, indicating relapse and progression of the patient’s multiple myeloma. Practical implications: Multiple myeloma can present in the oral cavity either as intra-bony plasmacytomas, paraskeletal plasmacytomas, or extramedullary plasmacytomas in the soft tissue. Extramedullary disease representative of hematogenous spread is concerning for high-risk disease with a poor risk prognosis

Parallel repetition via fortification: analytic view and the quantum case

In a recent work, Moshkovitz [FOCS'14] presented a transformation n two-player games called "fortification", and gave an elementary proof of an (exponential decay) parallel repetition theorem for fortified two-player projection games. In this paper, we give an analytic reformulation of Moshkovitz's fortification framework, which was originally cast in combinatorial terms. This reformulation allows us to expand the scope of the fortification method to new settings. First, we show any game (not just projection games) can be fortified, and give a simple proof of parallel repetition for general fortified games. Then, we prove parallel repetition and fortification theorems for games with players sharing quantum entanglement, as well as games with more than two players. This gives a new gap amplification method for general games in the quantum and multiplayer settings, which has recently received much interest. An important component of our work is a variant of the fortification transformation, called "ordered fortification", that preserves the entangled value of a game. The original fortification of Moshkovitz does not in general preserve the entangled value of a game, and this was a barrier to extending the fortification framework to the quantum setting

Anchoring games for parallel repetition

Two major open problems regarding the parallel repetition of games are whether an analogue of Raz's parallel-repetition theorem holds for (a) games with more than two players, and (b) games with quantum players using entanglement. We make progress on both problems: we introduce a class of games we call anchored, and prove exponential-decay parallel repetition theorems for anchored games in the multiplayer and entangled-player settings. We introduce a simple transformation on games called anchoring and show that this transformation turns any game into an anchored game. Together, our parallel repetition theorem and our anchoring transformation provide a simple and efficient hardness-amplification technique in both the classical multiplayer and quantum settings

Correlating the Macrostructural Variations of an Ion Gel with Its Carbon Dioxide Sorption Capacity

We report on a direct correlation between the macroscale structural variations and the gas sorption capacities of an ion gel. Here, we chose 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide ([Emim][TF2N]) and poly(vinylidene fluoride)-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) as the ionic liquid and host polymer, respectively. The CO2 sorption in the thin films of the IL-polymer was measured using the gravimetric method. The results of our experiment showed that the trend in CO2 uptake of these mixtures was nonlinearly correlated with the content of IL. Here, we highlight that the variations in the molecular structure of the polymers were the main reason behind the observed trend. The presented data suggested the possibility of using the composition of mixtures containing IL and polymers to realize a synergistic gain for gas sorption in these mixtures

Finite element analysis of gradient coil deformation and vibration in NMR microscopy

Resolution degradation due to gradient coil deformation and vibration in NMR microscopy is investigated using finite element analysis. From the analysis, deformations due to the Lorentz force can be as large as 1-10 μm depending on the gradient strength and coil frame material. Thus, these deformations can be one of the major resolution limiting factors in NMR microscopy. Coil vibration, which depends on the input current waveform and resolution degradation due to time-variant deformation and time-invariant deformation are investigated by numerical simulations

Multiphysics Modeling and Analysis of a Solar Desalination Process Based on Vacuum Membrane Distillation

A hollow fiber vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) module was modeled using finite element analysis, and the results were used to conduct an exergy efficiency analysis for a solar-thermal desalination scheme. The performance of the VMD module was simulated under various operating conditions and membrane parameters. Membrane porosity, tortuosity, pore diameter, thickness, and fiber length were varied, along with feed temperature and feed configuration. In all cases, polarization phenomena were seen to inhibit the performance of the module. Under VMD operation, polarization of salt concentration was seen to be the main determining factor in the reduction of permeate flux. Within the boundary layer, salt concentration was seen to rapidly increase from the feed mass fraction of 0.035 to the saturation point. The increase in salt concentration led to a decrease in saturation pressure, the driving force for separation. Charging the feed into the shell instead of the lumen side of the membranes resulted in a further decrease in permeate flux. It is shown that adding a baffling scheme to the surface of the fibers can effectively reduce polarization phenomena and improve permeate flux. Increasing the overall recovery ratio was seen to increase the exergy efficiency of the system. Exergy efficiency was seen to have almost no dependency on membrane parameters due to the low recovery ratio in a single pass and the high heating duty required to reach the desired temperature for the feed stream

Coupling ATR-FTIR spectroscopy with multivariate analysis for polymers manufacturing and control of polymers’ molecular weight

Acrylate-based polymers are commonly used in the chemical industry. Consistent manufacturing of these polymers with the help of Process Analytical Technology (PAT) is very desirable. The capability of monitoring polymers’ molecular weight in real-time reduces operation time and eliminates the frequent samplings needed for quality control. Herein, molecular weight (Mw) of glycidyl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate (GMA-co- MMA) copolymer was monitored in real-time using mid-infrared ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Square (PLS) models were then utilized to examine, improve the latent space, and select high-quality spectra. We show that acquiring highly correlated spectra enhances the robustness of the regression model. The developed models demonstrate a satisfied R2 correlation up to ~87%. This study suggests the potential of robust data-driven techniques for the development of predictive Mw analytics tools