Bartonella and intraocular inflammation: a series of cases and review of literature

Chris Kalogeropoulos1, Ioannis Koumpoulis1, Andreas Mentis2, Chrisavgi Pappa1, Paraskevas Zafeiropoulos1, Miltiadis Aspiotis11Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Greece; 2Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, GreecePurpose: To present various forms of uveitis and/or retinal vasculitis attributed to Bartonella infection and review the impact of this microorganism in patients with uveitis.Methods: Retrospective case series study. Review of clinical records of patients diagnosed with Bartonella henselae and Bartonella quintana intraocular inflammation from 2001 to 2010 in the Ocular Inflammation Department of the University Eye Clinic, Ioannina, Greece. Presentation of epidemiological and clinical data concerning Bartonella infection was provided by the international literature.Results: Eight patients with the diagnosis of Bartonella henselae and two patients with B. quintana intraocular inflammation were identified. Since four patients experienced bilateral involvement, the affected eyes totaled 14. The mean age was 36.6 years (range 12–62). Uveitic clinical entities that we found included intermediate uveitis in seven eyes (50%), vitritis in two eyes (14.2%), neuroretinitis in one eye (7.1%), focal retinochoroiditis in one eye (7.1%), branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) due to vasculitis in one eye (7.1%), disc edema with peripapillary serous retinal detachment in one eye (7.1%), and iridocyclitis in one eye (7.1%). Most of the patients (70%) did not experience systemic symptoms preceding the intraocular inflammation. Antimicrobial treatment was efficient in all cases with the exception of the case with neuroretinitis complicated by anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and tubulointerstitial nephritis.Conclusion: Intraocular involvement caused not only by B. henselae but also by B. quintana is being diagnosed with increasing frequency. A high index of suspicion is needed because the spectrum of Bartonella intraocular inflammation is very large. In our study the most common clinical entity was intermediate uveitis.Keywords: Bartonella, neuroretinitis, intermediate uveitis, retinal vascular occlusio

Chemical vapor deposition and Van der Waals epitaxy for wafer-scale emerging 2D transition metal di-chalcogenides

Transition metal di-chalcogenides (TMDCs) such as MoS2, MoSe2, WS2 and WSe2 have become promising complimentary materials to graphene sharing many of its attributes. They may however offer properties that are unattainable in graphene, in particular TMDCs offer a bandgap tunable through both composition and number of layers. This has led to use of TMDCs in applications such as transistors, photodetectors, electroluminescent and bio-sensing devices. The current challenge in this emerging research field is to provide a reliable process to fabricate large area of atomically thin 2D TMDCs on the desired substrate. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology has the advantage of offering conformal, scalable, and controllable thin film growth on a variety of different substrates. In addition, Van der Waals epitaxy could provide the vapor phase epitaxy of these TMDCs on the substrates with mismatched lattice constants. In this talk we describe our recent development in TMDCs materials using CVD technology and Van der Waals epitaxy and discuss their properties and potential applications

Emerging CVD technology for functional chalcogenide materials

Chalcogenide materials, formed from metallic alloys of S, Se, and Te, have received considerable attention for applications in optoelectronic devices over the past two decades in part due to their unique properties such as high infrared transparency, strong photosensitivity, large nonlinearity, capability of high rare-earth doping, and ability to readily change phase. Thin amorphous chalcogenide films are of particular interest because their diverse active properties are easily exploited in integrated planar optical circuits, as well as for memory and other optoelectronic applications. More recently, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, such as MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, and WSe2 have become a noteworthy complimentary material to field. Sharing many of the properties of graphene they also offer properties that are unattainable in 2D graphene including a tunable bandgap; easily modified through both composition and the number of layers. This has led to use of TMDCs in applications such as transistors, photodetectors, electroluminescent and bio-sensing devices. In this talk we describe our development of functional chalcogenide materials by the chemical vapour deposition technology and discuss their potential applications

Beyond the walls: the design and development of the Petralona Cave virtual museum utilising 3D technologies

The Petralona Cave, which local inhabitants discovered by chance in 1959, is a remarkable natural and cultural landmark close to the village of Petralona, in the Chalkidiki peninsula of Greece. The site has gained global recognition for the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved Palaeolithic human skull, unearthed in 1960; it also holds archaeological and palaeontological significance. In this paper, the researchers introduce the Petralona Cave Virtual Museum: an innovative project whose mission is to increase public awareness and comprehension of the site. Our approach goes beyond mere replication of the physical museum located close to the cave; instead, the objective is to create an independent and comprehensive experience that is accessible to all visitors, irrespective of their ability to visit the site in person. Our methodology involved the documentation of the site and its history, analysis of user requirements, development of use cases to steer the design process, as well as architectural designs creation, itineraries and findings digitisation, and architectural structure finalisation. The Virtual Museum provides a well-organised frame structure that serves as an efficient gateway to the content, making navigation easy for visitors. Thanks to various presentation methods, including videos, high-quality images, interactive maps, animated content, interactive 3D models, plus searchable item libraries, among others, users are empowered to create a highly personalised navigation plan; thus the Virtual Museum experience is comparable to visiting the physical museum or cultural site. Cutting-edge digitisation techniques were employed to create highly detailed 3D models of the site. The Petralona Cave Virtual Museum is expected to offer an immersive experience, engaging diverse audiences; the interactive and educational exploration provides highly innovative access to archaeological knowledge. The visibility of the Petralona site is amplified and there is a significant contribution to knowledge dissemination about this important cultural heritage site

LATE-ONSET CAPSULAR BAG DISTENSION SYNDROME: A REPORT OF TWO CASES

Capsular bag distension syndrome is a very rare complication of cataract surgery. Most cases occur after uneventful phacoemulsification with continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis and implantation of an intraocular lens in the capsular bag. The entity presents with reduction of visual acuity and myopic shift in the early-to-late postoperative period. Characteristic findings include the distension of the capsular bag due to the accumulation of milky material and the forward displacement of the intraocular lens. We present two cases with an unusually delayed presentation of 6 and 8 years respectively following phacoemulsification, and describe their successful management with Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy