Quantifying gas emissions from the "Millennium Eruption" of Paektu volcano, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea/China

Paektu volcano (Changbaishan) is a rhyolitic caldera that straddles the border between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and China. Its most recent large eruption was the Millennium Eruption (ME; 23 km$^{3}$ dense rock equivalent) circa 946 CE, which resulted in the release of copious magmatic volatiles (H$_{2}$O, CO$_{2}$, sulfur, and halogens). Accurate quantification of volatile yield and composition is critical in assessing volcanogenic climate impacts but is challenging, particularly for events before the satellite era. We use a geochemical technique to quantify volatile composition and upper bounds to yields for the ME by examining trends in incompatible trace and volatile element concentrations in crystal-hosted melt inclusions. We estimate that the ME could have emitted as much as 45 Tg of S to the atmosphere. This is greater than the quantity of S released by the 1815 eruption of Tambora, which contributed to the “year without a summer.” Our maximum gas yield estimates place the ME among the strongest emitters of climate-forcing gases in the Common Era. However, ice cores from Greenland record only a relatively weak sulfate signal attributed to the ME. We suggest that other factors came into play in minimizing the glaciochemical signature. This paradoxical case in which high S emissions do not result in a strong glacial sulfate signal may present a way forward in building more https://symplectic.admin.cam.ac.uk/objectedit.html?cid=1&oid=876954generalized models for interpreting which volcanic eruptions have produced large climate impacts.K.I. was supported by the NSF under award no. 1349486 and by AAAS. Fieldwork was supported by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation

Central Venous Stenosis Caused by Traction of the Innominate Vein due to a Tuberculosis-Destroyed Lung

We report a case of central venous stenosis due to a structural deformity caused by a tuberculosis-destroyed lung in a 65-year-old woman. The patient presented with left facial edema. She had a history of pulmonary tuberculosis, and the chest X-ray revealed a collapsed left lung. Angiography showed leftward deviation of the innominate vein leading to kinking and stenosis of the internal jugular vein. Stent insertion improved her facial edema

Kimura's Disease Involving the Ipsilateral Face and Extraocular Muscles

Kimura's disease (KD) is a rare, chronic inflammatory disorder, which is characterized by tumor-like masses mainly located in the head and neck region. Extraocular muscle involvement in KD is uncommon. We report a case of KD that involved both the extraocular muscles and buccal area. A 13-year-old male presented to our clinic with a two-year history of exophthalmos of the left eye and facial swelling. Facial CT and MRI showed a 1.5 × 1.5 cm2 soft tissue mass located at the left masticator and buccal area, exophthalmos of the left eye, and diffuse thickening of the left extraocular muscles. We performed a lateral rectus muscle incisional biopsy of the left eye. Oral methylprednisolone therapy was initiated and tapered following the incisional biopsy

Could Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide Test be Useful in Predicting Inhaled Corticosteroid Responsiveness in Chronic Cough? A Systematic Review

© 2016 Background Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is a safe and convenient test for assessing T H 2 airway inflammation, which is potentially useful in the management of patients with chronic cough. Objective To summarize the current evidence on the diagnostic usefulness of FENO for predicting inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) responsiveness in patients with chronic cough. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted to identify articles published in peer-reviewed journals up to February 2015, without language restriction. We included studies that reported the usefulness of FENO (index test) for predicting ICS responsiveness (reference standard) in patients with chronic cough (target condition). The data were extracted to construct a 2 × 2 accuracy table. Study quality was assessed with Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2. Results We identified 5 original studies (2 prospective and 3 retrospective studies). We identified considerable heterogeneities in study design and outcome definitions, and thus were unable to perform a meta-analysis. The proportion of ICS responders ranged from 44% to 59%. Sensitivity and specificity ranged from 53% to 90%, and from 63% to 97%, respectively. The reported area under the curve ranged from abou t 0.60 to 0.87; however, studies with a prospective design and a lower prevalence of asthma had lower area under the curve values. None measured placebo effects or objective cough frequency. Conclusions We did not find strong evidence to support the use of FENO tests for predicting ICS responsiveness in chronic cough. Further studies need to have a randomized, placebo-controlled design, and should use validated measurement tools for cough. Standardization would facilitate the development of clinical evidence

Postanesthetic torsade de pointes in a patient with unrecognized long QT syndrome -A case report-

Torsade de pointes (TdP) is a devastating form of polymorphic ventricular arrhythmia associated with corrected QT (QTc) interval prolongation. TdP usually terminates spontaneously but frequently recurs and may degenerate to ventricular fibrillation. The present report describes a case of TdP in a patient being transferred to the postanesthetic care unit following an emergency laparoscopic appendectomy. The patient had undergone open heart surgery 1 week before. Retrospective electrocardiogram analysis revealed the patient had QTc and Tpeak-Tend interval prolongation that had gone unrecognized. We believe TdP may have been induced by accentuation of sympathetic nervous system during emergence from general anesthesia

Vision Improvement with Refractive Correction Does Not Completely Exclude Major Eye Diseases: Analyses of Visually Impaired South Korean Population in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009–2011

Purpose. To investigate the association between vision improvement with refractive correction in the visually impaired eyes and the prevalence of ocular comorbidities in the South Korean population. Materials and Methods. The data of 24,620 individuals in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES 2009–2011) were reviewed. Visual impairment was defined as a presenting visual acuity < 20/60. The participants with visual impairment in at least one eye were divided into 3 groups according to the best-corrected visual acuity (group 1: <20/30, group 2: ≥20/30 but <20/25, and group 3: ≥20/25). The prevalence of ocular comorbidities was estimated and compared between the three groups. Results. Visual impairment in at least one eye was found in 3031 individuals. Groups 1, 2, and 3 comprised 23.5%, 22.2%, and 54.3% of these visually impaired eyes, respectively. The prevalence of cataract, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, corneal opacity, blepharoptosis, and pterygium was similar to or even higher in group 2 compared to group 1. The prevalence of glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration was 5.40% and 11.39%, respectively, in group 2 and 3.31% and 3.76%, respectively, in group 3. Conclusions. Appropriate ophthalmologic examination is necessary even if people exhibit vision improvement after optical correction