Case report: Subcutaneous Mycobacterium haemophilum infection in an immunocompetent patient after lipolysis injections

Mycobacterium haemophilum is a slow-growing, aerobic mycobacterium that acts as a pathogen in immunocompromised adult patients and immunocompetent children. There are only a few rare cases in the literature describing this species as a cause of subcutaneous infections. Here, we describe a subcutaneous infection caused by M. haemophilum in an immunocompetent female after lipolysis injections at an unqualified beauty salon, suggesting that this bacteria can also be a potential causative agent of adverse events in medical aesthetics. In addition, M. haemophilum caused lesions not only at the injection sites and adjacent areas but also invaded distant sections through the subcutaneous sinus tracts. Thus, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are vital to prevent further deterioration and improve prognosis

Modelling the propagation of coronal mass ejections with COCONUT: implementation of the Regularized Biot-Savart Laws flux rope model

Context: Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are rapid eruptions of magnetized plasma that occur on the Sun, which are known as the main drivers of adverse space weather. Accurately tracking their evolution in the heliosphere in numerical models is of utmost importance for space weather forecasting. Aims: The main objective of this paper is to implement the Regularized Biot-Savart Laws (RBSL) method in a new global corona model COCONUT. This approach has the capability to construct the magnetic flux rope with an axis of arbitrary shape. Methods: We present the implementation process of the RBSL flux rope model in COCONUT, which is superposed onto a realistic solar wind reconstructed from the observed magnetogram around the minimum of solar activity. Based on this, we simulate the propagation of an S-shaped flux rope from the solar surface to a distance of 25 solar radii. Results: Our simulation successfully reproduces the birth process of a CME originating from a sigmoid in a self-consistent way. The model effectively captures various physical processes and retrieves the prominent features of the CMEs in observations. In addition, the simulation results indicate that the magnetic topology of the CME flux rope at around 20 solar radii deviates from a coherent structure, and manifests as a mix of open and closed field lines with diverse footpoints. Conclusions: This work demonstrates the potential of the RBSL flux rope model in reproducing CME events that are more consistent with observations. Moreover, our findings strongly suggest that magnetic reconnection during the CME propagation plays a critical role in destroying the coherent characteristic of a CME flux rope.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Recombinant mycobacterium tuberculosis fusion protein for diagnosis of mycobacterium tuberculosis infection: a short-term economic evaluation

ObjectivesRecombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis fusion protein (EC) was anticipated to be used for the scale-up of clinical application for diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in China, but it lacked a head-to-head economic evaluation based on the Chinese population. This study aimed to estimate the cost-utility and the cost-effectiveness of both EC and tuberculin pure protein derivative (TB-PPD) for diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in the short term.MethodsFrom a Chinese societal perspective, both cost-utility analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis were performed to evaluate the economics of EC and TB-PPD for a one-year period based on clinical trials and decision tree model, with quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) as the utility-measured primary outcome and diagnostic performance (including the misdiagnosis rate, the omission diagnostic rate, the number of patients correctly classified, and the number of tuberculosis cases avoided) as the effective-measured secondary outcome. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to validate the robustness of the base-case analysis, and a scenario analysis was conducted to evaluate the difference in the charging method between EC and TB-PPD.ResultsThe base-case analysis showed that, compared with TB-PPD, EC was the dominant strategy with an incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) of saving 192,043.60 CNY per QALY gained, and with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of saving 7,263.53 CNY per misdiagnosis rate reduction. In addition, there was no statistical difference in terms of the omission diagnostic rate, the number of patients correctly classified, and the number of tuberculosis cases avoided, and EC was a similar cost-saving strategy with a lower test cost (98.00 CNY) than that of TB-PPD (136.78 CNY). The sensitivity analysis showed the robustness of cost-utility and cost-effectiveness analysis, and the scenario analysis indicated cost-utility in EC and cost-effectiveness in TB-PPD.ConclusionThis economic evaluation from a societal perspective showed that, compared to TB-PPD, EC was likely to be a cost-utility and cost-effective intervention in the short term in China

Polymer-Derived Sialoc Ceramic Pressure Sensor With Potential For High-Temperature Application

In this paper, a pressure sensor made of polymer-derived SiAlOC ceramics is designed, fabricated and tested. The sensor package is composed of a SiAlOC sensor head and a serially connected divider resistor. The requirement of the divider resistor is to achieve maximum sensitivity. The results showed that the pressure sensor has high accuracy, stability, and repeatability to both unidirectional and bidirectional pressure variations. While the sensor is tested at room temperature, it has potential for high temperature applications due to the excellent high-temperature capability of the polymer-derived SiAlOC ceramic

Development Of A Wireless Temperature Sensor Using Polymer-Derived Ceramics

A temperature sensor has been developed using an embedded system and a sensor head made of polymer-derived SiAlCN ceramics (PDCs). PDC is a promising material for measuring high temperature and the embedded system features low-power consumption, compact size, and wireless transmission. The developed temperature sensor has been experimentally tested to demonstrate the possibility of using such sensors for real world applications

E-Waste Reduction Revolution

As humans have evolved, so has our technology. As electronics flourished, they became more common placed in daily life, controlling much of the ebb and flow of life. Yet, same as their creators, all the electronics have a life span, and an end. The current path old electronics take is one of environmental destruction, material squandering, and human self-affliction. Team E-Cactus has research not only the current state of electronic waste, but also how many countries, companies and even local organizations try to recover any electronics so they can to see that they are remade for a better use. In par with what has already been laid down in terms of standards and policies for countries and companies alike, Team E-Cactus has taken towards making it possible to adapt and implement these fore standing practices to be used by any and all where the need be applied. This is with the hope that discarded electronics are not so, but rather recycled, reclaimed or reused, for a better healthier, and more plentiful future

Development of a Wireless Temperature Sensor Using Polymer-Derived Ceramics

A temperature sensor has been developed using an embedded system and a sensor head made of polymer-derived SiAlCN ceramics (PDCs). PDC is a promising material for measuring high temperature and the embedded system features low-power consumption, compact size, and wireless transmission. The developed temperature sensor has been experimentally tested to demonstrate the possibility of using such sensors for real world applications

Morphological Evolution and Interfacial Effects Analysis of Drop Motion in Transverse Vibration of Inclined Plate

Based on experimental and simulation research, analysis of the morphological evolution and interfacial effects of drop motion in the transverse vibration of inclined micro-textured plate are studied. Experimental results show the morphological evolution of drop involves an oscillation stage, spreading and migration stage, and infiltration stage. The spread diameter increases from the initial 3.02 to 5.12 mm. Meanwhile, based on the real experimental morphology of the drop dynamic wettability, a two-phase flow theoretical model of motion evolution of forced vibration drop was established to simulate the drop spreading process. The analysis result shows the calculated results are close to the experimental results, and the on micro-textured surface is faster spreading coefficient is S-shaped and increases with the increase of time. The spreading velocity than the smooth one, and there is low-speed rotating airflow in the micro-textured pit. The vortex cushion effect and vortex wheel effect are the main reasons for the acceleration of drop motion. Two interfacial effects reduce the friction resistance and impel fluid movement

Giant Piezoresistivity In Polymer-Derived Amorphous Sialco Ceramics

The piezoresistive behavior of polymer-derived amorphous SiAlCO ceramic is studied in a temperature range of 25–300 °C. It is shown that the material exhibits a giant gage factor of 7000–16,000, much higher than that for any reported high-temperature materials. The result also reveals that the material exhibits a positive temperature-dependent piezoresistive stress coefficient within the temperature range. The unusual piezoresistivity of the material was attributed to the structure of the SiAlCO, which consists of highly disordered graphene-like carbon nanoclusters dispersed within an amorphous matrix comprising of SiCxO4−x tetrahedra. The huge piezoresistivity, together with the processibility and low-cost, make the material very promising for high-temperature sensor applications