Paecilomyces lilacinus-induced Scleritis Following Bleb-associated Endophthalmitis after Trabeculectomy

Paecilomyces lilacinus (P. lilacinus) is a rare cause of fungal scleritis. We herein report a case of P. lilacinus-induced scleritis following bleb-associated endophthalmitis after trabeculectomy that was successfully treated with surgical excision of the affected sclera in combination with antifungal medication. An 85-year-old female underwent trabeculectomy of the left eye. A dellen formed in the corneal periphery due to limbal elevation of the filtering bleb and progressed to an infectious corneal ulcer, leading to blebitis. Eight days after the onset of blebitis, the patient was diagnosed with endophthalmitis, which resolved after vitrectomy. The growth of P. lilacinus was identified on swabs of the conjunctiva and the corneal specimen. Scleritis developed after the resolution of the endophthalmitis, and an early excision of the affected sclera, in addition to antifungal medication, resolved it completely. However, the scleritis recurred in a different region of the left eye. After 7 months of antifungal medication, the left eye showed no residual infection. When treating P. lilacinus-induced scleritis, surgical excision of the affected sclera has been shown to be an effective treatment strategy. Nevertheless, it is possible that the infection may recur in another part of the eyeball after the complete resolution of the primary lesion

Middle-obstacle approach of mapping phase-field model unto its sharp interface counterpart

A new diffuse interface model has been proposed in this study for simulating binary alloy solidification under universal cooling conditions, involving both equilibrium and non-equilibrium solute partitioning. Starting from the Gibbs-Thomson equation, which is the classical theory that describes the dynamics of a sharp interface, the phase-field equation is derived using a traveling wave solution that represents a diffuse interface. To tackle the spurious effects caused by the variation of liquid concentration within the diffuse interface with artificial width, a middle obstacle is introduced to sharpen the diffuse interface and an invariant liquid concentration can be found for determining a constant undercooling in the interface normal direction. For slow solidification under equilibrium conditions, the convergence performance of the dendrite tip shows superior invulnerability to the width effect of the diffuse interface. For rapid solidification under non-equilibrium conditions, the output partition coefficients obtained from the steady-state concentration profiles agree with the input velocity-dependent function. The proposed model is promising to be an indispensable tool for the development of advanced alloy materials through the microstructure control of solidification under a wide range of cooling conditions

Independent Effects of Temperature, Salinity, Ammonium Concentration and pH on Nitrification Rate of the Ariake Seawater Above Mud Sediment

The Ariake Sea located in the west parts of Kyushu Island is a semi-closed and macro-tidal shallow sea, and has the largest tidal flat in Japan. A large mud tidal flat with a productive ecosystem found along the western shoreline of the sea makes this area ideal as a major production site of nori (Porphyra yezoensis) in Japan. We determined the independent effect of temperature, salinity, ammonium concentration and pH on nitrification rates (NR) in the Ariake seawater above the mud sediment. The NR was determined by measuring accumulation of NO2-N production after adding sodium chlorate, an inhibitor of NO2-N to NO3-N oxidation. NRs were relatively high at 20-35 oC (optimum at 29.5 oC), but the rates were very low at 5, 10, and 40 oC. NRs increased sharply when increasing the salinity from 13 to 20 ppt, but it decreased drastically at salinity levels more than 35 ppt (optimum at 19 ppt). The relationship between ammonium concentration and NR showed a typical kinetic curve of enzymatic reaction with the maximum NR (Vmax) of 0.029 mM N.h-1 at 200 mM NH4-N (the half saturation constant (Ks) = 35 mM NH4-N). High NRs were determined at pH 7.5-8.0 (optimum pH 7.8). This is the first report on the independent effects of temperature, pH, salinity and NH4-N concentration on the NR of seawater, specifically the Ariake seawater

Oropharyngeal congenital teratoma: a case report

Oropharyngeal teratoma is the most rare type of teratoma, with only 2% of fetal teratomas. The diagnosis must be established as early as possible, preferably during the prenatal period. The prognosis will depend on the size and location of the lesion, growth rate of the lesion, degree of intracranial spread, its resectability, and immediate care at birth by a multisciplinary team. We report aparticular case of congenital oropharyngeal teratoma (epignathus). The diagnosis was made during the prenatal period by ultrasound, and the fetus evolved to intrauterine death at the 29th week. The anatomopathological examination revealed a female fetus, compatible with 27-28 weeks, oropharyngeal teratoma and congenital malformations.O teratoma congênito de orofaringe é o tipo mais raro de teratoma, compreendendo apenas 2% desses tumores fetais. O diagnóstico deve ser realizado o mais precocemente possível, preferencialmente durante o pré-natal. O prognóstico irá depender do tamanho e localização da lesão, da velocidade de crescimento desta, do envolvimento de estruturas intracranianas e da ressecção adequada do tumor com equipe multidisciplinar. Relatamos o caso de uma paciente que teve diagnosticado durante a gestação feto com teratoma congênito de orofaringe (epignathus) por meio de ultra-sonografia. O feto evoluiu para óbito intra-uterino na 29ª semana de gestação, sendo então induzido o parto por via vaginal. O exame anatomopatológico revelou feto do sexo feminino, compatível com 27-28 semanas, teratoma orofaríngeo e outras malformações congênitas.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de GinecologiaUNIFESP, Depto. de GinecologiaSciEL

Data assimilation for phase-field simulations of the formation of eutectic alloy microstructures

Seguchi Y., Okugawa M., Zhu C., et al. Data assimilation for phase-field simulations of the formation of eutectic alloy microstructures. Computational Materials Science 237, 112910 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2024.112910.The phase-field (PF) method can effectively predict the formation of microstructures of eutectic alloys. However, numerous simulation parameters must be determined correctly for each alloy system to reproduce the experimentally observed microstructures. In this study, we present a data assimilation method based on an ensemble Kalman filter to determine PF simulation parameters for the directional solidification of eutectic alloy by optimizing the conditions for data assimilation. Numerical twin experiments revealed that eutectic microstructures can be reproduced, although four PF simulation parameters remained unknown. We also investigated appropriate experimental observation conditions for estimating the simulation parameters and found that the sufficient frequency of observations can be determined from the solid–liquid interfacial velocity. Our results provide guidance for data assimilation combined with the PF simulations of eutectic alloys. Moreover, our study provides a deeper understanding of the formation mechanisms of various types of eutectic microstructures

Subzero 12-hour Nonfreezing Cryopreservation of Porcine Heart in a Variable Magnetic Field

13301甲第4338号博士（医学）金沢大学博士論文本文Full 以下に掲載：Transplantation Direct 1(9) pp.e33-e33 2015. WoltersKluwer Health, Inc. 共著者：Ryuta Seguchi, Go Watanabe, Hiroki Kato, Shojiro Yamaguch