Bilateral diffuse choroidal hemangioma in Sturge Weber syndrome: a case report highlighting the role of multimodal imaging and a brief review of the literature

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a patient with bilateral choroidal hemangioma in Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) and highlight multimodal imaging techniques for early detection and management of ocular alterations. Methods: A 37-year-old woman with diagnosis of SWS presented to our unit. The patient had been treated with pulsed dye laser for bilateral nevus flammeus and had right leptomeningeal angiomatosis. She had glaucoma, but ultrasound biomicroscopy did not show anterior chamber or ciliary body alterations. Results: Enhanced depth imaging (EDI) spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) showed bilateral diffuse choroidal hemangiomas in both eyes with choroidal thickness above 1000 μm. B-scan ultrasound examination showed diffuse choroidal hemangioma in both eyes, with a choroidal thickness of 1.53 mm and 1.94 mm in the right and left eye (RE, LE), respectively. Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber evaluation showed thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer in both eyes. Conclusions: This report highlights multimodal imaging techniques for the critical assessment of patients with SWS, especially in rare cases with bilateral choroidal hemangioma of the choroid. Novel imaging modalities enable optimal management and follow-up of rare conditions, and our case adds further evidence to the existing literature

Long-term performance of PEM water electrolysis cells with 3D printed electrodes and low catalyst loading

Bundesministerium für Bildung und ForschungPeerReviewe

A mild method for the activation of cation exchange membranes used in tubular PEM electrolyzers

Co-extrusion of both half-cells in tubular PEM water electrolyzers can lower the costs for hydrogen production, since the number of components is reduced and the production process is simplified. However, after co-extrusion of the inner half-cell and the ion exchange membrane, the membrane is in its fluoride sulfonyl form and must be hydrolyzed to achieve the proton conductive sulfonic acid to be ready for use. Common practice is the hydrolysis using concentrated alkaline solutions, which causes a corrosion of the laminated anode electrode. We developed a less corrosive method using triethylsilanol as reactant. Tubular membranes hydrolyzed with this new procedure were characterized and tested in an electrolyzer laboratory test setup.Bundesministerium für Bildung und ForschungPeerReviewe

Tubular PEM electrolysis cells with a 3D-printed oxygen electrode and ALD catalyst coating

Polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis (PEMEL) is a technology with a major role in linking the hydrogen production to renewable energy resources with a volatile behaviour such as wind and solar. High amounts of precious metals and a labour intensive production also make it a cost intensive technology. A tubular cell design has the potential to reduce production costs by co-extrusion of cells which feature a reduced sealing length. For the inner half cell, additive manufacturing (AM) of titanium offers a high degree of freedom for the electrode design to reach a high electric conductivity and active surface area. In combination with atomic layer deposition (ALD) of iridium catalyst a porous transport electrode (PTE) can be fabricated. Using planar test cell results and model based PTE design, this study demonstrates the feasibility of a tubular PEMEL cell consisting of an additively manufactured, iridium coated anode PTE in the inner half cell, an extruded membrane and a platinum coated graphite felt cathode PTE in the outer half cell. The outer titanium current collector can be replaced by an extruded graphite polymer compound current collector to reduce the amount of titanium without performance losses. The cell is operated at 60 °C in 1 mol L−1 sulphuric acid and experimentally characterized by polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). At 2.0 V cell potential a current density of ≈450mAcm−2 was reached corresponding to an iridium mass specific current density >1500Ag−1 which is significant larger than literature values.Bundesministerium für Bildung und ForschungPeerReviewe

Debunking the myth of wool allergy:Reviewing the evidence for immune and non-immune cutaneous reactions

Although wool is commonly believed to cause irritant (non-immune) and hypersensitivity (immune) cutaneous reactions, the evidence basis for this belief and its validity for modern garments have not been critically examined. Publications from the last 100 years, using MEDLINE and Google Scholar, were analysed for evidence that wool causes cutaneous reactions, both immune-mediated (atopic dermatitis exacerbation, contact urticaria, allergic contact dermatitis) and non-immune-mediated (irritant contact dermatitis, itch). Secondary aims of this paper were to examine evidence that lanolin and textile-processing additives (formaldehyde, chromium) cause cutaneous reactions in the context of modern wool-processing techniques. Current evidence does not suggest that wool-fibre is a cutaneous allergen. Furthermore, contact allergy from lanolin, chromium and formaldehyde is highly unlikely with modern wool garments. Cutaneous irritation from wool relates to high fibre diameters (≥ 30–32 µm). Superfine and ultrafine Merino wool do not activate sufficient c-fibres to cause itch, are well tolerated and may benefit eczema management.Full Tex