Empyema necessitans caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a case report and literature review.

Background: Empyema necessitans (EN) is a rare condition characterized by pleural infection with pus spreading into adjacent soft tissues. Although Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Actinomyces israelii are common causative agents, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is relatively rare, but it is associated with high mortality in empyema cases. We aimed to report a unique case of EN caused by MRSA and present a literature review to better understand this rare condition.

Hepatic Encephalopathy Caused by Long-Term Amiodarone Use.

This case describes a 72-year-old Japanese woman with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia who had received a total of 215 g of amiodarone over six years and presented with hepatic encephalopathy. The abdominal non-contrast computed tomography showed diffusely increased attenuation of the liver parenchyma. The liver biopsy revealed drug-induced steatohepatitis.

Characterization of DOM released from bacteria in response to chlorine in water based on indicator bacteria .

In this study, () was used as an indicator bacterium treated with five different concentrations of chlorine (0.1; 0.5; 1.

Secondary channel estimation in spatial active noise control systems using a single moving higher order microphone.

Spatial active noise control (ANC) systems focus on minimizing unwanted acoustic noise over continuous spatial regions by generating anti-noise fields with secondary loudspeakers. Conventionally, error microphones are necessary inside the region to measure the channels from the secondary loudspeakers to the error microphones and record the residual sound field during the noise control. These error microphones highly limit the implementation of spatial ANC systems because of their impractical geometry and obstruction to the users from accessing the region.

Coherence-based performance analysis on noise reduction in multichannel active noise control systems.

Active noise control (ANC) over an extended spatial region using multiple microphones and multiple loudspeakers has become an important problem. The maximum noise reduction (NR) potential over the control area is a critical evaluation variable as it indicates the fundamental limitation of a given ANC system. In this paper, a method to mathematically formulate the NR potential for any given multichannel ANC systems is developed.

Classification of 3097 patients from the Japanese melanoma study database using the American joint committee on cancer eighth edition cancer staging system.

Background: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8 Edition Cancer Staging System was implemented in 2018; however, it has not been validated in an Asian melanoma population.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to validate the new system using a cohort of Japanese melanoma patients.

Methods: The AJCC 7 and 8 Editions were used for TNM classification of patients in a database established by the Japanese Melanoma Study Group.

Sparse sound field decomposition for super-resolution in recording and reproduction.

A sound field recording and reproduction method based on sparse sound field decomposition is proposed. Most current methods are based on plane-wave or harmonic decomposition of the pressure distribution obtained by microphones, which leads to spatial aliasing artifacts with severe effects. This paper proposes a method for sound field decomposition based on a generative model of the sound field consisting of near-field source components and far-field plane-wave components.

Differences in behaviour of three biopolymer constituents in coagulation with polyaluminium chloride: Implications for the optimisation of a coagulation-membrane filtration process.

Coagulation is often applied as a pre-treatment for membrane processes to reduce dissolved organic matter and to prevent membrane fouling. Biopolymers (BPs) have repeatedly been reported as major organic foulants, and coagulation conditions such as pH or dose have been optimised to minimise the remaining BPs. Optimisation however remains problematic because of the complex and heterogenetic nature of BP.

A Label-Free Fluorescent Array Sensor Utilizing Liposome Encapsulating Calcein for Discriminating Target Proteins by Principal Component Analysis.

A new fluorescent arrayed biosensor has been developed to discriminate species and concentrations of target proteins by using plural different phospholipid liposome species encapsulating fluorescent molecules, utilizing differences in permeation of the fluorescent molecules through the membrane to modulate liposome-target protein interactions. This approach proposes a basically new label-free fluorescent sensor, compared with the common technique of developed fluorescent array sensors with labeling. We have confirmed a high output intensity of fluorescence emission related to characteristics of the fluorescent molecules dependent on their concentrations when they leak from inside the liposomes through the perturbed lipid membrane.

Canstatin stimulates migration of rat cardiac fibroblasts via secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-2.

Type IV collagen, a nonfibrillar type, is ubiquitously expressed in the basement membrane around cardiomyocytes. Canstatin, a cleaved product of α chain of type IV collagen, is an antiangiogenic factor. Because it has not been clarified whether canstatin exerts other biological activities in heart, we investigated the effects of canstatin on adult rat cardiac fibroblasts.