Search

Syphilis is often referred to as the 'great imitator' due to its diverse clinical manifestations throughout its clinical stages and polymorphic nature. We report a case of a 24-year-old man-who-has-sex-with-men presenting with an atypical syphilitic rash on the trunk, with a corymbiform appearance. This case highlights the necessity for clinicians to maintain a high index of suspicion for sexually transmitted infections, especially when there are skin manifestations of an uncertain nature., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Although melanocytic nevi have a relatively uneventful course throughout their existence, some may develop an inflammatory reaction known as the Meyerson phenomenon. Initially, the Meyerson phenomenon has been exclusively described in melanocytic nevi. However, it has since been observed in both pigmented and non-pigmented lesions, thus expanding the description from Meyerson nevus to the phenomenon. We report a case of an unusual Meyerson phenomenon arising from a congenital melanocytic nevus characterized by a weeping eczematous response., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Abdulraouf Almarzooqi et al.)

Delusional infestation (DI) describes a fixed, false belief where a person believes that they are infested with living or inanimate pathogens despite the absence of medical evidence for such infestation. Descriptions of alleged pathogens have evolved over time, incorporating inanimate objects such as fibrous strands. With the emergence of Morgellons disease and its controversy, we report a case of a 40-year-old female presenting with a strong belief of scabies infestation along with fibers emerging from her skin. Further, although insects are still the most alleged source of infestation, the overlap of Morgellons disease and the delusion of infestation supports it as a DI variant and questions the notion of its existence as a separate diagnostic entity., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Abdulraouf Almarzooqi et al.)

Graphene oxide (GO)-based membranes hold significant promise for applications ranging from energy storage to protective coatings, to saline water and produced water treatment, owing to their chemical stability and unique barrier properties achieving a high selectivity for water permeation. However, unmodified GO membranes are not stable when submerged in liquid water, creating challenges with their commercial utilization in aqueous filtration and pervaporation applications. To mitigate this, we develop an approach to modify GO membranes through a combination of low temperature thermal reduction and metal cation crosslinking. We demonstrate that Zn 2+ -rGO and Fe 3+ -rGO membranes had the highest permeation flux of 8.3 ± 1.5 l m -2 h -1 and 7.0 ± 0.4 l m -2 h -1 , for saline water separation, respectively, when thermally reduced after metal cross-linking; These membranes maintained a high flux of 7.5 ± 0.7 l m -2 h -1 , and 5.5 ± 0.3 l m -2 h -1 for produced water separation, respectively. All the membranes had a salt rejection higher than 99%. Fe 3+ crosslinked membranes presented the highest organic solute rejections for produced water of 69%. Moreover, long term pervaporation testing was done for the Zn 2+ -rGO membrane for 12 h, and only a minor drop of 6% in permeation flux was observed, while Zn 2+ -GO had a drop of 24%. Both modifiers significantly enhanced the stability with Fe 3+ -rGO membranes displaying the highest mechanical abrasion resistance of 95% compared to non-reduced and non-crosslinked GO. Improved stability for all samples also led to higher selectivity to water over organic contaminants and only slightly reduced water flux across the membrane., (Creative Commons Attribution license.)

Primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (PC-ALCL) is a subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma belonging to the CD30+ spectrum of lymphoproliferative disorders. It constitutes the second most prevalent category within cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL), encompassing approximately 25% of cases. This disorder is characterized by its exclusive cutaneous involvement and favorable overall prognosis. Patients typically present with reddish-brown nodules, which may evolve into ulcers. Although some cases experience regression, complete resolution is uncommon. While most lesions manifest on the extremities, followed by the head and neck, the breast region may rarely be affected by PC-ALCL. Distinctions between anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive and ALK-negative subtypes have been documented in breast presentations, often associated with breast implants. In this context, we present an isolated PC-ALCL instance in a 26-year-old woman with no history of breast implants., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Almarzooqi et al.)

Oil and gas industries produce a huge amount of wastewater known as produced water which contains diverse contaminants including salts, dissolved organics, dispersed oils, and solids making separation and purification challenging. The chemical and thermal stability of graphene oxide (GO) membranes make them promising for use in membrane pervaporation, which may provide a more economical route to purifying this water for disposal or re-use compared to other membrane-based separation techniques. In this study, we investigate the performance and stability of GO membranes cast onto polyethersulfone (PES) supports in the separation of simulated produced water containing high salinity brackish water (30 g/L NaCl) contaminated with phenol, cresol, naphthenic acid, and an oil-in-water emulsion. The GO/PES membranes achieve water flux as high as 47.8 L m -2 h -1 for NaCl solutions for membranes operated at 60 °C, while being able to reject 99.9% of the salt and upwards of 56% of the soluble organic components. The flux for membranes tested in pure water, salt, and simulated produced water was found to decrease over 72 h of testing but only to 50-60% of the initial flux in the worst-case scenario. This drop was concurrent with an increase in contact angle and C/O ratio indicating that the GO may become partially reduced during the separation process. Additionally, a closer look at the membrane crosslinker (Zn 2+ ) was investigated and found to hydrolyze over time to Zn(OH) 2 with much of it being washed away during the long-term pervaporation.