Toxoplasmosis is an opportunistic infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii (TG), commonly involving the brain. Symptomatic clinical disease of TG infection is much more commonly associated with immunodeficiency; clinicopathological manifestations of brain toxoplasmosis are linked to individual immune responses including brain infiltration of T-cells that are thought to fight against toxoplasmosis. In patients with autoimmune diseases, immune status is typically characterized by T-cell infiltration and complicated mainly by immunosuppressant and/or immunomodulatory treatment. In this study, we demonstrate clinical and radiological features correlated with pathological features of brain toxoplasmosis at different disease stages in a patient with coexisting autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune hepatitis. The infiltration of CD8+ T-cells in toxoplasma immunostaining-positive acute lesions was greater than that in toxoplasma immunostaining-negative chronic lesions. We also review previously reported cases of brain toxoplasmosis with comorbid autoimmune diseases. Our present case and literature review suggest that brain toxoplasmosis in patients with autoimmune diseases may be asymptomatic unless disease complications occur; it may present as an incidental finding at postmortem examination of rapidly developed lesions. T-cell infiltration in patients with autoimmune diseases and coexisting toxoplasmosis may be at least partially reduced; ultimately, the roles of T-cell infiltration in brain toxoplasmosis deserve further investigation.

Classical neurosurgical teaching suggests that corticosteroid administration reduces the diagnostic yield of stereotactic brain biopsy for primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). In a single-center series spanning 6 years, we reviewed 155 consecutive biopsy patients, 135 treated with prebiopsy corticosteroids. PCNSL was correctly diagnosed on initial biopsy in 15 of 16 steroid-treated patients; in the single nondiagnostic specimen, polymerase chain reaction reanalysis by an outside institution showed evidence of lymphoproliferative disease consistent with PCNSL. Our data challenge the notion that it is necessary to withhold corticosteroid therapy for cerebral edema in patients awaiting stereotactic biopsy for suspected PCNSL.

Nodular fasciitis is a reactive proliferation of fibroblasts/myofibroblasts characterized by a rapidly growing non-tender subcutaneous mass and subsequently self-limited course. It is commonly found on the upper extremities, face, and shoulder, although it may occur in any superficial location. Its etiology is largely unknown, but associations have been made with local trauma, infection and inflammation. We report a case of an intraneural and intramuscular nodular fasciitis presenting in the obturator nerve and gracilis muscle, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the second reported case of this disease presenting in a nerve of the lower extremity, as well as the first reported case of it presenting within muscle and nerve simultaneously.

Rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor (RGNT) is a rare brain tumor found almost exclusively within the fourth ventricle. These grade I tumors were first included in the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification for the central nervous system in 20071. Since then, approximately 49 cases have been published.

There are no reported cases of RGNT within the third ventricle, although this tumor has also been described in the pineal region, the tectum and within the aqueduct. Supratentorial localization is quite rare, with only three published: one was found in the septum pellucidum, another within the optic nerve in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patient and one in a patient with multiple RGNT in the lateral ventricle. The authors report the first case series in the literature of RGNT occurring within the posterior third ventricle.

Cu0.62Zn0.38 foil was subjected to surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) processing first. Growth behavior of ZnO nanostructure on the SMAT Cu0.62Zn0.38 surface during thermal oxidation was investigated in this paper. The original and SMAT Cu0.62Zn0.38 foils were thermally oxidized at 400 ~ 700 °C under various gaseous environments, including nitrogen and mixture of N2-O2 at a pressure of 1 atm. for 3 h. The oxidized specimens were characterized with a scanning electron microscope, an X-ray diffractometer and a transmission electron microscope. It is found that nanosheets are easily formed on the SMAT specimen surface. The favorable formation of nanosheets relates to twin lamellae structure of Cu0.62Zn0.38 formed during SMAT processing.

Survivin is a novel member of the inhibitor of apoptosis gene family that bear baculoviral IAP repeats (BIRs), whose physiological roles in regulating meiotic cell cycle need to be determined. Confocal microscopy was employed to observe the localization of survivin in rat oocytes. At the germinal vesicle (GV) stage, survivin was mainly concentrated in the GV. At the prometaphase I (pro-MI) and metaphase I (MI) stage, survivin was mainly localized at the kinetochores, with a light staining detected on the chromosomes. After transition to anaphase I or telophase I stage, survivin migrated to the midbody, and signals on the kinetochores and chromosomes disappeared. At metaphase II (MII) stage, survivin became mainly localized at the kinetochores again. Microinjection of oocytes with anti-survivin antibodies at the beginning of the meiosis, thus blocking the normal function of survivin, resulted in abnormal spindle assembly, chromosome segregation and first polar body emission. These results suggest that survivin is involved in regulating the meiotic cell cycle in rat oocytes.

Three-dimensional (3D) integration is an emerging technology that vertically stacks and interconnects multiple materials, technologies and functional components to form highly integrated micro/nano-systems. This paper reviews the materials and technologies for three wafer bonding approaches to 3D integration using adhesive, metal, and metal/adhesive as the bonding interfaces. Similarities and differences in architectural advantages and technology challenges are presented, with recent research advances discussed.

We report on a method for direct measurement of site density of vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Site density is an important parameter of vertically-aligned carbon nanotube forests for various applications. By freezing the CNT forests in a polymer matrix and exposing the CNT ends, we obtained the site density of vertically aligned multi-walled CNTs through SEM observation and particle counting. Site densities of multi-walled CNTs grown by two different CVD processes, ferrocene/xylene process and Fe-Al/ethylene process, were measured to be ∼10 tubes/Ým2 and ∼53 tubes/Ým2, respectively. The results of site density distributions indicate non-uniform growth of carbon nanotubes at the micrometer scale in both processes.

We report on a novel approach to grow platinum (Pt) nanostructure using a self-assembled fluorocarbon structure as a template. A ring-type structure of fluorocarbon residues forms during the reactive ion etching (RIE) of SiO2 using trifluoromethane (CHF3) and oxygen as etching gases. Typical dimensions of the ring-type fluorocarbon structure are found to be ∼50 nm in diameter, ∼10 nm in wall thickness, and ∼50 nm in height in this study. Platinum nanostructure up to 100 nm in height and 50 nm in diameter are grown on the template using a low-cost thin film sputter coater for 3 minutes. The morphology and growth mechanism of fluorocarbon structure and platinum nanostructure are discussed. This work provides a simple approach to platinum nanostructure growth for a fuel-cell application.

A monolithic, wafer-level three-dimensional (3D) technology platform is described that is compatible with next-generation wafer level packaging (WLP) processes. The platform combines the advantages of both (1) high bonding strength and adaptability to IC wafer topography variations with spin-on dielectric adhesive bonding and (2) process integration and via-area advantages of metal-metal bonding. A copper-benzocyclobutene (Cu-BCB) process is described that incorporates single-level damascene-patterned Cu vias with partially-cured BCB as the bonding adhesive layer. A demonstration vehicle consisting of a two-wafer stack of 2-4 μm diameter vias has shown the bondability of both Cu-to-Cu and BCB-to-BCB. Planarization conditions to achieve BCB-BCB bonding with low-resistance Cu-Cu contacts have been examined, with wafer-scale planarization requirements compared to other 3D platforms. Concerns about stress induced at the tantalum (Ta) liner-to-BCB interface resulting in partial delamination are discussed. While across-wafer uniformity has not been demonstrated, the viability of this WLP-compatible 3D platform has been shown.