A 38-year-old male with history of trauma in the left gluteal region 20 years ago presented with a dark red skin eruption at the traumatized area. It gradually grew to form an erythematous plaque with a well-defined border. Clinical findings and mycological cultures resulted in the diagnosis of chromoblastomycosis due to Fonsecaea pedrosoi. After initial administration of 5-fluorocytosine and local heat an almost complete cure was achieved with terbinafine combined with local heat therapy. A review is given on the chromoblastomycosis cases observed in the Kitasato region in Japan.

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Freezing and thawing action as one of the important external factors of rock slope failures is emphasized in cold regions. Investigations were made on the crack development in saturated welded tuff specimen by freezing and thawing action in this study. The freezing test was conducted in a temperature-controlled chamber in the laboratory where temperature varied from + 5 °C to −18 °C. The freezed rock specimens were thawed in distilled water. The test lasted 3.5 hours for each freezeing and thawing cycle including 2 hr for freezing and 1.5 hr for thawing. P-wave velocity and acoustic emission of specimens were measured during freezing. The investigation on change of appearance on outer surface and section of the specimen as well as pore water migration and crack development were done.The initial cracks in rock specimen by freezing-thawing action started from the weak of surface layer such as pumice, mudstone and the interface of gravel and volcanic glass, then propagated to inside of the specimen. The cause is that the degree of saturation in surface layer is higher than that of inside due to pore water migration during freezing. The patterns of cracks by freezing and thawing is affected by the rock structure and pore water migration.

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