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Exophiala dermatitidis is a black fungus that rarely causes respiratory infection. We report a case of E . dermatitidis pneumonia with bronchiectasis that relapsed after 11 months of voriconazole (VRCZ) treatment in a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient with bronchiectasis. A 65‐year‐old woman with RA and abnormal findings on chest radiography was referred for assessment of chronic cough and increased sputum production. She underwent bronchoscopy, and E . dermatitidis was identified from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Exophiala dermatitidis chronic lower respiratory tract infection and pneumonia were diagnosed. Although her condition improved after 11 months of VRCZ treatment, chest computed tomography (CT) images showed worsening at five months after the cessation of VRCZ treatment and E . dermatitidis was again detected in BALF. Re‐administration of VRCZ for two years improved symptoms and chest CT images, and her condition is currently stable. In patients with bronchiectasis, E . dermatitidis pneumonia might require prolonged antifungal treatment.

An effective method to increase Thomson scattering (TS) signals is required in low-density plasmas. Multipass TS has the advantage of enhancing scattered signals. We constructed a double-pass TS system for a polarization-based system modelled on the GAMMA 10 TS system. In the second step, we have developed the multi-pass TS system based on the former double-pass TS system. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the polarization-based configuration, the multi-pass system was installed in the GAMMA 10 TS system, which is capable of multi-pass scattering. We undertook Rayleigh scattering experiments. The integrated scattering signal was magnified to be approximately three times as large by using the multi-pass system with 6 passes.

Background Remimazolam confers a lower risk of hypotension than propofol. However, no studies have compared the efficacy of remimazolam and propofol administered using target-controlled infusion (TCI). This study aimed to investigate hemodynamic effects of remimazolam and target-controlled propofol in middle-aged and elderly patients during the induction of anesthesia. Methods Forty adults aged 45–80 years with the American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status 1–2 were randomly assigned to remimazolam or propofol group (n = 20 each). Patients received either remimazolam (12 mg/kg/h) or propofol (3 μg/mL, TCI), along with remifentanil for inducing anesthesia. We recorded the blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and estimated continuous cardiac output (esCCO) using the pulse wave transit time. The primary outcome was the maximum change in mean arterial pressure (MAP) after induction. Secondary outcomes included changes in HR, cardiac output (CO), and stroke volume (SV). Results MAP decreased after induction of anesthesia in both groups, without significant differences between the groups (− 41.1 [16.4] mmHg and − 42.8 [10.8] mmHg in remimazolam and propofol groups, respectively; mean difference: 1.7 [95% confidence interval: − 8.2 to 4.9]; p = 0.613). Furthermore, HR, CO, and SV decreased after induction in both groups, without significant differences between the groups. Remimazolam group had significantly shorter time until loss of consciousness than propofol group (1.7 [0.7] min and 3.5 [1.7] min, respectively; p < 0.001). However, MAP, HR, CO, and SV were not significantly different between the groups despite adjusting time until loss of consciousness as a covariate. Seven (35%) and 11 (55%) patients in the remimazolam and propofol groups, respectively, experienced hypotension (MAP < 65 mmHg over 2.5 min), without significant differences between the groups (p = 0.341). Conclusions Hemodynamics were not significantly different between remimazolam and target-controlled propofol groups during induction of anesthesia. Thus, not only the choice but also the dose and usage of anesthetics are important for hemodynamic stability while inducing anesthesia. Clinicians should monitor hypotension while inducing anesthesia with remimazolam as well as propofol. Trial registration UMIN-CTR (UMIN000045612).