Kocuria kristinae-Induced Infective Endocarditis: Unveiling an Emerging Threat in Clinical Practice.

Infective endocarditis (IE) remains a formidable challenge in clinical practice due to several causative agents, each presenting with unique diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas. Kocuria kristinae, a coagulase-negative, catalase-positive Gram-positive coccus, has recently emerged as an uncommon but increasingly recognized pathogen in the cause of IE. This case report highlights the clinical characteristics, risk factors, and challenges associated with Kocuria kristinae-induced IE. We conducted a comprehensive literature review and identified several case reports on Kocuria kristinae as a causative agent. Due to its indolent nature and the subtle presentation of symptoms, along with its ability to form biofilms, delayed diagnosis of Kocuria is often seen, thereby emphasizing the need for heightened clinical suspicion. The predisposing factors for Kocuria kristinae infection include underlying cardiac abnormalities, prosthetic heart valves, and immunocompromised states. Additionally, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and optimal treatment strategies remain unclear, warranting further investigation. This abstract presents the case of a 75-year-old male with IE secondary to Kocuria kristinae on a prosthetic mitral valve. We aim to highlight the need for increased awareness among clinicians to facilitate early recognition and prompt initiation of targeted therapeutic interventions. Unraveling the intricacies of Kocuria kristinae's pathogenicity is crucial for refining diagnostic approaches and optimizing patient outcomes.

Comparison of damage and ablation dynamics of multilayer dielectric films initiated by few-cycle pulses versus longer femtosecond pulses.

The importance of high intensity few- to single-cycle laser pulses for applications such as intense isolated attosecond pulse generation is constantly growing, and with the breakdown of the monochromatic approximation in field ionization models, the few-cycle pulse (FCP) interaction with solids near the damage threshold has ushered a new paradigm of nonperturbative light-matter interaction. In this Letter, we systematically study and contrast how femtosecond laser-induced damage and ablation behaviors of SiO2/HfO2-based reflective multilayer dielectric thin film systems vary between FCP and 110 fs pulses. With time-resolved surface microscopy and ex situ analysis, we show that there are distinct differences in the interaction depending on the pulse duration, specifically in the "blister" morphology formation at lower fluences (damage) as well as in the dynamics of debris formation at higher fluences (ablation).