A versatile micromodel technology to explore biofilm development in porous media flows.

Bacterial biofilms that grow in porous media are critical to ecosystem processes and applications ranging from soil bioremediation to bioreactors for treating wastewater or producing value-added products. However, understanding and engineering the complex phenomena that drive the development of biofilms in such systems remains a challenge. Here we present a novel micromodel technology to explore bacterial biofilm development in porous media flows. The technology consists of a set of modules that can be combined as required for any given experiment and conveniently tuned for specific requirements. The core module is a 3D-printed micromodel where biofilm is grown into a perfusable porous substrate. High-precision additive manufacturing, in particular stereolithography, is used to fabricate porous scaffolds with precisely controlled architectures integrating flow channels with diameters down to several hundreds of micrometers. The system is instrumented with: ultraviolet-C light-emitting diodes; on-line measurements of oxygen consumption and pressure drop across the porous medium; camera and spectrophotometric cells for the detection of biofilm detachment events at the outlet. We demonstrate how this technology can be used to study the development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm for several days within a network of flow channels. We find complex dynamics whereby oxygen consumption reaches a steady-state but not the pressure drop, which instead features a permanent regime with large fluctuations. We further use X-ray computed microtomography to image the spatial distribution of biofilms and computational fluid dynamics to link biofilm development with local flow properties. By combining the advantages of additive manufacturing for the creation of reproducible 3D porous microarchitectures with the flow control and instrumentation accuracy of microfluidics, our system provides a platform to study the dynamics of biofilm development in 3D porous media and to rapidly test new concepts in process engineering.

Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma: a case report.

Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm of uncertain differentiation, characterized morphologically by abundant myxoid stroma, a multinodular growth pattern, and uniform cells arranged in strands, clusters, and reticular networks. It usually occurs in adults in the fifth decade, most often in the deep soft tissues of the proximal extremities. The molecular hallmark of this tumor, present in over 90% of cases, is the fusion of NR4A3 with EWSR1 at 22q12.2 or TAF15 at 17q12. Many other tumors with uniform tumor cells embedded in a myxoid matrix can mimic Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma, and the distinction can be difficult, often requiring immunohistochemistry and/or molecular testing. We herein report the case of an Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma that occurred in a 74-year-old woman who consulted for a slowly enlarging thigh mass, while highlighting the key morphologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular features of this rare type of soft tissue sarcoma, as well as a summary table gathering diagnostic features of relevance to the differential diagnosis.