Radiologic evaluation of gastrointestinal leiomyosarcomatosis

A 68-year-old woman who had previously undergone small intestinal resection because of leiomyosarcoma was referred to our clinic with epigastric pain. A double-contrast barium study and the subsequent abdominopelvic CT and abdominal MRI examinations demonstrated multiple extraluminal growing tumors arising from the walls of stomach, small bowel, and colon. A CT-guided aspiration biopsy revealed malignant mesenchymal tumor. The presence of disseminated intra-abdominal masses without concomitant ascites and invasion of tissue planes on CT in a patient operated on prior because of a leiomyosarcoma led to the diagnosis of gastrointestinal leiomyosarcomatosis. In this report we discuss the radiological approach to this rare entity.     

ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS HOIST SCHEDULING FOR ELECTROPLATING FACILITIES

Hoist scheduling in electroplating operations has long been considered a key factor for improving the production rate. It has recently been recognized that hoist scheduling can also play an important role in waste minimization. In this work, a new hoist scheduling method is introduced for simultaneously achieving both the economic and environmental goals. A two-step dynamic optimization algorithm is introduced for identifying an optimal hoist schedule that can minimize the quantity and toxicity of wastewater streams from an electroplating line without loss of production rate. To improve computational efficiency, an engineering approach is adopted to reduce the number of binary decision variables in the optimization problem. An application to an actual electroplating process shows a significant reduction of both chemical and water consumption, which equates to a simultaneous realization of wastewater reduction and increase of profits.     

Effects of chemical composition on the structural stability,elastic, vibrational,and electronic properties of Cs2NaLnX6 (Ln = La…Lu,X = F,Cl, Br,I) elpasolites

Elpasolite crystals are very important materials, both from the applied and fundamental points of view. Those elpasolites, which contain rare earth ions with a high atomic number Z, are very much suitable for the low-cost high-performance gamma-ray detection, applications in medicine, food industry, nuclear energy production, processing, and detection of nuclear proliferation. The thermal and structural stabilities are important parameters required for detecting applications, because the performance conditions for such devices are usually very harsh. Since it is widely believed that elpasolites may have even better detection properties, the lack of systematic studies on the elpasolites and thus the unavailability of reliable data on their physical properties and trends in their variation caused by chemical composition considerably hinders search for more efficient new materials. Therefore, to fill in this gap and provide with all essential information about a large number of elpasolites crystals, for the first time, the structural stability, elastic, vibrational, and electronic properties of 60 cubic elpasolite Cs₂NaLnX₆ (Ln = La, …, Lu, X = F, Cl, Br, I) crystals were consistently calculated in the framework of the same computational approach based on the density functional theory (DFT). Variation of all calculated parameters (such as the lattice constants, elastic constants, Debye temperature, normal vibrational modes frequencies, Mulliken effective charges, bond populations, and band gaps) across the considered groups of crystals was analyzed and several trends, which are important for the search and preparation of new stable materials with improved performance, were identified.     

Synthesis of hydroxy-terminated polytetrahydrofuran by photoinduced process

Summary This paper describes the preparation of hydroxy-functional telechelics by photoinduced decomposition of polytetrahydrofuran possessing terminal pyridinium ions in THF solution. Hydroxyl functionality was evidenced by end capping and polycondensation with isocyanates.     

Prussian Blue-Based Flexible Thin Film Nanoarchitectonics for Non-enzymatic Electrochemical Glucose Sensor

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials - A facile and non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor is developed by the simple electrodeposition of Prussian Blue (PB) on conductive...     

Radical scavenging and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities of aqueous extract of wild pistachio (Pistacia atlantica Desf.) leaves

The purpose of this work is to assess the radical scavenging activity, acetylcholinesterase inhibition, and proline content of an aqueous extract from wild pistachio (Pistacia atlantica Desf.) leaves. The effect of aqueous extract on superoxide radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, N,N-dimethyl-1,4-phenylendiammoniumdichloride (DMPD^·+) radical scavenging, ABTS^·+ radical scavenging, nitric oxide scavenging, and β-carotene bleaching activities was examined. This study found that the aqueous extract possesses considerable amounts of flavonoids (33.52±2.04 μg catechin equivalents/mg of extract). The effect of this extract in scavenging activity of hydroxyl radical and DMPD^·+ was significantly better than that of ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). The effect of the extract in superoxide and ABTS^·+ was significantly similar than that of tested standard antioxidants. The proline content of the extract was found to be 0.54±0.01 μg proline/mg of extract. Aqueous extract of P. atlantica inhibited acetylcholinesterase activity effectively with IC₅₀ value of 58.05±0.12 μg/mL.     

Thermal degradation of deoxynivalenol during maize bread baking

The thermal degradation of deoxynivalenol (DON) was determined at isothermal baking conditions within the temperature range of 100-250°C, using a crust-like model, which was prepared with naturally contaminated maize flour. No degradation was observed at 100°C. For the temperatures of 150, 200 and 250°C, thermal degradation rate constants (k) were calculated and temperature dependence of DON degradation was observed by using Arrhenius equation. The degradation of DON obeyed Arrhenius law with a regression coefficient of 0.95. A classical bread baking operation was also performed at 250°C for 70?min and the rate of DON degradation in the bread was estimated by using the kinetic data derived from the model study. The crust and crumb temperatures recorded during bread baking were used to calculate the thermal degradation rate constants (k) and partial DON degradations at certain time intervals. Using these data, total degradation at the end of the entire baking process was predicted for both crust and crumb. This DON degradation was consistent with the experimental degradation data, confirming the accuracy of kinetic constants determined by means of the crust-like model.     

Exergetic analysis and evaluation of a new application of gas engine heat pumps (GEHPs) for food drying processes

In this study, three medicinal and aromatic plants (Foeniculum vulgare, Malva sylvestris L. and Thymus vulgaris) were dried in a pilot scale gas engine driven heat pump drier, which was designed, constructed and installed in Ege University, Izmir, Turkey. Drying experiments were performed at an air temperature of 45 °C with an air velocity of 1 m/s. In this work, the performance of the drier along with its main components is evaluated using exergy analysis method. The most important component for improving the system efficiency is found to be the gas engine, followed by the exhaust air heat exchanger for the drying system. An exergy loss and flow diagram (the so-called Grassmann diagram) of the whole drying system is also presented to give quantitative information regarding the proportion of the exergy input dissipated in the various system components, while the sustainability index values for the system components are calculated to indicate how sustainability is affected by changing the exergy efficiency of a process. Gas engine, expansion valve and drying ducts account for more than 60% amount of exergy in the system. The exergetic efficiency values are in the range of 77.68–79.21% for the heat pump unit, 39.26–43.24% for the gas engine driven heat pump unit, 81.29–81.56% for the drying chamber and 48.24–51.28% for the overall drying system.