Trophic relationships within intertidal communities of the Brittany Coasts: A stable carbon isotope analysis

More than 100 species belonging to plant and animal tars that are commonly observed in the intertidal zone were collected on both rocky and soft bottom shores of Brittany, France, to be analysed for their C-13/C-12 ratio. Plant material displayed a wide range of delta(13)C values (from -12 to -34 parts per thousand), with relatively distinct values among producer groups (Chlorophyce ae, Fucales, Laminariales, Rhodophyce ae seagrasses, plankton), and among strata of intertidal zonation. Animal delta(13)C range was narrower (-15 to -22 parts per thousand), and in general, values differed more between than within phyla or classes, according to the staple diet of organisms. A good correlation between the delta(13)C values of food and consumers was noted, together with a slight C-13- enrichment (approximate to 1 parts per thousand) with increasing trophic levels from suspension-feeders to predators

Verrucous Carcinoma of the Vulva: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Verrucous carcinoma of the vulva is a rare lesion (1). Affecting essentially postmenopausal women, this lesion is a distinct and particular entity in vulval carcinoma classification and its scalability is uncertain and unpredictable. Here, we present a case concerning a 48-year-old patient, without follow-up after a condyloma acuminate of the vulva (large left lip). The origin of this case will be discussed in this article. The treatment decided was only surgical. A review of literature shows the rarity of this lesion of the female genital tract

The Sentinel Lymph Node in Breast Cancer: Problems Posed by Examination During Surgery. A Review of Current Literature and Management

The presence of tumor cells can be identified in the lymph node when metastasis has occurred from the primary cancer site into the lymph node (1) If the sentinel lymph node ganglion is negative for the presence of tumor cells at the time of histological examination, the other lymph nodes are also negative in 99% of cases. If no tumor cells are identified in the sentinel lymph node ganglion by histological examination, the other lymph nodes are also negative for the presence of tumor cells in 99% of cases. The sentinel lymph node advantageously replaces axillary dissection as a staging method in breast cancer T1 and T2 (2). Approximately 40% of breast cancers metastasize to axillary lymph nodes and metastatic extension depends on disease stage. Sentinel lymph nodes are affected in the following stages: T1a (4.3%), T1b (19.5%), T1c (23.8%), T2 (48.9%), T3 (66.7%)

Endometriotic Mass After Hysterectomy in a 61 Year Old Post-menopausal Woman: A Case Report and Update.

Endometriosis is a common, hormone-dependent gynecologic disease. Undiagnosed in large proportion of women, managing therapies depend on the impact of quality of life and includes hormonal treatment and pelvic surgery. Less likely endometriosis can occur in post-menopausal women. Malignant transformation of endometriosis is a rare but well-described process, most of time occurring in the ovary, and justifies the practitioner not to underestimate this pathology. We present a case of a 61 year old woman with a symptomatic endometriotic pelvic mass, status post hysterectomy, with no history of endometriosis diagnosed beforehand

Vocabulary intervention for adolescents with language disorder: a systematic review

Background: Language disorder and associated vocabulary difficulties can persist into adolescence, and can impact on long-term life outcomes. Previous reviews have shown that a variety of intervention techniques can successfully enhance students’ vocabulary skills; however, none has investigated vocabulary intervention specifically for adolescents with language disorder. Aims: To carry out a systematic review of the literature on vocabulary interventions for adolescents with language disorder. Methods & Procedures: A systematic search of 14 databases and other sources yielded 1320 studies, of which 13 met inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were: intervention effectiveness studies with a focus on enhancing oral receptive and/or expressive vocabulary skills in the study's aims; participants in the age range 11;0–16;11 with receptive and/or expressive language difficulties of any aetiology. Main Contribution: There was a high degree of diversity between studies. Types of intervention included: semantic intervention (four studies); comparison of phonological versus semantic intervention (two); and combined phonological–semantic intervention (seven). The strongest evidence for effectiveness was found with a combined phonological–semantic approach. The evidence suggested a potential for all models of delivery to be helpful (individual, small group and whole class). Conclusions & Implications: Tentative evidence is emerging for the effectiveness of a phonological–semantic approach in enhancing the vocabulary skills of adolescents who have language disorder. Future research needs to refine and develop the methodologies used in this diverse group of studies in order to replicate their findings and to build consensus

Reliability and tolerance comparison in water supply networks

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11269-010-9753-2Urban water supply is a high priority service and so looped networks are extensively used in order to considerably reduce the number of consumers affected by a failure. Looped networks may be redundant in connectivity and capacity. The concept of reliability has been introduced in an attempt to quantitatively measure the possibility of maintaining an adequate service for a given period. Numerous researchers have considered reliability as a measure of redundancy. This concept is usually implicit, but some researchers have even stated it explicitly. This paper shows why reliability cannot be considered a measure of redundancy given that branched networks can achieve high values of reliability and this would deny the fact that a looped network is more reliable than a branched network with a similar layout and size. To this end the paper discusses two quantitative indices for measuring expected network behavior: reliability and tolerance. These indices are calculated and a comparison is made between looped, branched, and mixed networks. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.The authors wish to acknowledge the support received from project IDAWAS, DPI2009-11591, of the Directorate-General of Research at the Spanish Ministry of Education, the grant PAID-02-09 for a stay at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia by the first author, and a grant MAEC-AECI 0000202066 awarded to the second author by the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperacion of Spain. The use of English in this paper was revised by John Rawlins; and the revision was funded by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain.Martínez-Rodríguez, JB.; Montalvo Arango, I.; Izquierdo Sebastián, J.; Pérez García, R. (2011). Reliability and tolerance comparison in water supply networks. Water Resources Management. 25(5):1437-1448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-010-9753-2S14371448255Bao Y, Mays LW (1990) Model for water distribution system reliability. J Hydraul Eng ASCE 116(9):1119–1137Bouchart F, Goulter I (1991) Reliability improvements in design of water distribution networks recognizing valve location. Water Resour Res 27(12):3029–3040Carrión A, Solano H, Gamiz ML, Debón A (2010) Evaluation of the reliability of a water supply network from right-censored and left-truncated break data. Water Resour Manag, Springer Sci 24:2917–2935. Published online: 28 January 2010Chiong C (1985) Optimización de redes cerradas, Doctoral Thesis, CIH-CUJAE, Havana (in Spanish)Christodoulou SE (2010) Water network assessment and reliability analysis by use of survival analysis. Water Resour Manag, Springer Sci, Published online: 19 June 2010Cullinane MJ, Lansey KE, Mays LW (1992) Optimization-availability-based design of water distribution networks. J Hydraul Eng ASCE 118(3):420–441Duan N, Mays LW, Lansey KE (1990) Optimal reliability-based design of pumping and distribution systems. J Hydraul Eng ASCE 116(2):249–268Goulter I (1992) Systems analysis in water distribution network design: from theory to practice. J Water Resour Plan Manage ASCE 118(3):238–248Goulter I (1993) Modern concepts of a water distribution system. Policies for improvement of networks with shortcomings. In: Cabrera E, Martínez F (eds) Water supply systems: state of the art and future trends, Valencia (Spain). Comput Mech Publ, Southampton, pp 121–138Goulter I, Bouchart F (1990) Reliability-constrained pipe network model. J Hydraul Eng ASCE 116(2):211–229Gupta R, Bhave R (1994) Reliability analysis of water distribution systems. J Environ Eng ASCE 120(2):447–460Jacobs P, Goulter I (1991) Estimation of maximum cut-set size for water network failure. J Water Resour Plan Manage ASCE 117(5):588–605Jowitt P, Xu C (1993) Predicting pipe failure effects in water distribution networks. J Water Resour Plan Manage ASCE 119(l):18–31Kalungi P, Tanyimboh TT (2003) Redundancy model for water distribution systems. Rel Eng Syst Safety 82(3):275–286Khomsi D, Walters GA, Thorley ARD, Ouazar D (1996) Reliability tester for water-distribution networks. J Comput Civ Eng ASCE 10(l):10–9Lansey K, Duan N, Mays LW, Tung YK (1989) Water distribution system design under uncertainty. J Water Resour Plan Manage ASCE 115(5):630–645Loganathan GV, Shah MP, Sherali HP (1990) A two-phase network design heuristic for minimum cost water distribution systems under a reliability constraint. Eng Optim 15(4):311–336Martínez JB (2007) Quantifying the economy of water supply looped networks. J Hydraul Eng ASCE 133(1):88–97Martínez JB (2010) Cost and reliability comparison between branched and looped water supply networks. 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Synthesis of geopolymer binders using clays and sands from Fez Morocco and mechanical

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