A case of parasitic leiomyoma with serpentine omental blood vessels: An unusual variant of uterine leiomyoma

AbstractLeiomyoma is considered as the commonest benign tumor of the genital tract. This case represents a multiparous woman who presented with a history of progressive abdominal distension. On examination, a mobile ill-defined centrally located intra-abdominal mass was noticed. At laparotomy a parasitic fibroid attached to the greater omentum was seen. Resection of the mass and partial omentectomy was performed which was reported as leiomyoma by the histological examination. The patient had an uneventful post-operative recovery. She has been followed up for twelve months with no evidence of recurrence or residual disease

Recent Advances in Photonic Devices for Optical Computing and the Role of Nonlinear Optics-Part II

The twentieth century has been the era of semiconductor materials and electronic technology while this millennium is expected to be the age of photonic materials and all-optical technology. Optical technology has led to countless optical devices that have become indispensable in our daily lives in storage area networks, parallel processing, optical switches, all-optical data networks, holographic storage devices, and biometric devices at airports. This chapters intends to bring some awareness to the state-of-the-art of optical technologies, which have potential for optical computing and demonstrate the role of nonlinear optics in many of these components. Our intent, in this Chapter, is to present an overview of the current status of optical computing, and a brief evaluation of the recent advances and performance of the following key components necessary to build an optical computing system: all-optical logic gates, adders, optical processors, optical storage, holographic storage, optical interconnects, spatial light modulators and optical materials

Off-design performance assessment of an axial turbine for a 100 MWe concentrated solar power plant operating with CO2 mixtures

This paper presents an investigation of the aerodynamic performance of a 130 MW axial turbine operating with a CO2/SO2 mixture using a mean-line off-design performance model; where the validity of this model has been confirmed through verification against results from the literature and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations. This analysis also includes assessing the impact of varying the number of stages on the part-load operation. Additionally, the application of similitude theory to non-dimensionalise performance characteristics is validated by assessing the performance of the same turbine with different working fluids, mixture compositions, and rotational speeds. The mean-line performance model applied throughout this study is based on the Aungier loss model, whilst a multi-stage, Reynolds averaged CFD model is employed to assess the 3D flow behaviour using the turbulence model. Significant deviations in total-to-total efficiency were observed between the mean-line and CFD results during part-load operation, especially at lower mass flow rates. These deviations can reach up to 18% when the blade Mach number exceeds the design point by 12%. This is attributed to flow separation, which is evident from the CFD simulations, and the mean-line loss model fails to predict. From a purely aerodynamic standpoint, the turbine can operate at part-load conditions up to 88.5% of the design flow coefficient based on the CFD results and achieve an efficiency of 80.2%. It was also found that increasing the number of stages from 4 to 14 can improve the off-design total-to-total efficiency by approximately 7.7% at 93% of the design flow coefficient. This demonstrates that increasing the number of stages enhances turbine performance at both design and part-load operations. Finally, the similitude scaling laws formulated using real-gas equation of state were found to remain valid for all the mixtures, molar compositions, and operating conditions considered

Microgravity Processing and Photonic Applications of Organic and Polymeric Materials

Some of the primary purposes of this work are to study important technologies, particularly involving thin films, relevant to organic and polymeric materials for improving applicability to optical circuitry and devices and to assess the contribution of convection on film quality in unit and microgravity environments. Among the most important materials processing techniques of interest in this work are solution-based and by physical vapor transport, both having proven gravitational and acceleration dependence. In particular, PolyDiAcetylenes (PDA's) and PhthaloCyanines (Pc's) are excellent NonLinear Optical (NLO) materials with the promise of significantly improved NLO properties through order and film quality enhancements possible through microgravity processing. Our approach is to focus research on integrated optical circuits and optoelectronic devices relevant to solution-based and vapor processes of interest in the Space Sciences Laboratory at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Modification of organic materials is an important aspect of achieving more highly ordered structures in conjunction with microgravity processing. Parallel activities include characterization of materials for particular NLO properties and determination of appropriation device designs consistent with selected applications. One result of this work is the determination, theoretically, that buoyancy-driven convection occurs at low pressures in an ideal gas in a thermalgradient from source to sink. Subsequent experiment supports the theory. We have also determined theoretically that buoyancy-driven convection occurs during photodeposition of PDA, an MSFC-patented process for fabricating complex circuits, which is also supported by experiment. Finally, the discovery of intrinsic optical bistability in metal-free Pc films enables the possibility of the development of logic gate technology on the basis of these materials

Design of a 130 MW axial turbine operating with a supercritical carbon dioxide mixture for the SCARABEUS project

The application of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) mixtures in power generation cycles could improve power block efficiency for concentrated solar power applications. Mixing CO2 with titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), hexafluoro-benzene (C6F6), sulphur dioxide (SO2) or others increases the critical temperature of the working fluid, allowing it to condense at ambient temperatures in dry solar field locations. Therefore, transcritical power cycles, which have lower compression work and higher thermal efficiency compared to supercritical cycles, become feasible. This paper presents the flow path design of a utility-scale axial turbine operating with an 80-20% molar mix of CO2 and sulphur dioxide (SO2). A preliminary turbine design has been developed for the selected mixture using an in-house mean-line design code considering both mechanical and rotor dynamic criteria. Furthermore, 3D blades have been generated and blade shape optimisation has been carried out for the first and last turbine stages of the multi-stage design. It has been found that increasing the number of stages from 4 to 14 stages increase the total-to-total efficiency by 6.3%. The final turbine design has a total-to-total efficiency of 92.9% as predicted by the 3D numerical results with maximum stress less than 260 MPa and a mass flow rate within 1% of the intended cycle mass-flow rate. Optimum aerodynamic performance was achieved with a 14-stages design where the hub radius and the flow path length are 310 mm and 1800 mm respectively

Microgravity Processing and Photonic Applications of Organic and Polymeric Materials

In recent years, a great deal of interest has been directed toward the use of organic materials in the development of high-efficiency optoelectronic and photonic devices. There is a myriad of possibilities among organics which allow flexibility in the design of unique structures with a variety of functional groups. The use of nonlinear optical (NLO) organic materials such as thin-film waveguides allows full exploitation of their desirable qualities by permitting long interaction lengths and large susceptibilities allowing modest power input. There are several methods in use to prepare thin films, such as Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) and self-assembly techniques, vapor deposition, growth from sheared solution or melt, and melt growth between glass plates. Organics have many features that make them desirable for use in optical devices such as high second- and third-order nonlinearities, flexibility of molecular design, and damage resistance to optical radiation. However, their use in devices has been hindered by processing difficulties for crystals and thin films. In this chapter, we discuss photonic and optoelectronic applications of a few organic materials and the potential role of microgravity on processing these materials. It is of interest to note how materials with second- and third-order nonlinear optical behavior may be improved in a diffusion-limited environment and ways in which convection may be detrimental to these materials

Design of a 130 MW Axial Turbine Operating with a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Mixture for the SCARABEUS Project

Supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) can be mixed with dopants such as titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), hexafluoro-benzene (C6F6), and sulphur dioxide (SO2) to raise the critical temperature of the working fluid, allowing it to condense at ambient temperatures in dry solar field locations. The resulting transcritical power cycles have lower compression work and higher thermal efficiency. This paper presents the aerodynamic flow path design of a utility-scale axial turbine operating with an 80–20% molar mix of CO2 and SO2. The preliminary design is obtained using a mean line turbine design method based on the Aungier loss model, which considers both mechanical and rotor dynamic criteria. Furthermore, steady-state 3D computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations are set up using the k-ω SST turbulence model, and blade shape optimisation is carried out to improve the preliminary design while maintaining acceptable stress levels. It was found that increasing the number of stages from 4 to 14 increased the total-to-total efficiency by 6.3% due to the higher blade aspect ratio, which reduced the influence of secondary flow losses, as well as the smaller tip diameter, which minimised the tip clearance losses. The final turbine design had a total-to-total efficiency of 92.9%, as predicted by the CFD results, with a maximum stress of less than 260 MPa and a mass flow rate within 1% of the intended cycle’s mass flow rate. Optimum aerodynamic performance was achieved with a 14-stage design where the hub radius and the flow path length are 310 mm and 1800 mm, respectively. Off-design analysis showed that the turbine could operate down to 88% of the design reduced mass flow rate with a total-to-total efficiency of 80%

Treatment of psychological morbidity secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia: a comparative study

Background: Authors tend to compare the medical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with the surgical option regarding lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and related psychological morbidity.Methods: A retrospective study of (1614) patients who were managed by either transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) or medical treatment for lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) over a period of 5 years between (Sep. 2013 and Sep. 2018) carried out in Prince Hussein Urology Center at Jordanian Royal Medical Services. Patients were classified into two groups, group1 (807 patients) who get a medical option and group 2 (807 patients who underwent TURPs. A comparison between both groups according to the effect of minimizing the psychological morbidities was done over a period of 1-year follow-up after reviewing the patient’s medical records.Results: Ages of the patients for group1 and 2 were (47-68 years), (49-73 years), respectively. There were significant differences at the level of depression, anxiety and psychiatric morbidity pre-treatment between both groups p-value 0.05, but significant differences in the level of improvement after treatment between both groups and in group 2 were found, p-value <0.05.Conclusions: The severity of LUTS and psychological morbidity have a positive relationship and were higher in the pretreatment surgical group, but the effect of TURP was superior to the medical group in the management of this morbidity and its causative (LUTS)

A baseline survey of potentially toxic elements in the soil of north-west Syria following a decade of conflict

We present the first region-wide chemical survey of soils in NW Syria following more than a decade of ongoing conflict. We sampled topsoil at 66 sites, typically located in marginal agricultural (orchards, arable) or peri-urban settings, grouped around 21 localities covering the whole area of NW Syria currently under Syrian Opposition control. Samples were analysed in the UK using ICP-MS and ICP-OES. Topsoil total concentrations of heavy metals are broadly consistent with pre-war data from Aleppo and recent data from nearby Turkey. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of associations among the sampling sites identified three groupings. Ni (133.30 ± 72.12 mg/kg) and Cr (122.14 ± 52.25 mg/kg) exist in all samples at levels in excess of typical European guideline thresholds for agricultural soil. Observed Cd (0.57 ± 0.93 mg/kg), Co (23.07 ± 18.48 mg/kg) and As (6.65 ± 4.51 mg/kg) concentrations are up to three times comparable values from nearby agricultural regions in southern Turkey. Maximum observed values for Cd, As, and Co, which exceed EU thresholds, are concentrated in a corridor around Sarmada to the west of Aleppo which has seen some of the most intense conflict-related impacts. Cu (28.33 ± 17.11 mg/kg), Pb (15.65 ± 10.85 mg/kg) and Zn (73.64 ± 40.15 mg/kg) also observe maxima in the Sarmada corridor, but show a more even distribution across the region, widely at values above comparable regional values for agriculture but below EU threshold concentrations. We interpret the occurrence of Ni-Cr as consistent with intensive agriculture using wastewater-contaminated irrigation and fertilisers. Cd-As-Co and Cu-Pb-Zn are likely anthropogenic and reflect intense pressures of conflict, informal settlement, unregulated industry and untreated wastewater irrigation on a historically agricultural region. The sampling method was designed to capture regional variations from a minimal dataset and it is likely that local topsoil concentrations at specific points of impact (proximal to locations of shelling, industry, effluent release or population) will be considerably higher than those reported here. This study establishes an important baseline reference for further targeted studies to identify and mitigate specific pollution hazards in this region of ongoing, extreme humanitarian and ecological threat