Applying of No-fines concretes as a porous concrete in different construction application

Recently, the demands on the concretes with no fines aggregate has been increased as a results of the industry revolution. Many researchers are trying to recycle the concretes and rubble. In addition, the increase in noise in the surrounding environment as a result of the growing population and cars has generated an urgent need to produce concretes characterized by good sound insulation. No-fines concretes is considered as a kind of porous lightweights concretes, gained by removing the sand from the ordinary concretes mixture. The aim of this study is replace the coarse aggregate by waste ceramics in order to reduce the wastes as well as investigate strengths against compression s, density and porosity of No-fines concretes before and after substitution the coarse aggregate by waste ceramics. The methodology of this research paper has been mainly depending on strengths against compression s test and the measured ultrasonic pulse velocity as well as the density. The investigational research has been implemented by 54 samples cast by six various blending proportion consisting of (cement, coarse aggregate, water) utilizing ceramic wastes (CWs) as a substation ratio of coarse aggregates in making concretes free of fine aggregate, so that the proportions of ceramic residues are (0, 10%, 20, 30, 40, 50) as a partial substation of the coarse aggregates and examined at the ages of (7, 28 and 90) days. The mechanism of failure has been detected and categorized beside the concrete’s density and void percentage have been collected. The results show that, the increasing the substitution ratio for waste ceramic within the no-fine mixtures cause a decrease in the density with increasing the strengths against compression s for the specimens

Salivary gland fine needle aspiration using the thinprep (r) technique: Diagnostic accuracy, cytologic artifacts and pitfalls

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively assess the diagnostic accuracy, cytologic features and pitfalls of ThinPrep(r) (TP) (Cytyc Corporation, Marlborough, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) versus conventional (smear) preparation (CP) in salivary gland fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNABs) and second, to evaluate the reproducibility of the cytomorphologic criteria used in the evaluation of FNABs prepared by CP versus TP. STUDY DESIGN: All salivary gland fine needle aspiration biopsies (SGFNABs) between January 1996 and June 1999 were retrieved from the cytology files of the University of Michigan Hospital. Histologic correlation was identified when available. Two cytopathologists reevaluated the slides for artifacts, cellular preservation, background material, cellularity, and cytoplasmic and nuclear details. RESULTS: Seventy-four of the 134 (55%) cases identified had histologic follow-up. Fifty (68%) cases were processed by TP and 24 (32%) by CP. FNAB processed by TP and CP correctly identified malignancy in 14 and 9 cases, respectively. There were three (4%) false negative cases. These included two acinic cell carcinomas and one mucoepidermoid carcinoma. There were 37 true negative cases (24 TP and 13 CP) and one false positive case of cellular pleomorphic adenoma (cytologic interpretation, mucoepidermoid carcinoma). All discrepant cases were processed using the TP method. The overall specificity and sensitivity were 98% and 88%, respectively. However, specificity and sensitivity for TP-processed SGFNABs were 96% and 82% as compared to a 100% specificity and sensitivity for CP. Additionally, there were 10 (14%) nondiagnostic cases, 8 of which were processed by TP. Cytologic artifacts associated with TP included diminished/distorted extracellular and stromal elements, cellular shrinkage and tissue fragmentation CONCLUSION: The diagnostic accuracy of TP-processed SGFNABs approaches that of the CP. However, there are several artifacts that may lead to erroneous diagnoses. Additional studies, that depend on real-life clinical samples processed by TP are suggested to modify current diagnostic criteria

Diagnostic utility of thyroid transcription factor 1 expression in adenocarcinomas presenting in serous fluids

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic utility of the immunohistochemical expression of thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) in adenocarcinomas from serous fluid specimens. STUDY DESIGN: Archival paraffin-embedded cell blocks of serous fluids from 82 cases, including 34 cases of metastatic lung adenocarcinoma, 12 of metastatic ovarian adenocarcinoma, 12 of metastatic breast adenocarcinoma, 12 of metastatic gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma and 12 of malignant mesothelioma, were immunostained with anti- TTF-1. All the staining was carried out using a Ventana Automated System. Staining was evaluated according to the intensity of the nuclear staining (1+ to 4+) by two observers. RESULTS: Of the metastatic lung adenocarcinomas, 79% (27/34) expressed 3+ to 4+ reactivity against TTF-1. None of the malignant mesotheliomas or other metastatic adenocarcinomas expressed nuclear reactivity. CONCLUSION: Immunostaining with TTF-1 is a useful marker that can be applied to cytologic specimens. Anti-TTF-1 can be used as a reliable component of an antibody panel to support the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of pulmonary origin in patients presenting with metastatic adenocarcinoma in serous fluid with an unknown primary site

Cytologic artifacts and pitfalls of thyroid fine-needle aspiration using ThinPrep® The brand names ThinPrep® Cytyc®, Cytolyt®, and PreserveCyt® used throughout this article are registered trademarks of the Cytyc Corporation, Boxborough, MA.

BACKGROUND The ThinPrep® Processor has gained popularity as a collection and preparation technique for fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). Specific cytologic criteria to evaluate ThinPrep preparation (TP) may differ from those of conventional preparation (CP). The authors retrospectively reviewed the quality, cytologic features, and pitfalls of TP versus CP in thyroid FNABs and addressed the cytomorphologic criteria used to evaluate TP specimens. METHODS Thyroid FNABs received between January 1996–July 1999 were identified from the computer files of the Department of Pathology, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI). Histologic correlation and clinical follow-up were reviewed. The cytology slides were reevaluated for cellularity, cellular preservation, artifacts, background material, architectural integrity, cytoplasmic details, and nuclear details by two observers. RESULTS Of the 209 thyroid FNABs performed during the study period, TP and CP prepared 127 and 82 cases respectively. Histologic correlation was available in 68 (33%) cases (32 TP and 36 CP). Overall sensitivity was 80% and specificity was 98%. The sensitivity of CP versus TP was 87% and 70%, respectively. Thyroid FNABs prepared by TP, as compared with CP, were characterized by the following: The TP slide 1) allowed assessment of the overall specimen cellularity but not individual passes of an FNAB, 2) contained only “hard” colloid that appeared dense, markedly fragmented, or in droplets, 3) showed crowded, tight, tissue clusters with loss of cellular preservation, especially in the larger aggregates, 4) demonstrated more cell shrinkage, 5) showed increased disruption of the cytoplasm and numerous naked nuclei, 6) occasionally gave nucleoli a more prominent appearance, and 7) was less likely to show nuclear grooves and “pseudoinclusions” in papillary carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS This study concluded that cytologic features used to evaluate thyroid FNABs prepared by CP may need to be modified when using TP. Awareness of the above-described findings and further studies to evaluate TP are essential to avoid potential diagnostic pitfalls. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2001;93:179–186. © 2001 American Cancer Society.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34358/1/9027_ftp.pd