Expect the unexpected: Endometriosis mimicking a rectal carcinoma in a post-menopausal lady

Altered bowels habits along with rectal mass in an elderly would point toward a rectal cancer. We report an unusual case of a post-menopausal lady who presented with these complaints. We had difficulties in establishing a pre-operative diagnosis. With a tentative diagnosis of a rectal cancer/gastrointestinal stromal tumor, she underwent a laparoscopic anterior resection. On histopathology, this turned out to be endometriosis. Bowel endometriosis is an uncommon occurrence. That it occurred in a post-menopausal lady was a very unusual finding. We discuss the case, its management, and the relevant literature

Multiphysics Modeling of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Induced Chemotherapeutic Drug Release from the Surface of Gold Nanoparticles

Currently, no numerical model for low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS)-triggered anticancer drug release from gold nanoparticle (GNP) drug carriers exists in the literature. In this work, LIPUS-induced doxorubicin (DOX) release from GNPs was achieved in an ex vivo tissue model. Transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) imaging was performed before and after LIPUS exposure, and significant aggregation of the GNPs was observed upon DOX release. Subsequently, GNP surface potential was determined before and after LIPUS-induced DOX release, using a Zetasizer. A numerical model was then created to predict GNP aggregation, and the subsequent DOX release, via combining a thermal field simulation by solving the bioheat transfer equation (in COMSOL) and the Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek (DLVO) total interaction potential (in MATLAB). The DLVO model was applied to the colloidal DOX-loaded GNPs by summing the attractive van der Waals and electrostatic repulsion interaction potentials for any given GNP pair. DLVO total interaction potential was found before and after LIPUS exposure, and an energy barrier for aggregation was determined. The DLVO interaction potential peak amplitude was found to drop from 1.36 kBT to 0.24 kBT after LIPUS exposure, translating to an 82.4% decrease in peak amplitude value. It was concluded that the interaction potential energy threshold for GNP aggregation (and, as a result, DOX release) was equal to 0.24 kBT

Remazol brilliant blue reactive dye decolouration and mustard straw utilization by white rot fungi

144-148The remazol brilliant blue reactive (RBBR) dye decolouration and mustard (Brassica campestris) straw (MuS) nutrient utilization by various white rot fungi, viz. Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Ganoderma applanatum, G. lucidum, Pleurotus ostreatus, P. sajorcaju, Polyporus arcularius, P. versicolor, P. adustus, P. sanguineus-970, P. sanguineus-154, Trametes hirsuta, Parva mentocela and Longyites strata, were studied. The visual detection of decolouration was found complementary to its quantitative estimation. P. sanguineus-970 showed the highest RBBR dye decolouration in agar as well as in broth medium (74%). The dry matter utilization of MuS was low (20-27%) by all the white rot fungi. However, they preferentially degraded lignin (18-42%) in comparison to cellulose (0-12%). The highest lignin utilization was shown by P. chrysosporium. Whereas, P. sanguineus-154 showed both higher RBBR dye decolouration (66.5%) and lignin degradation (33%) and could be used for modification of MuS as animal feed

Effect of sodium hydroxide and alkaline hydrogen peroxide treatment on physical and chemical characteristics and IVOMD of mustard straw

Abstract Mustard straw (MS) was soaked for 6 h in the solutions containing 0% (S 0 ), 1% (S 1 ) or 2% (S 2 ) sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and 0% (H 0 ) or 1.5% (H 1 ) hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) following a 3Â2 factorial design. The pH of the untreated MS (near neutral) was increased to more than 10 after treatment with NaOH (S 1 H 0 and S 2 H 0 ) or alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP; S 1 H 1 and S 2 H 1 ). The treatment effect on tenacity was not signi®cant. The NDF and ADF contents of MS increased signi®cantly (p<0.01) in the treatment S 0 H 1 , whereas these decreased signi®cantly (p<0.01) in the treatments S 2 H 0 and S 2 H 1 . However, the change in NDF and ADF was not signi®cant in S 0 H 0 , S 1 H 0 and S 1 H 1 treatments. The content of both NDF and ADF decreased linearly (p<0.01) with increasing level of NaOH in the soaking medium. The effect of various treatments on cellulose content was almost similar to that of NDF and ADF. The acid detergent lignin content of MS increased signi®cantly (p<0.01) in case of S 1 H 0 , S 0 H 1 and S 1 H 1 but the differences were not signi®cant among UMS, S 0 H 0 , S 2 H 0 and S 2 H 1 . The IVOMD content of untreated MS was 162 g kg À1 DM and it increased signi®cantly (p<0.01) when straw was soaked in S 1 H 0 , S 2 H 0 , S 1 H 1 and S 2 H 1 , whereas it reduced slightly due to either water (S 0 H 0 ) or H 2 O 2 (S 0 H 1 ) treatment. With the increasing level of NaOH, the IVOMD improved signi®cantly (p<0.01). It is concluded that the cell wall constituents and IVOMD of MS were modi®ed by NaOH with or without H 2 O 2 in a way that in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) of treated MS was 82±112% units higher than untreated MS. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved