Association of invasive breast carcinoma and multicentric high grade astrocytoma: a case report with a review.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Multicentric gliomas are uncommon lesions of the central nervous system (CNS) with an unprecise rate of occurrence that diffusely infiltrate large portions of the brain. High grade astrocytoma is the most agressive form of gliomas and often has a distinct neuroimaging pattern with a poor prognosis. We report a case of a 29-year-old woman patient with primary breast carcinoma and high grade astrocytoma subsequently developed. The woman was treated by mastectomy and 20 months post-diagnosis of the cancer she exhibited a transient facial paralysis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed two cranial masses suspicious of metastasis. A complete tumor removal from the brain was performed. On histological examination, this tumor was a high grade astrocytoma

Temporally Multi-staged Batch Counterflow Reverse Osmosis for High Recovery Desalination

Osmotically assisted reverse osmosis (OARO) or counterflow reverse osmosis (CFRO) are recent RO configurations that uses saline streams on both sides of the membrane in counterflow. This reduces the osmotic pressure difference that needs to be overcome for permeation and allows water recovery from high salinity feeds at regular RO pressure. Batch RO is a new, transient RO configuration that closely follows the osmotic pressure profile of the feed and is marked by high energy efficiency. In this work we extend a transient version of CFRO, Batch CFRO for high recovery (~74%) desalination of seawater using a temporally multi-staged version of the process for the first time. In doing so, we introduce the first configuration to achieve Batch CFRO using entirely available components, including a pressure exchanger rather than high pressure tanks. Using a reduced order model, the terminal salinity of the brine leaving the system is calculated to be 183 g/kg. The key feature of this new configuration is that it is multi-staged in time rather than space. As such it can use the same hollow fiber membrane module for the different stages and hence reduce the component (pumps and pressure exchangers) count of the process. The brine produced in each stage is stored in inexpensive atmospheric pressure tanks. This is in contrast with other multi-stage processes where the number of flow devices usually scale with the number of stages needed for higher recovery and usually leads to high cost. Notably, the choice of membrane type can make a significant difference, as common narrow hollow fibers can experience large pressure drops that become significant. This leads to the conclusion that module design must be key to achieve the top-energy numbers of other batch CFRO configurations by the team, such as spiral wound membranes, turbulence-inducing spacers, or using feed on the shell side of the fibers

Late Little Ice Age palaeoenvironmental records from the Anzali and Amirkola Lagoons (south Caspian Sea): Vegetation and sea level changes

This is a postprint version of the article. The official published article can be found from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 Elsevier Ltd.Two internationally important Ramsar lagoons on the south coast of the Caspian Sea (CS) have been studied by palynology on short sediment cores for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic investigations. The sites lie within a small area of very high precipitation in a region that is otherwise dry. Vegetation surveys and geomorphological investigations have been used to provide a background to a multidisciplinary interpretation of the two sequences covering the last four centuries. In the small lagoon of Amirkola, the dense alder forested wetland has been briefly disturbed by fire, followed by the expansion of rice paddies from AD1720 to 1800. On the contrary, the terrestrial vegetation reflecting the diversity of the Hyrcanian vegetation around the lagoon of Anzali remained fairly complacent over time. The dinocyst and non-pollen palynomorph assemblages, revealing changes that have occurred in water salinity and water levels, indicate a high stand during the late Little Ice Age (LIA), from AD < 1620 to 1800–1830. In Amirkola, the lagoon spit remained intact over time, whereas in Anzali it broke into barrier islands during the late LIA, which merged into a spit during the subsequent sea level drop. A high population density and infrastructure prevented renewed breaking up of the spit when sea level reached its maximum (AD1995). Similar to other sites in the region around the southern CS, these two lagoonal investigations indicate that the LIA had a higher sea level as a result of more rainfall in the drainage basin of the CS.The coring and the sedimentological analyses were funded by the Iranian National Institute for Oceanography in the framework of a research project entitled “Investigation of the Holocene sediment along the Iranian coast of Caspian Sea: central Guilan”. The radiocarbon date of core HCGL02 was funded by V. Andrieu (Europôle Méditerranéen de l'Arbois, France) and that of core HCGA04 by Brunel University

Trace of

In present work, we investigated K^{-}+\, ^{3}\mathrm {He} reaction at low energies. The coupled-channel Faddeev AGS equations were solved for $${\bar{K}}Nd-\pi \varSigma {d}$$ three-body system in momentum representation to extract the scattering amplitudes. To trace the signature of the $$\varLambda$$(1405) resonance in the $$\pi \varSigma$$ invariant mass, the deuteron energy spectrum for K^{-}+\,^{3}\mathrm {He}\rightarrow \pi \varSigma {d} reaction was obtained. Different types of $${\bar{K}}N-\pi \varSigma$$ potentials based on phenomenological and chiral SU(3) approaches were used. As a remarkable result of this investigation, it was found that the deuteron energy spectrum, reflecting the $$\varLambda$$(1405) mass distribution and width, depends quite sensitively on the $${\bar{K}}N-\pi \varSigma$$ model of interaction. Hence accurate measurements of the $$\pi \varSigma$$ mass distribution have the potential to discriminate between possible mechanisms at work in the formation of the $$\varLambda$$(1405)

Efficacy of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser iridotomies in primary angle-closure diseases: superior peripheral iridotomy versus inferior peripheral iridotomy

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of superior peripheral iridotomy versus inferior peripheral iridotomy in the treatment of primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) in phakic patients. Methods: In this randomized, prospective, paired-eye comparative study, patients with primary angle closure or primary angle-closure suspects were recruited and randomized to receive neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) superiorly in one eye and inferiorly in the other eye. Patients were masked to the location of treatment in each eye. The main outcome measures were patency of iridotomy, intraocular pressure (IOP), complications and visual symptoms at each postoperative visit during a 1 year follow-up. Results: A total of 164 patients were recruited, of whom 150 (91.46%) completed the study. The mean age was 58.85 ± 6.4 years. Average IOP measurements before LPI was 22.85 ± 7.53 and 23.62 ± 8.32 in superior LPI and inferior LPI eyes respectively. After LPI, average IOP was 25.14 ± 2.73 and 20.97 ± 2.72 in superior LPI and inferior LPI eyes respectively. Inferior LPIs required less use of mean total laser energy to perforate the tissue (p =.05) and resulted in a significantly lower incidence of iris bleeding at the time of treatment (p =.004), lower IOP elevation following treatment (p =.002), lower incidence of focal corneal damage (p =.002) and a lower post-laser iritis (p =.04). All the 300 iridotomies were patent at 12 month follow up. Conclusion: The inferior LPI appeared to be an efficient method of preventing pupil block with fewer complications. Visual symptoms following inferior LPI are similar to superior LPI. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Investigation and Analysis of Sea Surface Temperature and Precipitation of the Southern Caspian Sea Using Wavelet Analysis

Most time series from real-world processes are stained with noise. Therefore, much attention should be paid to data noise removal techniques. In this study, we use the family of biorthogonal wavelet, high-pass, and low-pass filters, to investigate the power of the wavelet method in removing noise from time series data. Using the wavelet discrete transformation, the variability of precipitation and sea surface temperature is analyzed for a southern region of the Caspian Sea. At each stage of decomposition, the previous wave is decomposed into two waves. In this research, the SST and precipitation data are decomposed into several levels based on discrete wavelet transformation. In each level of decomposition, the previous wave is decomposed into two waves. This can be done many times and at each stage, reducing the amount of data. This method is reversible, and the original wave can be reconstructed using the decomposed values. In the study of discrete wavelet transforms, it was observed that the analysis based on wavelets leads to more accurate results. The reconstruction error in the proposed method is shown to be very small

Inclined and multi-directional surface impacts accelerate biodegradation and improve mechanical properties of pure iron

Impact based surface treatments with adequate kinetic energy have favorable effects on promoting cell-substrate interactions, reducing bacterial adhesion, and enhancing fatigue performance of metallic biomaterials. Here, we used both numerical and experimental approaches to evaluate the potential of these treatments for addressing the major issue associated with the application of pure iron in biomedical implants, i.e. its low corrosion rate. Despite the efficiency of impact based surface treatments in modulating the degradation rate of pure iron, the maximum reported depth of the affected surface layer is still limited, even when extreme process parameters are used. To address this issue, herein, two impact based treatments were adjusted to trigger the dislocation activities that facilitate grain refinement in pure iron using multi-directional inclined impacts. An alternative approach of severe shot peening (SSP) was developed and compared with ultrasonic shot peening (USP). The effect of both treatments and variations of their key parameters were analyzed considering the significant role of shear bands and dislocation cells in the grain refinement mechanism of pure α-iron. Microstructural, mechanical and electrochemical properties of the treated material were analyzed. The observations showed extension of the grain refined layers for the specimens subjected to multidirectional oblique impacts compared to the ones treated in the classic manner using normal impacts. The results imply that by adapting peening parameters, it would be possible to effectively create a thick surface layer with properties that can accelerate the biodegradation of pure iron boosting its potential to meet clinical requirements for temporary hard tissue implants