Seismic Evaluation and Remediation of Embankment Dam

The seismic stability of the Croton Dam left embankment, was evaluated for potential earthquake ground motions. Field and laboratory test results were used to characterize the static and dynamic properties of the embankment and foundation materials. Results showed liquefaction and strength loss in certain zones of the embankment resulting in large deformation of the slope. Remediation of these areas of the dam was necessary. Various techniques were evaluated including drainage, construction of a berm at toe, vibro-grouted stone columns and compaction grouting. Compaction grouting was selected

Metastatic Testicular Cancer Patient with Synchronous Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Presented with Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Case Report

Testicular cancer is a curable oncologic disease of males mostly aged 15-44 years. Most of the patients are successfully treated with radical orchiectomy. However, a delayed presentation may lead to a dismal prognosis. There are several risk factors including cryptorchidism, a first-degree relative with testicular cancer, hypospadias, childhood inguinal hernia, and military pollutant exposure, among others. The distant metastasis of testicular carcinoma to the lung, liver, and brain are widely described. We present a unique case of a 28-year-old male who presented with gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Later, it was discovered that he had a metastatic testicular carcinoma synchronous with an oral squamous cell carcinoma. Metastasis was detected by imaging including X-ray, computerized tomography (CT) of the chest, abdomen, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The presence of two primary cancers concurrently is rare and indicates a poor prognosis. Because of the absence of risk factors in this patient, he was thought to be potentially exposed to depleted uranium from warfare due to his residence in Iraq. Markedly raised beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (b-HCG) titers indicate a possible non-seminomatous type; however, the exact type is unknown as the patient declined fine needle aspiration (FNA)/biopsy and orchiectomy. This case focuses on the atypical presentation and the importance of when to seek medical attention, as a delayed presentation can lead to a poor prognosis. Moreover, it heightens awareness that other malignancies may occur concurrently. As well as to emphasize on means that can be used to educate high-risk groups

Adaptive Autoimmunity and Foxp3-Based Immunoregulation in Zebrafish

Background: Jawed vertebrates generate their immune-receptor repertoire by a recombinatorial mechanism that has the potential to produce harmful autoreactive lymphocytes. In mammals, peripheral tolerance to self-antigens is enforced by Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. Recombinatorial mechanisms also operate in teleosts, but active immunoregulation is thought to be a late incorporation to the vertebrate lineage. Methods/Principal Findings: Here we report the characterization of adaptive autoimmunity and Foxp3-based immunoregulation in the zebrafish. We found that zebrafish immunization with an homogenate of zebrafish central nervous system (zCNS) triggered CNS inflammation and specific antibodies. We cloned the zebrafish ortholog for mammalian Foxp3 (zFoxp3) which induced a regulatory phenotype on mouse T cells and controlled IL-17 production in zebrafish embryos. Conclusions/Significance: Our findings demonstrate the acquisition of active mechanisms of self-tolerance early in vertebrate evolution, suggesting that active regulatory mechanisms accompany the development of the molecular potential for adaptive autoimmunity. Moreover, they identify the zebrafish as a tool to study the molecular pathways controlling adaptive immunity

Resuspendable Powders of Lyophilized Chalcogen Particles with Activity against Microorganisms

Many organic sulfur, selenium and tellurium compounds show considerable activity against microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi. This pronounced activity is often due to the specific, oxidizing redox behavior of the chalcogen-chalcogen bond present in such molecules. Interestingly, similar chalcogen-chalcogen motifs are also found in the elemental forms of these elements, and while those materials are insoluble in aqueous media, it has recently been possible to unlock their biological activities using naturally produced or homogenized suspensions of respective chalcogen nanoparticles. Those suspensions can be employed readily and often effectively against common pathogenic microorganisms, still their practical uses are limited as such suspensions are difficult to transport, store and apply. Using mannitol as stabilizer, it is now possible to lyophilize such suspensions to produce solid forms of the nanoparticles, which upon resuspension in water essentially retain their initial size and exhibit considerable biological activity. The sequence of Nanosizing, Lyophilization and Resuspension (NaLyRe) eventually provides access to a range of lyophilized materials which may be considered as easy-to-handle, ready-to-use and at the same time as bioavailable, active forms of otherwise insoluble or sparingly substances. In the case of elemental sulfur, selenium and tellurium, this approach promises wider practical applications, for instance in the medical or agricultural arena

The QGP phase in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The dynamics of partons, hadrons and strings in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the novel Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for partons (DQPM) matched to reproduce recent lattice-QCD results - including the partonic equation of state - in thermodynamic equilibrium. The transition from partonic to hadronic degrees of freedom is described by covariant transition rates for the fusion of quark-antiquark pairs or three quarks (antiquarks), respectively, obeying flavor current-conservation, color neutrality as well as energy-momentum conservation. The PHSD approach is applied to nucleus-nucleus collisions from low SIS to RHIC energies. The traces of partonic interactions are found in particular in the elliptic flow of hadrons as well as in their transverse mass spectra.Comment: To be published by Springer in Proceedings of the International Symposium on `Exciting Physics', Makutsi-Range, South Africa, 13-20 November, 201

Familial relative risks for breast cancer by pathological subtype: a population-based cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: The risk of breast cancer to first degree relatives of breast cancer patients is approximately twice that of the general population. Breast cancer, however, is a heterogeneous disease and it is plausible that the familial relative risk (FRR) for breast cancer may differ by the pathological subtype of the tumour. The contribution of genetic variants associated with breast cancer susceptibility to the subtype-specific FRR is still unclear. METHODS: We computed breast cancer FRR for subtypes of breast cancer by comparing breast cancer incidence in relatives of breast cancer cases from a population-based series with known estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status with that expected from the general population. We estimated the contribution to the FRR of genetic variants associated with breast cancer susceptibility using subtype-specific genotypic relative risks and allele frequencies for each variant. RESULTS: At least one marker was measured for 4,590 breast cancer cases, who reported 9,014 affected and unaffected first-degree female relatives. There was no difference between the breast cancer FRR for relatives of patients with ER-negative (FRR = 1.78, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.44 to 2.11) and ER-positive disease (1.82, 95% CI: 1.67 to 1.98), P = 0.99. There was some suggestion that the breast cancer FRR for relatives of patients with ER-negative disease was higher than that for ER-positive disease for ages of the relative less than 50 years old (FRR = 2.96, 95% CI: 2.04 to 3.87; and 2.05, 95% CI: 1.70 to 2.40 respectively; P = 0.07), and that the breast cancer FRR for relatives of patients with ER-positive disease was higher than for ER-negative disease when the age of the relative was greater than 50 years (FRR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.59 to 1.93; and 1.41, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.74 respectively, P = 0.06). We estimated that mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 explain 32% of breast cancer FRR for relatives of patients with ER-negative and 9.4% of the breast cancer FRR for relatives of patients with ER-positive disease. Twelve recently identified common breast cancer susceptibility variants were estimated to explain 1.9% and 9.6% of the FRR to relatives of patients with ER-negative and ER-positive disease respectively. CONCLUSIONS: FRR for breast cancer was significantly increased for both ER-negative and ER-positive disease. Including receptor status in conjunction with genetic status may aid risk prediction in women with a family history.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Effect of n-hexane extract of Nigella sativa on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats

The present study investigated whether the administration of the n-hexane extract of the Nigella sativa Linn. (kalajira) ameliorates gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Gentamicin (100 mg/kg/day for 7 days) was administered and nephrotoxicity was evaluated biochemically (significantly decreased reduced glutathione in renal cortex and significantly increased serum creatinine and serum urea) and histologically (moderate degree of proximal tubular damage). The n-hexane extract of N. sativa (5 mL/kg/day) was administered as pre-, post- and concomitant treatment for 7 days in the nephrotoxic rats. Statistically significant amelioration in all the biochemical parameters supported by significantly improved renal cortical histology was observed in the n-hexane extract of N. sativa treated nephrotoxic rats, which was more evident in the post-treatment group than the pre-treatment and the concomitantly-treated group. It is suggested that some ingredients contained in the n-hexane extract of N. sativa effected in ameliorating the signs of nephrotoxicity and that the specific active principle of the n-hexane extract of N. sativa responsible for this amelioration if obtained, would be more useful