Ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy: prostatic and periprostatic tissues atlas and evaluation of the learning curve

Ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) is an optical technology that provides fast H&E-like images of freshly excised tissues, and it has been mainly used for “real-time” pathological examination of dermatological malignancies. It has also shown to be a promising tool for fast pathological examination of prostatic tissues. We aim to create an atlas for FCM images of prostatic and periprostatic tissues to facilitate the interpretation of these images. Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate the learning curve of images interpretation of this new technology. Eighty fresh and unprepared biopsies obtained from radical prostatectomy specimens were evaluated using the FCM VivaScope® 2500 M-G4 (Mavig GmbH, Munich, Germany; Caliber I.D.; Rochester NY, USA) by two pathologists. Images of FCM with the corresponding H&E are illustrated to create the atlas. Furthermore, the two pathologists were asked to re-evaluate the 80 specimens after 90 days interval in order to assess the learning curve of images’ interpretation of FCM. FCM was able to differentiate between different types of prostatic and periprostatic tissues including benign prostatic glands, benign prostatic hyperplasia, high-grade intraepithelial neoplasm, and prostatic adenocarcinoma. As regards the learning curve, FCM demonstrated a short learning curve. We created an atlas that can serve as the base for urologists and pathologists for learning and interpreting FCM images of prostatic and periprostatic tissues. Furthermore, FCM images is easily interpretable; however, further studies are required to explore the potential applications of this new technology in prostate cancer diagnosis and management

To optimize gas flaring in Kirkuk refinery in various seasons via artificial intelligence techniques

Abstract Unavoidable flaring in downstream oil industry causes pollutant emission in large amounts which is potentially harmful to nearby cities or farms. Hence one must manage exhaust toxic gases to raise enough in atmosphere or redirect from such places. Since Kirkuk refinery in north Iraq is next-door to agricultural farms on west yet to residential areas on east optimizing its layout for flare stacks is something acute. In this work we wrote codes in MATLAB software to simulate incomplete rather than complete oxidation as well as pollutant generation reactions. Then we made use of FLEUENT software to simulate pollutant propagation in Kirkuk oil purifier complex yet also farther to city as well as farms with respect to seasonal air currents on lowest troposphere layer. Finally, we set neural network approach to train on simulation data thereafter to unify outcomes to turn into a fast technique for layout optimization. Results show that optimization process efficiency relies on air current velocities as well as its direction. At intermediate air flow rates optimum layout includes only a selective portion of existent flare stacks. Outcomes also illustrate that heuristic techniques that have stronger local search such as particle swarm or artificial immune system can improve flare layout in seasons with intermediate air currents here summer plus early months in autumn while approaches with weak local search like Monte Carlo are more appropriate in winter for which we have no or low air flows in Kirkuk governorate

“Real-time” Assessment of Surgical Margins During Radical Prostatectomy: State-of-the-Art

Histopathologic examination of the pathologic specimens using hematoxylin & eosin stains represents the backbone of the modern pathology. It is time-consuming; thus, “real-time” assessment of prostatic and periprostatic tissue has gained special interest in the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. The current study focuses on the review of the different available techniques for “real-time” evaluation of surgical margins during radical prostatectomy (RP). We performed a comprehensive search of the Medline database to identify all the articles discussing “real-time” or intraoperative assessment of surgical margins during RP. Several filters were applied to the search to include only English articles performed on human subjects and published between January 2000 and March 2019. The search revealed several options for pathologic assessment of surgical margins including intraoperative frozen sections, confocal laser endomicroscopy, optical spectroscopy, photodynamic diagnosis, optical coherence tomography, multiphoton microscopy, structured illumination microscopy, 3D augmented reality, and ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscope. Frozen section represents the gold standard technique for real-time pathologic examinations of surgical margins during RP; however, several other options showed promising results in the initial clinical trials, and considering the rapid development in the field of molecular and cellular imaging, some of these options may serve as an alternative to frozen section