MSCT of huge abdominopelvic masses in female: a pictorial illustration

Introduction: The differential diagnoses for huge abdominopelvic masses in female are extensive. Many of these masses arise from the reproductive organs such as uterus, cervix and ovaries. Majority represents the commonly encountered entities such as uterine fibroid, dermoid tumour, ovarian cyst and ovarian cancer. However, some of the masses may arise from other organs such as the gastrointestinal system, urinary system, adjacent soft tissue, retroperitoneum or from metastasis. With large mass, it is a challenge for radiologists to determine the site of origin and to differentiate between these tumours. Case series We retrospectively reviewed MSCT performed for huge abdominopelvic masses. The CT findings were correlated with intra-operative findings and final HPE report. This pictorial illustration emphasize on differential diagnosis of huge abdominopelvic masses. Conclusion Familiarity with clinico-pathologic and imaging features is important and helpful for correct image interpretation of common and uncommon abdominopelvic masses

Effect of agitation and aeration rates on chitinase production using Trichoderma virens UKM1 in 2 L stirred tank reactor

Shrimps have been a popular raw material for the burgeoning marine and food industry contributing to increasing marine waste. Shrimp waste, which is rich in organic compounds is an abundant source of chitin, a natural polymer of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GluNac), a reducing sugar. For this respect, chitinase-producing fungi have been extensively studied as biocontrol agents. Locally isolated Trichoderma virens UKM1 was used in this study. The effect of agitation and aeration rates using colloidal chitin as control substrate in a 2-l stirred tank reactor gave the best agitation and aeration rates at 200 rpm and 0.33 vvm with 4.1 U/l per hour and 5.97 U/l per hour of maximum volumetric chitinase activity obtained, respectively. Microscopic observations showed shear sensitivity at higher agitation rate of the above system. The oxygen uptake rate during the highest chitinase productivity obtained using sun-dried ground shrimp waste of 1.74 mg of dissolved oxygen per gram of fungal biomass per hour at the kappaL a of 8.34 per hour

Computed tomography (CT) in blunt liver injury: a pictorial essay

Computed tomography (CT) is widely used in assessing clinically stable patients with blunt abdominal trauma. In these patients, liver is one of the commonest organs being injured and CT can accurately identify and assess the extent of the injury. The CT features of blunt liver trauma include laceration, subcapsular or parenchymal haematomas, active haemorrhage and vascular injuries. Widespread use of CT has notably influenced the management of blunt liver injury from routine surgical to nonsurgical management. We present pictorial illustrations of various liver injuries depicted on CT in patients with blunt trauma

Usage of social media to enhance job performance and reduce stress in organisation

Social media is frequently used as a tool to help employees perform their jobs in the organisation. The use of media technologies can help employees to reduce their stress and improve their job performance for their key performance index. This study aims to describe the use of Facebook as the mediating factor to reduce stress and enhance job performance. The Technology Acceptance Model was applied in this study as justifications of encouraging employees to adapt Facebook in helping them with their tasks through perceive ease of use and perceive usefulness. This study also indicates that hypotheses on usage of Facebook does not mediate the relationship between both perceive usefulness and perceive ease of use on employees 'job performance

Prevalence of Salmonella sp. in African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) obtained from farms and wet markets in Kelantan, Malaysia and their antibiotic resistance

The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella sp. isolated from African catfish (Clarias gariepinus). A total of 30 catfish were harvested from four different farms and four different wet markets. A total of 60 samples (30 catfish skins and 30 catfish intestines) were used for Salmonella sp. isolation (pellet-method), its biochemical and serological test. Confirmation of Salmonella sp. were determined by polyvalent O antisera and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using genus specific primers for invA genes (DNA amplification showed one distinct band with molecular weight of 389 bp) and the species of isolated Salmonella sp. were identified by serotyping. The result showed 6/30 (20%) of fish or 6/60 (10%) of organ samples were positive for Salmonella sp. Among those positive for Salmonella sp., 4/6 were from intestine samples and 2/6 were from skin samples. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of Salmonella sp. isolates between fish harvested from farms and wet markets (p-value= 0.406). The Salmonella serovars identified were Salmonella corvallis (n=3), Salmonella mbandaka (n=2) and Salmonella typhmurium (n=1). Salmonella sp. isolates were resistance to Penicillin (P 10, 100%), Clindamycin (DA 2, 100%), Tetracycline (TE 30, 100%) and Rifampicin (RD 5, 100%) and all of the isolates were susceptible or intermediate resistance to Ceftazidime (CAZ 30) and Trimethopin (W 5). Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of all Salmonella sp. isolates in current study was 0.67 indicating that fish sampled in the present study was under high risk of been exposed to the tested antibiotics

Statistical Modeling and Optimization of Process Parameters for 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Removal by Using AC/PDMAEMA Hydrogel Adsorbent: Comparison of Different RSM Designs and ANN Training Methods

In this study, the response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were employed to study the adsorption process of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) by using modified hydrogel, i.e., activated carbon poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (AC/PDMAEMA hydrogel). The effect of pH, the initial concentration of 2,4-D and the activated carbon content on the removal of 2,4-D and adsorption capacity were investigated through the face-centered composite design (FCCD), optimal design and two-level factorial design. The response surface plot suggested that higher removal of 2,4-D and adsorption capacity could be achieved at the higher initial concentration of 2,4-D and lower pH and activated carbon content. The modeling and optimization for the adsorption process of 2,4-D were also carried out by different design methods of RSM and different training methods of ANN. It was found that among the three design methods of RSM, the optimal design has the highest accuracy for the prediction of 2,4-D removal and adsorption capacity (R2 = 0.9958 and R2 = 0.9998, respectively). The numerical optimization of the optimal design found that the maximum removal of 2,4-D and adsorption capacity of 65.01% and 65.29 mg/g, respectively, were obtained at a pH of 3, initial concentration of 2,4-D of 94.52 mg/L and 2.5 wt% of activated carbon. Apart from the optimization of process parameters, the neural network architecture was also optimized by trial and error with different numbers of hidden neurons in the layers to obtain the best performance of the response. The optimization of the neural network was performed with different training methods. It was found that among the three training methods of the ANN model, the Bayesian Regularization method had the highest R2 and lowest mean square error (MSE) with the optimum network architecture of 3:9:2. The optimum condition obtained from RSM was also simulated with the optimized neural network architecture to validate the responses and adequacy of the RSM model

Properties of asphaltic concrete containing sasobit®

With increasing interest in the use of hot mix asphalt in the paving industry, more studies in this field for improvement of hot mix asphalt properties seem to be necessary. Hence, the main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of sasobit® content as modified binder in hot mix asphalt. 60/70 penetration grade asphalt was separately modified with sasobit® at different concentrations ranging from 0% to 4.5%. The influence of sasobit® on the hot mix asphalt mixtures properties were detected through conventional tests i.e. penetration and softening point. In addition, the Marshall stability, abrasion loss, and resilient modulus were also examined. Results indicated that the hot mix asphalt containing Sasobit® additive has significant affect in terms of penetration and softening point. Furthermore, the addition of Sasobit® seemed to improve the stability, abrasion loss and modulus of stiffness

Accidental and non-accidental head injury in children. Is there a difference in Tomography (CT) presentation?

Introduction: Differentiation between accidental and non-accidental head injury particularly with intracranial haemorrhages in children is a common medical & legal dilemma. Previous studies & research based on surgical, radiological & autopsy data suggest that different types of brain injuries tend to occur with accidental versus non-accidental trauma. Published data showed that CT brain findings of subdural bleed are more frequently encountered with nonaccidental causes of head injury. Objective: To see if there is any significant difference in the types of intracranial hemorrhages seen on computed tomography (CT) brain between accidental and nonaccidental head injury in children admitted to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA), Kuantan, Pahang. Methodology: All CT brain of children (newborn to 18 yrs of age)admitted to HTAA from September 2009 until September 2010 which demonstrated intracranial bleed,traced from the CT scan registration book and from the PACS/RIS systems (Picture Archiving and Communication System / Radiology Information System)were included in this study. Patient’s clinical notes were traced from HTAA’s Record Office. The causes of non-accidental and accidental head injury were determined. All the CT images were interpreted independently by 2 radiologists who were blinded to the indication of the CT examination. Statistical analysis were done using SPSS version 12. Conclusion: Although limited by a small number of patients with non-accidental injury, our data showed that CT brain findings of subdural haemorrhage has a statistically significant association with non-accidental injury. This is similar with other published data in the literature

Tensile properties of jute-polypropylene composites

This paper describes the tensile behaviour of jute-polypropylene fibre composites with different fibre volume fractions. Here, the composite laminates consisting of weaving jute fibres, with the fibre volume percent in the range of 20 to 80 % and polypropylene plies were prepared using hand lamination. The composite laminates were subjected to tensile testing as per ASTM D3039. The experimental results suggested that fibre-to-resin contents have a strong influence on the tensile properties of the composites. There is an increase in the tensile strength and Young's Modulus of the composites with increasing fibre volume fraction. However, upon reaching 60 % of the fibre contents, the tensile properties of the laminate showed a sudden decrease due to stress concentration of the fibre in the laminates. Theoretical models including Rule of Mixture, Halpin-Tsai, Hirsch, and Einstein-Guth models were used to predict the tensile strength of the composites. It was found that the experimental result attained is in close agreement with the values predicted using the rule of mixture model