Development and In Vitro Bioactivity Profiling of Alternative Sustainable Nanomaterials

EPA Science Inventory

Sustainable, environmentally benign nanomaterials (NMs) are being designed as alternatives based on functionality to conventional metal-based nanomaterials (NMs) in order to minimize potential risk to human health and the environment. Development of rapid methods to evaluate the ...

Leaving A Mark: A Comparison Arthropod Protein Marking Protocols

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Knowledge of arthropod pest and natural enemy disperal patterns is needed for effective and environmentally benign pest control. The most common tactics used to monitor arthropod dispersal patterns include mark-release-recapture (MRR) and mark-capture methodologies. Both methods require the applica...

Family History of Cancer in Benign Brain Tumor Subtypes Versus Gliomas

PubMed Central

Ostrom, Quinn T.; McCulloh, Christopher; Chen, Yanwen; Devine, Karen; Wolinsky, Yingli; Davitkov, Perica; Robbins, Sarah; Cherukuri, Rajesh; Patel, Ashokkumar; Gupta, Rajnish; Cohen, Mark; Barrios, Jaime Vengoechea; Brewer, Cathy; Schilero, Cathy; Smolenski, Kathy; McGraw, Mary; Denk, Barbara; Naska, Theresa; Laube, Frances; Steele, Ruth; Greene, Dale; Kastl, Alison; Bell, Susan; Aziz, Dina; Chiocca, E. A.; McPherson, Christopher; Warnick, Ronald; Barnett, Gene H.; Sloan, Andrew E.; Barnholtz-Sloan, Jill S.

2012-01-01

Purpose: Family history is associated with gliomas, but this association has not been established for benign brain tumors. Using information from newly diagnosed primary brain tumor patients, we describe patterns of family cancer histories in patients with benign brain tumors and compare those to patients with gliomas. Methods: Newly diagnosed primary brain tumor patients were identified as part of the Ohio Brain Tumor Study. Each patient was asked to participate in a telephone interview about personal medical history, family history of cancer, and other exposures. Information was available from 33 acoustic neuroma (65%), 78 meningioma (65%), 49 pituitary adenoma (73.1%), and 152 glioma patients (58.2%). The association between family history of cancer and each subtype was compared with gliomas using unconditional logistic regression models generating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals. Results: There was no significant difference in family history of cancer between patients with glioma and benign subtypes. Conclusion: The results suggest that benign brain tumor may have an association with family history of cancer. More studies are warranted to disentangle the potential genetic and/or environmental causes for these diseases. PMID:22649779

Prevalence and heritability of psoriasis and benign migratory glossitis in one Brazilian population*

PubMed Central

Jorge, Maria Augusta; Gonzaga, Heron Fernando de Sousa; Tomimori, Jane; Picciani, Bruna Lavinas Sayed; Barbosa, Calógeras Antônio

2017-01-01

Background An oral condition associated to psoriasis is benign migratory glossitis. The review of the literature does not show any publication about heritability in both soriasis and benign migratory glossitis and prevalence of psoriasis in the Brazilian population. Objective This research was carried out in order to determine the prevalence of psoriasis and benign migratory glossitis in the Brazilian population from a Brazilian sample, as well as the heritability in these conditions. Methods Six thousand patients were studied from the records of the outpatient dermatology department. The sample had 129 patients with cutaneous psoriasis, 399 with benign migratory glossitis without psoriasis and a control group with 5,472 patients. After data collection, the statistical analysis was made using Woolf, Chi-square and Falconer tests. Results The prevalence of psoriasis was 2.15% and the benign migratory glossitis was 7.0%. The prevalence of benign migratory glossitis in the psoriasis group was high (16.3%), and that was statistically significant. Family history in the psoriasis group was 38% for the condition itself and 2,75% for benign migratory glossitis and in the benign migratory glossitis group was 17.54% for the condition itself and 1.5% for psoriasis. The study of heritability was 38.8% for psoriasis and 36.6% for benign migratory glossitis, both with medium heritability. Study limitations This study was only in the state of São Paulo. Conclusion This is the first publication that quantifies how much of these conditions have a genetic background and how important the environmental factors are in triggering them. PMID:29364438

ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN MITIGATION OF MICROBIOLOGICALLY INFLUENCED CORROSION (MIC)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Robert Paterek; Gemma Husmillo; Amrutha Daram

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. The technical approach for this quarter includes the application of new methods of Capsicum sp. (pepper) extraction by soxhlet method and analysis of a new set of extracts by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and highmore » performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); isolation and cultivation of MIC-causing microorganisms from corroded pipeline samples; and evaluation of antimicrobial activities of the old set of pepper extracts in comparison with major components of known biocides and corrosion inhibitors. Twelve new extracts from three varieties of Capsicum sp. (Serrano, Habanero, and Chile de Arbol) were obtained by soxhlet extraction using 4 different solvents. Results of TLC done on these extracts showed the presence of capsaicin and some phenolic compounds, while that of HPLC detected capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin peaks. More tests will be done to determine specific components. Additional isolates from the group of heterotrophic, acid-producing, denitrifying and sulfate-reducing bacteria were obtained from the pipeline samples submitted by gas companies. Isolates of interest will be used in subsequent antimicrobial testing and test-loop simulation system experiments. Results of antimicrobial screening of Capsicum sp. extracts and components of known commercial biocides showed comparable activities when tested against two strains of sulfate-reducing bacteria.« less

EVALUATING THE GREENNESS OF GREEN CHEMISTRY VIA TRADITIONAL AND THERMODYNAMIC LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Developments in Green Chemistry are expected to result in novel approaches that are more environmentally benign than traditional methods. Much of the research in green chemistry focuses on replacing toxic and hazardous substances such as solvents, catalysts and reaction media by...

Greener iodination of arenes using sulphated ceria-zirconia catalysts in polyethylene glycol

EPA Science Inventory

An environmentally benign method for the selective monoiodination of diverse aromatic compounds has been developed using reusable sulphated ceria-zirconia under mild conditions. The protocol provides moderate to good yields of aryl iodides in PEG-200 as a greener solvent. The cat...

A review on production of biodiesel using catalyzed transesterification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dash, Santosh Kumar; Lingfa, Pradip

2017-07-01

Biodiesel is arguably an important fuel for compression ignition engine as far as sustainability and environmental issues are concerned. It can be produced from both edible and non-edible vegetable oils and animal fats. Owing to higher viscosity, the utilization of crude vegetable oil is not advisable as it results engine failure. For reducing the viscosity and improving the other fuel characteristics comparable to that of diesel fuel, different approaches have been developed. However, transesterification process is very reliable, less costly and easy method compared to other methods. Due to more free fatty acids content in most of the non-edible vegetable oils, a pretreatment is employed to convert the acids to ester, then transesterified with suitable alcohol. Primarily yield of biodiesel depends upon the molar ratio of oil/alcohol, reaction temperature, reaction time, amount of catalyst, type of catalyst, stirring speed. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts are used for synthesis purposes. Heterogeneous catalysts are less costly, environmental benign and can be derived from natural resources. Enzymatic catalysts are more environmental benign than heterogeneous catalysts but are costly, which hinders its widespread research and utilization. This article reviews the results of prominent works and researches in the field of production of biodiesel via catalyzed transesterification process.

Self-assembly of palladium nanoparticles: Synthesis of nanobelts, nanoplates and nanotrees using vitamin B1 and their application in carbon-carbon coupling reactions

EPA Science Inventory

An environmentally friendly one-step method to synthesize palladium (Pd) nanobelts, nanoplates and nanotrees using vitamin B1 without using any special capping agents at room temperature is described. This greener method, which uses water as benign solvent and vitamin B1 as a red...

Development of biomimetic catalytic oxidation methods and non-salt methods using transition metal-based acid and base ambiphilic catalysts

PubMed Central

MURAHASHI, Shun-Ichi

2011-01-01

This review focuses on the development of ruthenium and flavin catalysts for environmentally benign oxidation reactions based on mimicking the functions of cytochrome P-450 and flavoenzymes, and low valent transition-metal catalysts that replace conventional acids and bases. Several new concepts and new types of catalytic reactions based on these concepts are described. PMID:21558760

Chemoselective formation of unsymmetrically substituted ethers from catalytic reductive coupling of aldehydes and ketones with alcohols in aqueous solution.

PubMed

Kalutharage, Nishantha; Yi, Chae S

2015-04-03

A well-defined cationic Ru-H complex catalyzes reductive etherification of aldehydes and ketones with alcohols. The catalytic method employs environmentally benign water as the solvent and cheaply available molecular hydrogen as the reducing agent to afford unsymmetrical ethers in a highly chemoselective manner.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENIGN MITIGATION OF MICROBIOLOGICALLY INFLUENCED CORROSION (MIC)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J.R. Paterek; G. Husmillo; V. Trbovic

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmental benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is one or more environmental benign, a.k.a. ''green'' products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. The technical approach for this quarter were isolation and cultivation of MIC-causing microorganisms from corroded pipeline samples, optimizing parameters in the laboratory-scale corrosion test loop system and testing the effective concentrations of Capsicum sp. extracts to verifymore » the extent of corrosion on metal coupons by batch culture method. A total of 22 strains from the group of heterotrophic, acid producing, denitrifying and sulfate reducing bacteria were isolated from the gas pipeline samples obtained from Northern Indiana Public Service Company in Trenton, Indiana. They were purified and will be sent out for identification. Bacterial strains of interest were used in antimicrobial screenings and test loop experiments. Parameters for the laboratory-scale test loop system such as gas and culture medium flow rate; temperature; inoculation period; and length of incubation were established. Batch culture corrosion study against Desulfovibrio vulgaris showed that one (S{sub 1}M) out of the four Capsicum sp. extracts tested was effective in controlling the corrosion rate in metal coupons by 33.33% when compared to the untreated group.« less

Simple, benign, aqueous-based amination of polycarbonate surfaces

DOE PAGES

VanDelinder, Virginia; Wheeler, David R.; Small, Leo J.; ...

2015-03-18

Here we report a simple, safe, environmentally-friendly aqueous method that uses diamines to functionalize a polycarbonate surface with amino groups. We demonstrate the ability of this facile method to serve as a foundation upon which other functionalities may be attached, including anti-fouling coatings and oriented membrane proteins. The use of water as the solvent for the functionalization ensures that solvent induced swelling does not affect the optical or mechanical properties of the polycarbonate.

Development of biomimetic catalytic oxidation methods and non-salt methods using transition metal-based acid and base ambiphilic catalysts.

PubMed

Murahashi, Shun-Ichi

2011-01-01

This review focuses on the development of ruthenium and flavin catalysts for environmentally benign oxidation reactions based on mimicking the functions of cytochrome P-450 and flavoenzymes, and low valent transition-metal catalysts that replace conventional acids and bases. Several new concepts and new types of catalytic reactions based on these concepts are described. (Communicated by Ryoji Noyori, M.J.A.).

The Origin and Significance of Mammary Intraductal Foam Cells

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

hematopoeitic origin developed in mammary tissue with both benign and malignant differentiation, depending on environmental cues. Progression of the cells...contribution of hematopoeitic precursors to the heterogeneity of cell types in benign and malignant mammary tissue.

A rapid, one-pot, microwave-influenced synthesis of spiro-2,5-diketopiperazines via a cascade Ugi/6-exo-trig aza-Michael reaction.

PubMed

Santra, Soumava; Andreana, Peter R

2011-04-01

A rapid, cascade reaction process has been developed to access biologically validated spiro-2,5-diketopiperazines. The facile and environmentally benign method capitalizes on commercially available starting reagents for a sequential Ugi/6-exo-trig aza-Michael reaction, water as a solvent, and microwave irradiation without any extraneous additives.

MICROWAVE-ASSISTED GREENER SYNTHESIS OF PHARMACEUTICALLY ACTIVE HETEROCYCLES UNDER BENIGN CONDITIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Green chemistry is a rapidly developing new field that provides us a proactive avenue for the sustainable development of future science and technologies. Environmentally benign protocols have been developed for the synthesis of various pharmaceutically active heterocycles namely ...

Determination of Aniline and Its Derivatives in Environmental Water by Capillary Electrophoresis with On-Line Concentration

PubMed Central

Liu, Shuhui; Wang, Wenjun; Chen, Jie; Sun, Jianzhi

2012-01-01

This paper describes a simple, sensitive and environmentally benign method for the direct determination of aniline and its derivatives in environmental water samples by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with field-enhanced sample injection. The parameters that influenced the enhancement and separation efficiencies were investigated. Surprisingly, under the optimized conditions, two linear ranges for the calibration plot, 1–50 ng/mL and 50–1000 ng/mL (R > 0.998), were obtained. The detection limit was in the range of 0.29–0.43 ng/mL. To eliminate the effect of the real sample matrix on the stacking efficiency, the standard addition method was applied to the analysis of water samples from local rivers. PMID:22837668

Sonochemical Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanostructures for Sensing and Energy Harvesting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vabbina, Phani Kiran

Semiconductor nanostructures have attracted considerable research interest due to their unique physical and chemical properties at nanoscale which open new frontiers for applications in electronics and sensing. Zinc oxide nanostructures with a wide range of applications, especially in optoelectronic devices and bio sensing, have been the focus of research over the past few decades. However ZnO nanostructures have failed to penetrate the market as they were expected to, a few years ago. The two main reasons widely recognized as bottleneck for ZnO nanostructures are (1) Synthesis technique which is fast, economical, and environmentally benign which would allow the growth on arbitrary substrates and (2) Difficulty in producing stable p-type doping. The main objective of this research work is to address these two bottlenecks and find a solution that is inexpensive, environmentally benign and CMOS compatible. To achieve this, we developed a Sonochemical method to synthesize 1D ZnO Nanorods, core-shell nanorods, 2D nanowalls and nanoflakes on arbitrary substrates which is a rapid, inexpensive, CMOS compatible and environmentally benign method and allows us to grow ZnO nanostructures on any arbitrary substrate at ambient conditions while most other popular methods used are either very slow or involve extreme conditions such as high temperatures and low pressure. A stable, reproducible p-type doping in ZnO is one of the most sought out application in the field of optoelectronics. Here in this project, we doped ZnO nanostructures using sonochemical method to achieve a stable and reproducible doping in ZnO. We have fabricated a homogeneous ZnO radial p-n junction by growing a p-type shell around an n-type core in a controlled way using the sonochemical synthesis method to realize ZnO homogeneous core-shell radial p-n junction for UV detection. ZnO has a wide range of applications from sensing to energy harvesting. In this work, we demonstrate the successful fabrication of an electrochemical immunosensor using ZnO nanoflakes to detect Cortisol and compare their performance with that of ZnO nanorods. We have explored the use of ZnO nanorods in energy harvesting in the form of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) and Perovskite Solar Cells.

Eutectic salt catalyzed environmentally benign and highly efficient Biginelli reaction.

PubMed

Azizi, Najmadin; Dezfuli, Sahar; Hahsemi, Mohmmad Mahmoodi

2012-01-01

A simple deep eutectic solvent based on tin (II) chloride was used as a dual catalyst and environmentally benign reaction medium for an efficient synthesis of 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one derivatives, from aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, and urea in good-to-excellent yields and short reaction time. This simple ammonium deep eutectic solvent, easily synthesized from choline chloride and tin chloride, is relatively inexpensive and recyclable, making it applicable for industrial applications.

Eutectic Salt Catalyzed Environmentally Benign and Highly Efficient Biginelli Reaction

PubMed Central

Azizi, Najmadin; Dezfuli, Sahar; Hahsemi, Mohmmad Mahmoodi

2012-01-01

A simple deep eutectic solvent based on tin (II) chloride was used as a dual catalyst and environmentally benign reaction medium for an efficient synthesis of 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one derivatives, from aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, and urea in good-to-excellent yields and short reaction time. This simple ammonium deep eutectic solvent, easily synthesized from choline chloride and tin chloride, is relatively inexpensive and recyclable, making it applicable for industrial applications. PMID:22649326

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hadi, Pejman; Ning, Chao; Ouyang, Weiyi

Highlights: • Environmental impacts of electronic waste and specifically waste printed circuit boards. • Review of the recycling techniques of waste printed circuit boards. • Advantages of physico-mechanical recycling techniques over chemical methods. • Utilization of nonmetallic fraction of waste printed circuit boards as modifier/filler. • Recent advances in the use of nonmetallic fraction of waste printed circuit boards as precursor. - Abstract: Electronic waste, including printed circuit boards, is growing at an alarming rate due to the accelerated technological progress and the shorter lifespan of the electronic equipment. In the past decades, due to the lack of proper economicmore » and environmentally-benign recycling technologies, a major fraction of e-waste generated was either destined to landfills or incinerated with the sole intention of its disposal disregarding the toxic nature of this waste. Recently, with the increasing public awareness over their environment and health issues and with the enaction of more stringent regulations, environmentally-benign recycling has been driven to be an alternative option partially replacing the traditional eco-unfriendly disposal methods. One of the most favorable green technologies has been the mechanical separation of the metallic and nonmetallic fraction of the waste printed circuit boards. Although metallic fraction, as the most profitable component, is used to generate the revenue of the separation process, the nonmetallic fraction (NMF) has been left isolated. Herein, the recent developments in the application of NMF have been comprehensively reviewed and an eco-friendly emerging usage of NMF as a value-added material for sustainable remediation has been introduced.« less

Polysaccharide-thickened aqueous fluoride solutions for rapid destruction of the nerve agent VX. Introducing the opportunity for extensive decontamination scenarios.

PubMed

Elias, Shlomi; Saphier, Sigal; Columbus, Ishay; Zafrani, Yossi

2014-01-01

Among the chemical warfare agents, the extremely toxic nerve agent VX (O-ethyl S-2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methylphosphonothioate) is a target of high importance in the development of decontamination methods, due to its indefinite persistence on common environmental surfaces. Liquid decontaminants are mostly characterized by high corrosivity, usually offer poor coverage, and tend to flow and accumulate in low areas. Therefore, the development of a noncorrosive decontaminant, sufficiently viscous to resist dripping from the contaminated surface, is necessary. In the present paper we studied different polysaccharides-thickened fluoride aqueous solutions as noncorrosive decontaminants for rapid and efficient VX degradation to the nontoxic product EMPA (ethyl methylphosphonic acid). Polysaccharides are environmentally benign, natural, and inexpensive. Other known decontaminants cannot be thickened by polysaccharides, due to the sensitivity of the latter toward basic or oxidizing agents. We found that the efficiency of VX degradation in these viscous solutions in terms of kinetics and product identity is similar to that of KF aqueous solutions. Guar gum (1.5 wt %) with 4 wt % KF was chosen for further evaluation. The benign nature, rheological properties, adhering capabilities to different surfaces, and decontamination from a porous matrix were examined. This formulation showed promising properties for implementation as a spray decontaminant for common and sensitive environmental surfaces.

A brief review of other notable protein detection methods on acrylamide gels.

PubMed

Kurien, Biji T; Scofield, R Hal

2012-01-01

Several methods have been described to stain proteins analyzed on acrylamide gels. These include ultrasensitive protein detection in one-dimensional and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis using a fluorescent product from the fungus Epicoccum nigrum; a fluorescence-based Coomassie Blue protein staining; visualization of proteins in acrylamide gels using ultraviolet illumination; fluorescence visualization of proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels using environmentally benign, nonfixative, saline solution; and increasing the sensitivity four- to sixfold for detecting trace proteins in dye or silver stained polyacrylamide gels using polyethylene glycol 6000. All these methods are reviewed briefly in this chapter.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, T.; Hu, M.; Guo, Q.

Here we report a study of printing of electronics using an office use laser printer. The proposed method eliminates those critical disadvantages of solvent-based printing techniques by taking the advantages of electroless deposition and laser printing. The synthesized toner acts as a catalyst for the electroless copper deposition as well as an adhesion-promoting buffer layer between the substrate and deposited copper. The easy metallization of printed patterns and strong metal-substrate adhesion make it an especially effective method for massive production of flexible printed circuits. The proposed process is a high throughput, low cost, efficient, and environmentally benign method for flexiblemore » electronics manufacturing.« less

Towards Environmentally-benign Nanoengineering: Antimicrobial Nanoparticles Based on Silver-infused Lignin Cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Alexander Philipp

Engineered nanomaterials are capable of solving challenges in industries important to society such as energy, agriculture, and health care. Antimicrobial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are the most widely used nanoparticles by number of commercial products in commerce today. However, the increased introduction of AgNPs in industrial applications may lead to discharge of persistent nanoparticles in the environment and undesired impacts on living organisms. This dissertation will present a new class of antimicrobial environmentallybenign nanoparticles (EbNPs) designed with green chemistry principles, which can serve as highly efficient microbicide substitutes of the AgNPs. The EbNP core is made of biodegradable lignin, and is infused with an optimal amount of silver ions. We report on the fabrication of environmentally benign nanoparticles (EbNPs) using two types of lignin precursors with simple, inexpensive, and non-toxic processes, (i) by employing a solvent exchange precipitation method at room temperature and (ii) by applying an environmentally friendly water-based acid precipitation method. The synthesis of Organosolv (High Purity Lignin) nanoparticles via antisolvent flash precipitation method in water resulted in particles in the size range of 45 to 250 nm in diameter. We investigate the synthesis parameters of Kraft (Indulin AT) lignin nanoparticles by flash precipitation induced by pH drop in ethylene glycol. Furthermore, we evaluate the ionic strength and pH stability of both lignin nanoparticle suspensions and highlight differences in the systems. After silver ion infusion of Indulin AT nanoparticles followed by surface modification, we show that the EbNPs exhibit higher antimicrobial activity towards Gram-negative human pathogens Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-positive human pathogens Staphylococcus epidermidis in direct comparison with silver nanoparticles and silver nitrate solution, and that the particles are effective against quaternary ammonium resistant Ralstonia bacteria. The enhanced antimicrobial action is due to highly-biocidal silver ions released from the EbNP matrix at the cell. High-throughput bioactivity screening using mammalian cell and zebrafish embryo assays performed in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not reveal increased safety concerns of the EbNPs, when compared to equivalent amount of AgNPs or AgNO3 solution. The silver ion functionalized EbNPs exhibit broad spectrum microbicide action and are capable of neutralizing common gram-negative human pathogens as well as quaternary amineresistant bacteria, while using ten times less silver when compared with conventional AgNPs and AgNO3 aqueous solution. We envisage that the overall environmental impact of silver ion functionalized EbNPs is likely to be significantly smaller when compared to AgNPs. As more general impact, the approach of engineering environmentally-benign lignin-core nanoparticles with matching functionality to persistent nanoparticles illustrates how green chemistry principles including atom economy, use of renewable feedstocks, and design for degradation can be applied to design more sustainable nanomaterials with increased functionality and decreased environmental footprint.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN MICROBIAL INHIBITOR TO CONTROL INTERNAL PIPELINE CORROSION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kristine L. Lowe; Bill W. Bogan; Wendy R. Sullivan

2004-07-30

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. Previous testing indicated that the growth, and the metal corrosion caused by pure cultures of sulfate reducing bacteria were inhibited by hexane extracts of some pepper plants. This quarter tests were performed with mixed bacterialmore » cultures obtained from natural gas pipelines. Treatment with the pepper extracts affected the growth and metabolic activity of the microbial consortia. Specifically, the growth and metabolism of sulfate reducing bacteria was inhibited. The demonstration that pepper extracts can inhibit the growth and metabolism of sulfate reducing bacteria in mixed cultures is a significant observation validating a key hypothesis of the project. Future tests to determine the effects of pepper extracts on mature/established biofilms will be performed next.« less

Addition of CFCl 3 to Aromatic Aldehydes via in Situ Grignard Reaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barkakaty, Balaka; Talukdar, Bandana; Lokitz, Bradley

In the case of synthetic modification of trichlorofluoromethane (CFCl 3) to non-volatile and useful fluorinated precursors, we realized that it is a cost-effective and an environmentally benign strategy for the safe consumption/destruction of the ozone depleting potential of the reagent. In our report, we present a novel method for in situ Grignard reaction using magnesium powder and CFCl 3 for synthesis of dichlorofluoromethyl aromatic alcohols.

Addition of CFCl 3 to Aromatic Aldehydes via in Situ Grignard Reaction

DOE PAGES

Barkakaty, Balaka; Talukdar, Bandana; Lokitz, Bradley

2015-08-18

In the case of synthetic modification of trichlorofluoromethane (CFCl 3) to non-volatile and useful fluorinated precursors, we realized that it is a cost-effective and an environmentally benign strategy for the safe consumption/destruction of the ozone depleting potential of the reagent. In our report, we present a novel method for in situ Grignard reaction using magnesium powder and CFCl 3 for synthesis of dichlorofluoromethyl aromatic alcohols.

Contact Us

Science.gov Websites

SRC Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing (ERC ) ** Bringing Sustainability to Semiconductor Manufacturing ** A multi-university research center leading the way to environmentally friendly semiconductor manufacturing, sponsored by the Semiconductor Research

Environmentally benign nanometric neem-laced urea emulsion for controlling mosquito population in environment.

PubMed

Mishra, Prabhakar; Samuel, Merlyn Keziah; Reddy, Ruchishya; Tyagi, Brij Kishore; Mukherjee, Amitava; Chandrasekaran, Natarajan

2018-01-01

The increasing risk of vector-borne diseases and the environmental pollution in the day-to-day life due to the usage of the conventional pesticides makes the role of nanotechnology to come into the action. The current study deals with one of the applications of nanotechnology through the formulation of neem urea nanoemulsion (NUNE). NUNE was formulated using neem oil, Tween 20, and urea using the microfluidization method. Prior to the development of nanoemulsion, the ratio of oil/surfactant/urea was optimized using the response surface modeling method. The mean droplet size of the nanoemulsion was found to be 19.3 ± 1.34 nm. The nanoemulsion was found to be stable for the period of 4 days in the field conditions which aids to its mosquitocidal activity. The nanoemulsion exhibited a potent ovicidal and larvicidal activity against A. aegypti and C. tritaeniorhynchus vectors. This result was corroborated with the histopathological analysis of the NUNE-treated larvae. Further, the effect of NUNE on the biochemical profile of the target host was assessed and was found to be efficacious compared to the bulk counterpart. The nanoemulsion was then checked for its biosafety towards the non-target species like plant beneficial bacterium (E. ludwigii), and phytotoxicity was assessed towards the paddy plant (O. sativa). Nanometric emulsion at the concentration used for the mosquitocidal application was found to be potentially safe towards the environment. Therefore, the nanometric neem-laced urea emulsion tends to be an efficient mosquito control agent with an environmentally benign property.

EMAS statement: benign accountability or wishful thinking? Insights from the Greek EMAS registry.

PubMed

Skouloudis, Antonis; Jones, Keith; Sfakianaki, Eleni; Lazoudi, Eugenia; Evangelinos, Konstantinos

2013-10-15

Do organizations certified under the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) effectively discharge their environmental accountability through their statements? Is the EMAS statement a step forward for the transparency of environmental management and the empowerment of organizational stakeholders' decision-making? Drawing from the Greek EMAS registry we apply an evaluation method for the completeness and materiality of environmental statements. While the latest version of the EMAS Regulation has introduced a set of forward-looking - yet challenging - improvements, the application of the standard should be closely examined. With this in mind, the key objective of this research note is to provide - from a descriptive standpoint - insights on the content of EMAS-based environmental accountability and a basis for future research as well as fruitful policy debate. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Science.gov Websites

SRC Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing (ERC ) ** Bringing Sustainability to Semiconductor Manufacturing ** A multi-university research center leading the way to environmentally friendly semiconductor manufacturing, sponsored by the Semiconductor Research

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN MICROBIAL INHIBITOR TO CONTROL INTERNAL PIPELINE CORROSION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bill W. Bogan; Brigid M. Lamb; Gemma Husmillo

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. Various chemicals that inhibit the growth and/or the metabolism of corrosion-associated microbes such as sulfate reducing bacteria, denitrifying bacteria, and methanogenic bacteria were evaluated to determine their ability to inhibit corrosion in experiments utilizing puremore » and mixed bacterial cultures, and planktonic cultures as well as mature biofilms. Planktonic cultures are easier to inhibit than mature biofilms but several compounds were shown to be effective in decreasing the amount of metal corrosion. Of the compounds tested hexane extracts of Capsicum pepper plants and molybdate were the most effective inhibitors of sulfate reducing bacteria, bismuth nitrate was the most effective inhibitor of nitrate reducing bacteria, and 4-((pyridine-2-yl)methylamino)benzoic acid (PMBA) was the most effective inhibitor of methanogenic bacteria. All of these compounds were demonstrated to minimize corrosion due to MIC, at least in some circumstances. The results obtained in this project are consistent with the hypothesis that any compound that disrupts the metabolism of any of the major microbial groups present in corrosion-associated biofilms shows promise in limiting the amount/rate of corrosion. This approach of controlling MIC by controlling the metabolism of biofilms is more environmentally benign than the current approach involving the use of potent biocides, and warrants further investigation.« less

Prevalence and heritability of psoriasis and benign migratory glossitis in one Brazilian population.

PubMed

Jorge, Maria Augusta; Gonzaga, Heron Fernando de Sousa; Tomimori, Jane; Picciani, Bruna Lavinas Sayed; Barbosa, Calógeras Antônio

2017-01-01

An oral condition associated to psoriasis is benign migratory glossitis. The review of the literature does not show any publication about heritability in both soriasis and benign migratory glossitis and prevalence of psoriasis in the Brazilian population. This research was carried out in order to determine the prevalence of psoriasis and benign migratory glossitis in the Brazilian population from a Brazilian sample, as well as the heritability in these conditions. Six thousand patients were studied from the records of the outpatient dermatology department. The sample had 129 patients with cutaneous psoriasis, 399 with benign migratory glossitis without psoriasis and a control group with 5,472 patients. After data collection, the statistical analysis was made using Woolf, Chi-square and Falconer tests. The prevalence of psoriasis was 2.15% and the benign migratory glossitis was 7.0%. The prevalence of benign migratory glossitis in the psoriasis group was high (16.3%), and that was statistically significant. Family history in the psoriasis group was 38% for the condition itself and 2,75% for benign migratory glossitis and in the benign migratory glossitis group was 17.54% for the condition itself and 1.5% for psoriasis. The study of heritability was 38.8% for psoriasis and 36.6% for benign migratory glossitis, both with medium heritability. This study was only in the state of São Paulo. This is the first publication that quantifies how much of these conditions have a genetic background and how important the environmental factors are in triggering them.

DESIGNING ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN SOLVENT SUBSTITUTES

EPA Science Inventory

Since the signing of 1987 Montreal Protocol, reducing and eliminating the use of harmful solvents has become an internationally imminent environmental protection mission. Solvent substitution is an effective way to achieve this goal. The Program for Assisting the Replacement of...

Alcohols as Substrates and Solvents for the Construction of 3-Alkoxylated-2-Oxindoles by Direct Alkoxylation of 3-Halooxindoles.

PubMed

Lin, Bing; Chen, Zhi-Yong; Liu, Huan-Huan; Wei, Qi-Di; Feng, Ting-Ting; Zhou, Ying; Wang, Can; Liu, Xiong-Li; Yuan, Wei-Cheng

2017-05-13

Described herein is an environmentally benign method for the synthesis of multisubstituted 3-alkoxylated-2-oxindoles 3 via direct alkoxylation of 3-halooxindoles 1 . A wide variety of such multisubstituted 3-alkoxylated-2-oxindole scaffolds were smoothly obtained in good yields (up to 94%) by heating in an oil bath at 35 °C for 24 h. A particularly valuable feature of this method was the development of environment-friendly chemistry using alcohols 2 as both the substrates and solvents in the presence of a catalytic amount of base.

SYSTEMATIC PROCEDURE FOR DESIGNING PROCESSES WITH MULTIPLE ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES

EPA Science Inventory

Evaluation of multiple objectives is very important in designing environmentally benign processes. It requires a systematic procedure for solving multiobjective decision-making problems, due to the complex nature of the problems, the need for complex assessments, and complicated ...

ENVIROMENTALLY BENIGN MITIGATION OF MICROBIOLOGICALLY INFLUENCED CORROSION (MIC)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Robert Paterek; Gemma Husmillo; Amrutha Daram

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. The technical approach for this quarter includes the application of the method of fractionation of the extracts by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); determination of antimicrobial activities of the new extracts and fractions using amore » growth inhibition assay, and evaluation of the extracts' ability to inhibit biofilm formation. We initiated the delivery system for these new biocides in the test cell and in mixtures of foam components and biocides/anti-biofilms. A total of 51 fractions collected by HPLC from crude extracts that were obtained from three varieties of Capsicum sp. (Serrano, Habanero, Chile de Arbol) were subjected to growth inhibition tests against two SRB strains, D. vulgaris and D. desulfuricans. Five fractions showed growth inhibition against both strains while seven inhibited D. desulfuricans only. The crude extracts did not show growth inhibition on both strains but were proven to be potent in preventing the formation of biofilm. Growth inhibition tests of the same set of crude extracts against Comamonas denitrificans did not show positive results. The fractions will be subjected to biofilm inhibition and dissociation assay as well. The delivery system to be evaluated first was foam. The ''foam pig'' components of surfactants and water were tested with the biocide addition. The first chemical and physical parameters to be tested were pH and surfactants. Tests using the fractionated pepper extracts are progressing rapidly. Gas chromatographic analysis on a number of fractions is underway. Involvement of other microorganisms in the tests will be extended. The foam application method has been initiated and is being developed.« less

Familiarization and Detection of Green Monopropellants Image

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coan, Mary R.

2015-01-01

Ammonium dinitramide (ADN) and hydroxyl ammonium nitrate (HAN) are green monopropellants which will be appearing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for processing in the next few years. These are relatively safe replacements for hydrazine as a monopropellant; however, little is known about methods of leak detection, vapor scrubbing, air emissions, or cleanup that will be required for safe and environmentally benign operations at KSC. The goal of this work is to develop leak detection and related technologies for the two new green monopropellants.

Familiarization and Detection of Green Monopropellants Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coan, Mary Rachel (Compiler)

2014-01-01

Ammonium dinitramide (ADN) and hydroxyl ammonium nitrate (HAN) are green monopropellants which will be appearing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for processing in the next few years. These are relatively safe replacements for hydrazine as a monopropellant; however, little is known about methods of leak detection, vapor scrubbing, air emissions, or cleanup that will be required for safe and environmentally benign operations at KSC. The goal of this work is to develop leak detection and related technologies for the two new green monopropellants.

Pd-Catalyzed Heterocycle Synthesis in Ionic Liquids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jianxiao; Jiang, Huanfeng

Heterocyclic and fused heterocyclic compounds are ubiquitously found in natural products and biologically interesting molecules, and many currently marketed drugs hold heterocycles as their core structure. In this chapter, recent advances on Pd-catalyzed synthesis of heterocycles in ionic liquids (ILs) are reviewed. In palladium catalysis, ILs with different cations and anions are investigated as an alternative recyclable and environmentally benign reaction medium, and a variety of heterocyclic compounds including cyclic ketals, quinolones, quinolinones, isoindolinones, and lactones are conveniently constructed. Compared to the traditional methods, these new approaches have many advantages, such as environmentally friendly synthetic procedure, easy product and catalyst separation, recyclable medium, which make them have the potential applications in industry.

Green Synthesis of Nanomaterials: Environmental Aspects

EPA Science Inventory

There is always a search for reliable and environmentally friendly processes to manufacture metal and metal oxide nanoparticles minimizing or even eliminating the use of hazardous chemicals. The only way to develop these “green” processes is to adapt benign synthesis approaches t...

Temperature dependent and applied field strength dependent magnetic study of cobalt nickel ferrite nano particles: Synthesized by an environmentally benign method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sontu, Uday Bhasker; G, Narsinga Rao; Chou, F. C.; M, V. Ramana Reddy

2018-04-01

Spinel ferrites have come a long way in their versatile applications. The ever growing applications of these materials demand detailed study of material properties and environmental considerations in their synthesis. In this article, we report the effect of temperature and applied magnetic field strength on the magnetic behavior of the cobalt nickel ferrite nano powder samples. Basic structural properties of spinel ferrite nano particles, that are synthesized by an environmentally benign method of auto combustion, are characterized through XRD, TEM, RAMAN spectroscopy. Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) is done to understand the nickel substitution effect on the optical properties of cobalt ferrite nano particles. Thermo magnetic studies using SQUID in the temperature range 5 K to 400 K and room temperature (300 K) VSM studies are performed on these samples. Fields of 0Oe (no applied field: ZF), 1 kOe (for ZFC and FC curves), 5 kOe (0.5 T), 50 kOe (5T) (for M-H loop study) are used to study the magnetic behavior of these nano particles. The XRD,TEM analysis suggest 40 nm crystallites that show changes in the cation distribution and phase changes in the spinel structure with nickel substitution. Raman micrographs support phase purity changes and cation redistributions with nickel substitution. Diffuse reflectance study on powder samples suggests two band gap values for nickel rich compounds. The Magnetic study of these sample nano particles show varied magnetic properties from that of hard magnetic, positive multi axial anisotropy and single-magnetic-domain structures at 5 K temperature to soft magnetic core shell like structures at 300 K temperature. Nickel substitution effect is non monotonous. Blocking temperature of all the samples is found to be higher than the values suggested in the literature.

Microwave-Assisted Rapid Access to Bio-active Heterocycles: Synthesis of 1,3,4-Oxadiazoles, 1,3,4-Thiadiazoles, 1,3-Dioxanes, Pyrazoles, Hydrazones and 3,4-Dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones under Benign Conditions

EPA Science Inventory

Green chemistry is a rapidly developing new field that provides us a proactive avenue for the sustainable development of future science and technologies.1 It emphasis the use of highly efficient and environmental benign synthetic protocols to deliver bio-active heterocycles, acc...

A SYSTEMATIC PROCEDURE FOR DESIGNING PROCESSES WITH MULTIPLE ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES

EPA Science Inventory

Evaluation and analysis of multiple objectives are very important in designing environmentally benign processes. They require a systematic procedure for solving multi-objective decision-making problems due to the complex nature of the problems and the need for complex assessment....

ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN MITIGATION OF MICROBIOLOGICALLY INFLUENCED CORROSION (MIC)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Robert Paterek; Gemma Husmillo

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmental benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is one or more environmental benign, a.k.a. ''green'' products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. Capsicum sp. extracts and pure compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activity against MIC causing bacteria. Studies on the ability of these compounds to dissociate biofilm from the substratum were conducted using microtiter plate assays. Tests usingmore » laboratory scale pipeline simulators continued. Preliminary results showed that the natural extracts possess strong antimicrobial activity being comparable to or even better than the pure compounds tested against strains of sulfate reducers. Their minimum inhibitory concentrations had been determined. It was also found that they possess bactericidal properties at minimal concentrations. Biofilm dissociation activity as assessed by microtiter plate assays demonstrated varying degrees of differences between the treated and untreated group with the superior performance of the extracts over pure compounds. Such is an indication of the possible benefits that could be obtained from these natural products. Confirmatory experiments are underway.« less

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN MICROBIAL INHIBITOR TO CONTROL INTERNAL PIPELINE CORROSION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Robert Paterek; Gemma Husmillo

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmental benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is one or more environmental benign, a.k.a. ''green'' products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. Capsicum sp. extracts and pure compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activity against MIC causing bacteria. Studies on the ability of these compounds to dissociate biofilm from the substratum were conducted using microtiter plate assays. Tests usingmore » laboratory scale pipeline simulators continued. Preliminary results showed that the natural extracts possess strong antimicrobial activity being comparable to or even better than the pure compounds tested against strains of sulfate reducers. Their minimum inhibitory concentrations had been determined. It was also found that they possess bactericidal properties at minimal concentrations. Biofilm dissociation activity as assessed by microtiter plate assays demonstrated varying degrees of differences between the treated and untreated group with the superior performance of the extracts over pure compounds. Such is an indication of the possible benefits that could be obtained from these natural products. Confirmatory experiments are underway.« less

EVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN MICROBIAL INHIBITOR TO CONTROL INTERNAL PIPELINE CORROSION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bill W. Bogan; Wendy R. Sullivan; Kristine M. H. Cruz

2004-04-30

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. Previous testing of pepper extracts resulted in preliminary data indicating that some pepper extracts inhibit the growth of some corrosion-associated microorganisms. This quarter additional tests were performed to more specifically investigate the ability of threemore » pepper extracts to inhibit the growth, and to influence the metal corrosion caused by two microbial species: Desulfovibrio vulgaris, and Comomonas denitrificans. All three pepper extracts rapidly killed Desulfovibrio vulgaris, but did not appear to inhibit Comomonas denitrificans. While corrosion rates were at control levels in experiments with Desulfovibrio vulgaris that received pepper extract, corrosion rates were increased in the presence of Comomonas denitrificans plus pepper extract. Further testing with a wider range of pure bacterial cultures, and more importantly, with mixed bacterial cultures should be performed to determine the potential effectiveness of pepper extracts to inhibit MIC.« less

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN MICROBIAL INHIBITOR TO CONTROL INTERNAL PIPELINE CORROSION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bill W. Bogan; Brigid M. Lamb; John J. Kilbane II

2004-10-30

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. Previous testing indicated that the growth, and the metal corrosion caused by pure cultures of sulfate reducing bacteria were inhibited by hexane extracts of some pepper plants. This quarter tests were performed to determine ifmore » chemical compounds other than pepper extracts could inhibit the growth of corrosion-associated microbes and to determine if pepper extracts and other compounds can inhibit corrosion when mature biofilms are present. Several chemical compounds were shown to be capable of inhibiting the growth of corrosion-associated microorganisms, and all of these compounds limited the amount of corrosion caused by mature biofilms to a similar extent. It is difficult to control corrosion caused by mature biofilms, but any compound that disrupts the metabolism of any of the major microbial groups present in corrosion-associated biofilms shows promise in limiting the amount/rate of corrosion.« less

Supercritical fluid extraction

DOEpatents

Wai, Chien M.; Laintz, Kenneth

1994-01-01

A method of extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a supercritical fluid solvent containing a chelating agent. The chelating agent forms chelates that are soluble in the supercritical fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments, the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide and the chelating agent is a fluorinated or lipophilic crown ether or fluorinated dithiocarbamate. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing contaminants from industrial waste without using acids or biologically harmful solvents. The chelate and supercritical fluid can be regenerated, and the contaminant species recovered, to provide an economic, efficient process.

Towards environmentally benign approaches for the synthesis of CZTSSe nanocrystals by a hot injection method: a status review.

PubMed

Ghorpade, Uma; Suryawanshi, Mahesh; Shin, Seung Wook; Gurav, Kishor; Patil, Pramod; Pawar, Sambhaji; Hong, Chang Woo; Kim, Jin Hyeok; Kolekar, Sanjay

2014-10-07

With the earth's abundance of kesterite, recent progress in chalcogenide based Cu2ZnSn(Sx,Se1-x)4 (CZTSSe) thin films has drawn prime attention in thin film solar cells (TFSCs) research and development. This review is focused on the current developments in the synthesis of CZTS nanocrystals (NCs) using a hot injection (HI) technique and provides comprehensive discussions on the current status of CZTSSe TFSCs. This article begins with a description of the advantages of nanoparticulate based thin films, and then introduces the basics of this technique and the corresponding growth mechanism is also discussed. A brief overview further addresses a series of investigations on the developments in the HI based CZTSSe NCs using different solvents in terms of their high toxicity to environmentally benign materials. A variety of recipes and techniques for the NCs ink formulation and thereby the preparation of absorber layers using NC inks are outlined, respectively. The deposition of precursor thin films, post-deposition processes such as sulfurization or selenization treatments and the fabrication of CZTSSe NCs based solar cells and their performances are discussed. Finally, we discussed concluding remarks and the perspectives for further developments in the existing research on CZTSSe based nanoparticulate (NP) TFSCs towards future green technology.

Environmentally evaluated HPLC-ELSD method to monitor enzymatic synthesis of a non-ionic surfactant.

PubMed

Gaber, Yasser; Akerman, Cecilia Orellana; Hatti-Kaul, Rajni

2014-01-01

N-Lauroyl-N-methylglucamide is a biodegradable surfactant derived from renewable resources. In an earlier study, we presented an enzymatic solvent-free method for synthesis of this compound. In the present report, the HPLC method developed to follow the reaction between lauric acid/methyl laurate and N-methyl glucamine (MEG) and its environmental assessment are described. Use of ultraviolet (UV) absorption or refractive index (RI) detectors did not allow the detection of N-methyl glucamine (MEG). With Evaporative light scattering detector ELSD, it was possible to apply a gradient elution, and detect MEG with a limit of detection, LOD = 0.12 μg. A good separation of the peaks: MEG, lauric acid, product (amide) and by-product (amide-ester) was achieved with the gradient program with a run time of 40 min. The setting of ELSD detector was optimized using methyl laurate as the analyte. LC-MS/MS was used to confirm the amide and amide-ester peaks. We evaluated the greenness of the developed method using the freely available software HPLC-Environmental Assessment Tool (HPLC-EAT) and the method got a scoring of 73 HPLC-EAT units, implying that the analytical procedure was more environmentally benign compared to some other methods reported in literature whose HPLC-EAT values scored up to 182. Use of ELSD detector allowed the detection and quantification of the substrates and the reaction products of enzymatic synthesis of the surfactant, N-lauroyl-N-methylglucamide. The developed HPLC method has acceptable environmental profile based on HPLC-EAT evaluation.

Environmentally evaluated HPLC-ELSD method to monitor enzymatic synthesis of a non-ionic surfactant

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background N-Lauroyl-N-methylglucamide is a biodegradable surfactant derived from renewable resources. In an earlier study, we presented an enzymatic solvent-free method for synthesis of this compound. In the present report, the HPLC method developed to follow the reaction between lauric acid/methyl laurate and N-methyl glucamine (MEG) and its environmental assessment are described. Results Use of ultraviolet (UV) absorption or refractive index (RI) detectors did not allow the detection of N-methyl glucamine (MEG). With Evaporative light scattering detector ELSD, it was possible to apply a gradient elution, and detect MEG with a limit of detection, LOD = 0.12 μg. A good separation of the peaks: MEG, lauric acid, product (amide) and by-product (amide-ester) was achieved with the gradient program with a run time of 40 min. The setting of ELSD detector was optimized using methyl laurate as the analyte. LC-MS/MS was used to confirm the amide and amide-ester peaks. We evaluated the greenness of the developed method using the freely available software HPLC-Environmental Assessment Tool (HPLC-EAT) and the method got a scoring of 73 HPLC-EAT units, implying that the analytical procedure was more environmentally benign compared to some other methods reported in literature whose HPLC-EAT values scored up to 182. Conclusion Use of ELSD detector allowed the detection and quantification of the substrates and the reaction products of enzymatic synthesis of the surfactant, N-lauroyl-N-methylglucamide. The developed HPLC method has acceptable environmental profile based on HPLC-EAT evaluation. PMID:24914404

A Stimuli-Responsive Supramolecular Hydrogel for Controlled Release of Drug

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biswas, Subharanjan; Datta, Lakshmi Priya; Roy, Soumyajit

An inexpensive, facile, and environmentally benign method has been developed for the preparation of stimuli-responsive and self-healing polyacrylic acid-chitosan-based supramolecular hydrogels. Guanidine hydrochloride is used as the supramolecular crosslinker to form an interconnected network with polyacrylic acid-chitosan complex. Because of the dynamic equilibrium between the hydrogen-bonding sites of the components, the hydrogels were found to be self-healable and sensitive to biochemical-stimulus, such as pH. Controlled loading of drug like doxorubicin and its significant anticancer activity of such hydrogels is worth mentioning.

Nanostructured manganese oxide thin films as electrode material for supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Hui; Lai, Man On; Lu, Li

2011-01-01

Electrochemical capacitors, also called supercapacitors, are alternative energy storage devices, particularly for applications requiring high power densities. Recently, manganese oxides have been extensively evaluated as electrode materials for supercapacitors due to their low cost, environmental benignity, and promising supercapacitive performance. In order to maximize the utilization of manganese oxides as the electrode material for the supercapacitors and improve their supercapacitive performance, the nanostructured manganese oxides have therefore been developed. This paper reviews the synthesis of the nanostructured manganese oxide thin films by different methods and the supercapacitive performance of different nanostructures.

Recent advances in transition metal-catalyzed N -atom transfer reactions of azides

PubMed Central

Driver, Tom G.

2011-01-01

Transition metal-catalyzed N-atom transfer reactions of azides provide efficient ways to construct new carbon–nitrogen and sulfur–nitrogen bonds. These reactions are inherently green: no additive besides catalyst is needed to form the nitrenoid reactive intermediate, and the by-product of the reaction is environmentally benign N2 gas. As such, azides can be useful precursors for transition metal-catalyzed N-atom transfer to sulfides, olefins and C–H bonds. These methods offer competitive selectivities and comparable substrate scope as alternative processes to generate metal nitrenoids. PMID:20617243

Silver-catalyzed double-decarboxylative cross-coupling of α-keto acids with cinnamic acids in water: a strategy for the preparation of chalcones.

PubMed

Zhang, Ning; Yang, Daoshan; Wei, Wei; Yuan, Li; Nie, Fafa; Tian, Laijin; Wang, Hua

2015-03-20

A silver-catalyzed double-decarboxylative protocol has been proposed for the construction of chalcone derivatives via cascade coupling of substituted α-keto acids with cinnamic acids under the mild aqueous conditions. The developed method for constructing C-C bonds via double-decarboxylative reactions is efficient, practical, and environmentally benign by using the readily available starting materials. It should provide a promising synthesis candidate for the formation of diverse and useful chalcone derivatives in the fields of synthetic and pharmaceutical chemistry.

Metal-Free Oxidation of Primary Amines to Nitriles through Coupled Catalytic Cycles.

PubMed

Lambert, Kyle M; Bobbitt, James M; Eldirany, Sherif A; Kissane, Liam E; Sheridan, Rose K; Stempel, Zachary D; Sternberg, Francis H; Bailey, William F

2016-04-04

Synergism among several intertwined catalytic cycles allows for selective, room temperature oxidation of primary amines to the corresponding nitriles in 85-98% isolated yield. This metal-free, scalable, operationally simple method employs a catalytic quantity of 4-acetamido-TEMPO (ACT; TEMPO=2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine N-oxide) radical and the inexpensive, environmentally benign triple salt oxone as the terminal oxidant under mild conditions. Simple filtration of the reaction mixture through silica gel affords pure nitrile products. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Solvent replacement for green processing.

PubMed Central

Sherman, J; Chin, B; Huibers, P D; Garcia-Valls, R; Hatton, T A

1998-01-01

The implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the Clean Air Act, and the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 has resulted in increased awareness of organic solvent use in chemical processing. The advances made in the search to find "green" replacements for traditional solvents are reviewed, with reference to solvent alternatives for cleaning, coatings, and chemical reaction and separation processes. The development of solvent databases and computational methods that aid in the selection and/or design of feasible or optimal environmentally benign solvent alternatives for specific applications is also discussed. Images Figure 2 Figure 3 PMID:9539018

Prospectus

PubMed Central

Parsons, Peter A.

2009-01-01

Free living organisms typically occur in harsh environments challenged by abiotic stresses of varying intensities. Taking ionizing radiation and caloric restriction as examples, environmental variation from benign to extreme gives a fitness-stress continuum where energetic efficiency, a measure of fitness, is inversely related to stress level. Hormesis occurs in benign regions for these examples. In contrast aging emphasizes survival towards the limits of survival under accumulating stress from Reactive Oxygen Species, ROS. An energetic evolutionary approach underlies an ecological aging theory based principally upon survival, which incorporates hormesis. Multiple environmental agents contributing to hormesis should be considered by those attempting to improve the quality of life by delaying the onset of senescence, so enhancing survival. Caloric restriction has wider acceptance in this process than ionizing radiation. PMID:20221282

GYPCHEK biological insecticide for the gypsy moth

Treesearch

John D. Podgwaite

1999-01-01

With administrative and financial support from its State and Private Forestry division, the USDA Forest Service has directed much effort toward developing viral pesticides that kill forest insect pests. Most environmentally benign viral pesticides are narrow host-range products (Groner 1986) that are most useful in situations where environmental concerns are paramount...

Analysis of the discriminative methods for diagnosis of benign and malignant solitary pulmonary nodules based on serum markers.

PubMed

Wang, Wanping; Liu, Mingyue; Wang, Jing; Tian, Rui; Dong, Junqiang; Liu, Qi; Zhao, Xianping; Wang, Yuanfang

2014-01-01

Screening indexes of tumor serum markers for benign and malignant solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) were analyzed to find the optimum method for diagnosis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, an automatic immune analyzer and radioimmunoassay methods were used to examine the levels of 8 serum markers in 164 SPN patients, and the sensitivity for differential diagnosis of malignant or benign SPN was compared for detection using a single plasma marker or a combination of markers. The results for serological indicators that closely relate to benign and malignant SPNs were screened using the Fisher discriminant analysis and a non-conditional logistic regression analysis method, respectively. The results were then verified by the k-means clustering analysis method. The sensitivity when using a combination of serum markers to detect SPN was higher than that using a single marker. By Fisher discriminant analysis, cytokeratin 19 fragments (CYFRA21-1), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) and breast cancer antigen (CA153), which relate to the benign and malignant SPNs, were screened. Through non-conditional logistic regression analysis, CYFRA21-1, SCC and CA153 were obtained. Using the k-means clustering analysis, the cophenetic correlation coefficient (0.940) obtained by the Fisher discriminant analysis was higher than that obtained with logistic regression analysis (0.875). This study indicated that the Fisher discriminant analysis functioned better in screening out serum markers to recognize the benign and malignant SPN. The combined detection of CYFRA21-1, CA125, SCC and CA153 is an effective way to distinguish benign and malignant SPN, and will find an important clinical application in the early diagnosis of SPN. © 2014 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

GREEN CATALYZED OXIDATION OF HYDROCARBONS IN ALTERNATIVE SOLVENT SYSTEMS GENERATED BY PARIS II DECHEMA; GREEN SOLVENTS FOR CATALYSIS - ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN REACTION MEDIA

EPA Science Inventory

Green catalyzed oxidation of hydrocarbons in alternative solvent systems generated by PARIS II
Thomas M. Becker, Michael A. Gonzalez, Paul F. Harten; Sustainable Technology Division, Office of Research and Development; United States Environmental Protection Agency, 26 West Mar...

A Green Method for Processing Polymers using Dense Gas Technology

PubMed Central

Yoganathan, Roshan B.; Mammucari, Raffaella; Foster, Neil R.

2010-01-01

Dense CO2 can be used as an environmentally-benign polymer processing medium because of its liquid-like densities and gas-like mass transfer properties.In this work, polymer bio-blends of polycarbonate (PC), a biocompatible polymer, and polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable polymer were prepared. Dense CO2 was used as a reaction medium for the melt-phase PC polymerization in the presence of dense CO2-swollen PCL particles and this method was used to prepare porous PC/PCL blends. To extend the applicability of dense CO2 to the biomedical industry and polymer blend processing, the impregnation of ibuprofen into the blend was conducted and subsequent dissolution characteristics were observed.

Endoscopic management with inside stent for proximal benign biliary stricture after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PubMed

Sasahira, Naoki; Isayama, Hiroyuki; Kogure, Hirofumi; Tsujino, Takeshi; Koike, Kazuhiko

2012-05-01

Endoscopic placement of a plastic stent is the standard drainage for a symptomatic benign biliary stricture. Although a removable fully covered self-expandable metal stent has been applied for distal benign biliary stricture, placement of a plastic stent remains the standard treatment for proximal benign biliary stricture. Placement of a plastic stent above the papilla (inside stent) is an alternative to the conventional method because of its preventive effect against the dysfunction of the stent in patients with proximal benign biliary stricture. © 2012 The Authors. Digestive Endoscopy © 2012 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.

Multiple benefits of alloparental care in a fluctuating environment.

PubMed

Guindre-Parker, Sarah; Rubenstein, Dustin R

2018-02-01

Although cooperatively breeding vertebrates occur disproportionately in unpredictable environments, the underlying mechanism shaping this biogeographic pattern remains unclear. Cooperative breeding may buffer against harsh conditions (hard life hypothesis), or additionally allow for sustained breeding under benign conditions (temporal variability hypothesis). To distinguish between the hard life and temporal variability hypotheses, we investigated whether the number of alloparents at a nest increased reproductive success or load-lightening in superb starlings ( Lamprotornis superbus ), and whether these two types of benefits varied in harsh and benign years. We found that mothers experienced both types of benefits consistent with the temporal variability hypothesis, as larger contingents of alloparents increased the number of young fledged while simultaneously allowing mothers to reduce their provisioning rates under both harsh and benign rainfall conditions. By contrast, fathers experienced load-lightening only under benign rainfall conditions, suggesting that cooperative breeding may serve to take advantage of unpredictable benign breeding seasons when they do occur. Cooperative breeding in unpredictable environments may thus promote flexibility in offspring care behaviour, which could mitigate variability in the cost of raising young. Our results highlight the importance of considering how offspring care decisions vary among breeding roles and across fluctuating environmental conditions.

Multiple benefits of alloparental care in a fluctuating environment

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Although cooperatively breeding vertebrates occur disproportionately in unpredictable environments, the underlying mechanism shaping this biogeographic pattern remains unclear. Cooperative breeding may buffer against harsh conditions (hard life hypothesis), or additionally allow for sustained breeding under benign conditions (temporal variability hypothesis). To distinguish between the hard life and temporal variability hypotheses, we investigated whether the number of alloparents at a nest increased reproductive success or load-lightening in superb starlings (Lamprotornis superbus), and whether these two types of benefits varied in harsh and benign years. We found that mothers experienced both types of benefits consistent with the temporal variability hypothesis, as larger contingents of alloparents increased the number of young fledged while simultaneously allowing mothers to reduce their provisioning rates under both harsh and benign rainfall conditions. By contrast, fathers experienced load-lightening only under benign rainfall conditions, suggesting that cooperative breeding may serve to take advantage of unpredictable benign breeding seasons when they do occur. Cooperative breeding in unpredictable environments may thus promote flexibility in offspring care behaviour, which could mitigate variability in the cost of raising young. Our results highlight the importance of considering how offspring care decisions vary among breeding roles and across fluctuating environmental conditions. PMID:29515910

Non-Malignant Thyroid Diseases Following a Wide Range of Radiation Exposures

PubMed Central

Ron, Elaine; Brenner, Alina

2013-01-01

Background The thyroid gland is one of the most radiosensitive human organs. While it is well known that radiation exposure increases the risk of thyroid cancer, less is known about its effects in relation to non-malignant thyroid diseases. Objectives The aim of this review is to evaluate the effects of high and low dose radiation on benign structural and functional diseases of the thyroid. Methods We examined the results of major studies from cancer patients treated with high-dose radiotherapy or thyrotoxicosis patients treated with high doses of iodine-131, patients treated with moderate to high dose radiotherapy for benign diseases, persons exposed to low doses from environmental radiation and survivors of the atomic bombings who were exposed to a range of doses. We evaluated radiation effects on structural (tumors, nodules), functional (hyper- and hypothyroidism), and autoimmune thyroid diseases. Results Following a wide range of doses of ionizing radiation, an increased risk of thyroid adenomas and nodules was observed in a variety of populations and settings. The dose response appeared to be linear at low to moderate doses, but in one study there was some suggestion of a reduction in risk above 5 Gy. The elevated risk for benign tumors continues for decades following exposure. Considerably less consistent findings are available regarding functional thyroid diseases including autoimmune diseases. In general, associations for these outcomes were fairly weak and significant radiation effects were most often observed following high doses, particularly for hypothyroidism. Conclusions A significant radiation dose-response relation was demonstrated for benign nodules and follicular adenomas. The effects of radiation on functional thyroid diseases are less clear, partly due to the greater difficulties studying these diseases. PMID:21128812

Short communication: Semiquantitative assessment of 99mTc-EDDA/HYNIC-TOC scintigraphy in differentiation of solitary pulmonary nodules--a complementary role to visual analysis.

PubMed

Płachcińska, Anna; Mikołajczak, Renata; Kozak, Józef; Rzeszutek, Katarzyna; Kuśmierek, Jacek

2006-02-01

The aim of this study was the assessment of a value of a semiquantitative analysis of scintigrams obtained with (99m)Tc-EDDA/HYNIC-TOC as a radiopharmaceutical (RPH) in differential diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs), as a method complementary to visual evaluation of scintigrams. Scintigraphic images of 59 patients (33 males and 26 females between 34 and 78 years of age, mean value, 57) with SPN on chest radiographs (39 malignant and 20 benign) were retrospectively assessed semiquantitatively. Visual scintigram analysis was made earlier, prospectively. Nodule diameters ranged from 1 to 4 (mean 2.2) cm. A single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) acquisition was performed at 2-4 hours after administration of 740 to 925 MBq of a RPH. Verification of scintigraphic results was based on a pathological examination of tumor samples (histopathology or cytology) and, in some cases, on bacteriological studies. As an additional criterion for tumor benignity, its stable size in a time interval not shorter than 3 years was accepted. A simple, semiquantitative method for assessment of radiopharmaceutical uptake in SPNs was used, based on "count sample" taken from tumor center (T) in relation to radiopharmaceutical concentration in the background (B) measured in the contralateral lung. A criterion for optimal differentiation between malignant and benign nodules (T/B ratio threshold value) was introduced, based on a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Additionally, a value of T/B ratio was searched for, excluding tumor benignity with high probability. Visual analysis of scintigrams revealed enhanced uptake of RPH at 36 of 39 (92%) sites, corresponding to locations of malignant nodules (including 34 of 35-97% cases of lung cancer). In 13 of 20 (65%) benign nodules, true negative results were obtained. Accuracy of the method equalled 83%. Optimal differentiation between malignant and benign nodules was found for a value of a T/B ratio amounting to 2. The semiquantitative method gave true positive results in 35 of 39 (90%) malignant nodules (as in visual method in 34 of 35-97% cases of lung cancer). True negative results were obtained in 17 of 20 (85%) benign cases. Accuracy of the method reached 88%. A T/B ratio exceeding 4 excluded tumor benignity with high probability. A simple method, of quantitatively assessing 99mTc-EDDA/HYNICTOC uptake in solitary pulmonary nodules by means of a T/B ratio can play a role that is complementary to the visual evaluation of scintigrams. It improves low specificity of the method in the detection of malignant nodules, without significant reduction of its sensitivity and provides a T/B ratio excluding tumor benignity with high probability.

A Theoretical Study of Microwave Beam Absorption by a Rectenna

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ott, J. H.; Rice, J. S.; Thorn, D. C.

1981-01-01

The theoretical operational parameters for the workable satellite power system were examined. The system requirements for efficient transmission and reception of an environmentally benign microwave beam were determined.

Synthesis of (E)-2-Styrylchromones and Flavones by Base-Catalyzed Cyclodehydration of the Appropriate β-Diketones Using Water as Solvent.

PubMed

Pinto, Joana; Silva, Vera L M; Silva, Ana M G; Silva, Artur M S

2015-06-22

A low cost, safe, clean and environmentally benign base-catalyzed cyclodehydration of appropriate β-diketones affording (E)-2-styrylchromones and flavones in good yields is disclosed. Water was used as solvent and the reactions were heated using classical and microwave heating methods, under open and closed vessel conditions. β-Diketones having electron-donating and withdrawing substituents were used to evaluate the reaction scope. The reaction products were isolated in high purity by simple filtration and recrystallization from ethanol, when using 800 mg of the starting diketone under classical reflux heating conditions.

Porous graphitic carbon nitride synthesized via direct polymerization of urea for efficient sunlight-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuewei; Liu, Jinghai; Wu, Guan; Chen, Wei

2012-08-01

Energy captured directly from sunlight provides an attractive approach towards fulfilling the need for green energy resources on the terawatt scale with minimal environmental impact. Collecting and storing solar energy into fuel through photocatalyzed water splitting to generate hydrogen in a cost-effective way is desirable. To achieve this goal, low cost and environmentally benign urea was used to synthesize the metal-free photocatalyst graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4). A porous structure is achieved via one-step polymerization of the single precursor. The porous structure with increased BET surface area and pore volume shows a much higher hydrogen production rate under simulated sunlight irradiation than thiourea-derived and dicyanamide-derived g-C3N4. The presence of an oxygen atom is presumed to play a key role in adjusting the textural properties. Further improvement of the photocatalytic function can be expected with after-treatment due to its rich chemistry in functionalization.Energy captured directly from sunlight provides an attractive approach towards fulfilling the need for green energy resources on the terawatt scale with minimal environmental impact. Collecting and storing solar energy into fuel through photocatalyzed water splitting to generate hydrogen in a cost-effective way is desirable. To achieve this goal, low cost and environmentally benign urea was used to synthesize the metal-free photocatalyst graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4). A porous structure is achieved via one-step polymerization of the single precursor. The porous structure with increased BET surface area and pore volume shows a much higher hydrogen production rate under simulated sunlight irradiation than thiourea-derived and dicyanamide-derived g-C3N4. The presence of an oxygen atom is presumed to play a key role in adjusting the textural properties. Further improvement of the photocatalytic function can be expected with after-treatment due to its rich chemistry in functionalization. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Methods for preparing and characterizing UCN, TCN and DCN samples. Methods for examining the photocatalytic hydrogen production. FTIR, XPS, and digital photos of three products are shown in Fig. S1-6. See DOI: 10.1039/c2nr30948c

Enzymatic Enantioselective Decarboxylative Protonation of Heteroaryl Malonates

PubMed Central

Lewin, Ross; Goodall, Mark; Thompson, Mark L; Leigh, James; Breuer, Michael; Baldenius, Kai; Micklefield, Jason

2015-01-01

The enzyme aryl/alkenyl malonate decarboxylase (AMDase) catalyses the enantioselective decarboxylative protonation (EDP) of a range of disubstituted malonic acids to give homochiral carboxylic acids that are valuable synthetic intermediates. AMDase exhibits a number of advantages over the non-enzymatic EDP methods developed to date including higher enantioselectivity and more environmentally benign reaction conditions. In this report, AMDase and engineered variants have been used to produce a range of enantioenriched heteroaromatic α-hydroxycarboxylic acids, including pharmaceutical precursors, from readily accessible α-hydroxymalonates. The enzymatic method described here represents an improvement upon existing synthetic chemistry methods that have been used to produce similar compounds. The relationship between the structural features of these new substrates and the kinetics associated with their enzymatic decarboxylation is explored, which offers further insight into the mechanism of AMDase. PMID:25766433

"Nanorust"-catalyzed benign oxidation of amines for selective synthesis of nitriles.

PubMed

Jagadeesh, Rajenahally V; Junge, Henrik; Beller, Matthias

2015-01-01

Organic nitriles constitute key precursors and central intermediates in organic synthesis. In addition, nitriles represent a versatile motif found in numerous medicinally and biologically important compounds. Generally, these nitriles are synthesized by traditional cyanation procedures using toxic cyanides. Herein, we report the selective and environmentally benign oxidative conversion of primary amines for the synthesis of structurally diverse aromatic, aliphatic and heterocyclic nitriles using a reusable "nanorust" (nanoscale Fe2 O3 )-based catalysts applying molecular oxygen. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

[Development of a Computer-aided Diagnosis System to Distinguish between Benign and Malignant Mammary Tumors in Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Images: Automatic Detection of the Position with the Strongest Washout Effect in the Tumor].

PubMed

Miyazaki, Yoshiaki; Tabata, Nobuyuki; Taroura, Tomomi; Shinozaki, Kenji; Kubo, Yuichiro; Tokunaga, Eriko; Taguchi, Kenichi

We propose a computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system that uses time-intensity curves to distinguish between benign and malignant mammary tumors. Many malignant tumors show a washout pattern in time-intensity curves. Therefore, we designed a program that automatically detects the position with the strongest washout effect using the technique, such as the subtraction technique, which extracts only the washout area in the tumor, and by scanning data in 2×2 pixel region of interest (ROI). Operation of this independently developed program was verified using a phantom system that simulated tumors. In three cases of malignant tumors, the washout pattern detection rate in images with manually set ROI was ≤6%, whereas the detection rate with our novel method was 100%. In one case of a benign tumor, when the same method was used, we checked that there was no washout effect and detected the persistent pattern. Thus, the distinction between benign and malignant tumors using our method was completely consistent with the pathological diagnoses made. Our novel method is therefore effective for differentiating between benign and malignant mammary tumors in dynamic magnetic resonance images.

Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge: 2012 Academic Award (Waymouth and Hedrick)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge 2012 award winners, Professor Robert M. Waymouth and Dr. James L. Hedrick, developed a broad class of highly active, environmentally benign, metal-free catalysts for synthesizing plastics.

AgNOR histochemical expression in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic adenocarcinoma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rita, R.; Delyuzar; Laksmi, L. I.

2018-03-01

Benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic adenocarcinoma were common diseases and usually occurred after the 5th decade of life. The problem in diagnosing using Hematoxylin and Eosin staining was how to differentiate whether it is benign or malignant zone. Therefore, proliferating markers, such as AgNOR, could be helping to over this difficulty. A descriptive study using consecutive sampling as the method of sample recruiting was conducted to describe AgNOR histochemical expression in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic adenocarcinoma. AgNOR staining was done in 13 benign prostatic hyperplasia samples and 7 prostatic adenocarcinoma samples, which have been confirmed using p63 immunohistochemical staining before. Benign prostatic hyperplasia usually showed lower AgNOR proliferating activity while all of theprostatic adenocarcinoma (100%) had high AgNOR proliferating activity.

Improved Ultrasonic Imaging of the Breast

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-08-01

differentiation of benign and malignant lesions. This method yields high resolution images with minimal statistical variability. We have formed images in... and malignant masses often exhibit only subtle image differences. We have invented a new technique that uses modified ultrasound equipment to form...between malignant and benign lesions. The utility of ultrasound is limited because microcalcifications (MCs) are not typically visible and because benign

Improved Ultrasonic Imaging of the Breast

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-08-01

differentiation of benign and malignant lesions. This method yields high resolution images with minimal statistical variability. In this first year of... and malignant masses often exhibit only subtle image differences. We have invented a new technique that uses modified ultrasound equipment to form...between malignant and benign lesions. The utility of ultrasound is limited because microcalcifications (MCs) are not typically visible and because benign

Improved Ultrasonic Imaging of the Breast

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-08-01

differentiation of benign and malignant lesions. This method yields high resolution images with minimal statistical variability. We have formed images in... and malignant masses often exhibit only subtle image differences. We have invented a new technique that uses modified ultrasound equipment to form...between malignant and benign lesions. The utility of ultrasound is limited because microcalcifications (MCs) are not typically visible and because benign

Systematic procedure for designing processes with multiple environmental objectives.

PubMed

Kim, Ki-Joo; Smith, Raymond L

2005-04-01

Evaluation of multiple objectives is very important in designing environmentally benign processes. It requires a systematic procedure for solving multiobjective decision-making problems due to the complex nature of the problems, the need for complex assessments, and the complicated analysis of multidimensional results. In this paper, a novel systematic procedure is presented for designing processes with multiple environmental objectives. This procedure has four steps: initialization, screening, evaluation, and visualization. The first two steps are used for systematic problem formulation based on mass and energy estimation and order of magnitude analysis. In the third step, an efficient parallel multiobjective steady-state genetic algorithm is applied to design environmentally benign and economically viable processes and to provide more accurate and uniform Pareto optimal solutions. In the last step a new visualization technique for illustrating multiple objectives and their design parameters on the same diagram is developed. Through these integrated steps the decision-maker can easily determine design alternatives with respect to his or her preferences. Most importantly, this technique is independent of the number of objectives and design parameters. As a case study, acetic acid recovery from aqueous waste mixtures is investigated by minimizing eight potential environmental impacts and maximizing total profit. After applying the systematic procedure, the most preferred design alternatives and their design parameters are easily identified.

Searching for “Environmentally-Benign” Antifouling Biocides

PubMed Central

Cui, Yan Ting; Teo, Serena L. M.; Leong, Wai; Chai, Christina L. L.

2014-01-01

As the result of the ecological impacts from the use of tributyltins (TBT) in shipping, environmental legislation for the registration of chemicals for use in the environment has grown to a monumental challenge requiring product dossiers to include information on the environmental fate and behavior of any chemicals. Specifically, persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity, collectively known as PBT, are properties of concern in the assessment of chemicals. However, existing measurements of PBT properties are a cumbersome and expensive process, and thus not applied in the early stages of the product discovery and development. Inexpensive methods for preliminary PBT screening would minimize risks arising with the subsequent registration of products. In this article, we evaluated the PBT properties of compounds reported to possess anti-fouling properties using QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) prediction programs such as BIOWIN™ (a biodegradation probability program), KOWWIN™ (log octanol-water partition coefficient calculation program) and ECOSAR™ (Ecological Structure Activity Relationship Programme). The analyses identified some small (Mr < 400) synthetic and natural products as potential candidates for environmentally benign biocides. We aim to demonstrate that while these methods of estimation have limitations, when applied with discretion, they are powerful tools useful in the early stages of research for compound selection for further development as anti-foulants. PMID:24865489

Lyme disease and conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ginsberg, H.

1994-01-01

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that is wide-spread in North America, especially in the northeastern and northcentral United States. This disease could negatively influence efforts to conserve natural populations in two ways: (1) the disease could directly affect wild animal health; and (2) tick control efforts could adversely affect natural populations and communities. Lyme disease affects several domestic animals, but symptoms have been reported in only a few wild species. Direct effects of Lyme disease on wild animal populations have not been reported, but the disease should be considered as a possible cause in cases of unexplained population declines in endemic areas. Methods available to manage ticks and Lyme disease include human self-protection techniques, manipulation of habitats and hosts species populations, biological control, and pesticide applications. The diversity of available techniques allows selection of approaches to minimize environmental effects by (1) emphasizing personal protection techniques, (2) carefully targeting management efforts to maximize efficiency, and (3) integrating environmentally benign techniques to improve management while avoiding broad-scale environmentally destructive approaches. The environmental effects of Lyme disease depend, to a large extent, on the methods chosen to minimize human exposure to infected ticks. Conservation biologists can help design tick management programs that effectively lower the incidence of human Lyme disease while simultaneously minimizing negative effects on natural populations.

On the Versatility of Rheoreversible, Stimuli-responsive Hydraulic-Fracturing Fluids for Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Effect of Reservoir pH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fernandez, Carlos A.; Shao, Hongbo; Bonneville, Alain

Abstract The primary challenge for the feasibility of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) is to cost-effectively create high-permeability reservoirs inside deep crystalline bedrock. Although fracturing fluids are commonly used for oil/gas, standard fracturing methods are not developed or proven for EGS temperatures and pressures. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of currently used fracturing methods are only recently being determined. These authors recently reported an environmentally benign, CO2-activated, rheoreversible fracturing fluid that enhances permeability through fracturing due to in situ volume expansion and gel formation. The potential of this novel fracturing fluid is evaluated in this work towards its application at geothermal sitesmore » under different pH conditions. Laboratory-scale fracturing experiments using Coso Geothermal rock cores under different pH environments were performed followed by X-ray microtomography characterization. The results demonstrate that CO2-reactive aqueous solutions of environmentally amenable polyallylamine (PAA) consistently and reproducibly creates/propagates fracture networks through highly impermeable crystalline rock from Coso EGS sites at considerably lower effective stress as compared to conventional fracturing fluids. In addition, permeability was significantly enhanced in a wide range of formation-water pH values. This effective, and environmentally-friendly fracturing fluid technology represents a potential alternative to conventional fracturing fluids.« less

Comparison of performance of wood extractives as preservatives in field tests against termites and decay in the USA and Pakistan

Treesearch

Babar Hassan; Sohail Ahmed; Mark Mankowski; Grant Kirker

2017-01-01

Increasing environmental regulations have limited the use of certain broad spectrum synthetic pesticides as wood preservatives creating a need for more environmentally benign wood preservative systems. Biocidal compounds from natural products have been proposed as alternatives to commercial wood preservatives, but field data from long term performance testing is...

Chemical Strips Anodic Film From Aluminum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eichinger, Eric C.

1993-01-01

Phosphoric acid solution offers advantages over other stripping solutions. More effective than other strippers and safer to use. Relatively environmentally benign, phosphoric acid stripper ceases its chemical attack so less process control is needed in its use.

Environmentally Benign, Rapid, and Selective Extraction of Gold from Ores and Waste Electronic Materials.

PubMed

Yue, Chunlin; Sun, Huaming; Liu, Wen-Jing; Guan, Binbin; Deng, Xudong; Zhang, Xu; Yang, Peng

2017-08-01

The extraction of gold from ores and electronic waste is an important topic worldwide, as this precious metal has immense value in a variety of fields. However, serious environmental pollution and high energy consumption due to the use of toxic oxidation reagents and harsh reaction conditions is a well-known problem in the gold industry. Herein, we report a new chemical method based on the combined use of N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) and pyridine (Py), which has a greatly decreased environmental impact and reagent cost, as well as mild reaction requirements. This method can directly leach Au 0 from gold ore and electronic waste to form Au III in water. The process is achieved in a yield of approximately 90 % at room temperature and a nearly neutral pH. The minimum dose of NBS/Py is as low as 10 mm, which exhibits low toxicity towards mammalian cells and animals as well as aquatic creatures. The high leaching selectivity of Au over other metals during gold leaching is demonstrated, showing that this method has great potential for practical industrial application towards the sustainable refining of gold from ores and electronic waste. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Differential evolution of asexual and sexual females in a benign culture environment

PubMed Central

Snell, Terry W.

2013-01-01

Here we report one of the first investigations of evolvability of lifespan and reproduction in metazoans, examining both extrinsic and intrinsic factors. We tested effects on senescence of an environmental variable (simulated lake hydroperiod, the length of time an aquatic habitat is inundated), female reproductive physiology (asexual females that reproduce by ameiosis, versus sexual females reproducing by meiosis), and time in a benign culture environment (minimal, if any, external mortality factors). To do this we established chemostat cultures of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis s.s., and maintained the cultures for 385 d. Hydroperiod alone or in interaction with the effects of time in the benign environment (season) or reproductive physiology had no significant effect on the net reproductive rate, generation time, or rate of aging. Yet combining animals from both ephemeral and permanent hydroperiods revealed a 26% increase in asexual female lifespan across seasons (23% decrease in the rate of aging) and a 56% increase in asexual fecundity, suggesting that maintenance in benign laboratory conditions leads to slower aging. The relative stasis of traits for sexual females implies an impact of reproductive physiology on evolvability. In addition we found a positive correlation between fecundity and lifespan, suggesting an absence of trade-offs in life history traits in the benign laboratory environment. PMID:24795527

Environmental research program. 1995 Annual report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, N.J.

1996-06-01

The objective of the Environmental Research Program is to enhance the understanding of, and mitigate the effects of pollutants on health, ecological systems, global and regional climate, and air quality. The program is multidisciplinary and includes fundamental research and development in efficient and environmentally benign combustion, pollutant abatement and destruction, and novel methods of detection and analysis of criteria and noncriteria pollutants. This diverse group conducts investigations in combustion, atmospheric and marine processes, flue-gas chemistry, and ecological systems. Combustion chemistry research emphasizes modeling at microscopic and macroscopic scales. At the microscopic scale, functional sensitivity analysis is used to explore themore » nature of the potential-to-dynamics relationships for reacting systems. Rate coefficients are estimated using quantum dynamics and path integral approaches. At the macroscopic level, combustion processes are modelled using chemical mechanisms at the appropriate level of detail dictated by the requirements of predicting particular aspects of combustion behavior. Parallel computing has facilitated the efforts to use detailed chemistry in models of turbulent reacting flow to predict minor species concentrations.« less

[Application of support vector machine-recursive feature elimination algorithm in Raman spectroscopy for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast diseases].

PubMed

Zhang, Haipeng; Fu, Tong; Zhang, Zhiru; Fan, Zhimin; Zheng, Chao; Han, Bing

2014-08-01

To explore the value of application of support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) method in Raman spectroscopy for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast diseases. Fresh breast tissue samples of 168 patients (all female; ages 22-75) were obtained by routine surgical resection from May 2011 to May 2012 at the Department of Breast Surgery, the First Hospital of Jilin University. Among them, there were 51 normal tissues, 66 benign and 51 malignant breast lesions. All the specimens were assessed by Raman spectroscopy, and the SVM-RFE algorithm was used to process the data and build the mathematical model. Mahalanobis distance and spectral residuals were used as discriminating criteria to evaluate this data-processing method. 1 800 Raman spectra were acquired from the fresh samples of human breast tissues. Based on spectral profiles, the presence of 1 078, 1 267, 1 301, 1 437, 1 653, and 1 743 cm(-1) peaks were identified in the normal tissues; and 1 281, 1 341, 1 381, 1 417, 1 465, 1 530, and 1 637 cm(-1) peaks were found in the benign and malignant tissues. The main characteristic peaks differentiating benign and malignant lesions were 1 340 and 1 480 cm(-1). The accuracy of SVM-RFE in discriminating normal and malignant lesions was 100.0%, while that in the assessment of benign lesions was 93.0%. There are distinct differences among the Raman spectra of normal, benign and malignant breast tissues, and SVM-RFE method can be used to build differentiation model of breast lesions.

A prospective study of three diagnostic sonographic methods in differentiation between benign and malignant salivary gland tumours

PubMed Central

El-Khateeb, SM; Abou-Khalaf, AE; Farid, MM; Nassef, MA

2011-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of three diagnostic sonographic methods, greyscale sonography (GSS), colour Doppler sonography (CDS) and spectral Doppler (SPD), in differentiating between benign and malignant salivary gland (SG) tumours. Methods 44 patients with SG masses were examined using GSS, CDS and SPD. The morphological features of each tumour were evaluated using GSS, the distribution and number of detected blood vessels were assessed using CDS, and peak systolic velocity (PSV), resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) were measured on SPD. All cases underwent excisional biopsy and a definite tissue diagnosis was obtained. Results Histopathological examination revealed that 28 of the 44 tumours were benign and 16 were malignant. GSS showed that malignant SG tumours had a significantly higher incidence of ill-defined borders and lymph node involvement than benign tumours, but there was no significant difference between benign and malignant SG tumours regarding echogenicity, homogeneity or sonographic shape. CDS demonstrated malignant tumours with significantly higher vascularity and a scattered distribution. Using SPD, malignant tumours had significantly higher PSV, RI and PI compared with benign tumours. Conclusion RI values above 0.7, PI values above 1.2, PSV values above 44.3 cm s–1, ill-defined borders, lymph node involvement, Grade 2 or 3 vascularity and hilar distribution of blood vessels should alert the clinician to suspect a malignant SG tumour. After consensus on the threshold values of PSV, RI and PI in differentiating benign from malignant SG tumours, these numbers should be incorporated into the software of ultrasound machines to guide the sonographer in his or her analysis. PMID:22065796

Environmental quality alters female costs and benefits of evolving under enforced monogamy.

PubMed

Grazer, Vera M; Demont, Marco; Michalczyk, Łukasz; Gage, Matthew J G; Martin, Oliver Y

2014-02-05

Currently many habitats suffer from quality loss due to environmental change. As a consequence, evolutionary trajectories might shift due to environmental effects and potentially increase extinction risk of resident populations. Nevertheless, environmental variation has rarely been incorporated in studies of sexual selection and sexual conflict, although local environments and individuals' condition undoubtedly influence costs and benefits. Here, we utilise polyandrous and monogamous selection lines of flour beetles, which evolved in presence or absence of sexual selection for 39 generations. We specifically investigated effects of low vs. standard food quality (i.e. stressful vs. benign environments) on reproductive success of cross pairs between beetles from the contrasting female and male selection histories to assess gender effects driving fitness. We found a clear interaction of food quality, male selection history and female selection history. Monogamous females generally performed more poorly than polyandrous counterparts, but reproductive success was shaped by selection history of their mates and environmental quality. When monogamous females were paired with polyandrous males in the standard benign environment, females seemed to incur costs, possibly due to sexual conflict. In contrast, in the novel stressful environment, monogamous females profited from mating with polyandrous males, indicating benefits of sexual selection outweigh costs. Our findings suggest that costs and benefits of sexually selected adaptations in both sexes can be profoundly altered by environmental quality. With regard to understanding possible impacts of environmental change, our results further show that the ecology of mating systems and associated selection pressures should be considered in greater detail.

Selective isolation of gold facilitated by second-sphere coordination with α-cyclodextrin.

PubMed

Liu, Zhichang; Frasconi, Marco; Lei, Juying; Brown, Zachary J; Zhu, Zhixue; Cao, Dennis; Iehl, Julien; Liu, Guoliang; Fahrenbach, Albert C; Botros, Youssry Y; Farha, Omar K; Hupp, Joseph T; Mirkin, Chad A; Fraser Stoddart, J

2013-01-01

Gold recovery using environmentally benign chemistry is imperative from an environmental perspective. Here we report the spontaneous assembly of a one-dimensional supramolecular complex with an extended {[K(OH₂)₆][AuBr₄](α-cyclodextrin)₂}n chain superstructure formed during the rapid co-precipitation of α-cyclodextrin and KAuBr₄ in water. This phase change is selective for this gold salt, even in the presence of other square-planar palladium and platinum complexes. From single-crystal X-ray analyses of six inclusion complexes between α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrins with KAuBr₄ and KAuCl₄, we hypothesize that a perfect match in molecular recognition between α-cyclodextrin and [AuBr₄](-) leads to a near-axial orientation of the ion with respect to the α-cyclodextrin channel, which facilitates a highly specific second-sphere coordination involving [AuBr₄](-) and [K(OH₂)₆](+) and drives the co-precipitation of the 1:2 adduct. This discovery heralds a green host-guest procedure for gold recovery from gold-bearing raw materials making use of α-cyclodextrin-an inexpensive and environmentally benign carbohydrate.

Extraction of metals and/or metalloids from acidic media using supercritical fluids and salts

DOEpatents

Wai, Chien M.; Smart, Neil G.; Lin, Yuehe

1998-01-01

A method of extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a fluid solvent, particularly supercritical carbon dioxide, containing a chelating agent is described. The chelating agent forms chelates that are soluble in the fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments, the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide and the chelating agent comprises a trialkyl phosphate, a triaryl phosphate, a trialkylphosphine oxide, a triarylphosphine oxide, or mixtures thereof. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing contaminants from industrial waste. The method is particularly useful for extracting actinides from acidic solutions, and the process can be aided by the addition of nitrate salts. The chelate and supercritical fluid can be regenerated, and the contaminant species recovered, to provide an economic, efficient process.

Green synthesis of nanocrystalline α-Al2O3 powders by both wet-chemical and mechanochemical methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Huiying; Li, Zhiyong; Zhao, Peng

2018-03-01

Nanosized α-Al2O3 powders were prepared with AlCl3ṡ6H2O and NH4HCO3 as raw materials by both wet-chemical and mechanochemical methods, through the synthesis of the ammonium aluminum carbonate hydroxide (AACH) precursor followed by calcination. The environmentally benign starch was used as an effective dispersant during the preparation of nanocrystalline α-Al2O3 powders. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to characterize the precursor AACH and products. The results show that nanosized spherical α-Al2O3 powders without hard agglomeration and with particle size in the range of 20-40 nm can be obtained by the two methods. Comparing the two “green” processes, the mechanochemical method has better prospects for commercial production.

Environmentally Benign Stab Detonators

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-11

composition. In addition we will work with our DoD partner TACOM-ARDEC in identifying and testing more environmentally suitable replacement transfer...components identified is shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1. Photo of M55 stab detonator Al cup with initiation train and components. Common...primer mixes, such as NOL-130, are made up of lead styphnate (basic) 40%, lead azide ( dextrinated ) 20%, barium nitrate 20%, antimony sulfide 15%, and

Demonstration of an Environmentally Benign and Reduced Corrosion Runway Deicing Fluid

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

ADDRESS(ES) Enviromental Security Technology Certification Program: 901 North Stuart Street, Suite 303, Arlington, Virginia 22203 10. SPONSOR...IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Users may express concern because the Battelle-RDF is new and they may have reservations because of its potential damage to...several drivers for implementing a new , more environmentally friendly RDF. 1.3.1 Water Pollution Reduction The Clean Water Act (CWA) and its

Demonstration of an Environmentally Benign and Reduced Corrosion Runway Deicing Fluid

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

43201 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Enviromental Security Technology...laboratory to the airfields and airports across the country. Users may express concern because the Battelle-RDFs are new and they may have...airfield anti-icing and deicing at WPAFB. 1.3 REGULATORY DRIVERS There are several drivers for implementing a new , more environmentally friendly

[The effect of laryngoscopic surgery combined with nasal endoscopic system for the treatment of vocal cords benign lesions].

PubMed

Wang, Weian; Lu, Rong

2013-06-01

To investigate the effect of laryngoscopic surgery combined with nasal endoscopic system for the treatment of vocal cords benign lesions. Fifty-two patients admitted to our department with vocal cords benign lesions (including vocal polyps, vocal nodules, vocal cord cyst) underwent laryngoscopic surgery combined with nasal endoscopic system. All patients were treated successfully once and for all without any significant postoperative complication. The laryngoscopic surgery combined with nasal endoscopic system is a safe, minimally invasive and simple method for the treatment of benign lesions of vocal cords.

Accelerated weathering of limestone for CO2 mitigation: Opportunities for the stone and cement industries

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langer, William H.; San, Juan A.; Rau, Greg H.; Caldeira, Ken

2009-01-01

Large amounts of limestone fines co-produced during the processing of crushed limestone may be useful in the sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). Accelerated weathering of limestone (AWL) is proposed as a low-tech method to capture and sequester CO2 from fossil fuel-fired power plants and other point sources such as cement manufacturing. AWL reactants are readily available, inexpensive and environmentally benign. Waste CO2 is hydrated with water to produce carbonic acid. This reacts with and is neutralized by limestone fines, thus converting CO2 gas to dissolved calcium bicarbonate.

Living fungal hyphae-templated porous gold microwires using nanoparticles as building blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rehman, Asma; Majeed, Muhammad Irfan; Ihsan, Ayesha; Hussain, Syed Zajif; Saif-ur-Rehman; Ghauri, Muhammad Afzal; Khalid, Zafar M.; Hussain, Irshad

2011-12-01

A simple and environmentally benign green method is reported to decorate growing fungal hyphae with high loading of gold nanoparticles, which were initially produced using aqueous tea extract as a sole reducing/stabilizing agent. Inoculation of fungal spores in aqueous suspension of nanoparticles led to the growth of intensely red-coloured fungal hyphae due to the accumulation of gold nanoparticles. Heat treatment of these hybrid materials led to the formation of porous gold microwires. This report is thus an interesting example of using green and sustainable approach to produce nanostructured materials which have potential applications in catalysis, sensing and electronics.

ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN MITIGATION OF MICROBIOLOGICALLY INFLUENCED CORROSION (MIC)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

John J. Kilbane II; William Bogan

2004-01-31

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. The technical approach for this quarter included the fractionation of extracts prepared from several varieties of pepper plants, and using several solvents, by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A preliminary determination of antimicrobial activities ofmore » the new extracts and fractions using a growth inhibition assay, and evaluation of the extracts ability to inhibit biofilm formation was also performed. The analysis of multiple extracts of pepper plants and fractions of extracts of pepper plants obtained by HPLC illustrated that these extracts and fractions are extremely complex mixtures of chemicals. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to identify the chemical constituents of these extracts and fractions to the greatest degree possible. Analysis of the chemical composition of various extracts of pepper plants has illustrated the complexity of the chemical mixtures present, and while additional work will be performed to further characterize the extracts to identify bioactive compounds the focus of efforts should now shift to an evaluation of the ability of extracts to inhibit corrosion in mixed culture biofilms, and in pure cultures of bacterial types which are known or believed to be important in corrosion.« less

EXPERIENCES IN DESIGNING SOLVENTS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

EPA Science Inventory

To meet the great need of replacing many harmful solvents commonly used by industry and the public with environmentally benign substitute solvents, the PARIS II solvent design software has been developed. Although the difficulty of successfully finding replacements increases with...

THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF REMOTE SENSING IN TRANSGENIC CROP MONITORING PROGRAMS

EPA Science Inventory

Sustainable agriculture combines efficient production with wise stewardship of the earth's resources. Development of environmentally benign production techniques is one focus of sustainable agriculture. The new transgenic crops producing toxic proteins that target specific crop p...

An ancillary method in urine cytology: Nucleolar/nuclear volume ratio for discrimination between benign and malignant urothelial cells.

PubMed

Tone, Kiyoshi; Kojima, Keiko; Hoshiai, Keita; Kumagai, Naoya; Kijima, Hiroshi; Kurose, Akira

2016-06-01

The essential of urine cytology for the diagnosis and the follow-up of urothelial neoplasia has been widely recognized. However, there are some cases in which a definitive diagnosis cannot be made due to difficulty in discriminating between benign and malignant. This study evaluated the practicality of nucleolar/nuclear volume ratio (%) for the discrimination. Using Papanicolaou-stained slides, 253 benign urothelial cells and 282 malignant urothelial cells were selected and divided into a benign urothelial cell and an urothelial carcinoma (UC) cell groups. Three suspicious cases and four cases in which discrimination between benign and malignant was difficult were prepared for verification test. Subject cells were decolorized and stained with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole for detection of the nuclei and the nucleoli. Z-stack method was performed to analyze. When the cutoff point of 1.514% discriminating benign urothelial cells and UC cells from nucleolar/nuclear volume ratio (%) was utilized, the sensitivity was 56.0%, the specificity was 88.5%, the positive predictive value was 84.5%, and the negative predictive value was 64.4%. Nuclear and nucleolar volume, number of the nucleoli, and nucleolar/nuclear volume ratio (%) were significantly higher in the UC cell group than in the benign urothelial cell group (P <0.001). In the verification test using the nucleolar/nuclear ratio (%), four of the seven cases were concordant with the final diagnosis. This study analyzed the nuclear and nucleolar volume to establish an index for discrimination of benign and malignant urothelial cells, providing possible additional information in urine cytology. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2016;44:483-491. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparison of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the evaluation of unclear solid renal lesions.

PubMed

Rübenthaler, J; Paprottka, K; Marcon, J; Hameister, E; Hoffmann, K; Joiko, N; Reiser, M; Clevert, D A

2016-01-01

To compare the sensitivity and specificity of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of unclear renal lesions to the histopathological outcome. A total of 36 patients with a single unclear solid renal lesion with initial imaging studies between 2005 and 2015 were included. CEUS and MRI were used for determining malignancy or benignancy and initial findings were correlated with the histopathological outcome. Out of the 36 renal masses a total of 28 lesions were malignant (77.8%) and 8 were found to be benign (22.2%). Diagnostic accuracy was testes by using the histopathological diagnosis as the gold standard. CEUS showed a sensitivity of 96.4%, a specificity of 100.0%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 100.0% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 88,9%. MRI showed a sensitivity of 96.4%, a specificity of 75.0%, a PPV of 93.1% and a NPV of 85.7%. Out of the 28 malignant lesions a total of 18 clear cell renal carcinomas, 6 papillary renal cell carcinomas and 4 other malignant lesions, e.g. metastases, were diagnosed. Out of the 8 benign lesions a total 3 angiomyolipomas, 2 oncocytomas, 1 benign renal cyst and 2 other benign lesions, e.g. renal adenomas were diagnosed. Using CEUS, 1 lesion was falsely identified as benign. Using MRI, 2 lesions were falsely identified as benign and 1 lesion was falsely identified as malignant. CEUS is an useful method which can be additionally used to clinically differentiate between malignant and benign renal lesions. CEUS shows a comparable sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV to MRI. In daily clinical routine, patients with contraindications for other imaging modalities can particularly benefit using this method.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Korsah, K.; Wood, R.T.; Hassan, M.

This document presents the results of studies sponsored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to provide the technical basis for environmental qualification of computer-based safety equipment in nuclear power plants. The studies were conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The studies address the following: (1) adequacy of the present test methods for qualification of digital I and C systems; (2) preferred (i.e., Regulatory Guide-endorsed) standards; (3) recommended stressors to be included in the qualification process during type testing; (4) resolution of need for accelerated aging for equipment to be locatedmore » in a benign environment; and (5) determination of an appropriate approach for addressing the impact of smoke in digital equipment qualification programs. Significant findings from the studies form the technical basis for a recommended approach to the environmental qualification of microprocessor-based safety-related equipment in nuclear power plants.« less

Laccase-catalyzed α-arylation of benzoylacetonitrile with substituted hydroquinones

DOE PAGES

Cannatelli, Mark D.; Ragauskas, Arthur J.

2014-09-03

This article investigates a green method for α-arylation of a primary nitrile. Compounds possessing a benzylic nitrile have shown to exhibit biological activity. Laccases (benzenediol:oxygen oxidoreductase EC 1.10.3.2) were used as the catalysts to perform the cross-coupling reaction between benzoylacetonitrile and substituted hydroquinones. The corresponding 2-substituted 3-oxo-3-phenylpropanenitriles where synthesized in moderate to excellent yields in pH 7.0 buffered water under mild conditions. The substituent on the hydroquinone had a significant impact on product yields and regioselectivity of reaction. The use of laccases, which require O 2 as their only co-substrate and produce H 2O as their only by-product, to performmore » this transformation is an environmentally benign method for α-arylation of primary nitriles.« less

Diagnostic performance of different measurement methods for lung nodule enhancement at quantitative contrast-enhanced computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wormanns, Dag; Klotz, Ernst; Dregger, Uwe; Beyer, Florian; Heindel, Walter

2004-05-01

Lack of angiogenesis virtually excludes malignancy of a pulmonary nodule; assessment with quantitative contrast-enhanced CT (QECT) requires a reliable enhancement measurement technique. Diagnostic performance of different measurement methods in the distinction between malignant and benign nodules was evaluated. QECT (unenhanced scan and 4 post-contrast scans) was performed in 48 pulmonary nodules (12 malignant, 12 benign, 24 indeterminate). Nodule enhancement was the difference between the highest nodule density at any post-contrast scan and the unenhanced scan. Enhancement was determined with: A) the standard 2D method; B) a 3D method consisting of segmentation, removal of peripheral structures and density averaging. Enhancement curves were evaluated for their plausibility using a predefined set of criteria. Sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 33% for the 2D method resp. 92% and 55% for the 3D method using a threshold of 20 HU. One malignant nodule did not show significant enhancement with method B due to adjacent atelectasis which disappeared within the few minutes of the QECT examination. Better discrimination between benign and malignant lesions was achieved with a slightly higher threshold than proposed in the literature. Application of plausibility criteria to the enhancement curves rendered less plausibility faults with the 3D method. A new 3D method for analysis of QECT scans yielded less artefacts and better specificity in the discrimination between benign and malignant pulmonary nodules when using an appropriate enhancement threshold. Nevertheless, QECT results must be interpreted with care.

PHOTOCROSSLINKED IMMOBILIZATION OF POLYELECTROLYTES FOR TEMPLATE ASSISTED ENZYMATIC POLYMERIZATION OF CONJUGATED POLYMERS

EPA Science Inventory

Growing demand in consumer electronics raises need for efficient, affordable, environmentally benign and biodegradable substitutes for current technologies. Printed circuit boards contain heavy metals such as antimony, silver, chromium, zinc, lead, tin and copper. According t...

Green Chemistry and Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hjeresen, Dennis L.; Schutt, David L.; Boese, Janet M.

2000-01-01

Many students today are profoundly interested in the sustainability of their world. Introduces Green Chemistry and its principles with teaching materials. Green Chemistry is the use of chemistry for pollution prevention and the design of chemical products and processes that are environmentally benign. (ASK)

BIOREMEDIATION OF PETROLEUM HYDROCARBON CONTAMINANTS IN MARINE HABITATS

EPA Science Inventory

Bioremediation is being increasingly seen as an effective environmentally benign treatment for shorelines contaminated as a result of marine oil spills. Despite a relatively long history of research on oil-spill bioremediation, it remains an essentially empirical technology and m...

DIRECT SYNTHESIS OF TERTIARY AMINES IN WATER USING MICROWAVES

EPA Science Inventory

A direct synthesis of tertiary amines is presented that proceeds expeditiously via N-alkylation of amines using alkyl halides in alkaline aqueous medium. This environmentally benign reaction is accelerated upon exposure to microwave irradiation resulting in shortened reaction tim...

ENVIRONMENTALLY-BENIGN POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE (PTFE) COATINGS FOR MOLD RELEASE - PHASE II

EPA Science Inventory

GVD proposes to develop high performance, volatile organic compound (VOC)-free and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)-free, non-stick mold release coatings based on its novel polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fluoropolymer technology. Most commercial mold release agents make use of...

Sustainable business makes dollars and sense.

PubMed Central

Fields, Scott

2002-01-01

The last decade has marked a radical change in the business of sustainability, say environmental activists and industrialists alike. On the wane are "greenwashing" campaigns in which corporations promote dubious environmental accomplishments to draw attention away from environmentally damaging practices. On the rise are corporate investments in sustainability programs, new types of environmental markets, and public demand for green products and investments. Once an afterthought, an annoyance, or a nonentity, sustainability is now often a focal point for businesses. No longer thought of as a business cost, environmentally benign practices are now viewed as a competitive advantage as companies seek to win both stockholders and customers. PMID:11882490

Sustainable business makes dollars and sense.

PubMed

Fields, Scott

2002-03-01

The last decade has marked a radical change in the business of sustainability, say environmental activists and industrialists alike. On the wane are "greenwashing" campaigns in which corporations promote dubious environmental accomplishments to draw attention away from environmentally damaging practices. On the rise are corporate investments in sustainability programs, new types of environmental markets, and public demand for green products and investments. Once an afterthought, an annoyance, or a nonentity, sustainability is now often a focal point for businesses. No longer thought of as a business cost, environmentally benign practices are now viewed as a competitive advantage as companies seek to win both stockholders and customers.

Chemical tagging of chlorinated phenols for their facile detection and analysis by NMR spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Valdez, Carlos A.; Leif, Roald N.

2015-03-22

A derivatization method that employs diethyl (bromodifluoromethyl) phosphonate (DBDFP) to efficiently tag the endocrine disruptor pentachlorophenol (PCP) and other chlorinated phenols (CPs) along with their reliable detection and analysis by NMR is presented. The method accomplishes the efficient alkylation of the hydroxyl group in CPs with the difluoromethyl (CF 2H) moiety in extremely rapid fashion (5 min), at room temperature and in an environmentally benign manner. The approach proved successful in difluoromethylating a panel of 18 chlorinated phenols, yielding derivatives that displayed unique 1H, 19F NMR spectra allowing for the clear discrimination between isomerically related CPs. Due to its biphasicmore » nature, the derivatization can be applied to both aqueous and organic mixtures where the analysis of CPs is required. Furthermore, the methodology demonstrates that PCP along with other CPs can be selectively derivatized in the presence of other various aliphatic alcohols, underscoring the superiority of the approach over other general derivatization methods that indiscriminately modify all analytes in a given sample. The present work demonstrates the first application of NMR on the qualitative analysis of these highly toxic and environmentally persistent species.« less

Multiview boosting digital pathology analysis of prostate cancer.

PubMed

Kwak, Jin Tae; Hewitt, Stephen M

2017-04-01

Various digital pathology tools have been developed to aid in analyzing tissues and improving cancer pathology. The multi-resolution nature of cancer pathology, however, has not been fully analyzed and utilized. Here, we develop an automated, cooperative, and multi-resolution method for improving prostate cancer diagnosis. Digitized tissue specimen images are obtained from 5 tissue microarrays (TMAs). The TMAs include 70 benign and 135 cancer samples (TMA1), 74 benign and 89 cancer samples (TMA2), 70 benign and 115 cancer samples (TMA3), 79 benign and 82 cancer samples (TMA4), and 72 benign and 86 cancer samples (TMA5). The tissue specimen images are segmented using intensity- and texture-based features. Using the segmentation results, a number of morphological features from lumens and epithelial nuclei are computed to characterize tissues at different resolutions. Applying a multiview boosting algorithm, tissue characteristics, obtained from differing resolutions, are cooperatively combined to achieve accurate cancer detection. In segmenting prostate tissues, the multiview boosting method achieved≥ 0.97 AUC using TMA1. For detecting cancers, the multiview boosting method achieved an AUC of 0.98 (95% CI: 0.97-0.99) as trained on TMA2 and tested on TMA3, TMA4, and TMA5. The proposed method was superior to single-view approaches, utilizing features from a single resolution or merging features from all the resolutions. Moreover, the performance of the proposed method was insensitive to the choice of the training dataset. Trained on TMA3, TMA4, and TMA5, the proposed method obtained an AUC of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.96-0.98), 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96-0.99), and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.96-0.98), respectively. The multiview boosting method is capable of integrating information from multiple resolutions in an effective and efficient fashion and identifying cancers with high accuracy. The multiview boosting method holds a great potential for improving digital pathology tools and research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lack of HPV in Benign and Malignant Epithelial Ovarian Tumors in Iran

PubMed

Farzaneh, Farah; Nadji, Seyed Alireza; Khosravi, Donya; Hosseini, Maryam Sadat; Hashemi Bahremani, Mohammad; Chehrazi, Mohammad; Bagheri, Ghazal; Sigaroodi, Afsaneh; Haghighatian, Zahra

2017-05-01

Background: Ovarian epithelial tumors one of the most common gynecological neoplasms; we here evaluated the presence of HPV in benign and malignant examples. Methods: In this cross-sectional study the records of 105 patients with epithelial ovarian tumors (benign and malignant) referred to Imam Hossein University Hospital from 2012 to 2015 were evaluated along with assessment of the presence of the HPV infection using PCR. Results: Among 105 patients, comprising 26 (24.8%) with malignant and 79 (75.2%) with benign lesions, the factors found to impact on malignancy were age at diagnosis, age at first pregnancy, number of pregnancies and hormonal status. However, malignancies was not related to abortion, late menopause, and early menarche. In none of the ovarian tissues (benign and malignant) was HPV DNA found. Conclusion: In this study HPV DNA could not be found in any epithelial ovarian tumors (benign and malignant) removed from 105 women; more studies with larger sample size are needed for a definite conclusion. Creative Commons Attribution License

ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN ORGANIC TRANSFORMATIONS USING MICROWAVE IRRADIATION UNDER SOLVENT-FREE CONDITIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Microwave-expedited solvent-free synthetic processes involve the exposure of neat reactants to microwave (MW) irradiation in the presence of supported reagents or catalysts on mineral oxides. Recent developments are described and the salient features of these high yield protocols...

Environmentally Benign Battlefield Effects Black Smoke Simulator

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

tested and results Fuel Oxidizer Color of Smoke Density of Smoke Sugar (Sucrose) KNO3 Grey Medium Dextrin KNO3 Grey Thin Microcrystalline...design. 3.5 Initial Prototype Scale Fiberboard Testing Several quality black smoke formulations were identified in the small pellet testing to

Innovative green technique for preparing of flame retardant cotton

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Due to its environmentally benign character, microwave-assisted or supercritical carbon dioxide high pressure reactors are considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical reactions. In this paper, an innovative approach for preparation of flame retardant cotton fabric ...

ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN PROCESS RESEARCH: LINKING USEPA CHEMICAL PROCESS DESIGN AND SUSTAINABILITY

EPA Science Inventory

Interest in sustainability has increased dramatically over the last decade. Declarations have been made on what sustainable development is: meeting today's needs without compromising future needs (Brundtland, 1987). Others have focused on what sustainability means in terms of s...

DYNAMIC MODELING AND SIMULATION FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN CLEANING AND RINSING. (R824732)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Greener and Sustainable Approaches to the Synthesis of Pharmaceutically Active Heterocycles

EPA Science Inventory

Green chemistry is a rapidly developing field providing a proactive avenue for the sustainable development of future science and technology. Green chemistry can be applied to the design of highly efficient, environmentally benign synthetic protocols to deliver life-saving medicin...

Extraction of metals and/or metalloids from acidic media using supercritical fluids and salts

DOEpatents

Wai, C.M.; Smart, N.G.; Lin, Y.

1998-06-23

A method is described for extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a fluid solvent, particularly supercritical carbon dioxide, containing a chelating agent. The chelating agent forms chelates that are soluble in the fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments, the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide and the chelating agent comprises a trialkyl phosphate, a triaryl phosphate, a trialkylphosphine oxide, a triarylphosphine oxide, or mixtures thereof. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing contaminants from industrial waste. The method is particularly useful for extracting actinides from acidic solutions, and the process can be aided by the addition of nitrate salts. The chelate and supercritical fluid can be regenerated, and the contaminant species recovered, to provide an economic, efficient process. 7 figs.

Microscopy and certification as tools for environmentally benign, mercury-free small-scale gold mining.

PubMed

Hylander, Lars D; Plath, David

2006-09-01

Small-scale gold miners lose annually 500-700 tonnes of mercury when amalgamating gold with mercury and subsequent burning. So far, mercury-free alternatives have been demanding more skill, time, or capital investments and the interest from the miners to reduce the mercury emissions has been limited. Recent development of mercury free methods, an increasing mercury price, and increased awareness of health and environmental damages caused by mercury is changing the attitudes. This trend could be spurred by certification of gold with added value due to clean production methods. Our objectives are to present a method to distinguish gold recovered without using mercury or harmful chemicals such as cyanide. Thereby, this gold could be certified and thus obtain a higher market price. The method is based on inspection of the gold grain surfaces with a light microscope. This method separated natural gold grains from gold recovered by amalgamation or cyanidation. The method also demonstrated different characteristics of gold grains from different gold fields and a basis for a catalogue with photomicrographs of gold grains from different gold fields has been established and partly presented in this article. In conclusion, studies of gold grains with a light microscope and photo documentation is an inexpensive but reliable method to distinguish environment-friendly recovered gold, which could be used for certification to get a higher market price.

Performance comparison of deep learning and segmentation-based radiomic methods in the task of distinguishing benign and malignant breast lesions on DCE-MRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antropova, Natasha; Huynh, Benjamin; Giger, Maryellen

2017-03-01

Intuitive segmentation-based CADx/radiomic features, calculated from the lesion segmentations of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance images (DCE-MRIs) have been utilized in the task of distinguishing between malignant and benign lesions. Additionally, transfer learning with pre-trained deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) allows for an alternative method of radiomics extraction, where the features are derived directly from the image data. However, the comparison of computer-extracted segmentation-based and CNN features in MRI breast lesion characterization has not yet been conducted. In our study, we used a DCE-MRI database of 640 breast cases - 191 benign and 449 malignant. Thirty-eight segmentation-based features were extracted automatically using our quantitative radiomics workstation. Also, 2D ROIs were selected around each lesion on the DCE-MRIs and directly input into a pre-trained CNN AlexNet, yielding CNN features. Each method was investigated separately and in combination in terms of performance in the task of distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions. Area under the ROC curve (AUC) served as the figure of merit. Both methods yielded promising classification performance with round-robin cross-validated AUC values of 0.88 (se =0.01) and 0.76 (se=0.02) for segmentationbased and deep learning methods, respectively. Combination of the two methods enhanced the performance in malignancy assessment resulting in an AUC value of 0.91 (se=0.01), a statistically significant improvement over the performance of the CNN method alone.

Environmentally friendly ionic liquid-in-water microemulsions for extraction of hydrophilic and lipophilic components from Flos Chrysanthemi.

PubMed

Chen, Jue; Cao, Jun; Gao, Wen; Qi, Lian-Wen; Li, Ping

2013-10-21

Ionic liquids (ILs) have numerous chemical applications as environmentally green solvents that are extending into microemulsion applications. In this work, a novel benign IL-in-water microemulsion system modified by an IL surfactant has been proposed for simultaneous extraction of hydrophilic and lipophilic constituents from Flos Chrysanthemi (Chrysanthemum morifolium). Constituents were analyzed by rapid-resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A mixture-design approach was used to optimize the IL surfactant and the IL oil phase in the microemulsion system. Microemulsions consisting of 6.0% 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate, 0.1% 1-vinyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate and 93.9% water offered the acceptable extract efficiency that are comparable to or even better than conventional volatile organic solvents. This assay was fully validated with respect to the linearity of response (r(2) > 0.999 over two orders of magnitude), precision (intra-RSD < 0.49 and inter-day RSD < 2.21), and accuracy (recoveries ranging from 93.73% to 101.84%). The proposed IL-in-water microemulsion method provided an environmentally friendly alternative for efficient extraction of compounds from Flos Chrysanthemi and could be extended to complex environmental and pharmaceutical samples.

Selective isolation of gold facilitated by second-sphere coordination with α-cyclodextrin

PubMed Central

Liu, Zhichang; Frasconi, Marco; Lei, Juying; Brown, Zachary J.; Zhu, Zhixue; Cao, Dennis; Iehl, Julien; Liu, Guoliang; Fahrenbach, Albert C.; Botros, Youssry Y.; Farha, Omar K.; Hupp, Joseph T.; Mirkin, Chad A.; Fraser Stoddart, J.

2013-01-01

Gold recovery using environmentally benign chemistry is imperative from an environmental perspective. Here we report the spontaneous assembly of a one-dimensional supramolecular complex with an extended {[K(OH2)6][AuBr4](α-cyclodextrin)2}n chain superstructure formed during the rapid co-precipitation of α-cyclodextrin and KAuBr4 in water. This phase change is selective for this gold salt, even in the presence of other square-planar palladium and platinum complexes. From single-crystal X-ray analyses of six inclusion complexes between α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrins with KAuBr4 and KAuCl4, we hypothesize that a perfect match in molecular recognition between α-cyclodextrin and [AuBr4]− leads to a near-axial orientation of the ion with respect to the α-cyclodextrin channel, which facilitates a highly specific second-sphere coordination involving [AuBr4]− and [K(OH2)6]+ and drives the co-precipitation of the 1:2 adduct. This discovery heralds a green host–guest procedure for gold recovery from gold-bearing raw materials making use of α-cyclodextrin—an inexpensive and environmentally benign carbohydrate. PMID:23673640

Bronchoscopic management of benign bronchial stenosis by electrocautery and balloon dilatation.

PubMed

Garg, M; Gogia, Pratibha; Manoria, P; Goyal, R

2012-01-01

Benign bronchial stenosis is managed by surgical or bronchoscopic methods. Although surgical approach is definitive, it is technically demanding and is costlier than bronchoscopic treatment. Here, we report the case of a 27-year-old female patient with symptomatic benign bronchial stenosis of the left main bronchus. The stenosis was dilated successfully through a fibreoptic bronchoscope by electrocautery followed by balloon bronchoplasty and application of mitomycin-C. On follow up, there was no evidence of re-stenosis.

A sustainable approach to empower the bio-based future: upgrading of biomass via process intensification

EPA Science Inventory

An economically viable and environmentally benign continuous flow intensified process has been developed to demonstrate the ability to upgrade biomass into potential biofuels, solvents, and pharmaceutical feedstocks using a bimetallic AgPd@g-C3N4 catalyst.

MICROWAVE-ASSISTED SYNTHESIS OF NITROGEN AND OXYGEN CONTAINING HETEROCYCLES IN AQUEOUS MEDIUM

EPA Science Inventory

Pharmaceutical scientists are required to generate diverse arrays of complex targets in short periods of time. A primary driver of organic chemistry is, therefore, the development of efficient and environmentally benign synthetic protocols. This can be achieved via the selection ...

Bare Magnetic Nanoparticles: Sustainable Synthesis and Applications in Catalytic Organic Transformations

EPA Science Inventory

Magnetic nanoparticles have become increasingly prominent in the field of catalysis over the last decade as they combine interesting reactivity with an easy, economical and environmentally benign mode of recovery. Early strategies focused on the use of such nanoparticles only as ...

Greener Biomimetic Synthesis of Nanomaterials using Anti-oxidants from Plants and Microwaves

EPA Science Inventory

The generation of nanoparticles often requires aggressive reducing agents and the cost of production is relatively high both materially and environmentally. Greener synthetic strategies are advanced via several pathways using benign reagents in the matrix in which they are to be ...

Extraction of Pentachlorophenol from Soils using Environmentally Benign Lactic Acid Solutions

EPA Science Inventory

Soil contamination with pentachlorophenol (PCP) is widespread across the globe. Soil washing/extraction is a common technique to remove this compound. Several soil washing/extraction solutions have been used but a majority of them have the problem of persistence in the environmen...

Electrochemically active, crystalline, mesoporous covalent organic frameworks on carbon nanotubes for synergistic lithium-ion battery energy storage

PubMed Central

Xu, Fei; Jin, Shangbin; Zhong, Hui; Wu, Dingcai; Yang, Xiaoqing; Chen, Xiong; Wei, Hao; Fu, Ruowen; Jiang, Donglin

2015-01-01

Organic batteries free of toxic metal species could lead to a new generation of consumer energy storage devices that are safe and environmentally benign. However, the conventional organic electrodes remain problematic because of their structural instability, slow ion-diffusion dynamics, and poor electrical conductivity. Here, we report on the development of a redox-active, crystalline, mesoporous covalent organic framework (COF) on carbon nanotubes for use as electrodes; the electrode stability is enhanced by the covalent network, the ion transport is facilitated by the open meso-channels, and the electron conductivity is boosted by the carbon nanotube wires. These effects work synergistically for the storage of energy and provide lithium-ion batteries with high efficiency, robust cycle stability, and high rate capability. Our results suggest that redox-active COFs on conducting carbons could serve as a unique platform for energy storage and may facilitate the design of new organic electrodes for high-performance and environmentally benign battery devices. PMID:25650133

Electrochemically active, crystalline, mesoporous covalent organic frameworks on carbon nanotubes for synergistic lithium-ion battery energy storage.

PubMed

Xu, Fei; Jin, Shangbin; Zhong, Hui; Wu, Dingcai; Yang, Xiaoqing; Chen, Xiong; Wei, Hao; Fu, Ruowen; Jiang, Donglin

2015-02-04

Organic batteries free of toxic metal species could lead to a new generation of consumer energy storage devices that are safe and environmentally benign. However, the conventional organic electrodes remain problematic because of their structural instability, slow ion-diffusion dynamics, and poor electrical conductivity. Here, we report on the development of a redox-active, crystalline, mesoporous covalent organic framework (COF) on carbon nanotubes for use as electrodes; the electrode stability is enhanced by the covalent network, the ion transport is facilitated by the open meso-channels, and the electron conductivity is boosted by the carbon nanotube wires. These effects work synergistically for the storage of energy and provide lithium-ion batteries with high efficiency, robust cycle stability, and high rate capability. Our results suggest that redox-active COFs on conducting carbons could serve as a unique platform for energy storage and may facilitate the design of new organic electrodes for high-performance and environmentally benign battery devices.

Emergy-based ecological account for the Chinese economy in 2004

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, M. M.; Zhou, J. B.; Chen, B.; Chen, G. Q.

2008-12-01

This paper provides an integrated study on the ecological account for the Chinese economy in 2004 based on emergy synthesis theory. The detailed flows of the Chinese economy is diagramed, accounted and analyzed in categories using the biophysically based ecological accounting. Through calculating environmental and economic inputs within and outside the Chinese economy, this paper discusses the Chinese international exchange, describes the resource structure, and assesses its sustainability as a whole. Also, the comparison of systematic indicators, such as emergy/dollar ratio, environmental load ratio, and emergy self-support ratio, with those of the other countries is tabled and explored to illustrate the general status of the Chinese economy in the world. Take, for example, the environmental load ratio, which was 9.29 in China 2004, it reveals that the Chinese economy put high pressure on the local environment compared with those of the environment-benign countries, such as Brazil (0.75), Australia (0.86) and New Zealand (0.81). In addition, in this paper, the accounting method of tourism is adjusted based on the previous researches.

Dynamic Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-MRI) and Diffusion Weighted MR Imaging (DWI) for Differentiation between Benign and Malignant Salivary Gland Tumors

PubMed Central

Assili, S.; Fathi Kazerooni, A.; Aghaghazvini, L.; Saligheh Rad, H.R.; Pirayesh Islamian, J.

2015-01-01

Background Salivary gland tumors form nearly 3% of head and neck tumors. Due to their large histological variety and vicinity to facial nerves, pre-operative diagnosis and differentiation of benign and malignant parotid tumors are a major challenge for radiologists. Objective The majority of these tumors are benign; however, sometimes they tend to transform into a malignant form. Functional MRI techniques, namely dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE-) MRI and diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) can indicate the characteristics of tumor tissue. Methods DCE-MRI analysis is based on the parameters of time intensity curve (TIC) before and after contrast agent injection. This method has the potential to identify the angiogenesis of tumors. DWI analysis is performed according to diffusion of water molecules in a tissue for determination of the cellularity of tumors. Conclusion According to the literature, these methods cannot be used individually to differentiate benign from malignant salivary gland tumors. An effective approach could be to combine the aforementioned methods to increase the accuracy of discrimination between different tumor types. The main objective of this study is to explore the application of DCE-MRI and DWI for assessment of salivary gland tumor types. PMID:26688794

Inverted papillomas and benign nonneoplastic lesions of the nasal cavity

PubMed Central

Casiano, Roy R.

2012-01-01

Background: Benign lesions of the nasal cavity represent a diverse group of pathologies. Furthermore, each of these disorders may present differently in any given patient as pain and discomfort, epistaxis, headaches, vision changes, or nasal obstruction. Although these nasal masses are benign, many of them have a significant capacity for local tissue destruction and symptomatology secondary to this destruction. Advances in office-based endoscopic nasendoscopy have equipped the otolaryngologist with a safe, inexpensive, and rapid means of directly visualizing lesions within the nasal cavity and the initiation of appropriate treatment. Methods: The purpose of this study is to review the diagnosis, management, and controversies of many of the most common benign lesions of the nasal cavity encountered by the primary care physician or otolaryngologist. Results: This includes discussion of inverted papilloma (IP), juvenile angiofibroma, squamous papilloma, pyogenic granuloma, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, schwannoma, benign fibro-osseous lesions, and other benign lesions of the nasal cavity, with particular emphasis on IP and juvenile angiofibroma. Conclusion: A diverse array of benign lesions occur within the nasal cavity and paranasal cavities. Despite their inability to metastasize, many of these lesions have significant capability for local tissue destruction and recurrence. PMID:22487294

SSAT/AHPBA Joint Symposium on Evaluation and Treatment of Benign Liver Lesions

PubMed Central

Chun, Yun Shin; House, Michael G.; Kaur, Harmeet; Loyer, Evelyne M.; Paradis, Valérie; Vauthey, Jean-Nicolas

2013-01-01

Background Benign liver lesions are common incidental radiologic findings. Methods Experts convened in 2011 at a Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract/ Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association joint symposium to discuss the evaluation and treatment of benign liver lesions. Results Most benign liver lesions can be accurately diagnosed with high-quality imaging, including ultrasonography, multiphase computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, particularly with hepatocyte-specific contrast agents. Percutaneous biopsy is reserved for lesions that cannot be characterized radiographically, and its accuracy is improved with immunophenotypic markers. Hepatic cysts are the most commonly diagnosed benign liver lesions; these must be distinguished from malignant cystic lesions, which are rare. Among the solid benign liver lesions, hemangiomas and focal nodular hyperplasia seldom require treatment. In contrast, hepatocellular adenomas are associated with a risk for complications. A new classification system for hepatocellular adenomas based on genetic and phenotypic features can help guide patient care. In patients who are symptomatic or at risk for complications, multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment based on clinicopathologic, radiographic, and molecular analysis is needed. Conclusions Most benign liver lesions can be accurately diagnosed radiographically and do not require treatment. Treatment is necessary for patients with symptoms or at risk for complications. PMID:23377783

XIAP and Ki-67: A Correlation Between Antiapoptotic and Proliferative Marker Expression in Benign and Malignant Tumours of Salivary Gland: An Immunohistochemical Study

PubMed Central

Gawande, Madhuri; Chaudhary, Minal; Gadbail, Amol Ramchandra; Patil, Swati; Bagulkar, Smita

2015-01-01

Background: Impaired balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis is crucial to the development of malignant neoplasm. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the expression of X-Linked inhibitor of apoptotic protein (XIAP) (antiapoptotic marker) and Ki-67 (proliferative marker) expression in benign and malignant salivary gland (SG) tumours. Materials and Methods: The study consisted of 40 cases of benign SG tumours and 50 cases of malignant SG tumours. The immunohistochemistry was carried out by using Ki-67 antibody (clone MIB-1) and XIAP antibody in all the groups. Results: XIAP expression was significantly higher in malignant SG tumours than benign SG tumours (p = 0.016). Ki-67 LI was significantly higher in malignant SG tumours than benign SG tumours (p = 0.0002). Statistically significant positive correlation between Ki-67 count and XIAP expression was noted in benign and malignant SG tumours (p = 0.000). Conclusion: As the expression of an antiapoptotic marker (XIAP) increases, the expression of a proliferative marker (Ki-67) also increases from benign to malignant SG tumours. Thus, targeted therapy of XIAP may play a future role in the management of SG malignancy. PMID:25859460

Apparent diffusion coefficient measurements in the differentiation between benign and malignant lesions: a systematic review.

PubMed

Vermoolen, M A; Kwee, T C; Nievelstein, R A J

2012-08-01

To systematically review the value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurement in the differentiation between benign and malignant lesions. A systematic search of the Medline/Pubmed and Embase databases revealed 109 relevant studies. Quality of these articles was assessed using the Quality Assessment of the Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy Included in Systematic Reviews (QUADAS) criteria. Reported ADC values of benign and malignant lesions were compared per organ. The mean quality score of the reviewed articles was 50%. Comparison of ADC values showed marked variation among studies and between benign and malignant lesions in various organs. In several organs, such as breast, liver, and uterus, ADC values discriminated well between benign and malignant lesions. In other organs, such as the salivary glands, thyroid, and pancreas, ADCs were not significantly different between benign and malignant lesions. The potential utility of ADC measurement for the characterisation of tumours differs per organ. Future well-designed studies are required before ADC measurements can be recommended for the differentiation of benign and malignant lesions. These future studies should use standardised acquisition protocols and provide complete reporting of study methods, to facilitate comparison of results and clinical implementation of ADC measurement for tumour characterisation.

MicroRNA and mRNA Features of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma and Benign Asbestos-Related Pleural Effusion

PubMed Central

Ak, Guntulu; Tomaszek, Sandra C.; Kosari, Farhad; Metintas, Muzaffer; Jett, James R.; Metintas, Selma; Yildirim, Huseyin; Dundar, Emine; Dong, Jie; Aubry, Marie Christine; Wigle, Dennis A.; Thomas, Charles F.

2015-01-01

Introduction. We investigated the expression of microRNAs and mRNAs in pleural tissues from patients with either malignant pleural mesothelioma or benign asbestos-related pleural effusion. Methods. Fresh frozen tissues from a total of 18 malignant pleural mesothelioma and 6 benign asbestos-related pleural effusion patients were studied. Expression profiling of mRNA and microRNA was performed using standard protocols. Results. We discovered significant upregulation of multiple microRNAs in malignant pleural mesothelioma compared to benign asbestos-related pleural effusion. Hsa-miR-484, hsa-miR-320, hsa-let-7a, and hsa-miR-125a-5p were able to discriminate malignant from benign disease. Dynamically regulated mRNAs were also identified. MET was the most highly overexpressed gene in malignant pleural mesothelioma compared to benign asbestos-related pleural effusion. Integrated analyses examining microRNA-mRNA interactions suggested multiple altered targets within the Notch signaling pathway. Conclusions. Specific microRNAs and mRNAs may have diagnostic utility in differentiating patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma from benign asbestos-related pleural effusion. These studies may be particularly helpful in patients who reside in a region with a high incidence of mesothelioma. PMID:25756049

Breast masses in mammography classification with local contour features.

PubMed

Li, Haixia; Meng, Xianjing; Wang, Tingwen; Tang, Yuchun; Yin, Yilong

2017-04-14

Mammography is one of the most popular tools for early detection of breast cancer. Contour of breast mass in mammography is very important information to distinguish benign and malignant mass. Contour of benign mass is smooth and round or oval, while malignant mass has irregular shape and spiculated contour. Several studies have shown that 1D signature translated from 2D contour can describe the contour features well. In this paper, we propose a new method to translate 2D contour of breast mass in mammography into 1D signature. The method can describe not only the contour features but also the regularity of breast mass. Then we segment the whole 1D signature into different subsections. We extract four local features including a new contour descriptor from the subsections. The new contour descriptor is root mean square (RMS) slope. It can describe the roughness of the contour. KNN, SVM and ANN classifier are used to classify benign breast mass and malignant mass. The proposed method is tested on a set with 323 contours including 143 benign masses and 180 malignant ones from digital database of screening mammography (DDSM). The best accuracy of classification is 99.66% using the feature of root mean square slope with SVM classifier. The performance of the proposed method is better than traditional method. In addition, RMS slope is an effective feature comparable to most of the existing features.

Comparison of end-of-life tire treatment technologies: a Chinese case study.

PubMed

Li, Xingfu; Xu, He; Gao, Yingnan; Tao, Yijun

2010-11-01

The aim of this paper is to compare different end-of-life tire (ELT) treatment technologies in China from an environmental and economic perspective. Four treatment technologies were evaluated: ambient grinding, devulcanization, pyrolysis and illegal tire oil extraction. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to evaluate the potential environmental impact of each treatment based on the Eco-indicator 99 (Hierarchist approach) method provided by GaBi 4 software. The final result shows that pyrolysis represents the environmentally benign option while illegal tire oil extraction caused the worst damages. For the three legal treatments, although high credit was obtained when considering avoided impacts from recycled materials and energy, they have great impact as to respiratory effects (inorganic) dominantly contributed by energy production stage, which implies that the emphasis on environmental policies related to ELT treatment should shift from the control of emissions from treatment process to the reduction of energy consumption. A simplified comparison of net benefits and total impacts shows that the most eco-effective ELT treatment technology is pyrolysis, followed by dynamic devulcanization and ambient grinding. The illegal tire oil extraction, however, must be prohibited immediately because of its highest environmental pollution and lowest net benefit. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differentiation of benign and malignant hilar bile duct stenosis.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaolei; Yang, Zhiying; Tan, Haidong; Shao, Chen; Liu, Liguo; Si, Shuang; Xu, Li; Sun, Yongliang

2016-06-15

Failure to differentiate benign and malignant hilar bile duct stenosis may lead to inappropriate treatment. We retrospectively analyzed the methods for differentiation. A total of 53 patients with hilar bile duct stenosis were included, comprising 41 malignant cases (hilar cholangiocarcinoma) and 12 benign cases (six primary sclerosing cholangitis and six IgG4-associated sclerosing cholangitis). Data of clinical histories, laboratory tests, imaging studies, and liver pathologies were collected, and comparison was made between benign and malignant groups. Compared with malignant group, patients in the benign group were more likely to have multiorgan involvement of clinical histories (P < 0.001). There was no difference on bilirubin, liver enzyme, and serum tumor marker between the two groups, whereas serum IgG4 levels were higher in the benign group (P = 0.003). Patients in the benign group were more likely to have pancreatic changes (P < 0.001) and multiple-segmental bile duct stenosis (P < 0.001) on imaging. Compared with the malignant group, patients in the benign group were more likely to show severe periportal inflammation in noninvolved liver (P < 0.001), fibrosis around intrahepatic bile duct (P < 0.001), and more IgG4-positive plasma cells (P < 0.001) on liver pathology. Benign lesion should be considered for patients with history of multiorgan involvement, pancreas changes, or multiple-segmental bile duct stenosis on imaging. Liver biopsy could be helpful for differential diagnosis before surgery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantitative evaluation of benign meningioma and hemangiopericytoma with peritumoral brain edema by 64-slice CT perfusion imaging.

PubMed

Ren, Guang; Chen, Shuang; Wang, Yin; Zhu, Rui-jiang; Geng, Dao-ying; Feng, Xiao-yuan

2010-08-05

Hemangiopericytomas (HPCs) have a relentless tendency for local recurrence and metastases, differentiating between benign meningiomas and HPCs before surgery is important for both treatment planning and the prognosis appraisal. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlations between CT perfusion parameters and microvessel density (MVD) in extra-axial tumors and the possible role of CT perfusion imaging in preoperatively differentiating benign meningiomas and HPCs. Seventeen patients with benign meningiomas and peritumoral edema, 12 patients with HPCs and peritumoral edema underwent 64-slice CT perfusion imaging pre-operation. Perfusion was calculated using the Patlak method. The quantitative parameters, include cerebral blood volume (CBV), permeability surface (PS) of parenchyma, peritumoral edema among benign meningiomas and HPCs were compared respectively. CBV and PS in parenchyma, peritumoral edema of benign meningiomas and HPCs were also compared to that of the contrallateral normal white matter respectively. The correlations between CBV, PS of tumoral parenchyma and MVD were examined. The value of CBV and PS in parenchyma of HPCs were significantly higher than that of benign meningiomas (P < 0.05), while the values of CBV and PS in peritumoral edema of benign meningiomas and HPCs were not significantly different (P > 0.05). MVD in parenchyma of HPCs were significantly higher than that of benign meningiomas (P < 0.05). There were positive correlations between CBV and MVD (r = 0.648, P < 0.05), PS and MVD (r = 0.541, P < 0.05) respectively. Furthermore, the value of CBV and PS in parenchyma of benign meningiomas and HPCs were significantly higher than that of contrallateral normal white matter (P < 0.05), the value of CBV in peritumoral edema of benign meningiomas and HPCs were significantly lower than that of contrallateral normal white matter (P < 0.05), while the value of PS in peritumoral edema of benign meningiomas and HPCs were not significantly different with that of contrallateral normal white matter (P > 0.05). CT perfusion imaging can provide critical information on the vascularity of HPC and benign meningiomas. Determination of maximal CBV and corresponding PS values in the parenchyma may be useful in the preoperative differentiating HPC from benign meningiomas.

Intracycle angular velocity control of cross-flow turbines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strom, Benjamin; Brunton, Steven L.; Polagye, Brian

2017-08-01

Cross-flow turbines, also known as vertical-axis turbines, are attractive for power generation from wind and water currents. Some cross-flow turbine designs optimize unsteady fluid forces and maximize power output by controlling blade kinematics within one rotation. One established method is to dynamically pitch the blades. Here we introduce a mechanically simpler alternative: optimize the turbine rotation rate as a function of angular blade position. We demonstrate experimentally that this approach results in a 59% increase in power output over standard control methods. Analysis of fluid forcing and blade kinematics suggest that power increase is achieved through modification of the local flow conditions and alignment of fluid force and rotation rate extrema. The result is a low-speed, structurally robust turbine that achieves high efficiency and could enable a new generation of environmentally benign turbines for renewable power generation.

[Contrast enhanced power Doppler and color Doppler ultrasound in breast masses: Efficiency in diagnosis and contributions to differential diagnosis].

PubMed

Algül, Ali; Balci, Pinar; Seçil, Mustafa; Canda, Tülay

2003-06-01

To compare ability of detection of vascular structures by utilizing ultrasonographic contrast agent (Levovist) prior to and following power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) and colour Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) and to determine useful parameters in the differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses by means of verified data. Vascularisation characteristics of 38 breast masses (22 malignant, 16 benign) which were confirmed by mammography and B-mode sonography were evaluated by both CDUS and PDUS following and prior to intravenous contrast application. In addition, Vmax and RI values of vascular structures were calculated by Doppler spectral evaluation. Malignant lesions showed more vascularity than benign lesions both with and without contrast enhancement. With both methods, by utilizing contrast agent, central, penetrating and tortuous vascular structures became more significant in malignant lesions when compared with benign lesions. PDUS was able to detect vascular structures better than CDUS; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Presence of peripheral vascularity was not useful in differentiating malignant from benign lesions. Vmax and RI values were higher in malignant lesions and the difference was statistically significant. In both methods, Vmax > 15 cm/sec and RI > 0.80 (CDUS), and RI > 0.70 (PDUS) were accepted as malignancy parameters. Vascular patterns of breast masses as determined with PDUS and CDUS with contrast enhancement and Doppler spectral examinations enabled differentiation of malignant and benign breast lesions. Thus, it is possible to decrease the number of unnecessary surgical interventions.

Immunohistochemical localization of HE4 in benign, borderline, and malignant lesions of the ovary.

PubMed

Georgakopoulos, Penelope; Mehmood, Saira; Akalin, Ali; Shroyer, Kenneth R

2012-11-01

Despite advances in the development of novel methods to improve treatment, ovarian carcinoma is still the leading cause of gynecologic cancer death in the United States and other industrialized nations. Improvements in the clinical outcome of ovarian cancer will be achieved if methods can be developed to enable the detection of these tumors at the earliest possible stage. Thus, it is critically important to identify and validate new biomarkers of ovarian cancer. HE4 expression was defined by immunohistochemical analysis of a wide range of benign, borderline, and malignant ovarian lesions, including serous, endometrioid, mucinous, and clear cell lesions of the ovary and in primary tubal carcinomas and the normal fallopian tube. At the cellular level, HE4 was highly expressed in malignant ovarian tumors and in a wide range of benign and borderline ovarian lesions. In addition, HE4 was highly expressed in primary fallopian tube carcinomas and benign fallopian tubal epithelial cells. These results support the conclusion that HE4 is widely expressed in most benign, borderline, and malignant lesions of the ovary and the fallopian tube. The detection of HE4 expression at high levels in some benign lesions and normal tissues suggests that HE4 could have limited specificity as a marker of ovarian or tubal carcinoma. Furthermore, the relatively weak expression that was observed in many ovarian carcinomas indicates that HE4 could fail to detect some cases of primary or recurrent disease.

Automatic lung nodule classification with radiomics approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Jingchen; Wang, Qian; Ren, Yacheng; Hu, Haibo; Zhao, Jun

2016-03-01

Lung cancer is the first killer among the cancer deaths. Malignant lung nodules have extremely high mortality while some of the benign nodules don't need any treatment .Thus, the accuracy of diagnosis between benign or malignant nodules diagnosis is necessary. Notably, although currently additional invasive biopsy or second CT scan in 3 months later may help radiologists to make judgments, easier diagnosis approaches are imminently needed. In this paper, we propose a novel CAD method to distinguish the benign and malignant lung cancer from CT images directly, which can not only improve the efficiency of rumor diagnosis but also greatly decrease the pain and risk of patients in biopsy collecting process. Briefly, according to the state-of-the-art radiomics approach, 583 features were used at the first step for measurement of nodules' intensity, shape, heterogeneity and information in multi-frequencies. Further, with Random Forest method, we distinguish the benign nodules from malignant nodules by analyzing all these features. Notably, our proposed scheme was tested on all 79 CT scans with diagnosis data available in The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) which contain 127 nodules and each nodule is annotated by at least one of four radiologists participating in the project. Satisfactorily, this method achieved 82.7% accuracy in classification of malignant primary lung nodules and benign nodules. We believe it would bring much value for routine lung cancer diagnosis in CT imaging and provide improvement in decision-support with much lower cost.

Two-step reconstruction method using global optimization and conjugate gradient for ultrasound-guided diffuse optical tomography.

PubMed

Tavakoli, Behnoosh; Zhu, Quing

2013-01-01

Ultrasound-guided diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a promising method for characterizing malignant and benign lesions in the female breast. We introduce a new two-step algorithm for DOT inversion in which the optical parameters are estimated with the global optimization method, genetic algorithm. The estimation result is applied as an initial guess to the conjugate gradient (CG) optimization method to obtain the absorption and scattering distributions simultaneously. Simulations and phantom experiments have shown that the maximum absorption and reduced scattering coefficients are reconstructed with less than 10% and 25% errors, respectively. This is in contrast with the CG method alone, which generates about 20% error for the absorption coefficient and does not accurately recover the scattering distribution. A new measure of scattering contrast has been introduced to characterize benign and malignant breast lesions. The results of 16 clinical cases reconstructed with the two-step method demonstrates that, on average, the absorption coefficient and scattering contrast of malignant lesions are about 1.8 and 3.32 times higher than the benign cases, respectively.

An environmentally benign antimicrobial nanoparticle based on a silver-infused lignin core

EPA Science Inventory

Silver nanoparticles have antibacterial properties but their use has been a cause for concern because they persist in the environment. Here we show that lignin nanoparticles infused with silver ions and coated with a cationic polyelectrolyte layer form a biodegradable and green a...

Integrating walnut and other hardwoods into agroforestry practices

Treesearch

Shibu. Jose

2013-01-01

Agroforestry systems have been proposed as alternative, environmentally benign systems for agricultural production in temperate North America. Walnut and other hardwoods have been successfully integrated in most agroforestry practices include alley cropping, silvopastural, windbreaks, and riparian buffers. Because of walnuts relatively thin crowns and nut production,...

Electricity from Sunlight: The Future of Photovoltaics. Worldwatch Paper 52.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flavin, Christopher

Solar photovoltaic cells have been called the ultimate energy technology, environmentally benign and without moving parts, solar cells directly convert sunlight into electricity. Photovoltaic energy conversion is fundamentally different from all other forms of electricity generation. Without turbines, generators or other mechanical equipment, it…

Preparation and characterization of a novel micro- and nanocomposite hydrogels containing cellulosic fibrils

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In recent years, the preparation of cellulosic composites and nanocomposites has become an important approach because of the wide abundance of cellulose, its biodegradability, renewability, and the ability to effectively reinforce a polymer matrix in an environmentally benign nature. The main object...

BRAIN MICROGLIA (BV2) RESPONSE TO NON-PHOTOACTIVATED TIO2 NANOPARTICLES: IMPLICATIONS FOR NANOPARTICLE NEUROTOXICITY.

EPA Science Inventory

Engineered nanoparticles are attractive for use in medical, industrial, and military sectors, but little is known of their interactions with biological systems. Recent studies indicate that some are not completely benign to biological and environmental targets. Here, the respon...

Sustainable Biomimetic Approach to Nanomaterials and Applications of Nano-Catalysts in Green Synthesis and Environmental Remediation.

EPA Science Inventory

The presentation summarizes our sustainable chemical synthesis activity involving benign alternatives, such as the use of supported reagents, and greener reaction medium in aqueous or solvent-free conditions. The synthesis of heterocyclic compounds, coupling reactions, and a vari...

Environmental Application, Fate, Effects, and Concerns of Ionic Liquids: A Review.

PubMed

Amde, Meseret; Liu, Jing-Fu; Pang, Long

2015-11-03

Ionic liquids (ILs) comprise mostly of organic salts with negligible vapor pressure and low flammability that are proposed as replacements for volatile solvents. ILs have been promoted as "green" solvents and widely investigated for their various applications. Although the utility of these chemicals is unquestionable, their toxic effects have attracted great attention. In order to manage their potential hazards and design environmentally benign ILs, understanding their environmental behavior, fate and effects is important. In this review, environmentally relevant issues of ILs, including their environmental application, environmental behavior and toxicity are addressed. In addition, also presented are the influence of ILs on the environmental fate and toxicity of other coexisting contaminants, important routes for designing nontoxic ILs and the techniques that might be adopted for the removal of ILs.

POLYBROMINATED BIPHENYL EXPOSURE AND BENIGN BREAST DISEASE IN A COHORT OF US WOMEN. (R825300)

EPA Science Inventory

PURPOSE: We examined the relation between serum polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) levels and the risk of benign breast disease in a cohort of Michigan women unintentionally exposed to PBBs in 1973 and interviewed in 1997.

METHODS: We used extend...

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo secondary to laparoscopic surgery

PubMed Central

Shan, Xizheng; Wang, Amy; Wang, Entong

2017-01-01

Objectives: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is a common vestibular disorder and it may be idiopathic or secondary to some conditions such as surgery, but rare following laparoscopic surgery. Methods: We report two cases of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo secondary to laparoscopic surgery, one after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a 51-year-old man and another following laparoscopic hysterectomy in a 60-year-old woman. Results: Both patients were treated successfully with manual or device-assisted canalith repositioning maneuvers, with no recurrence on the follow-up of 6 -18 months. Conclusions: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is a rare but possible complication of laparoscopic surgery. Both manual and device-assisted repositioning maneuvers are effective treatments for this condition, with good efficacy and prognosis. PMID:28255446

Recycling evaluation of new-generation environmentally benign pressure sensitive adhesives

Treesearch

Said M. Abubakr; Carl Houtman; Dave Bormett; Nancy Ross Sutherland; Joe Peng

1999-01-01

As a result of a United States Postal Service (USPS) initiative, a work team was formed consisting of representatives from USPS, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), Specialized Technology Resources, Inc. (STR), and industry. The industries represented included papermakers, paper recyclers, paper collectors, equipment manufacturers, paper users, adhesive manufacturers and...

Promising Properties and System Demonstration of an Environmentally Benign Yellow Smoke Formulation for Hand-Held Signals

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-18

differences between the current specification and this new baseline configuration: (1) The tube is now composed of cardboard instead of stainless steel ...version of this previously reported composition, one without fumed silica hereafter referred to as formulation A. This formulation consists of Solvent

Green application of flame retardant cotton fabric using supercritical carbon dioxide

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Due to its environmentally benign character, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical reactions. In this poster, an innovative approach for preparation of flame retardant woven and nonwoven fabrics were obtained by utiliz...

Supercritical carbon dioxide fractionation of whey protein isolate for new food-grade ingredients

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A new, environmentally benign whey protein fractionation process was developed using supercritical CO2 (SCO2) as an acid aggregating agent to separate a-lactalbumin (a-LA) aggregates from soluble beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) protein in concentrated whey protein isolate (WPI) solutions. The process e...

Back to the future? Tourism, place, and sustainability

Treesearch

Daniel R. Williams; Susan Van Patten

1998-01-01

Tourism, especially rural tourism, epitomizes the problematic elements of sustainability. On the one hand, as a service industry trading on the uniqueness of a place and region, tourism is seen as more environmentally benign than industrial production, manufacturing, extractive industries, and even agriculture. When traditional resource dependent industries decline (...

Hydrogen Production and Delivery | Hydrogen and Fuel Cells | Hydrogen and

Science.gov Websites

degrees Celsius. Ultra-high temperatures are required for thermochemical reaction cycles to produce for the environmentally benign production of hydrogen. Very high reaction rates at these elevated temperatures give rise to very fast reaction rates, which significantly enhance production rates and more than

Promising flame retardant textile in supercritical carbon dioxide

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Since carbon dioxide is non-toxic, non-flammable and cost-effective, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is widely used in textile dyeing applications. Due to its environmentally benign character, scCO2 is considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical reactions. O...

POM-assisted electrochemical delignification and bleaching of chemical pulp

Treesearch

Helene Laroche; Mohini Sain; Carl Houtman; Claude Daneault

2001-01-01

A polyoxometalate-catalyzed electrochemical process has shown good selectivity in delignifying pulp. This breakthrough in redox catalysis shows promise for the development of a new environmentally benign technology for pulp bleaching. The electrochemical process, applied with a mildly alkaline electrolyte solution containing trace amounts of a vanadium-based...

Financial and Economic Analysis of Reduced Impact Logging

Treesearch

Tom Holmes

2016-01-01

Concern regarding extensive damage to tropical forests resulting from logging increased dramatically after World War II when mechanized logging systems developed in industrialized countries were deployed in the tropics. As a consequence, tropical foresters began developing logging procedures that were more environmentally benign, and by the 1990s, these practices began...

Environmentally benign USPS stamps : baseline pilot recycling results

Treesearch

D. F. Seiter; M. A. Pikulin; R. G. Meese; Said M. Abubakr; David Bormett; Nancy Ross-Sutherland

1998-01-01

Stickies continue to represent the most challenging contaminant to remove from recycled secondary fiber. Current projections suggest that pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) markets will continue to grow rapidly, increasing the concentration of these contaminants in common office-pack wastepaper. PSAas reformulated to exhibit higher removal efficiencies within standard...

Non-Leaching, Benign, Fouling Control, Multilayer Polymer Coatings for Marine Applications: PP-1274 Findings

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-09-01

transition temperature TBT tributyltin THF tetrahydrofuran TPE thermoplastic elastomer 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The goal of this research is to...compounds that are environmentally persistant cause damage to the ecosystem, and enter the food chain. The ban on tributyltin ( TBT ) antifoulants by the

A sustainable approach to empower the bio-based future ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

An economically viable and environmentally benign continuous flow intensified process has been developed to demonstrate the ability to upgrade biomass into potential biofuels, solvents, and pharmaceutical feedstocks using a bimetallic AgPd@g-C3N4 catalyst. Prepared for submission to Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) journal, Green Chemistry.

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles in textile finish aqueous system and their antimicrobial properties on cotton fibers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by a simple and environmentally benign procedure using poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) as reducing agent and stabilizer in the textile finish aqueous system, and their antimicrobial properties on greige (mechanically cleaned) and bleached cotton fibers were i...

Earth Observation from Space - The Issue of Environmental Sustainability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Durrieu, Sylvie; Nelson, Ross F.

2013-01-01

Remote sensing scientists work under assumptions that should not be taken for granted and should, therefore, be challenged. These assumptions include the following: 1. Space, especially Low Earth Orbit (LEO), will always be available to governmental and commercial space entities that launch Earth remote sensing missions. 2. Space launches are benign with respect to environmental impacts. 3. Minimization of Type 1 error, which provides increased confidence in the experimental outcome, is the best way to assess the significance of environmental change. 4. Large-area remote sensing investigations, i.e. national, continental, global studies, are best done from space. 5. National space missions should trump international, cooperative space missions to ensure national control and distribution of the data products. At best, all of these points are arguable, and in some cases, they're wrong. Development of observational space systems that are compatible with sustainability principles should be a primary concern when Earth remote sensing space systems are envisioned, designed, and launched. The discussion is based on the hypothesis that reducing the environmental impacts of thedata acquisition step,which is at the very beginning of the information streamleading to decision and action, will enhance coherence in the information streamand strengthen the capacity of measurement processes to meet their stated functional goal, i.e. sustainable management of Earth resources. We suggest that unconventional points of view should be adopted and when appropriate, remedial measures considered that could help to reduce the environmental footprint of space remote sensing and of Earth observation and monitoring systems in general. This article discusses these five assumptions inthe contextof sustainablemanagementof Earth's resources. Takingeachassumptioninturn,we find the following: (1) Space debris may limit access to Low Earth Orbit over the next decades. (2) Relatively speaking, given that they're rare event, space launches may be benign, but study is merited on upper stratospheric and exospheric layers given the chemical activity associated with rocket combustion by-products. (3) Minimization of Type II error should be considered in situations where minimization of Type I error greatly hampers or precludes our ability to correct the environmental condition being studied. (4) In certain situations, airborne collects may be less expensive and more environmentally benign, and comparative studies should be done to determine which path is wisest. (5) International cooperation and data sharing will reduce instrument and launch costs and mission redundancy. Given fiscal concerns of most of the major space agencies e e.g. NASA, ESA, CNES e it seems prudent to combine resources.

Spatial and temporal age-related spectral alterations in benign human breast tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Theophilou, Georgios; Fogarty, Simon W.; Trevisan, Júlio; Strong, Rebecca J.; Heys, Kelly A.; Patel, Imran I.; Stringfellow, Helen F.; Martin-Hirsch, Pierre L.; Martin, Francis L.

2016-02-01

Epidemiological evidence suggests that cancers attributable to exogenous carcinogenic agents may appear decades after initiating exposures. Environmental factors including lifestyle and/or diet have been implicated in the aetiology of breast cancer. Breast tissue undergoes continuous molecular and morphological changes from the time of thelarche to menopause and thereafter. These alterations are both cyclical and longitudinal, and can be influenced by several environmental factors including exposure to oestrogens. Research into the latent period leading to breast carcinogenesis has been mostly limited to when hyperplastic lesions are present. Investigations to identify a biomarker of commitment to disease in normal breast tissue are hindered by the molecular and histological diversity of disease-free breast tissue. Benign tissue from reduction mammoplasties provides an opportunity to study biochemical differences between women of similar ages as well as alterations with advancing age. Herein, synchrotron radiation-based Fourier-transform infrared (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy was used to examine the terminal ductal lobular epithelium (TDLU) and, intra- and inter-lobular epithelium to identify spatial and temporal changes within these areas. Principal component analysis (PCA) followed by linear discriminant analysis of mid-infrared spectra revealed unambiguous inter-individual as well as age-related differences in each histological compartment interrogated. Moreover, exploratory PCA of luminal and myoepithelial cells within the TDLU indicated the presence of specific cells, potentially stem cells. Understanding alterations within benign tissue may assist in the identification of alterations in latent pre-clinical stages of breast cancer.

What to do with thyroid nodules showing benign cytology and BRAF(V600E) mutation? A study based on clinical and radiologic features using a highly sensitive analytic method.

PubMed

Kim, Soo-Yeon; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Kwak, Jin Young; Moon, Hee Jung; Yoon, Jung Hyun

2015-02-01

BRAF(V600E) mutation analysis has been used as a complementary diagnostic tool to ultrasonography-guided, fine-needle aspiration (US-FNA) in the diagnosis of thyroid nodule with high specificity reported up to 100%. When highly sensitive analytic methods are used, however, false-positive results of BRAF(V600E) mutation analysis have been reported. In this study, we investigated the clinical, US features, and outcome of patients with thyroid nodules with benign cytology but positive BRAF(V600E) mutation using highly sensitive analytic methods from US-FNA. This study included 22 nodules in 22 patients (3 men, 19 women; mean age, 53 years) with benign cytology but positive BRAF(V600E) mutation from US-FNA. US features were categorized according to the internal components, echogenicity, margin, calcifications, and shape. Suspicious US features included markedly hypoechogenicity, noncircumscribed margins, micro or mixed calcifications, and nonparallel shape. Nodules were considered to have either concordant or discordant US features to benign cytology. Medical records and imaging studies were reviewed for final cytopathology results and outcomes during follow-up. Among the 22 nodules, 17 nodules were reviewed. Fifteen of 17 nodules were malignant, and 2 were benign. The benign nodules were confirmed as adenomatous hyperplasia with underlying lymphocytic thyroiditis and a fibrotic nodule with dense calcification. Thirteen of the 15 malignant nodules had 2 or more suspicious US features, and all 15 nodules were considered to have discordant cytology considering suspicious US features. Five nodules had been followed with US or US-FNA without resection, and did not show change in size or US features on follow-up US examinations. BRAF(V600E) mutation analysis is a highly sensitive diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinomas. In the management of thyroid nodules with benign cytology but positive BRAF(V600E) mutation, thyroidectomy should be considered in nodules which have 2 or more suspicious US features and are considered discordant on image-cytology correlation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improved Ultrasonic Imaging of the Breast

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-08-01

benign and malignant masses often exhibit only subtle image differences. We have invented a new technique that uses modified ultrasound equipment to form images of ultrasonic angular scatter. This method provides a new source of image contrast and should enhance the detectability of MCs and improve the differentiation of benign and malignant lesions. This method yields high resolution images with minimal statistical variability. In this first year 0 funding, we have formed images in tissue mimicking phantoms and found that

Stimuli-Responsive/Rheoreversible Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids as a Greener Alternative to Support Geothermal and Fossil Energy Production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jung, Hun Bok; Carroll, KC; Kabilan, Senthil

2015-01-01

Cost-effective yet safe creation of high-permeability reservoirs within deep bedrock is the primary challenge for the viability of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and unconventional oil/gas recovery. Although fracturing fluids are commonly used for oil/gas, standard fracturing methods are not developed or proven for EGS temperatures and pressures. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of currently used fracturing methods are only recently being determined. Widespread concerns about the environmental contamination have resulted in a number of regulations for fracturing fluids advocating for greener fracturing processes. To enable EGS feasibility and lessen environmental impact of reservoir stimulation, an environmentally benign, CO2-activated, rheoreversible fracturing fluidmore » that enhances permeability through fracturing (at significantly lower effective stress than standard fracturing fluids) due to in situ volume expansion and gel formation is investigated herein. The chemical mechanism, stability, phase-change behavior, and rheology for a novel polyallylamine (PAA)-CO2 fracturing fluid was characterized at EGS temperatures and pressures. Hydrogel is formed upon reaction with CO2 and this process is reversible (via CO2 depressurization or solubilizing with a mild acid) allowing removal from the formation and recycling, decreasing environmental impact. Rock obtained from the Coso geothermal field was fractured in laboratory experiments under various EGS temperatures and pressures with comparison to standard fracturing fluids, and the fractures were characterized with imaging, permeability measurement, and flow modeling. This novel fracturing fluid and process may vastly reduce water usage and the environmental impact of fracturing practices and effectively make EGS production and unconventional oil/gas exploitation cost-effective and cleaner.« less

Nanomaterials and Global Sustainability.

PubMed

Hamers, Robert J

2017-03-21

Nanomaterials provide tremendous opportunities to advance human welfare in many areas including energy storage, catalysis, photovoltaic energy conversion, environmental remediation, and agriculture. As nanomaterials become incorporated into commercial processes and consumer products in increasing amounts, it will be essential to develop an understanding of how these materials interact with the environment. The broad spectrum and complexity of nanomaterials drive a need for molecular-level design rules. Ultimately a grand challenge is to use the power of chemistry to ensure that nanoenabled technologies can come to fruition in an environmentally benign manner.

Combination of radiological and gray level co-occurrence matrix textural features used to distinguish solitary pulmonary nodules by computed tomography.

PubMed

Wu, Haifeng; Sun, Tao; Wang, Jingjing; Li, Xia; Wang, Wei; Huo, Da; Lv, Pingxin; He, Wen; Wang, Keyang; Guo, Xiuhua

2013-08-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the method of the combination of radiological and textural features for the differentiation of malignant from benign solitary pulmonary nodules by computed tomography. Features including 13 gray level co-occurrence matrix textural features and 12 radiological features were extracted from 2,117 CT slices, which came from 202 (116 malignant and 86 benign) patients. Lasso-type regularization to a nonlinear regression model was applied to select predictive features and a BP artificial neural network was used to build the diagnostic model. Eight radiological and two textural features were obtained after the Lasso-type regularization procedure. Twelve radiological features alone could reach an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.84 in differentiating between malignant and benign lesions. The 10 selected characters improved the AUC to 0.91. The evaluation results showed that the method of selecting radiological and textural features appears to yield more effective in the distinction of malignant from benign solitary pulmonary nodules by computed tomography.

Correlation between ploidy status using flow cytometry and nucleolar organizer regions in benign and malignant epithelial odontogenic tumors.

PubMed

Mohamed Mahmoud, Sarah Ahmed; El-Rouby, Dalia Hussein; El-Ghani, Safa Fathy Abd; Badawy, Omnia Mohamed

2017-06-01

Differentiation between the aggressive benign odontogenic tumors and their malignant counterparts is controversial and difficult. While flow cytometry (FCM) allowed DNA analysis in neoplasia, argyrophilic organizer regions (AgNORs) number and/or size in a nucleus are correlated with the ribosomal gene activity and therefore with cellular proliferation. The aim of this research was to study the diagnostic accuracy of FCM and AgNORs staining in differentiating between benign and malignant epithelial odontogenic tumors and to correlate between these two interventions. Sixteen benign cases [8 cases of ameloblastoma (AB) and 8 cases of keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT)] and 13 malignant epithelial odontogenic tumors [8 cases of ameloblastic carcinoma (ABC) and 5 cases of clear cell odontogenic carcinoma(CCOC)] were included in the current study. For FCM analysis, a single cell suspension from Formalin fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumors was prepared according to a modified method described by Hedley (1989) and AgNORs staining were performed in accordance to the Ploton protocol (1986). Analysis of AgNORs was performed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The work revealed that all the examined tumors were diploid, except for 40% of CCOC cases. The S-phase fraction (SPF) value, AgNORs count and AgNORs area/cell showed statistically significant difference on comparing benign and malignant groups. A weak positive correlation was observed between SPF and AgNORs count. The SPF value was considered to be more sensitive and specific in differentiation between aggressive benign and malignant epithelial odontogenic tumors in comparison to AgNORs counting. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fluorescence lifetime of normal, benign, and malignant thyroid tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandao, Mariana; Iwakura, Ricardo; Basilio, Fagne; Haleplian, Kaique; Ito, Amando; de Freitas, Luiz Carlos Conti; Bachmann, Luciano

2015-06-01

Fine-needle aspiration cytology is the standard technique to diagnose thyroid pathologies. However, this method results in a high percentage of inconclusive and false negatives. The use of time-resolved fluorescence techniques to detect biochemical composition and tissue structure alterations could help to develop a portable, minimally invasive, and nondestructive method to assist during surgical procedures. This study aimed to use fluorescence lifetimes to differentiate healthy and benign tissues from malignant thyroid tissue. The thyroid tissue was excited at 298-300 nm and the fluorescence decay registered at 340 and 450 nm. We observed fluorescence lifetimes at 340 nm emission of 0.80±0.26 and 3.94±0.47 ns for healthy tissue; 0.90±0.24 and 4.05±0.46 ns for benign lesions; and 1.21±0.14 and 4.63±0.25 ns for malignant lesions. For 450 nm emissions, we obtain lifetimes of 0.25±0.18 and 3.99±0.39 ns for healthy tissue, 0.24±0.17 and 4.20±0.48 ns for benign lesions, 0.33±0.32 and 4.55±0.55 ns for malignant lesions. Employing analysis of variance, we differentiate malignant lesions from benign and healthy tissues. In addition, we use quadratic discriminant analysis to distinguish malignant from benign and healthy tissues with an accuracy of 76.1%, sensitivity of 74.7%, and specificity of 83.3%. These results indicate that time-resolved fluorescence can assist medical evaluation of thyroid pathologies during surgeries.

Materials, Processes, and Facile Manufacturing for Bioresorbable Electronics: A Review.

PubMed

Yu, Xiaowei; Shou, Wan; Mahajan, Bikram K; Huang, Xian; Pan, Heng

2018-05-07

Bioresorbable electronics refer to a new class of advanced electronics that can completely dissolve or disintegrate with environmentally and biologically benign byproducts in water and biofluids. They have provided a solution to the growing electronic waste problem with applications in temporary usage of electronics such as implantable devices and environmental sensors. Bioresorbable materials such as biodegradable polymers, dissolvable conductors, semiconductors, and dielectrics are extensively studied, enabling massive progress of bioresorbable electronic devices. Processing and patterning of these materials are predominantly relying on vacuum-based fabrication methods so far. However, for the purpose of commercialization, nonvacuum, low-cost, and facile manufacturing/printing approaches are the need of the hour. Bioresorbable electronic materials are generally more chemically reactive than conventional electronic materials, which require particular attention in developing the low-cost manufacturing processes in ambient environment. This review focuses on material reactivity, ink availability, printability, and process compatibility for facile manufacturing of bioresorbable electronics. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Multi-Shell Nano-CarboScavengers for Petroleum Spill Remediation

PubMed Central

Daza, Enrique A.; Misra, Santosh K.; Scott, John; Tripathi, Indu; Promisel, Christine; Sharma, Brajendra K.; Topczewski, Jacek; Chaudhuri, Santanu; Pan, Dipanjan

2017-01-01

Increasingly frequent petroleum contamination in water bodies continues to threaten our ecosystem, which lacks efficient and safe remediation tactics both on macro and nanoscales. Current nanomaterial and dispersant remediation methods neglect to investigate their adverse environmental and biological impact, which can lead to a synergistic chemical imbalance. In response to this rising threat, a highly efficient, environmentally friendly and biocompatible nano-dispersant has been developed comprising a multi-shelled nanoparticle termed ‘Nano-CarboScavengers’ (NCS) with native properties for facile recovery via booms and mesh tools. NCS treated different forms of petroleum oil (raw and distillate form) with considerable efficiency (80% and 91%, respectively) utilizing sequestration and dispersion abilities in tandem with a ~10:1 (oil: NCS; w/w) loading capacity. In extreme contrast with chemical dispersants, the NCS was found to be remarkably benign in in vitro and in vivo assays. Additionally, the carbonaceous nature of NCS broke down by human myeloperoxidase and horseradish peroxidase enzymes, revealing that incidental biological uptake can enzymatically digest the sugar based core. PMID:28157204

Multi-Shell Nano-CarboScavengers for Petroleum Spill Remediation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daza, Enrique A.; Misra, Santosh K.; Scott, John; Tripathi, Indu; Promisel, Christine; Sharma, Brajendra K.; Topczewski, Jacek; Chaudhuri, Santanu; Pan, Dipanjan

2017-02-01

Increasingly frequent petroleum contamination in water bodies continues to threaten our ecosystem, which lacks efficient and safe remediation tactics both on macro and nanoscales. Current nanomaterial and dispersant remediation methods neglect to investigate their adverse environmental and biological impact, which can lead to a synergistic chemical imbalance. In response to this rising threat, a highly efficient, environmentally friendly and biocompatible nano-dispersant has been developed comprising a multi-shelled nanoparticle termed ‘Nano-CarboScavengers’ (NCS) with native properties for facile recovery via booms and mesh tools. NCS treated different forms of petroleum oil (raw and distillate form) with considerable efficiency (80% and 91%, respectively) utilizing sequestration and dispersion abilities in tandem with a ~10:1 (oil: NCS; w/w) loading capacity. In extreme contrast with chemical dispersants, the NCS was found to be remarkably benign in in vitro and in vivo assays. Additionally, the carbonaceous nature of NCS broke down by human myeloperoxidase and horseradish peroxidase enzymes, revealing that incidental biological uptake can enzymatically digest the sugar based core.

Environmentally benign Friedel-Crafts benzylation over nano-TiO2/SO4 2-

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devi, Kalathiparambil RPS; Sreeja, Puthenveetil B.; Sugunan, Sankaran

2013-05-01

During the past decade, much attention has been paid to the replacement of homogeneous catalysts by solid acid catalysts. Friedel-Crafts benzylation of toluene with benzyl chloride (BC) in liquid phase was carried out over highly active, nano-crystalline sulfated titania systems. These catalysts were prepared using the sol gel method. Modification was done by loading 3% of transition metal oxides over sulfated titania. Reaction parameters such as catalyst mass, molar ratio, temperature, and time have been studied. More than 80% conversion of benzyl chloride and 100% selectivity are shown by all the catalysts under optimum conditions. Catalytic activity is correlated with Lewis acidity obtained from perylene adsorption studies. The reaction appears to proceed by an electrophile, which involves the reaction of BC with the acidic titania catalyst. The catalyst was regenerated and reused up to four reaction cycles with equal efficiency as in the first run. The prepared systems are environmentally friendly and are easy to handle.

Agile green process design for the intensified Kolbe-Schmitt synthesis by accompanying (simplified) life cycle assessment.

PubMed

Kressirer, Sabine; Kralisch, Dana; Stark, Annegret; Krtschil, Ulrich; Hessel, Volker

2013-05-21

In order to investigate the potential for process intensification, various reaction conditions were applied to the Kolbe-Schmitt synthesis starting from resorcinol. Different CO₂ precursors such as aqueous potassium hydrogencarbonate, hydrogencarbonate-based ionic liquids, DIMCARB, or sc-CO₂, the application of microwave irradiation for fast volumetric heating of the reaction mixture, and the effect of harsh reaction conditions were investigated. The experiments, carried out in conventional batch-wise as well as in continuously operated microstructured reactors, aimed at the development of an environmentally benign process for the preparation of 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid. To provide decision support toward a green process design, a research-accompanying simplified life cycle assessment (SLCA) was performed throughout the whole investigation. Following this approach, it was found that convective heating methods such as oil bath or electrical heating were more beneficial than the application of microwave irradiation. Furthermore, the consideration of workup procedures was crucial for a holistic view on the environmental burdens.

Urine iodine excretion ın patients with euthyroid noduler disease

PubMed Central

Cakir, Evrim; Eskioglu, Erdal; Aydin, Yusuf; Ozkan, Selma Karaahmetoglu; Guler, Serdar

2011-01-01

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Different nutritional and environmental factors are responsible for the pathogenesis of goiter, but iodine deficiency is the most important factor. However, little is known about the natural course of benign thyroid nodules in euthyroid patients over time. Few studies have used ultrasonographic evaluation to address this issue, especially in iodine-deficient areas. In this study, we present the long-term follow-up of benign thyroid nodules in a iodine-deficient area. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study at a tertiary referral center. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 62 randomly selected patients with benign euthyroid nodule. Thyroid volume and nodules were measured with sonography. Iodine intake was estimated by patient diet history and by measuring iodine excretion in spot urine samples. Patients were followed one year. RESULTS: Patients were divided into three groups according to level of urine iodine excretion: Group 1: <50μg/L (severe iodine deficiency group), Group 2: 50-100μg/L (mild iodine deficiency group), Group 3: >100 g/L (iodine sufficient group). The presence of additional disease (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, chronic renal failure and a history of any medication for chronic disorder) and smoking rates were significantly higher in first group compared to the second and third group. Among groups, no significant difference was observed in either right or left thyroid lobe volume after one year. A clinically significant increase in nodule volume was observed in the first group, while there was a significant decrease in the second and third group. CONCLUSION: In this study, iodine deficiency was associated with an increase in thyroid nodule volumes. Smoking rates were higher in iodine deficient groups. It is thought that smoking impairs iodine intake or absorption consistent with a previous report. PMID:21422654

DNA Cytometry and Nuclear Morphometry in Ovarian Benign, Borderline and Malignant Tumors

PubMed Central

el Din, Amina A. Gamal; Badawi, Manal A.; Aal, Shereen E. Abdel; Ibrahim, Nihad A.; Morsy, Fatma A.; Shaffie, Nermeen M.

2015-01-01

BACKDROUND: Ovarian carcinoma is a leading cause of death in gynecological malignancy. Ovarian surface epithelial serous and mucinous tumours are classified as benign, borderline, and malignant. The identification of borderline tumours most likely to act aggressively remains an important clinical issue. AIM: This work aimed to study DNA ploidy and nuclear area in ovarian serous and mucinous; benign, borderline and malignant tumours. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study included forty ovarian (23 serous and 17 mucinous) tumours. Paraffin blocks were sectioned; stained with haematoxylin and eosin for histopathologic and morphometric studies and with blue feulgen for DNA analysis. RESULTS: All four serous and six out of nine mucinous benign tumours were diploid. All eight serous and five mucinous malignant tumours were aneuploid. Nine of eleven (81.8%) serous and all three mucinous borderline tumours were aneuploid. There were highly significant differences in mean aneuploid cells percentage between serous benign (1.5%), borderline (45.6%) and malignant (74.5%) (p = 0.0001) and between mucinous benign (13.2%) and both borderline (63.7%) and malignant (68.4%) groups (p = 0.0001). There were significant differences in nuclear area between serous benign (26.191%), borderline (45.619%) and malignant (67.634 %) and a significant positive correlation between mean percentage aneuploid value and mean nuclear area in all serous and mucinous groups. CONCLUSION: We suggest that DNA ploidy and nuclear area combined, may be adjuncts to histopathology; in ovarian serous and mucinous benign, borderline and malignant neoplasms; identifying the aggressive borderline tumours. PMID:27275284

The usefulness of the sum of relative enhancement ratio in making a differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma from cirrhosis-related nodules.

PubMed

Yoon, Ki Woong; Song, Ji Soo; Han, Young Min

2014-01-01

To estimate the diagnostic accuracy of the sum of relative enhancement ratio (sRER) in making a differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from benign cirrhosis-related nodules. Eighteen benign cirrhosis-related nodules and 18 HCCs were evaluated. Three radiologists independently reviewed computed tomography images using visual assessment and sRER. sRER was estimated by adding region-of-interest measurement in the arterial phase and the delayed phase. Diagnostic performance and accuracy were evaluated. The mean values of sRER were significantly higher in HCCs than in benign cirrhosis-related nodules. The sRER method improved diagnostic accuracy of differentiating HCCs from benign cirrhosis-related nodules. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in thyroid nodules with calcification.

PubMed

Jiang, Jue; Shang, Xu; Wang, Hua; Xu, Yong-Bo; Gao, Ya; Zhou, Qi

2015-03-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic values of conventional ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in benign and malignant thyroid nodules with calcification. Conventional ultrasound and CEUS were performed in 122 patients with thyroid nodules with calcification. The thyroid nodules were characterized as benign or malignant by pathological diagnosis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accordance rate of the two imaging methods were determined. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was used to assess the diagnostic values of the two imaging methods. In 122 cases of thyroid nodules with calcification, 73 benign nodules and 49 malignant nodules were verified by pathological diagnosis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accordance rate of conventional ultrasound were 50%, 77%, 59%, 69%, and 66%, respectively, and those of CEUS were 90%, 92%, 88%, 93%, and 91%, respectively. There were significant differences between the two imaging methods. AUCs of conventional ultrasound and CEUS were 0.628 ± 0.052 and 0.908 ± 0.031, suggesting low and high diagnostic values, respectively. CEUS has high diagnostic values, being significantly greater than those of conventional ultrasound, in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules with calcification. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Taiwan.

Role of modern chemistry in sustainable arable crop protection.

PubMed

Smith, Keith; Evans, David A; El-Hiti, Gamal A

2008-02-12

Organic chemistry has been, and for the foreseeable future will remain, vitally important for crop protection. Control of fungal pathogens, insect pests and weeds is crucial to enhanced food provision. As world population continues to grow, it is timely to assess the current situation, anticipate future challenges and consider how new chemistry may help meet those challenges. In future, agriculture will increasingly be expected to provide not only food and feed, but also crops for conversion into renewable fuels and chemical feedstocks. This will further increase the demand for higher crop yields per unit area, requiring chemicals used in crop production to be even more sophisticated. In order to contribute to programmes of integrated crop management, there is a requirement for chemicals to display high specificity, demonstrate benign environmental and toxicological profiles, and be biodegradable. It will also be necessary to improve production of those chemicals, because waste generated by the production process mitigates the overall benefit. Three aspects are considered in this review: advances in the discovery process for new molecules for sustainable crop protection, including tests for environmental and toxicological properties as well as biological activity; advances in synthetic chemistry that may offer efficient and environmentally benign manufacturing processes for modern crop protection chemicals; and issues related to energy use and production through agriculture.

Nanofiber/ZrO2-based mixed matrix separator for high safety/high-rate lithium-ion batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Wei; Liu, Jianguo; Yan, Chuanwei

2017-10-01

A novel asymmetric separator based on a thin bacterial cellulose nanofiber (BCF)/nano-ZrO2 composite layer and a non-woven support was prepared by paper-making method. Owing to the relatively polar constituents and well-developed, gradient porous structure, the separator exhibited the advantages of higher thermal resistance, electrolyte wettability, and ionic conductivity in comparison to polyethylene separator. Based on these advantages, the Li/LiFePO4 cells assembled from this composite separator showed excellent performance characteristics, including outstanding C-rate capability, high capacity and cycling performance. Production of the composite separator is simple, environmentally benign and economically viable. Therefore, it's a good candidate for creating improved lithium-ion batteries.

Plasma jet takes off.

PubMed Central

Frazer, L

1999-01-01

Thanks to a series of joint research projects by Los Alamos National Laboratory, Beta Squared of Allen, Texas, and the University of California at Los Angeles, there is now a more environmentally sound method for cleaning semiconductor chips that may also be effective in cleaning up chemical, bacterial, and nuclear contaminants. The Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet uses a type of ionized gas called plasma to clean up contaminants by binding to them and lifting them away. In contrast to the corrosive acids and chemical solvents traditionally used to clean semiconductor chips, the jet oxidizes contaminants, producing only benign gaseous by-products such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. The new technology is also easy to transport, cleans thoroughly and quickly, and presents no hazards to its operators. PMID:10417375

Extracting metals directly from metal oxides

DOEpatents

Wai, Chien M.; Smart, Neil G.; Phelps, Cindy

1997-01-01

A method of extracting metals directly from metal oxides by exposing the oxide to a supercritical fluid solvent containing a chelating agent is described. Preferably, the metal is an actinide or a lanthanide. More preferably, the metal is uranium, thorium or plutonium. The chelating agent forms chelates that are soluble in the supercritical fluid, thereby allowing direct removal of the metal from the metal oxide. In preferred embodiments, the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide and the chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of .beta.-diketones, halogenated .beta.-diketones, phosphinic acids, halogenated phosphinic acids, carboxylic acids, halogenated carboxylic acids, and mixtures thereof. In especially preferred embodiments, at least one of the chelating agents is fluorinated. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing metals from metal oxides without using acids or biologically harmful solvents. The chelate and supercritical fluid can be regenerated, and the metal recovered, to provide an economic, efficient process.

Fluid extraction using carbon dioxide and organophosphorus chelating agents

DOEpatents

Smart, N.G.; Wai, C.M.; Lin, Y.; Kwang, Y.H.

1998-11-24

Methods for extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a fluid solvent, particularly supercritical CO{sub 2}, and a chelating agent are described. The chelating agent forms a chelate with the species, the chelate being soluble in the fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments the extraction solvent is supercritical CO{sub 2} and the chelating agent comprises an organophosphorous chelating agent, particularly sulfur-containing organophosphorous chelating agents, including mixtures of chelating agents. Examples of chelating agents include monothiophosphinic acid, di-thiophosphinic acid, phosphine sulfite, phosphorothioic acid, and mixtures thereof. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing metal and metalloids from industrial waste solutions, particularly acidic solutions. Both the chelate and the supercritical fluid can be regenerated and the contaminant species recovered to provide an economic, efficient process. 1 fig.

Extracting metals directly from metal oxides

DOEpatents

Wai, C.M.; Smart, N.G.; Phelps, C.

1997-02-25

A method of extracting metals directly from metal oxides by exposing the oxide to a supercritical fluid solvent containing a chelating agent is described. Preferably, the metal is an actinide or a lanthanide. More preferably, the metal is uranium, thorium or plutonium. The chelating agent forms chelates that are soluble in the supercritical fluid, thereby allowing direct removal of the metal from the metal oxide. In preferred embodiments, the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide and the chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of {beta}-diketones, halogenated {beta}-diketones, phosphinic acids, halogenated phosphinic acids, carboxylic acids, halogenated carboxylic acids, and mixtures thereof. In especially preferred embodiments, at least one of the chelating agents is fluorinated. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing metals from metal oxides without using acids or biologically harmful solvents. The chelate and supercritical fluid can be regenerated, and the metal recovered, to provide an economic, efficient process. 4 figs.

Fluid extraction using carbon dioxide and organophosphorus chelating agents

DOEpatents

Smart, Neil G.; Wai, Chien M.; Lin, Yuehe; Kwang, Yak Hwa

1998-01-01

Methods for extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a fluid solvent, particularly supercritical CO.sub.2, and a chelating agent are described. The chelating agent forms a chelate with the species, the chelate being soluble in the fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments the extraction solvent is supercritical CO.sub.2 and the chelating agent comprises an organophosphorous chelating agent, particularly sulfur-containing organophosphorous chelating agents, including mixtures of chelating agents. Examples of chelating agents include monothiophosphinic acid, di-thiophosphinic acid, phosphine sulfite, phosphorothioic acid, and mixtures thereof. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing metal and metalloids from industrial waste solutions, particularly acidic solutions. Both the chelate and the supercritical fluid can be regenerated and the contaminant species recovered to provide an economic, efficient process.

Robust Guar Gum/Cellulose Nanofibrils Multilayer Films with Good Barrier Properties.

PubMed

Dai, Lei; Long, Zhu; Chen, Jie; An, Xingye; Cheng, Dong; Khan, Avik; Ni, Yonghao

2017-02-15

The pursuit of sustainable functional materials requires development of materials based on renewable resources and efficient fabrication methods. Hereby, we fabricated all-polysaccharides multilayer films using cationic guar gum (CGG) and anionic cellulose nanofibrils (i.e., TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils, TOCNs) through a layer-by-layer casting method. This technique is based on alternate depositions of oppositely charged water-based CGG and TOCNs onto laminated films. The resultant polyelectrolyte multilayer films were transparent, ductile, and strong. More importantly, the self-standing films exhibited excellent gas (water vapor and oxygen) and oil barrier performances. Another outstanding feature of these resultant films was their resistance to various organic solvents including methanol, acetone, N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and tetrahydrofuran (THF). The proposed film fabrication process is environmentally benign, cost-effective, and easy to scale-up. The developed CGG/TOCNs multilayer films can be used as a renewable material for industrial applications such as packaging.

A facile method to fabricate a superhydrophobic surface with biomimetic structure on magnesium alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Zigang; Zhu, Jiyuan

2018-06-01

Superhydrophobic surface was obtained via a convenient two-step method in this paper on magnesium alloy. The microstructured oxide or hydroxide layers were constructed on the Mg alloy though hydrothermal process. The treated sample was modified with low-energy surface material. After modification, the contact angle of water droplet on the surface is higher than 150° which indicates superhydrophobicity. With scanning electron microscope(SEM), mammillaria-herrerae-like rough structure was obtained. The composition of the superhydrophobic film was analyzed by using x-ray Diffraction instrument and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer. Moreover, the superhydrophobic surface has good stability. The potentiodynamic polarization test shows that the corrosion current density of superhydrophobic surface was 1–2 order of magnitudes smaller than the bare substrate, which means the anti-corrosion performance has been improved significantly. This route offers an environmentally-benign and effective way to fabricate superhydrophobic surface without using complicated equipment and dangerous chemicals.

The Role of Ultrasound on Advanced Oxidation Processes.

PubMed

Babu, Sundaram Ganesh; Ashokkumar, Muthupandian; Neppolian, Bernaurdshaw

2016-10-01

This chapter describes the use of ultrasound in remediation of wastewater contaminated with organic pollutants in the absence and presence of other advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as sonolysis, sono-ozone process, sonophotocatalysis, sonoFenton systems and sonophoto-Fenton methods in detail. All these methods are explained with the suitable literature illustrations. In most of the cases, hybrid AOPs (combination of ultrasound with one or more AOPs) resulted in superior efficacy to that of individual AOP. The advantageous effects such as additive and synergistic effects obtained by operating the hybrid AOPs are highlighted with appropriate examples. It is worth to mention here that the utilization of ultrasound is not only restricted in preparation of modern active catalysts but also extensively used for the wastewater treatment. Interestingly, ultrasound coupled AOPs are operationally simple, efficient, and environmentally benign, and can be readily applied for large scale industrial processes which make them economically viable.

Nanostructured Metal Oxide Sorbents for the Collection and Recovery of Uranium from Seawater

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chouyyok, Wilaiwan; Warner, Cynthia L.; Mackie, Katherine E.

2016-02-07

The ability to collect uranium from seawater offers the potential for a long-term green fuel supply for nuclear energy. However, extraction of uranium, and other trace minerals, is challenging due to the high ionic strength and low mineral concentrations in seawater. Herein we evaluate the use of nanostructured metal oxide sorbents for the collection and recovery of uranium from seawater. Chemical affinity, chemical adsorption capacity and kinetics of preferred sorbent materials were evaluated. High surface area manganese and iron oxide nanomaterials showed excellent performance for uranium collection from seawater. Inexpensive nontoxic carbonate solutions were demonstrated to be an effective andmore » environmental benign method of stripping the uranium from the metal oxide sorbents. Various formats for the utilization of the nanostructured metals oxide sorbent materials are discussed including traditional and nontraditional methods such as magnetic separation. Keywords: Uranium, nano, manganese, iron, sorbent, seawater, magnetic, separations, nuclear energy« less

Image-guided surgery in resection of benign cervicothoracic spinal tumors: a report of two cases.

PubMed

Moore, Timothy; McLain, Robert F

2005-01-01

Osseous spinal tumors are an uncommon cause of persistent axial pain and muscle spasm, but even benign lesions may grow to cause deformity or neurological signs. Traditional treatment approaches to resection can be debilitating even when the tumor is benign. Emerging technologies allow surgeons to diagnose and treat osseous neoplasms while minimizing the collateral damage caused by surgical exposure and tumor excision. Technical considerations are presented through two cases of benign osseous neoplasm occurring in the cervicothoracic spine of competitive athletes, demonstrating the meth-ods used to provide effective treatment while maintaining maximal functional capacity. Stereotactic imaging and intraoperative guidance was used as an adjunct to tumor care in these patients. Used in combination with minimally invasive, microsurgical techniques,stereotactic guidance localized and verified excision margins of benign vertebral lesions, minimizing soft tissue trauma and collateral damage. Computer-assisted stereotactic localization allowed us to successfully ablate these lesions from their anatomically challenging locations, without disrupting the shoulder girdle or neck musculature, and without extensive bony resection. Image guidance can accurately localize and guide excision of benign vertebral lesions while minimizing soft tissue trauma and collateral damage, allowing patients a rapid and complete return to high-demand function.

Environmentally Benign Production of Stretchable and Robust Superhydrophobic Silicone Monoliths.

PubMed

Davis, Alexander; Surdo, Salvatore; Caputo, Gianvito; Bayer, Ilker S; Athanassiou, Athanassia

2018-01-24

Superhydrophobic materials hold an enormous potential in sectors as important as aerospace, food industries, or biomedicine. Despite this great promise, the lack of environmentally friendly production methods and limited robustness remain the two most pertinent barriers to the scalability, large-area production, and widespread use of superhydrophobic materials. In this work, highly robust superhydrophobic silicone monoliths are produced through a scalable and environmentally friendly emulsion technique. It is first found that stable and surfactantless water-in-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsions can be formed through mechanical mixing. Increasing the internal phase fraction of the precursor emulsion is found to increase porosity and microtexture of the final monoliths, rendering them superhydrophobic. Silica nanoparticles can also be dispersed in the aqueous internal phase to create micro/nanotextured monoliths, giving further improvements in superhydrophobicity. Due to the elastomeric nature of PDMS, superhydrophobicity can be maintained even while the material is mechanically strained or compressed. In addition, because of their self-similarity, the monoliths show outstanding robustness to knife-scratch, tape-peel, and finger-wipe tests, as well as rigorous sandpaper abrasion. Superhydrophobicity was also unchanged when exposed to adverse environmental conditions including corrosive solutions, UV light, extreme temperatures, and high-energy droplet impact. Finally, important properties for eventual adoption in real-world applications including self-cleaning, stain-repellence, and blood-repellence are demonstrated.

Plastic biliary stents for benign biliary diseases.

PubMed

Perri, Vincenzo; Familiari, Pietro; Tringali, Andrea; Boskoski, Ivo; Costamagna, Guido

2011-07-01

Biliary plastic stenting plays a key role in the endoscopic management of benign biliary diseases. Complications following surgery of the biliary tract and liver transplantation are amenable to endoscopic treatment by plastic stenting. Insertion of an increasing number of plastic stents is currently the method of choice to treat postoperative biliary strictures. Benign biliary strictures secondary to chronic pancreatitis or primary sclerosing cholangitis may benefit from plastic stenting in select cases. There is a role for plastic stent placement in nonoperative candidates with acute cholecystitis and in patients with irretrievable bile duct stones. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[The endoscopic therapy of benign stenoses of the esophagus and cardioesophageal junction using Eder-Puestow instrumentation].

PubMed

Donev, Sht; Bosekert, N; Belchev, B

1995-01-01

The results of palliative endoscopic treatment by bougienage using Eder-Puestow instrumentation, performed in a limited contingent of patients presenting benign esophageal strictures, are analyzed. It is underscored that the method is readily carried out and effective, and seldom leads to noteworthy complications, such as esophageal perforations--one patient alone presenting cicatricial stricture out of the total of 42 cases given treatment with bougienage over a 10-year period. The commonest cause of benign strictures of the esophagus in the series being examined is reflux (peptic) esophagitis against the background of hiatus hernia.

Outcome of stenting in biliary and pancreatic benign and malignant diseases: A comprehensive review

PubMed Central

Mangiavillano, Benedetto; Pagano, Nico; Baron, Todd H; Luigiano, Carmelo

2015-01-01

Endoscopic stenting has become a widely method for the management of various malignant and benign pancreatico-biliary disorders. Biliary and pancreatic stents are devices made of plastic or metal used primarily to establish patency of an obstructed bile or pancreatic duct and may also be used to treat biliary or pancreatic leaks, pancreatic fluid collections and to prevent post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis. In this review, relevant literature search and expert opinions have been used to evaluate the outcome of stenting in biliary and pancreatic benign and malignant diseases. PMID:26290631

Diagnostic Values of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor for Benign and Malignant Hydrothorax

PubMed Central

Gu, Yan; Zhang, Min; Li, Guo-Hua; Gao, Jun-Zhen; Guo, Liping; Qiao, Xiao-Juan; Wang, Li-Hong; He, Lan; Wang, Mei-Ling; Yan, Li; Fu, Xiu-Hua

2015-01-01

Background: Hydrothorax, as one of the common complications of malignant tumors, still cannot be sensitively detected in clinical practice, thus requiring a sensitive, specific method for diagnosis. The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in patients with benign and malignant hydrothorax. Methods: The contents of VEGF in the pleural effusion and serum of the patients with malignant pleural effusion (n = 35) and benign pleural effusion (n = 30) were detected by double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The gene copy number level of EGFR in pleural effusion was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The points with the highest sensitivity and specificity were selected as the critical values to calculate the diagnostic value of the VEGF in pleural effusion and serum, and EGFR gene copy number in pleural effusion. Results: The contents of VEGF in pleural effusion and serum of patients with malignant hydrothorax were (384.91 ± 120.18), and (129.62 ± 46.35) ng/L, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the patients with benign hydrothorax (207.97 ± 64.04), (63.49 ± 24.58) ng/L (P < 0.01). The sensitivity and specificity of detecting VEGF in pleural effusion were 80.0% and 96.7% (the boundary value was 297.06 ng/L), respectively for diagnosing benign and malignant hydrothorax. The sensitivity and specificity of serum were 74.3% and 96.7%, respectively (the boundary value was 99.21 ng/L) for diagnosing benign and malignant hydrothorax. The diagnostic efficiencies of EGFR and VEGF in hydrothorax were similar. There was a significant correlation between EGFR and VEGF in hydrothorax (P < 0.01). Conclusions: VEGF and EGFR play important roles in the formation of pleural effusion. VEGF differed significantly in benign and malignant pleural effusions, which contributed to differential diagnosis results of benign and malignant pleural effusions. It is feasible to detect the gene copy number of the pleural effusion cell mass EGFR by FISH technique. Joint detection can improve the diagnostic sensitivity. PMID:25635424

Green, Enzymatic Syntheses of Divanillin and Diapocynin for the Organic, Biochemistry, or Advanced General Chemistry Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nishimura, Rachel T.; Giammanco, Chiara H.; Vosburg, David A.

2010-01-01

Environmentally benign chemistry is an increasingly important topic both in the classroom and the laboratory. In this experiment, students synthesize divanillin from vanillin or diapocynin from apocynin, using horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide in water. The dimerized products form rapidly at ambient temperature and are isolated by…

Impacts of crop sequence and tillage management on soil carbon stocks in south-central North Dakota, USA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Increased emphasis has been placed on developing agroecosystems that are robust, highly productive, economically competitive, and environmentally benign. After 18 years of a study to evaluate effects of crop sequence and tillage, we measured soil properties at various depths to 3 feet (91.4 cm) and ...

Landscape scale estimation of denitrification rate and nitrous oxide to dinitrogen ratio at Georgia and Pennsylvania sites

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Denitrification results in a significant loss of plant-available nitrogen from agricultural systems and contributes to climate change, due to the emissions of both the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide and environmentally benign dinitrogen. However total quantities of the gases emitted and the ra...

Functional genomics analysis of horseweed (Conyza canadensis) with special reference to the evolution of non-target-site glyphosate resistance

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The evolution of glyphosate resistance in weedy species places an environmentally benign herbicide in peril. The first report of a dicot plant with evolved glyphosate resistance was horseweed, which occurred in 2001. Since then, several species have evolved glyphosate resistance and genomic informat...

Green chemistry for chemical synthesis

PubMed Central

Li, Chao-Jun; Trost, Barry M.

2008-01-01

Green chemistry for chemical synthesis addresses our future challenges in working with chemical processes and products by inventing novel reactions that can maximize the desired products and minimize by-products, designing new synthetic schemes and apparati that can simplify operations in chemical productions, and seeking greener solvents that are inherently environmentally and ecologically benign. PMID:18768813

Fly-ash:H2SO4 catalyzed solvent free efficient synthesis of some aryl chalcones under microwave irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thirunarayanan, G.; Mayavel, P.; Thirumurthy, K.

2012-06-01

Some 2E aryl chalcones have been synthesized using greener catalyst Fly-ash:H2SO4 assisted solvent free environmentally benign Crossed-Aldol reaction. The yields of chalcones are more than 90%. The synthesized chalcones are characterized by their physical constants and spectral data.

Micro-managing arthropod invasions: eradication and control of invasive arthropods with microbes

Treesearch

Ann E. Hajek; Patrick C. Tobin

2010-01-01

Non-indigenous arthropods are increasingly being introduced into new areas worldwide and occasionally they cause considerable ecological and economic harm. Many invasive arthropods particularly pose problems to areas of human habitation and native ecosystems. In these cases, the use of environmentally benign materials, such as host-specific entomopathogens, can be more...

Visualizing Nanocatalysts in Action from Color Change Reaction to Magnetic Recycling and Reuse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson, Reuben; Bishop, Alexandra; Glaisher, Samuel; Katz, Jeffrey L.

2015-01-01

A demonstration to highlight the utility and ease of handling environmentally benign magnetically recoverable nanoparticle catalysts is described. The demonstration offers two powerful visuals. The first is a color change oxidation of tetramethylbenzidine by hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by Fe[subscript 3]O[subscript 4] nanoparticles. The second,…

Environmentally benign process for the preparation of antimicrobial α-methylene-β-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactone (tulipalin B) from tulip biomass.

PubMed

Nomura, Taiji; Hayashi, Emiko; Kawakami, Shohei; Ogita, Shinjiro; Kato, Yasuo

2015-01-01

Tulipalin B (α-methylene-β-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactone, PaB) is an antimicrobial natural product occurring in tulip (Tulipa gesneriana). PaB is directly formed from the precursor glucose ester 6-tuliposide B (PosB) by endogenous Pos-converting enzyme (TCE). Despite the potential usefulness of antibacterial PaB in various industrial applications, lack of facile synthetic schemes hampers its practical use. Herein, we describe an environmentally benign and facile process for the preparation of PaB using tulip biomass materials based on one-step enzyme reaction catalyzed by TCE without the use of petroleum-derived solvents. By screening 115 tulip cultivars, we found three elite cultivars, which accumulated PosB almost exclusively in flower tissues. The flower extracts with aqueous ethanol were partially purified with activated charcoal and subjected to the enzyme reaction with reusable immobilized TCE prepared from bulb crude extracts. The reaction was completed in a few hours at room temperature, and PaB was purified with activated charcoal and ethanol in a batch-wise manner.

High quality Y-type hexaferrite thick films for microwave applications by an economical and environmentally benign crystal growth technique

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Bolin; Chen, Yajie, E-mail: y.chen@neu.edu; Gillette, Scott

2014-02-17

Thick barium hexaferrite Ba{sub 2}Zn{sub 2}Fe{sub 12}O{sub 22} (i.e., Zn{sub 2}Y) films having thicknesses of ∼100 μm were epitaxially grown on MgO (111) substrates using an environmentally benign ferrite-salt mixture by vaporizing the salt. X-ray diffraction pole figure analyses showed (00l) crystallographic alignment with little in plane dispersion confirming epitaxial growth. Saturation magnetization, 4πM{sub s}, was measured for as-grown films to be 2.51 ± 0.1 kG with an out of plane magnetic anisotropy field H{sub A} of 8.9 ± 0.1 kOe. Ferromagnetic resonance linewidth, as the peak-to-peak power absorption derivative at 9.6 GHz, was measured to be 62 Oe. These properties demonstrate a rapid, convenient, cost-effective, and nontoxic methodmore » of growing high quality thick crystalline ferrite films which could be used widely for microwave device applications.« less

Classification of pulmonary nodules in lung CT images using shape and texture features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhara, Ashis Kumar; Mukhopadhyay, Sudipta; Dutta, Anirvan; Garg, Mandeep; Khandelwal, Niranjan; Kumar, Prafulla

2016-03-01

Differentiation of malignant and benign pulmonary nodules is important for prognosis of lung cancer. In this paper, benign and malignant nodules are classified using support vector machine. Several shape-based and texture-based features are used to represent the pulmonary nodules in the feature space. A semi-automated technique is used for nodule segmentation. Relevant features are selected for efficient representation of nodules in the feature space. The proposed scheme and the competing technique are evaluated on a data set of 542 nodules of Lung Image Database Consortium and Image Database Resource Initiative. The nodules with composite rank of malignancy "1","2" are considered as benign and "4","5" are considered as malignant. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve is 0:9465 for the proposed method. The proposed method outperforms the competing technique.

Allele specific expression analysis identifies regulatory variation associated with stress-related genes in the Mexican highland maize landrace Palomero Toluqueño

PubMed Central

González-Segovia, Eric; Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey; Simpson, June K.

2017-01-01

Background Gene regulatory variation has been proposed to play an important role in the adaptation of plants to environmental stress. In the central highlands of Mexico, farmer selection has generated a unique group of maize landraces adapted to the challenges of the highland niche. In this study, gene expression in Mexican highland maize and a reference maize breeding line were compared to identify evidence of regulatory variation in stress-related genes. It was hypothesised that local adaptation in Mexican highland maize would be associated with a transcriptional signature observable even under benign conditions. Methods Allele specific expression analysis was performed using the seedling-leaf transcriptome of an F1 individual generated from the cross between the highland adapted Mexican landrace Palomero Toluqueño and the reference line B73, grown under benign conditions. Results were compared with a published dataset describing the transcriptional response of B73 seedlings to cold, heat, salt and UV treatments. Results A total of 2,386 genes were identified to show allele specific expression. Of these, 277 showed an expression difference between Palomero Toluqueño and B73 alleles under benign conditions that anticipated the response of B73 cold, heat, salt and/or UV treatments, and, as such, were considered to display a prior stress response. Prior stress response candidates included genes associated with plant hormone signaling and a number of transcription factors. Construction of a gene co-expression network revealed further signaling and stress-related genes to be among the potential targets of the transcription factors candidates. Discussion Prior activation of responses may represent the best strategy when stresses are severe but predictable. Expression differences observed here between Palomero Toluqueño and B73 alleles indicate the presence of cis-acting regulatory variation linked to stress-related genes in Palomero Toluqueño. Considered alongside gene annotation and population data, allele specific expression analysis of plants grown under benign conditions provides an attractive strategy to identify functional variation potentially linked to local adaptation. PMID:28852597

Environmentally Sound Processing Technology: JANNAF Safety and Environmental Protection Subcommittee and Propellant Development and Characterization Subcommittee Joint Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pickett, Lorri A. (Editor)

1995-01-01

Topics covered include: Risk assessment of hazardous materials, Automated systems for pollution prevention and hazardous materials elimination, Study design for the toxicity evaluation of ammonium perchlorate, Plasma sprayed bondable stainless surface coatings, Development of CFC-free cleaning processes, New fluorinated solvent alternatives to ozone depleting solvents, Cleaning with highly fluorinated liquids, Biotreatment of propyleneglycol nitrate by anoxic denitrification, Treatment of hazardous waste with white rot fungus, Hydrothermal oxidation as an environmentally benign treatment technology, Treatment of solid propellant manufacturing wastes by base hydrolysis, Design considerations for cleaning using supercritical fluid technology, and Centrifugal shear carbon dioxide cleaning.

Hydrogen Production from Nuclear Energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walters, Leon; Wade, Dave

2003-07-01

During the past decade the interest in hydrogen as transportation fuel has greatly escalated. This heighten interest is partly related to concerns surrounding local and regional air pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels along with carbon dioxide emissions adding to the enhanced greenhouse effect. More recently there has been a great sensitivity to the vulnerability of our oil supply. Thus, energy security and environmental concerns have driven the interest in hydrogen as the clean and secure alternative to fossil fuels. Remarkable advances in fuel-cell technology have made hydrogen fueled transportation a near-term possibility. However, copious quantities of hydrogen must be generated in a manner independent of fossil fuels if environmental benefits and energy security are to be achieved. The renewable technologies, wind, solar, and geothermal, although important contributors, simply do not comprise the energy density required to deliver enough hydrogen to displace much of the fossil transportation fuels. Nuclear energy is the only primary energy source that can generate enough hydrogen in an energy secure and environmentally benign fashion. Methods of production of hydrogen from nuclear energy, the relative cost of hydrogen, and possible transition schemes to a nuclear-hydrogen economy will be presented.

Comparison of risk of malignancy index (RMI), CA125, CA 19-9, ultrasound score, and menopausal status in borderline ovarian tumor.

PubMed

Alanbay, Ibrahim; Akturk, Erhan; Coksuer, Hakan; Ercan, Mutlu; Karaşahin, Emre; Dede, Murat; Yenen, Mufit Cemal; Ozan, Hakan; Baser, Iskender

2012-06-01

The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic values of risk of malignancy index (RMI IV), ultrasound score, menopausal status, and serum CA125 and CA19-9 level in patients with borderline ovarian tumor (BOT). Fifty women having borderline ovarian tumor (BOT) and 5O individuals with benign adnexal mass were enrolled in this retrospective study. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, negative predictive values and diagnostic accuracy of preoperative serum levels of the CA125 and CA19-9, ultrasound findings and menopausal status, and RMI IV were calculated for prediction of discrimination between BOTs and benign adnexal masses and the results were compared. The RMI IV was the best method for discrimination between BOTs and benign adnexal masses and was more accurate than the other parameters. When Receiver Operator Characteristic area under the curves for menopausal status was analyzed, serum CA 125 and CA19-9 level, ultrasound score, RMI IV(CA125), and RMI IV(CA19-9) were, 0.580, 0.625, 0.548, 0.694, 0.734 and 0.711, respectively. The best RMI IV cut-off was found to be 200 for discrimination of benign and BOT lesions. In the RMI formulation, replacing CA125 with CA19-9 didn't affect RMI IV sensitivity and specificity for discrimination. Compared to ultrasound, menopausal status, CA-125, CA19-9, the RMI IV was found to be the best predictive method for differentiation of BOTs from benign adnexal masses. RMI IV cut-off value of 200 is suitable for differentiation of benign and BOT's.

Autofluorescence endoscopy with "real-time" digital image processing in differential diagnostics of selected benign and malignant lesions in the oesophagus.

PubMed

Sieroń-Stołtny, Karolina; Kwiatek, Sebastian; Latos, Wojciech; Kawczyk-Krupka, Aleksandra; Cieślar, Grzegorz; Stanek, Agata; Ziaja, Damian; Bugaj, Andrzej M; Sieroń, Aleksander

2012-03-01

Oesophageal papilloma and Barrett's oesophagus are benign lesions known as risk factors of carcinoma in the oesophagus. Therefore, it is important to diagnose these early changes before neoplastic transformation. Autofluorescence endoscopy is a fast and non-invasive method of imaging of tissues based on the natural fluorescence of endogenous fluorophores. The aim of this study was to prove the diagnostic utility of autofluorescence endoscopy with digital image processing in histological diagnosis of endoscopic findings in the upper digestive tract, primarily in the imaging of oesophageal papilloma. During the retrospective analysis of about 200 endoscopic procedures in the upper digestive tract, 67 cases of benign, precancerous or cancerous changes were found. White light endoscopy (WLE) image, single-channel (red or green) autofluorescence images, as well as green and red fluorescence intensities in two modal fluorescence image and red-to-green (R/G) ratio (Numerical Colour Value, NCV) were correlated with histopathologic results. The NCV analysis in autofluorescence imaging (AFI) showed increased R/G ratio in cancerous changes in 96% vs. 85% in WLE. Simultaneous analysis with digital image processing allowed us to diagnose suspicious tissue as cancerous in all of cases. Barrett's metaplasia was confirmed in 90% vs. 79% (AFI vs. WLE), and 98% in imaging with digital image processing. In benign lesions, WLE allowed us to exclude tissue as malignant in 85%. Using autofluorescence endoscopy R/G ratio was increased in only 10% of benign changes causing the picture to be interpreted as suspicious, but when both methods were used together, 97.5% were cases excluded as malignancies. Mean R/G ratios were estimated to be 2.5 in cancers, 1.25 in Barrett's metaplasia and 0.75 in benign changes and were statistically significant (p=0.04). Autofluorescence imaging is a sensitive method to diagnose precancerous and cancerous early stages of the diseases located in oesophagus. Especially in two-modal imaging including white light endoscopy, autofluorescence imaging with digital image processing seems to be a useful modality of early diagnostics. Also in observation of papilloma changes, it facilitates differentiation between neoplastic and benign lesions and more accurate estimation of the risk of potential malignancy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Current trends in green liquid chromatography for the analysis of pharmaceutically active compounds in the environmental water compartments.

PubMed

Shaaban, Heba; Górecki, Tadeusz

2015-01-01

Green analytical chemistry is an aspect of green chemistry which introduced in the late nineties. The main objectives of green analytical chemistry are to obtain new analytical technologies or to modify an old method to incorporate procedures that use less hazardous chemicals. There are several approaches to achieve this goal such as using environmentally benign solvents and reagents, reducing the chromatographic separation times and miniaturization of analytical devices. Traditional methods used for the analysis of pharmaceutically active compounds require large volumes of organic solvents and generate large amounts of waste. Most of them are volatile and harmful to the environment. With the awareness about the environment, the development of green technologies has been receiving increasing attention aiming at eliminating or reducing the amount of organic solvents consumed everyday worldwide without loss in chromatographic performance. This review provides the state of the art of green analytical methodologies for environmental analysis of pharmaceutically active compounds in the aquatic environment with special emphasis on strategies for greening liquid chromatography (LC). The current trends of fast LC applied to environmental analysis, including elevated mobile phase temperature, as well as different column technologies such as monolithic columns, fully porous sub-2 μm and superficially porous particles are presented. In addition, green aspects of gas chromatography (GC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) will be discussed. We pay special attention to new green approaches such as automation, miniaturization, direct analysis and the possibility of locating the chromatograph on-line or at-line as a step forward in reducing the environmental impact of chromatographic analyses. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In-situ trainable intrusion detection system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Symons, Christopher T.; Beaver, Justin M.; Gillen, Rob

A computer implemented method detects intrusions using a computer by analyzing network traffic. The method includes a semi-supervised learning module connected to a network node. The learning module uses labeled and unlabeled data to train a semi-supervised machine learning sensor. The method records events that include a feature set made up of unauthorized intrusions and benign computer requests. The method identifies at least some of the benign computer requests that occur during the recording of the events while treating the remainder of the data as unlabeled. The method trains the semi-supervised learning module at the network node in-situ, such thatmore » the semi-supervised learning modules may identify malicious traffic without relying on specific rules, signatures, or anomaly detection.« less

Mass Spectrometry Imaging Can Distinguish on a Proteomic Level Between Proliferative Nodules Within a Benign Congenital Nevus and Malignant Melanoma.

PubMed

Lazova, Rossitza; Yang, Zhe; El Habr, Constantin; Lim, Young; Choate, Keith Adam; Seeley, Erin H; Caprioli, Richard M; Yangqun, Li

2017-09-01

Histopathological interpretation of proliferative nodules occurring in association with congenital melanocytic nevi can be very challenging due to their similarities with congenital malignant melanoma and malignant melanoma arising in association with congenital nevi. We hereby report a diagnostically challenging case of congenital melanocytic nevus with proliferative nodules and ulcerations, which was originally misdiagnosed as congenital malignant melanoma. Subsequent histopathological examination in consultation by one of the authors (R.L.) and mass spectrometry imaging analysis rendered a diagnosis of congenital melanocytic nevus with proliferative nodules. In this case, mass spectrometry imaging, a novel method capable of distinguishing benign from malignant melanocytic lesions on a proteomic level, was instrumental in making the diagnosis of a benign nevus. We emphasize the importance of this method as an ancillary tool in the diagnosis of difficult melanocytic lesions.

Upper Gastrointestinal Stent Insertion in Malignant and Benign Disorders

PubMed Central

Kang, Hyoun Woo

2015-01-01

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) stents are increasingly being used to manage upper GI obstructions. Initially developed for palliative treatment of esophageal cancer, upper GI stents now play an emerging role in benign strictures of the upper GI tract. Because recurrent obstruction and stent-related complications are common, new modifications of stents have been implemented. Self-expandable metal stents (SEMS) have replaced older plastic stents. In addition, newly designed SEMS have been developed to prevent complications. This review provides an overview of the various types, indications, methods, complications, and clinical outcomes of upper GI stents in a number of malignant and benign disorders dividing the esophagus and gastroduodenum. PMID:26064817

Part I. improve flame retardant textile. Part II. novel approach layer-by-layer processing for flame retardant textile.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In this presentation, new approaches for flame retardant textile by using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) and layer-by-layer processing will be discussed. Due to its environmentally benign character, the scCO2 is considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical rea...

Multi-component biocide protects wood from fungi and insects in UC2 applications

Treesearch

Carol A. Clausen; Vina W. Yang

2007-01-01

Development of synergistic biocides to protect wood in interior applications has been of particular interest since the recent increase of indoor mold infestations. Many products have been developed to address the recent influx of indoor mold infestations. Researchers must emphasize the use of environmentally benign chemicals due to the need for safety of human...

Development of USPS Laboratory and pilot-scale testing protocols

Treesearch

Carl Houtman; Nancy Ross Sutherland; David Bormett; Donald Donermeyer

2000-01-01

The ultimate goal of the US Postal Service (USPS) Environmentally Benign Stamp Program is to develop stamp adhesives that can be removed by unit operations found in recycling mills. The maintenance of final product quality specifications for a recycling mill while loading the feedstock with a significant quantity of adhesive is the criterion for success of this program...

Copper-Catalyzed C(sp2)-S Coupling Reactions for the Synthesis of Aryl Dithiocarbamates with Thiuram Disulfide Reagents.

PubMed

Dong, Zhi-Bing; Liu, Xing; Bolm, Carsten

2017-11-03

An efficient protocol for the copper-catalyzed preparation of aryl dithiocarbamates from aryl iodides and inexpensive, environmentally benign tetraalkylthiuram disulfides was developed. The features of mild reaction conditions, high yields, and broad substrate scope render this new approach synthetically attractive for the preparation of potentially biologically active compounds.

Journey on greener pathways: from the use of alternate energy inputs and benign reaction media to sustainable applications of nano-catalysts in synthesis and environmental remediation

EPA Science Inventory

Sustainable synthetic processes developed during the past two decades involving the use of alternate energy inputs and greener reaction media are summarized. These processes include examples of coupling reactions, the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds, and a variety of reactio...

Assessment of biodeterioration for the screening of new wood preservatives : calculation of stiffness loss in rapid decay testing

Treesearch

Simon R. Przewloka; Douglas M. Crawford; Douglas R. Rammer; Donald L. Buckner; Bessie M. Woodward; Gan Li; Darrel D. Nicholas

2008-01-01

Demand for the development of environmentally benign wood preservatives has increased significantly. To reduce the evaluation time of prospective candidates, reliable accelerated decay methodologies are necessary for laboratory screening of potential preservatives. Ongoing research at Mississippi State University has focused upon utilizing custom built equipment to...

A Game Approach to Teach Environmentally Benign Manufacturing in the Supply Chain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qualters, Donna M.; Isaacs, Jacqueline A.; Cullinane, Thomas P.; Laird, Jay; McDonald, Ann

2008-01-01

Multidisciplinary models of education are needed to prepare students for their role in a global work environment. Combined with this need is the reality of the new Millennial Generation entering the educational system with a different approach to learning. This paper introduces an interactive, educational engineering game designed to appeal to the…

Impacts of crop sequence and minimum and no-till cropping systems on soil carbon stocks in south-central North Dakota, USA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Increased emphasis has been placed on developing agroecosystems that are inherently resistant and resilient to external stressors, yet are highly productive, economically competitive, and environmentally benign. As part of a long-term study to evaluate effects of crop sequence and tillage on crop yi...

Innovative approach to solving "stickies" problem and developing environmentally benign pressure sensitive adhesives through partnerships

Treesearch

Said M. Abubakr; Joe Peng

1999-01-01

As a result of a United States Postal Service (USPS) initiative, a work team consisting of the USPS, the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL),Springborn Testing and Research (STR), and industry representatives wasformed. The industry representatives include papermakers, paper recyclers,paper collectors, equipment manufacturers, paper users, and adhesive and chemical...

Benign and malignant skull-involved lesions: discriminative value of conventional CT and MRI combined with diffusion-weighted MRI.

PubMed

Tu, Zhanhai; Xiao, Zebin; Zheng, Yingyan; Huang, Hongjie; Yang, Libin; Cao, Dairong

2018-01-01

Background Little is known about the value of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in distinguishing malignant from benign skull-involved lesions. Purpose To evaluate the discriminative value of DWI combined with conventional CT and MRI for differentiating between benign and malignant skull-involved lesions. Material and Methods CT and MRI findings of 58 patients with pathologically proven skull-involved lesions (43 benign and 15 malignant) were retrospectively reviewed. Conventional CT and MRI characteristics and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of the two groups were evaluated and compared. Multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to assess the differential performance of each parameter separately and together. Results The presence of cortical defects or break-through and ill-defined margins were associated with malignant skull-involved lesions (both P < 0.05). Malignant skull-involved lesions demonstrated a significantly lower ADC ( P = 0.016) than benign lesions. ROC curve analyses indicated that a combination of CT, MRI, and DWI with an ADC ≤ 0.703 × 10 -3 mm 2 /s showed optimal sensitivity, while DWI along showed optimal specificity of 88.4% in differentiating between benign and malignant skull-involved lesions. Conclusion The combination of CT, MRI, and DWI can help to differentiate malignant from benign skull-involved lesions. CT + MRI + DWI offers optimal sensitivity, while DWI offers optimal specificity.

LUNGx Challenge for computerized lung nodule classification

DOE PAGES

Armato, Samuel G.; Drukker, Karen; Li, Feng; ...

2016-12-19

The purpose of this work is to describe the LUNGx Challenge for the computerized classification of lung nodules on diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans as benign or malignant and report the performance of participants’ computerized methods along with that of six radiologists who participated in an observer study performing the same Challenge task on the same dataset. The Challenge provided sets of calibration and testing scans, established a performance assessment process, and created an infrastructure for case dissemination and result submission. We present ten groups that applied their own methods to 73 lung nodules (37 benign and 36 malignant) thatmore » were selected to achieve approximate size matching between the two cohorts. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values for these methods ranged from 0.50 to 0.68; only three methods performed statistically better than random guessing. The radiologists’ AUC values ranged from 0.70 to 0.85; three radiologists performed statistically better than the best-performing computer method. The LUNGx Challenge compared the performance of computerized methods in the task of differentiating benign from malignant lung nodules on CT scans, placed in the context of the performance of radiologists on the same task. Lastly, the continued public availability of the Challenge cases will provide a valuable resource for the medical imaging research community.« less

LUNGx Challenge for computerized lung nodule classification

PubMed Central

Armato, Samuel G.; Drukker, Karen; Li, Feng; Hadjiiski, Lubomir; Tourassi, Georgia D.; Engelmann, Roger M.; Giger, Maryellen L.; Redmond, George; Farahani, Keyvan; Kirby, Justin S.; Clarke, Laurence P.

2016-01-01

Abstract. The purpose of this work is to describe the LUNGx Challenge for the computerized classification of lung nodules on diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans as benign or malignant and report the performance of participants’ computerized methods along with that of six radiologists who participated in an observer study performing the same Challenge task on the same dataset. The Challenge provided sets of calibration and testing scans, established a performance assessment process, and created an infrastructure for case dissemination and result submission. Ten groups applied their own methods to 73 lung nodules (37 benign and 36 malignant) that were selected to achieve approximate size matching between the two cohorts. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values for these methods ranged from 0.50 to 0.68; only three methods performed statistically better than random guessing. The radiologists’ AUC values ranged from 0.70 to 0.85; three radiologists performed statistically better than the best-performing computer method. The LUNGx Challenge compared the performance of computerized methods in the task of differentiating benign from malignant lung nodules on CT scans, placed in the context of the performance of radiologists on the same task. The continued public availability of the Challenge cases will provide a valuable resource for the medical imaging research community. PMID:28018939

LUNGx Challenge for computerized lung nodule classification

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Armato, Samuel G.; Drukker, Karen; Li, Feng

The purpose of this work is to describe the LUNGx Challenge for the computerized classification of lung nodules on diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans as benign or malignant and report the performance of participants’ computerized methods along with that of six radiologists who participated in an observer study performing the same Challenge task on the same dataset. The Challenge provided sets of calibration and testing scans, established a performance assessment process, and created an infrastructure for case dissemination and result submission. We present ten groups that applied their own methods to 73 lung nodules (37 benign and 36 malignant) thatmore » were selected to achieve approximate size matching between the two cohorts. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values for these methods ranged from 0.50 to 0.68; only three methods performed statistically better than random guessing. The radiologists’ AUC values ranged from 0.70 to 0.85; three radiologists performed statistically better than the best-performing computer method. The LUNGx Challenge compared the performance of computerized methods in the task of differentiating benign from malignant lung nodules on CT scans, placed in the context of the performance of radiologists on the same task. Lastly, the continued public availability of the Challenge cases will provide a valuable resource for the medical imaging research community.« less

An Introduction to Atomic Layer Deposition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dwivedi, Vivek H.

2017-01-01

Atomic Layer Deposition has been instrumental in providing a deposition method for multiple space flight applications. It is well known that ALD is a cost effective nanoadditive-manufacturing technique that allows for the conformal coating of substrates with atomic control in a benign temperature and pressure environment. Through the introduction of paired precursor gases, thin films can be deposited on a myriad of substrates from flat surfaces to those with significant topography. By providing atomic layer control, where single layers of atoms can be deposited, the fabrication of metal transparent films, precise nano-laminates, and coatings of nano-channels, pores and particles is achievable. The feasibility of this technology for NASA line of business applications range from thermal systems, optics, sensors, to environmental protection. An overview of this technology will be presented.

Redox-responsive self-healing materials formed from host–guest polymers

PubMed Central

Nakahata, Masaki; Takashima, Yoshinori; Yamaguchi, Hiroyasu; Harada, Akira

2011-01-01

Expanding the useful lifespan of materials is becoming highly desirable, and self-healing and self-repairing materials may become valuable commodities. The formation of supramolecular materials through host–guest interactions is a powerful method to create non-conventional materials. Here we report the formation of supramolecular hydrogels and their redox-responsive and self-healing properties due to host–guest interactions. We employ cyclodextrin (CD) as a host molecule because it is environmentally benign and has diverse applications. A transparent supramolecular hydrogel quickly forms upon mixing poly(acrylic acid) (pAA) possessing β-CD as a host polymer with pAA possessing ferrocene as a guest polymer. Redox stimuli induce a sol−gel phase transition in the supramolecular hydrogel and can control self-healing properties such as re-adhesion between cut surfaces. PMID:22027591

Feasibility of white-rot fungi for biodegradation of PCP-treated ammunition boxes. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scholze, R.J.; Lamar, R.T.; Bolduc, J.

1995-01-01

Millions of pounds of wood ammunition boxes treated with the wood preservative pentachiorophenol (PCP) are being stockpiled at military installations, primarily depots, because cost-effective disposal is not readily available. The Army needs cost-effective and environmentally benign treatment methods for destruction and disposal of PCP-treated wood products. This research investigated the use of white-rot fungi to biodegrade PCP-treated wood. Results showed that white-rot fungi effectively decreased the PCP concentration in contaminated hardwood and softwood chips. Under ideal laboratory conditions the fungi reduced the PCP concentration by 80 percent; a field study showed only a 30 percent decrease in PCP concentration. Despitemore » this disparity, this study demonstrated the feasibility of using white-rot fungi to reduce PCP in treated wood.« less

Proposed OTEC Punta Tuna Pilot Plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marina, J.; Perez, F.

1981-01-01

Siting features and the design of a 40 MWe prototype OTEC for installation at Punta Tuna, Puerto Rico are presented. An annual average temperature gradient of 40 F from surface to 3,000 ft depth, a sharp coastal drop-off, projected benign environmental effects, and expensive indigenous power supplies are seen as favorable for fixed, floating, or grazing OTEC plants. The Punta Tuna design is for a platform fitted with generators in 300 ft of water, submarine cable power transmission, fiberglass seawater pipes, NH3 as a working fluid, and heat exchangers at the 300 ft depth, below hurricane wind and wave action.more » Methods of installing the 3,000 ft cold water pipes are discussed, and the use of OTEC derived electricity for aluminum smelting in the Caribbean is indicated.« less

Microwave-assisted incorporation of silver nanoparticles in paper for point-of-use water purification

PubMed Central

Dankovich, Theresa A.

2014-01-01

This work reports an environmentally benign method for the in situ preparation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in paper using microwave irradiation. Through thermal evaporation, microwave heating with an excess of glucose relative to the silver ion precursor yields nanoparticles on the surface of cellulose fibers within three minutes. Paper sheets were characterized by electron microscopy, UV-Visible reflectance spectroscopy, and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Antibacterial activity and silver release from the AgNP sheets were assessed for model Escherichia coli and Enterococci faecalis bacteria in deionized water and in suspensions that also contained with various influent solution chemistries, i.e. with natural organic matter, salts, and proteins. The paper sheets containing silver nanoparticles were effective in inactivating the test bacteria as they passed through the paper. PMID:25400935

Conversion of alcohols to enantiopure amines through dual enzyme hydrogen-borrowing cascades

PubMed Central

Mutti, Francesco G.; Knaus, Tanja; Scrutton, Nigel S.; Breuer, Michael; Turner, Nicholas J.

2016-01-01

α-Chiral amines are key intermediates for the synthesis of a plethora of chemical compounds on industrial scale. Here we present a biocatalytic hydrogen-borrowing amination of primary and secondary alcohols that allows for the efficient and environmentally benign production of enantiopure amines. The method relies on the combination of an alcohol dehydrogenase (ADHs from Aromatoleum sp., Lactobacillus sp. and Bacillus sp.) enzyme operating in tandem with an amine dehydrogenase (AmDHs engineered from Bacillus sp.) to aminate a structurally diverse range of aromatic and aliphatic alcohols (up to 96% conversion and 99% enantiomeric excess). Furthermore, primary alcohols are aminated with high conversion (up to 99%). This redox self-sufficient network possesses high atom efficiency, sourcing nitrogen from ammonium and generating water as the sole by-product. PMID:26404833

Green synthesis of chalcones derivatives as intermediate of flavones and their antibacterial activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

VH, Elfi Susanti; Matsjeh, Sabirin; Wahyuningsih, Tutik Dwi; Mustofa, Redjeki, Tri

2016-02-01

Four chalcones derivatives have been synthesized from 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde and acetophenone derivatives (2-hydroxy acetophenone, 2,4-dihydroxy acetophenone, 2,5-dihydroxy acetophenone and 2,6-dihydroxy acetophenone). The synthesis of these chalcones were conducted by Claisen-Schmidt condensation using grinding techniques at room temperature in the absence of solvents. The chalcones were prepared by grinding together equivalent amount of the approriate hydroxyacetophenone and 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde in the presence of solid sodium hydroxide. Grinding techniques for synthesis of the chalcones derivatives is simple, efficient and environmentally benign compared to conventional methods. Then, the four chalcones derivatives undergo cyclization reactions to produce four flavones after reacted with iodine. The synthesized compounds were characterized by spectrometry (IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and MS).

An environmental benign process for cobalt and lithium recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries by mechanochemical approach.

PubMed

Wang, Meng-Meng; Zhang, Cong-Cong; Zhang, Fu-Shen

2016-05-01

In the current study, an environmental benign process namely mechanochemical approach was developed for cobalt and lithium recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The main merit of the process was that neither corrosive acid nor strong oxidant was applied. In the proposed process, lithium cobalt oxide (obtained from spent LIBs) was firstly co-grinded with various additives in a hermetic ball milling system, then Co and Li could be easily recovered by a water leaching procedure. It was found that EDTA was the most suitable co-grinding reagent, and 98% of Co and 99% of Li were respectively recovered under optimum conditions: LiCoO2 to EDTA mass ratio 1:4, milling time 4h, rotary speed 600r/min and ball-to-powder mass ratio 80:1, respectively. Mechanisms study implied that lone pair electrons provided by two nitrogen atoms and four hydroxyl oxygen atoms of EDTA could enter the empty orbit of Co and Li by solid-solid reaction, thus forming stable and water-soluble metal chelates Li-EDTA and Co-EDTA. Moreover, the separation of Co and Li could be achieved through a chemical precipitation approach. This study provides a high efficiency and environmentally friendly process for Co and Li recovery from spent LIBs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of Monoclonal Antibodies for the Diagnosis of T-cell Malignancies: Applications and Limitations.

PubMed

Hastrup, N; Pallesen, G; Ralfikiaer, E

1990-01-01

Biopsy samples from 136 peripheral T-cell lymphomas have been examined and compared with benign inflammatory T-cell infiltrates in an attempt to establish whether immunohistological methods may help to improve the distinction between these conditions. The results confirm and extend previous reports and indicate that the aberrant T-cell phenotypes constitute the single most reliable criterion for the distinction between benign and malignant T-cell infiltrates. These phenotypes are expressed frequently in T-cell malignancies in. lymphoid organs and are also seen in a substantial number of biopsy samples from advanced cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL). In contrast, early CTCL do not express aberrant T-cell phenotypes and are indistinguishable from benign cutaneous conditions in terms of their immunophenotypic properties. It is concluded that immunophenotypic techniques form a valuable supplement to routine histological methods for the diagnosis of T-cell lymphomas in lymphoid organs. The methods may also help to improve the diagnosis of advanced CTCL, but are of no or only limited help for the recognition of the early stages.

Fitness decline under osmotic stress in Caenorhabditis elegans populations subjected to spontaneous mutation accumulation at varying population sizes.

PubMed

Katju, Vaishali; Packard, Lucille B; Keightley, Peter D

2018-04-01

The consequences of mutations for population fitness depends on their individual selection coefficients and the effective population size. An earlier study of Caenorhabditis elegans spontaneous mutation accumulation lines evolved for 409 generations at three population sizes found that N e   = 1 populations declined significantly in fitness whereas the fitness of larger populations (N e   = 5, 50) was indistinguishable from the ancestral control under benign conditions. To test if larger MA populations harbor a load of cryptic deleterious mutations that are obscured under benign laboratory conditions, we measured fitness under osmotic stress via exposure to hypersaline conditions. The fitness of N e   = 1 lines exhibited a further decline under osmotic stress compared to benign conditions. However, the fitness of larger populations remained indistinguishable from that of the ancestral control. The average effects of deleterious mutations in N e   = 1 lines were estimated to be 22% for productivity and 14% for survivorship, exceeding values previously detected under benign conditions. Our results suggest that fitness decline is due to large effect mutations that are rapidly removed via selection even in small populations, with implications for conservation practices. Genetic stochasticity may not be as potent and immediate a threat to the persistence of small populations as other demographic and environmental stochastic factors. © 2018 The Author(s). Evolution © 2018 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Method of manufacturing a shapeable short-resistant capacitor

DOEpatents

Taylor, Ralph S.; Myers, John D.; Baney, William J.

2013-04-02

A method that employs a novel combination of conventional fabrication techniques provides a ceramic short-resistant capacitor that is bendable and/or shapeable to provide a multiple layer capacitor that is extremely compact and amenable to desirable geometries. The method allows thinner and more flexible ceramic capacitors to be made. The method includes forming a first thin metal layer on a substrate; depositing a thin, ceramic dielectric layer over the metal layer; depositing a second thin metal layer over the dielectric layer to form a capacitor exhibiting a benign failure mode; and separating the capacitor from the substrate. The method may also include bending the resulting capacitor into a serpentine arrangement with gaps between the layers that allow venting of evaporated electrode material in the event of a benign failure.

Contact method to allow benign failure in ceramic capacitor having self-clearing feature

DOEpatents

Myers, John D; Taylor, Ralph S

2012-06-26

A capacitor exhibiting a benign failure mode has a first electrode layer, a first ceramic dielectric layer deposited on a surface of the first electrode, and a second electrode layer disposed on the ceramic dielectric layer, wherein selected areas of the ceramic dielectric layer have additional dielectric material of sufficient thickness to exhibit a higher dielectric breakdown voltage than the remaining majority of the dielectric layer. The added thickness of the dielectric layer in selected areas allows lead connections to be made at the selected areas of greater dielectric thickness while substantially eliminating a risk of dielectric breakdown and failure at the lead connections, whereby the benign failure mode is preserved.

Habitual and value-guided purchase behavior.

PubMed

Biel, Anders; Dahlstrand, Ulf; Grankvist, Gunne

2005-06-01

Society increasingly requests that individuals adopt environmentally benign behavior. Information campaigns purported to change people's attitudes are often regarded as prerequisites to installing such changes. While such information may be a necessary step, it is not sufficient by itself. We argue that many everyday behaviors with environmental consequences are habitual, and that little attention is given to information directed toward changing these habitual behaviors. In other instances, behavior is guided by values in a more reflective process. However, other information besides environmental consequences may draw a person's attention and affect behavioral choice. Using surveys and experimental studies targeting consumer behavior, we studied under what conditions different kinds of information is likely to influence people with varying levels of environmental concern. Based on results from these studies, implications for behavioral change are discussed.

Dropping sand bags from helicopters: A low cost and environmentally benign approach to determine subsurface velocity and attenuation structure of active volcanic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jolly, A. D.; Chardot, L.; Sherburn, S.; Cole-Baker, J.; Scott, B. J.; Fournier, N.; Neuberg, J. N.

2012-04-01

Obtaining estimates of the seismic velocity and attenuation structure of volcanic systems is considered valuable from a monitoring perspective but can be extremely costly and time consuming due to the potential environmental impacts, safety issues and the permitting process. Here, we present an easy, low cost and environmentally benign alternative whereby the shallow velocity and attenuation structure can be obtained via high impact sandbag drops from helicopter. We conducted such a sandbag drop experiment at White Island volcano on 23 September 2011, during the final stage of a 6 month deployment of 14 broadband seismometers. Three drops were attempted, two at either end of a 5 station linear array within the crater floor, and the third within the volcano's shallow active acid crater lake. The bags were dropped from ~400 m height and contained ~700 kg of fine beach sand held within nylon sacks having a volume capacity of ~2.0 m3. The impact velocity was estimated at ~70 m/s yielding a kinetic energy of about 106 to 107 Nm. The source position was established by GPS on the resulting impact crater and was accurate to within ~5 m. The lake drop position was estimated from video footage relative to known ground features and was accurate to ~30 m. Impact timing was achieved by drop placement close to, but not on, the nearby seismometer recording systems. For the crater floor drops the timing was constrained to within ~0.05 s based on distance from the closest stations. The low kinetic energy and strong attenuation of the crater floor meant that strong first-P arrival times were limited to an area within ~1 km of the impact position. We obtained a rough velocity estimate of about 1.0-1.5 km/s for the unconsolidated crater floor and a velocity of ~1.5-2.0 km/s for rays traversing mostly through the consolidated rocks comprising the crater walls. Attenuation was found to be generally very strong (Q < 10) for both consolidated and unconsolidated parts of the volcano. Results show that low-cost sand bag drops can be viably used to determine shallow near surface velocity and attenuation structure in volcanic environments where use of other active source methods may be problematic due to environmental, permitting or cost issues.

Part I. Improved flame retardant textiles. Part II. Novel approach to layer-by-layer processing for flame retardant textiles.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In this presentation, new approaches for flame retardant textile by using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) and layer-by-layer processing will be discussed. Due to its environmentally benign character, the scCO2 is considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical re...

Department of the Navy 1994 Posture Statement. ’Revolutionizing Our Naval Forces’

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-01-01

heavy metals . "* Marine biochemistry and remediation of harbor sediments . "* Vessel anti-fouling coatings based on environmentally benign compounds...Naval: and Coast Guard assets, often in company with foreign navies, are performing Maritime Interception Operations in-theRed Sea and Northern Arabian ...FROM THE SEA : NAVAL FORCES IN ACTION ......................... 7 NATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITIES ................................. 8

Visible light induced green transformation of primary amines to imines using a silicate supported anatase photocatalyst.

PubMed

Zavahir, Sifani; Zhu, Huaiyong

2015-01-26

Catalytic oxidation of amine to imine is of intense present interest since imines are important intermediates for the synthesis of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural chemicals. However, considerable efforts have been made to develop efficient methods for the oxidation of secondary amines to imines, while little attention has until recently been given to the oxidation of primary amines, presumably owing to the high reactivity of generated imines of primary amines that are easily dehydrogenated to nitriles. Herein, we report the oxidative coupling of a series of primary benzylic amines into corresponding imines with dioxygen as the benign oxidant over composite catalysts of TiO2 (anatase)-silicate under visible light irradiation of λ > 460 nm. Visible light response of this system is believed to be as a result of high population of defects and contacts between silicate and anatase crystals in the composite and the strong interaction between benzylic amine and the catalyst. It is found that tuning the intensity and wavelength of the light irradiation and the reaction temperature can remarkably enhance the reaction activity. Water can also act as a green medium for the reaction with an excellent selectivity. This report contributes to the use of readily synthesized, environmentally benign, TiO2 based composite photocatalyst and solar energy to realize the transformation of primary amines to imine compounds.

Endoscopic Ultrasound Imaging for Differential Diagnosis of Pancreatic Neoplasms: A 7-Year Study in a Chinese Population.

PubMed

Cui, Binxin; Fang, Weili; Khan, Samiullah; Li, Shu; Chang, Yixiang; Wang, Bangmao; Liu, Wentian

2018-06-01

BACKGROUND Currently, non-invasive methods for screening pancreatic cancer are lacking. There is little information regarding whether endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) imaging has a discriminatory ability for detecting benign and malignant pancreatic neoplasms. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the demographic, clinicopathologic, and EUS features and follow-up information. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 58 patients with pancreatic neoplasms who underwent endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) over a 7-year period (2009-2016) at our Department of Digestive Diseases were enrolled in our study. RESULTS Of the 58 patients, 38 (65.5%) were diagnosed with malignant pancreatic neoplasms and 20 (34.5%) were benign ones. Of all the EUS findings, size of neoplasm (P=0.037) and regularity of margin (P=0.011) were significantly different between malignant and benign pancreatic neoplasms. However, age, sex, location, echo pattern, and dilation of main pancreatic duct did not show any significant difference (P>0.05). Size combined with regularity to detect malignant pancreatic neoplasms showed the following diagnostic values: sensitivity, 73.68%; specificity, 90%; positive predictive value, 76.60%; negative predictive value 81.82%; and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.887 (95% CI: 0.777-0.955, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Our results showed the high value of EUS for differentiating malignant pancreatic neoplasms from benign ones. Due to this and its non-invasive nature, EUS should be the first-line method for detection of neoplastic pancreatic lesions.

Application of texture analysis method for classification of benign and malignant thyroid nodules in ultrasound images.

PubMed

Abbasian Ardakani, Ali; Gharbali, Akbar; Mohammadi, Afshin

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate computer aided diagnosis (CAD) system with texture analysis (TA) to improve radiologists' accuracy in identification of thyroid nodules as malignant or benign. A total of 70 cases (26 benign and 44 malignant) were analyzed in this study. We extracted up to 270 statistical texture features as a descriptor for each selected region of interests (ROIs) in three normalization schemes (default, 3s and 1%-99%). Then features by the lowest probability of classification error and average correlation coefficients (POE+ACC), and Fisher coefficient (Fisher) eliminated to 10 best and most effective features. These features were analyzed under standard and nonstandard states. For TA of the thyroid nodules, Principle Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Non-Linear Discriminant Analysis (NDA) were applied. First Nearest-Neighbour (1-NN) classifier was performed for the features resulting from PCA and LDA. NDA features were classified by artificial neural network (A-NN). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used for examining the performance of TA methods. The best results were driven in 1-99% normalization with features extracted by POE+ACC algorithm and analyzed by NDA with the area under the ROC curve ( Az) of 0.9722 which correspond to sensitivity of 94.45%, specificity of 100%, and accuracy of 97.14%. Our results indicate that TA is a reliable method, can provide useful information help radiologist in detection and classification of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.

The Profile of Heparanase Expression Distinguishes Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma from Benign Neoplasms

PubMed Central

Matos, Leandro Luongo; Suarez, Eloah Rabello; Theodoro, Thérèse Rachell; Trufelli, Damila Cristina; Melo, Carina Mucciolo; Garcia, Larissa Ferraz; Oliveira, Olivia Capela Grimaldi; Matos, Maria Graciela Luongo; Kanda, Jossi Ledo; Nader, Helena Bonciani; Martins, João Roberto Maciel; Pinhal, Maria Aparecida Silva

2015-01-01

Introduction The search for a specific marker that could help to distinguish between differentiated thyroid carcinoma and benign lesions remains elusive in clinical practice. Heparanase (HPSE) is an endo-beta-glucoronidase implicated in the process of tumor invasion, and the heparanase-2 (HPSE2) modulates HPSE activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of heparanases in the development and differential diagnosis of follicular pattern thyroid lesions. Methods HPSE and HPSE2 expression by qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry evaluation, western blot analysis and HPSE enzymatic activity were evaluated. Results The expression of heparanases by qRT-PCR showed an increase of HPSE2 in thyroid carcinoma (P = 0.001). HPSE activity was found to be higher in the malignant neoplasms than in the benign tumors (P<0.0001). On Western blot analysis, HPSE2 isoforms were detected only in malignant tumors. The immunohistochemical assay allowed us to establish a distinct pattern for malignant and benign tumors. Carcinomas showed a typical combination of positive labeling for neoplastic cells and negative immunostaining in colloid, when compared to benign tumors (P<0.0001). The proposed diagnostic test presents sensitivity and negative predictive value of around 100%, showing itself to be an accurate test for distinguishing between malignant and benign lesions. Conclusions This study shows, for the first time, a distinct profile of HPSE expression in thyroid carcinoma suggesting its role in carcinogenesis. PMID:26488476

Nutrigenomics/Nutrigenetics.

PubMed

Mitroi, Nicoleta; Moţa, Maria

2008-01-01

Since Hippocrates it is known that nutrition plays a very important role in maintaining health, people being advised to consider "food intake as a real medicine". Modern science shows that important and necessary for an optimal state of health is not only the intake of some specific nutrients, but, above all, specific quantities of each and every nutrient which are to be taken. New notions have consequently appeared, such as dietetic recommendations and nutritional epidemiology. At the same time, it has been emphasized that nutrition can directly contribute to diseases appearance (nutrients/food generally interact with the genes in a "benign" way, but in some circumstances this interaction can also have fatal consequences). Human development is influenced by both environmental factors (diet, smoking, education, physical activity etc.) and heredity; both factors should be given equal attention, if our aim is to maintain the state of health. Experimental studies are often dedicated either only to the influence of environmental factors or exclusively to genes' influence and not to both simultaneously [4]. Modern techniques and methods of study are designed to solve the problem.

Effect of annealing on the spectral and optical characteristics of nano ZnO: Evaluation of adsorption of toxic metal ions from industrial waste water.

PubMed

Radhakrishnan, Asha; Rejani, P; Shanavas Khan, J; Beena, B

2016-11-01

The present work accentuates an unexploited and environmentally benign method of synthesizing ZnO nanomaterials using Sugar cane juice. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, EDS and FTIR. UV-visible and photoluminescence studies were also carried out to understand the absorption properties of synthesized nanomaterial. From the adsorption studies, it would be clear that synthesized ZnO should be used as an effective adsorbent for Pb(ll) and Cd(ll) removal. The kinetic data followed the pseudo-second-order model. The equilibrium attained at 120min and isotherm follows the order Sips>Langmuir>Freundlich. The adsorption-desorption studies conducted over 6 cycles illustrate the viability and repeated use of the adsorbent for the removal of Pb(ll)and Cd(ll) from aqueous solutions. The practical efficiency and usefulness of the adsorbent was tested using real industrial wastewater also. Cytotoxicity result shows that, ZnO was biocompatible at lower concentrations, and it was used as an ecofriendly nanoadsorbent for industrial and environmental applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of peritumoral stromal tissue stiffness obtained by shear wave elastography between benign and malignant breast lesions.

PubMed

Park, Hye Sun; Shin, Hee Jung; Shin, Ki Chang; Cha, Joo Hee; Chae, Eun Young; Choi, Woo Jung; Kim, Hak Hee

2018-01-01

Background Aggressive breast cancers produce abnormal peritumoral stiff areas, which can differ between benign and malignant lesions and between different subtypes of breast cancer. Purpose To compare the tissue stiffness of the inner tumor, tumor border, and peritumoral stroma (PS) between benign and malignant breast masses by shear wave elastography (SWE). Material and Methods We enrolled 133 consecutive patients who underwent preoperative SWE. Using OsiriX commercial software, we generated multiple 2-mm regions of interest (ROIs) in a linear arrangement on the inner tumor, tumor border, and PS. We obtained the mean elasticity value (E mean ) of each ROI, and compared the E mean between benign and malignant tumors. Odds ratios (ORs) for prediction of malignancy were calculated. Subgroup analyses were performed among tumor subtypes. Results There were 85 malignant and 48 benign masses. The E mean of the tumor border and PS were significantly different between benign and malignant masses ( P < 0.05 for all). ORs for malignancy were 1.06, 1.08, 1.05, and 1.04 for stiffness of the tumor border, proximal PS, middle PS, and distal PS, respectively ( P < 0.05 for all). Malignant masses with a stiff rim were significantly larger than malignant masses without a stiff rim, and were more commonly associated with the luminal B and triple negative subtypes. Conclusion Stiffness of the tumor border and PS obtained by SWE were significantly different between benign and malignant masses. Malignant masses with a stiff rim were larger in size and associated with more aggressive pathologic subtypes.

Using Computerized Cytomorphometry to Distinguish between Benign and Malignant Cases in Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology.

PubMed

Celik, Zeliha Esin; Altinay, Serdar; Kilinc, Fahriye; Arslan, Nur; Yilmaz, Burcu Sanal; Karabagli, Pınar; Ugurluoglu, Ceyhan

2016-11-01

Only a small number of studies on computerized cytomorphometry have been performed for thyroid FNAC. The present study aimed to determine the usefulness of computerized cytomorphometry methods to further classify thyroid lesions as benign or malignant and to compare the practicability and value of using Papanicolaou (Pap) and Giemsa stains in thyroid FNAC by evaluating their association to various cytologic nuclear parameters. Fifty-eight thyroid lesions diagnosed by FNAC and categorized according to the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology were evaluated in terms of various cytologic nuclear parameters, including nuclear area (NA), nuclear perimeter (NP), nuclear density (ND), long nuclear diameter (LND), and short nuclear diameter (SND). The Pap- and Giemsa-stained slides were examined separately. In the malignant cases, NA, NP, LND, and SND were higher than in the benign cases for both the Pap and Giemsa stains. NA, NP, LND, and SND were higher in Giemsa than Pap for both the benign and malignant groups. Statistically significant differences were detected between the benign and malignant cases in the AUS category. Computerized cytomorphometry is useful in distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions in thyroid FNAC. The measurement of cytologic nuclear parameters in cases suggestive of AUS may be useful for the probable classification of cases as benign or malignant. Although further studies are needed, in nuclear morphometric assessment of thyroid FNAC, Giemsa staining may be more useful and valuable than the Pap stain because of its association with various cytologic nuclear parameters. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2016;44:902-911. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Producing microbial polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolyesters in a sustainable manner.

PubMed

Koller, Martin; Maršálek, Lukáš; de Sousa Dias, Miguel Miranda; Braunegg, Gerhart

2017-07-25

Sustainable production of microbial polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolyesters on a larger scale has to consider the "four magic e": economic, ethical, environmental, and engineering aspects. Moreover, sustainability of PHA production can be quantified by modern tools of Life Cycle Assessment. Economic issues are to a large extent affected by the applied production mode, downstream processing, and, most of all, by the selection of carbon-rich raw materials as feedstocks for PHA production by safe and naturally occurring wild type microorganisms. In order to comply with ethics, such raw materials should be used which do not interfere with human nutrition and animal feed supply chains, and shall be convertible towards accessible carbon feedstocks by simple methods of upstream processing. Examples were identified in carbon-rich waste materials from various industrial braches closely connected to food production. Therefore, the article shines a light on hetero-, mixo-, and autotrophic PHA production based on various industrial residues from different branches. Emphasis is devoted to the integration of PHA-production based on selected raw materials into the holistic patterns of sustainability; this encompasses the choice of new, powerful microbial production strains, non-hazardous, environmentally benign methods for PHA recovery, and reutilization of waste streams from the PHA production process itself. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Iron-carbon composites for the remediation of chlorinated hydrocarbons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sunkara, Bhanu Kiran

This research is focused on engineering submicron spherical carbon particles as effective carriers/supports for nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) particles to address the in situ remediation of soil and groundwater chlorinated contaminants. Chlorinated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) form a class of dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) toxic contaminants in soil and groundwater. The in situ injection of NZVI particles to reduce DNAPLs is a potentially simple, cost-effective, and environmentally benign technology that has become a preferred method in the remediation of these compounds. However, unsupported NZVI particles exhibit ferromagnetism leading to particle aggregation and loss in mobility through the subsurface. This work demonstrates two approaches to prepare carbon supported NZVI (iron-carbon composites) particles. The objective is to establish these iron-carbon composites as extremely useful materials for the environmental remediation of chlorinated hydrocarbons and suitable materials for the in situ injection technology. This research also demonstrates that it is possible to vary the placement of iron nanoparticles either on the external surface or within the interior of carbon microspheres using a one-step aerosol-based process. The simple process of modifying iron placement has significant potential applications in heterogeneous catalysis as both the iron and carbon are widely used catalysts and catalyst supports. Furthermore, the aerosol-based process is applied to prepare new class of supported catalytic materials such as carbon-supported palladium nanoparticles for ex situ remediation of contaminated water. The iron-carbon composites developed in this research have multiple functionalities (a) they are reactive and function effectively in reductive dehalogenation (b) they are highly adsorptive thereby bringing the chlorinated compound to the proximity of the reactive sites and also serving as adsorption materials for decontamination (c) they are of the optimal size for transport through sediments (d) they have amphiphilic chemical functionalities that help stabilize them when they reach the DNAPL target zones. Finally, the iron-carbon composite microspheres prepared through aerosol-based process can used for in situ injection technology as the process is conductive to scale-up and the materials are environmentally benign.

Diagnostic potential of real-time elastography (RTE) and shear wave elastography (SWE) to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules

PubMed Central

Hu, Xiangdong; Liu, Yujiang; Qian, Linxue

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Real-time elastography (RTE) and shear wave elastography (SWE) are noninvasive and easily available imaging techniques that measure the tissue strain, and it has been reported that the sensitivity and the specificity of elastography were better in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules than conventional technologies. Methods: Relevant articles were searched in multiple databases; the comparison of elasticity index (EI) was conducted with the Review Manager 5.0. Forest plots of the sensitivity and specificity and SROC curve of RTE and SWE were performed with STATA 10.0 software. In addition, sensitivity analysis and bias analysis of the studies were conducted to examine the quality of articles; and to estimate possible publication bias, funnel plot was used and the Egger test was conducted. Results: Finally 22 articles which eventually satisfied the inclusion criteria were included in this study. After eliminating the inefficient, benign and malignant nodules were 2106 and 613, respectively. The meta-analysis suggested that the difference of EI between benign and malignant nodules was statistically significant (SMD = 2.11, 95% CI [1.67, 2.55], P < .00001). The overall sensitivities of RTE and SWE were roughly comparable, whereas the difference of specificities between these 2 methods was statistically significant. In addition, statistically significant difference of AUC between RTE and SWE was observed between RTE and SWE (P < .01). Conclusion: The specificity of RTE was statistically higher than that of SWE; which suggests that compared with SWE, RTE may be more accurate on differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules. PMID:29068996

Pulsed electromagnetic field with or without exercise therapy in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

PubMed Central

Elgohary, Hany M; Tantawy, Sayed A

2017-01-01

[Purpose] To investigate the effect of pulsed electromagnetic field with or without exercise therapy in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. [Subjects and Methods] Sixty male patients aged 55–65 years with benign prostatic hyperplasia were invited to participate in this study. Patients were randomly assigned to Group A (n=20; patients who received pulsed electromagnetic field in addition to pelvic floor and aerobic exercises), Group B (n=20; patients who received pulsed electromagnetic field), and Group C (n=20; patients who received placebo electromagnetic field). The assessments included post-void residual urine, urine flow rate, prostate specific antigen, white blood cells count, and International Prostate Symptom Score were weighed, before and after a 4-week intervention. [Results] There were significant differences in Group A and B in all parameters. Group C showed non-significant differences in all measured variables except for International Prostate Symptom Score. Among groups, all parameters showed highly significant differences in favor of Group A. There were non-significant differences between Group A and B and significant difference between Groups A and C and between Groups B and C. [Conclusion] The present study demonstrated that electromagnetic field had a significant impact on the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Accordingly, electromagnetic field can be utilized alone or in combination with other physiotherapy modalities. Moreover, clinicians should have the capacity to perceive the advantages accomplished using extra treatment alternatives. Electromagnetic field is a safe, noninvasive method and can be used for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. PMID:28878453

Differential Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Tumors of the Pancreas: MR Cholangiopancreatography and MR Angiography

PubMed Central

Choi, Byung Se; Kim, Ah Young; Kim, Kyoung Won; Park, Sung Won; Kim, Pyo Nyun; Ha, Hyun Kwon; Lee, Moon-Gyu; Kim, Song Cheol

2003-01-01

Objective To compare the usefulness of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and MR angiography (MRA) in differentiating malignant from benign intraductal papillary mucinous tumors of the pancreas (IPMTs), and to determine the findings which suggest malignancy. Materials and Methods During a 6-year period, 46 patients with IPMT underwent MRCP. Morphologically, tumor type was classified as main duct, branch duct, or combined. The diameter of the main pancreatic duct (MPD), the extent of the dilated MPD, and the location and size of the cystic lesion, septum, and communicating channel were assessed. For all types of IPMTs, enhanced mural nodules and portal vein narrowing were evaluated at MRA. Results Combined-type IPMTs were more frequently malignant (78%) than benign (42%) (p < 0.05). Compared with benign lesions, malignant lesions were larger, and the caliber of the communicating channel was also larger (p < 0.05). Their dilated MPD was more extensive and of greater diameter (p < 0.05), and the presence of mural nodules was more frequent (p < 0.001). Conclusion Combined MRCP and MRA might be useful for the differential diagnosis of malignant and benign IPMTs of the pancreas. PMID:14530644

Technical evaluation of Virtual Touch™ tissue quantification and elastography in benign and malignant breast tumors

PubMed Central

JIANG, QUAN; ZHANG, YUAN; CHEN, JIAN; ZHANG, YUN-XIAO; HE, ZHU

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of the Virtual Touch™ tissue quantification (VTQ) and elastosonography technologies in benign and malignant breast tumors. Routine preoperative ultrasound, elastosonography and VTQ examinations were performed on 86 patients with breast lesions. The elastosonography score and VTQ speed grouping of each lesion were measured and compared with the pathological findings. The difference in the elastosonography score between the benign and malignant breast tumors was statistically significant (P<0.05). The detection rate for an elastosonography score of 1–3 points in benign tumors was 68.09% and that for an elastosonography score of 4–5 points in malignant tumors was 82.05%. The difference in VTQ speed values between the benign and malignant tumors was also statistically significant (P<0.05). In addition, the diagnostic accuracy of conventional ultrasound, elastosonography, VTQ technology and the combined methods showed statistically significant differences (P<0.05). The use of the three technologies in combination significantly improved the diagnostic accuracy to 91.86%. In conclusion, the combination of conventional ultrasound, elastosonography and VTQ technology can significantly improve accuracy in the diagnosis of breast cancer. PMID:25187797

Treatment efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided percutaneous bipolar radiofrequency ablation for benign thyroid nodules

PubMed Central

Li, Xiao-long; Lu, Feng; Yue, Wen-wen; Sun, Li-ping; Bo, Xiao-wan; Guo, Le-hang; Xu, Jun-mei; Liu, Bo-ji; Li, Dan-dan; Qu, Shen

2016-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided percutaneous bipolar radiofrequency ablation (BRFA) of benign thyroid nodules by comparison with a matched untreated control group. Methods: The therapeutic efficacy and safety in 35 patients who were subjected to a single session of ultrasound-guided percutaneous BRFA (Group A) for benign thyroid nodules were compared with those in 35 untreated patients (Group B) with benign nodules. The benign nature of all the nodules was confirmed by ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), and all the patients had normal thyroid functions. BRFA was performed with a bipolar electrode (CelonProSurge 150–T20) with an output power of 20 W. Nodule volume, thyroid function and clinical symptoms of all the patients were compared before treatment and during follow-up. Results: In Group A, the BRFA procedures were completed with a mean time of 10.02 ± 3.30 min (range, 5.47–16.03 min) and with a mean total energy deposition of 10.747 ± 3704 J (range, 5510–17.770 J). The procedures were tolerated well in all the patients without causing any major complications. At the 6-month follow-up, all of the nodule volume decreased significantly (from 8.81 ± 8.66 to 1.59 ± 1.55 ml, p < 0.001) in Group A, whereas the nodule volume increased from 6.90 ± 3.77 to 7.87 ± 3.95 ml in Group B (p < 0.001). All (100%) the 35 nodules in Group A had volume reduction ratios (VRRs) of >50%, among which 3 (8.57%) had VRRs >90%. In Group A, the clinical symptoms of the patients who had symptoms before BRFA disappeared, whereas in Group B, the patients had no resolution of clinical symptoms at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided percutaneous BRFA seems to be an effective and safe method for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules. It may gain a wide use in clinical practice. Advances in knowledge: Based on the comparable efficacy and clinical symptoms between the BRFA and untreated groups, the technique of BRFA can be used as an effective and safe method for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules. PMID:26800232

Prototype Scale Development of an Environmentally Benign Yellow Smoke Hand-Held Signal Formulation Based on Solvent Yellow 33

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-15

VAAR) was purchased from McGean. Hydrated basic magnesium carbonate was obtained from Pine Bluff Arsenal (Pine Bluff, AR) and was confirmed to be Mg5( CO3 ...a potential environmental exposure of approximately 29 g of the toxic yellow dyes throughout the life cycle of a single M194 signal! To mitigate this...consists of Solvent Yellow 33 as the smoke sublimating agent, hydrated basic magnesium carbonate (Mg5( CO3 )4(OH)2·4H2O) instead of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3

[Methodological approaches to the development of environmentally benign technology for the use of solid waste in iron metallurgy].

PubMed

Pugin, K G; Vaĭsman, Ia I

2013-01-01

On the basis of the life cycle of materials, containing wastes of iron and steel industry, new methodological approaches to the assessment of technologies of the secondary use of wastes are developed A complex criteria for selection of the technology for the use of resource potential of solid waste of iron and steel industry are developed with taking into account environmental, technological and economic indices. The technology of the use of wastes of ferrovanadium industry as bulk solid materials at the solid waste landfill is shown.

An Interagency Study of Depainting Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, B.

1997-01-01

Many popular and widely used paint stripping products now contain methylene chloride as their active ingredient. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will critically curb the use of methylene chloride under an aerospace national emission standard for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) within the next 2-1/2 years. An effort is underway to identify and evaluate alternative depainting technologies emphasizing those believed to be both effective and environmentally benign. On behalf of the EPA and in cooperation with the U. S. Air Force (USAF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is conducting a technical assessment of nine alternative technologies (i.e.: chemical stripping, two CO2 blasting processes, FLASHJET(TM) coating removal, laser stripping, plastic media blasting, sodium bicarbonate wet stripping, high-pressure water stripping, and wheat starch blasting). These depainting processes represent five removal method categories, namely abrasive, impact, cryogenic, thermal, and/or molecular bonding dissociation. This paper discusses the test plan and parameters for this interagency study. Several thicknesses of clad and non-clad aluminum substrates were used to prepare test specimens, which have been cut, cleaned, painted, and environmentally aged. Each depainting process has been assigned a specimen lot, which is now undergoing an initial strip cycle. Metallurgical impacts will be determined after these specimens complete five cycles of preparation and stripping.

Environmental impacts of anaerobic digestion and the use of anaerobic residues as soil amendment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mosey, F.E.

1996-01-01

This paper defines the environmental role of anaerobic digestion within the overall objective of recovering energy from renewable biomass resources. Examples and opportunities for incorporating anaerobic digestion into biomass-to-energy schemes are discussed, together with environmental aspects of anaerobic digestion plants. These include visual, public amenity, pathogens and public health, odor control, and gaseous emissions. Digestate disposal and the benefits of restrictions on recycling organic wastes and biomass residues back to the land are discussed, particularly as they relate to American and European codes of practice and environmental legislation. The paper concludes that anaerobic digestion, if performed in purpose-designed reactors thatmore » efficiently recover and use biogas, is an environmentally benign process that can enhance energy recovery and aid the beneficial land use of plant residues in many biomass-to-energy schemes.« less

Enantio-Relay Catalysis Constructs Chiral Biaryl Alcohols over Cascade Suzuki Cross-Coupling-Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Dacheng; Gao, Xiaoshuang; Cheng, Tanyu; Liu, Guohua

2014-05-01

The construction of chiral biaryl alcohols using enantio-relay catalysis is a particularly attractive synthetic method in organic synthesis. However, overcoming the intrinsic incompatibility of distinct organometallic complexes and the reaction conditions used are significant challenges in asymmetric catalysis. To overcome these barriers, we have taken advantage of an enantio-relay catalysis strategy and a combined dual-immobilization approach. We report the use of an imidazolium-based organopalladium-functionalized organic-inorganic hybrid silica and ethylene-coated chiral organoruthenium-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles to catalyze a cascade Suzuki cross-coupling-asymmetric transfer hydrogenation reaction to prepare chiral biaryl alcohols in a two-step, one-pot process. As expected, the site-isolated active species, salient imidazolium phase-transfer character and high ethylene-coated hydrophobicity can synergistically boost the catalytic performance. Furthermore, enantio-relay catalysis has the potential to efficiently prepare a variety of chiral biaryl alcohols. Our synthetic strategy is a general method that shows the potential of developing enantio-relay catalysis towards environmentally benign and sustainable organic synthesis.

Facile one-pot synthesis of gold and silver nanocatalysts using edible coconut oil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meena Kumari, M.; Philip, Daizy

2013-07-01

The use of edible oil for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles by wet chemical method is reported for the first time. The paper presents an environmentally benign bottom up approach for the synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles using edible coconut oil at 373 K. The formation of silver nanoparticles is signaled by the brownish yellow color and that of gold nanoparticles by the purple color. Fine control over the nanoparticle size and shape from triangular to nearly spherical is achieved by varying the quantity of coconut oil. The nanoparticles have been characterized by UV-Visible, Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction. The chemical interaction of capping agents with metal nanoparticles is manifested using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The stable and crystalline nanoparticles obtained using this simple method show remarkable size-dependent catalytic activity in the reduction of the cationic dye methylene blue (MB) to leuco methylene blue (LMB). The first order rate constants calculated uphold the size dependent catalytic activity of the synthesized nanoparticles.

Incidence and prevalence of salivary gland tumours in Valparaiso, Chile

PubMed Central

Araya, Juan; Martinez, René; Niklander, Sven; Marshall, Maureen

2015-01-01

Background To determine the incidence and prevalence of salivary gland tumours in the province of Valparaíso, Chile. Material and Methods Retrospective review of salivary gland tumours diagnosed between the years 2000 and 2011 from four local pathology services. Information on demographics and histopathology were retrieved from the medical records. Results The study sample consisted of 279 salivary gland tumours. Prevalence and incidence rates per 100.000 persons were 15.4 and 2.51, respectively. Most of the neoplasms corresponded to benign tumours (70.3%). The most affected gland was the parotid gland. Pleomorphic adenoma was the most common benign tumour (53.8%) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most common malignant tumour (7.2%). Conclusions Salivary gland tumours are uncommon neoplasms that usually arise in the parotid gland. Pleomorphic adenoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma were the most common benign and malignant tumours reported in this series. Key words:Salivary gland tumours, benign tumours, malignant tumours, salivary glands neoplasms, cancer, neoplasia. PMID:26034925

Fluid extraction

DOEpatents

Wai, Chien M.; Laintz, Kenneth E.

1999-01-01

A method of extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a supercritical fluid solvent containing a chelating agent is described. The chelating agent forms chelates that are soluble in the supercritical fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments, the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide and the chelating agent is a fluorinated .beta.-diketone. In especially preferred embodiments the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide, and the chelating agent comprises a fluorinated .beta.-diketone and a trialkyl phosphate, or a fluorinated .beta.-diketone and a trialkylphosphine oxide. Although a trialkyl phosphate can extract lanthanides and actinides from acidic solutions, a binary mixture comprising a fluorinated .beta.-diketone and a trialkyl phosphate or a trialkylphosphine oxide tends to enhance the extraction efficiencies for actinides and lanthanides. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing contaminants from industrial waste without using acids or biologically harmful solvents. The method is particularly useful for extracting actinides and lanthanides from acidic solutions. The chelate and supercritical fluid can be regenerated, and the contaminant species recovered, to provide an economic, efficient process.

Green synthesis of chalcones derivatives as intermediate of flavones and their antibacterial activities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

VH, Elfi Susanti, E-mail: elsantivh@yahoo.com; Redjeki, Tri, E-mail: tri-redjeki@yahoo.com; Matsjeh, Sabirin, E-mail: sabirin-mara@yahoo.com

Four chalcones derivatives have been synthesized from 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde and acetophenone derivatives (2-hydroxy acetophenone, 2,4-dihydroxy acetophenone, 2,5-dihydroxy acetophenone and 2,6-dihydroxy acetophenone). The synthesis of these chalcones were conducted by Claisen-Schmidt condensation using grinding techniques at room temperature in the absence of solvents. The chalcones were prepared by grinding together equivalent amount of the approriate hydroxyacetophenone and 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde in the presence of solid sodium hydroxide. Grinding techniques for synthesis of the chalcones derivatives is simple, efficient and environmentally benign compared to conventional methods. Then, the four chalcones derivatives undergo cyclization reactions to produce four flavones after reacted with iodine. The synthesized compoundsmore » were characterized by spectrometry (IR, {sup 1}H-NMR, {sup 13}C-NMR and MS)« less

Recent advances in 2D thermoelectric materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jiabing; Sun, Qiang; Jena, Puru

2016-12-01

The waste heat generated by car engines, power plants, home furnaces and other fossil fuel-burning machinery play an adverse role in the climate. Development of efficient, light-weight, cost-effective, and environmentally-benign thermoelectric materials can help in converting wasted heat into useable energy, thus helping the environment. In this brief review we discuss theoretical methods that can complement experimental search for efficient thermoelectric materials. Using Boltzmann transport theory with a constant relaxation time approximation and non-equilibrium Green's function approach we study thermoelectric parameters by focusing on two dimensional materials ranging from graphene and graphdiyne to phosphorene, transition metal dichalogenides and metal carbides. In some circumstances, the reduced dimension is found to increase the Seebeck coefficient and decrease the thermal conductivity, necessary for improving thermoelectric conversion performance. We also suggest some future studies in this topic.

Technical analysis on energy conservation and emission reduction of new energy electric vehicle in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Chaocheng

2017-10-01

With the global environmental problems and energy crisis continuously emerging, all countries are taking active measures to achieve the benign development of domestic economy and society. Vehicle, as a large oil consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide, nend to be a revolutionary change. Therefore, the development of new energy electric vehicle has become the consensus of the world. On this background, this paper has sorted out the current state and the related development planning of new energy electric vehicles in different countries to predict the car ownership of the new energy electric vehicles using elastic coefficient method and setting different path of development, conclude that under the consideration of energy conservation and emissions reduction factors, our country should mainly promote the BEV to realize the maximum energy conservation and emissions reduction.

Conversion of alcohols to enantiopure amines through dual-enzyme hydrogen-borrowing cascades.

PubMed

Mutti, Francesco G; Knaus, Tanja; Scrutton, Nigel S; Breuer, Michael; Turner, Nicholas J

2015-09-25

α-Chiral amines are key intermediates for the synthesis of a plethora of chemical compounds at industrial scale. We present a biocatalytic hydrogen-borrowing amination of primary and secondary alcohols that allows for the efficient and environmentally benign production of enantiopure amines. The method relies on a combination of two enzymes: an alcohol dehydrogenase (from Aromatoleum sp., Lactobacillus sp., or Bacillus sp.) operating in tandem with an amine dehydrogenase (engineered from Bacillus sp.) to aminate a structurally diverse range of aromatic and aliphatic alcohols, yielding up to 96% conversion and 99% enantiomeric excess. Primary alcohols were aminated with high conversion (up to 99%). This redox self-sufficient cascade possesses high atom efficiency, sourcing nitrogen from ammonium and generating water as the sole by-product. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Recent advances in the structural library of functionalized quinazoline and quinazolinone scaffolds: synthetic approaches and multifarious applications.

PubMed

Khan, Imtiaz; Ibrar, Aliya; Abbas, Naeem; Saeed, Aamer

2014-04-09

Drug development has been a principal driving force in the rapid maturation of the field of medicinal chemistry during the past several decades. During this period, the intriguing and challenging molecular architectures of nitrogen-containing heterocycles with potential bioactive properties have received significant attention from researchers engaged in the areas of natural product synthesis and heterocyclic methodology, and constituted a continuous stimulus for development in bio(organic) chemistry. In this perspective, the current review article is an effort to summarize recent developments in the environmentally benign synthetic methods providing access to quinazoline and quinazolinone scaffolds with promising biological potential. This article also aims to discuss potential future directions on the development of more potent and specific analogues for various biological targets. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Biosorbents prepared from wood particles treated with anionic polymer and iron salt: Effect of particle size on phosphate adsorption

Treesearch

Thomas L. Eberhardt; Soo-Hong Min

2008-01-01

Biomass-based adsorbents have been widely studied as a cost-effective and environmentally-benign means to remove pollutants and nutrients from water. A two-stage treatment of aspen wood particles with solutions of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and ferrous chloride afforded a biosorbent that was effective in removing phosphate from test solutions. FTIR spectroscopy of...

Develop a Low Cost, Safe and Environmentally Benign High Energy and High Rate Reserve Battery

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-30

Methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate BMItrif 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate EC Ethylene carbonate EMC Ethyl methyl carbonate DEC...ionic liquid, a new field in lithium -based batteries, merits special recognition. The contribution of Dr. Mark Salomon with respect to the...applications. In particular, the anode is typically metallic lithium , and the cathode depolarizer is, most commonly, thionyl chloride (SOCl2) or sulfuryl

Ultra-High Efficiency / Low Hydrogen Embrittlement Nanostructured Zn-Based Electrodeposits as Environmentally Benign Cd-Replacement Coatings for High Strength Steel Fasteners

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

forma The prese corrosion coating) w conversio converted not develo before and a : Example un ted Zn-Ni ac : Example s Zn-Ni alkalin nt of scribing...Protection Agency, 1998. Retrieved from web July 30th 2009. Available online at www.epa.gov/ iris /subst/0141.htm. 3 M. Bielawski, Surface and

Electroactive Polymers as Environmentally Benign Coating Replacements for Cadmium Plating on High Strength Steels

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

using a modified tap wrench around the square bulk section, within the required 3 to 20 seconds, with an average of approximately 10 seconds. vi...My Documents\\Wa~tz\\Zarras sa~t foq pane~s\\Stee~ 1x3 pane~s\\PZ1764-76PS 24 hrs\\b o ttom ~ eft darker area 22X. spc Labe~ :Adhesion promoter

New environmentally-benign concepts in wood protection: the combination of organic biocides and non-biocidal additives

Treesearch

Frederick Green; Tor P. Schultz

2003-01-01

The principal wood preservative for residential use is currently a broad-spectrum biocide which contains As, Cr and Cu. However, the use of totally organic wood preservative systems in certain applications or localities may be required in the future. This will greatly increase the price of treated wood. The combination of organic biocides with non-biocidal additives to...

Elimination of Toxic Materials and Solvents from Solid Propellant Compositions

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-01-01

ratio of nitrogen, hydrogen , and oxygen atoms which yield exhaust products that are environmentally benign. Through leveraging with three subsequent...qualification costs make transition to new formulations prohibitive. Therefore, more likely candidates for these new formulations are weapon systems of...facility in place a technology was sought out to treat the nitroglycerin vapors that are emitted. One such technology was photocatalysis of the

Population, agriculture, and the environment in Africa.

PubMed

Cleaver, K; Schreiber, G

1992-06-01

An overview is provided of the World Bank study about the interaction between rapid population growth, poor agricultural performance, and environmental degradation. The links between these 3 phenomena are identified as traditional methods of crop and livestock production, land tenure systems, women's responsibilities, and methods of forest use. When land was abundant and capital limited, pastoralism, shifting cultivation, and setting aside fallow land was possible. Mobility and allowances for natural regeneration of vegetation could not continue with rapid population growth. Permanent settlements developed but cultivation methods remained the same; the result was deterioration of soil fertility, low yields, and erosion of soil as occurred in Rwanda, Burkina Faso, and parts of Nigeria. Technological innovation has been slow and poor roads have interfered with a market oriented economy. Inappropriate pricing, exchange rates, and fiscal policies also prevent productivity gains. A heavy demand is placed on women's time. Demand for children is high and is stimulated by environmental degradation, food insecurity, land tenure systems, and cultural traditions. Child labor is needed. The demand for contraception is 30-50% in North Africa, 36-55% in Asia, and 40-60% in South America. Land ownership problems have arisen under community ownership and between herders and settlers. Solutions have ranged from land nationalization and arbitrary designation of individual ownership. Open access situations have developed and lent themselves to exploitation. Fuelwood needs have exacerbated the destruction of forests. Commercial logging accounted for 10-20% of the forest loss. New approaches are needed to link cross-sectionally population, the environment, an agriculture. Emphasis should be on resource conservation, family planning, and environmentally benign intensive farming. Agricultural production needs to grow at 4%/year, fertility lowered by 50% over 30 years, and deforestation slowed. Women's time constraints should b alleviated and productivity improved. Open access and state ownership should be stopped.

Clinical outcomes of self-expandable stent placement for benign esophageal diseases: A pooled analysis of the literature

PubMed Central

van Halsema, Emo E; van Hooft, Jeanin E

2015-01-01

AIM: To analyze the outcomes of self-expandable stent placement for benign esophageal strictures and benign esophageal leaks in the literature. METHODS: The PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched for relevant articles published between January 2000 and July 2014. Eight prospective studies were identified that analyzed the outcomes of stent placement for refractory benign esophageal strictures. The outcomes of stent placement for benign esophageal leaks, perforations and fistulae were extracted from 20 retrospective studies that were published after the inclusion period of a recent systematic review. Data were pooled and analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Fully covered self-expandable metal stents (FC SEMS) (n = 85), biodegradable (BD) stents (n = 77) and self-expandable plastic stents (SEPS) (n = 70) were inserted in 232 patients with refractory benign esophageal strictures. The overall clinical success rate was 24.2% and according to stent type 14.1% for FC SEMS, 32.9% for BD stents and 27.1% for SEPS. Stent migration occurred in 24.6% of cases. The overall complication rate was 31.0%, including major (17.7%) and minor (13.4%) complications. A total of 643 patients were treated with self-expandable stents mainly for postsurgical leaks (64.5%), iatrogenic perforations (19.6%), Boerhaave’s syndrome (7.8%) and fistulae (3.7%). FC SEMS and partially covered SEMS were used in the majority of patients. Successful closure of the defect was achieved in 76.8% of patients and according to etiology in 81.4% for postsurgical leaks, 86.0% for perforations and 64.7% for fistulae. The pooled stent migration rate was 16.5%. Stent-related complications occurred in 13.4% of patients, including major (7.8%) and minor (5.5%) complications. CONCLUSION: The outcomes of stent placement for refractory benign esophageal strictures were poor. However, randomized trials are needed to put this into perspective. The evidence on successful stent placement for benign esophageal leaks, perforations and fistulae is promising. PMID:25685270

[Study of susceptibility weighted imaging on MR and pathologic findings to distinguish benign or malignant soft tissue tumor].

PubMed

Liu, J; Chen, Y; Bao, X M; Ling, X L; Ding, J P; Zhang, Z K

2017-05-23

Objective: To explore the diagnostic performance of susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI)in distinguishing benign or malignant soft tissue tumor, and to study pathological observation. Methods: Sixty-eight patients with soft tissue tumor, who received no previous treatment or invasive examination, received routine preoperative MRI examination and SWI scanning. The graduation and distribution of intratumoral susceptibility signal intensity(ITSS) and proportion of tumor volume were observed.The pathological results were also included for comparative analysis. Results: Fourty of 68 patients were benign and 28 were malignant. 72.5% (29/40) patients with benign soft tissue tumors were ITSS grade 1 and ITSS grade 3 (hemangioma). 89.3%(25/28) patients with malignant soft tissue tumors were ITSS grade 2 and ITSS grade 3. The difference was statistically significant ( P <0.01). The distribution of ITSS in patients with benign soft tissue tumors was dominated by peripheral distribution and diffuse distribution (hemangioma), accounting for 90.0% (36/40). The distribution of ITSS in patients with malignant soft tissue tumors mainly distributed in the central region, accounting for 78.6% (22 /28). The difference was statistically significant ( P <0.01). The proportion of tumor volume occupied by ITSS in benign soft tissue tumors was <1/3 and> 2/3 (hemangioma), accounting for 90.0% (36/40). The volume of malignant soft tissue tumors were predominantly <1/3 , accounting for 82.1% (23/28). The difference was statistically significant ( P <0.01). Conclusion: SWI is sensitive in displaying the vein and blood metabolites in soft tissue lesions, which is helpful for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant tumors in soft tissue.

Benign Intraductal Papilloma without Atypia on Core Needle Biopsy Has a Low Rate of Upgrading to Malignancy after Excision

PubMed Central

Han, Song-Hee; Kim, Milim; Chung, Yul Ri; Yun, Bo La; Jang, Mijung; Kim, Sun Mi; Kang, Eunyoung; Kim, Eun-Kyu

2018-01-01

Purpose The management of benign intraductal papilloma (IDP) without atypia diagnosed on core needle biopsy (CNB) remains controversial. This study was performed to evaluate the rate of upgrading to malignancy or high-risk lesions after excision and to identify factors associated with upgrading using a large series of benign IDP cases without atypia. Methods We included patients who were diagnosed as having benign IDP without atypia on CNB and underwent surgical or vacuum-assisted excision between 2010 and 2015. We analyzed the clinical, radiologic, and histopathologic features of IDPs that were upgraded to malignancy or high-risk lesions after excision. Results A total of 511 benign IDPs without atypia diagnosed via CNB were identified, of which 398 cases were treated with excision. After reviewing these cases, four cases of high-risk lesions in adjacent tissue on CNB, two cases which were revealed as papilloma with atypia, and nine cases of malignancy in the same breast were excluded. In the remaining 383 cases, the rate of upgrading to malignancy and high-risk lesions after excision was 0.8% and 4.4%, respectively. The presence of concurrent contralateral breast cancer, the presence of symptoms, and multifocality were factors significantly associated with upgrading to malignancy on subsequent excision. Surgical excision rather than vacuum-assisted excision was significantly associated with upgrading to high-risk lesions or malignancy. Conclusion The rate of upgrading to malignancy for benign IDP without atypia was very low, suggesting that close clinical and radiologic observation may be sufficient for patients with benign IDP without atypia on CNB under proper settings. PMID:29628987

Benign Breast Disease, Mammographic Breast Density, and the Risk of Breast Cancer

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Benign breast disease and high breast density are prevalent, strong risk factors for breast cancer. Women with both risk factors may be at very high risk. Methods We included 42818 women participating in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium who had no prior diagnosis of breast cancer and had undergone at least one benign breast biopsy and mammogram; 1359 women developed incident breast cancer in 6.1 years of follow-up (78.1% invasive, 21.9% ductal carcinoma in situ). We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) using Cox regression analysis. The referent group was women with nonproliferative changes and average density. All P values are two-sided. Results Benign breast disease and breast density were independently associated with breast cancer. The combination of atypical hyperplasia and very high density was uncommon (0.6% of biopsies) but was associated with the highest risk for breast cancer (HR = 5.34; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.52 to 8.09, P < .001). Proliferative disease without atypia (25.6% of biopsies) was associated with elevated risk that varied little across levels of density: average (HR = 1.37; 95% CI = 1.11 to 1.69, P = .003), high (HR = 2.02; 95% CI = 1.68 to 2.44, P < .001), or very high (HR = 2.05; 95% CI = 1.54 to 2.72, P < .001). Low breast density (4.5% of biopsies) was associated with low risk (HRs <1) for all benign pathology diagnoses. Conclusions Women with high breast density and proliferative benign breast disease are at very high risk for future breast cancer. Women with low breast density are at low risk, regardless of their benign pathologic diagnosis. PMID:23744877

Improvement of diagnostic efficiency in distinguishing the benign and malignant thyroid nodules via conventional ultrasound combined with ultrasound contrast and elastography

PubMed Central

Liu, Mei-Juan; Men, Yan-Ming; Zhang, Yong-Lin; Zhang, Yu-Xi; Liu, Hao

2017-01-01

We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic values of conventional ultrasound (US), ultrasound contrast (UC) and ultrasound elastography (UE) in distinguishing the benign and malignant thyroid nodules. A total of 100 patients with thyroid nodules receiving operative treatment were selected; they underwent the conventional US, UE and UC examinations before operation, respectively. The nodules received pathological examination after operation to distinguish benign from malignant lesions. The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accordance rate of each diagnostic method was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and the area under the curve (AUC) of ROC was calculated. The manifestations of malignant thyroid nodules in conventional US examination were mostly the hypoecho, heterogeneous echo, irregular shape, unclear boundary, aspect ratio <1, microcalcification and irregular peripheral echo halo, and there were statistically significant differences compared with the benign nodules (P<0.05). UE showed that the differences between benign and malignant nodules in 2, 3 and 4 points were statistically significant (P<0.05). The manifestations of malignant nodules in UC were mostly the irregular shape, obscure boundary, no obvious enhancement, heterogeneous enhancement and visible perfusion defects, and there were statistically significant differences compared with the benign nodules (P<0.05). ROC curve showed that both sensitivity and specificity of UE and UC were superior to those of conventional US. AUC was the largest (AUC = 0.908) and the diagnostic value was the highest in the conventional US combined with UE and UC. Conventional US combined with elastography and UC can significantly improve the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. PMID:28693244

Comparison of metabolic ratios of urinary estrogens between benign and malignant thyroid tumors in postmenopausal women

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Estrogen metabolism may be associated with the pathophysiological development of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods To evaluate the differential estrogen metabolism between benign and malignant PTCs, estrogen profiling by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was applied to urine samples from postmenopausal patients with 9 benign tumors and 18 malignant stage I and III/IV PTCs. Results The urinary concentration of 2-methoxyestradiol was significantly lower in the stage I malignant patients (3.5-fold; P < 0.025) than in the benign group. The metabolic ratios of 16α-OH-estrone/estrone and estriol/estradiol, which are responsible for 16α-hydroxylase activity, were increased more than 2.5-fold in the advanced-stage malignant PTC (P < 0.02 each). The more than 6.2-fold decrease in the urinary 2-/16α-hydroxylase ratio in stage III/IV malignant PTC was consistent with the ratio in postmenopausal patients with endocrine gland cancers. In addition, reductive 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β-HSD; estradiol/estrone or estriol/16α-OH-estrone) was present at significantly higher levels in subjects with stage III/IV malignant PTCs than in benign subjects (>3.5-fold difference; P < 0.002). In particular, the estriol/16α-OH-estrone ratio differentiated between the benign and early-stage malignant patients (P < 0.01). Conclusions Increased 16α-hydroxylation and/or a decreased 2-/16α-ratio, as well increased reductive 17β-HSD, with regard to estrogen metabolism could provide potential biomarkers. The devised profiles could be useful for differentiating malignant thyroid carcinomas from benign adenomas in postmenopausal women. PMID:24156385

Improvement of diagnostic efficiency in distinguishing the benign and malignant thyroid nodules via conventional ultrasound combined with ultrasound contrast and elastography.

PubMed

Liu, Mei-Juan; Men, Yan-Ming; Zhang, Yong-Lin; Zhang, Yu-Xi; Liu, Hao

2017-07-01

We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic values of conventional ultrasound (US), ultrasound contrast (UC) and ultrasound elastography (UE) in distinguishing the benign and malignant thyroid nodules. A total of 100 patients with thyroid nodules receiving operative treatment were selected; they underwent the conventional US, UE and UC examinations before operation, respectively. The nodules received pathological examination after operation to distinguish benign from malignant lesions. The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accordance rate of each diagnostic method was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and the area under the curve (AUC) of ROC was calculated. The manifestations of malignant thyroid nodules in conventional US examination were mostly the hypoecho, heterogeneous echo, irregular shape, unclear boundary, aspect ratio <1, microcalcification and irregular peripheral echo halo, and there were statistically significant differences compared with the benign nodules (P<0.05). UE showed that the differences between benign and malignant nodules in 2, 3 and 4 points were statistically significant (P<0.05). The manifestations of malignant nodules in UC were mostly the irregular shape, obscure boundary, no obvious enhancement, heterogeneous enhancement and visible perfusion defects, and there were statistically significant differences compared with the benign nodules (P<0.05). ROC curve showed that both sensitivity and specificity of UE and UC were superior to those of conventional US. AUC was the largest (AUC = 0.908) and the diagnostic value was the highest in the conventional US combined with UE and UC. Conventional US combined with elastography and UC can significantly improve the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.

Study of nuclear morphometry on cytology specimens of benign and malignant breast lesions: A study of 122 cases

PubMed Central

Kashyap, Anamika; Jain, Manjula; Shukla, Shailaja; Andley, Manoj

2017-01-01

Background: Breast cancer has emerged as a leading site of cancer among women in India. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been routinely applied in assessment of breast lesions. Cytological evaluation in breast lesions is subjective with a “gray zone” of 6.9–20%. Quantitative evaluation of nuclear size, shape, texture, and density parameters by morphometry can be of diagnostic help in breast tumor. Aims: To apply nuclear morphometry on cytological breast aspirates and assess its role in differentiating between benign and malignant breast lesions with derivation of suitable cut-off values between the two groups. Settings and Designs: The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study of nuclear morphometric parameters of benign and malignant cases. Materials and Methods: The study included 50 benign breast disease (BBD), 8 atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), and 64 carcinoma cases. Image analysis was performed on Papanicolaou-stained FNAC slides by Nikon Imaging Software (NIS)–Elements Advanced Research software (Version 4.00). Nuclear morphometric parameters analyzed included 5 nuclear size, 2 shape, 4 texture, and 2 density parameters. Results: Nuclear morphometry could differentiate between benign and malignant aspirates with a gradually increasing nuclear size parameters from BBD to ADH to carcinoma. Cut-off values of 31.93 μm2, 6.325 μm, 5.865 μm, 7.855 μm, and 21.55 μm for mean nuclear area, equivalent diameter, minimum feret, maximum ferret, and perimeter, respectively, were derived between benign and malignant cases, which could correctly classify 7 out of 8 ADH cases. Conclusion: Nuclear morphometry is a highly objective tool that could be used to supplement FNAC in differentiating benign from malignant lesions, with an important role in cases with diagnostic dilemma. PMID:28182052

Human brain cancer studied by resonance Raman spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yan; Liu, Cheng-Hui; Sun, Yi; Pu, Yang; Boydston-White, Susie; Liu, Yulong; Alfano, Robert R.

2012-11-01

The resonance Raman (RR) spectra of six types of human brain tissues are examined using a confocal micro-Raman system with 532-nm excitation in vitro. Forty-three RR spectra from seven subjects are investigated. The spectral peaks from malignant meningioma, stage III (cancer), benign meningioma (benign), normal meningeal tissues (normal), glioblastoma multiforme grade IV (cancer), acoustic neuroma (benign), and pituitary adenoma (benign) are analyzed. Using a 532-nm excitation, the resonance-enhanced peak at 1548 cm-1 (amide II) is observed in all of the tissue specimens, but is not observed in the spectra collected using the nonresonance Raman system. An increase in the intensity ratio of 1587 to 1605 cm-1 is observed in the RR spectra collected from meningeal cancer tissue as compared with the spectra collected from the benign and normal meningeal tissue. The peak around 1732 cm-1 attributed to fatty acids (lipids) are diminished in the spectra collected from the meningeal cancer tumors as compared with the spectra from normal and benign tissues. The characteristic band of spectral peaks observed between 2800 and 3100 cm-1 are attributed to the vibrations of methyl (-CH3) and methylene (-CH2-) groups. The ratio of the intensities of the spectral peaks of 2935 to 2880 cm-1 from the meningeal cancer tissues is found to be lower in comparison with that of the spectral peaks from normal, and benign tissues, which may be used as a distinct marker for distinguishing cancerous tissues from normal meningeal tissues. The statistical methods of principal component analysis and the support vector machine are used to analyze the RR spectral data collected from meningeal tissues, yielding a diagnostic sensitivity of 90.9% and specificity of 100% when two principal components are used.

Differential Gene Expression in Benign Prostate Epithelium of Men with and without Prostate Cancer: Evidence for a Prostate Cancer Field Effect

PubMed Central

Risk, Michael C; Knudsen, Beatrice S; Coleman, Ilsa; Dumpit, Ruth F; Kristal, Alan R; LeMeur, Nolwenn; Gentleman, Robert C; True, Lawrence D; Nelson, Peter S; Lin, Daniel W

2010-01-01

Background Several malignancies are known to exhibit a “field-effect” whereby regions beyond tumor boundaries harbor histological or molecular changes that are associated with cancer. We sought to determine if histologically benign prostate epithelium collected from men with prostate cancer exhibits features indicative of pre-malignancy or field effect. Methods Prostate needle biopsies from 15 men with high grade(Gleason 8–10) prostate cancer and 15 age- and BMI-matched controls were identified from a biospecimen repository. Benign epithelia from each patient were isolated by laser capture microdissection. RNA was isolated, amplified, and used for microarray hybridization. Quantitative PCR(qPCR) was used to determine the expression of specific genes of interest. Alterations in protein expression were analyzed through immunohistochemistry. Results Overall patterns of gene expression in microdissected benign-associated benign epithelium (BABE) and cancer-associated benign epithelium (CABE) were similar. Two genes previously associated with prostate cancer, PSMA and SSTR1, were significantly upregulated in the CABE group(FDR <1%). Expression of other prostate cancer-associated genes, including ERG, HOXC4, HOXC5 and MME, were also increased in CABE by qRT-PCR, although other genes commonly altered in prostate cancer were not different between the BABE and CABE samples. The expression of MME and PSMA proteins on IHC coincided with their mRNA alterations. Conclusion Gene expression profiles between benign epithelia of patients with and without prostate cancer are very similar. However, these tissues exhibit differences in the expression levels of several genes previously associated with prostate cancer development or progression. These differences may comprise a field effect and represent early events in carcinogenesis. PMID:20935156

Evaluation of tumour markers as differential diagnostic tool in patients with suspicion of liver metastases from breast cancer.

PubMed

Liska, Vaclav; Holubec, Lubos; Treska, Vladislav; Vrzalova, Jindra; Skalicky, Tomas; Sutnar, Alan; Kormunda, Stanislav; Bruha, Jan; Vycital, Ondrej; Finek, Jindrich; Pesta, Martin; Pecen, Ladislav; Topolcan, Ondrej

2011-04-01

The liver is the site of breast cancer metastasis in 50% of patients with advanced disease. Tumour markers have been demonstrated as being useful in follow-up of patients with breast cancer, in early detection of recurrence of breast cancer after radical surgical treatments, and in assessing oncologic therapy effect, but no study has been carried out on their usefullness in distinguishing benign liver lesions from breast cancer metastases. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the importance of tumour markers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen CA19-9 (CA19-9), thymidine kinase (TK), tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA), tissue polypeptide-specific antigen (TPS) and cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) in differential diagnosis between benign liver lesions and liver metastases of breast cancer. The study includes 3 groups: 22 patients with liver metastases of breast cancer; 39 patients with benign liver lesions (hemangioma, focal nodular hyperplasia, liver cyst, hepatocellular adenoma); and 21 patients without any liver disease or lesion that were operated on for benign extrahepatic diseases (groin hernia, varices of lower limbs) as a control group. The serum levels of tumour markers were assessed by means of immunoanalytical methods. Preoperative serum levels of CYFRA 21-1, TPA, TPS and CEA were significantly higher in patients with liver metastases of breast cancer in contrast to healthy controls and patients with benign liver lesions (p-value<0.05). Serum levels of CA19-9 and TK were higher in patients with malignancy in comparison with benign liver disease and healthy controls but these differences were not statistically significant. Tumour markers CEA, CYFRA 21-1, TPA and TPS can be recommended as a good tool for differential diagnosis between liver metastases of breast cancer and benign liver lesions.

Epigenomic profiling of DNA methylation in paired prostate cancer versus adjacent benign tissue

PubMed Central

Geybels, Milan S.; Zhao, Shanshan; Wong, Chao-Jen; Bibikova, Marina; Klotzle, Brandy; Wu, Michael; Ostrander, Elaine A.; Fan, Jian-Bing; Feng, Ziding; Stanford, Janet L.

2016-01-01

Background Aberrant DNA methylation may promote prostate carcinogenesis. We investigated epigenome-wide DNA methylation profiles in prostate cancer (PCa) compared to adjacent benign tissue to identify differentially methylated CpG sites. Methods The study included paired PCa and adjacent benign tissue samples from 20 radical prostatectomy patients. Epigenetic profiling was done using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Linear models that accounted for the paired study design and False Discovery Rate Q-values were used to evaluate differential CpG methylation. mRNA expression levels of the genes with the most differentially methylated CpG sites were analyzed. Results In total, 2,040 differentially methylated CpG sites were identified in PCa versus adjacent benign tissue (Q-value <0.001), the majority of which were hypermethylated (n = 1,946; 95%). DNA methylation profiles accurately distinguished between PCa and benign tissue samples. Twenty-seven top-ranked hypermethylated CpGs had a mean methylation difference of at least 40% between tissue types, which included 25 CpGs in 17 genes. Furthermore, for ten genes over 50% of promoter region CpGs were hypermethylated in PCa versus benign tissue. The top-ranked differentially methylated genes included three genes that were associated with both promoter hypermethylation and reduced gene expression: SCGB3A1, HIF3A, and AOX1. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data provided confirmatory evidence for our findings. Conclusions This study of PCa versus adjacent benign tissue showed many differentially methylated CpGs and regions in and outside gene promoter regions, which may potentially be used for the development of future epigenetic-based diagnostic tests or as therapeutic targets. PMID:26383847

Total Thyroidectomy for Benign Thyroid Diseases: What is the Price to be Paid?

PubMed Central

Gangappa, Rajashekara Babu; Chowdary, Prashanth Basappa; Patanki, Adithya Malolan; Ishwar, Mahalakshmi

2016-01-01

Introduction Total thyroidectomy has been used to treat patients with malignant thyroid disease. But for patients with benign thyroid disease, the safety and efficacy of total thyroidectomy is a matter of debate. Subtotal thyroidectomy that was previously the treatment of choice for benign thyroid disease has been associated with high recurrence rates. The risk of permanent complications is greatly increased in patients who undergo surgery for recurrence of benign thyroid disease. Total thyroidectomy is an operation that can be safely performed, with low incidence of permanent complications, which allows one to broaden its indications in various benign thyroid diseases, thus avoiding future recurrences and reoperations. Aim To assess the benefits of total thyroidectomy for benign thyroid diseases. Materials and Methods This randomized prospective study was conducted between Feb 2013 and Nov 2014 in the Department of General Surgery at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute. It included 116 patients undergoing total thyroidectomy procedure for benign thyroid disease. All cases were followed-up for a period of 6 months for incidence of RLN palsy, hypoparathyroidism, disease recurrence and number of incidental malignancies detected on postoperative histological analyses of the thyroid specimens. Results Most of the patients were in the third decade of their lives. The female to male ratio was 6.7:1. Total thyroidectomy was done for 116 benign thyroid diseases with multinodular goiter as the most common diagnosis. The incidence of postoperative hypocalcaemia was 16.37% (however, only 1 patient developed permanent hypocalcaemia) and that of wound infection was 2.58% and seroma formation was 2.58%. None of the patients included in this study had haematoma formation or RLN paralysis. An incidental malignancy was identified in 11.20% patients. Conclusion Total thyroidectomy shows benefits in eradicating multinodular goiter, alleviating Grave’s opthalmopathy, treating Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and preventing recurrence. It decreases the likelihood of future operations for recurrent disease or completion thyroidectomy for incidental thyroid cancer thus decreasing the associated risks of increased morbidity associated with second operation. Therefore, for benign thyroid diseases requiring surgical management total thyroidectomy can be considered the treatment of choice. PMID:27504342

Effectiveness of the Benign and Malignant Diagnosis of Mediastinal and Hilar Lymph Nodes by Endobronchial Ultrasound Elastography.

PubMed

Huang, Haidong; Huang, Zhiang; Wang, Qin; Wang, Xinan; Dong, Yuchao; Zhang, Wei; Zarogoulidis, Paul; Man, Yan-Gao; Schmidt, Wolfgang Hohenforst; Bai, Chong

2017-01-01

Background and Objectives: Endobronchial ultrasound elastography is a new technique for describing the stiffness of tissue during endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). The aims of this study were to investigate the diagnostic value of Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) elastography for distinguishing the difference between benign and malignant lymph nodes among mediastinal and hilar lymph node. Materials and Methods: From June 2015 to August 2015, 47 patients confirmed of mediastinal and hilar lymph node enlargement through examination of Computed tomography (CT) were enrolled, and a total of 78 lymph nodes were evaluated by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). EBUS-guided elastography of lymph nodes was performed prior to EBUS-TBNA. A convex probe EBUS was used with a new EBUS processor to assess elastographic patterns that were classified based on color distribution as follows: Type 1, predominantly non-blue (green, yellow and red); Type 2, part blue, part non-blue (green, yellow and red); Type 3, predominantly blue. Pathological determination of malignant or benign lymph nodes was used as the gold standard for this study. The elastographic patterns were compared with the final pathologic results from EBUS-TBNA. Results: On pathological evaluation of the lymph nodes, 45 were benign and 33 were malignant. The lymph nodes that were classified as Type 1 on endobronchial ultrasound elastography were benign in 26/27 (96.3%) and malignant in 1/27 (3.7%); for Type 2 lymph nodes, 15/20 (75.0%) were benign and 5/20 (25.0%) were malignant; Type 3 lymph nodes were benign in 4/31 (12.9%) and malignant in 27/31 (87.1%). In classifying Type 1 as 'benign' and Type 3 as 'malignant,' the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy rates were 96.43%, 86.67%, 87.10%, 96.30%, 91.38%, respectively. Conclusion: EBUS elastography of mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes is a noninvasive technique that can be performed reliably and may be helpful in the prediction of benign and malignant lymph nodes among mediastinal and hilar lymph node during EBUS-TBNA.

Application of Sonoelastography in Differential Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Thyroid Nodules.

PubMed

Esfahanian, Fatemeh; Aryan, Arvin; Ghajarzadeh, Mahsa; Yazdi, Meisam Hosein; Nobakht, Nasir; Burchi, Mehdi

2016-01-01

Sonoelastography is a new ultrasound method which could be helpful to determine which thyroid nodule is malignant. We designed this study to evaluate the accuracy of sonoelastography in differentiating of benign and malignant thyroid nodules in Iranian patients. Forty thyroid nodules in forty consecutive patients who had been referred for sonography-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy were evaluated. Gray scale ultrasound and elastosonography by real-time, freehand technique applied for all patients. Elastography findings were classified into four groups. Nodules which were classified as patterns 1 or 2 in elastogram evaluation were classified as benign and probably malignant if elastogram scans were patterns 3 and 4 of elastogram scan. Mean age ± standard deviation (SD) was 42.2 ± 12.6 years, and mean ± SD thyroid-stimulating hormone level was 1.4 ± 1.9 IU/ml. Thirty-five cases (87.5%) were female and 5 (12.5%) were male. Histological examination indicated 27 (67.5%) benign and 13 (32.5%) malignant nodules. The most elastogram score was 2 (50%) followed by score 3. The cut-off point of 2 considered as the best value to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules with sensitivity and specificity of 61% and 78% (area under the curve = 0.76, 95% confidence interval: 0.6-0.92, P = 0.007). Sonoelastography could help to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules. As our sample size was limited, larger studies are recommended.

Balloon or bougie for dilatation of benign oesophageal stricture? An interim report of a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed Central

Cox, J G; Winter, R K; Maslin, S C; Jones, R; Buckton, G K; Hoare, R C; Sutton, D R; Bennett, J R

1988-01-01

Seventy one patients with benign oesophageal strictures were randomised to receive balloon or bougie dilatation. Sixty five patients were eligible for analysis. At the end of five months the balloon group had significantly more dysphagia and the calibre of the strictures in the balloon group had narrowed by a greater degree. The methods were equally safe and acceptable to patients. While the choice of the method of dilatation depends on the individual patient's needs and operator experience, bougie dilatation is more effective in reducing dysphagia and maintaining stricture patency. Images Fig. 2 Fig. 3 PMID:3065156

Neighborhood Structural Similarity Mapping for the Classification of Masses in Mammograms.

PubMed

Rabidas, Rinku; Midya, Abhishek; Chakraborty, Jayasree

2018-05-01

In this paper, two novel feature extraction methods, using neighborhood structural similarity (NSS), are proposed for the characterization of mammographic masses as benign or malignant. Since gray-level distribution of pixels is different in benign and malignant masses, more regular and homogeneous patterns are visible in benign masses compared to malignant masses; the proposed method exploits the similarity between neighboring regions of masses by designing two new features, namely, NSS-I and NSS-II, which capture global similarity at different scales. Complementary to these global features, uniform local binary patterns are computed to enhance the classification efficiency by combining with the proposed features. The performance of the features are evaluated using the images from the mini-mammographic image analysis society (mini-MIAS) and digital database for screening mammography (DDSM) databases, where a tenfold cross-validation technique is incorporated with Fisher linear discriminant analysis, after selecting the optimal set of features using stepwise logistic regression method. The best area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.98 with an accuracy of is achieved with the mini-MIAS database, while the same for the DDSM database is 0.93 with accuracy .

Automated data selection method to improve robustness of diffuse optical tomography for breast cancer imaging

PubMed Central

Vavadi, Hamed; Zhu, Quing

2016-01-01

Imaging-guided near infrared diffuse optical tomography (DOT) has demonstrated a great potential as an adjunct modality for differentiation of malignant and benign breast lesions and for monitoring treatment response of breast cancers. However, diffused light measurements are sensitive to artifacts caused by outliers and errors in measurements due to probe-tissue coupling, patient and probe motions, and tissue heterogeneity. In general, pre-processing of the measurements is needed by experienced users to manually remove these outliers and therefore reduce imaging artifacts. An automated method of outlier removal, data selection, and filtering for diffuse optical tomography is introduced in this manuscript. This method consists of multiple steps to first combine several data sets collected from the same patient at contralateral normal breast and form a single robust reference data set using statistical tests and linear fitting of the measurements. The second step improves the perturbation measurements by filtering out outliers from the lesion site measurements using model based analysis. The results of 20 malignant and benign cases show similar performance between manual data processing and automated processing and improvement in tissue characterization of malignant to benign ratio by about 27%. PMID:27867711

Differentiating between benign and malignant sinonasal lesions using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and intravoxel incoherent motion.

PubMed

Jiang, Jingxuan; Xiao, Zebin; Tang, Zuohua; Zhong, Yufeng; Qiang, Jinwei

2018-01-01

To explore the value of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) for distinguishing between benign and malignant sinonasal lesions and investigate the correlations between the two methods. Patients with sinonasal lesions (42 benign and 31 malignant) who underwent DCE-MRI and IVIM before confirmation by histopathology were enrolled in this prospective study. Parameters derived from DCE-MRI and IVIM were measured, the optimal cut-off values for differential diagnosis were determined, and the correlations between the two methods were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and Spearman's rank correlation. Significantly higher K trans and K ep values but lower D and f values were found in malignant lesions than in benign lesions (all p<0.001). There were no significant differences in the V e and D* values between the two groups. The area under the curve (AUC) of K trans was significantly higher than those of other parameters. There was no significant difference between the AUCs of DCE-MRI and IVIM with parameters combined (p=0.86). Significant inverse but weak correlations were found between D and K trans (r=-0.46, p<0.001), f and K trans (r=-0.41, p<0.001), D and K ep (r=-0.37, p=0.008), and f and K ep (r=-0.33, p=0.004). DCE-MRI and IVIM can effectively differentiate between benign and malignant sinonasal lesions. IVIM findings correlate with DCE-MRI results and may represent an alternative to DCE-MRI. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fluorescence cytology with 5-aminolevulinic acid in EUS-guided FNA as a method for differentiating between malignant and benign lesions (with video).

PubMed

Ikeura, Tsukasa; Takaoka, Makoto; Uchida, Kazushige; Shimatani, Masaaki; Miyoshi, Hideaki; Kato, Kota; Ohe, Chisato; Uemura, Yoshiko; Kaibori, Masaki; Kwon, A-Hon; Okazaki, Kazuichi

2015-01-01

EUS-guided FNA (EUS-FNA) has been increasingly performed to obtain specimens for the pathological evaluation of patients with GI and pancreaticobiliary masses as well as lymphadenopathies of unknown origin. Photodynamic diagnosis by using 5-aminolebulinic acid (ALA) has been reported to be useful for enabling the visual differentiation between malignant and normal tissue in various cancers. To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of fluorescence cytology with ALA in EUS-FNA. A prospective study. A single center. A total of 28 consecutive patients who underwent EUS-FNA for the pathological diagnosis of a pancreaticobiliary mass lesion or intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy of unknown origin. Patients were orally administered ALA 3 to 6 hours before EUS-FNA. The sample was obtained via EUS-FNA for fluorescence cytology and conventional cytology. A single gastroenterologist performed the fluorescence cytology by using fluorescence microscopy after the procedure, independently of the conventional cytology by pathologists. The accuracy of fluorescence cytology with ALA in the differentiation between benign and malignant lesions by comparing the results of fluorescence cytology with the final diagnosis. Of the 28 patients included in the study, 22 were considered as having malignant lesions and 6 patients as having benign lesions. Fluorescence cytology could correctly discriminate between benign and malignant lesions in all patients. Therefore, both the sensitivity and specificity of fluorescence cytology were 100% in our study. Fluorescence cytology was performed by only 1 gastroenterologist with a small number of patients. Fluorescence cytology with ALA in EUS-FNA may be an effective and simple method for differentiating between benign and malignant lesions. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[A clinical observation of percutaneous balloon dilation and maintenance percutaneous transhepatic cholangial catheter drainage for treatment of 21 patients with benign biliary strictures and difficult endoscopy].

PubMed

Pan, Jie; Shi, Hai-feng; Li, Xiao-guang; Zhang, Xiao-bo; Liu, Wei; Jin, Zheng-yu; Hong, Tao; Yang, Ai-ming; Yang, Ning

2012-06-01

To investigate the value of percutaneous balloon dilation and percutaneous transhepatic cholangial drainage (PTCD) catheter maintenance in the treatment of benign biliary strictures. The clinical data of 21 patients with benign biliary strictures at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from June 2005 to June 2011 were retrospectively studied, in which 12 patients in severe stricture (stenosis > 70%) were treated with percutaneous balloon dilation and PTCD catheter placed across the stricture, while another 9 patients in median stricture (stenosis < 70%) were only treated with PTCD catheter maintenance. Of the 12 patients underwent balloon dilation and 6 - 12 months (median: 9 months) of PTCD catheter placement, 11 patients had the catheter successfully removed. In the follow-up of 6 - 24 months (median: 10 months), patency of bile duct was preserved in 9 of 11 patients, and recurrent stenosis was seen in 2 patients. A severe complication with biliary artery branch rupture and massive hemobilia was seen in 1 patient during balloon dilation. Of the 9 patients only treated with 1 - 12 months (median: 6 months) of PTCD catheter placement, 7 patients had the catheter successfully removed. In the follow-up of 5 - 18 months (median: 8 months), patency of bile duct was preserved in 5 of 7 patients, and recurrent stenosis was seen in 2 patients. No severe complication occurred. When endoscopy therapy is failed or the patient can't undergo endoscopy therapy, the percutaneous balloon dilation and PTCD catheter maintenance method is an effective alternative therapeutic approach in the treatment of benign biliary strictures. The moderate benign biliary stricture may be effectively treated only by the PTCD catheter maintenance method.

Characterization of benign thyroid nodules with HyperSPACE (Hyper Spectral Analysis for Characterization in Echography) before and after percutaneous laser ablation: a pilot study.

PubMed

Granchi, Simona; Vannacci, Enrico; Biagi, Elena

2017-04-22

To evaluate the capability of the HyperSPACE (Hyper SPectral Analysis for Characterization in Echography) method in tissue characterization, in order to provide information for the laser treatment of benign thyroid nodules in respect of conventional B-mode images and elastography. The method, based on the spectral analysis of the raw radiofrequency ultrasonic signal, was applied to characterize the nodule before and after laser treatment. Thirty patients (25 females and 5 males, age between 37 and 81 years) with thyroid benign nodule at cytology (Thyr 2) were evaluated by conventional ultrasonography, elastography, and HyperSPACE, before and after laser ablation. The images processed by HyperSPACE exhibit different color distributions that are referred to different tissue features. By calculating the percentages of the color coverages, the analysed nodules were subdivided into 3 groups. Each nodule belonging to the same group experienced, on average, similar necrosis extension. The nodules exhibit different Configurations (colors) distributions that could be indicative of the response of nodular tissue to the laser treatmentConclusions: HyperSPACEcan characterize benign nodules by providing additional information in respect of conventional ultrasound and elastography which is useful for support in the laser treatment of nodules in order to increase the probability of success.

23-year experience on diagnosis and surgical treatment of benign and malignant cardiac tumors

PubMed Central

Jaszewski, Ryszard; Marcinkiewicz, Anna; Bartczak, Karol; Knopik, Jerzy; Ostrowski, Stanisław

2013-01-01

Introduction Although myxoma is the most frequent cardiac tumor, other conditions should be taken into consideration in the differential diagnosis. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), followed by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) remain the principal methods for cardiac tumor screening and visualizing. The aim of the study was to compare the diagnostics, surgical treatment and prognosis of malignant and benign cardiac tumors. Material and methods From 1986 to 2009 there were 121 patients with cardiac tumors operated on in the Cardiac Surgery Clinic of the Medical University in Lodz. Patients were referred to surgery mainly on the basis of the TTE and TEE image. In 4 cases valvular prosthesis implantation or valve repair were carried out. Patients remained under long-term observation in the Cardiac Surgery Outpatient Clinic. Results Myxoma was diagnosed in 114 cases. Malignancies were discovered in 7 cases. The left atrium was the most frequent localization. The echocardiographic image differed significantly in benign and malignant tumors. The postoperative period was complicated by embolic events or myocardial infarctions. Only malignant tumors were associated with mortality due to cardiovascular events. The survival for malignant tumors was significantly shorter. Conclusions Short and long-term results of operative treatment are very good for benign tumors in contrast to cardiac malignancies. The TTE and TEE image can be very significant in the final diagnosis. PMID:24273564

Effects of the Temporary Placement of a Self-Expandable Metallic Stent in Benign Pyloric Stenosis

PubMed Central

Choi, Won Jae; Park, Jain; Lim, Eun-Hye; Joo, Moon Kyung; Yun, Jae-Won; Noh, Hyejin; Kim, Sung Ho; Choi, Woo Seok; Lee, Beom Jae; Kim, Ji Hoon; Yeon, Jong Eun; Kim, Jae Seon; Byun, Kwan Soo; Bak, Young-Tae

2013-01-01

Background/Aims The use of self-expandable metallic stents (SEMS) is an established palliative treatment for malignant stenosis in the gastrointestinal tract; therefore, its application to benign stenosis is expected to be beneficial because of the more gradual and sustained dilatation in the stenotic portion. We aimed in this prospective observational study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of temporary SEMS placement in benign pyloric stenosis. Methods Twenty-two patients with benign stenosis of the prepylorus, pylorus, and duodenal bulb were enrolled and underwent SEMS placement. We assessed symptom improvement, defined as an increase of at least 1 degree in the gastric-outlet-obstruction scoring system after stent insertion. Results No major complications were observed during the procedures. After stent placement, early symptom improvement was achieved in 18 of 22 patients (81.8%). During the follow-up period (mean 10.2 months), the stents remained in place successfully for 6 to 8 weeks in seven patients (31.8%). Among the 15 patients (62.5%) with stent migration, seven (46.6%) showed continued symptomatic improvement without recurrence of obstructive symptoms. Conclusions Despite the symptomatic improvement, temporary SEMS placement is premature as an effective therapeutic tool for benign pyloric stenosis unless a novel stent is developed to prevent migration. PMID:23898381

Combination of Autoantibody Signature with PSA Level Enables a Highly Accurate Blood-Based Differentiation of Prostate Cancer Patients from Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.

PubMed

Leidinger, Petra; Keller, Andreas; Milchram, Lisa; Harz, Christian; Hart, Martin; Werth, Angelika; Lenhof, Hans-Peter; Weinhäusel, Andreas; Keck, Bastian; Wullich, Bernd; Ludwig, Nicole; Meese, Eckart

2015-01-01

Although an increased level of the prostate-specific antigen can be an indication for prostate cancer, other reasons often lead to a high rate of false positive results. Therefore, an additional serological screening of autoantibodies in patients' sera could improve the detection of prostate cancer. We performed protein macroarray screening with sera from 49 prostate cancer patients, 70 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and 28 healthy controls and compared the autoimmune response in those groups. We were able to distinguish prostate cancer patients from normal controls with an accuracy of 83.2%, patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia from normal controls with an accuracy of 86.0% and prostate cancer patients from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia with an accuracy of 70.3%. Combining seroreactivity pattern with a PSA level of higher than 4.0 ng/ml this classification could be improved to an accuracy of 84.1%. For selected proteins we were able to confirm the differential expression by using luminex on 84 samples. We provide a minimally invasive serological method to reduce false positive results in detection of prostate cancer and according to PSA screening to distinguish men with prostate cancer from men with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Elastography for the differentiation of benign and malignant liver lesions: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Ma, Xuelei; Zhan, Wenli; Zhang, Binglan; Wei, Benling; Wu, Xin; Zhou, Min; Liu, Lei; Li, Ping

2014-05-01

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the overall accuracy of elastography in the diagnosis of benign and malignant liver lesions by liver biopsy as the gold standard. Literature databases were searched. The studies which were related to evaluate the diagnostic value of elastography for differentiation in benign and malignant liver lesions in English or Chinese were included. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was performed, and the areas under the curve (AUC) were also calculated to present the accuracy of the elastography for the diagnosis of benign and malignant liver lesions. Six studies which included a total of 448 liver lesions in 384 patients were analyzed. The summary sensitivity and specificity of elastography for the differentiation of malignant liver lesions were 85% (95% CI, 80 to 89%) and 84% (95% CI, 80 to 88%), respectively. And the summary diagnostic odds ratio was 46.33 (95% CI, 15.22 to 141.02), and the SROC was 0.9328. Elastography has a high sensitivity and specificity differentiation for benign and malignant liver lesions. As a non-invasive method, it is promising to be applied to clinical practice. To estimate elastography objectively, a large, prospective, international, and multi-center study is still needed.

A comparison of cosegregation analysis methods for the clinical setting.

PubMed

Rañola, John Michael O; Liu, Quanhui; Rosenthal, Elisabeth A; Shirts, Brian H

2018-04-01

Quantitative cosegregation analysis can help evaluate the pathogenicity of genetic variants. However, genetics professionals without statistical training often use simple methods, reporting only qualitative findings. We evaluate the potential utility of quantitative cosegregation in the clinical setting by comparing three methods. One thousand pedigrees each were simulated for benign and pathogenic variants in BRCA1 and MLH1 using United States historical demographic data to produce pedigrees similar to those seen in the clinic. These pedigrees were analyzed using two robust methods, full likelihood Bayes factors (FLB) and cosegregation likelihood ratios (CSLR), and a simpler method, counting meioses. Both FLB and CSLR outperform counting meioses when dealing with pathogenic variants, though counting meioses is not far behind. For benign variants, FLB and CSLR greatly outperform as counting meioses is unable to generate evidence for benign variants. Comparing FLB and CSLR, we find that the two methods perform similarly, indicating that quantitative results from either of these methods could be combined in multifactorial calculations. Combining quantitative information will be important as isolated use of cosegregation in single families will yield classification for less than 1% of variants. To encourage wider use of robust cosegregation analysis, we present a website ( http://www.analyze.myvariant.org ) which implements the CSLR, FLB, and Counting Meioses methods for ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, MEN1, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2. We also present an R package, CoSeg, which performs the CSLR analysis on any gene with user supplied parameters. Future variant classification guidelines should allow nuanced inclusion of cosegregation evidence against pathogenicity.

Development of Environmentally Benign and Reduced Corrosion Runway Deicing Fluid

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

PCNA Peter Cremer North America PG Propylene glycol P&G Proctor and Gamble Inc. PNNL Pacific Northwest National Laboratory RDF Runway Deicing...Navy/NAVAIR Defining Navy needs Mack Findley Peter Cremer North America (PCNA) Bio-based raw materials selection Pat Viani SMI AMS 1435 testing...SMI), and other laboratories under the leadership of SAE G-12 Fluids Subcommittee, and is expected to provide a better indication of compatibility with

Solubility and Phase Behavior of CL20 and RDX in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

with Enhanced mass transfer (SAS-EMTM) are potential green processes for producing ultrafine particles . In these processes, the material to be...particulated will be dissolved (solubilized) into an environmentally benign solvent such as supercritical carbon dioxide and then condensed to ultrafine ... particles by reducing the pressure and temperature of the mixture. Theoretical and/or predictive models are required for process simulation and to

Cobalt-catalyzed hydrogenation of esters to alcohols: unexpected reactivity trend indicates ester enolate intermediacy.

PubMed

Srimani, Dipankar; Mukherjee, Arup; Goldberg, Alexander F G; Leitus, Gregory; Diskin-Posner, Yael; Shimon, Linda J W; Ben David, Yehoshoa; Milstein, David

2015-10-12

The atom-efficient and environmentally benign catalytic hydrogenation of carboxylic acid esters to alcohols has been accomplished in recent years mainly with precious-metal-based catalysts, with few exceptions. Presented here is the first cobalt-catalyzed hydrogenation of esters to the corresponding alcohols. Unexpectedly, the evidence indicates the unprecedented involvement of ester enolate intermediates. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Environmentally Benign Repair of Composites Using High Temperature Cyanate Ester Nanocomposites

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-10-01

temperature by magnetic stirring. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) measurements were performed on a TG model Q50 (TA Instruments, Inc.) to determine the...standard 1259-85. These experiments were also compared with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in both dynamic heating and isothermal conditions. The...characterized with thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). For the TG, about 20 mg of sample was placed in

Evaluation of Environmentally Benign New Chemical Rust Removing Agent- Hydroxy Ethane Diphosphonic Acid (HEDPA)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-15

Removing Agent – Hydroxy Ethane Diphosphonic Acid (HEDPA) 1, A. Sarada Rao, 2, A. Yashodhara Rao, 3, Appajosula S. Rao Naval Surface Warfare...Abstract------------------------------------------------------------ In order to evaluate the adaptability of hydroxyethane diphosphonic acid (HEDPA...function of acid concentration in the range 2-20 vol. % and at different temperatures in the temperature range 23 o C -55°C. The results suggest

Champagne Heat Pump

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Jack A.

2004-01-01

The term champagne heat pump denotes a developmental heat pump that exploits a cycle of absorption and desorption of carbon dioxide in an alcohol or other organic liquid. Whereas most heat pumps in common use in the United States are energized by mechanical compression, the champagne heat pump is energized by heating. The concept of heat pumps based on other absorption cycles energized by heat has been understood for years, but some of these heat pumps are outlawed in many areas because of the potential hazards posed by leakage of working fluids. For example, in the case of the water/ammonia cycle, there are potential hazards of toxicity and flammability. The organic-liquid/carbon dioxide absorption/desorption cycle of the champagne heat pump is similar to the water/ammonia cycle, but carbon dioxide is nontoxic and environmentally benign, and one can choose an alcohol or other organic liquid that is also relatively nontoxic and environmentally benign. Two candidate nonalcohol organic liquids are isobutyl acetate and amyl acetate. Although alcohols and many other organic liquids are flammable, they present little or no flammability hazard in the champagne heat pump because only the nonflammable carbon dioxide component of the refrigerant mixture is circulated to the evaporator and condenser heat exchangers, which are the only components of the heat pump in direct contact with air in habitable spaces.

Sunlight-driven Environmental Benign Production of Bioactive Natural Products with Focus on Diterpenoids and the Pathways Involved in their Formation.

PubMed

Luo, Dan; Møller, Birger Lindberg; Pateraki, Irini

2017-12-01

Diterpenoids are high value compounds characterized by high structural complexity. They constitute the largest class of specialized metabolites produced by plants. Diterpenoids are flexible molecules able to engage in specific binding to drug targets like receptors and transporters. In this review we provide an account on how the complex pathways for diterpenoids may be elucidated. Following plant pathway discovery, the compounds may be produced in heterologous hosts like yeasts and E. coli. Environmentally contained production in photosynthetic cells like cyanobacteria, green algae or mosses are envisioned as the ultimate future production system.

Design, synthesis, and characterization of fluorine-free PAGs for 193-nm lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Sen; Glodde, Martin; Varanasi, Pushkara R.

2010-04-01

Photoacid generators (PAGs) are a key component in chemically amplified resists used in photolithography. Perfluorooctanesulfonates (PFOS) and other perfluoroalkylsulfonates (PFAS) have been well adopted as PAGs in 193 nm photoresist. Recently, concerns have been raised about their environmental impact due to their chemical persistency, bioaccumulation and toxicity. It is a general interest to find environmentally benign PAGs that are free of fluorine atoms. Here we describe the design, synthesis and characterization of a series of novel fluorine-free onium salts as PAGs for 193 nm photoresists. These PAGs demonstrated desirable physical and lithography properties when compared with PFAS-based PAGs for both dry and immersion exposures.

Self-Affinity and Lacunarity of Chromatin Texture in Benign and Malignant Breast Epithelial Cell Nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Einstein, Andrew J.; Wu, Hai-Shan; Gil, Joan

1998-01-01

Methods are presented for characterizing the self-affinity and lacunarity of arbitrarily shaped images. Chromatin appearance in breast epithelial cell nuclei is shown to be statistically self-affine. Spectral and Minkowski dimensions are lesser in nuclei of malignant cases than in nuclei of benign cases, and lacunarity further quantifies morphologic differences such as chromatin clumping and nucleoli. Fractal texture features are used as the basis for an accurate cytologic diagnosis of breast cancer.

Giant Cell Tumor of Bone - An Overview

PubMed Central

Sobti, Anshul; Agrawal, Pranshu; Agarwala, Sanjay; Agarwal, Manish

2016-01-01

Giant Cell tumors (GCT) are benign tumors with potential for aggressive behavior and capacity to metastasize. Although rarely lethal, benign bone tumors may be associated with a substantial disturbance of the local bony architecture that can be particularly troublesome in peri-articular locations. Its histogenesis remains unclear. It is characterized by a proliferation of mononuclear stromal cells and the presence of many multi- nucleated giant cells with homogenous distribution. There is no widely held consensus regarding the ideal treatment method selection. There are advocates of varying surgical techniques ranging from intra-lesional curettage to wide resection. As most giant cell tumors are benign and are located near a joint in young adults, several authors favor an intralesional approach that preserves anatomy of bone in lieu of resection. Although GCT is classified as a benign lesion, few patients develop progressive lung metastases with poor outcomes. Treatment is mainly surgical. Options of chemotherapy and radiotherapy are reserved for selected cases. Recent advances in the understanding of pathogenesis are essential to develop new treatments for this locally destructive primary bone tumor. PMID:26894211

A scanning acoustic microscope discriminates cancer cells in fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miura, Katsutoshi; Yamamoto, Seiji

2015-10-01

Scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) discriminates lesions in sections by assessing the speed of sound (SOS) or attenuation of sound (AOS) through tissues within a few minutes without staining; however, its clinical use in cytological diagnosis is unknown. We applied a thin layer preparation method to observe benign and malignant effusions using SAM. Although SAM is inferior in detecting nuclear features than light microscopy, it can differentiate malignant from benign cells using the higher SOS and AOS values and large irregular cell clusters that are typical features of carcinomas. Moreover, each single malignant cell exhibits characteristic cytoplasmic features such as a large size, irregular borders and secretory or cytoskeletal content. By adjusting the observation range, malignant cells are differentiated from benign cells easily using SAM. Subtle changes in the functional and structural heterogeneity of tumour cells were pursuable with a different digital data of SAM. SAM can be a useful tool for screening malignant cells in effusions before light microscopic observation. Higher AOS values in malignant cells compared with those of benign cells support the feasibility of a novel sonodynamic therapy for malignant effusions.

Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy for Adrenal Tumors

PubMed Central

Chuan-yu, Sun; Yat-faat, Ho; Wei-hong, Ding; Yuan-cheng, Gou; Qing-feng, Hu; Ke, Xu; Bin, Gu; Guo-wei, Xia

2014-01-01

Objective. To evaluate the indication and the clinical value of laparoscopic adrenalectomy of different types of adrenal tumor. Methods. From 2009 to 2014, a total of 110 patients were diagnosed with adrenal benign tumor by CT scan and we performed laparoscopic adrenalectomy. The laparoscopic approach has been the procedure of choice for surgery of benign adrenal tumors, and the upper limit of tumor size was thought to be 6 cm. Results. 109 of 110 cases were successful; only one was converted to open surgery due to bleeding. The average operating time and intraoperative blood loss of pheochromocytoma were significantly more than the benign tumors (P < 0.05). After 3 months of follow-up, the preoperative symptoms were relieved and there was no recurrence. Conclusions. Laparoscopic adrenalectomy has the advantages of minimal invasion, less blood loss, fewer complications, quicker recovery, and shorter hospital stay. The full preparation before operation can decrease the average operating time and intraoperative blood loss of pheochromocytomas. Laparoscopic adrenalectomy should be considered as the first choice treatment for the resection of adrenal benign tumor. PMID:25132851

Benign-malignant mass classification in mammogram using edge weighted local texture features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabidas, Rinku; Midya, Abhishek; Sadhu, Anup; Chakraborty, Jayasree

2016-03-01

This paper introduces novel Discriminative Robust Local Binary Pattern (DRLBP) and Discriminative Robust Local Ternary Pattern (DRLTP) for the classification of mammographic masses as benign or malignant. Mass is one of the common, however, challenging evidence of breast cancer in mammography and diagnosis of masses is a difficult task. Since DRLBP and DRLTP overcome the drawbacks of Local Binary Pattern (LBP) and Local Ternary Pattern (LTP) by discriminating a brighter object against the dark background and vice-versa, in addition to the preservation of the edge information along with the texture information, several edge-preserving texture features are extracted, in this study, from DRLBP and DRLTP. Finally, a Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis method is incorporated with discriminating features, selected by stepwise logistic regression method, for the classification of benign and malignant masses. The performance characteristics of DRLBP and DRLTP features are evaluated using a ten-fold cross-validation technique with 58 masses from the mini-MIAS database, and the best result is observed with DRLBP having an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.982.

Environmental Risks and Challenges Associated with Neonicotinoid Insecticides.

PubMed

Hladik, Michelle L; Main, Anson R; Goulson, Dave

2018-03-20

Neonicotinoid use has increased rapidly in recent years, with a global shift toward insecticide applications as seed coatings rather than aerial spraying. While the use of seed coatings can lessen the amount of overspray and drift, the near universal and prophylactic use of neonicotinoid seed coatings on major agricultural crops has led to widespread detections in the environment (pollen, soil, water, honey). Pollinators and aquatic insects appear to be especially susceptible to the effects of neonicotinoids with current research suggesting that chronic sublethal effects are more prevalent than acute toxicity. Meanwhile, evidence of clear and consistent yield benefits from the use of neonicotinoids remains elusive for most crops. Future decisions on neonicotinoid use will benefit from weighing crop yield benefits versus environmental impacts to nontarget organisms and considering whether there are more environmentally benign alternatives.

Recent advances in synthetic biosafety

PubMed Central

Simon, Anna J.; Ellington, Andrew D.

2016-01-01

Synthetically engineered organisms hold promise for a broad range of medical, environmental, and industrial applications. Organisms can potentially be designed, for example, for the inexpensive and environmentally benign synthesis of pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals, for the cleanup of environmental pollutants, and potentially even for biomedical applications such as the targeting of specific diseases or tissues. However, the use of synthetically engineered organisms comes with several reasonable safety concerns, one of which is that the organisms or their genes could escape their intended habitats and cause environmental disruption. Here we review key recent developments in this emerging field of synthetic biocontainment and discuss further developments that might be necessary for the widespread use of synthetic organisms. Specifically, we discuss the history and modern development of three strategies for the containment of synthetic microbes: addiction to an exogenously supplied ligand; self-killing outside of a designated environment; and self-destroying encoded DNA circuitry outside of a designated environment. PMID:27635235

Interphase ribosomal RNA cistron staining in thyroid epithelial cells in Grave's disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and benign and malignant tumours of the thyroid gland

PubMed Central

Mamaev, N N; Grynyeva, E N; Blagosklonnaya, Y V

1996-01-01

Aim—To evaluate the expression of ribosomal cistrons in human thyroid epithelial cells (TECs) of patients with Grave's disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and benign and malignant tumours of the thyroid gland. Methods—TEC nucleoli were investigated in fine needle biopsy specimens from 10 controls, 39 patients with Grave's disease, 15 with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 56 with benign, and 15 with malignant tumours of the thyroid. A one step silver staining method was applied. In most cases serum concentrations of thyroxine and triiodothyronine as well as goitre size were determined. In every case 100 TECs were evaluated for the mean numbers of nucleoli and for the average number of argyrophilic nucleolar organiser regions (AgNORs) per nucleus. Results—NORs were activated in all patients, but not in controls. The numbers of AgNORs in patients with Grave's disease were closely correlated with thyroxine or triiodothyronine, or both, concentrations and with the size of the thyroid. In patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis about 30% of TECs nucleoli did not contain AgNORs, whereas others were heavily impregnated with silver. Compared with controls and benign tumours, the nucleoli of carcinomatous TECs were larger and irregular in shape. The mean number of AgNORs per nucleus in malignant cells was higher than that in their benign counterparts. Conclusions—The mechanism by which NORs are activated in TECs varies depending on the type of lesion. The higher AgNOR score in TECs from malignant tumours can be used to distinguish them from their benign counterparts. Images PMID:16696083

Intravoxel Incoherent Motion MR Imaging in the Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Sinonasal Lesions: Comparison with Conventional Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging.

PubMed

Xiao, Z; Tang, Z; Qiang, J; Wang, S; Qian, W; Zhong, Y; Wang, R; Wang, J; Wu, L; Tang, W; Zhang, Z

2018-01-25

Intravoxel incoherent motion is a promising method for the differentiation of sinonasal lesions. This study aimed to evaluate the value of intravoxel incoherent motion in the differentiation of benign and malignant sinonasal lesions and to compare the diagnostic performance of intravoxel incoherent motion with that of conventional DWI. One hundred thirty-one patients with histologically proved solid sinonasal lesions (56 benign and 75 malignant) who underwent conventional DWI and intravoxel incoherent motion were recruited in this study. The diffusion coefficient ( D ), pseudodiffusion coefficient ( D *), and perfusion fraction ( f ) values derived from intravoxel incoherent motion and ADC values derived from conventional DWI were measured and compared between the 2 groups using the Student t test. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, logistic regression analysis, and 10-fold cross-validation were performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of single-parametric and multiparametric models. The mean ADC and D values were significantly lower in malignant sinonasal lesions than in benign sinonasal lesions (both P < .001). The mean f value was higher in malignant lesions than in benign lesions ( P = .003). Multiparametric models can significantly improve the cross-validated areas under the curve for the differentiation of sinonasal lesions compared with single-parametric models (all corrected P < .05 except the D value). The model of D + f provided a better diagnostic performance than the ADC value (corrected P < .001). Intravoxel incoherent motion appears to be a more effective MR imaging technique than conventional DWI in the differentiation of benign and malignant sinonasal lesions. © 2018 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

The contribution of contrast enhanced ultrasound for the characterization of benign liver lesions in clinical practice - a monocentric experience.

PubMed

Martie, Alina; Bota, Simona; Sporea, Ioan; Sirli, Roxana; Popescu, Alina; Danila, Mirela

2012-12-01

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) uses second generation microbubble contrast agents and is considered to be a useful imaging method for focal liver lesions (FLLs) characterization. To observe if CEUS increases the diagnostic performance of benign FLLs as compared with standard ultrasonography examination (US). This is a single centre study developed during September 2009- December 2011 in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, in Timisoara. We evaluated 386 benign FLLs diagnosed by means of CEUS. Before performing CEUS, all FLLs were examined by US and Power Doppler techniques. At CEUS, the benign nature of a lesion was established by the absence of washout in the portal and late phase. The typical features observed using contrast, allowed their classification in a particular type of pathology, according to the 2008 EFSUMB Guidelines. From 386 benign FLLs, 81 (20.9%) of them were diagnosed in patients with chronic liver disease, while 305 (79.1%) were in patients without chronic hepatopathy. In 355 (92%) cases CEUS established a particular type of pathology. The most frequent lesions were: hemangiomas (37.5%), focal fatty alterations (24.8%), complex cysts (10.7%) and regenerative nodules (11.8%). Based on US we correctly estimated the positive diagnosis in 55.7% cases and using CEUS, the diagnostic performance increased up to 92%. In our study, by means of US the estimate positive diagnosis was made in 55.7% of cases. CEUS properly characterized 92% of benign FLLs and increased the diagnostic performance of these lesions, as compared with US.

Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of radiofrequency ablation for treating benign thyroid nodules

PubMed Central

Tang, Xiaoyin; Cui, Dan; Chi, Jiachang; Wang, Zhi; Wang, Tao; Zhai, Bo; Li, Ping

2017-01-01

Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a relatively new procedure for treating benign thyroid nodules. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of RFA for treating benign thyroid nodules so as to serve as a reference for future clinical practice. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients receiving percutaneous RFA for treating thyroid nodules from November 2014 to July 2015 in our medical center. One hundred and eight patients with a total of 380 nodules received ultrasound-guided RFA for treating thyroid nodules. Comparisons of the volume change of thyroid nodules before and after RFA treatment, post-treatment complication, and change of thyroid function, were carried out afterwards. Results: Before treatments, all patients received fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) which supported the diagnosis of benign tumor. There were 13 males and 95 females included in the study. Twenty-six cases (24.07%) had single nodule, and 82 cases (75.93%) had multiple nodules. Before treatments, the thyroid functions (FT3, FT4, and TSH) were normal originally or adjusted to normal range by endocrinology treatment. The preoperative nodules had minimum volume of 0.01mL, maximum volume of 70.89 mL, and mean volume of 1.02 ± 4.24mL. The volume of nodules one month and three months after RFA were 0.29 ± 0.72mL and 0.15 ± 0.87mL, respectively. In addition, volume reduction ratio (VRR) of nodules one month and three months after RFA were 64.12% and 85.54%, respectively. Both volume of nodules and VRR had statistically significant differences for pre-operative and post-operative comparison (P<0.05). Thyroid functions were in normal range after treatments, and there was no serious complications. Conclusions: Ultrasound-guided RFA treating benign thyroid nodules had the advantages of definite efficacy, safety, strong in control ability, no incision, less damage to surrounding normal tissues and no effect on thyroid function. It can be used as one of the main treatment methods for treating benign thyroid nodules. PMID:28382137

Differentiating malignant from benign breast tumors on acoustic radiation force impulse imaging using fuzzy-based neural networks with principle component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hsiao-Chuan; Chou, Yi-Hong; Tiu, Chui-Mei; Hsieh, Chi-Wen; Liu, Brent; Shung, K. Kirk

2017-03-01

Many modalities have been developed as screening tools for breast cancer. A new screening method called acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging was created for distinguishing breast lesions based on localized tissue displacement. This displacement was quantitated by virtual touch tissue imaging (VTI). However, VTIs sometimes express reverse results to intensity information in clinical observation. In the study, a fuzzy-based neural network with principle component analysis (PCA) was proposed to differentiate texture patterns of malignant breast from benign tumors. Eighty VTIs were randomly retrospected. Thirty four patients were determined as BI-RADS category 2 or 3, and the rest of them were determined as BI-RADS category 4 or 5 by two leading radiologists. Morphological method and Boolean algebra were performed as the image preprocessing to acquire region of interests (ROIs) on VTIs. Twenty four quantitative parameters deriving from first-order statistics (FOS), fractal dimension and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) were utilized to analyze the texture pattern of breast tumors on VTIs. PCA was employed to reduce the dimension of features. Fuzzy-based neural network as a classifier to differentiate malignant from benign breast tumors. Independent samples test was used to examine the significance of the difference between benign and malignant breast tumors. The area Az under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were calculated to evaluate the performance of the system. Most all of texture parameters present significant difference between malignant and benign tumors with p-value of less than 0.05 except the average of fractal dimension. For all features classified by fuzzy-based neural network, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Az were 95.7%, 97.1%, 95% and 0.964, respectively. However, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Az can be increased to 100%, 97.1%, 98.8% and 0.985, respectively if PCA was performed to reduce the dimension of features. Patterns of breast tumors on VTIs can effectively be recognized by quantitative texture parameters, and differentiated malignant from benign lesions by fuzzy-based neural network with PCA.

Spectropolarimetry in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian tumors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peresunko, O. P.; Yermolenko, S. B.; Gruia, I.

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to use the spectrophotometry method to develop a diagnostic algorithm for blood studies and the content of douglas deepening in women with ovarian tumors. A comparative analysis of the blood of healthy women and patients with ovarian cancer revealed significantly greater optical anisotropy of the latter. Qualitative studies of polarization microscopic blood images revealed a very developed microcrystalline structure. Based on the study of blood and puncture and douglas deepening of healthy women and patients with benign and malignant tumors of the ovaries, using the method of laser polarimetry, experimentally developed and clinically tested photometric and polarization criteria indicating the presence of malignancy of the tumor.

Chitosan-Sodium Phytate Films with a Strong Water Barrier and Antimicrobial Properties Produced via One-Step-Consecutive-Stripping and Layer-by-Layer-Casting Technologies.

PubMed

Yang, Jie; Xiong, Liu; Li, Man; Sun, Qingjie

2018-06-20

The pursuit of sustainable functional materials requires the development of materials based on renewable resources and efficient fabrication methods. Here, we first fabricated chitosan-sodium phytate films via one-step-stripping and layer-by-layer-casting technologies. The proposed film-fabrication methods are general, facile, environmentally benign, cost-effective, and easy to scale up. The resultant one-step-stripped film was thin (9 ± 1 μm), soft, transparent, and strong, whereas the thickness of the layer-by-layer-cast film was 70 ± 3 μm. FTIR analysis of the films indicated the formation of interactions between the phosphoric groups in sodium phytate and the amino groups in chitosan. More importantly, the water-vapor-permeability values of the one-step-stripped and cast films were 4-5 orders of magnitude lower than chitosan films reported before. Layer-by-layer-cast films in particular exhibited high tensile strength (49.21 ± 1.12 MPa) and were more than three times stronger than other polyelectrolyte multilayer films. Both types of films remained stable in an acidic environment. Furthermore, the layer-by-layer-assembled films presented greater antimicrobial activity than the stripped films. The developed chitosan-sodium phytate films can enhance several biomedical and environmental applications, such as packaging, drug delivery, diagnostics, microfluidics, and biosensing.

Thyroid nodule classification using ultrasound elastography via linear discriminant analysis.

PubMed

Luo, Si; Kim, Eung-Hun; Dighe, Manjiri; Kim, Yongmin

2011-05-01

The non-surgical diagnosis of thyroid nodules is currently made via a fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. It is estimated that somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 thyroid FNA biopsies are performed in the United States annually. However, a large percentage (approximately 70%) of these biopsies turn out to be benign. Since the aggressive FNA management of thyroid nodules is costly, quantitative risk assessment and stratification of a nodule's malignancy is of value in triage and more appropriate healthcare resources utilization. In this paper, we introduce a new method for classifying the thyroid nodules based on the ultrasound (US) elastography features. Unlike approaches to assess the stiffness of a thyroid nodule by visually inspecting the pseudo-color pattern in the strain image, we use a classification algorithm to stratify the nodule by using the power spectrum of strain rate waveform extracted from the US elastography image sequence. Pulsation from the carotid artery was used to compress the thyroid nodules. Ultrasound data previously acquired from 98 thyroid nodules were used in this retrospective study to evaluate our classification algorithm. A classifier was developed based on the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and used to differentiate the thyroid nodules into two types: (I) no FNA (observation-only) and (II) FNA. Using our method, 62 nodules were classified as type I, all of which were benign, while 36 nodules were classified as Type-II, 16 malignant and 20 benign, resulting in a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 75.6% in detecting malignant thyroid nodules. This indicates that our triage method based on US elastography has the potential to substantially reduce the number of FNA biopsies (63.3%) by detecting benign nodules and managing them via follow-up observations rather than an FNA biopsy. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Direct selective growth of ZnO nanowire arrays from inkjet-printed zinc acetate precursor on a heated substrate

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Inkjet printing of functional materials has drawn tremendous interest as an alternative to the conventional photolithography-based microelectronics fabrication process development. We introduce direct selective nanowire array growth by inkjet printing of Zn acetate precursor ink patterning and subsequent hydrothermal ZnO local growth without nozzle clogging problem which frequently happens in nanoparticle inkjet printing. The proposed process can directly grow ZnO nanowires in any arbitrary patterned shape, and it is basically very fast, low cost, environmentally benign, and low temperature. Therefore, Zn acetate precursor inkjet printing-based direct nanowire local growth is expected to give extremely high flexibility in nanomaterial patterning for high-performance electronics fabrication especially at the development stage. As a proof of concept of the proposed method, ZnO nanowire network-based field effect transistors and ultraviolet photo-detectors were demonstrated by direct patterned grown ZnO nanowires as active layer. PMID:24252130

Green synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of the Pd/TiO2 nanoparticles for the ligand-free Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction.

PubMed

Nasrollahzadeh, Mahmoud; Sajadi, S Mohammad

2016-03-01

A green synthesis process was developed for production of the Pd/TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) without using toxic, hazardous and dangerous materials. Myrtus communis L. leaf extract serves as a mild, renewable and non-toxic reducing agent. The advantages of this biosynthesis method include use of cheap, clean, nontoxic and environmentally benign precursors and simple procedures without time-consuming polymerization and problems with treatment of a highly viscous polymeric resin. More importantly, the synthesized Pd/TiO2 NPs presented excellent catalytic activity for ligand-free Suzuki-Miyaura coupling which could be easily separated from the reaction mixture and reused many times with no loss of activity. Therefore, these properties indicate demonstrative benefits of the catalyst. The Pd/TiO2 NPs was characterized by FESEM, TEM, FT-IR, UV-vis spectroscopy and EDS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reduction of Heavy Metals by Cytochrome c(3)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

ABDELOUAS,A.; GONG,W.L.; LUTZE,W.

2000-01-18

We report on reduction and precipitation of Se(VI), Pb(II), CU(II), U(VI), Mo(VI), and Cr(VI) in water by cytochrome c{sub 3} isolated from Desulfomicrobium baczdatum [strain 9974]. The tetraheme protein cytochrome c{sub 3} was reduced by sodium dithionite. Redox reactions were monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy of cytochrome c{sub 3}. Analytical electron microscopy work showed that Se(VI), Pb(II), and CU(II) were reduced to the metallic state, U(W) and Mo(W) to U(IV) and Mo(IV), respectively, and Cr(VI) probably to Cr(III). U(IV) and Mo(W) precipitated as oxides and Cr(III) as an amorphous hydroxide. Cytochrome c{sub 3} was used repeatedly in the same solution withoutmore » loosing its effectiveness. The results suggest usage of cytochrome c{sub 3} to develop innovative and environmentally benign methods to remove heavy metals from waste- and groundwater.« less

Algal biofuels: challenges and opportunities.

PubMed

Leite, Gustavo B; Abdelaziz, Ahmed E M; Hallenbeck, Patrick C

2013-10-01

Biodiesel production using microalgae is attractive in a number of respects. Here a number of pros and cons to using microalgae for biofuels production are reviewed. Algal cultivation can be carried out using non-arable land and non-potable water with simple nutrient supply. In addition, algal biomass productivities are much higher than those of vascular plants and the extractable content of lipids that can be usefully converted to biodiesel, triacylglycerols (TAGs) can be much higher than that of the oil seeds now used for first generation biodiesel. On the other hand, practical, cost-effective production of biofuels from microalgae requires that a number of obstacles be overcome. These include the development of low-cost, effective growth systems, efficient and energy saving harvesting techniques, and methods for oil extraction and conversion that are environmentally benign and cost-effective. Promising recent advances in these areas are highlighted. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bionanocomposites of regenerated cellulose/zeolite prepared using environmentally benign ionic liquid solvent.

PubMed

Soheilmoghaddam, Mohammad; Wahit, Mat Uzir; Tuck Whye, Wong; Ibrahim Akos, Noel; Heidar Pour, Raheleh; Ali Yussuf, Abdirahman

2014-06-15

Bionanocomposite films based on regenerated cellulose (RC) and incorporated with zeolite at different concentrations were fabricated by dissolving cellulose in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIMCl) ionic liquid using a simple green method. The interactions between the zeolite and the cellulose matrix were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectra. Mechanical properties of the nanocomposite films significantly improved as compared with the pure regenerated cellulose film, without the loss of extensibility. Zeolite incorporation enhanced the thermal stability and char yield of the nanocomposites. The scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that zeolite was uniformly dispersed in the regenerated cellulose matrix. In vitro cytotoxicity test demonstrated that both RC and RC/zeolite nanocomposite films are cytocompatible. These results indicate that the prepared nanocomposites have potential applications in biodegradable packaging, membranes and biomedical areas. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quorum Sensing Attenuates Virulence in Sodalis praecaptivus.

PubMed

Enomoto, Shinichiro; Chari, Abhishek; Clayton, Adam Larsen; Dale, Colin

2017-05-10

Sodalis praecaptivus is a close relative and putative environmental progenitor of the widely distributed, insect-associated, Sodalis-allied symbionts. Here we show that mutant strains of S. praecaptivus that lack genetic components of a quorum-sensing (QS) apparatus have a rapid and potent killing phenotype following microinjection into an insect host. Transcriptomic and genetic analyses indicate that insect killing occurs as a consequence of virulence factors, including insecticidal toxins and enzymes that degrade the insect integument, which are normally repressed by QS at high infection densities. This method of regulation suggests that virulence factors are only utilized in early infection to initiate the insect-bacterial association. Once bacteria reach sufficient density in host tissues, the QS circuit represses expression of these harmful genes, facilitating a long-lasting and benign association. We discuss the implications of the functionality of this QS system in the context of establishment and evolution of mutualistic relationships involving these bacteria. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Hydrothermal transformation of dried grass into graphitic carbon-based high performance electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction.

PubMed

Zhang, Haimin; Wang, Yun; Wang, Dan; Li, Yibing; Liu, Xiaolu; Liu, Porun; Yang, Huagui; An, Taicheng; Tang, Zhiyong; Zhao, Huijun

2014-08-27

In this work, we present a low cost and environmentally benign hydrothermal method using dried grass as the sole starting material without any synthetic chemicals to directly produce high quality nitrogen-doped carbon nanodot/nanosheet aggregates (N-CNAs), achieving a high yield of 25.2%. The fabricated N-CNAs possess an N/C atomic ratio of 3.41%, consist of three typed of doped N at a ratio of 2.6 (pyridinic):1.7 (pyrrolic):1 (graphitic). The experimental results reveal that for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the performance of N-CNAs, in terms of electrocatalytic activity, stability and resistance to crossover effects, is better or comparable to the commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst. The theoretical studies further indicate that the doped pyridinic-N plays a key role for N-CNAs' excellent four-electron ORR electrocatalytic activity. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Improved Performance in Differentiating Benign from Malignant Sinonasal Tumors Using Diffusion-weighted Combined with Dynamic Contrast-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging

PubMed Central

Wang, Xin-Yan; Yan, Fei; Hao, Hui; Wu, Jian-Xing; Chen, Qing-Hua; Xian, Jun-Fang

2015-01-01

Background: Differentiating benign from malignant sinonsal lesions is essential for treatment planning as well as determining the patient's prognosis, but the differentiation is often difficult in clinical practice. The study aimed to determine whether the combination of diffusion-weighted (DW) and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) can improve the performance in differentiating benign from malignant sinonasal tumors. Methods: This retrospective study included 197 consecutive patients with sinonasal tumors (116 malignant tumors and 81 benign tumors). All patients underwent both DW and DCE-MRI in a 3-T magnetic resonance scanner. Two different settings of b values (0,700 and 0,1000 s/mm2) and two different strategies of region of interest (ROI) including whole slice (WS) and partial slice (PS) were used to calculate apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs). A DW parameter with WS ADCsb0,1000 and two DCE-MRI parameters (time intensity curve [TIC] and time to peak enhancement [Tpeak]) were finally combined to use in differentiating the benign from the malignant tumors in this study. Results: The mean ADCs of malignant sinonasal tumors (WS ADCsb0,1000 = 1.084 × 10−3 mm2/s) were significantly lower than those of benign tumors (WS ADCsb0,1000 = 1.617 × 10−3 mm2/s, P < 0.001). The accuracy using WS ADCsb0,1000 alone was 83.7% in differentiating the benign from the malignant tumors (85.3% sensitivity, 81.2% specificity, 86.4% positive predictive value [PPV], and 79.5% negative predictive value [NPV]). The accuracy using DCE with Tpeak and TIC alone was 72.1% (69.1% sensitivity, 74.1% specificity, 77.5% PPV, and 65.1% NPV). Using DW-MRI parameter was superior than using DCE parameters in differentiation between benign and malignant sinonasal tumors (P < 0.001). The accuracy was 87.3% (90.5% sensitivity, 82.7% specificity, 88.2% PPV, and 85.9% NPV) using DW-MRI combined with DCE-MRI, which was superior than that using DCE-MRI alone or using DW-MRI alone (both P < 0.001) in differentiating the benign from the malignant tumors. Conclusions: Diffusion-weighted combined with DCE-MRI can improve imaging performance in differentiating benign from malignant sinonasal tumors, which has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and to provide added value in the management for these tumors. PMID:25698188

Differential diagnosis between benign and malignant pleural effusion with dual-energy spectral CT

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xirong; Duan, Haifeng; Yu, Yong; Ma, Chunling; Ren, Zhanli; Lei, Yuxin

2018-01-01

Purpose To investigate the value of spectral CT in the differential diagnosis of benign from malignant pleural effusion. Method and materials 14 patients with benign pleural effusion and 15 patients with malignant pleural effusion underwent non-contrast spectral CT imaging. These patients were later verified by the combination of disease history, clinical signs and other information with the consensus of surgeons and radiologists. Various Spectral CT image parameters measured for the effusion were as follows: CT numbers of the polychromatic 140kVp images, monochromatic images at 40keV and 100keV, the material density contents from the water, fat and blood-based material decomposition images, the effective atomic number and the spectral curve slope. These values were statistically compared with t test and logistic regression analysis between benign and malignant pleural effusion. Results The CT value of benign and malignant pleural effusion in the polychromatic 140kVp images showed no differences (12.61±3.39HU vs. 14.71±5.03HU) (P>0.05), however, they were statistically different on the monochromatic images at 40keV (43.15±3.79 vs. 39.42±2.60, p = 0.005) and 100keV (9.11±1.38 vs. 6.52±2.04, p<0.001). There was difference in the effective atomic number value between the benign (7.87±0.08) and malignant pleural effusion (7.90±0.02) (P = 0.02). Using 6.32HU as the threshold for CT value measurement at 100keV, one could obtain sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 66.7% with area-under-curve of 0.843 for differentiating benign from malignant effusion. In addition, age and disease history were potential confounding factors for differentiating malignant pleural effusion from benign, since the older age (61.13±12.51 year-old vs48.57±12.33 year-old) as well as longer disease history (70.00±49.28 day vs.28.36±21.64 day) were more easily to be found in the malignant pleural effusion group than those in the benign pleural effusion group. By combining above five factors, one could obtain sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 71.4% with area-under-curve of 0.933 for differentiating benign from malignant effusion. Conclusion The CT value measurement at both high and low energy levels and the effective atomic number obtained in a single spectral CT scan can assist the differential diagnosis of benign from malignant pleural effusion.Combining them with patient age and disease history can further improve diagnostic performance. Clinical relevance/Application Clinical findings and Spectral CT imaging can provide significant evidences about the nature of pleural effusion. PMID:29641601

[Comparison of two quantitative methods of endobronchial ultrasound real-time elastography for evaluating intrathoracic lymph nodes].

PubMed

Mao, X W; Yang, J Y; Zheng, X X; Wang, L; Zhu, L; Li, Y; Xiong, H K; Sun, J Y

2017-06-12

Objective: To compare the clinical value of two quantitative methods in analyzing endobronchial ultrasound real-time elastography (EBUS-RTE) images for evaluating intrathoracic lymph nodes. Methods: From January 2014 to April 2014, EBUS-RTE examination was performed in patients who received EBUS-TBNA examination in Shanghai Chest Hospital. Each intrathoracic lymph node had a selected EBUS-RTE image. Stiff area ratio and mean hue value of region of interest (ROI) in each image were calculated respectively. The final diagnosis of lymph node was based on the pathologic/microbiologic results of EBUS-TBNA, pathologic/microbiologic results of other examinations and clinical following-up. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were evaluated for distinguishing malignant and benign lesions. Results: Fifty-six patients and 68 lymph nodes were enrolled in this study, of which 35 lymph nodes were malignant and 33 lymph nodes were benign. The stiff area ratio and mean hue value of benign and malignant lesions were 0.32±0.29, 0.62±0.20 and 109.99±28.13, 141.62±17.52, respectively, and statistical differences were found in both of those two methods ( t =-5.14, P <0.01; t =-5.53, P <0.01). The area under curves was 0.813, 0.814 in stiff area ratio and mean hue value, respectively. The optimal diagnostic cut-off value of stiff area ratio was 0.48, and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were 82.86%, 81.82%, 82.86%, 81.82% and 82.35%, respectively. The optimal diagnostic cut-off value of mean hue value was 126.28, and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were 85.71%, 75.76%, 78.95%, 83.33% and 80.88%, respectively. Conclusion: Both the stiff area ratio and mean hue value methods can be used for analyzing EBUS-RTE images quantitatively, having the value of differentiating benign and malignant intrathoracic lymph nodes, and the stiff area ratio is better than the mean hue value between the two methods.

Cleaner processing: a sulphide-free approach for depilation of skins.

PubMed

Ranjithkumar, Ammasi; Durga, Jayanthi; Ramesh, Ramakrishnan; Rose, Chellan; Muralidharan, Chellappa

2017-01-01

The conventional unhairing process in leather making utilises large amount of lime and sodium sulphide which is hazardous and poses serious waste disposal concerns. Under acidic conditions, sodium sulphide liberates significant quantities of hydrogen sulphide which causes frequent fatal accidents. Further, the conventional unhairing process involves destruction of the hair leading to increased levels of biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS) and total suspended solids (TSS) in the effluent. A safe approach is needed to overcome such environmental and health problems through an eco-benign process. The present study deals with a clean technology in which the keratinous body is detached from the dermis using enzymes produced from Bacillus crolab MTCC 5468 by solid state fermentation (SSF) as an alternative to noxious chemicals. Complete unhairing of skin could be achieved with an enzyme concentration of 1.2 % (w/w). The bio-chemical parameters of the spent liquor of the enzymatic process were environmentally favourable when compared with conventional method. The study indicates that the enzymatic unhairing is a safe process which could be used effectively in leather processing to alleviate pollution and health problems.

Multi-resolution analysis using integrated microscopic configuration with local patterns for benign-malignant mass classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabidas, Rinku; Midya, Abhishek; Chakraborty, Jayasree; Sadhu, Anup; Arif, Wasim

2018-02-01

In this paper, Curvelet based local attributes, Curvelet-Local configuration pattern (C-LCP), is introduced for the characterization of mammographic masses as benign or malignant. Amid different anomalies such as micro- calcification, bilateral asymmetry, architectural distortion, and masses, the reason for targeting the mass lesions is due to their variation in shape, size, and margin which makes the diagnosis a challenging task. Being efficient in classification, multi-resolution property of the Curvelet transform is exploited and local information is extracted from the coefficients of each subband using Local configuration pattern (LCP). The microscopic measures in concatenation with the local textural information provide more discriminating capability than individual. The measures embody the magnitude information along with the pixel-wise relationships among the neighboring pixels. The performance analysis is conducted with 200 mammograms of the DDSM database containing 100 mass cases of each benign and malignant. The optimal set of features is acquired via stepwise logistic regression method and the classification is carried out with Fisher linear discriminant analysis. The best area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and accuracy of 0.95 and 87.55% are achieved with the proposed method, which is further compared with some of the state-of-the-art competing methods.

Diagnostic values of vascular endothelial growth factor and epidermal growth factor receptor for benign and malignant hydrothorax.

PubMed

Gu, Yan; Zhang, Min; Li, Guo-Hua; Gao, Jun-Zhen; Guo, Liping; Qiao, Xiao-Juan; Wang, Li-Hong; He, Lan; Wang, Mei-Ling; Yan, Li; Fu, Xiu-Hua

2015-02-05

Hydrothorax, as one of the common complications of malignant tumors, still cannot be sensitively detected in clinical practice, thus requiring a sensitive, specific method for diagnosis. The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in patients with benign and malignant hydrothorax. The contents of VEGF in the pleural effusion and serum of the patients with malignant pleural effusion (n = 35) and benign pleural effusion (n = 30) were detected by double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The gene copy number level of EGFR in pleural effusion was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The points with the highest sensitivity and specificity were selected as the critical values to calculate the diagnostic value of the VEGF in pleural effusion and serum, and EGFR gene copy number in pleural effusion. The contents of VEGF in pleural effusion and serum of patients with malignant hydrothorax were (384.91 ± 120.18), and (129.62 ± 46.35) ng/L, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the patients with benign hydrothorax (207.97 ± 64.04), (63.49 ± 24.58) ng/L (P < 0.01). The sensitivity and specificity of detecting VEGF in pleural effusion were 80.0% and 96.7% (the boundary value was 297.06 ng/L), respectively for diagnosing benign and malignant hydrothorax. The sensitivity and specificity of serum were 74.3% and 96.7%, respectively (the boundary value was 99.21 ng/L) for diagnosing benign and malignant hydrothorax. The diagnostic efficiencies of EGFR and VEGF in hydrothorax were similar. There was a significant correlation between EGFR and VEGF in hydrothorax (P < 0.01). VEGF and EGFR play important roles in the formation of pleural effusion. VEGF differed significantly in benign and malignant pleural effusions, which contributed to differential diagnosis results of benign and malignant pleural effusions. It is feasible to detect the gene copy number of the pleural effusion cell mass EGFR by FISH technique. Joint detection can improve the diagnostic sensitivity.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI versus 18F-FDG PET/CT: Which is better in differentiation between malignant and benign solitary pulmonary nodules?

PubMed Central

Feng, Feng; Qiang, Fulin; Shen, Aijun; Shi, Donghui; Fu, Aiyan; Li, Haiming; Zhang, Mingzhu; Xia, Ganlin; Cao, Peng

2018-01-01

Objective To prospectively compare the discriminative capacity of dynamic contrast enhanced-magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) with that of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the differentiation of malignant and benign solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs). Methods Forty-nine patients with SPNs were included in this prospective study. Thirty-two of the patients had malignant SPNs, while the other 17 had benign SPNs. All these patients underwent DCE-MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT examinations. The quantitative MRI pharmacokinetic parameters, including the trans-endothelial transfer constant (Ktrans), redistribution rate constant (Kep), and fractional volume (Ve), were calculated using the Extended-Tofts Linear two-compartment model. The 18F-FDG PET/CT parameter, maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), was also measured. Spearman’s correlations were calculated between the MRI pharmacokinetic parameters and the SUVmax of each SPN. These parameters were statistically compared between the malignant and benign nodules. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to compare the diagnostic capability between the DCE-MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT indexes. Results Positive correlations were found between Ktrans and SUVmax, and between Kep and SUVmax (P<0.05). There were significant differences between the malignant and benign nodules in terms of the Ktrans, Kep and SUVmax values (P<0.05). The areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of Ktrans, Kep and SUVmax between the malignant and benign nodules were 0.909, 0.838 and 0.759, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity in differentiating malignant from benign SPNs were 90.6% and 82.4% for Ktrans; 87.5% and 76.5% for Kep; and 75.0% and 70.6% for SUVmax, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Ktrans and Kep were higher than those of SUVmax, but there was no significant difference between them (P>0.05). Conclusions DCE-MRI can be used to differentiate between benign and malignant SPNs and has the advantage of being radiation free. PMID:29545716

The Application of Liquid Nitrogen Spray Cryotherapy in Treatment of Bronchial Stenosis.

PubMed

Janke, Kelly J; Abbas, Abbas El-Sayed; Ambur, Vishnu; Yu, Daohai

Spray cryotherapy (SCT), the application of liquid nitrogen in a noncontact form, has been demonstrated to have efficacy in treating various types of pathologic lesions of the airway when used as an adjunct with bronchoscopy. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the results of the use of bronchoscopic SCT on the airway in a single institution. We performed a retrospective review of data collected on all patients who underwent SCT to re-establish or improve airway patency in an 11-month period. Patients were classified based on the nature of their disease into benign or malignant. Demographic data, change in luminal patency, and clinical outcomes were recorded. The percent of stenosis was divided into grades according to the following classification: 1, ≤25%; 2, 26% to 50%; 3, 51% to 75%; and 4, ≥76%. We defined successful completion of treatment as obtaining a final patency of grade 1. Twenty-two patients met inclusion criteria, with 45.5% (10 patients) having benign stenosis and 54.5% (12 patients) malignant. At initial bronchoscopic evaluation, the median grade of stenosis was 4 for malignant disease and 3.5 for benign disease. The median final posttreatment grade of stenosis was 2 for malignant disease and 1 for benign. The median improvement in grade of stenosis after treatment was 2 for both malignant and benign causes (Wilcoxon test, P = 0.92). Final patency of grade 1 was achieved in 42% of malignant stenosis and 80% of benign. Overall, 86.4% of patients had an improvement in grade of stenosis after treatment. The rate of morbidity was 4.5% (1/22) of all patients. The median change in grade after treatment was 2 grades of improvement for both the benign and malignant groups. These results provide evidence that the use of SCT is equally efficacious for both types of stenosis with an expectation of overall improvement in luminal patency, offering a safe and effective method of achieving airway patency in a minimally invasive fashion. This study contributes to the small but growing body of literature supporting the use of SCT in benign and malignant disease.

Green Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles and Their Environmental Applications and Implications

PubMed Central

Saif, Sadia; Tahir, Arifa; Chen, Yongsheng

2016-01-01

Recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology have also led to the development of novel nanomaterials, which ultimately increase potential health and environmental hazards. Interest in developing environmentally benign procedures for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has been increased. The purpose is to minimize the negative impacts of synthetic procedures, their accompanying chemicals and derivative compounds. The exploitation of different biomaterials for the synthesis of nanoparticles is considered a valuable approach in green nanotechnology. Biological resources such as bacteria, algae fungi and plants have been used for the production of low-cost, energy-efficient, and nontoxic environmental friendly metallic nanoparticles. This review provides an overview of various reports of green synthesised zero valent metallic iron (ZVMI) and iron oxide (Fe2O3/Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) and highlights their substantial applications in environmental pollution control. This review also summarizes the ecotoxicological impacts of green synthesised iron nanoparticles opposed to non-green synthesised iron nanoparticles. PMID:28335338

Assessing contributory risk using economic input-output life-cycle analysis.

PubMed

Miller, Ian; Shelly, Michael; Jonmaire, Paul; Lee, Richard V; Harbison, Raymond D

2005-04-01

The contribution of consumer purchases of non-essential products to environmental pollution is characterized. Purchase decisions by consumers induce a complex sequence of economy-wide production interactions that influence the production and consumption of chemicals and subsequent exposure and possible public health risks. An economic input-output life-cycle analysis (EIO-LCA) was used to link resource consumption and production by manufacturers to corresponding environmental impacts. Using the US Department of Commerce's input-output tables together with the US Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory and AIRData databases, the economy-wide air discharges resulting from purchases of household appliances, motor homes, and games and toys were quantified. The economic and environmental impacts generated from a hypothetical 10,000 US dollar purchase for selected consumer items were estimated. The analysis shows how purchases of seemingly benign consumer products increase the output of air pollutants along the supply chain and contribute to the potential risks associated with environmental chemical exposures to both consumers and non-consumers alike.

ADM3, TFF3 and LGALS3 are discriminative molecular markers in fine-needle aspiration biopsies of benign and malignant thyroid tumours

PubMed Central

Karger, S; Krause, K; Gutknecht, M; Schierle, K; Graf, D; Steinert, F; Dralle, H; Führer, D

2012-01-01

Background: Previously, we reported a six-marker gene set, which allowed a molecular discrimination of benign and malignant thyroid tumours. Now, we evaluated these markers in fine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB) in a prospective, independent series of thyroid tumours with proven histological outcome. Methods: Quantitative RT–PCR was performed (ADM3, HGD1, LGALS3, PLAB, TFF3, TG) in the needle wash-out of 156 FNAB of follicular adenoma (FA), adenomatous nodules, follicular and papillary thyroid cancers (TC) and normal thyroid tissues (NT). Results: Significant expression differences were found for TFF3, HGD1, ADM3 and LGALS3 in FNAB of TC compared with benign thyroid nodules and NT. Using two-marker gene sets, a specific FNAB distinction of benign and malignant tumours was achieved with negative predictive values (NPV) up to 0.78 and positive predictive values (PPV) up to 0.84. Two FNAB marker gene combinations (ADM3/TFF3; ADM3/ACTB) allowed the distinction of FA and malignant follicular neoplasia with NPV up to 0.94 and PPV up to 0.86. Conclusion: We demonstrate that molecular FNAB diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid tumours including follicular neoplasia is possible with recently identified marker gene combinations. We propose multi-centre FNAB studies on these markers to bring this promising diagnostic tool closer to clinical practice. PMID:22223087

Update on Breast Cancer Detection Using Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography

PubMed Central

Denis, Max; Bayat, Mahdi; Mehrmohammadi, Mohammad; Gregory, Adriana; Song, Pengfei; Whaley, Dana H.; Pruthi, Sandhya; Chen, Shigao; Fatemi, Mostafa; Alizad, Azra

2015-01-01

In this work, tissue stiffness estimates are used to differentiate between benign and malignant breast masses in a group of pre-biopsy patients. The rationale being that breast masses are often stiffer than healthy tissue; furthermore, malignant masses are stiffer than benign masses. The comb-push ultrasound shear elastography (CUSE) method is used to noninvasively assess a tissue’s mechanical properties. CUSE utilizes a simultaneous multiple laterally spaced radiation force (ARF) excitations and detection sequence to reconstruct the region of interest (ROI) shear wave speed map, from which a tissue stiffness property is quantified by Young’s modulus. In this study, the tissue stiffness of 73 breast masses is interrogated. The mean shear wave speeds for malignant masses (3.42 ± 1.32 m/s) were higher than benign breast masses (6.04 ± 1.25 m/s). These speed values correspond to higher stiffness in malignant breast masses (114.9 ± 40.6 kPa) than benign masses (39.4 ± 28.1 kPa and p < 0.001), when tissue elasticity is quantified by Young’s modulus. A Young’s modulus > 83 kPa is established as a cut-off value for differentiating between malignant and benign suspicious breast masses, with receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of 89.19% sensitivity, 88.69% specificity, and 0.911 for the area under the curve (AUC). PMID:26688871

Update on Breast Cancer Detection Using Comb-Push Ultrasound Shear Elastography.

PubMed

Denis, Max; Bayat, Mahdi; Mehrmohammadi, Mohammad; Gregory, Adriana; Song, Pengfei; Whaley, Dana H; Pruthi, Sandhya; Chen, Shigao; Fatemi, Mostafa; Alizad, Azra

2015-09-01

In this work, tissue stiffness estimates are used to differentiate between benign and malignant breast masses in a group of pre-biopsy patients. The rationale is that breast masses are often stiffer than healthy tissue; furthermore, malignant masses are stiffer than benign masses. The comb-push ultrasound shear elastography (CUSE) method is used to noninvasively assess a tissue's mechanical properties. CUSE utilizes a sequence of simultaneous multiple laterally spaced acoustic radiation force (ARF) excitations and detection to reconstruct the region of interest (ROI) shear wave speed map, from which a tissue stiffness property can be quantified. In this study, the tissue stiffnesses of 73 breast masses were interrogated. The mean shear wave speeds for benign masses (3.42 ± 1.32 m/s) were lower than malignant breast masses (6.04 ± 1.25 m/s). These speed values correspond to higher stiffness in malignant breast masses (114.9 ± 40.6 kPa) than benign masses (39.4 ± 28.1 kPa and p <; 0.001), when tissue elasticity is quantified by Young's modulus. A Young's modulus >83 kPa is established as a cut-off value for differentiating between malignant and benign suspicious breast masses, with a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of 89.19% sensitivity, 88.69% specificity, and 0.911 for the area under the curve (AUC).

CDKL5 variants

PubMed Central

Kalscheuer, Vera M.; Hennig, Friederike; Leonard, Helen; Downs, Jenny; Clarke, Angus; Benke, Tim A.; Armstrong, Judith; Pineda, Mercedes; Bailey, Mark E.S.; Cobb, Stuart R.

2017-01-01

Objective: To provide new insights into the interpretation of genetic variants in a rare neurologic disorder, CDKL5 deficiency, in the contexts of population sequencing data and an updated characterization of the CDKL5 gene. Methods: We analyzed all known potentially pathogenic CDKL5 variants by combining data from large-scale population sequencing studies with CDKL5 variants from new and all available clinical cohorts and combined this with computational methods to predict pathogenicity. Results: The study has identified several variants that can be reclassified as benign or likely benign. With the addition of novel CDKL5 variants, we confirm that pathogenic missense variants cluster in the catalytic domain of CDKL5 and reclassify a purported missense variant as having a splicing consequence. We provide further evidence that missense variants in the final 3 exons are likely to be benign and not important to disease pathology. We also describe benign splicing and nonsense variants within these exons, suggesting that isoform hCDKL5_5 is likely to have little or no neurologic significance. We also use the available data to make a preliminary estimate of minimum incidence of CDKL5 deficiency. Conclusions: These findings have implications for genetic diagnosis, providing evidence for the reclassification of specific variants previously thought to result in CDKL5 deficiency. Together, these analyses support the view that the predominant brain isoform in humans (hCDKL5_1) is crucial for normal neurodevelopment and that the catalytic domain is the primary functional domain. PMID:29264392

Combined texture feature analysis of segmentation and classification of benign and malignant tumour CT slices.

PubMed

Padma, A; Sukanesh, R

2013-01-01

A computer software system is designed for the segmentation and classification of benign from malignant tumour slices in brain computed tomography (CT) images. This paper presents a method to find and select both the dominant run length and co-occurrence texture features of region of interest (ROI) of the tumour region of each slice to be segmented by Fuzzy c means clustering (FCM) and evaluate the performance of support vector machine (SVM)-based classifiers in classifying benign and malignant tumour slices. Two hundred and six tumour confirmed CT slices are considered in this study. A total of 17 texture features are extracted by a feature extraction procedure, and six features are selected using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This study constructed the SVM-based classifier with the selected features and by comparing the segmentation results with the experienced radiologist labelled ground truth (target). Quantitative analysis between ground truth and segmented tumour is presented in terms of segmentation accuracy, segmentation error and overlap similarity measures such as the Jaccard index. The classification performance of the SVM-based classifier with the same selected features is also evaluated using a 10-fold cross-validation method. The proposed system provides some newly found texture features have an important contribution in classifying benign and malignant tumour slices efficiently and accurately with less computational time. The experimental results showed that the proposed system is able to achieve the highest segmentation and classification accuracy effectiveness as measured by jaccard index and sensitivity and specificity.

Usefulness of lavage cytology during endoscopic transpapillary catheterization into the gallbladder in the cytological diagnosis of gallbladder disease.

PubMed

Naito, Yoshiki; Okabe, Yoshinobu; Kawahara, Akihiko; Taira, Tomoki; Isida, Yusuke; Kaji, Ryouhei; Sata, Michio; Ureshino, Hiroki; Mikagi, Kazuhiro; Kinoshita, Hisafumi; Yasumoto, Makiko; Kusano, Hironori; Kage, Masayoshi; Yano, Hirohisa

2009-06-01

Many studies have reported methods of cell collection involving percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage (PTCD) and fine-needle aspiration cytology for the diagnosis of gallbladder disease. However, few studies have described the use of a transpapillary approach, i.e., endoscopic transpapillary catheterization into the gallbladder (ETCG). In this study, we analyzed cells collected by ETCG to evaluate its usefulness in the cytological diagnosis of gallbladder disease. The subjects were 19 patients who had undergone ETCG for the diagnosis of gallbladder disease. Of these patients, 11 and 8 had gallbladder cancer and benign gallbladder disease, respectively. We also evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of PTCD cytology performed in 15 patients with gallbladder cancer.Specimens were cytologically diagnosed as normal or benign, indeterminate, suspected malignancy, malignant, and inadequate in 47% (9/19), 11% (2/19), 0% (0/19), 37% (7/19), and 5% (1/19) of patients, respectively. Specimens were diagnosed as malignant, indeterminate, normal or benign, and inadequate in 7, 2, 1, and 1, respectively, of the 11 patients diagnosed with gallbladder cancer. The sensitivity and specificity of ETCG cytology were 78 and 100%, respectively, whereas the diagnostic accuracy of PTCD cytology was 20% (3/15). None of the patients developed complications of ETCG. Despite its technical difficulty, ETCG for bile cytology allows the collection of adequate cell numbers from patients with benign disease or gallbladder cancer and facilitates a cytological diagnosis, making it a useful method for collecting cells. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

NASA/Air Force/Environmental Protection Agency Interagency Depainting Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark-Ingram, Marceia

1998-01-01

Many popular and widely used paint stripping products have traditionally contained methylene chloride as their main active ingredient. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has critically curved the allowable use of methylene chloride under the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants regulating Aerospace Manufacturing and Rework Facilities . Compliance with this rule was mandatory by September 1998 for affected facilities. An effort is underway to identify and evaluate alternative depainting technologies emphasizing those believed both effective and environmentally benign. On behalf of the EPA and in cooperation with the United States Air Force, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is conducting a technical assessment of several alternative technologies ( i.e. : chemical stripping, two CO2 blasting processes, CO2 xenon lamp coating removal, CO2 Laser stripping, plastic media blasting, sodium bicarbonate wet stripping, high pressure water stripping, and wheat starch blasting). These depainting processes represent five removal method categories, namely abrasive, impact, cryogenic, thermal, and/or molecular bonding dissociation. This paper discusses the test plan and parameters for this interagency study. Several thicknesses of clad and non-clad aluminum substrates were used to prepare test specimens. Each depainting process has been assigned a specimen lot, all of which have completed three to five stripping cycles. Numerous metallurgical evaluations are underway to assess the impact of these alternative depainting processes upon the structural integrity of the substrate.

Environmentally Benign Aircraft Anti-icing and Deicing Fluids Based on Cost Effective, Bio-based Ingredients

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

xanthan gum, welan gum, or carraggenan gum.(13) Examples of particulate thickeners include lightly cross-linked polyacrylic acid. Both types of ...based formulation.(14) The currently used Type IV AAFs are believed to primarily use polyacrylic acid (PAA) polymer, stabilized by potassium ...Prescribed by ANSI-Std Z39-18 REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information

Ionic liquid propellants: future fuels for space propulsion.

PubMed

Zhang, Qinghua; Shreeve, Jean'ne M

2013-11-11

Use of green propellants is a trend for future space propulsion. Hypergolic ionic liquid propellants, which are environmentally-benign while exhibiting energetic performances comparable to hydrazine, have shown great potential to meet the requirements of developing nontoxic high-performance propellant formulations for space propulsion applications. This Concept article presents a review of recent advances in the field of ionic liquid propellants. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A prospective single-center study of sentinel lymph node detection in cervical carcinoma: is there a place in clinical practice?

PubMed

Devaja, Omer; Mehra, Gautam; Coutts, Michael; Montalto, Stephen Attard; Donaldson, John; Kodampur, Mallikarjun; Papadopoulos, Andreas John

2012-07-01

To establish the accuracy of sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection in early cervical cancer. Sentinel lymph node detection was performed prospectively over a 6-year period in 86 women undergoing surgery for cervical carcinoma by the combined method (Tc-99m and methylene blue dye). Further ultrastaging was performed on a subgroup of 26 patients who had benign SLNs on initial routine histological examination. The SLN was detected in 84 (97.7%) of 86 women by the combined method. Blue dye uptake was not seen in 8 women (90.7%). Sentinel lymph nodes were detected bilaterally in 63 women (73.3%), and the external iliac region was the most common anatomic location (48.8%). The median SLN count was 3 nodes (range, 1-7). Of the 84 women with sentinel node detection, 65 also underwent bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection, and in none of these cases was a benign SLN associated with a malignant non-SLN (100% negative predictive value). The median non-SLN count for all patients was 19 nodes (range, 8-35). Eighteen patients underwent removal of the SLN without bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection. Nine women (10.5%) had positive lymph nodes on final histology. One patient had bulky pelvic nodes on preoperative imaging and underwent removal of the negative bulky malignant lymph nodes and a benign SLN on the contralateral side. This latter case confirms the unreliability of the SLN method with bulky nodes. The remaining 8 patients had positive SLNs with negative nonsentinel lymph nodes. Fifty-nine SLNs from 26 patients, which were benign on initial routine histology, underwent ultrastaging, but no further disease was identified. Four patients (5%) relapsed after a median follow-up of 28 months (range, 8-80 months). Sentinel lymph node detection is an accurate and safe method in the assessment of nodal status in early cervical carcinoma.

Expression and significance of cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA in benign and malignant ascites

PubMed Central

Lu, Jing; Li, Xiao-Feng; Kong, Li-Xia; Ma, Lin; Liao, Su-Huan; Jiang, Chang-You

2013-01-01

AIM: To investigate the mRNA expression of cyclooxygensae-2 (COX-2) in benign and malignant ascites, and to explore the difference in COX-2 mRNA expression among different diseases. METHODS: A total of 36 samples were collected from the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University and divided into two experimental groups: benign ascites (n = 21) and malignant ascites (n = 15). Benign ascites included cirrhotic ascites (n = 10) and tuberculous ascites (n = 5). Malignant ascites included oophoroma (n = 7), cancer of colon (n = 5), cancer of the liver (n = 6), gastric cancer (n = 2), and bladder carcinoma (n = 1). The mRNA expression of COX-2 in ascites was examined with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technology, and the positive rate of COX-2 mRNA was compared between different diseases. RESULTS: The positive rate of COX-2 mRNA in malignant ascites was 42.9% (9/21), which was significantly higher than in benign ascites, 6.7% (1/15), difference being significant between these two groups (χ2 = 4.051, P = 0.044). The proportion of the positive rate in the malignant ascites was as follows: ovarian cancers 57.1% (4/7), colon cancer 40.0% (2/5), liver cancer 33.3% (2/6), gastric cancer 50.0% (1/2), and bladder cancer 0.00% (0/1). However, there was no significant difference in COX-2 mRNA expression among various tumors with malignant ascites (χ2 = 1.614, P = 0.806). Among the benign ascites, COX-2 mRNA levels were different between the tuberculous ascites (0/5) and cirrhotic ascites (1/10), but there was no significant difference (P = 1.000). CONCLUSION: COX-2 mRNA, detected by RT-PCR, is useful in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ascites, which also has potential value in the clinical diagnosis of tumors. PMID:24187465

Wavelet-based 3D reconstruction of microcalcification clusters from two mammographic views: new evidence that fractal tumors are malignant and Euclidean tumors are benign.

PubMed

Batchelder, Kendra A; Tanenbaum, Aaron B; Albert, Seth; Guimond, Lyne; Kestener, Pierre; Arneodo, Alain; Khalil, Andre

2014-01-01

The 2D Wavelet-Transform Modulus Maxima (WTMM) method was used to detect microcalcifications (MC) in human breast tissue seen in mammograms and to characterize the fractal geometry of benign and malignant MC clusters. This was done in the context of a preliminary analysis of a small dataset, via a novel way to partition the wavelet-transform space-scale skeleton. For the first time, the estimated 3D fractal structure of a breast lesion was inferred by pairing the information from two separate 2D projected mammographic views of the same breast, i.e. the cranial-caudal (CC) and mediolateral-oblique (MLO) views. As a novelty, we define the "CC-MLO fractal dimension plot", where a "fractal zone" and "Euclidean zones" (non-fractal) are defined. 118 images (59 cases, 25 malignant and 34 benign) obtained from a digital databank of mammograms with known radiologist diagnostics were analyzed to determine which cases would be plotted in the fractal zone and which cases would fall in the Euclidean zones. 92% of malignant breast lesions studied (23 out of 25 cases) were in the fractal zone while 88% of the benign lesions were in the Euclidean zones (30 out of 34 cases). Furthermore, a Bayesian statistical analysis shows that, with 95% credibility, the probability that fractal breast lesions are malignant is between 74% and 98%. Alternatively, with 95% credibility, the probability that Euclidean breast lesions are benign is between 76% and 96%. These results support the notion that the fractal structure of malignant tumors is more likely to be associated with an invasive behavior into the surrounding tissue compared to the less invasive, Euclidean structure of benign tumors. Finally, based on indirect 3D reconstructions from the 2D views, we conjecture that all breast tumors considered in this study, benign and malignant, fractal or Euclidean, restrict their growth to 2-dimensional manifolds within the breast tissue.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Characterizing Lung Masses

PubMed Central

Inan, Nagihan; Arslan, Arzu; Donmez, Muhammed; Sarisoy, Hasan Tahsin

2016-01-01

Background Imaging plays a critical role not only in the detection, but also in the characterization of lung masses as benign or malignant. Objectives To determine the diagnostic accuracy of dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant lung masses. Patients and Methods Ninety-four masses were included in this prospective study. Five dynamic series of T1-weighted spoiled gradient echo (FFE) images were obtained, followed by a T1-weighted FFE sequence in the late phase (5th minutes). Contrast enhancement patterns in the early (25th second) and late (5th minute) phase images were evaluated. For the quantitative evaluation, signal intensity (SI)-time curves were obtained and the maximum relative enhancement, wash-in rate, and time-to-peak enhancement of masses in both groups were calculated. Results The early phase contrast enhancement patterns were homogeneous in 78.2% of the benign masses, while heterogeneous in 74.4% of the malignant tumors. On the late phase images, 70.8% of the benign masses showed homogeneous enhancement, while most of the malignant masses showed heterogeneous enhancement (82.4%). During the first pass, the maximum relative enhancement and wash-in rate values of malignant masses were significantly higher than those of the benign masses (P = 0.03 and 0.04, respectively). The cutoff value at 15% yielded a sensitivity of 85.4%, specificity of 61.2%, and positive predictive value of 68.7% for the maximum relative enhancement. Conclusion Contrast enhancement patterns and SI-time curve analysis of MRI are helpful in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant lung masses. PMID:27703654

Cytological Results of Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology for Thyroid Nodules: Emphasis on Correlation with Sonographic Findings

PubMed Central

Lee, Mi-Jung; Hong, Soon Won; Chung, Woung Youn; Kwak, Jin Young; Kim, Min Jung

2011-01-01

Purpose To compare the cytological results of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (US-FNA) cytology of thyroid nodules to sonographic findings and determine whether US findings are helpful in the interpretation of cytological results. Materials and Methods Among the thyroid nodules that underwent US-FNA cytology, we included the 819 nodules which had a conclusive diagnosis. Final diagnosis was based on pathology from surgery, repeated FNA cytology or follow-up of more than one year. Cytological results were divided into five groups: benign, indeterminate (follicular or Hurthle cell neoplasm), suspicious for malignancy, malignant, and inadequate. US findings were categorized as benign or suspicious. Cytological results and US categories were analyzed. Results Final diagnosis was concluded upon in 819 nodules based on pathology (n=311), repeated FNA cytology (n=204) and follow-up (n=304), of which 634 were benign and 185 were malignant. There were 560 benign nodules, 141 malignant nodules, 49 nodules with inadequate results, 21 with indeterminate results, and 48 that were suspicious for malignancy. The positive and negative predictive values of the US categories were 59.1% and 97.0%, and those of the cytological results were 93.7% and 98.9%. The US categories were significantly correlated with final diagnosis in the benign (p=0.014) and suspicious for malignancy (p<0.001) cytological result groups, but not in the inadequate and indeterminate cytological results groups. The false positive and negative rates of cytological results were 1.9% and 3.2%. Conclusion Sonographic findings can be useful when used alongside cytological results, especially in nodules with cytological results that are benign or suspicious for malignancy. PMID:21786450

Utility of K-Means clustering algorithm in differentiating apparent diffusion coefficient values between benign and malignant neck pathologies

PubMed Central

Srinivasan, A.; Galbán, C.J.; Johnson, T.D.; Chenevert, T.L.; Ross, B.D.; Mukherji, S.K.

2014-01-01

Purpose The objective of our study was to analyze the differences between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) partitions (created using the K-Means algorithm) between benign and malignant neck lesions and evaluate its benefit in distinguishing these entities. Material and methods MRI studies of 10 benign and 10 malignant proven neck pathologies were post-processed on a PC using in-house software developed in MATLAB (The MathWorks, Inc., Natick, MA). Lesions were manually contoured by two neuroradiologists with the ADC values within each lesion clustered into two (low ADC-ADCL, high ADC-ADCH) and three partitions (ADCL, intermediate ADC-ADCI, ADCH) using the K-Means clustering algorithm. An unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test was performed for all metrics to determine statistical differences in the means between the benign and malignant pathologies. Results Statistically significant difference between the mean ADCL clusters in benign and malignant pathologies was seen in the 3 cluster models of both readers (p=0.03, 0.022 respectively) and the 2 cluster model of reader 2 (p=0.04) with the other metrics (ADCH, ADCI, whole lesion mean ADC) not revealing any significant differences. Receiver operating characteristics curves demonstrated the quantitative difference in mean ADCH and ADCL in both the 2 and 3 cluster models to be predictive of malignancy (2 clusters: p=0.008, area under curve=0.850, 3 clusters: p=0.01, area under curve=0.825). Conclusion The K-Means clustering algorithm that generates partitions of large datasets may provide a better characterization of neck pathologies and may be of additional benefit in distinguishing benign and malignant neck pathologies compared to whole lesion mean ADC alone. PMID:20007723

Wavelets analysis for differentiating solid, non-macroscopic fat containing, enhancing renal masses: a pilot study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varghese, Bino; Hwang, Darryl; Mohamed, Passant; Cen, Steven; Deng, Christopher; Chang, Michael; Duddalwar, Vinay

2017-11-01

Purpose: To evaluate potential use of wavelets analysis in discriminating benign and malignant renal masses (RM) Materials and Methods: Regions of interest of the whole lesion were manually segmented and co-registered from multiphase CT acquisitions of 144 patients (98 malignant RM: renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and 46 benign RM: oncocytoma, lipid-poor angiomyolipoma). Here, the Haar wavelet was used to analyze the grayscale images of the largest segmented tumor in the axial direction. Six metrics (energy, entropy, homogeneity, contrast, standard deviation (SD) and variance) derived from 3-levels of image decomposition in 3 directions (horizontal, vertical and diagonal) respectively, were used to quantify tumor texture. Independent t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test depending on data normality were used as exploratory univariate analysis. Stepwise logistic regression and receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve analysis were used to select predictors and assess prediction accuracy, respectively. Results: Consistently, 5 out of 6 wavelet-based texture measures (except homogeneity) were higher for malignant tumors compared to benign, when accounting for individual texture direction. Homogeneity was consistently lower in malignant than benign tumors irrespective of direction. SD and variance measured in the diagonal direction on the corticomedullary phase showed significant (p<0.05) difference between benign versus malignant tumors. The multivariate model with variance (3 directions) and SD (vertical direction) extracted from the excretory and pre-contrast phase, respectively showed an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.78 (p < 0.05) in discriminating malignant from benign. Conclusion: Wavelet analysis is a valuable texture evaluation tool to add to a radiomics platforms geared at reliably characterizing and stratifying renal masses.

Multidetector CT features of pulmonary focal ground-glass opacity: differences between benign and malignant

PubMed Central

Fan, L; Liu, S-Y; Li, Q-C; Yu, H; Xiao, X-S

2012-01-01

Objective To evaluate different features between benign and malignant pulmonary focal ground-glass opacity (fGGO) on multidetector CT (MDCT). Methods 82 pathologically or clinically confirmed fGGOs were retrospectively analysed with regard to demographic data, lesion size and location, attenuation value and MDCT features including shape, margin, interface, internal characteristics and adjacent structure. Differences between benign and malignant fGGOs were analysed using a χ2 test, Fisher's exact test or Mann–Whitney U-test. Morphological characteristics were analysed by binary logistic regression analysis to estimate the likelihood of malignancy. Results There were 21 benign and 61 malignant lesions. No statistical differences were found between benign and malignant fGGOs in terms of demographic data, size, location and attenuation value. The frequency of lobulation (p=0.000), spiculation (p=0.008), spine-like process (p=0.004), well-defined but coarse interface (p=0.000), bronchus cut-off (p=0.003), other air-containing space (p=0.000), pleural indentation (p=0.000) and vascular convergence (p=0.006) was significantly higher in malignant fGGOs than that in benign fGGOs. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that lobulation, interface and pleural indentation were important indicators for malignant diagnosis of fGGO, with the corresponding odds ratios of 8.122, 3.139 and 9.076, respectively. In addition, a well-defined but coarse interface was the most important indicator of malignancy among all interface types. With all three important indicators considered, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 93.4%, 66.7% and 86.6%, respectively. Conclusion An fGGO with lobulation, a well-defined but coarse interface and pleural indentation gives a greater than average likelihood of being malignant. PMID:22128130

ADC as a useful diagnostic tool for differentiating benign and malignant vertebral bone marrow lesions and compression fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Suh, Chong Hyun; Yun, Seong Jong; Jin, Wook; Lee, Sun Hwa; Park, So Young; Ryu, Chang-Woo

2018-07-01

To assess the sensitivity and specificity of quantitative assessment of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) for differentiating benign and malignant vertebral bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and compression fractures (CFs) METHODS: An electronic literature search of MEDLINE and EMBASE was conducted. Bivariate modelling and hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic modelling were performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ADC for differentiating vertebral BMLs. Subgroup analysis was performed for differentiating benign and malignant vertebral CFs. Meta-regression analyses according to subject, study and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) characteristics were performed. Twelve eligible studies (748 lesions, 661 patients) were included. The ADC exhibited a pooled sensitivity of 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80-0.94) and a pooled specificity of 0.87 (95% CI 0.78-0.93) for differentiating benign and malignant vertebral BMLs. In addition, the pooled sensitivity and specificity for differentiating benign and malignant CFs were 0.92 (95% CI 0.82-0.97) and 0.91 (95% CI 0.87-0.94), respectively. In the meta-regression analysis, the DWI slice thickness was a significant factor affecting heterogeneity (p < 0.01); thinner slice thickness (< 5 mm) showed higher specificity (95%) than thicker slice thickness (81%). Quantitative assessment of ADC is a useful diagnostic tool for differentiating benign and malignant vertebral BMLs and CFs. • Quantitative assessment of ADC is useful in differentiating vertebral BMLs. • Quantitative ADC assessment for BMLs had sensitivity of 89%, specificity of 87%. • Quantitative ADC assessment for CFs had sensitivity of 92%, specificity of 91%. • The specificity is highest (95%) with thinner (< 5 mm) DWI slice thickness.

Computer-assisted cytologic diagnosis in pancreatic FNA: An application of neural networks to image analysis.

PubMed

Momeni-Boroujeni, Amir; Yousefi, Elham; Somma, Jonathan

2017-12-01

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy is an accurate method for the diagnosis of solid pancreatic masses. However, a significant number of cases still pose a diagnostic challenge. The authors have attempted to design a computer model to aid in the diagnosis of these biopsies. Images were captured of cell clusters on ThinPrep slides from 75 pancreatic FNA cases (20 malignant, 24 benign, and 31 atypical). A K-means clustering algorithm was used to segment the cell clusters into separable regions of interest before extracting features similar to those used for cytomorphologic assessment. A multilayer perceptron neural network (MNN) was trained and then tested for its ability to distinguish benign from malignant cases. A total of 277 images of cell clusters were obtained. K-means clustering identified 68,301 possible regions of interest overall. Features such as contour, perimeter, and area were found to be significantly different between malignant and benign images (P <.05). The MNN was 100% accurate for benign and malignant categories. The model's predictions from the atypical data set were 77% accurate. The results of the current study demonstrate that computer models can be used successfully to distinguish benign from malignant pancreatic cytology. The fact that the model can categorize atypical cases into benign or malignant with 77% accuracy highlights the great potential of this technology. Although further study is warranted to validate its clinical applications in pancreatic and perhaps other areas of cytology as well, the potential for improved patient outcomes using MNN for image analysis in pathology is significant. Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125:926-33. © 2017 American Cancer Society. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Extraction of metals using supercritical fluid and chelate forming legand

DOEpatents

Wai, Chien M.; Laintz, Kenneth E.

1998-01-01

A method of extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a supercritical fluid solvent containing a chelating agent is described. The chelating agent forms chelates that are soluble in the supercritical fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments, the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide and the chelating agent is a fluorinated .beta.-diketone. In especially preferred embodiments the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide, and the chelating agent comprises a fluorinated .beta.-diketone and a trialkyl phosphate, or a fluorinated .beta.-diketone and a trialkylphosphine oxide. Although a trialkyl phosphate can extract lanthanides and actinides from acidic solutions, a binary mixture comprising a fluorinated .beta.-diketone and a trialkyl phosphate or a trialkylphosphine oxide tends to enhance the extraction efficiencies for actinides and lanthanides. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing contaminants from industrial waste without using acids or biologically harmful solvents. The method is particularly useful for extracting actinides and lanthanides from acidic solutions. The chelate and supercritical fluid can be regenerated, and the contaminant species recovered, to provide an economic, efficient process.

Extraction of metals using supercritical fluid and chelate forming ligand

DOEpatents

Wai, C.M.; Laintz, K.E.

1998-03-24

A method of extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a supercritical fluid solvent containing a chelating agent is described. The chelating agent forms chelates that are soluble in the supercritical fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments, the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide and the chelating agent is a fluorinated {beta}-diketone. In especially preferred embodiments the extraction solvent is supercritical carbon dioxide, and the chelating agent comprises a fluorinated {beta}-diketone and a trialkyl phosphate, or a fluorinated {beta}-diketone and a trialkylphosphine oxide. Although a trialkyl phosphate can extract lanthanides and actinides from acidic solutions, a binary mixture comprising a fluorinated {beta}-diketone and a trialkyl phosphate or a trialkylphosphine oxide tends to enhance the extraction efficiencies for actinides and lanthanides. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing contaminants from industrial waste without using acids or biologically harmful solvents. The method is particularly useful for extracting actinides and lanthanides from acidic solutions. The chelate and supercritical fluid can be regenerated, and the contaminant species recovered, to provide an economic, efficient process. 7 figs.

Lignin-Retaining Transparent Wood.

PubMed

Li, Yuanyuan; Fu, Qiliang; Rojas, Ramiro; Yan, Min; Lawoko, Martin; Berglund, Lars

2017-09-11

Optically transparent wood, combining optical and mechanical performance, is an emerging new material for light-transmitting structures in buildings with the aim of reducing energy consumption. One of the main obstacles for transparent wood fabrication is delignification, where around 30 wt % of wood tissue is removed to reduce light absorption and refractive index mismatch. This step is time consuming and not environmentally benign. Moreover, lignin removal weakens the wood structure, limiting the fabrication of large structures. A green and industrially feasible method has now been developed to prepare transparent wood. Up to 80 wt % of lignin is preserved, leading to a stronger wood template compared to the delignified alternative. After polymer infiltration, a high-lignin-content transparent wood with transmittance of 83 %, haze of 75 %, thermal conductivity of 0.23 W mK -1 , and work-tofracture of 1.2 MJ m -3 (a magnitude higher than glass) was obtained. This transparent wood preparation method is efficient and applicable to various wood species. The transparent wood obtained shows potential for application in energy-saving buildings. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

Lignin‐Retaining Transparent Wood

PubMed Central

Fu, Qiliang; Rojas, Ramiro; Yan, Min; Lawoko, Martin

2017-01-01

Abstract Optically transparent wood, combining optical and mechanical performance, is an emerging new material for light‐transmitting structures in buildings with the aim of reducing energy consumption. One of the main obstacles for transparent wood fabrication is delignification, where around 30 wt % of wood tissue is removed to reduce light absorption and refractive index mismatch. This step is time consuming and not environmentally benign. Moreover, lignin removal weakens the wood structure, limiting the fabrication of large structures. A green and industrially feasible method has now been developed to prepare transparent wood. Up to 80 wt % of lignin is preserved, leading to a stronger wood template compared to the delignified alternative. After polymer infiltration, a high‐lignin‐content transparent wood with transmittance of 83 %, haze of 75 %, thermal conductivity of 0.23 W mK−1, and work‐tofracture of 1.2 MJ m−3 (a magnitude higher than glass) was obtained. This transparent wood preparation method is efficient and applicable to various wood species. The transparent wood obtained shows potential for application in energy‐saving buildings. PMID:28719095

Verification of the effectiveness of the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy computational model for colorectal cancer.

PubMed

Depciuch, J; Kaznowska, E; Koziorowska, A; Cebulski, J

2017-10-25

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers. Its formation is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Despite the continuous development of diagnostic tools and cancer therapies, there are no methods that allow a real-time estimation of treatment efficiency. This method can be a vibrational spectroscopy. The resulting infrared spectrum (FTIR) of the tissue gives us information about the chemical composition and the content of the individual components. We have noticed that tumor tissues, healthy and after chemotherapy tissues, have different vibrational spectra. It was also shown that spectra acquired from normal (benign) tissues were similar to those derived from tissues post-chemotherapy. The similarity was greater, when the effectiveness of chemotherapy, confirmed by medical documentation, was better. Therefore, we decided to use the physical model proposed in our earlier paper to verify its correctness and to show whether a particular type of chemotherapy was effective or not. Comparison of the results obtained from the physical model with patients data have been found as close to the physical condition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of graphene oxide through different oxidation degrees for solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaoshan; Wang, Huan; Huang, Tianjiao; Wen, Lingling; Zhou, Liya

2018-03-01

Graphene is known as an electro-chemical material and widely used in electro-chemical devices, especially in solar cell. Decreasing the thickness of the layer is a critical way to improve the electrochemical property of solar cells as far as possible. Among the various oxidation approaches, presented herein is a facile approach, which is easier, less cost and more effective, environmental benign with the greener processing and without any requirement for post purification, towards the synthesis of graphene oxide (GO) with different oxidation degrees by potassium ferrate (K2FeO4). A modified method using less amount of oxidizing agent is reported herein. It is the pretreatment of the synthesis of graphite, which maintains the thermal cycle of the system. This novel reports to compound GO with controlled oxidation degrees can not only increase the quantity of oxygen-containing functional groups on GO surface, increase space between graphene oxide layer and facilitate the dispersion of graphene in aqueous solution. Thus, the modified method shows prospect for large-scale production of graphene oxide and its novel application, in addition to its derivative and market potential for solar cells.

Heterofunctional nanomaterials: fabrication, properties and applications in nanobiotechnology.

PubMed

Kumart, S Anil; Khan, M I

2010-07-01

Nanotechnology and nanoengineering includes a novel class of materials that are gaining significant recognition to pursuit technological/biological advances in diverse fields including, biology, medicine, electronics, engineering etc. due to their unique size- and shape-dependent intrinsic physicochemical, optoelectronic and biological properties. Characteristics such as high surface to volume ratios and quantum confinement results in materials that are qualitatively different from their bulk counterparts. These properties not only make them suitable for numerous applications in existing and emerging technologies, but also have outstanding role in many fields that provide inspiration for their fabrication. In Today's trend nanotechnology is spreading vigorously where researchers all over the world are focusing towards their synthesis and applications. Therefore, this review is helpful for the researchers in the field of nanobiotechnology/nanomedicine, providing a brief overview of nanotechnology, covering nanomaterial synthesis methods (with emphasis on environmentally benign greener approaches), their properties, and applications; such as drug delivery, bio-labeling, nanotoxicity etc. The influence of synthesis methods and surface coatings/stabilizing agents and their subsequent applications is discussed, and a broad outline on the biomedical applications into which they have been implemented is also presented.

Comparison of the Eder-Puestow and Celestin techniques for dilating benign oesophageal strictures.

PubMed

Hine, K R; Hawkey, C J; Atkinson, M; Holmes, G K

1984-10-01

The Celestin and Eder-Puestow methods of dilating benign oesophageal strictures have been compared prospectively in a randomised trial. One hundred and thirty three dilatations were performed on 72 patients. There was no significant difference between the two techniques with regard to the long term relief of symptoms. Celestin dilatation was quicker, less likely to cause pharyngeal trauma, and less damaging to guide wires. It could not be used, however, in those patients in whom only a short length of guide wire could be passed through the stricture.

Comparison of the Eder-Puestow and Celestin techniques for dilating benign oesophageal strictures.

PubMed Central

Hine, K R; Hawkey, C J; Atkinson, M; Holmes, G K

1984-01-01

The Celestin and Eder-Puestow methods of dilating benign oesophageal strictures have been compared prospectively in a randomised trial. One hundred and thirty three dilatations were performed on 72 patients. There was no significant difference between the two techniques with regard to the long term relief of symptoms. Celestin dilatation was quicker, less likely to cause pharyngeal trauma, and less damaging to guide wires. It could not be used, however, in those patients in whom only a short length of guide wire could be passed through the stricture. PMID:6479685

State of the art of prostatic arterial embolization for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

PubMed

Petrillo, Mario; Pesapane, Filippo; Fumarola, Enrico Maria; Emili, Ilaria; Acquasanta, Marzia; Patella, Francesca; Angileri, Salvatore Alessio; Rossi, Umberto G; Piacentini, Igor; Granata, Antonio Maria; Ierardi, Anna Maria; Carrafiello, Gianpaolo

2018-04-01

Prostatectomy via open surgery or transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is the standard treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Several patients present contraindication for standard approach, individuals older than 60 years with urinary tract infection, strictures, post-operative pain, incontinence or urinary retention, sexual dysfunction, and blood loss are not good candidates for surgery. Prostatic artery embolization (PAE) is emerging as a viable method for patients unsuitable for surgery. In this article, we report results about technical and clinical success and safety of the procedure to define the current status.

Sustainable Potassium-Ion Battery Anodes Derived from Waste-Tire Rubber

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Yunchao; Adams, Ryan A.; Arora, Anjela

The recycling of waste-tire rubber is of critical importance since the discarded tires pose serious environmental and health hazards to our society. Here, we report a new application for hard-carbon materials derived from waste-tires as anodes in potassium-ion batteries. The sustainable tire-derived carbons show good reversible potassium insertion at relatively high rates. Long-term stability tests exhibit capacities of 155 and 141 mAh g –1 for carbon pyrolyzed at 1100°C and 1600°C, respectively, after 200 cycles at current rate of C/2. As a result, this study provides an alternative solution for inexpensive and environmental benign potassium-ion battery anode materials.

Sustainable Potassium-Ion Battery Anodes Derived from Waste-Tire Rubber

DOE PAGES

Li, Yunchao; Adams, Ryan A.; Arora, Anjela; ...

2017-04-13

The recycling of waste-tire rubber is of critical importance since the discarded tires pose serious environmental and health hazards to our society. Here, we report a new application for hard-carbon materials derived from waste-tires as anodes in potassium-ion batteries. The sustainable tire-derived carbons show good reversible potassium insertion at relatively high rates. Long-term stability tests exhibit capacities of 155 and 141 mAh g –1 for carbon pyrolyzed at 1100°C and 1600°C, respectively, after 200 cycles at current rate of C/2. As a result, this study provides an alternative solution for inexpensive and environmental benign potassium-ion battery anode materials.

Environmental risks and challenges associated with neonicotinoid insecticides

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hladik, Michelle L.; Main, Anson; Goulson, Dave

2018-01-01

Neonicotinoid use has increased rapidly in recent years, with a global shift towards insecticide applications as seed coatings rather than aerial spraying. While the use of seed coatings can lessen the amount of overspray and drift, the near universal and prophylactic use of neonicotinoid seed coatings on major agricultural crops has led to widespread detections in the environment (pollen, soil, water, honey). Pollinators and aquatic insects appear to be especially susceptible to the effects of neonicotinoids with current research suggesting that chronic sub-lethal effects are more prevalent than acute toxicity. Meanwhile, evidence of clear and consistent yield benefits from the use of neonicotinoids remains elusive for most crops. Future decisions on neonicotinoid use will benefit from weighing crop yield benefits versus environmental impacts to non-target organisms and considering whether there are more environmentally benign alternatives.

Pathologic Outcomes following Urethral Diverticulectomy in Women

PubMed Central

Laudano, Melissa A.; Jamzadeh, Asha E.; Lee, Richard K.; Robinson, Brian D.; Tyagi, Renuka; Kaplan, Steven A.; Te, Alexis E.

2014-01-01

Purpose. Although most urethral diverticula in women are benign, there is a subset of patients who develop malignant changes. Limited studies report the pathologic findings associated with this relatively rare entity. We describe the clinicopathologic findings of women who underwent urethral diverticulectomy. Methods. A consecutive series of 29 women who underwent surgical resection of a urethral diverticulum were identified between 1992 and 2013. Clinical and radiographic data was collected by retrospective review of patient medical records. All pathological slides were rereviewed by a single urologic pathologist. Results. Of the 14 women with clinical data, 9 (64%) presented with urgency, 7 (50%) with urinary frequency, 3 (21%) with urinary incontinence, and 3 (21%) with dysuria. Mean diverticular size was 2.3 (±1.4) cm. Although one patient (3%) had invasive adenocarcinoma on final pathology, the remaining 28 cases (97%) demonstrated benign features. The most common findings were inflammation (55%) and nephrogenic adenoma (21%). Conclusions. Although most urethral diverticula in women are benign, there is a subset of patients who develop malignancy in association with the diverticulum. In this series, 97% of cases had a benign histology. These findings are important when counseling patients regarding treatment options. PMID:24860605

Pathologic Outcomes following Urethral Diverticulectomy in Women.

PubMed

Laudano, Melissa A; Jamzadeh, Asha E; Dunphy, Claire; Lee, Richard K; Robinson, Brian D; Tyagi, Renuka; Kaplan, Steven A; Te, Alexis E; Chughtai, Bilal

2014-01-01

Purpose. Although most urethral diverticula in women are benign, there is a subset of patients who develop malignant changes. Limited studies report the pathologic findings associated with this relatively rare entity. We describe the clinicopathologic findings of women who underwent urethral diverticulectomy. Methods. A consecutive series of 29 women who underwent surgical resection of a urethral diverticulum were identified between 1992 and 2013. Clinical and radiographic data was collected by retrospective review of patient medical records. All pathological slides were rereviewed by a single urologic pathologist. Results. Of the 14 women with clinical data, 9 (64%) presented with urgency, 7 (50%) with urinary frequency, 3 (21%) with urinary incontinence, and 3 (21%) with dysuria. Mean diverticular size was 2.3 (±1.4) cm. Although one patient (3%) had invasive adenocarcinoma on final pathology, the remaining 28 cases (97%) demonstrated benign features. The most common findings were inflammation (55%) and nephrogenic adenoma (21%). Conclusions. Although most urethral diverticula in women are benign, there is a subset of patients who develop malignancy in association with the diverticulum. In this series, 97% of cases had a benign histology. These findings are important when counseling patients regarding treatment options.

Soy consumption and histopathologic markers in breast tissue using tissue microarrays.

PubMed

Maskarinec, Gertraud; Erber, Eva; Verheus, Martijn; Hernandez, Brenda Y; Killeen, Jeffrey; Cashin, Suzanne; Cline, J Mark

2009-01-01

This study examined the relation of soy intake with hormonal and proliferation markers in benign and malignant breast tissue using tissue microarrays (TMAs). TMAs with up to 4 malignant and 4 benign tissue samples for 268 breast cancer cases were constructed. Soy intake in early life and in adulthood was assessed by questionnaire. The TMAs were stained for estrogen receptor (ER) alpha, ERbeta, progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and Ki-67 using standard immunohistochemical methods. Logistic regression was applied for statistical analysis. A higher percentage of women showed positive marker expression in malignant than in benign tissue. With one exception, HER2/neu, no significant associations between soy intake and pathologic markers were observed. Early life soy intake was associated with lower HER2/neu and PCNA staining of malignant tissue. In benign tissue, early life soy intake showed higher ER and PR expression, but no difference in proliferation markers. The results of this investigation provide some assurance that soy intake does not adversely affect markers of proliferation. TMAs were shown to be a useful tool for epidemiologic research.

Texture Analysis and Synthesis of Malignant and Benign Mediastinal Lymph Nodes in Patients with Lung Cancer on Computed Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Tuan D.; Watanabe, Yuzuru; Higuchi, Mitsunori; Suzuki, Hiroyuki

2017-02-01

Texture analysis of computed tomography (CT) imaging has been found useful to distinguish subtle differences, which are in- visible to human eyes, between malignant and benign tissues in cancer patients. This study implemented two complementary methods of texture analysis, known as the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and the experimental semivariogram (SV) with an aim to improve the predictive value of evaluating mediastinal lymph nodes in lung cancer. The GLCM was explored with the use of a rich set of its derived features, whereas the SV feature was extracted on real and synthesized CT samples of benign and malignant lymph nodes. A distinct advantage of the computer methodology presented herein is the alleviation of the need for an automated precise segmentation of the lymph nodes. Using the logistic regression model, a sensitivity of 75%, specificity of 90%, and area under curve of 0.89 were obtained in the test population. A tenfold cross-validation of 70% accuracy of classifying between benign and malignant lymph nodes was obtained using the support vector machines as a pattern classifier. These results are higher than those recently reported in literature with similar studies.

Efficacy of Surgical Airway Plasty for Benign Airway Stenosis

PubMed Central

Takahama, Makoto; Nakajima, Ryu; Kimura, Michitaka; Inoue, Hidetoshi; Yamamoto, Ryoji

2015-01-01

Background: Long-term patency is required during treatment for benign airway stenosis. This study investigated the effectiveness of surgical airway plasty for benign airway stenosis. Methods: Clinical courses of 20 patients, who were treated with surgical plasty for their benign airway stenosis, were retrospectively investigated. Results: Causes of stenosis were tracheobronchial tuberculosis in 12 patients, post-intubation stenosis in five patients, malacia in two patients, and others in one patient. 28 interventional pulmonology procedures and 20 surgical plasty were performed. Five patients with post-intubation stenosis and four patients with tuberculous stenosis were treated with tracheoplasty. Eight patients with tuberculous stenosis were treated with bronchoplasty, and two patients with malacia were treated with stabilization of the membranous portion. Anastomotic stenosis was observed in four patients, and one to four additional treatments were required. Performance status, Hugh–Jones classification, and ventilatory functions were improved after surgical plasty. Outcomes were fair in patients with tuberculous stenosis and malacia. However, efficacy of surgical plasty for post-intubation stenosis was not observed. Conclusion: Surgical airway plasty may be an acceptable treatment for tuberculous stenosis. Patients with malacia recover well after surgical plasty. There may be untreated patients with malacia who have the potential to benefit from surgical plasty. PMID:26567879

Pancreaticojejunostomy, hepaticojejunostomy and double Roux-en-Y digestive tract reconstruction for benign pancreatic diseases.

PubMed

Jia, Chang-Ku; Lu, Xue-Fei; Yang, Qing-Zhuang; Weng, Jie; Chen, You-Ke; Fu, Yu

2014-09-28

Surgery such as digestive tract reconstruction is usually required for pancreatic trauma and severe pancreatitis as well as malignant pancreatic lesions. The most common digestive tract reconstruction techniques (e.g., Child's type reconstruction) for neoplastic diseases of the pancreatic head often encompass pancreaticojejunostomy, choledochojejunostomy and then gastrojejunostomy with pancreaticoduodenectomy, whereas these techniques may not be applicable in benign pancreatic diseases due to an integrated stomach and duodenum in these patients. In benign pancreatic diseases, the aforementioned reconstruction will not only increase the distance between the pancreaticojejunostomy and choledochojejunostomy, but also the risks of traction, twisting and angularity of the jejunal loop. In addition, postoperative complications such as mixed fistula are refractory and life-threatening after common reconstruction procedures. We here introduce a novel pancreaticojejunostomy, hepaticojejunostomy and double Roux-en-Y digestive tract reconstruction in two cases of benign pancreatic disease, thus decreasing not only the distance between the pancreaticojejunostomy and choledochojejunostomy, but also the possibility of postoperative complications compared to common reconstruction methods. Postoperatively, the recovery of these patients was uneventful and complications such as bile leakage, pancreatic leakage and digestive tract obstruction were not observed during the follow-up period.

[Diffusion weighted imaging and perfusion weighted imaging in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant renal masses on 3.0 T MRI].

PubMed

Xu, Xiaowen; Wang, Peijun; Ma, Liang; Shao, Zhihong; Zhang, Min

2015-01-20

To explore the value of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) in identifying benign and malignant renal masses and differentiating the histological types of renal masses. Fifteen healthy volunteers and 46 patients with renal masses proven by pathology, including clear cell carcinomas (n = 18), papillary carcinomas (n = 8), chromophobe carcinomas (n = 7) and angiomyolipomas (n = 13), were examined with DWI and PWI scan at 3.0 T MRI. ANOVA was employed to compare the values of transfer constant (K(trans)), rate constant of backflux (Kep) and extra-vascular extra-cellular space fractional volume (Ve) proceeded by PWI and the value of ADC resulted from DWI between normal kidney and different histological types of renal masses. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was used to analyze and compare the diagnostic value of the methods of PWI and DWI in differentiating benign and malignant renal masses. The ADC value of normal renal parenchyma was (2.10 ± 0.24) × 10⁻³ mm²/s, which was statistically higher than benign and malignant renal masses (P < 0.05). The ADC value of benign masses was statistically higher than that of all histological types of malignant masses (P < 0.05). Among three histological types of malignancies, clear cell carcinoma showed the statistically highest ADC value (P < 0.05). But the difference between papillary carcinoma and chromophobe carcinoma had no statistical significance (P > 0.05).Values of K(trans), Kep and Ve between normal renal parenchyma and different histological types of renal masses had statistical differences.Values of K(trans) and Ve in three histological types of malignant renal masses were statistically higher than those of benign renal masses.Kep value of clear cell carcinoma was significantly higher than that of benign renal masses (P < 0.05).However, other histological types of malignant masses had no significant difference with benign masses.For three malignant masses, K(trans) of clear cell carcinoma, papillary carcinoma and chromophobe carcinoma were (0.85 ± 0.27), (0.51 ± 0.04) and (0.39 ± 0.05)/min respectively. All values gradually reduced. And the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The Ve value of renal clear cell carcinoma was statistically higher than that of papillary carcinoma (P < 0.05). ROC curve was used to analyze and compare the diagnostic value of PWI versus DWI in differentiating benign and malignant renal masses. The K(trans) of benign and malignant renal masses had the largest AUC (AUC = 0.937) at a threshold of 0.38/min. And there were a sensitivity of 87.9% and a specificity of 85.7%. The AUC of ADC was 0.823, sensitivity 72.7% and specificity 92.9%. The ADC threshold for differentiating benign from malignant masses was 1.40 × 10⁻³ mm²/s; AUC of Ve 0.803, sensitivity 78.8% and specificity 71.4%, a threshold of 0.29/min; Kep showed lower diagnostic value. 3.0 T MRI DWI and PWI can effectively differentiate benign and different histological types of malignant renal masses. And PWI is superior to DWI in differentiating benign and malignant renal masses.K(trans) with the largest AUC showed the highest diagnostic value. And ADC is also irreplaceable in providing the information of cellular structural features and the movement of water diffusion.

Clinical practice trends in cryosurgery: a retrospective study of cutaneous lesions

PubMed Central

Erkan, Ceren Dagar; Karaca, Semsettin

2015-01-01

Introduction Cryosurgery is an alternative treatment for many benign, premalignant, and malignant lesions of the skin. Aim To review the indications of cryosurgery for cutaneous lesions. Material and methods The retrospective study was based on the assessment of medical records of 1031 dermatology patients who had cryosurgery. Results One thousand two hundred and forty-four sessions of cryosurgery were applied to the total of 1031 patients. Of the 1031 patients, the most frequent indication for cryosurgery was common warts which were present in 535 (61.59%) patients, followed by anogenital warts in 119 (11.54%) patients, callosity in 81 (7.85%) patients, actinic keratosis in 77 (7.46%) patients, molluscum contagiosum in 35 (3.39%) patients, and other benign or malignant skin lesions. Conclusions Cryosurgery is still a valuable treatment of choice in various benign, premalignant, and malignant skin diseases but seems to be underused for indications other than viral warts. PMID:26015777

Endoscopic management of hilar biliary strictures

PubMed Central

Singh, Rajiv Ranjan; Singh, Virendra

2015-01-01

Hilar biliary strictures are caused by various benign and malignant conditions. It is difficult to differentiate benign and malignant strictures. Postcholecystectomy benign biliary strictures are frequently encountered. Endoscopic management of these strictures is challenging. An endoscopic method has been advocated that involves placement of increasing number of stents at regular intervals to resolve the stricture. Malignant hilar strictures are mostly unresectable at the time of diagnosis and only palliation is possible.Endoscopic palliation is preferred over surgery or radiological intervention. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreaticography is quite important in the management of these strictures. Metal stents are superior to plastic stents. The opinion is divided over the issue of unilateral or bilateral stenting.Minimal contrast or no contrast technique has been advocated during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography of these patients. The role of intraluminal brachytherapy, intraductal ablation devices, photodynamic therapy, and endoscopic ultrasound still remains to be defined. PMID:26191345

Single-port laparoscopic partial splenectomy: a case report.

PubMed

Hong, Tae Ho; Lee, Sang Kuon; You, Young Kyoung; Kim, Jun Gi

2010-10-01

With the better understanding of the importance of the spleen as a primary organ of the human immune system, there has been an increased interest in performing the partial splenectomy for a number of indications such as nonparasitic cysts, benign tumors, staging of lymphomas, etc. Moreover, laparoscopic partial splenectomy has been gaining more interest as the recommended approach for benign splenic disorders to preserve the splenic function with very low recurrence rates. Meanwhile, many surgeons have attempted to reduce the number and size of the ports in laparoscopic surgery with the aim of inducing less parietal trauma and fewer scars. One of these efforts is single-port laparoscopic surgery, which is a rapidly evolving field all over the world. Here, we describe a feasible method of single-port laparoscopic partial splenectomy for treating a benign splenic cyst that was located in the upper medial aspect of the spleen.

Afebrile Benign Convulsion Associated With Mild Gastroenteritis

PubMed Central

Khosroshahi, Nahid; Rahbarimanesh, Aliakbar; Boroujeni, Farhad Asadi; Eskandarizadeh, Zahra; Zoham, Mojdeh Habibi

2018-01-01

Background: Benign convulsion with mild gastroenteritis is a new clinical entity that occurs in children who are otherwise healthy. Method: This cohort study held among patients with afebrile convulsion and accompanying gastroenteritis in a tertiary children hospital during a 2-year period. Demographic and clinical data were analyzed. Neurodevelopmental milestones were observed during a follow-up period of 12 to 24 months. Results: Twenty-five patients aged 3 to 48 months with female predominance were enrolled. Ninety-three percent of cases experienced generalized tonic-clonic seizures. One-third of seizures occurred in clusters. Primary laboratory findings and electroencephalography were normal except for 3 with few epileptic waves. During the follow-up period, no seizure recurrence happened. Long-term antiepileptic treatment was unnecessary. Conclusion: Afebrile convulsion accompanying mild gastroenteritis is a convulsive disorder with reassuring prognosis. Due to its benign course, comprehensive neurodiagnostic evaluation and long-term antiepileptic drugs are usually avoidable.

[The efficacy of endoscopic endosonography in diagnosis of benign and malignant stenoses of common bile duct].

PubMed

Solodinina, E N; Starkov, Iu G; Shumkina, L V

2016-01-01

To define criteria and to estimate diagnostic significance of endosonography in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant stenoses of common bile duct. We presented the results of survey and treatment of 57 patients with benign and malignant stenoses of common bile duct. The technique of endosonography is described. We have formulated major criteria of differential diagnostics of tumoral and non-tumoral lesion of extrahepatic bile ducts. Comparative analysis of endosonography, ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography was performed. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of endosonography in diagnosis of stenosis cause is 97.7%, 100% and 98.2% respectively. So it exceeds the efficacy of other diagnostic X-ray methods. In modern surgical clinic endosonography should be mandatory performed. It is necessary for final diagnostics of cause of common bile duct stenosis especially in case of its low location.

Social perception in children with intellectual disabilities: the interpretation of benign and hostile intentions.

PubMed

Leffert, J S; Siperstein, G N; Widaman, K F

2010-02-01

A key aspect of social perception is the interpretation of others' intentions. Children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have difficulty interpreting benign intentions when a negative event occurs. From a cognitive processing perspective, interpreting benign intentions can be challenging because it requires integration of conflicting information, as the social cues accompanying the negative event convey non-hostile intentions. The present study examined how children with ID process conflicting social information in a more diverse set of situational circumstances than was investigated previously, including situations involving hostile intentions. We hypothesised that when conflicting information in a social situation consists of mixed social cues that convey insincere benign intentions (a type of hostile intentions), children with ID would have difficulty arriving at an accurate interpretation, just as they do when a negative event is accompanied by cues that convey benign intentions. We also hypothesised that when a negative event is accompanied by cues that convey benign intentions, the presence of a highly salient negative event would pose added interpretation difficulty for these children. Methods Participants (58 children with ID and 189 children without ID in grades 2-6) viewed 13 videotaped vignettes. In each vignette, social cues that accompanied a negative event provided information about the intentions of the character that caused the event. After presenting each vignette, we asked the child questions designed to assess aspects of social perception, including his/her interpretation of intentions. Vignettes represented three types of situations that pose conflicting information: (1) a conflict between a negative event and social cues, which conveyed benign intentions (five items); (2) the presence of conflicting social cues that conveyed insincere benign intentions (four items); and (3) additional items designed to examine the effect of the salience of negative event and cues on accurate interpretation of benign intentions (four items). Teachers completed rating scales of social behaviour, enabling us to examine whether the ability to interpret intentions when conflicting information is present is related to children's social behaviour. Results Children with ID had lower interpretation accuracy than children without ID for all three social situations that presented conflicting information. Children with ID appeared to have particular difficulty interpreting benign intentions when a negative event (but not the social cue) was made salient. For children with ID, interpretation accuracy and teacher-rated social behaviour were related. Conclusions Results demonstrated that the presence of conflicting information poses cognitive processing challenges in a variety of social situations, making it difficult for children with ID to arrive at accurate interpretations. Children with ID were less likely than children without ID to interpret intentions accurately, not just when the social cues conveyed benign intentions, but also when mixed social cues conveyed hostile intentions. In addition, when social cues accompanying a negative event convey benign intentions, the relative salience of the negative event and the cues can affect interpretation accuracy for children with ID. Discussion focuses on implications for understanding the cognitive component of the social domain of adaptive behaviour, for explaining gullibility in children with ID and for instructional practices.

Assessment of using ultrasound images as prior for diffuse optical tomography regularization matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Althobaiti, Murad; Vavadi, Hamed; Zhu, Quing

2017-02-01

Imaging of tissue with Ultrasound-guided diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a rising imaging technique to map hemoglobin concentrations within tissue for breast cancer detection and diagnosis. Near-infrared optical imaging received a lot of attention in research as a possible technique to be used for such purpose especially for breast tumors. Since DOT images contrast is closely related to oxygenation and deoxygenating of the hemoglobin, which is an important factor in differentiating malignant and benign tumors. One of the optical imaging modalities used is the diffused optical tomography (DOT); which probes deep scattering tissue (1-5cm) by NIR optical source-detector probe and detects NIR photons in the diffusive regime. The photons in the diffusive regime usually reach the detector without significant information about their source direction and the propagation path. Because of that, the optical reconstruction problem of the medium characteristics is ill-posed even with the tomography and Back-projection techniques. The accurate recovery of images requires an effective image reconstruction method. Here, we illustrate a method in which ultrasound images are encoded as prior for regularization of the inversion matrix. Results were evaluated using phantom experiments of low and high absorption contrasts. This method improves differentiation between the low and the high contrasts targets. Ultimately, this method could improve malignant and benign cases by increasing reconstructed absorption ratio of malignant to benign. Besides that, the phantom results show improvements in target shape as well as the spatial resolution of the DOT reconstructed images.

Malone refrigeration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swift, G. W.

Malone refrigeration is the use of a liquid near its critical points without evaporations as working fluid in a regenerative or recuperative refrigeration cycle such as the Stirling and Brayton cycles. It's potential advantages include compactness, efficiency, an environmentally benign working fluid, and reasonable cost. One Malone refrigerator has been built and studied; two more are under construction. Malone refrigeration is such a new, relatively unexplored technology that the potential for inventions leading to improvements in efficiency and simplicity is very high.

Gas Phase Nanoparticle Synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granqvist, Claes; Kish, Laszlo; Marlow, William

This book deals with gas-phase nanoparticle synthesis and is intended for researchers and research students in nanomaterials science and engineering, condensed matter physics and chemistry, and aerosol science. Gas-phase nanoparticle synthesis is instrumental to nanotechnology - a field in current focus that raises hopes for environmentally benign, resource-lean manufacturing. Nanoparticles can be produced by many physical, chemical, and even biological routes. Gas-phase synthesis is particularly interesting since one can achieve accurate manufacturing control and hence industrial viability.

Synthesis of Cyano-Containing Phenanthridine Derivatives via Catalyst-, Base-, and Oxidant-Free Direct Cyanoalkylarylation of Isocyanides.

PubMed

Song, Weihong; Yan, Peipei; Shen, Dan; Chen, Zhangtao; Zeng, Xiaofei; Zhong, Guofu

2017-04-21

An efficient catalyst-, base-, and oxidant-free direct cyanoalkylarylation of isocyanides with AIBN has been developed under mild conditions. This strategy provides an elusive and rapid access to a wide range of cyano-containing phenanthridine derivatives in good yields via a one-pot alkylation/cyclization radical-cascade process. The mild reaction conditions together with no need of any catalyst, base, or oxidant make this protocol environmentally benign and practical.

Environmentally-benign conversion of biomass residues to electricity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, Andrew

As petroleum resources are finite, it is imperative to use them wisely in energy conversion applications and, at the same time, develop alternative energy sources. Biomass is one of the renewable energy sources that can be used to partially replace fossil fuels. Biomass-based fuels can be produced domestically and can reduce dependency on fuel imports. Due to their abundant supply, and given that to an appreciable extent they can be considered carbon-neutral, their use for power generation is of technological interest. However, whereas biomasses can be directly burned in furnaces, such a conventional direct combustion technique is ill-controlled and typically produces considerable amounts of health-hazardous airborne compounds [1,2]. Thus, an alternative technology for biomass utilization is described herein to address increasing energy needs in an environmentally-benign manner. More specifically, a multi-step process/device is presented to accept granulated or pelletized biomass, and generate an easily-identifiable form of energy as a final product. To achieve low emissions of products of incomplete combustion, the biomass is gasified pyrolytically, mixed with air, ignited and, finally, burned in nominally premixed low-emission flames. Combustion is thus indirect, since the biomass is not directly burned, instead its gaseous pyrolyzates are burned upon mixing with air. Thereby, combustion is well-controlled and can be complete. A demonstration device has been constructed to convert the internal energy of plastics into "clean" thermal energy and, eventually to electricity.

An environmentally benign dual action antimicrobial: quaternized chitosan/sodium alga acid multilayer films and silver nanoparticles decorated on magnetic nanoparticles.

PubMed

Jin, Feng; Xiang, Qian; Chen, Xiaoqin; Peng, Xuefeng; Xing, Xiaodong

2016-10-01

There is an urgent need to develop a puissant and environmentally benign antibacterial composite that act via multiple mechanisms to make response to the potentially daunting complexity of the microbial population and microbial antibiotic resistance. In this work, a facile and green approach, layer-by-layer self-assembly technology was applied to assemble polycation quaternized chitosan (QAC) and polyanion sodium alga acid onto magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Then silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with stable and narrow-sized distribution in the range of 25-35 nm were immobilized on the surface of MNPs with L-ascorbic acid as reducing agent and organic multilayers as stabilizer. Through above modification on MNPs, we expected to achieve a green dual antibacterial and recyclable composite via the combined antibacterial action of QAC and AgNPs. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, transmission electron microscopy, zeta potentials, and dynamic light scattering were employed to confirm the success of the surface functionalization. Silver ion release process was detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Furthermore, the antibacterial properties of the biomaterials against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus were studied. The modified MNPs exhibited rapid, efficient, and long-lasting biocidal abilities against E. coli and S. aureus. The magnetic antibacterial composite still showed excellent antibacterial efficiency during five exposure/collection/recycle procedures.

Korean clinical practice guideline for benign prostatic hyperplasia

PubMed Central

Yeo, Jeong Kyun; Choi, Hun; Bae, Jae Hyun; Kim, Jae Heon; Yang, Seong Ok; Oh, Chul Young; Cho, Young Sam; Kim, Kyoung Woo

2016-01-01

In 2014, the Korean Urological Association organized the Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Guideline Developing Committee composed of experts in the field of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with the participation of the Korean Academy of Family Medicine and the Korean Continence Society to develop a Korean clinical practice guideline for BPH. The purpose of this clinical practice guideline is to provide current and comprehensive recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of BPH. The committee developed the guideline mainly by adapting existing guidelines and partially by using the de novo method. A comprehensive literature review was carried out primarily from 2009 to 2013 by using medical search engines including data from Korea. Based on the published evidence, recommendations were synthesized, and the level of evidence of the recommendations was determined by using methods adapted from the 2011 Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Meta-analysis was done for one key question and four recommendations. A draft guideline was reviewed by expert peer reviewers and discussed at an expert consensus meeting until final agreement was achieved. This evidence-based guideline for BPH provides recommendations to primary practitioners and urologists for the diagnosis and treatment of BPH in men older than 40 years. PMID:26966724

Role of morphometry in the cytological differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid lesions

PubMed Central

Khatri, Pallavi; Choudhury, Monisha; Jain, Manjula; Thomas, Shaji

2017-01-01

Context: Thyroid nodules represent a common problem, with an estimated prevalence of 4–7%. Although fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been accepted as a first line diagnostic test, the rate of false negative reports of malignancy is still high. Nuclear morphometry is the measurement of nuclear parameters by image analysis. Image analysis can merge the advantages of morphologic interpretation with those of quantitative data. Aims: To evaluate the nuclear morphometric parameters in fine needle aspirates of thyroid lesions and to study its role in differentiating benign from malignant thyroid lesions. Material and Methods: The study included 19 benign and 16 malignant thyroid lesions. Image analysis was performed on Giemsa-stained FNAC slides by Nikon NIS-Elements Advanced Research software (Version 4.00). Nuclear morphometric parameters analyzed included nuclear size, shape, texture, and density parameters. Statistical Analysis: Normally distributed continuous variables were compared using the unpaired t-test for two groups and analysis of variance was used for three or more groups. Tukey or Tamhane's T2 multiple comparison test was used to assess the differences between the individual groups. Categorical variables were analyzed using the chi square test. Results and Conclusion: Five out of the six nuclear size parameters as well as all the texture and density parameters studied were significant in distinguishing between benign and malignant thyroid lesions (P < 0.05). Cut-off values were derived to differentiate between benign and malignant cases. PMID:28182069

Comparison of Effectiveness in Differentiating Benign from Malignant Ovarian Masses between IOTA Simple Rules and Subjective Sonographic Assessment.

PubMed

Tongsong, Theera; Tinnangwattana, Dangcheewan; Vichak-Ururote, Linlada; Tontivuthikul, Paponrad; Charoenratana, Cholaros; Lerthiranwong, Thitikarn

2016-01-01

To compare diagnostic performance in differentiating benign from malignant ovarian masses between IOTA (the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis) simple rules and subjective sonographic assessment. Women scheduled for elective surgery because of ovarian masses were recruited into the study and underwent ultrasound examination within 24 hours of surgery to apply the IOTA simple rules by general gynecologists and to record video clips for subjective assessment by an experienced sonographer. The diagnostic performance of the IOTA rules and subjective assessment for differentiation between benign and malignant masses was compared. The gold standard diagnosis was pathological or operative findings. A total of 150 ovarian masses were covered, comprising 105 (70%) benign and 45 (30%) malignant. Of them, the IOTA simple rules could be applied in 119 (79.3%) and were inconclusive in 31 (20.7%) whereas subjective assessment could be applied in all cases (100%). The sensitivity and the specificity of the IOTA simple rules and subjective assessment were not significantly different, 82.9% vs 86.7% and 94.0% vs 94.3% respectively. The agreement of the two methods in prediction was high with a Kappa index of 0.835. Both techniques had a high diagnostic performance in differentiation between benign and malignant ovarian masses but the IOTA rules had a relatively high rate of inconclusive results. The IOTA rules can be used as an effective screening technique by general gynecologists but when the results are inconclusive they should consult experienced sonographers.

Association between air pollution and benign prostatic hyperplasia: An ecological study.

PubMed

Shim, Sung Ryul; Kim, Jae Heon; Song, Yun Seob; Lee, Won Jin

2016-09-02

Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is a prevalent medical condition; however, little is known about the effect of environmental factors. Therefore, we conducted surveys to examine the association between air pollution and the risk of BPH in South Korea between May 2010 and April 2013, yielding data for 1,734 men. Air pollution information was obtained from the National Air Pollutants Emission 2010 report. Logistic regression analyses were conducted after adjusting for potential confounders. The International Prostate Symptom Score significantly increased with increasing per capita air pollutant emissions. The risk of BPH increased as the overall concentration of air pollutants increased (odds ratio [OR], 2.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.55-3.21). In particular, nitrogen oxides (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.25-2.39) and sulfur oxides (OR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.42-2.88) showed a dose-dependent association. Our findings support a positive association between the risk of BPH and air pollution.

Discrimination of Benign and Neoplastic Mucosa with a High-Resolution Microendoscope (HRME) in Head and Neck Cancer

PubMed Central

Vila, Peter M.; Park, Chan W.; Pierce, Mark C.; Goldstein, Gregg H.; Levy, Lauren; Gurudutt, Vivek V.; Polydorides, Alexandras D.; Godbold, James H.; Teng, Marita S.; Genden, Eric M.; Miles, Brett A.; Anandasabapathy, Sharmila; Gillenwater, Ann M.; Richards-Kortum, Rebecca; Sikora, Andrew G.

2012-01-01

Background The efficacy of ablative surgery for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) depends critically on obtaining negative margins. While intraoperative "frozen section" analysis of margins is a valuable adjunct, it is expensive, time-consuming, and highly dependent on pathologist expertise. Optical imaging has potential to improve the accuracy of margins by identifying cancerous tissue in real time. Our aim was to determine the accuracy and inter-rater reliability of head and neck cancer specialists using high-resolution microendoscopic (HRME) images to discriminate between cancerous and benign mucosa. Methods Thirty-eight patients diagnosed with HNSCC were enrolled in this single-center study. HRME was used to image each specimen after application of proflavine, with concurrent standard histopathologic analysis. Images were evaluated for quality control, and a training set containing representative images of benign and neoplastic tissue was assembled. After viewing training images, seven head and neck cancer specialists with no prior HRME experience reviewed 37 test images and were asked to classify each. Results The mean accuracy of all reviewers in correctly diagnosing neoplastic mucosa was 97 percent (95% Cl = 94–99%). The mean sensitivity and specificity were 98 percent (97–100%) and 92 percent (87–98%), respectively. The Fleiss kappa statistic for inter-rater reliability was 0.84 (0.77–0.91). Conclusions Medical professionals can be quickly trained to use HRME to discriminate between benign and neoplastic mucosa in the head and neck. With further development, the HRME shows promise as a method of real-time margin determination at the point of care. PMID:22492225

Highly efficient extraction of anthocyanins from grape skin using deep eutectic solvents as green and tunable media.

PubMed

Jeong, Kyung Min; Zhao, Jing; Jin, Yan; Heo, Seong Rok; Han, Se Young; Yoo, Da Eun; Lee, Jeongmi

2015-12-01

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were investigated as tunable, environmentally benign, yet superior extraction media to enhance the extraction of anthocyanins from grape skin, which is usually discarded as waste. Ten DESs containing choline chloride as hydrogen bond acceptor combined with different hydrogen bond donors were screened for high extraction efficiencies based on the anthocyanin extraction yields. As a result, citric acid, D-(+)-maltose, and fructose were selected as the effective DES components, and the newly designed DES, CM-6 that is composed of citric acid and D-(+)-maltose at 4:1 molar ratio, exhibited significantly higher levels of anthocyanin extraction yields than conventional extraction solvents such as 80% aqueous methanol. The final extraction method was established based on the ultrasound-assisted extraction under conditions optimized using response surface methodology. Its extraction yields were double or even higher than those of conventional methods that are time-consuming and use volatile organic solvents. Our method is truly a green method for anthocyanin extraction with great extraction efficiency using a minimal amount of time and solvent. Moreover, this study suggested that grape skin, the by-products of grape juice processing, could serve as a valuable source for safe, natural colorants or antioxidants by use of the eco-friendly extraction solvent, CM-6.

Organic anodes and sulfur/selenium cathodes for advanced Li and Na batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Chao

To address energy crisis and environmental pollution induced by fossil fuels, there is an urgent demand to develop sustainable, renewable, environmental benign, low cost and high capacity energy storage devices to power electric vehicles and enhance clean energy approaches such as solar energy, wind energy and hydroenergy. However, the commercial Li-ion batteries cannot satisfy the critical requirements for next generation rechargeable batteries. The commercial electrode materials (graphite anode and LiCoO 2 cathode) are unsustainable, unrenewable and environmental harmful. Organic materials derived from biomasses are promising candidates for next generation rechargeable battery anodes due to their sustainability, renewability, environmental benignity and low cost. Driven by the high potential of organic materials for next generation batteries, I initiated a new research direction on exploring advanced organic compounds for Li-ion and Na-ion battery anodes. In my work, I employed croconic acid disodium salt and 2,5-Dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone disodium salt as models to investigate the effects of size and carbon coating on electrochemical performance for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. The results demonstrate that the minimization of organic particle size into nano-scale and wrapping organic materials with graphene oxide can remarkably enhance the rate capability and cycling stability of organic anodes in both Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. To match with organic anodes, high capacity sulfur and selenium cathodes were also investigated. However, sulfur and selenium cathodes suffer from low electrical conductivity and shuttle reaction, which result in capacity fading and poor lifetime. To circumvent the drawbacks of sulfur and selenium, carbon matrixes such as mesoporous carbon, carbonized polyacrylonitrile and carbonized perylene-3, 4, 9, 10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride are employed to encapsulate sulfur, selenium and selenium sulfide. The resulting composites exhibit exceptional electrochemical performance owing to the high conductivity of carbon and effective restriction of polysulfides and polyselenides in carbon matrix, which avoids shuttle reaction.

[Effect of elastic strain rate ratio method and virtual touch tissue quantification on the diagnosis of breast masses].

PubMed

Gong, LiJie; He, Yan; Tian, Peng; Yan, Yan

2016-07-01

To determine the effect of elastic strain rate ratio method and virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) on the diagnosis of breast masses.
 Sixty female patients with breast cancer, who received surgical treatment in Daqing Oilfield General Hospital, were enrolled. All patients signed the informed consent paperwork and they were treated by routine ultrasound examination, compression elastography (CE) examination, and VTQ examination in turn. Strain ratio (SR) was checked by CE and shear wave velocity (SWV) value was measured by VTQ. The diagnostic values of different methods were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves in the diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumors.
 The maximum diameter and SWV value of the benign tumors were lower than those of the malignant tumors, and the SR ratio of benign masses was higher than that of malignant tumors (P<0.01). The AUC, sensitivity and specificity for elastic strain rate and VTQ for single or combined use were higher than those of conventional ultrasound (0.904, 97.5%, 69.2%; 0.946, 87.5%, 87.2%; 0.976, 90%, 97.4% vs 0.783, 85%, 61.5%). The AUC and specificity of VTQ were higher than those of the elastic strain rate (0.946, 87.2% vs 0.904, 69.2%), but the sensitivity of VTQ was higher than that of the latter (87.5% vs 97.5%). The AUC and specificity for combination of both methods were higher than those of single method, but the sensitivity was lower than that of the elastic strain rate. 
 Combination of elastic strain rate ratio method with VTQ possesses the best diagnostic value and the highest diagnostic accuracy in the diagnosis of breast mass than that used alone.

Management applicability of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis across Mongolian rangeland ecosystems.

PubMed

Sasaki, Takehiro; Okubo, Satoru; Okayasu, Tomoo; Jamsran, Undarmaa; Ohkuro, Toshiya; Takeuchi, Kazuhiko

2009-03-01

The current growing body of evidence for diversity-disturbance relationships suggests that the peaked pattern predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) may not be the rule. Even if ecologists could quantify the diversity-disturbance relationship consistent with the IDH, the applicability of the IDH to land management has rarely been addressed. We examined two hypotheses related to the generality and management applicability of the IDH to Mongolian rangeland ecosystems: that the diversity-disturbance relationship varies as a function of landscape condition and that some intermediate scales of grazing can play an important role in terms of sustainable rangeland management through a grazing gradient approach. We quantified the landscape condition of each ecological site using an ordination technique and determined two types of landscape conditions: relatively benign and harsh environmental conditions. At the ecological sites characterized by relatively benign environmental conditions, diversity-disturbance relationships were generally consistent with the IDH, and maximum diversity was observed at some intermediate distance from the source of the grazing gradient. In contrast, the IDH was not supported at most (but not all) sites characterized by relatively harsh environmental conditions. The intermediate levels of grazing were generally located below the ecological threshold representing the points or zones at which disturbance should be limited to prevent drastic changes in ecological conditions, suggesting that there is little "conundrum" with regard to intermediate disturbance in the studied systems in terms of land management. We suggest that the landscape condition is one of the primary factors that cause inconsistencies in diversity-disturbance relationships. The ecological threshold can extend its utility in rangeland management because it also has the compatibility with the maintenance of species diversity. This study thus suggests that some intermediate scales of grazing and ecological thresholds are mutually supportive tools for sustainable management of Mongolian rangelands.

Relative mRNA expression of prostate-derived E-twenty-six factor and E-twenty-six variant 4 transcription factors, and of uridine phosphorylase-1 and thymidine phosphorylase enzymes, in benign and malignant prostatic tissue

PubMed Central

CAVAZZOLA, LUCIANE ROSTIROLA; CARVALHAL, GUSTAVO FRANCO; DEVES, CANDIDA; RENCK, DAIANA; ALMEIDA, RICARDO; SANTOS, DIóGENES SANTIAGO

2015-01-01

Prostate cancer is the most frequent urological tumor, and the second most common cancer diagnosed in men. Incidence and mortality are variable and appear to depend on behavioral factors and genetic predisposition. The prostate-derived E-twenty-six factor (PDEF) and E-twenty-six variant 4 (ETV4) transcription factors, and the thymidine phosphorylase (TP) and uridine phosphorylase-1 (UP-1) enzymes, are reported to be components of the pathways leading to tumorigenesis and/or metastasis in a number of tumors. The present study aimed to analyze the mRNA expression levels of these proteins in prostatic cancerous and benign tissue, and their association with clinical and pathological variables. Using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, the mRNA expression levels of PDEF, ETV4, TP and UP-1 were studied in 52 tissue samples (31 of benign prostatic hyperplasia and 21 of prostate adenocarcinomas) obtained from patients treated by transurethral resection of the prostate or by radical prostatectomy. Relative expression was assessed using the ∆-CT method. Data was analyzed using Spearman's tests for correlation. P<0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference. The results revealed that PDEF, ETV4, UP-1 and TP were expressed in 85.7, 90.5, 95.2 and 100% of the prostate cancer samples, and in 90.3, 96.8, 90.3 and 96.8% of the benign samples, respectively. PDEF and ETV4 exhibited a significantly higher relative expression level in the tumor samples compared with their benign counterparts. The relative expression of TP and UP-1 did not differ significantly between benign and cancerous prostate tissues. The relative expression of TP was moderately and significantly correlated with the expression of ETV4 in the benign tissues. The relative expression of UP-1 was significantly lower in T3 compared with T1 and T2 cancers. These findings indicate that PDEF, ETV4, TP and UP-1 are typically expressed in benign and malignant prostatic tissues. Further studies are necessary to define the role of these proteins as therapeutic targets in prostate cancer. PMID:26137165

Benign positional vertigo

MedlinePlus

Vertigo - positional; Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo; BPPV: dizziness- positional ... Benign positional vertigo is also called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). It is caused by a problem in the inner ear. ...

Recent Advances in Edible Polymer Based Hydrogels as a Sustainable Alternative to Conventional Polymers.

PubMed

Ali, Akbar; Ahmed, Shakeel

2018-06-26

The over increasing demand of eco-friendly materials to counter various problems, such as environmental issues, economics, sustainability, biodegradability, and biocompatibility, open up new fields of research highly focusing on nature-based products. Edible polymer based materials mainly consisting of polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids could be a prospective contender to handle such problems. Hydrogels based on edible polymer offer many valuable properties compared to their synthetic counterparts. Edible polymers can contribute to the reduction of environmental contamination, advance recyclability, provide sustainability, and thereby increase its applicability along with providing environmentally benign products. This review is highly emphasizing on toward the development of hydrogels from edible polymer, their classification, properties, chemical modification, and their potential applications. The application of edible polymer hydrogels covers many areas including the food industry, agricultural applications, drug delivery to tissue engineering in the biomedical field and provide more safe and attractive products in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, and environmental fields, etc.

IGF-1 Release Kinetics from Chitosan Microparticles Fabricated Using Environmentally Benign Conditions

PubMed Central

Mantripragada, Venkata P.; Jayasuriya, Ambalangodage C.

2014-01-01

The main objective of this study is to maximize growth factor encapsulation efficiency into microparticles. The novelty of this study is to maximize the encapsulated growth factors into microparticles by minimizing the use of organic solvents and using relatively low temperatures. The microparticles were fabricated using chitosan biopolymer as a base polymer and cross-linked with tripolyphosphate (TPP). Insulin like-growth factor-1 (IGF-1) was encapsulated into microparticles to study release kinetics and bioactivity. In order to authenticate the harms of using organic solvents like hexane and acetone during microparticle preparation, IGF-1 encapsulated microparticles prepared by the emulsification and coacervation methods were compared. The microparticles fabricated by emulsification method have shown a significant decrease (p<0.05) in IGF-1 encapsulation efficiency, and cumulative release during the two-week period. The biocompatibility of chitosan microparticles and the bioactivity of the released IGF-1 were determined in vitro by live/dead viability assay. The mineralization data observed with Von Kossa assay, was supported by mRNA expression levels of osterix and runx2, which are transcription factors necessary for osteoblasts differentiation. Real time RT-PCR data showed an increased expression of runx 2 and a decreased expression of osterix over time, indicating differentiating osteoblasts. Chitosan microparticles prepared in optimum environmental conditions are a promising controlled delivery system for cells to attach, proliferate, differentiate and mineralize, thereby acting as a suitable bone repairing material. PMID:25063148

Low-temperature solid-state preparation of ternary CdS/g-C3N4/CuS nanocomposites for enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2-production activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Feiyue; Yin, Hui; Xiang, Quanjun

2017-01-01

Low-temperature solid-state method were gradually demonstrated as a high efficiency, energy saving and environmental protection strategy to fabricate composite semiconductor materials. CdS-based multiple composite photocatalytic materials have attracted increasing concern owning to the heterostructure constituents with tunable band gaps. In this study, the ternary CdS/g-C3N4/CuS composite photocatalysts were prepared by a facile and novel low-temperature solid-state strategy. The optimal ternary CdS/g-C3N4/CuS composite exhibits a high visible-light photocatalytic H2-production rate of 57.56 μmol h-1 with the corresponding apparent quantum efficiency reaches 16.5% at 420 nm with Na2S/Na2SO3 mixed aqueous solution as sacrificial agent. The ternary CdS/g-C3N4/CuS composites show the enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2-evolution activity comparing with the binary CdS-based composites or simplex CdS. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is ascribed to the heterojunctions and the synergistic effect of CuS and g-C3N4 in promotion of the charge separation and charge mobility. This work shows that the low-temperature solid-state method is efficient and environmentally benign for the preparation of CdS-based multiple composite photocatalytic materials with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2-production activity.

Difficulties in Management of a Sessile Subglottic Polyp

PubMed Central

Guggarigoudar, S.P.

2015-01-01

Benign laryngeal polyps are usually managed with micro-laryngeal surgery. Occasionally surgery becomes challenging because of size of the polyp or its location. Maintaining the anaesthesia and the airway becomes difficult either during immediate management or during excision. Upper airway obstruction still remains the major indication for tracheostomy in many centers. Nowadays Laryngeal tumour has become the main indication of tracheostomy. Conditions like infections, trauma, benign lesions and prolonged intubation were leading indications previously. Otolaryngologist has to decide a method, often on the spot. Here we are presenting such a case where emergency tracheostomy was the only choice. PMID:26816924

Benign Biliary Strictures and Leaks.

PubMed

Devière, Jacques

2015-10-01

The major causes of benign biliary strictures include surgery, chronic pancreatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and autoimmune cholangitis. Biliary leaks mainly occur after surgery and, rarely, abdominal trauma. These conditions may benefit from a nonsurgical approach in which endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) plays a pivotal role in association with other minimally invasive approaches. This approach should be evaluated for any injury before deciding about the method for repair. ERCP, associated with peroral cholangioscopy, plays a growing role in characterizing undeterminate strictures, avoiding both unuseful major surgeries and palliative options that might compromise any further management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New Ionic Liquids from Natural Products for Environmentally Benign Aircraft Deicing and Anti-Icing

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-10

cation, the preparation of ILs from choline and two GRAS food ingredients (artificial sweeteners ), saccharine and acesulfamate was recently published...In comparison, the synthetic imidazolium-based ILs were quite toxic (EC50 ~14 mg/L) in the same bioassay. Both ILs are water soluble, however...RTIL. This is true to a certain extent, but again the compound has a level of toxicity to C. dubia. Also, the ‘ synthetic ’ imidazolium-based IL 13

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hong Lijun; Li Qing, E-mail: qli@swu.edu.cn; Lin Hua

Novel flower-like silver nanoarchitectures were synthesized via a facile and environmentally benign route in the presence of citric acid and ascorbic acid. The flower-like structures are composed of nano-petals of ca. 20 nm in thickness. The products were characterized with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The growth mechanism of flower-like silver nanoarchitectures involves a film-fold process. Some crucial factors affect the nanocrchitectures growth, such as, pH, the concentration of citric acid, and the concentration of ascorbic acid, have also been discussed.

A Novel Animal Model for Investigating the Neural Basis of Focal Dystonia

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

as the predisposing condition and dry eye as an environmental trigger to model blepharospasm in rodents. This reporting year we demonstrated that 7...benign essential blepharospasm, dry eye , motor plasticity, basal ganglia, deep brain stimulation, eyelids, blinking 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17...basal ganglia create the predisposing condition and that  eye   irritation from  dry   eye   is the envi‐ ronmental trigger.  Our demonstration that

Current challenges and trends in the discovery of agrochemicals.

PubMed

Lamberth, Clemens; Jeanmart, Stephane; Luksch, Torsten; Plant, Andrew

2013-08-16

Crop protection chemistry has come a long way from its "alchemic" beginnings in the late 19th century to a high-tech science that supports the sustainable production of food, feed, and fiber for a rapidly growing population. Cutting-edge developments in the design and synthesis of agrochemicals help to tackle today's challenges of weed and pest resistance, higher regulatory safety margins, and higher cost of goods with the invention of selective, environmentally benign, low use rate, and cost-effective active ingredients.

Metal-Organic Framework-Stabilized CO2/Water Interfacial Route for Photocatalytic CO2 Conversion.

PubMed

Luo, Tian; Zhang, Jianling; Li, Wei; He, Zhenhong; Sun, Xiaofu; Shi, Jinbiao; Shao, Dan; Zhang, Bingxing; Tan, Xiuniang; Han, Buxing

2017-11-29

Here, we propose a CO 2 /water interfacial route for photocatalytic CO 2 conversion by utilizing a metal-organic framework (MOF) as both an emulsifier and a catalyst. The CO 2 reduction occurring at the CO 2 /water interface produces formate with remarkably enhanced efficiency as compared with that in conventional solvent. The route is efficient, facile, adjustable, and environmentally benign, which is applicable for the CO 2 transformation photocatalyzed by different kinds of MOFs.

Contribution of heat transfer to turbine blades and vanes for high temperature industrial gas turbines. Part 1: Film cooling.

PubMed

Takeishi, K; Aoki, S

2001-05-01

This paper deals with the contribution of heat transfer to increase the turbine inlet temperature of industrial gas turbines in order to attain efficient and environmentally benign engines. High efficiency film cooling, in the form of shaped film cooling and full coverage film cooling, is one of the most important cooling technologies. Corresponding heat transfer tests to optimize the film cooling effectiveness are shown and discussed in this first part of the contribution.

Polyelectrolyte-modified cowpea mosaic virus for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles.

PubMed

Aljabali, Alaa A A; Evans, David J

2014-01-01

Polyelectrolyte surface-modified cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) can be used for the templated synthesis of narrowly dispersed gold nanoparticles. Cationic polyelectrolyte, poly(allylamine) hydrochloride, is electrostatically bound to the external surface of the virus capsid. The polyelectrolyte-coated CPMV promotes adsorption of aqueous gold hydroxide anionic species, prepared from gold(III) chloride and potassium carbonate, that are easily reduced to form CPMV-templated gold nanoparticles. The process is simple and environmentally benign using only water as solvent at ambient temperature.

A Low Cost Environmentally Benign Waste Lubricants Recycling/Re-refining Technology.

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-05-01

EXPERIMENTAL 3 2.1 Ceramic Membrane Ultrafiltration Pilot Unit 3 2.2 Polishing/Finishing Pilot Unit 3 2.3 Feed Samples 3 2.4 Sample...development of an additional 2 to 3 sites in the US. 2. EXPERIMENTAL 2.1. Ceramic Membrane Ultrafiltration Pilot Unit A photograph of the pilot...scale ceramic membrane system used in this work is shown in Figure la. Samples of spent turbine oil were charged to the feed tank and heated to 150°C

Differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast masses using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Min, Qinghua; Shao, Kangwei; Zhai, Lulan; Liu, Wei; Zhu, Caisong; Yuan, Lixin; Yang, Jun

2015-02-07

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) is different from conventional diagnostic methods and has the potential to delineate the microscopic anatomy of a target tissue or organ. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the value of DW-MRI in the diagnosis of benign and malignant breast masses, which would help the clinical surgeon to decide the scope and pattern of operation. A total of 52 female patients with palpable solid breast masses received breast MRI scans using routine sequences, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging, and diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging at b values of 400, 600, and 800 s/mm(2), respectively. Two regions of interest (ROIs) were plotted, with a smaller ROI for the highest signal and a larger ROI for the overall lesion. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were calculated at three different b values for all detectable lesions and from two different ROIs. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and positive likelihood ratio of DW-MRI were determined for comparison with histological results. A total of 49 (49/52, 94.2%) lesions were detected using DW-MRI, including 20 benign lesions (two lesions detected in the same patient) and 29 malignant lesions. Benign lesion had a higher mean ADC value than their malignant counterparts, regardless of b value. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the smaller-range ROI was more effective in differentiation between benign and malignant lesions. The area under the ROC curve was the largest at a b value of 800 s/mm(2). With a threshold ADC value at 1.23 × 10(-3) mm(2)/s, DW-MRI achieved a sensitivity of 82.8%, specificity of 90.0%, positive predictive value of 92.3%, and positive likelihood ratio of 8.3 for differentiating benign and malignant lesions. DW-MRI is an accurate diagnostic tool for differentiation between benign and malignant breast lesions, with an optimal b value of 800 s/mm(2). A smaller-range ROI focusing on the highest signal has a better differential value.

Oral malignant melanomas and other head and neck neoplasms in Danish dogs - data from the Danish Veterinary Cancer Registry

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background Head and neck cancers (HNC) are relatively common and often very serious diseases in both dogs and humans. Neoplasms originating in the head and neck region are a heterogeneous group. HNC often has an unfavourable prognosis and the proximity of the tissue structures renders extirpation of tumours with sufficient margins almost incompatible with preservation of functionality. In humans oral malignant melanoma (OMM) is extremely rare, but represents a particular challenge since it is highly aggressive as is the canine counterpart, which thus may be of interest as a spontaneous animal model. Methods Canine cases entered in the Danish Veterinary Cancer Registry (DVCR) from May 15th 2005 through February 29th 2008 were included in this study. Fisher's exact test was used to compare proportions of HNC in dogs and humans as well as proportions of surgically treated cases of OMM and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Also the proportions of benign and malignant neoplasms of different locations in dogs were compared using Fisher's exact test. Results A total of 1768 cases of neoplasias (679 malignant, 826 benign, 263 unknown) were submitted. Of all neoplasias HNC accounted for 7.2% (n = 128). Of these, 64 (50%) were malignant and 44 (34%) benign. The most common types of malignant neoplasia were SCC (18; 28% of malignant), OMM (13; 20% of malignant), soft tissue sarcoma (11; 17% of malignant) and adenocarcinoma (5; 11% of malignant). The most common types of benign neoplasms were adenoma (7; 16% of benign), polyps (6; 14% of benign) and fibroma (5; 11% of benign). Conclusions In the current study, the proportion of neoplasia in the head and neck region in dogs in Denmark was similar to other canine studies and significantly more common than in humans with a large proportion of malignancies. Spontaneous HNC in dogs thus, may serve as a model for HNC in humans. Canine OMM is a spontaneous cancer in an outbred, immune-competent large mammal population and could be a clinical model for OMM in humans. PMID:20021647

Water soluble nano-scale transient material germanium oxide for zero toxic waste based environmentally benign nano-manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almuslem, A. S.; Hanna, A. N.; Yapici, T.; Wehbe, N.; Diallo, E. M.; Kutbee, A. T.; Bahabry, R. R.; Hussain, M. M.

2017-02-01

In the recent past, with the advent of transient electronics for mostly implantable and secured electronic applications, the whole field effect transistor structure has been dissolved in a variety of chemicals. Here, we show simple water soluble nano-scale (sub-10 nm) germanium oxide (GeO2) as the dissolvable component to remove the functional structures of metal oxide semiconductor devices and then reuse the expensive germanium substrate again for functional device fabrication. This way, in addition to transiency, we also show an environmentally friendly manufacturing process for a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Every year, trillions of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronics are manufactured and billions are disposed, which extend the harmful impact to our environment. Therefore, this is a key study to show a pragmatic approach for water soluble high performance electronics for environmentally friendly manufacturing and bioresorbable electronic applications.

How Green is 'Green' Energy?

PubMed

Gibson, Luke; Wilman, Elspeth N; Laurance, William F

2017-12-01

Renewable energy is an important piece of the puzzle in meeting growing energy demands and mitigating climate change, but the potentially adverse effects of such technologies are often overlooked. Given that climate and ecology are inextricably linked, assessing the effects of energy technologies requires one to consider their full suite of global environmental concerns. We review here the ecological impacts of three major types of renewable energy - hydro, solar, and wind energy - and highlight some strategies for mitigating their negative effects. All three types can have significant environmental consequences in certain contexts. Wind power has the fewest and most easily mitigated impacts; solar energy is comparably benign if designed and managed carefully. Hydropower clearly has the greatest risks, particularly in certain ecological and geographical settings. More research is needed to assess the environmental impacts of these 'green' energy technologies, given that all are rapidly expanding globally. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative study of balloon and metal olive dilators for endoscopic management of benign anastomotic rectal strictures: clinical and cost-effectiveness outcomes.

PubMed

Xinopoulos, Dimitrios; Kypreos, Dimitrios; Bassioukas, Stefanos P; Korkolis, Dimitrios; Mavridis, Konstantinos; Scorilas, Andreas; Dimitroulopoulos, Dimitrios; Loukou, Argyro; Paraskevas, Emmanouel

2011-03-01

Postoperative anastomotic strictures frequently complicate colorectal resection. Currently, various endoscopic techniques are being employed in their management, but the establishment of an optimal therapeutic strategy is still pending. The purpose of our study is to compare through-the-scope (TTS) balloon dilators versus Eder-Puestow metal olive dilators in the treatment of postoperative benign rectal strictures, considering the clinical outcome and cost-effectiveness of each method. A total of 39 patients with benign anastomotic rectal stenosis were retrospectively studied. In group A, 15 patients underwent dilation with Eder-Puestow metal olives, while in group B 19 patients were treated by means of TTS balloon dilators. The technical and clinical success of dilation, complications, number of repeated sessions required, disease-free time intervals, and the overall cost of each procedure were evaluated. Dilations were technically successful in all patients. No major complications occurred in either group. The number of dilations needed, rate of stricture recurrence, and duration of stenosis-free time intervals were not statistically significantly different between the two groups. Both methods proved more effective in older patients, given the greater number of dilations required in younger patients of both groups and higher frequency of stricture relapse in younger balloon-dilated patients (median 64.00 years) compared with older ones (median 75.00 years) (p = 0.001). An indisputable advantage of the Eder-Puestow technique, compared with TTS balloon dilators, is the low cost of equipment (median 22.30 compared with 680 , respectively; p < 0.001). Endoscopic dilation of postoperative benign rectal strictures is equally effective and safe, especially in older patients, when performed by Eder-Puestow bougies or TTS balloon dilators. However, metal olivary tips seem to surpass balloon dilators when considering the obvious economical benefits of the first method.

[Relationships between economic growth and industrial pollutant discharge of Suzhou: how about the EKC?].

PubMed

Ling, Hong; Zhu, Xiao-Dong; Wang, Hui-Zhong; Yin, Rong-Yao; Wang, Xiang-Hua; Zhao, Wen-Jun

2009-04-01

Based on the study of the relationships between economic growth and industrial pollutant discharge of Suzhou City in 1991-2005, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) of the City was estimated by several kinds of function, with the cause analyzed. The results showed that the EKC of Suzhou was not a typical one. The industrial pollution of the City increased dramatically by scale effect of economic growth and the clear environmental benefit of industrial structure adjustment was not received obviously, while generalized discharge reduction technologies showed great results. In general terms, the pollution increase was comparatively slower than the GDP growth. As a whole, the environmental policy of Suzhou was in effect. However, the relationships between economic growth and industrial pollutant discharge had not been a benign development yet. In order to achieve win-win situation of economic growth and pollution reduction, Suzhou needed to optimize its industry structure, push the energy conservation and discharge reduction policy deeply, increase environmental investment, and enforce the strictest environmental and industrial policy. In doing these, Suzhou could turn the traditional omega-shaped EKC into delta-shaped EKC.

Epoxy Matrices Modified by Green Additives for Recyclable Materials.

PubMed

Henriksen, Martin L; Ravnsbaek, Jens B; Bjerring, Morten; Vosegaard, Thomas; Daasbjerg, Kim; Hinge, Mogens

2017-07-21

Epoxy-based thermosets are one of the most popular matrix materials in many industries, and significant environmental benefits can be obtained by developing a recyclable variant of this widely utilized material. Incorporation of a bio-based disulfide additive within a commercial epoxy system leads to a cross-linked material that can be fractionated under mild and environmentally benign conditions. The material has been analyzed by FTIR and solid-state NMR. Furthermore, modified epoxy matrices with low additive concentrations are demonstrated to have similar mechanical and thermal properties compared to commercially available benchmarks. Thus, additive formulation and fractionation based on green chemistry principles have been demonstrated, and a recyclable epoxy matrix has been developed. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

[Surgical stress and biochemical indicators].

PubMed

Kaska, M; Zivný, P

2003-08-01

An investigation of some relationships of routinely and rarely used biochemical markers to surgical (operating) trauma. A group of 37 patients was divided to two subgroups according type of disease with need a resection of large bowel for malignant or benign malady. Large bowel adenocarcinoma was dominated in a subgroup of malignancies (23 patients, mean BMI 25.59, mean age 63.65 years) and Crohn's disease and complicated diverticullary disease were the reasons to operate in the second subgroup of benignities (14 patients, mean BMI 21.21, mean age 39.5 year). Blood samples were taken before an operation, postoperatively (immediately) and at 6:00 a.m. the 1st, 3rd and 5th postoperative day. The routine methods (albumin, CRP, cholinesterase, haptoglobin, cholesterol), special methods (SOD, glutathion) and ELISA methods (leptin, IL-2r, IL-8, TNF)were used for evaluation markers. The results were estimated by statistic methods Sigma-Stat, One Way ANOVA and linear regression test. The mean serum concentrations of albumin, leptin, cholesterol shifted down very clearly compared to preoperative values. The mean serum concentrations shifted up the 3rd day postoperatively to 722% in benignities and to 1814% in malignancies respectively. The values of cholinesterase, glutation, SOD, and haptoglobin didn't show any more serious dynamics perioperatively. The serum leptin concentrations correlated with BMI but other markers serum concentrations didn't correlate with BMI or with age. The serum leptin, albumin, haptoglobin, CRP concentrations demonstrated serious dynamics perioperatively. These concentrations are stabilized and they reach preoperative levels the 5th postoperative day. Each-other markers correlation is minimal.

Fully Covered Metallic Stents for the Treatment of Benign Airway Stenosis

PubMed Central

Ocak, Sebahat; Gourdin, Maximilien; d'Odémont, Jean-Paul

2016-01-01

Introduction. We herein report our experience with new fully covered self-expanding metallic stents in the setting of inoperable recurrent benign tracheobronchial stenosis. Methods. Between May 2010 and July 2014, 21 Micro-Tech® FC-SEMS (Nanjing Co., Republic of Korea) were placed in our hospital in 16 patients for inoperable, recurrent (after dilatation), and symptomatic benign airway stenosis. Their medical files were retrospectively reviewed in December 2014, with focus on stent's tolerance and durability data. Results. Twenty-one stents were inserted: 13 for posttransplant left main bronchus anastomotic stricture, seven for postintubation tracheal stenosis, and one for postlobectomy anastomotic stricture. Positioning was easy for all of them. Stents were in place for a mean duration of 282 days. The most common complications were granulation tissue development (35%), migration (30%), and sputum retention (15%). Fifty-five % of the stents (11/20) had to be removed because of various complications, without difficulty for all of them. None of the patients had life-threatening complications. Conclusion. Micro-Tech FC-SEMS were easy to position and to remove. While the rate of complications requiring stent removal was significant, no life-threatening complication occurred. Further studies are needed to better define their efficacy and safety in the treatment of benign airway disease. PMID:27777507

Fully Covered Metallic Stents for the Treatment of Benign Airway Stenosis.

PubMed

Dahlqvist, Caroline; Ocak, Sebahat; Gourdin, Maximilien; Dincq, Anne Sophie; Putz, Laurie; d'Odémont, Jean-Paul

2016-01-01

Introduction. We herein report our experience with new fully covered self-expanding metallic stents in the setting of inoperable recurrent benign tracheobronchial stenosis. Methods. Between May 2010 and July 2014, 21 Micro-Tech® FC-SEMS (Nanjing Co., Republic of Korea) were placed in our hospital in 16 patients for inoperable, recurrent (after dilatation), and symptomatic benign airway stenosis. Their medical files were retrospectively reviewed in December 2014, with focus on stent's tolerance and durability data. Results. Twenty-one stents were inserted: 13 for posttransplant left main bronchus anastomotic stricture, seven for postintubation tracheal stenosis, and one for postlobectomy anastomotic stricture. Positioning was easy for all of them. Stents were in place for a mean duration of 282 days. The most common complications were granulation tissue development (35%), migration (30%), and sputum retention (15%). Fifty-five % of the stents (11/20) had to be removed because of various complications, without difficulty for all of them. None of the patients had life-threatening complications. Conclusion. Micro-Tech FC-SEMS were easy to position and to remove. While the rate of complications requiring stent removal was significant, no life-threatening complication occurred. Further studies are needed to better define their efficacy and safety in the treatment of benign airway disease.

Efficacy of Retrievable Metallic Stent with Fixation String for Benign Stricture after Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery

PubMed Central

Kim, Jeong-Eun; Lee, Myungsu; Hur, Saebeom; Kim, Minuk; Lee, Sang Hwan; Cho, Soo Buem; Kim, Chan Sun; Han, Joon Koo

2016-01-01

Objective To determine the efficacy of retrievable metallic stent with fixation string for benign anastomotic stricture after upper gastrointestinal (UGI) surgery. Materials and Methods From June 2009 to May 2015, a total of 56 retrievable metallic stents with fixation string were placed under fluoroscopy guidance in 42 patients who were diagnosed with benign anastomotic stricture after UGI surgery. Clinical success was defined as achieving normal regular diet (NRD). Results The clinical success rate after the first stent placement was 57.1% (24/42). After repeated stent placement and/or balloon dilation, the clinical success rate was increased to 83.3% (35/42). Six (14.3%) patients required surgical revision to achieve NRD. One (2.4%) patient failed to achieve NRD. Stent migration occurred in 60.7% (34/56) of patients. Successful rate of removing the stent using fixation string and angiocatheter was 94.6% (53/56). Distal migration occurred in 12 stents. Of the 12 stents, 10 (83.3%) were successfully removed whereas 2 could not be removed. No complication occurred regarding distal migration. Conclusion Using retrievable metallic stent with a fixation string is a feasible option for managing early benign anastomotic stricture after UGI surgery. It can reduce complications caused by distal migration of the stent. PMID:27833405

Value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the differential diagnosis of gallbladder lesion

PubMed Central

Zhang, Hui-Ping; Bai, Min; Gu, Ji-Ying; He, Ying-Qian; Qiao, Xiao-Hui; Du, Lian-Fang

2018-01-01

AIM To describe contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features and evaluate differential diagnosis value of CEUS and conventional ultrasound for patients with benign and malignant gallbladder lesions. METHODS This study included 105 gallbladder lesions. Before surgical resection and pathological examination, conventional ultrasound and CEUS were performed to examine for lesions. Then, all the lesions were diagnosed as (1) benign, (2) probably benign, (3) probably malignant or (4) malignant using both conventional ultrasound and CEUS. The CEUS features of these gallbladder lesions were analyzed and diagnostic efficiency between conventional ultrasound and CEUS was compared. RESULTS There were total 17 cases of gallbladder cancer and 88 cases of benign lesion. Some gallbladder lesions had typical characteristics on CEUS (e.g., gallbladder adenomyomatosis had typical characteristics of small nonenhanced areas on CEUS). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of CEUS were 94.1%, 95.5%, 80.0%, 98.8% and 95.2%, respectively. These were significantly higher than conventional ultrasound (82.4%, 89.8%, 60.9%, 96.3% and 88.6%, respectively). CEUS had an accuracy of 100% for gallbladder sludge and CEUS helped in differential diagnosis among gallbladder polyps, gallbladder adenoma and gallbladder cancer. CONCLUSION CEUS may provide more useful information and improve the diagnosis efficiency for the diagnosis of gallbladder lesions than conventional ultrasound. PMID:29456413

Volume reduction of benign thyroid nodules 3 months after a single treatment with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).

PubMed

Korkusuz, Huedayi; Fehre, Niklas; Sennert, Michael; Happel, Christian; Grünwald, Frank

2015-01-01

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a promising, non-invasive technique in treating benign thyroid nodules (TNs). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of HIFU to induce clinically meaningful shrinkage in benign predominantly solid TNs and to identify variables that influence or predict the magnitude of TN volume reduction. For each of ten subjects, HIFU treatment was conducted on a single nodule. Nodular volume was measured sonographically at baseline and at 3 months post-procedure. Nodular function and early treatment assessment was done scintigraphically. Median nodular volume reduction was 0.7 ml absolute and 48.8% relative to pre-interventional size (p < 0.05). Absolute shrinkage was negatively correlated with the average treatment depth (τ = -0.61, p < 0.05). Absolute nodular volume was positively correlated with the scintigraphic nodular uptake reduction (τ = 0.66, p < 0.05). HIFU treatment of benign predominantly solid TNs appears to be safe and effective for inducing nodular shrinkage. Despite potential for improvement, a single treatment session with HIFU is already a viable alternative to more standard methods. The feasibility of multiple HIFU treatments requires further investigation. Due to the small sample size, the findings of this analysis need conformation by larger studies.

23-year experience on diagnosis and surgical treatment of benign and malignant cardiac tumors.

PubMed

Kośmider, Anna; Jaszewski, Ryszard; Marcinkiewicz, Anna; Bartczak, Karol; Knopik, Jerzy; Ostrowski, Stanisław

2013-10-31

Although myxoma is the most frequent cardiac tumor, other conditions should be taken into consideration in the differential diagnosis. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), followed by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) remain the principal methods for cardiac tumor screening and visualizing. The aim of the study was to compare the diagnostics, surgical treatment and prognosis of malignant and benign cardiac tumors. From 1986 to 2009 there were 121 patients with cardiac tumors operated on in the Cardiac Surgery Clinic of the Medical University in Lodz. Patients were referred to surgery mainly on the basis of the TTE and TEE image. In 4 cases valvular prosthesis implantation or valve repair were carried out. Patients remained under long-term observation in the Cardiac Surgery Outpatient Clinic. Myxoma was diagnosed in 114 cases. Malignancies were discovered in 7 cases. The left atrium was the most frequent localization. The echocardiographic image differed significantly in benign and malignant tumors. The postoperative period was complicated by embolic events or myocardial infarctions. Only malignant tumors were associated with mortality due to cardiovascular events. The survival for malignant tumors was significantly shorter. Short and long-term results of operative treatment are very good for benign tumors in contrast to cardiac malignancies. The TTE and TEE image can be very significant in the final diagnosis.

Diagnostic potential of real-time elastography (RTE) and shear wave elastography (SWE) to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Hu, Xiangdong; Liu, Yujiang; Qian, Linxue

2017-10-01

Real-time elastography (RTE) and shear wave elastography (SWE) are noninvasive and easily available imaging techniques that measure the tissue strain, and it has been reported that the sensitivity and the specificity of elastography were better in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules than conventional technologies. Relevant articles were searched in multiple databases; the comparison of elasticity index (EI) was conducted with the Review Manager 5.0. Forest plots of the sensitivity and specificity and SROC curve of RTE and SWE were performed with STATA 10.0 software. In addition, sensitivity analysis and bias analysis of the studies were conducted to examine the quality of articles; and to estimate possible publication bias, funnel plot was used and the Egger test was conducted. Finally 22 articles which eventually satisfied the inclusion criteria were included in this study. After eliminating the inefficient, benign and malignant nodules were 2106 and 613, respectively. The meta-analysis suggested that the difference of EI between benign and malignant nodules was statistically significant (SMD = 2.11, 95% CI [1.67, 2.55], P < .00001). The overall sensitivities of RTE and SWE were roughly comparable, whereas the difference of specificities between these 2 methods was statistically significant. In addition, statistically significant difference of AUC between RTE and SWE was observed between RTE and SWE (P < .01). The specificity of RTE was statistically higher than that of SWE; which suggests that compared with SWE, RTE may be more accurate on differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules.

Quantitative analysis of thyroid tumors vascularity: A comparison between 3-D contrast-enhanced ultrasound and 3-D Power Doppler on benign and malignant thyroid nodules.

PubMed

Caresio, Cristina; Caballo, Marco; Deandrea, Maurilio; Garberoglio, Roberto; Mormile, Alberto; Rossetto, Ruth; Limone, Paolo; Molinari, Filippo

2018-05-15

To perform a comparative quantitative analysis of Power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) and Contrast-Enhancement ultrasound (CEUS) for the quantification of thyroid nodules vascularity patterns, with the goal of identifying biomarkers correlated with the malignancy of the nodule with both imaging techniques. We propose a novel method to reconstruct the vascular architecture from 3-D PDUS and CEUS images of thyroid nodules, and to automatically extract seven quantitative features related to the morphology and distribution of vascular network. Features include three tortuosity metrics, the number of vascular trees and branches, the vascular volume density, and the main spatial vascularity pattern. Feature extraction was performed on 20 thyroid lesions (ten benign and ten malignant), of which we acquired both PDUS and CEUS. MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) was used to differentiate benign and malignant lesions based on the most significant features. The analysis of the extracted features showed a significant difference between the benign and malignant nodules for both PDUS and CEUS techniques for all the features. Furthermore, by using a linear classifier on the significant features identified by the MANOVA, benign nodules could be entirely separated from the malignant ones. Our early results confirm the correlation between the morphology and distribution of blood vessels and the malignancy of the lesion, and also show (at least for the dataset used in this study) a considerable similarity in terms of findings of PDUS and CEUS imaging for thyroid nodules diagnosis and classification. © 2018 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Metallic Stents for Tracheobronchial Pathology Treatment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Serrano, Carolina, E-mail: carolina.serrano@unizar.es; Laborda, Alicia, E-mail: alaborda@unizar.es; Lozano, Juan M., E-mail: juamauloz@gmail.com

2013-12-15

Purpose: To present the 7-year experience of the treatment of benign and malignant tracheobronchial stenoses using metallic stents. Patients and Methods: One hundred twenty-three stents were inserted in 86 patients (74 benign and 12 malignant stenoses). Ninety-seven stents were placed in the trachea and 26 in the bronchi. The procedures were performed under fluoroscopic and flexible bronchoscopic guidance with the patient under light sedation. In cases of severe stenotic lesions or obstructions, laser resection was performed before stent placement. Clinical and functional pulmonary data were recorded before and 3 months after the procedure. Follow-up involved clinical data and radiographic techniquesmore » at 48 h and at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month intervals. Results: The technical success was 100 %. Dyspnea disappearance, forced expiratory volume in the first second, and pulmonary functional data improvement was observed in all patients (p < 0.001). Complications were detected in 23 patients (26.7 %). Mean follow-up time was 6.3 {+-} 1.2 months in patients with malignant lesions and 76.2 {+-} 2.3 months patients with in benign lesions. By the end of the study, 100 % of patients with malignant pathology and 6.7 % of patients with benign lesions had died. Conclusion: Endoluminal treatment of tracheobronchial stenosis with metallic stents is a therapeutic alternative in patients who are poor candidates for surgery. In unresectable malignant lesions, the benefit of metallic stenting is unquestionable. In benign lesions, the results are satisfactory, but sometimes other interventions are required to treat complications. New stent technology may improve these results.« less

Deep Eutectic Solvent-Based Microwave-Assisted Method for Extraction of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Components from Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae.

PubMed

Chen, Jue; Liu, Mengjun; Wang, Qi; Du, Huizhi; Zhang, Liwei

2016-10-17

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have attracted significant attention as a promising green media. In this work, twenty-five kinds of benign choline chloride-based DESs with microwave-assisted methods were applied to quickly extract active components from Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae . The extraction factors, including temperature, time, power of microwave, and solid/liquid ratio, were investigated systematically by response surface methodology. The hydrophilic and hydrophobic ingredients were extracted simultaneously under the optimized conditions: 20 vol% of water in choline chloride/1,2-propanediol (1:1, molar ratio) as solvent, microwave power of 800 W, temperature at 70 °C, time at 11.11 min, and solid/liquid ratio of 0.007 g·mL -1 . The extraction yield was comparable to, or even better than, conventional methods with organic solvents. The microstructure alteration of samples before and after extraction was also investigated. The method validation was tested as the linearity of analytes ( r ² > 0.9997 over two orders of magnitude), precision (intra-day relative standard deviation (RSD) < 2.49 and inter-day RSD < 2.96), and accuracy (recoveries ranging from 95.04% to 99.93%). The proposed DESs combined with the microwave-assisted method provided a prominent advantage for fast and efficient extraction of active components, and DESs could be extended as solvents to extract and analyze complex environmental and pharmaceutical samples.

Intratumoral Macroscopic Fat and Hemorrhage Combination Useful in the Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Solid Renal Masses.

PubMed

Sun, Jun; Xing, Zhaoyu; Xing, Wei; Zheng, Linfeng; Chen, Jie; Fan, Min; Chen, Tongbing; Zhang, Zhuoli

2016-03-01

To evaluate the value of combining the detection of intratumoral macroscopic fat and hemorrhage in the differentiation of the benign from malignant solid renal masses.Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), chemical shift (CS)-MRI, and susceptibility-weighted imaging were performed in 152 patients with 152 solid renal masses, including 48 benign and 104 malignant masses all pathologically confirmed. The presence of macroscopic fat detected by CS-MRI and hemorrhage detected by susceptibility-weighted imaging were evaluated in all masses. The rates of macroscopic fat and hemorrhage observed between benign and malignant masses were compared by a χ test. All masses found to contain macroscopic fat with or without hemorrhage were considered to be benign. The remaining masses (without macroscopic fat) found not to contain hemorrhage were considered to be benign. Only those found to contain hemorrhage alone were considered to be malignant. The evaluation indexes for differentiating and forecasting the benign and malignant masses were calculated.Significant differences in the rate of macroscopic fat (observed in 85.42% of benign masses vs. 0% of malignant masses) and hemorrhage (observed in 4.17% of benign masses vs. 95.19% of malignant masses) were measured in the benign and malignant groups (P < 0.005, for both). The 41 masses containing macroscopic fat with or without hemorrhage and 11 masses containing neither macroscopic fat nor hemorrhage were considered to be benign. The 100 masses containing no macroscopic fat and only hemorrhage were considered to be malignant. By combining the results for the macroscopic fat and hemorrhage, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in the differential diagnosis of the benign and malignant masses were 96.05%, 95.19%, and 97.92%, respectively, and the accuracy and error rate of forecasting the benign and malignant masses were 95.39% and 4.61%, respectively.Combining the detection intratumoral macroscopic fat and hemorrhage can be used to differentiate the benign from malignant solid renal masses.

Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy of benign and malignant cutaneous lesions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borisova, Ekaterina G.; Troyanova, P. P.; Stoyanova, V. P.; Avramov, Lachezar A.

2005-04-01

The goals of this work were investigation of pigmented skin lesions by the method of laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. Fluorescence spectra were obtained from malignant and benign skin lesions after excitation with nitrogen laser at 337 nm, namely: benign nevi, dysplastic nevi, malignant melanoma (MM), keratopapilloma, base-cell papilloma and base-cell carcinoma, as well as from healthy skin areas near to the lesion that were used posteriori to reveal changes between healthy and lesion skin spectra. Initially lesions were classified by ABCD-dermatscopic method. All suspicious lesions were excised and were investigated histologically. Spectrum of healthy skin consists of one main maximum at 470-500 nm spectral region and secondary maxima at in the regions round 400 and 440 nm. In the cases of nevi and melanoma significant decrease of fluorescence intensity, which correlated with the type of pigment lesion was observed. This reduction of the signal is related to the accumulation of melanin in the lesions that re-absorb strongly the fluorescence from native skin fluorophores in whole visible spectral region. In cases of papilloma and base-cell carcinoma an intensity decrease was also observed, related to accumulation of pigments in these cutaneous lesions. An relative increase of the fluorescence peak at 440 nm were registered in the case of base-cell carcinoma, and appearance of green fluorescence, related to increase of keratin content in benign papilloma lesions were detected. The results, obtained in this investigation of the different pigment lesions could be used for better comprehension of the skin optical properties. The fluorescence spectroscopy of the human skin are very prominent for early diagnosis and differentiation of cutaneous diseases and gives a wide range of possibilities related to real-time determination of existing pathological condition.

Distribution patterns of microcalcifications in suspected thyroid carcinoma: a classification method helpful for diagnosis.

PubMed

Ning, Chun-Ping; Ji, Qing-Lian; Fang, Shi-Bao; Wang, Hong-Qiao; Zhong, Yan-Mi; Niu, Hai-Tao

2018-06-01

The aim of this study was to compare the distribution patterns of microcalcifications in thyroid cancers with benign cases. In total, 358 patients having microcalcifications on ultrasonography were analysed. Microcalcifications were categorised according to the distribution patterns: (I) microcalcifications inside one (a) or more (b) suspected nodules, (II) microcalcifications not only inside but also surrounding a suspected single (a) or multiple (b) nodules, and (III) focal (a) or diffuse (b) microcalcifications in the absence of any suspected nodule. Differences in distribution patterns of microcalcifications in benign and malignant thyroid lesions were compared. We found that the distribution patterns of microcalcifications differed between malignant (n = 325) and benign lesions (n = 117) (X 2 = 9.926, p < 0.01). Benign lesions were classified as type Ia (66.7%), type Ib (29.1%) or type IIIa (4.3%). The specificity of type II and type IIIb in diagnosing malignant cases was 100%. Among malignant lesions, 172 locations were classified as type Ia, 106 as type Ib, 12 as type IIa, 7 as IIb, 7 as type IIIa and 19 as type IIIb. Accompanying Hashimoto thyroiditis was most frequent in type III (51.6%). Types II and IIIb are highly specific for cancer detection. Microcalcifications outside a nodule and those detected in the absence of any nodule should therefore be reviewed carefully in clinical practice. • A method to classify distribution patterns of thyroid microcalcifications is presented. • Distribution features of microcalcifications are useful for diagnosing thyroid cancers. • Microcalcifications outside a suspicious nodule are highly specific for thyroid cancers. • Microcalcifications without suspicious nodules should also alert the physician to thyroid cancers.

Molecular markers and new diagnostic methods to differentiate malignant from benign mesothelial pleural proliferations: a literature review.

PubMed

Bruno, Rossella; Alì, Greta; Fontanini, Gabriella

2018-01-01

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive tumor associated with asbestos exposure. Histopathological analysis of pleural tissues is the gold standard for diagnosis; however, it can be difficult to differentiate malignant from benign pleural lesions. The purpose of this review is to describe the most important biomarkers and new diagnostic tools suggested for this differential diagnosis. There are many studies concerning the separation between MPM and benign pleural proliferations from both pleural tissues or effusions; most of them are based on the evaluation of one or few biomarkers by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), whereas others focused on the identification of MPM signatures given by microRNA (miRNA) or gene expression profiles as well as on the combination of molecular data and classification algorithms. None of the reported biomarkers showed adequate diagnostic accuracy, except for p16 [evaluated by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)] and BAP1 (evaluated by IHC), both biomarkers are recommended by the International Mesothelioma Interest Group guidelines for histological and cytological diagnosis. BAP1 and p16 showed a specificity of 100% in discerning malignant from benign lesions because they are exclusively unexpressed or deleted in MPM. However, their sensitivity, even when used together, is not completely sufficient, and absence of their alterations cannot confirm the benign nature of the lesion. Recently, the availability of new techniques and increasing knowledge regarding MPM genetics led to the definition of some molecular panels, including genes or miRNAs specifically deregulated in MPM, that are extremely valuable for differential diagnosis. Moreover, the development of classification algorithms is facilitating the application of molecular data for clinical practice. Data regarding new diagnostic tools and MPM signatures are absolutely promising; however, before their application in clinical practice, a prospective validation is necessary, as these approaches could surely improve the differential diagnosis between malignant and benign pleural lesions.

Application of Single Voxel 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Hepatic Benign and Malignant Lesions.

PubMed

Yang, Zifeng; Sun, Shiqiang; Chen, Yuanli; Li, Rui

2016-12-19

BACKGROUND To quantify the metabolite changes in hepatic tumors by single-voxel 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 3.0 T and explore the application value of 1HMRS in the diagnosis of hepatic benign and malignant lesions. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 45 patients (55 lesions) diagnosed with hepatic lesions by ultrasound and/or computer topography (CT) from November 2006 to March 2007 were included in this study. All patients underwent 3D-dynamic enhanced scan with liver acquisition with acceleration volume acquisition (LAVA) sequence and single-voxel 1HMRS imaging with PRESS (point-resolved spectroscopy) sequence. The metabolite concentrations such as choline (Cho) and lipids (Lip) were measured. RESULTS There was significant difference regarding the occurrence rate of the obvious elevated Cho peaks between benign and malignant tumors (7/27 vs. 21/28, p=0.000). There was statistical significant differences regarding the Cho/Lip ratios in hepatic benign (0.0686±0.0283, 95% CI: 0.0134-0.1245) and malignant (0.1266 ±0.1124, 95% CI: 0.0937-0.2203) lesions (p<0.05). When compared with the pathological results, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and overall accuracy were 85.7% (24/28), 92.6% (25/27), 92.3% (24/26), 86.2% (25/29), and 89.1% (49/55) respectively for the MRI assessment, and 92.6% (26/28), 88.9% (24/27), 89.7 (26/29), 92.3 (24/26), and 90.9% (50/55) respectively for 1HMRS combined with MRI assessment. CONCLUSIONS Single Cho peaks or Lip peaks cannot be used for the diagnosis of hepatic benign and malignant lesions. Combined use of 1HMRS and MRI can greatly improve the application value of MRI assessment in the diagnosis of hepatic benign and malignant lesions with a higher sensitivity, negative predictive value, and overall accuracy.

Differentiation of Ductal Carcinoma In-Situ from Benign Micro-Calcifications by Dedicated Breast Computed Tomography

PubMed Central

Shakeri, Shadi A.; Abbey, Craig K.; Gazi, Peymon; Prionas, Nicolas; Nosratieh, Anita; Li, Chin-Shang; Boone, John M.; Lindfors, Karen K.

2015-01-01

Purpose Compare conspicuity of ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) to benign calcifications on unenhanced (bCT), contrast-enhanced dedicated breast CT (CEbCT) and mammography (DM). Methods and Materials The institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant study. 42 women with Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System 4 or 5 category micro-calcifications had breast CT before biopsy. Three subjects with invasive disease at surgery were excluded. Two breast radiologists independently compared lesion conspicuity scores (CS) for CEbCT, to bCT and DM. Enhancement was measured in Hounsfield units (HU). Mean CS ± standard deviations are shown. Receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC) measured radiologists’ discrimination performance by comparing CS to enhancement alone. Statistical measurements were made using ANOVA F-test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test and robust linear regression analyses. Results 39 lesions (17 DCIS, 22 benign) were analyzed. DCIS (8.5±0.9, n=17) was more conspicuous than benign micro-calcifications (3.6±2.9, n=22; p<0.0001) on CEbCT. DCIS was equally conspicuous on CEbCT and DM (8.5±0.9, 8.7±0.8, n=17; p=0.85) and more conspicuous when compared to bCT (5.3±2.6, n=17; p<0.001). All DCIS enhanced; mean enhancement (90HU ±53HU, n=17) was higher compared to benign lesions (33 ±30HU, n=22)(p<0.0001). ROC analysis of the radiologists’ CS showed high discrimination performance (AUC=0.94) compared to enhancement alone (AUC=0.85) (p<0.026). Conclusion DCIS is more conspicuous than benign micro-calcifications on CEbCT. DCIS visualization on CEbCT is equal to mammography but improved compared to bCT. Radiologists’ discrimination performance using CEBCT is significantly higher than enhancement values alone. CEbCT may have an advantage over mammography by reducing false positive examinations when calcifications are analyzed. PMID:26520874

Suggesting the cytologic diagnosis of noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP): A retrospective analysis of atypical and suspicious nodules.

PubMed

Strickland, Kyle C; Howitt, Brooke E; Barletta, Justine A; Cibas, Edmund S; Krane, Jeffrey F

2018-02-01

The term "noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features" (NIFTP) has replaced a subset of follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma due to the indolent behavior of such tumors. NIFTPs are most often classified in an "indeterminate" diagnostic category. In the current study, the authors sought to identify cytologic features helpful in distinguishing NIFTP from other entities in these categories, particularly benign nodules. The authors retrospectively evaluated a consecutive cohort of 130 thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens with an indeterminate diagnosis and available histopathologic follow-up. All FNA specimens were evaluated using the ThinPrep method. Each FNA was blindly reviewed by 2 board-certified cytopathologists, who assessed overall cellularity; architectural parameters; and nuclear features, including nuclear pallor and fine chromatin, distinct nucleoli, and irregular nuclear membranes. Each case received a score of 0 to 3, based on the presence or absence of these 3 nuclear features. Nuclear but not architectural features appeared to distinguish NIFTP from benign nodules. Ninety-one percent of the NIFTPs (32 of 35 NIFTPs) received a score of ≥2, compared with 35% of benign nodules (23 of 66 benign nodules) (P<.0001). In contrast, NIFTP could not be differentiated from the invasive/infiltrative follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma using these criteria (P = 1.000). Nuclear scoring was found to be especially useful in atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS); a score ≥2 enriched for NIFTP (39% vs 3% of AUS cases with a score <2), whereas a score <2 was more likely benign (85% vs 50% of AUS cases with a score ≥2). In indeterminate FNA specimens, the distinction of a possible NIFTP from a benign thyroid nodule can be suggested using a simple nuclear scoring system that is most valuable in AUS aspirates. Cancer Cytopathol 2018;126:86-93. © 2017 American Cancer Society. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Management of benign stenoses of the large airways in the university hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1998-2003.

PubMed

Marel, Miloslav; Pekarek, Zdenek; Spasova, Irena; Pafko, Pavel; Schutzner, Jan; Betka, Jan; Pospisil, Ronald

2005-01-01

Clinically significant benign stenoses of the large airways develop in about 1% of patients after intubation. The management of benign stenoses is not unified around the world, nor are there any accepted methods for their screening. The purpose of this study is to describe and compare results of interventional bronchoscopy and surgical therapy of benign stenoses as well as to propose an algorithm for the management of this airways disorder. Prospective study on 80 consecutive patients with benign stenoses of the large airways admitted to the Pulmonary Department of the University Hospital of Prague-Motol. Sixty-two patients developed stenoses after endotracheal intubation or tracheostomy, in 18 patients the stenosis was caused by other diseases or pathological situations. Thirty-eight patients were sent for surgical resection of the stenotic part of the airways. 2 surgically treated patients developed recurrence of the stenosis and had to be reoperated on. Narrowing of the trachea at the site of end-to-end anastomosis developed in 6 other patients and was cured by interventional bronchoscopy. The remaining 42 patients were treated by interventional bronchoscopy (Nd-YAG laser, electrocautery, stent) which was curative in 35 patients. Sixty-five patients were alive at the time of evaluation, 15 patients died. Five of them died between 3 and 14 (median 4) months after surgery from a disease other than airway stenosis. Ten nonresected patients also died, with 1 exception, due to a disease other than airway stenosis; the median survival was 9 months. We recommend to assess the patient for surgery after the initial diagnosis and therapeutic bronchoscopy with dilatation of the stenosis. If the patient is not a suitable candidate for resection, interventional bronchoscopy is an appropriate alternative for the management of benign stenoses of the large airways. Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Shortfall online: The development of an educational computer game for teaching sustainable engineering to Millennial Generation students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gennett, Zachary Andrew

Millennial Generation students bring significant learning and teaching challenges to the classroom, because of their unique learning styles, breadth of interests related to social and environmental issues, and intimate experiences with technology. As a result, there has been an increased willingness at many universities to experiment with pedagogical strategies that depart from a traditional "learning by listening" model, and move toward more innovative methods involving active learning through computer games. In particular, current students typically express a strong interest in sustainability in which economic concerns must be weighed relative to environmental and social responsibilities. A game-based setting could prove very effective for fostering an operational understanding of these tradeoffs, and especially the social dimension which remains largely underdeveloped relative to the economic and environmental aspects. Through an examination of the educational potential of computer games, this study hypothesizes that to acquire the skills necessary to manage and understand the complexities of sustainability, Millennial Generation students must be engaged in active learning exercises that present dynamic problems and foster a high level of social interaction. This has led to the development of an educational computer game, entitled Shortfall, which simulates a business milieu for testing alternative paths regarding the principles of sustainability. This study examines the evolution of Shortfall from an educational board game that teaches the principles of environmentally benign manufacturing, to a completely networked computer game, entitled Shortfall Online that teaches the principles of sustainability. A capital-based theory of sustainability is adopted to more accurately convey the tradeoffs and opportunity costs among economic prosperity, environmental preservation, and societal responsibilities. While the economic and environmental aspects of sustainability have received considerable attention in traditional pedagogical approaches, specific focus is provided for the social dimension of sustainability, as it had remained largely underdeveloped. To measure social sustainability and provide students with an understanding of its significance, a prospective metric utilizing a social capital peer-evaluation survey, unique to Shortfall, is developed.

Automatic telangiectasia analysis in dermoscopy images using adaptive critic design.

PubMed

Cheng, B; Stanley, R J; Stoecker, W V; Hinton, K

2012-11-01

Telangiectasia, tiny skin vessels, are important dermoscopy structures used to discriminate basal cell carcinoma (BCC) from benign skin lesions. This research builds off of previously developed image analysis techniques to identify vessels automatically to discriminate benign lesions from BCCs. A biologically inspired reinforcement learning approach is investigated in an adaptive critic design framework to apply action-dependent heuristic dynamic programming (ADHDP) for discrimination based on computed features using different skin lesion contrast variations to promote the discrimination process. Lesion discrimination results for ADHDP are compared with multilayer perception backpropagation artificial neural networks. This study uses a data set of 498 dermoscopy skin lesion images of 263 BCCs and 226 competitive benign images as the input sets. This data set is extended from previous research [Cheng et al., Skin Research and Technology, 2011, 17: 278]. Experimental results yielded a diagnostic accuracy as high as 84.6% using the ADHDP approach, providing an 8.03% improvement over a standard multilayer perception method. We have chosen BCC detection rather than vessel detection as the endpoint. Although vessel detection is inherently easier, BCC detection has potential direct clinical applications. Small BCCs are detectable early by dermoscopy and potentially detectable by the automated methods described in this research. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

How to deal with benign hilar or interlobar lymphadenopathy during video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy.

PubMed

Yan, Shi; Lv, Chao; Wang, Xing; Wu, Nan

2016-01-01

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) surgery has changed the way lobectomy procedure was performed over the past few decades. However, some difficulties impede the accomplishment of VATS lobectomy, which of them, benign lymphadenopathy may pose a threat to safety of surgery. We reported a case with enlarged hilar and interlobar lymph nodes. The video showed the instrumentation and techniques that we had adopted to deal with the complicated dilemma during the operation. Critical experience was also suggested in some hypothetical scenarios. AS techniques were further refined, successful VATS segmentectomy or lobectomy with challenging hilar or interlobar lymphadenopathy could be performed without uncontrolled bleeding or unexpected conversion. A VATS approach is acceptable in the management of benign hilar or interlobar lymphadenopathy. However, facile technique is necessary to deal with intraoperative dilemma. To those who are not sure about the practicability of the VATS procedure, planned conversion is still an effective method to ensure safety of the operation.

Benign Orofacial Lesions in Libyan Population: A 17 Years Retrospective Study

PubMed Central

Hatem, Marwa; Abdulmajid, Ziad S.; Taher, Elsanousi M.; El Kabir, Mohamed A.; Benrajab, Mohamed A.; Kwafi, Rafik

2015-01-01

Objectives: To analyze the frequency and type of benign orofacial lesions submitted for diagnosis at Tripoli Medical Centre over 17 years period (1997-2013). Materials and Methods: Entries for specimens from patients were retrieved and compiled into 9 diagnostic categories and 82 diagnoses. Results: During the 17 years period, a total of 975 specimens were evaluated, it comprised a male-female ratio of 0.76:1. The mean age of biopsied patients was 36.3±18.32 years. The diagnostic category with the highest number of specimens was skin and mucosal pathology (22.87%); and the most frequent diagnosis was pyogenic granuloma (14.05%). Conclusion: Pyogenic granuloma, lichen planus, radicular cyst and fibroepithelial polyp were found to be the most predominant diagnoses. Frequencies of most benign orofacial diseases were comparable to similar studies in the literature and to those reported from the eastern region of Libya. Further surveys are needed to define the epidemiology of orofacial diseases in Libyan population. PMID:26962370

[Benign bone tumors. General principles].

PubMed

Hillmann, A; Gösling, T

2014-10-01

Benign bone tumors and tumor-like lesions are much more frequent than malignant bone tumors among the total number of tumors of the skeleton. This article gives a presentation of the characteristics and treatment modalities of benign bone tumors. In this article in-house treatment principles are compared with those in the currently available literature. Benign bone tumors are frequently found incidentally; however, the term benign does not always signify that a purely observational role is needed. Benign bone tumors differ in their biological behavior and can be latent, active or aggressive which determines the treatment approach. Some benign bone tumors are just as aggressive locally as malignant tumors. The most important diagnostic feature is still conventional radiography and a thorough systematic analysis is necessary. Therapy options range from ignore, wait and see up to wide resection. In contrast to malignant tumors the radicalism of resection can be weighed against the accompanying local control and loss of function. The treatment of benign bone tumors depends on the histological type and the biological activity. Most benign bone tumors are diagnosed incidentally and do not necessitate any treatment.

A centrifuge CO2 pellet cleaning system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, C. A.; Fisher, P. W.; Nelson, W. D.; Schechter, D. E.

1995-01-01

An advanced turbine/CO2 pellet accelerator is being evaluated as a depaint technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The program, sponsored by Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (ALC), Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, has developed a robot-compatible apparatus that efficiently accelerates pellets of dry ice with a high-speed rotating wheel. In comparison to the more conventional compressed air 'sandblast' pellet accelerators, the turbine system can achieve higher pellet speeds, has precise speed control, and is more than ten times as efficient. A preliminary study of the apparatus as a depaint technology has been undertaken. Depaint rates of military epoxy/urethane paint systems on 2024 and 7075 aluminum panels as a function of pellet speed and throughput have been measured. In addition, methods of enhancing the strip rate by combining infra-red heat lamps with pellet blasting and by combining the use of environmentally benign solvents with the pellet blasting have also been studied. The design and operation of the apparatus will be discussed along with data obtained from the depaint studies.

Hydrotrifluoromethylation and iodotrifluoromethylation of alkenes and alkynes using an inorganic electride as a radical generator.

PubMed

Choi, Sungkyu; Kim, Ye Ji; Kim, Sun Min; Yang, Jung Woon; Kim, Sung Wng; Cho, Eun Jin

2014-09-12

The trifluoromethyl (CF3) group is a staple synthon that can alter the physical and chemical properties of organic molecules. Despite recent advances in trifluoromethylation methods, the development of a general synthetic methodology for efficient and selective trifluoromethylation remains an ongoing challenge motivated by a steadily increasing demand from the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and materials science industries. In this article, we describe a simple, efficient and environmentally benign strategy for the hydrotrifluoromethylation of unactivated alkenes and alkynes through a radical-mediated reaction using an inorganic electride, [Ca2N](+) · e(-), as the electron source. In the transformation, anionic electrons are transferred from [Ca2N](+) · e(-) electrides to the trifluoromethylating reagent CF3I to initiate radical-mediated trifluoromethylation. The role of ethanol is pivotal in the transformation, acting as the solvent, an electron-releasing promoter and a hydrogen atom source. In addition, iodotrifluoromethylation of alkynes proceeds selectively upon the control of electride amount.

Synthesis and characterization of novel silver nanoparticles using Chamaemelum nobile extract for antibacterial application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erjaee, Hoda; Rajaian, Hamid; Nazifi, Saeed

2017-06-01

The present study reports green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) at room temperature using aqueous Chamaemelum nobile extract for the first time. The effect of silver nitrate concentration, quantity of the plant extract and the reaction time on particle size was optimized and studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The appearance of brownish color with λ max of 422 nm confirmed the formation of AgNPs. Synthesized nanoparticles were further characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, antimicrobial activity of the AgNPs against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis was evaluated based on the inhibition zone using the disc-diffusion assay and measurement of minimal inhibition concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration by standard microdilution method. In conclusion, synthesis of nanoparticle with aqueous Chamaemelum nobile extract is simple, rapid, environmentally benign and inexpensive. Moreover, these synthesized nanoparticles exhibit significant antibacterial activity.

Fundamentals of poly(lactic acid) microstructure, crystallization behavior, and properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Shuhui

Poly(lactic acid) is an environmentally-benign biodegradable and sustainable thermoplastic material, which has found broad applications as food packaging films and as non-woven fibers. The crystallization and deformation mechanisms of the polymer are largely determined by the distribution of conformation and configuration. Knowledge of these mechanisms is needed to understand the mechanical and thermal properties on which processing conditions mainly depend. In conjunction with laser light scattering, Raman spectroscopy and normal coordinate analysis are used in this thesis to elucidate these properties. Vibrational spectroscopic theory, Flory's rotational isomeric state (RIS) theory, Gaussian chain statistics and statistical mechanics are used to relate experimental data to molecular chain structure. A refined RIS model is proposed, chain rigidity recalculated and chain statistics discussed. A Raman spectroscopic characterization method for crystalline and amorphous phase orientation has been developed. A shrinkage model is also proposed to interpret the dimensional stability for fibers and uni- or biaxially stretched films. A study of stereocomplexation formed by poly(l-lactic acid) and poly(d-lactic acid) is also presented.

Tin-based anode materials with well-designed architectures for next-generation lithium-ion batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lehao; Xie, Fan; Lyu, Jing; Zhao, Tingkai; Li, Tiehu; Choi, Bong Gill

2016-07-01

Tin (Sn) has long been considered to be a promising replacement anode material for graphite in next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), because of its attractive comprehensive advantages of high gravimetric/volumetric capacities, environmental benignity, low cost, high safety, etc. However, Sn-based anodes suffer from severe capacity fading resulting mainly from their large volume expansions/contractions during lithiation/delithiation and subsequent pulverization, coalescence, delamination from current collectors, and poor Li+/electron transport. To circumvent these issues, a number of extraordinary architectures from nanostructures to anchored, layered/sandwich, core-shell, porous and even integrated structures have been exquisitely constructed to enhance the cycling performance. To cater for the rapid development of Sn-based anodes, we summarize the advances made in structural design principles, fabrication methods, morphological features and battery performance with focus on material structures. In addition, we identify the associated challenges and problems presented by recently-developed anodes and offer suggestions and perspectives for facilitating their practical implementations in next-generation LIBs.

Accelerated weathering of limestone for CO2 mitigation opportunities for the stone and cement industries

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langer, W.H.; Juan, C.A.S.; Rau, G.H.; Caldeira, K.

2009-01-01

Large amounts of limestone fines coproduced during the processing of crushed limestone may be useful in the sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO 2). Accelerated weathering of limestone (AWL) is proposed as a low-tech method to capture and sequester CO2 from fossil fuel-fired power plants and other point-sources such as cement manufacturing. AWL reactants are readily available, inexpensive, and environmentally benign. Waste CO 2 is hydrated with water to produce carbonic acid, which then reacts with and is neutralized by limestone fines, thus converting CO2 gas to dissolved calcium bicarbonate. AWL waste products can be disposed of in the ocean. Feasibility requires access to an inexpensive source of limestone and to seawater, thus limiting AWL facilities within about 10 km of the coastline. The majority of U.S. coastal power generating facilities are within economical transport distance of limestone resources. AWL presents opportunities for collaborative efforts among the crushed stone industry, electrical utilities, cement manufactures, and research scientists.

Meso-oblate spheroids of thermal-stabile linker-free aggregates with size-tunable subunits for reversible lithium storage.

PubMed

Deng, Da; Lee, Jim Yang

2014-01-22

The organization of nanoscale materials as building units into extended structures with specific geometry and functional properties is a challenging endeavor. Hereby, an environmentally benign, simple, and scalable method for preparation of stable, linker-free, self-supported, high-order 3D meso-oblate spheroids of CuO nanoparticle aggregates with size-tunable building nanounits for reversible lithium-ion storage is reported. In contrast to traditional spherical nanoparticle aggregation, a unique oblate spheroid morphology is achieved. The formation mechanism of the unusual oblate spheroid of aggregated nanoparticles is proposed. When tested for reversible lithium ion storage, the unique 3D meso-oblate spheroids of CuO nanoparticle aggregate demonstrated highly improved electrochemical performance (around ∼600 mAh/g over 20 cycles), which could be ascribed to the nanoporous aggregated mesostructure with abundant crystalline imperfection. Furthermore, the size of building units can be controlled (12 and 21 nm were tested) to further improve their electrochemical performance.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gewirth, Andrew A.; Kenis, Paul J.; Nuzzo, Ralph G.

In this research, we prosecuted a comprehensive plan of research directed at developing new catalysts and new understandings relevant to the operation of low temperature hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells. The focal point of this work was one centered on the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR), the electrochemical process that most fundamentally limits the technological utility of these environmentally benign energy conversion devices. Over the period of grant support, we developed new ORR catalysts, based on Cu dimers and multimers. In this area, we developed substantial new insight into design rules required to establish better ORR materials, inspired by the three-Cu active sitemore » in laccase which has the highest ORR onset potential of any material known. We also developed new methods of characterization for the ORR on conventional (metal-based) catalysts. Finally, we developed a new platform to study the rate of proton transfer relevant to proton coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions, of which the ORR is an exemplar. Other aspects of work involved theory and prototype catalyst testing.« less

Comparative study of organic transistors with different graphene electrodes fabricated using a simple patterning method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Narae; Smith, Christian W.; Ishigami, Masa; Khondaker, Saiful I.

2017-12-01

The performance of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) can be greatly limited due to the inefficient charge injection caused by the large interfacial barrier at the metal/organic semiconductor interface. To improve this, two-dimensional graphene films have been suggested as alternative electrode materials; however, a comparative study of OFET performances using different types of graphene electrodes has not been systematically investigated. Here, we present a comparative study on the performance of pentacene OFETs using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown graphene and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as electrodes. The large area electrodes were patterned using a simple and environmentally benign patterning technique. Although both the CVD graphene and RGO electrodes showed enhanced device performance compared to metal electrodes, we found the maximum performance enhancement from CVD grown graphene electrodes. Our study suggests that, in addition to the strong π-π interaction at the graphene/organic interface, the higher conductivity of the electrodes also plays an important role in the performance of OFETs.

Environmental impact and bioremediation of seleniferous soils and sediments.

PubMed

Wadgaonkar, Shrutika L; Nancharaiah, Yarlagadda V; Esposito, Giovanni; Lens, Piet N L

2018-01-05

Selenium concentrations in the soil environment are directly linked to its transfer in the food chain, eventually causing either deficiency or toxicity associated with several physiological dysfunctions in animals and humans. Selenium bioavailability depends on its speciation in the soil environment, which is mainly influenced by the prevailing pH, redox potential, and organic matter content of the soil. The selenium cycle in the environment is primarily mediated through chemical and biological selenium transformations. Interactions of selenium with microorganisms and plants in the soil environment have been studied in order to understand the underlying interplay of selenium conversions and to develop environmental technologies for efficient bioremediation of seleniferous soils. In situ approaches such as phytoremediation, soil amendment with organic matter and biovolatilization are promising for remediation of seleniferous soils. Ex situ remediation of contaminated soils by soil washing with benign leaching agents is widely considered for removing heavy metal pollutants. However, it has not been applied until now for remediation of seleniferous soils. Washing of seleniferous soils with benign leaching agents and further treatment of Se-bearing leachates in bioreactors through microbial reduction will be advantageous as it is aimed at removal as well as recovery of selenium for potential re-use for agricultural and industrial applications. This review summarizes the impact of selenium deficiency and toxicity on ecosystems in selenium deficient and seleniferous regions across the globe, and recent research in the field of bioremediation of seleniferous soils.

Efficient absorption of SO2 with low-partial pressures by environmentally benign functional deep eutectic solvents.

PubMed

Zhang, Kai; Ren, Shuhang; Hou, Yucui; Wu, Weize

2017-02-15

Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emitted from the burning of fossil fuels is one of the main air contaminants. In this work, we found that environmentally benign solvents, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) could be designed with a function to absorb low-partial pressure SO 2 from simulated flue gas. Two kinds of biodegradable functional DESs based on betaine (Bet) and l-carnitine (L-car) as hydrogen bond accepters (HBA) and ethylene glycol (EG) as a hydrogen bond donor (HBD) were prepared with mole ratios of HBA to HBD from 1:3 to 1:5, and they were investigated to absorb SO 2 with different partial pressures at various temperatures. The results showed that the two DESs could absorb low-partial pressure SO 2 efficiently. SO 2 absorption capacities of the DESs with HBA/HBD mole ratio of 1:3 were 0.332mol SO 2 /mol HBA for Bet+EG DES and 0.820mol SO 2 /mol HBA for L-car+EG DES at 40°C with a SO 2 partial pressure of 0.02atm. In addition, the regeneration experiments demonstrated that the absorption capacities of DESs did not change after five absorption and desorption cycles. Furthermore, the absorption mechanism of SO 2 by DESs was studied by FT-IR, 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR spectra. It was found that there are strong acid-base interactions between SO 2 and -COO - on HBA. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.