Mercury behaviour in flue gas from sewage sludge incinerators and melting furnace.

Thermal conversion of sewage sludge can be a clean source of renewable energy if the emission of air pollutants from the source is controlled. In 2013, the Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted, placing greater emphasis on the control of mercury emissions, including mercury emissions from sewage sludge incinerators. To characterise the behaviour of mercury in flue gas, particulate and gaseous mercury concentrations in two incinerators and a melting furnace were measured by manual sampling. In a third facility, continuous emission monitoring was used to characterise temporal trends in gaseous mercury concentrations. Wet scrubbers were determined to be effective air pollution control devices suitable for mercury removal. Stack mercury concentrations were found to be <10 µg/Nm3, which meets the mercury emission standard for existing plants (50 µg/Nm3).

Large or persistent lymphocyst increases the risk of lymphedema, lymphangitis, and deep vein thrombosis after retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy for gynecologic malignancy.

PURPOSE: This retrospective study examined the incidence of lymphocyst formation after retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy in patients with gynecologic malignancy as well as the relation between lymphocyst formation and such complications as lymphedema, lymphangitis, ileus, and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). METHODS: Three hundred twenty-one patients who underwent primary surgery with pelvic (90 patients) or combined pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy (231 patients) for gynecologic malignancy between January 2001 and December 2009 were enrolled. The incidences of lymphocyst identified by computed tomography at 3 weeks and 1 year after surgery were analyzed in relation to the types of surgery and types of complications. RESULTS: At 3 weeks after surgery, lymphocysts were observed in 282/321 patients (88 %). At 1 year after surgery, lymphocysts persisted in 69 patients (21 %). Lymphedema was observed in 34/321 (11 %) patients, lymphangitis in 36/321 (11 %), ileus in 14/321 (4 %), and DVT in 24/321 (7 %). The incidence of lymphedema was significantly greater in patients with persistent lymphocyst than in those with without (17 vs. 9 %) (p = 0.038); the incidences of lymphangitis (20 vs. 9 %) (p = 0.007) were also greater in this group. Multivariate analysis showed a large lymphocyst (>50 mm) at 3 weeks after surgery to be an independent risk factor for lymphedema (odds ratio 2.76, p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: A large lymphocyst at 3 weeks after surgery or persistent lymphocyst increases the risk of lymphedema, lymphangitis, and DVT.

Torsion of a hydrosalpinx in a virgin patient with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome: report of a rare condition and its possible etiology.

BACKGROUND: To describe a rare case of hydrosalpinx torsion in a virgin patient with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. CASE: A 25-year-old woman with previously diagnosed MRKH syndrome in whom lower abdominal pain led to discovery and resection of a hydosalpinx of unusual origin in a university hospital department of obstetrics and gynecology, Japan. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopy revealed a twisted left-sided hydrosalpinx, and the mass was resected laparoscopically. Results of the blood test for Chlamydia trachomatis were positive, but results of the PCR test were negative. Our case was unusual in that hydrosalpinx is rare in virgin patients with MRKH. The cause of the hydrosalpinx was unclear, but one possibility is excess tubal secretions from the fallopian tube.

Growing teratoma syndrome as an unusual cause of gliomatosis peritonei: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Growing teratoma syndrome (GTS) is defined as enlarging peritoneal implants that occur during or after chemotherapy for malignant germ cell tumors, but are histologically mature teratomas without any malignant components. GTS is a synonym for "chemotherapeutic retroconversion", i.e., conversion from a metastatic immature teratoma to a mature tumor by chemotherapy. Gliomatosis peritonei (GP) is a rare condition associated with ovarian teratomas of any grade, in which benign glial implants develop on the peritoneal surface. CASE: We present a case of a 34-year-old woman with GTS. CONCLUSIONS: Present case supported by review of the literatures suggests that GTS can be a part of GP, because both GTS and GP are associated with benign peritoneal glial implants regardless of grade of malignancy of their original tumor.

CD4+ CD25+ T cells responding to serologically defined autoantigens suppress antitumor immune responses.

A variety of tumor-derived antigens have been defined by IgG antibodies in tumor bearers' sera with serological identification of antigens by recombinant expression cloning (SEREX), a serological expression cloning method. The majority of these antigens show no structural abnormality and seem to be wild-type autoantigens. Coimmunization with DNA encoding these autoantigens and tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes epitopes heightened CD8+ T cell responses and increased resistance to tumor challenge in a CD4+ T cell-dependent manner. In contrast, immunization with these SEREX-defined autoantigens alone leads to heightened susceptibility to tumor challenge. This suppressive effect of immunization is mediated by CD4+ CD25+ T cells. In mice immunized with one of the SEREX-defined autoantigens, Dna J-like 2, the number of alpha-GalCer/CD1d tetramer+ CD3+ T cells [representing natural killer T (NKT) cells] was reduced in the pulmonary compartment, whereas no evident change in the number of other T cell subsets was observed. Experiments with Jalpha281-/- mice lacking most NKT cells indicate that NKT cells are primarily responsible for metastasis suppression and that their activity is inhibited by immunization with Dna J-like 2. We propose that SEREX identifies a pool of autoantigens that maintains and regulates immunological homeostasis via CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells.