Anaplastic Carcinoma Thyroid - A Review on the Management of this Aggressive Cancer.

Anaplastic carcinoma thyroid is an aggressive malignancy with very poor survival rate. In this study, we reviewed the records of 34 patients with anaplastic carcinoma thyroid in our centre and we divided them into groups T4a, T4b, and T4c. The case records were reviewed for presentation, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up and we analysed the data using statistical methods. The median age group was 65 years with 22 women and 12 men. There were 16 patients (47%) with a history of thyroid swelling of more than 2 years duration. Of these 16 patients 6 were found to be in T4a group. There were 6 patients in T4a, 14 each in T4b and T4c. All the patients in T4a group were operated and completed multimodal management. The group with T4a had the best prognosis with a mean survival of 1 year. The patients with extracapsular disease (T4b) completed chemotherapy along with radiotherapy. These patients had a mean survival of 6 months. Only 2 patients in metastatic group completed the course of chemotherapy with radiotherapy. The other 12 patients died during the course of treatment due to respiratory failure. The mean survival in this group was a dismal 15 days. On univariate analysis metastatic disease, extracapsular disease, size more than 5 cm and involvement of lymph nodes were the reasons for incomplete treatment and hence markers of worst prognosis. There are 47% of the patients with prior history of thyroid swelling which gives us time to identify and manage thyroid swellings with propensity to undergo anaplastic transformation.

Biodiesel from plant seed oils as an alternate fuel for compression ignition engines-a review.

The modern scenario reveals that the world is facing energy crisis due to the dwindling sources of fossil fuels. Environment protection agencies are more concerned about the atmospheric pollution due to the burning of fossil fuels. Alternative fuel research is getting augmented because of the above reasons. Plant seed oils (vegetable oils) are cleaner, sustainable, and renewable. So, it can be the most suitable alternative fuel for compression ignition (CI) engines. This paper reviews the availability of different types of plant seed oils, several methods for production of biodiesel from vegetable oils, and its properties. The different types of oils considered in this review are cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) oil, ginger oil, eucalyptus oil, rice bran oil, Calophyllum inophyllum, hazelnut oil, sesame oil, clove stem oil, sardine oil, honge oil, polanga oil, mahua oil, rubber seed oil, cotton seed oil, neem oil, jatropha oil, egunsi melon oil, shea butter, linseed oil, Mohr oil, sea lemon oil, pumpkin oil, tobacco seed oil, jojoba oil, and mustard oil. Several methods for production of biodiesel are transesterification, pre-treatment, pyrolysis, and water emulsion are discussed. The various fuel properties considered for review such as specific gravity, viscosity, calorific value, flash point, and fire point are presented. The review also portrays advantages, limitations, performance, and emission characteristics of engine using plant seed oil biodiesel are discussed. Finally, the modeling and optimization of engine for various biofuels with different input and output parameters using artificial neural network, response surface methodology, and Taguchi are included.