A circular economy use of recovered sludge cellulose in wood plastic composite production: Recycling and eco-efficiency assessment.

This paper presents a novel development of sludge cellulose plastic composite (SPC) in line with the circular economy concept by using recovered sludge cellulose from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Bearing the aim of replacing the wood in wood plastic composite (WPC) with sludge cellulose, WPC was developed in parallel for determining the substitution potentials. In order to maximise the integration of properties, maleic anhydride (MA) and vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) coupling agents were employed to refine the interfacial bonding of both SPC and WPC. In line with the main aim of circular economy - to decouple the economic value from the environmental impact, eco-efficiency analysis was performed for the developed process. The results showed that the tensile and flexural strength of the composites were substantially enhanced after both treatments, while MA appeared to be more efficient than VTMS in the refinery of interfacial bonding. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis confirmed the improvement of interface by identifying well embedded and firmly bonded wood flour or sludge cellulose in the matrix. WPC was marginally more thermally stable than SPC, while SPC suggested comparable flexural properties. Eco-efficiency assessment results showed that the SPC had better environmental and economic performance than the WPC. The latter turns sludge cellulose as a promising sustainable alternative to wood or natural fibres in the production of WPC.

Painful Penile Plaques: A Rare Case Report of Rectal Adenocarcinoma with Cutaneous Metastasis to the Penis.

Despite the rich vascularization of the penis and its close proximity to other pelvic organs, cutaneous manifestations of metastatic disease to the penis are an uncommon occurrence. Penile lesions suspected for malignancy should alert clinicians to differentiate between primary and secondary tumors. While the majority of metastatic malignancies arise from the genitourinary tract, we present a unique case report of a 51-year-old male with penile metastasis of primary rectal adenocarcinoma. A thorough diagnostic evaluation was performed including imaging studies, colonoscopy, as well as penile biopsies with associated immunohistochemistry panel. The patient was diagnosed with penile metastases secondary to invasive rectal adenocarcinoma. Due to the aggressive nature of the patient's presentation, systemic chemotherapy was initiated for palliative measures as the patient declined any radical surgical intervention.

Sarcoidosis Presenting as a Right Paraesophageal Mass Abutting the Left Atrium.

We herein report a unique case of sarcoidosis in a 44-year-old Caucasian female. The patient was initially evaluated for hematochezia and diagnosed with diverticulitis after computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen and pelvis. This imaging also incidentally showed a large mass abutting the esophagus. Further imaging of the mass revealed widespread lymphadenopathy in the thorax without any respiratory or classic B symptoms present. The remaining workup caused concern for possible lung or hematologic malignancy. Following biopsy of a thoracic lymph node, the patient was diagnosed with sarcoidosis. This patient met only one of the usual demographic criteria associated with sarcoidosis and none of the lab criteria. While sarcoidosis is typically a benign disease, this case exemplifies how it may appear as a more sinister entity and warrants extensive workup to rule out malignancy.

Antioxidant and Hepatoprotective Efficiency of Selenium Nanoparticles Against Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatic Damage.

Overdoses of acetaminophen (APAP), a famous and widely used drug, may have hepatotoxic effects. Nanoscience is a novel scientific discipline that provides specific tools for medical science problems including using nano trace elements in hepatic diseases. Our study aimed to assess the hepatoprotective role of selenium nanoparticles (Nano-Se) against APAP-induced hepatic injury. Twenty-four male rats were classified into three equal groups: a control group that received 0.9 % NaCl, an APAP-treated group (oral administration), and a group treated with Nano-Se (10-20 nm, intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection) and APAP (oral administration). APAP overdose induced significant elevations in liver function biomarkers, hepatic lipid peroxidation, hepatic catalase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD), decreased the reduced glutathione (GSH) content and glutathione reductase (GR) activity, and stimulated significant DNA damage in hepatocytes, compared to control rats. Nano-Se administration improved the hepatic antioxidant protection mechanism and decreased cellular sensitivity to DNA fragmentation. Nano-Se exhibits a protective effect against APAP-induced hepatotoxicity through improved liver function and oxidative stress mediated by catalase, SOD, and GSH and decreases hepatic DNA fragmentation, a hepatic biomarker of cell death. Nano-Se could be a novel hepatoprotective strategy to inhibit oxidative stress.

Gastric pouch carcinoma after gastric bypass for morbid obesity.

The relationship between bariatric surgery and gastric cancer is conjectural. We present a 52-year-old woman with BMI 45 operated initially by a Lap-Band procedure complicated by gastric wall erosion of the band 9 months later. She was re-operated and the band was removed. She subsequently underwent a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. 5 years after, gastric carcinoma was discovered in the gastric pouch. Because of varied symptoms following bariatric surgery, patients may not present promptly with symptoms related to a gastric carcinoma.

Computation of a finite element-conformal tetrahedral mesh approximation for simulated soft tissue deformation using a deformable surface model.

In this article, we present a new method for the generation of surface meshes of biological soft tissue. The method is based on the deformable surface model technique and is extended to histological data sets. It relies on an iterative adjustment towards polygonal segments describing the histological structures of the soft tissue. The generated surface meshes allow for the construction of volumetric meshes through a standard constrained Delaunay approach and, thus, for the application in finite element methods. The geometric properties of volumetric meshes have an immediate influence on the numerical conditioning and, therewith, on the stability of the finite element method and the convergence of iterative solvers. In this article, the influence of the surface meshes on the quality of the volumetric meshes is analysed in terms of the spectral condition number of the stiffness matrices, which are assembled within Newton's method. The non-linear material behavior of biological soft tissue is modeled by the Mooney-Rivlin material law. The subject is motivated by the requirements of virtual surgery.