Tracking the fate and transport of estrogens following rainfall events.

Surface runoff following rainfall events can transport estrogens from agricultural land to water systems, causing potential risks to aquatic biota. This study adopted two simple models, the wash-off and empirical models, to quantify the pathway of three prevalent manure-borne estrogens, estrone (E1), 17ß-estradiol (E2ß) and 17α-estradiol (E2α), from agricultural land to the receiving water following rainfall events. The complex interconversion of the three estrogens during attenuation was considered in the models. These two models were calibrated and validated using the data obtained from three artificial rainfall events from the literature. The data from the first two rainfall events were used to quantify key model parameters and the data from the third rainfall event were used to validate the models. The performances of the models were then evaluated through a statistical analysis. Results show that both models can closely reproduce the mass loads of estrogens during rainfall events and that the wash-off model shows a better overall performance than the empirical model for the data used in this study.

Spatially variable deoxygenation in the Danshui River: improvement in model calibration.

A modeling study of the Danshui River, Taiwan, reveals that in-stream BOD deoxygenation rates vary significantly along the river as a result of the highly variable strength of wastewater discharges, which directly reflect the effluent characteristics. A comprehensive field data gathering and lab analysis effort for the study site is presented. Results of the data analyses yielded spatially variable CBOD deoxygenation and nitrification rates, which were incorporated in a model of the river. The model results indicate significant improvement of model calibration, thus enhancing the predictive capability of the model for its use in water quality management. To maximize the benefits of pollution control for the Danshui River system and to achieve the water quality management goal, concurrent reductions of CBOD and ammonia loads, instead of phased reduction of CBOD followed by ammonia reduction, are strongly recommended by the model results.

Progression of river BOD/DO modeling for water quality management.

A historical perspective of river BOD/DO modeling using the Streeter-Phelps equation in the past century is presented with cases in the United States, Taiwan, and India. The main emphasis is on the regulatory aspects of modeling during the five decades following the passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) in the United States. Success of the CWA in river clean-up is demonstrated via BOD/DO modeling for management use. Continuing interests outside the United States in anaerobic rivers and eutrophication-related low dissolved oxygen problems are serving as new proving ground for applications of river BOD/DO modeling. In addition, road blocks on BOD/DO modeling under future conditions for water quality management are outlined. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Water quality-based control to set end-of-pipe limits prior to 1970s Switched to technology-based control following the 1972 Clean Water Act Back to water quality-based control with field data support since 1980 Modeling to support technology-based and water quality-based control for renewed river BOD/DO problems in the 21st century.

Reaction Properties of Basic Oxygen Furnace Slag and Methane in a Fluidized-Bed Chemical Looping System.

In the conventional steelmaking process, slag is the second-largest byproduct. Although most slags have ways to be reused, the demand for small BOF (basic oxygen furnace) slag is still limited. This study aimed to develop a fluidized-bed chemical looping system using BOF slag as an oxygen carrier and methane as a fuel to produce heat for the steelmaking process. The results of the BOF slag reaction test on a batch fluidization and reaction test facility indicated that the methane conversion rate increased with an increase in the methane concentrations and the reaction temperature. As methane concentration increased from 5 to 15 v/v % at the reaction temperature of 950 °C and the fluidized velocity of 5.1 times the minimum fluidized velocity of BOF slag, the methane conversion rate increased from 65.8 to 76.6%. By setting 10 v/v % as the referenced methane concentration, the methane conversion rate corresponded to 71.6%, and as the reaction temperature increased to 980 °C, the methane conversion rate of 85.7% was achieved. The fluidized gas velocity influenced the fluidized state of the oxygen carrier and the gas residence time in the reactor. As the gas velocity was 1.9 times the minimum fluidization velocity of BOF, the methane and oxygen carrier conversion rates reached 83.3 and 13.0% at the referenced methane concentration and reaction temperature of 950 °C. The experimental results could offer the required design and operation parameters for the methane fluidized bed chemical looping system using BOF slag as the oxygen carrier.

Micturitional headache in a young girl.

A 16-year-old girl came to our emergency department because of severe headache. For the past 3 years, she had presented at several emergency departments with a similar problem. When she was hospitalized for further investigation, she developed severe arterial hypertension for which an unusual cause was found by imaging of the abdomen.

Attenuation, transport, and management of estrogens: A review.

Overabundance of endocrine disruptors (EDs), such as steroid estrogens, in the natural environment disrupts hormone synthesis in aquatic organisms. Livestock and wastewater outflows contribute measurable quantities of steroid estrogens into the environment where they are picked up and transported via surface runoff and feedlot effluents into water matrices. E1, E2ß, E2α, E3 and EE2 are the most prevalent estrogens in these environmental systems. Estrogens in soils and water undergo several concurrent attenuation processes including sorption to particles, biotransformation, photo-transformation, and plant uptake. This review summarizes current studies on the attenuation and transport of steroid estrogens with a focus on estrogen attenuation and transport modeling. The authors use this information to synthesize appropriate strategies for reducing estrogenicity in the environment.

Comparison of Different Treatment Schedules of Mitomycin C Intravesical Instillation in High-Risk Superficial Bladder Cancer Patients.

ZIEL: Diese Studie erfolgte zum Vergleich der Wirksamkeit einer intravesikalen Instillation von Mitomycin C (MMC) zur Prävention eines nicht muskelinvasiven Ta- oder T1-High-Risk-Harnblasenkarzinoms (NMIBC) unter Verwendung verschiedener Schemata. MATERIAL UND METHODEN: Diese retrospektive Kohortenstudie wurde bei 152 Patienten durchgeführt, die zwischen April 2009 und September 2016 mit einer intravesikalen MMC-Injektion behandelt wurden. Der mittlere Nachbeobachtungszeitraum lag bei 32,67 Monaten. Alle Patienten unterzogen sich einer vollständigen transurethralen Resektion des Blasentumors (TURBT), an die sich innerhalb von 24 Stunden eine postoperative Instillation von MMC anschloss. Die Patienten wurden in 4 Behandlungsgruppen unterteilt: Bei Gruppe 1 erfolgte die Nachbeobachtung ohne MMC-Erhaltungsdosis; Gruppe 2 erhielt in den ersten 8 Wochen einmal pro Woche eine MMC-Instillation; Gruppe 3 erhielt in den ersten 8 Wochen einmal pro Woche und in den darauffolgenden 6 Monaten einmal pro Monat eine MMC-Instillation; Gruppe 4 erhielt in den ersten 8 Wochen einmal pro Woche und in den darauffolgenden 12 Monaten einmal pro Monat eine MMC-Instillation. ERGEBNISSE: Die allgemeine Rezidivrate lag bei 27,6 %. Gruppe 1 zeigte eine signifikant hohe (p < 0,05) Rezidivrate von 50 %, während sich bei den Rezidivraten der übrigen 3 Schemata kein Unterschied fand (Gruppe 2: 15 %; Gruppe 3: 24,1 %; Gruppe 4: 27,2 %). Darüber hinaus zeigte sich zwischen diesen Patientengruppen kein statistischer Unterschied bei den Rezidivraten von Ta- oder T1-Tumoren sowie niedrig- oder hochgradigen Tumoren. SCHLUSSFOLGERUNG: Unser Vergleich der verschiedenen Schemata einer intravesikalen MMC-Instillation ergab bei einer einzigen MMC-Instillation nach TURBT eine signifikant höhere Rezidivrate als bei Patienten, die nach 8 Wochen, 6 Monaten und 12 Monaten eine Erhaltungsdosis erhielten. Zeitlich fanden sich beim MMC-Erhaltungsschema keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen der 8. Woche und dem 12. Monat. Daraus folgern wir, dass bei T1- oder Ta-High-Risk-NMIBC nach TURBT einmalig eine MMC-Instillation mit anschließender Erhaltungstherapie mit einmal wöchentlicher Verabreichung über 8 Wochen durchgeführt werden kann.

Modeling the fate and transport of 17ß-estradiol in the South River watershed in Virginia.

Hormones excreted by livestock metabolisms often enter surface water through feces and urine and can potentially cause adverse impacts to aquatic biota. This study involved a modeling analysis of 17ß-estradiol (E2), a prevalent estrogen, in the South River watershed located in Augusta County, Virginia from 2013 to 2015. Cattle manure, poultry litter, biosolids, septic systems, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were considered as sources of E2 in this study. The EPA's BASINS modeling framework was configured to track the fate and transport of E2. The first-order kinetics and the wash-off model were adopted to characterize the attenuation and the transport of E2. The modeling results indicated that the flow rate was a major input affecting the simulated E2 levels in the water. During storm events, E2 on the land surface was transported into the rivers by the surface runoff and the E2 released into streams was diluted by the high water flow. Variations of the simulated E2 concentrations in the South River depended on the relative magnitudes of the loads from point and nonpoint sources. Modeling results showed that E2 levels in the South River were below the lowest observable effect level (LOEL) for fish. However, the practices of storing manure before land application and fencing off rivers to keep cattle out of the water are encouraged to prevent the potential for high E2 levels in streams receiving feedlot runoff.

A hybrid neural-genetic algorithm for reservoir water quality management.

A combined neural network and genetic algorithm (GA) was developed for water quality management of Feitsui Reservoir in Taiwan. First, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was employed to simulate the behavior of nutrient loads into the reservoir. The data from watershed loads, precipitation in the watershed, and outflow were used in the ANN model to forecast the total phosphorus concentration in the reservoir. A 6-year (1992-97) record of water quality data was used for network training, and additional data collected in 1998-2000 were used for model verification. Further, a GA was used with this ANN model to optimize the control of nutrient loads from the watershed. The GA was used as a search strategy to determine the proper reduction rates of nutrient loads from the watershed so that the objective function could be as close to the optimal value as possible. The study results indicate that the ANN model can effectively simulate the dynamics of reservoir water quality. The GA is able to identify control schemes that reduce the in-reservoir total phosphorus concentration by as much as 60%, and water quality in the reservoir can be expected to achieve an oligotrophic (most of the time) or mesotrophic level if the watershed nutrient loads are reduced by 10-80%.

Identification of microRNAs regulating Escherichia coli F18 infection in Meishan weaned piglets.

BACKGROUND: Escherichia coli F18 is mainly responsible for post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) in piglets. The molecular regulation of E. coli F18 resistance in Chinese domestic weaned piglets is still obscure. We used Meishan piglets as model animals to test their susceptibility to E. coli F18. Small RNA duodenal libraries were constructed for E. coli F18-sensitive and -resistant weaned piglets challenged with E. coli F18 and sequenced using Illumina Solexa high-throughput sequencing technology. RESULTS: Sequencing results showed that 3,475,231 and 37,198,259 clean reads were obtained, with 311 known miRNAs differently expressed in resistant and sensitive groups, respectively. Twenty-four miRNAs, including 15 up-regulated and 9 down-regulated, demonstrated more than a 2-fold differential expression between the F18-resistant and -sensitive piglets. Stem-loop RT-qPCR showed that miR-136, miR-196b, miR-499-5p and miR-218-3p significantly expressed in intestinal tissue (p < 0.05). KEGG pathway analysis for target genes revealed that differently expressed miRNAs were involved in infectious diseases, signal transduction and immune system pathways. Interestingly, the expression of miR-218-3p in intestinal tissue had a very significant negative correlation with target DLG5 (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the expression correlation between miRNA and target genes analysis, we speculate that miR-218-3p targeting to DLG5, appears to be very promising candidate for miRNAs involved in response to E. coli F18 infection. The present study provides improved database information on pig miRNAs, better understanding of the genetic basis of E. coli F18 resistance in local Chinese pig breeds and lays a new foundation for identifying novel markers of E. coli F18 resistance. REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Neil R Smalheiser and Weixiong Zhang.

Modeling sediment impact on the transport of fecal bacteria.

Sediment storage of fecal bacteria has been observed for a long time. However, limited modeling efforts have been conducted to dynamically and explicitly study the impact of sediment on the transport of fecal bacteria. In this paper, a modeling framework based on the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) model has been proposed. Free and particle-associated fecal bacteria can be modeled explicitly using the developed model. A linear adsorption relationship is incorporated into the model to obtain a sediment concentration dependent attachment ratio. The deposition and resuspension fluxes of fecal bacteria across the sediment bed-water interface are calculated coupled with the sediment deposition and resuspension flux. The model was applied to hypothetical scenarios to evaluate the sediment impacts under ideal settling and resuspension conditions. A case study was provided to test the resuspension calculation of fecal bacteria under an artificial flooding condition. Using this model, the contributions of fecal bacteria from sediment bed and from the watershed can be modeled separately and explicitly.

Pulmonary leiomyomas in a patient with bilateral renal cell cancer mimicking pulmonary metastases.

Pulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyoma (PBML) characterized by uterine leiomyoma in the lung is very rare. Here we report the case of a 55-year-old woman with a history of surgically resected multiple uterine leiomyomas who was histopathologically diagnosed with PBML associated with bilateral primary renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Clinicians should be aware of this unusual entity and consider pulmonary leiomyoma as a differential diagnosis in asymptomatic women with primary RCC and a history of hysterectomy for leiomyoma.

A giant non-functional adrenocortical carcinoma presenting with acute kidney injury.

Hormonally inactive adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare disease where abdominal discomfort and back pain are common presenting symptoms due to mass effect from a large tumor. Acute kidney injury (AKI) from retroperitoneal tumors has rarely been reported. The most common etiologies include venous thrombosis, ureteral compression, or both. Here, we described a man who presented with AKI from a large retroperitoneal tumor, which was finally diagnosed as a non-functional ACC. The inferior vena cava (IVC) was nearly completely compressed by the large retroperitoneal tumor leading to venous outflow obstruction and AKI. After surgical resection, his urine output increased and renal function recovered. Unfortunately, AKI recurred 2 months later due to recurrence of the tumor. Treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor stabilized his tumor size, and hemodialysis was started. IVC-compression-associated AKI can be the presenting scenario for ACC, a rare but prognostically important aggressive neoplasm.

Effects of sorption kinetics on the fate and transport of pharmaceuticals in estuaries.

Many current fate and transport models based on the assumption of instantaneous sorption equilibrium of contaminants in the water column may not be valid for certain pharmaceuticals with long times to reach sorption equilibrium. In this study, a sorption kinetics model was developed and incorporated into a water quality model for the Patuxent River Estuary to evaluate the effect of sorption kinetics. Model results indicate that the assumption of instantaneous sorption equilibrium results in significant under-prediction of water column concentrations for some pharmaceuticals. The relative difference between predicted concentrations for the instantaneous versus kinetic approach is as large as 150% at upstream locations in the Patuxent Estuary. At downstream locations, where sorption processes have had sufficient time to reach equilibrium, the relative difference decreases to roughly 25%. This indicates that sorption kinetics affect a model's ability to capture accumulation of pharmaceuticals into riverbeds and the transport of pharmaceuticals in estuaries. These results offer strong evidence that chemicals are not removed from the water column as rapidly as has been assumed on the basis of equilibrium-based analyses. The findings are applicable not only for pharmaceutical compounds, but also for diverse contaminants that reach sorption equilibrium slowly.

Inlay buccal mucosal graft for reoperative posterior urethroplasty.

Posterior urethral distraction injury following major pelvic trauma is a surgical challenge. Although rarely seen, cases of failure after formal urethral reconstruction are even more problematic. We adapted the concept of augmented free buccal mucosal grafts, which have been successful in anterior urethroplasty, for repairing the posterior urethra in these rare cases with the aim of reducing the likelihood of penile chordee postoperatively. During 2007-2009, four patients were candidates for the proposed procedure because they had received formal transperineal urethral reconstruction but were unable to urinate through the urethra. The urethra was approached transperineally and opened in the midline, rather than divided. Buccal mucosal grafts of an appropriate size were placed in the created urethral groove from 4- to 8 o'clock in the lithotomy view. After the procedure, the urethral catheter was kept for 3 weeks. All patients voided through the urethra after the procedure. The maximal postoperative urinary flow rates were between 12-15 ml/seconds in all cases for a follow-up period of 18-30 months. The recurrence rate was 50% (2/4). Recurrent strictures were minor, and they showed a web-like stricture ring near the suture line. Restricture within 6 months of surgery responded well to endoscopic internal urethrotomy plus dilatations. In conclusion, without further compromising urethral length, reoperative posterior urethroplasty with the inlay grafting technique can be considered in selective cases.

Predicting EDC concentrations in a river mixing zone.

The fate and transport of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in ambient river waters is a major concern associated with effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This paper presents a methodology for quantifying the spatial distribution of EDCs in a river mixing zone. The core of the technical analysis is based on a two-dimensional steady-state analytical model characterized by ambient turbulence in the receiving water. This model was first calibrated with mass transport data from field measurements for a conservative substance (electrical conductivity) and then used to predict aqueous-phase EDC concentrations throughout a WWTP mixing zone. To demonstrate the usefulness of this methodology for water quality management purposes, the modeling framework presented in this paper was used to determine a lumped in-stream attenuation rate constant (k(d)=3 d(-1)) for 17ß-estradiol under natural conditions. This rate constant likely accounts for the combined contributions of physical sorption, photolysis, microbial and chemical degradation, and the measured value is highly consistent with previously published results from bench-scale removal experiments.

Retroperitoneal mixed germ cell tumor mimicking a renal neoplasm: a case report.

Retroperitoneal malignant germ cell tumors (GCTs) are rare and of uncertain origin. Almost all retroperitoneal GCTs with seminomatous histology have been reported in male patients. Pediatric hypertension in a girl secondary to a retroperitoneal mixed GCT (dysgerminoma plus mature monodermal teratoma) has not been reported previously in the literature. We present the first case of an 11-year-old girl with a retroperitoneal mixed GCT presenting with hypertension.

A GIS-based generic real-time risk assessment framework and decision tools for chemical spills in the river basin.

This paper presents a generic framework and decision tools of real-time risk assessment on Emergency Environmental Decision Support System for response to chemical spills in river basin. The generic "4-step-3-model" framework is able to delineate the warning area and the impact on vulnerable receptors considering four types of hazards referring to functional area, societal impact, and human health and ecology system. Decision tools including the stand-alone system and software components were implemented on GIS platform. A detailed case study on the Songhua River nitrobenzene spill illustrated the goodness of the framework and tool Spill first responders and decision makers of catchment management will benefit from the rich, visual and dynamic hazard information output from the software.

Malignant mesenchymal tumor with leiomyosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, and osteosarcoma differentiation: case report and literature review.

A case of malignant mesenchymoma of the bladder containing leiomyosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, osteosarcoma, and myxomatous components is described. The primary pedunculated tumor measuring 14×13×7 cm and weighing 343 g arose from the left trigone of the bladder and was treated by total cystectomy. The histogenesis of malignant mesenchymomas and their optimal management strategy and prognosis remain uncertain. Herein, we present the fifth case of malignant mesenchymoma of the urinary bladder to be reported in the literature, which presented five unrelated differentiated tissues more than did previously reported cases.