Laparoscopic surgery for gallstone ileus.

We present a case of a woman in her 70s who arrived in the emergency department with signs of small-bowel obstruction. CT scanning revealed acute cholecystitis with a cholecystoduodenal fistula, pneumobilia and small-bowel obstruction possibly secondary to gallstone ileus although no radio-opaque gallstones were seen. The patient underwent an emergency operation and intra-operative findings revealed mechanical small-bowel obstruction of the proximal jejunum where a 4×2 x 3 cm gallstone was impacted.

Partial or focal brachytherapy for prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Recent advances in image-guided brachytherapy have allowed for treatment volume reduction in the treatment of prostate cancer, with the aim to optimize disease control and reduce toxicities. This systematic review reports on the efficacy and safety of focal brachytherapy for treatment of patients with localized prostate cancer.

Methods: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane were searched from inception to July 2023.

Are we ready for deintensification in human papillomavirus-positive oropharyngeal carcinomas?

Purpose Of Review: Excellent outcomes following contemporary treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal carcinoma (HPV+ OPC) have prompted the exploration of deintensification approaches to minimize treatment-related toxicities. This review describes the landscape of deintensification to date (up to November 2022).

Recent Findings: Although several deintensification trials have been published, none are practice changing.

Diagnosis and management of basal cell carcinoma: interdisciplinary consensus statements of Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, a Department of Health Tertiary Hospital in Manila, Philippines.

Background: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cutaneous malignancy. Multiple risk factors are associated in the development of BCC, with ultraviolet light and genetics playing major roles.

Aims: The departments of dermatology, medical oncology, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, head and neck surgery, plastic surgery, and radiation oncology of the Jose R.

A field trial of nutrient stimulation of methanotrophs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfill cover soils.

Unlabelled: Landfills are among the major sources of anthropogenic methane (CH4) estimated to reach 40 x 10(9) kg per year worldwide by 2015 (IPCC, 2007). A 2 1/2-year field experiment was conducted at a closed landfill in western Michigan where methanotrophs, methane-consuming bacteria, were stimulated by nutrient addition to the soil without significantly increasing biogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) production. The effects of the nitrogen amendments (KNO3 and NH4Cl), phenylacetylene (a selective inhibitor of nitrifying bacteria that contribute to N2O production), and a canopy (to reduce direct water infiltration) on the vertical soil gas profiles of CH4, CO2, and O2 were measured in the top meter of the soil.

Field application of nitrogen and phenylacetylene to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from landfill cover soils: effects on microbial community structure.

Landfills are large sources of CH(4), but a considerable amount of CH(4) can be removed in situ by methanotrophs if their activity can be stimulated through the addition of nitrogen. Nitrogen can, however, lead to increased N(2)O production. To examine the effects of nitrogen and a selective inhibitor on CH(4) oxidation and N(2)O production in situ, 0.

Effect of nutrient and selective inhibitor amendments on methane oxidation, nitrous oxide production, and key gene presence and expression in landfill cover soils: characterization of the role of methanotrophs, nitrifiers, and denitrifiers.

Methane and nitrous oxide are both potent greenhouse gasses, with global warming potentials approximately 25 and 298 times that of carbon dioxide. A matrix of soil microcosms was constructed with landfill cover soils collected from the King Highway Landfill in Kalamazoo, Michigan and exposed to geochemical parameters known to affect methane consumption by methanotrophs while also examining their impact on biogenic nitrous oxide production. It was found that relatively dry soils (5% moisture content) along with 15 mg NH (4) (+) (kg soil)(-1) and 0.

Trimethylbenzoic acids as metabolite signatures in the biogeochemical evolution of an aquifer contaminated with jet fuel hydrocarbons.

Evolution of trimethylbenzoic acids in the KC-135 aquifer at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base (WAFB), Oscoda, MI was examined to determine the functionality of trimethylbenzoic acids as key metabolite signatures in the biogeochemical evolution of an aquifer contaminated with JP-4 fuel hydrocarbons. Changes in the composition of trimethylbenzoic acids and the distribution and concentration profiles exhibited by 2,4,6- and 2,3,5-trimethylbenzoic acids temporally and between multilevel wells reflect processes indicative of an actively evolving contaminant plume. The concentration levels of trimethylbenzoic acids were 3-10 orders higher than their tetramethylbenzene precursors, a condition attributed to slow metabolite turnover under sulfidogenic conditions.

Sequential chemical oxidation and aerobic biodegradation of equivalent carbon number-based hydrocarbon fractions in jet fuel.

Remediation of petroleum mixtures is complicated by the differing environmental degradabilities of hundreds of individual hydrocarbons in the mixtures. By grouping the individual hydrocarbons into a few fractions based on equivalent carbon number (EC), the present study examined the chemical and biological degradation of the fractions. With or without prechemical oxidation (25 days) by three oxidants (KMnO4, H202, MgO2), sterile and live microcosms were constituted with aquifer samples for aerobic biodegradation (134 days) of JP-4 jet fuel.

Coupled oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons by horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide.

The oxidation capability of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) coupled oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons (o-xylene-d10 and naphthalene-d8) was investigated. Batch experiments were conducted using horseradish peroxidase prepared in potassium phosphate buffer in the presence of H2O2. The oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbon was tested as a function of HRP at a fixed concentration of H2O2, and as a function of the concentration of H2O2 at a constant HRP activity (4000 units/ml).

Cokriging optimization of monitoring network configuration based on fuzzy and non-fuzzy variogram evaluation.

A number of optimization approaches regarding monitoring network design and sampling optimization procedures have been reported in the literature. Cokriging Estimation Variance (CEV) is a useful optimization tool to determine the influence of the spatial configuration of monitoring networks on parameter estimations. It was used in order to derive a reduced configuration of a nitrate concentration monitoring well network.

A probabilistic methodology to assess the risk of groundwater quality degradation.

An approach to assess the risk of groundwater quality degradation with regard to fixed standards. based on Disjunctive Kriging (DK) is presented. The DK allows one to evaluate the Conditional Probability (CP) of overriding a given threshold of concentration of a pollutant at a given time, and at a generic point in a considered groundwater system.

In situ lifetimes and kinetics of a reductive whey barrier and an oxidative ORC barrier in the subsurface.

Permeable reactive barriers (PRB) are being used to engineer favorable field conditions for in-situ remediation efforts. Two redox adjustment barriers were installed to facilitate a 10-month research effort on the fate and transport of MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) at a site called the Michigan Integrated Remediation Technology Laboratory (MIRTL). Thirty kilograms of whey were injected as a slurry into an unconfined aquifer to establish an upgradient reductive zone to reduce O2 concentration in the vicinity of a contaminant injection source.

An assessment of natural biotransformation of petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents at an aquifer plume transect.

Field biogeochemical characterization and laboratory microcosm studies were performed to assess the potential for future biotransformation of trichloroethylene (TCE) and toluene in a plume containing petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, MI. In situ terminal electron accepting processes (TEAPs), contaminant composition and microbial phylogeny were studied at a plume transect 100 m downgradient of the source. The presence of reduced electron acceptors, relevant microbial communities, and elevated dissolved methane and carbon dioxide concentrations at the transect, as well as downgradient accumulation of BTEX metabolites and dechlorination products, indicated that past or current reductive dechlorination at the transect was likely driven by BTEX biodegradation in the methanogenic zone.

Microbial characterization of a JP-4 fuel-contaminated site using a combined lipid biomarker/polymerase chain reaction--denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE)-based approach.

The impact of pollution on soil microbial communities and subsequent bioremediation can be measured quantitatively in situ using direct, non-culture-dependent techniques. Such techniques have advantages over culture-based methods, which often account for less than 1% of the extant microbial community. In 1988, a JP-4 fuel spill contaminated the glacio-fluvial aquifer at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan, USA.

Phospholipid compositional changes of five pseudomonad archetypes grown with and without toluene.

Bacterial physiological responses to toluene exposure were investigated in five reference pseudomonad strains that express different toluene degradation pathways: Pseudomonas putida mt-2, Pseudomonas putida F1, Burkholderia cepacia G4, Burkholderia pickettii PKO1, and Pseudomonas mendocina KR1. The intact phospholipids of these archetypes, grown with and without toluene, were characterized using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry. All strains showed significant changes in phospholipid content and composition as an adaptive response to toluene exposure, as well as considerable diversity in response mechanisms.

Characterization of methanotrophic bacteria on the basis of intact phospholipid profiles.

The intact phospholipid profiles (IPPs) of seven species of methanotrophs from all three physiological groups, type I, II and X, were determined using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry. In these methanotrophs, two major classes of phospholipids were found, phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) as well as its derivatives phosphatidylmethylethanolamine (PME) and phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine (PDME). Specifically, the type I methanotrophs, Methylomonas methanica, Methylomonas rubra and Methylomicrobium album BG8 were characterized by PE and PG phospholipids with predominantly C16:1 fatty acids.

Quantification and interpretation of total petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment samples by a GC/MS method and comparison with EPA 418.1 and a rapid field method.

Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) as a lumped parameter can be easily and rapidly measured or monitored. Despite interpretational problems, it has become an accepted regulatory benchmark used widely to evaluate the extent of petroleum product contamination. Three currently used methods (GC/MS, conventional EPA 418.

Statistical trends in ground-water monitoring data at a landfill Superfund site: A case study.

This paper describes the use of statistical regression models to characterize temporal trends in groundwater monitoring data collected between 1980 and 1990 on 15 wells and 13 parameters (195 cases in all) at the KL Avenue landfill site in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. This site was used as a municipal landfill prior to 1980, then was placed on the Superfund site list in 1982 after ground-water contamination was found.Six temporal regression trend models were defined using linear and quadratic regression models.

Network design factors for assessing temporal variability in ground-water quality.

Benchmark major ions and nutrients data were collected biweekly for about two years at 12 wells at two sites in a shallow sand and gravel aquifer in west-central Illinois. The purpose of the study was to explore the time series properties of ground-water quality data collected at a relatively high sampling frequency. A secondary purpose was to determine the relative magnitudes of natural and sampling-related sources of variance in ground-water quality time series.