Chest High-resolution Computed Tomography Findings in 601 Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Publication date: Available online 28 November 2017
Source:Academic Radiology
Author(s): Haruka Sato, Fumito Okada, Shunro Matsumoto, Akira Sonoda, Kazunari Murakami, Tetsuya Ishida, Hajime Takaki, Masaki Wakisaka, Kouhei Tokuyama, Ryuichi Shimada, Hiromu Mori
Rationale and ObjectivesPulmonary involvement in inflammatory bowel disease may reflect the common embryonic origin of the gastrointestinal tract and the bronchial tree. No studies have compared pulmonary high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings between ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn disease (CD). This study aimed to assess the relationship between pulmonary HRCT findings and inflammatory bowel disease activity and to compare HRCT findings between UC and CD.Materials and MethodsWe retrospectively identified 601 consecutive patients (350 with UC and 251 with CD) who had undergone chest HRCT examinations at our institutions between April 2004 and April 2016. Parenchymal abnormalities, enlarged lymph nodes, and pleural effusion were evaluated on HRCT.ResultsOne hundred sixty-seven patients (94 men, 73 women; aged 12–86 years, mean: 47.2 years) with UC and 93 patients (61 men, 32 women; aged 12–71 years, mean: 37.9 years) with CD had abnormal findings on chest HRCT. The HRCT findings of UC and CD mainly consisted of centrilobular nodules (in 49.1% and 45.2% of cases, respectively) and bronchial wall thickening (in 31.7% and 54.8%, respectively). There was no relationship between HRCT findings and disease activity. Bronchial wall thickening was significantly more frequent in patients with CD than in those with UC (P < .001).ConclusionThe main chest HRCT findings in UC and CD are centrilobular nodules and bronchial wall thickening. There are differences in HRCT findings between UC and CD.



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Normal Axillary Lymph Node Variability Between White and Black Women on Breast MRI

Publication date: Available online 28 November 2017
Source:Academic Radiology
Author(s): Lars J. Grimm, Neal K. Viradia, Karen S. Johnson
Rationale and ObjectivesThis study aimed to determine if there were differences in the imaging features of normal lymph nodes between white and black women using magnetic resonance imaging.Materials and MethodsFollowing institutional review board approval, we identified white and black women who underwent breast magnetic resonance imaging from November 1, 2008 to December 31, 2013 at our institution. To identify normal lymph nodes for measurement, patients with any benign or malignant causes for lymph node enlargement and patients with any subsequent breast cancer in the following 2 years were excluded. Black and white women were age matched at a 1:2 ratio. The largest lymph node in each axilla was measured for the long-axis length and maximal cortical thickness. Comparisons were made between white and black women using a conditional logistic regression to control for matching.ResultsThere were 55 black women and 110 white women for analysis. The mean lymph node long-axis length was 14.7 ± 5.3 mm for black women and 14.4 ± 6.4 mm for white women (P = .678). The mean maximum cortical thickness was 3.3 ± 1.6 mm for black women and 2.6 ± 1.4 mm for Caucasian women (P < .001). A significantly higher percentage of black than white women had cortical thicknesses greater than threshold values of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 mm (P < .01 for all).ConclusionsThe normal lymph node cortical thickness in black women is significantly greater than in white women, which should be considered when deciding to recommend a lymph node biopsy.



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Prognostic value of combining a quantitative image feature from positron emission tomography with clinical factors in oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer

Oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous condition with few known risk stratification factors. A quantitative imaging feature (QIF) on positron emission tomography (PET), gray-level co-occurrence matrix energy, has been linked with outcome of nonmetastatic NSCLC. We hypothesized that GLCM energy would enhance the ability of models comprising standard clinical prognostic factors (CPFs) to stratify oligometastatic patients based on overall survival (OS).

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Evaluation of sediment and 137Cs redistribution in the Oginosawa River catchment near the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant using integrated watershed modeling

Publication date: February 2018
Source:Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Volume 182
Author(s): Kazuyuki Sakuma, Alex Malins, Hironori Funaki, Hiroshi Kurikami, Tadafumi Niizato, Takahiro Nakanishi, Koji Mori, Kazuhiro Tada, Takamaru Kobayashi, Akihiro Kitamura, Masaaki Hosomi
The Oginosawa River catchment lies 15 km south-west of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant and covers 7.7 km². Parts of the catchment were decontaminated between fall 2012 and March 2014 in preparation for the return of the evacuated population. The General-purpose Terrestrial Fluid-flow Simulator (GETFLOWS) code was used to study sediment and ¹³⁷Cs redistribution within the catchment, including the effect of decontamination on redistribution. Fine resolution grid cells were used to model local features of the catchment, such as paddy fields adjacent to the Oginosawa River. The simulation was verified using monitoring data for river water discharge rates (r = 0.92), suspended sediment concentrations, and particulate ¹³⁷Cs concentrations (r = 0.40). Cesium-137 input to watercourses came predominantly from land adjacent to river channels and forest gullies, e.g. the paddy fields in the Ogi and Kainosaka districts, as the ground in these areas saturates during heavy rain and is easily eroded. A discrepancy between the simulation and monitoring results on the sediment discharge rate following decontamination may be explained by fast erosion occurring after decontamination. Forested areas far from the channels only made a minor contribution to ¹³⁷Cs input to watercourses, total erosion of between 0.001 and 0.1 mm from May 2011 to December 2015, as ground saturation is infrequent in these areas. The 2.3–6.9% y⁻¹ decrease in the amount of ¹³⁷Cs in forest topsoil over the study period can be explained by radioactive decay (approximately 2.3% y⁻¹), along with a migration downwards into subsoil and a small amount of export. The amount of ¹³⁷Cs available for release from land adjacent to rivers is expected to be lower in future than compared to this study period, as the simulations indicate a high depletion of inventory from these areas by the end of 2015. However continued monitoring of ¹³⁷Cs concentrations in river water over future years is advised, as recultivation of paddy fields by returnees may again lead to fast erosion rates and release of the remaining inventory.



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Norwegian monitoring (1990–2015) of the marine environment around the sunken nuclear submarine Komsomolets

Publication date: February 2018
Source:Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Volume 182
Author(s): Justin P. Gwynn, Hilde Elise Heldal, Janita K. Flo, Ingrid Sværen, Torbjörn Gäfvert, Hallvard Haanes, Lars Føyn, Anne Liv Rudjord
Norway has monitored the marine environment around the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Komsomolets since 1990. This study presents an overview of 25 years of Norwegian monitoring data (1990–2015). Komsomolets sank in 1989 at a depth of 1680 m in the Norwegian Sea while carrying two nuclear torpedoes in its armament. Subsequent Soviet and Russian expeditions to Komsomolets have shown that releases from the reactor have occurred and that the submarine has suffered considerable damage to its hulls. Norwegian monitoring detected ¹³⁴Cs in surface sediments around Komsomolets in 1993 and 1994 and elevated activity concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs in bottom seawater between 1991 and 1993. Since then and up to 2015, no increased activity concentrations of radionuclides above values typical for the Norwegian Sea have been observed in any environmental sample collected by Norwegian monitoring. In 2013 and 2015, Norwegian monitoring was carried out using an acoustic transponder on the sampling gear that allowed samples to be collected at precise locations, ∼20 m from the hull of Komsomolets. The observed ²³⁸Pu/^239,240Pu activity ratios and ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atom ratios in surface sediments sampled close to Komsomolets in 2013 did not indicate any releases of Pu isotopes from reactor or the torpedo warheads. Rather, these values probably reflect the overprinting of global fallout ratios with fluxes of these Pu isotopes from long-range transport of authorised discharges from nuclear reprocessing facilities in Northern Europe. However, due to the depth at which Komsomolets lies, the collection of seawater and sediment samples in the immediate area around the submarine using traditional sampling techniques from surface vessels is not possible, even with the use of acoustic transponders. Further monitoring is required in order to have a clear understanding of the current status of Komsomolets as a potential source of radioactive contamination to the Norwegian marine environment. Such monitoring should involve the use of ROVs or submersibles in order to obtain samples next to and within the different compartments of the submarine.



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Evidence for associations between PDE4D polymorphisms and a subtype of neuroticism

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Toxicity evaluation of textile effluents and role of native soil bacterium in biodegradation of a textile dye

Abstract

Water pollution caused by the discharge of hazardous textile effluents is a serious environmental problem worldwide. In order to assess the pollution level of the textile effluents, various physico-chemical parameters were analyzed in the textile wastewater and agricultural soil irrigated with the wastewater (contaminated soil) using atomic absorption spectrophotometer and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis that demonstrated the presence of several toxic heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Zn) and a large number of organic compounds. Further, in order to get a comprehensive idea about the toxicity exerted by the textile effluent, mung bean seed germination test was performed that indicated the reduction in percent seed germination and radicle-plumule growth. The culturable microbial populations were also enumerated and found to be significantly lower in the wastewater and contaminated soil than the ground water irrigated soil, thus indicating the biotic homogenization of indigenous microflora. Therefore, the study was aimed to develop a cost effective and ecofriendly method of textile waste treatment using native soil bacterium, identified as Arthrobacter soli BS5 by 16S rDNA sequencing that showed remarkable ability to degrade a textile dye reactive black 5 with maximum degradation of 98% at 37 °C and pH in the range of 5–9 after 120 h of incubation.

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