Hepatic steatosis with mass effect: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic steatosis is a common radiologic finding. Some imaging inklings are the absence of a mass effect, and there is currently no report of hepatic steatosis with mass effect. CASE SUMMARY: A 23-year-old female was admitted due to a liver mass for half a month. No obvious abnormalities were found in physical and laboratory examinations. Ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging showed a huge mass between the liver and stomach with a significant mass effect, and the caudate lobe and left lobe of the liver were involved. The signal on T2- and T1- weighted fat-saturated images of the mass was significantly reduced, and the enhanced scan showed inhomogeneous enhancement. Surgical and pathological findings indicated the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis. The operation and re-review of the patient's images showed that the lesion was supplied by the branch of the hepatic artery. The signal on T1-weighted out-of-phase images of the lesion was lower than on in-phase images, and there was no black rim cancellation artifact around the hepatic steatosis area on T1-weighted out-of-phase images. The dynamic enhancement pattern of the lesion was similar to that of the adjacent normal liver parenchyma. The above characteristics suggested that the lesion was hepatic steatosis. However, in this case, the lesion showed exogenous growth and was mass-like, with an obvious mass effect, which has not been reported previously. CONCLUSION: Hepatic steatosis could grow exogenously and has an obvious mass effect. It needs to be distinguished from fat-rich tumors. The T1-weighted in- and out-of-phase images and dynamic enhanced scanning are valuable for differential diagnosis of this lesion.

Preparation and properties of a novel macro porous Ni2+-imprinted chitosan foam adsorbents for adsorption of nickel ions from aqueous solution.

In this study, novel macro porous Ni2+-imprinted chitosan foam adsorbents (F-IIP) were prepared using sodium bicarbonate and glycerine to obtain a porogen for adsorbing nickel ions from aqueous solutions. The use of the ion-imprinting technique for adsorbents preparation improved the nickel ion selectivity and adsorption capacity. We characterised the imprinted porous foam adsorbents in terms of the effects of the initial pH value, initial metal ion concentration, and contact time on the adsorption of nickel ions. The adsorption process was described best by Langmuir monolayer adsorption models, and the maximum adsorption capacity calculated from the Langmuir equation was 69.93mgg-1. The kinetic data could be fitted to a pseudo-second-order equation. Our analysis of selective adsorption demonstrated the excellent preference of the F-IIP foams for nickel ions compared with other coexisting metal ions. Furthermore, tests over five cycle runs suggested that the F-IIP foam adsorbents had good durability and efficiency.

Comparison of Co(2+) adsorption by chitosan and its triethylene-tetramine derivative: Performance and mechanism.

A cross-linked chitosan derivative (CCTS) was synthesized via cross-linking of epichlorohydrin and grafting of triethylene-tetramine. The adsorption performance and capacity of the raw chitosan (CTS) and its derivative were also investigated for removal of Co(2+) from aqueous solution. A maximum adsorbed amount of 30.45 and 59.51mg/g was obtained for CTS and CCTS, respectively under the optimized conditions. In addition, the adsorption kinetics for the adsorption of Co(2+) by CTS and CCTS were better described by the pseudo second-order equation. The adsorption isotherm of CCTS was well fitted by the Langmuir equation, but the data of the adsorption of Co(2+) onto CTS followed Freundlich and Sips isotherms better. Furthermore, the adsorbent still exhibited good adsorption performance after five regeneration cycles. Finally, Co(2+) removal mechanisms, including physical, chemical, and electrostatic adsorption, were discussed based on microstructure analysis and adsorption kinetics and isotherms. Chemical adsorption was the main adsorption method among these mechanisms.

Mortality and recurrence of vascular disease among stroke patients treated with combined TCM therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To confirm the long-term outcomes of stroke patients and determine predicting factors for death, recurrence of vascular events and poor outcome (either recurrence or death) after the use of combined TCM therapy. METHODS: This was a retrospective hospital-based cohort study and was performed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Tianjin. All subjects with stroke consecutively admitted to an inpatient ward of the Acupuncture Department from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2008 were retrospectively followed through one year. The main outcomes were either a recurrence of vascular events, mortality or both. Risk factors were recorded from medical records. Multivariate regression models were used to analyze predictors. The following independent variables were used: age, gender, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, carotid arterial lesions and history of stroke. RESULTS: Four-hundred and five patients were included. The 1-year mortality rate was 11.11%. 23.70% of the patients had a recurrent vascular event, and 30.86% suffered a poor outcome. Multiple logistic regression analysis found that previous stroke, and advanced age were predictors of death within one year, Recurrence of vascular events was associated with carotid arterial lesions, history of diabetes and previous stroke. Long-term poor outcome was predicted by advanced age, history of diabetes, and previous stroke. CONCLUSION: Age, previous stroke, carotid arterial lesions and diabetes history seem to have different impacts on the three outcomes within one year. Our findings provide important data for planning future hospital register studies of stroke patients in TCM hospitals.

Simultaneous absorption of NOx and SO2 from flue gas with pyrolusite slurry combined with gas-phase oxidation of NO using ozone.

NO was oxidized into NO(2) first by injecting ozone into flue gas stream, and then NO(2) was absorbed from flue gas simultaneously with SO(2) by pyrolusite slurry. Reaction mechanism and products during the absorption process were discussed in the followings. Effects of concentrations of injected ozone, inlet NO, pyrolusite and reaction temperature on NO(x)/SO(2) removal efficiency and Mn extraction rate were also investigated. The results showed that ozone could oxidize NO to NO(2) with selectivity and high efficiency, furthermore, MnO(2) in pyrolusite slurry could oxidize SO(2) and NO(2) into MnSO(4) and Mn(NO(3))(2) in liquid phase, respectively. Temperature and concentrations of injected ozone and inlet NO had little impact on both SO(2) removal efficiency and Mn extraction rate. Specifically, Mn extraction rate remained steady at around 85% when SO(2) removal efficiency dropped to 90%. NO(x) removal efficiency increased with the increasing of ozone concentration, inlet NO concentration and pyrolusite concentration, however, it remained stable when reaction temperature increased from 20°C to 40°C and decreased when the flue gas temperature exceeded 40°C. NO(x) removal efficiency reached 82% when inlet NO at 750 ppm, injected ozone at 900 ppm, concentration of pyrolusite at 500 g/L and temperature at 25°C.

[Application of cerebral function imaging in research on the acupoints specificity].

To explore the effect of cerebral function imaging in research on the acupoints specificity. Relevant literatures are retrieved and their results are compared. The results reveals as the follows: (1) Acupuncture can ameliorate cerebral blood flow hypoperfusion in patients with cerebrovascular disease, which maybe one of the mechanisms of acupuncture effect; (2) Acupuncture treatment has selectivity regulation role, which is related to the state of body and brain; (3) Cerebral function imaging can draw a clear distinction between therapeutic effect and placebo effect of acupuncture; (4) The points have specificity on the brain activation, but the outcomes are not exactly the same under different experimental conditions. Cerebral function imaging can be used to exploring acupoints specificity. Due to many interference factors which influence the accuracy of experiment, the subsequent experimental design have to be improved in the days ahead so as to make the results more cogent and rigorous.

A pilot-scale jet bubbling reactor for wet flue gas desulfurization with pyrolusite.

MnO2 in pyrolusite can react with SO2 in flue gas and obtain by-product MnSO4 x H2O. A pilot scale jet bubbling reactor was applied in this work. Different factors affecting both SO2 absorption efficiency and Mn2+ extraction rate have been investigated, these factors include temperature of inlet gas flue, ration of liquid/solid mass flow rate (L/S), pyrolusite grade, and SO2 concentration in the inlet flue gas. In the meantime, the procedure of purification of absorption liquid was also discussed. Experiment results indicated that the increase of temperature from 30 to 70 K caused the increase of SO2 absorption efficiency from 81.4% to 91.2%. And when SO2 concentration in the inlet flue gas increased from 500 to 3000 ppm, SO2 absorption efficiency and Mn2+ extraction rate decreased from 98.1% to 82.2% and from 82.8% to 61.7%, respectively. The content of MnO2 in pyrolusite had a neglectable effect on SO2 absorption efficiency. Low L/S was good for both removal of SO2 and Mn2+ extraction. The absorption liquid was filtrated and purified to remove Si, Mg, Ca, Fe, Al and heavy metals, last product MnSO4 x H2O was obtained which quality could reach China GB1622-86, the industry grade standards.