BACKGROUND The aim of gynecomastia surgery is to restore a normal chest contour with minimal signs of breast surgery. OBJECTIVE The authors examine the rate of complications in gynecomastia surgery when no closed-suction drains are placed. METHODS One hundred thirty-eight consecutive male patients who underwent gynecomastia surgery without drains were retrospectively analyzed to determine w...

With the increasing use ofprefabricated vertical drains in the improvement of soft clay there are many types of these drains, both composite (with geotextile wrapping) and monolithic (without geotextile wrapping), available in Malaysia. Some engineers have the impression that all drains perform satisfactorily. However, case studies have shown that there are cases where vertical drains failed to...

Total mercury (Hg) concentration and several other geochemical parameters were determined for five sediment profiles from the Antarctic Ross Sea region. Our data exhibit significant positive correlations between Hg concentration and total organic carbon (TOC) content in all profiles, suggesting the predominant role of organic matter (OM) as a Hg carrier. The OM in the sediments originates prima...

A gutless polychaete of the family Siboglinidae, Oligobrachia mashikoi, known in the past as a beard worm of the group Pogonophora, inhabits Tsukumo Bay of the Noto Peninsula in the Sea of Japan. Photographs were taken of this polychaete projecting about one third of the length of its tentacles outside of its tube. The tube protruded several mm from the sea bottom. These are the first field pho...

This study evaluated the differences in composition, abundance and morphology of testate amoebae among different habitats of the same aquatic environment (plankton, aquatic macrophyte and sediment) in the Upper Paraná River floodplain. Triplicate samplings were undertaken monthly at each habitat from April 2007 to March 2008. The structure of the community of testate amoebae was different among...

BACKGROUND Abdominal drains have been placed prophylactically and removed in liver resection without robust evidence. The present study was designed to establish the optimal time for removal of such drains. METHODS Data on abdominal prophylactic drains were analysed in a consecutive series of patients who underwent liver resection for malignancy between 2006 and 2009. Bilirubin levels in drai...

Pesticides are receiving increasing attention as potential causes of amphibian declines, acting singly or in combination with other stressors, but limited information is available on the accumulation of current-use pesticides in tissue. The authors examined potential exposure and accumulation of currently used pesticides in pond-breeding frogs (Pseudacris regilla) collected from 7 high elevatio...

Microcosm studies were performed to evaluate the survival of Escherichia coli, Salmonella paratyphi and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in water and sediment collected from the freshwater region of Vembanad Lake (9'35 °N 76'25 °E) along the south west coast of India. All three test microorganisms showed significantly (p < 0.01) higher survival in sediment compared to overlying water. The survival in di...

Macropore flow results in the rapid movement of pesticides to subsurface drains, which may be caused in part by a small portion of macropores directly connected to drains. However, current models fail to account for this direct connection. This research investigated the interrelationship between macropore flow and subsurface drainage on conservative solute and pesticide transport using the Root...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous marine and freshwater sediment contaminants. Extensive data exist to confirm that PAHs are toxic to aquatic receptors. However, limited information is available regarding the bioavailability and genotoxicity of sediment PAHs to aquatic organisms. This study investigated an integrated biomonitoring approach using chemical analyses and biomar...