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A forty seven year old woman with previously undetected goitre, developed thyroid storm in the immediate postoperative period. Forty eight hours after undergoing nephrolithotomy for renal calculus, she was noted to have flaccid areflexic quadriparesis, most marked in the lower limbs. Electrophysiologic studies revealed evidence of an asymmetric, mixed axonal and demyelinating, motor-sensory peripheral neuropathy. Ultrastructure of the sural nerve showed predominant abnormalities in the mitochondria and cytoskeletal elements compatible with thyrotoxicosis. Treatment of thyrotoxicosis coincided with recovery of symptoms. We believe that thyrotoxicosis precipitated an acute polyneuropathy the ultrastructure of which is being described for the first time.

The curve number (CN) of the impervious surface of a residential watershed in east-central Florida was determined by calibration against observed data. Evident…

Background and objective: Bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) is a blockage at the base of the bladder. BOO is a common cause of lower urinary tract symptoms in men and women. The condition is common in older men. Due to increased life expectancy there is an increased incidence of BOO. Thereby, we carried out a study to know the incidence of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) in patients above 18 years attended in our institution along with the causative factors in them. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 100 adults. Ultrasound scan was the initial modality to diagnose BOO. X-ray KUB was used for bladder stones. Serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic biopsy were done in cases of suspected carcinoma prostate. Cystoscopy was done in cases of suspected bladder cancer and bladder neck stenosis. Biopsy was taken in cases of bladder cancer. Results: Out of total of 100 cases in the age range 18–80 years, 53% had benign prostatic enlargement, 8% had carcinoma prostate, 14% had urethral tear, 7% had bladder cancer, 12% vesical calculus, 6% with bladder neck stenosis. In all, 94% cases were males and 6% females. Only the cases of bladder neck stenosis were females. Conclusion: This study highlights that BOO, a potentially curable illness commonly found in older men, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) being the common cause. The key to successful treatment is in early diagnosis and treatment.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses Galerkin finite element model to simulate the response of multilayer aquifers when subjected to pumping stresses. A finite element model is introduced that can solve many types of complex radial-flow problems. Six example problems are selected to check the accuracy of the model by comparing the results with available analytical and numerical results, and to present new solutions. An effort is made to check the effect of selected mesh sizes. Finally, the concept of effective radius is used to increase the computational efficiency of the model.

A method is presented to compute the ratio of the vertical to horizontal component of the hydraulic conductivity of a homogeneous aquifer using a finite-element model. The method requires knowledge of: (1) the boundary conditions along a vertical cross section of the aquifer, and (2) the hydraulic head measurements of two vertically separated well screens (preferably at the top and bottom of the aquifer). The method was used to estimate the anisotropy ratio for the aquifer at Port St. Lucie, Florida. The value of the horizontal component of the hydraulic conductivity was also estimated for this region by comparing measured tidally influenced ground-water elevations to calculated elevations.

The subject of mass transport of hazardous and/or potentially hazardous materials in the groundwater environment is one that has received wide attention, both in the recent past and in the present, as is evidenced by the large number of papers in the literature on this subject. Pinder and Frind (1972) were one of the first investigators to use the Galerkin’s procedure in conjunction with the finite element technique to model the transport of salt water in aquifers. Pickens and Lennox (1976) developed models to simulate the transient two-dimensional movement of conservative wastes in steady-state, saturated groundwater flow systems. Huyakorn and Taylor (1976), on the other hand, compared three different formulations that could be used to solve the steady-state saltwater encroachment problem. They also illustrated that by using the ‘subregion analysis’ one could overcome the instability problems arising from high velocities near the seawater face for an idealized rectangular confined aquifer. Frind (1980) extended the solution of the transient saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers by considering the presence of an aquitard above a fully confined aquifer that extends out under the sea. In most of these studies, either the results were presented for fixed values of the field parameters or the density variations due to the presence of contaminants were neglected, an assumption that is not valid as shown by the authors (1980).