Rising From the Ashes: The Role of Fires in National Parks

Fire is a natural and healthy part of many ecosystems, and many plant species rely on it to reproduce. Some species require the actual heat and flames for their seeds to be released and sprout. Other species rely on fire to burn off dried needles and leaves on the ground as well as many of the shrubs and small trees. This opens up the forest and allows more space and light for small plants and trees. While fire is a good thing for many plants and ecosystems, this is not the case everywhere. In areas that get high amounts of rain, ecosystems are not adapted to fire. Human-caused fires in these places can be devastating to the plants there. It is the job of fire managers and ecologists to manage wildfires, make decisions about fire suppression, and decide if additional fires are needed in key ecosystems.

Polyaminoacid Based Core@shell Nanocarriers of 5-Fluorouracil: Synthesis, Properties and Theranostics Application

Cancer is one of the most important health problems of our population, and one of the common anticancer treatments is chemotherapy. The disadvantages of chemotherapy are related to the drug’s toxic effects, which act on cancer cells and the healthy part of the body. The solution of the problem is drug encapsulation and drug targeting. The present study aimed to develop a novel method of preparing multifunctional 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) nanocarriers and their in vitro characterization. 5-FU polyaminoacid-based core@shell nanocarriers were formed by encapsulation drug-loaded nanocores with polyaminoacids multilayer shell via layer-by-layer method. The size of prepared nanocarriers ranged between 80–200 nm. Biocompatibility of our nanocarriers as well as activity of the encapsulated drug were confirmed by MTT tests. Moreover, the ability to the real-time observation of developed nanocarriers and drug accumulation inside the target was confirmed by fluorine magnetic resonance imaging (19F-MRI).

RF Coil Setup for 31P MRSI in Tongue Cancer in vivo at 7 T

Surgery for tongue cancer often results in a major loss in quality of life. While MRI may be used to minimise the volume of excised tissue, often the full tumour extent is missed. This tumour extent may be detected with metabolic imaging. One of the main reasons for the lack of metabolic information on tongue cancer would be the absence of an x-nuclear coil with the tongue as a focus target. Metabolic MRI through 31P MRSI is known as a powerful tool to non-invasively study elevated cell proliferation and disturbed energy metabolism in tumours. Severe magnetic field non-uniformities are inherently caused by the substantial difference in magnetic susceptibilities of tissue and air in the mouth and its environs. Despite this, the wide chemical shift dispersion of 31P could still facilitate precise detection of the cell proliferation biomarkers, phospomonoesters and diesters, as well as energy metabolites ATP, inorganic phosphate, and phosphocreatine potentially mapped over the tongue or tumour in vivo. In this study, we present the first 31P MRSI data of the human tongue in vivo from healthy volunteers and a patient with a tongue tumour at 7 T MRI using a 1H 8-channel transceiver setup placed inside a body 31P transmitter, which is able to get a uniform excitation from the tongue while providing comfortable access to the patient. In addition, a user-friendly external 31P receiver array is used to provide high sensitivity (80%) comparable to an uncomfortable inner mouth loop coil positioned on the tongue. The primary aim is the demonstration of 31P metabolite profiles in the tongue and the differences between healthy and malignant tissue. Indeed, clear elevated cell proliferation expressed as enhanced phosphomonoesters is observed in the tumour vs. the healthy part of the tongue. This can be performed within a total scan duration of 30 min, comparable to clinical scans, with a spatial resolution of 1.5 cm for the 10-min 31P MRSI scan.

Unexpected Outcomes of Renal Function after Radical Nephrectomy: Histology Relevance along with Clinical Aspects

Acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are common events after radical nephrectomy (RN). In this study we aimed to predict AKI and CKD after RN relying on specific histological aspects. We collected data from a cohort of 144 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy. A histopathological review of the healthy part of the removed kidney was performed using an established chronicity score (CS). Logistic regression analyses were performed to predict AKI after RN, while linear regression analysis was adopted for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) variation at 1 year. The outcomes of the study were to determine variables correlated with AKI onset, and with eGFR decay at 1 year. The proportion of AKI was 64%. Logistic analyses showed that baseline eGFR independently predicted AKI (odds ratio 1.04, 95%CI 1.02:1.06). Moreover, AKI (Beta −16, 95%CI −21:−11), baseline eGFR (Beta −0.42, 95%CI −0.52:−0.33), and the presence of arterial narrowing (Beta 10, 95%CI 4:15) were independently associated with eGFR decline. Our findings showed that AKI onset and eGFR decline were more likely to occur with higher baseline eGFR and lower CS, highlighting that RN in normal renal function patients represents a more traumatic event than its CKD counterpart.

Quantitative assessment of intraneural vascular alterations in peripheral nerve trauma using high-resolution neurosonography: technical note

High-resolution neurosonography (HRNS) has become a major imaging modality in assessment of peripheral nerve trauma in the recent years. However, the vascular changes of traumatic lesions have not been quantitatively assessed in HRNS. Here, we describe the vascular-ratio, a novel HRNS-based quantitative parameter for the assessment of intraneural vascular alterations in patients with nerve lesions. N = 9 patients suffering from peripheral nerve trauma were examined clinically, electrophysiologically and with HRNS (SonoSite Exporte, Fuji). Image analyses using Fiji included determination of the established fascicular ratio (FR), the cross-section ratio (CSR), and as an extension, the calculation of a vascular ratio (VR) of the healthy versus damaged nerve and a muscle perfusion ratio (MPR) in comparison to a healthy control group. The mean VR in the healthy part of the affected nerve (14.14%) differed significantly (p < 0.0001) from the damaged part (VR of 43.26%). This coincides with significant differences in the FR and CSR calculated for the damaged part versus the healthy part and the controls. In comparison, there was no difference between VRs determined for the healthy part of the affected nerve and the healthy controls (14.14% / 17.72%). However, the MPR of denervated muscles was significantly decreased compared to the non-affected contralateral controls. VR and MPR serve as additional tools in assessing peripheral nerve trauma. Image analysis and calculation are feasible. Combined with the more morphologic FR and CSR, the VR and MPR provide a more detailed insight into alterations accompanying nerve trauma.

A LITERATURE REVIEW ON MENSTRUATION AND MENTAL HEALTH

This review aims to understand and break misconceptions about menstruation. It is a normal biological process and a healthy part of a women’s life. The menstrual cycle of a women’s life starts from the onset of menarche (average 13 years) through to menopause (average around 50 years). A woman menstruates for about 7 years during their life. In this period women face many problems. Menstruation is not only confined to the physical pain and symptoms but it affects the mental health of female adolescents. Several surveys have been conducted in the area. A lack of information about menstruation leads to damaging misconceptions and discrimination. Many girls do not have complete and accurate information about menstruation. By providing proper counseling sessions and workshop programs girls can be educated about menstruation. There is a need to build their confidence and encourage healthy habits and to break down taboos.

Deprivation or Circumvention of the UN’s Immunity

The immune system is supposed to protect one’s body from harmful germs, but sometimes it may attack a healthy part of the body itself—this is called an ‘autoimmune disease’. Although the founders of the United Nations (UN) equipped it with such immunities as are necessary for the fulfilment of its purposes, it seems that its jurisdictional immunity is sometimes more detrimental to its proper functioning than protective of it, especially in the context of peacekeeping. The present study aims to discover a cure for this autoimmune disease. Immunities are, in general, under attack because they serve as insurmountable hurdles to holding those who exercise public authority accountable before domestic courts. Peacekeepers may harm the local population, but the UN’s immunity leads to the denial of justice in cases of third-party claims, which put pressure on the UN. However, neither deprivation nor circumvention of the UN’s jurisdictional immunity is a safe and holistic cure for this autoimmune disease. What we need to ensure is that the immune system functions as designed.

Gaussian Mixture Model for MRI Image Segmentation to Build a Three-Dimensional Image on Brain Tumor Area

A brain tumor is one of the deadly diseases that attack the central and nervoussystem. The treatment of brain tumor, need high accuracy and precision. Brain tumordetection through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has two-dimensional output withthree perspectives, namely sagittal, coronal, and axial. These different perspectives needto be seen one by one to determine the location and size of the tumor. Tosolve the problem, this study constructs the three-dimensional visualization perspective ofMRI images. The tumor area in MRI image is segmented as a region of interest (ROI) byemploying the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) with Expectation-Maximization as theoptimization technique. These couple segmentation methods have revealed significant gainas a clear boundary of the tumor area to separate from the healthy part of the brain andan estimated tumor volume from sagittal, coronal, and axial perspectives. Furthermore,these findings have been successfully visualized in 3D construction of the tumor positionon the left side of the patient’s head with an estimated volume of 749mm3.