Thyroid gland invasion in laryngopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Prevalence, endoscopic and CT predictors

SummaryObjectivesThe authors studied the prevalence of histological thyroid gland invasion in laryngopharyngeal cancer and the preoperative endoscopic and CT signs predictive of this invasion.Patients and methodsRetrospective study of patients with laryngopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (T3 and T4) treated by total laryngectomy or total laryngopharyngectomy associated with concomitant total thyroidectomy or ipsilateral lobectomy and isthmectomy.ResultsEighty-seven patients were included. Eleven patients (12.6%) presented thyroid gland invasion. Subglottic tumour extension greater than or equal to 10mm (P=0.008) and cricoid cartilage destruction on CT (P=0.001) were statistically correlated with histological thyroid gland invasion. An intact appearance of the laryngeal cartilages on CT was associated with a low probability of thyroid gland invasion.ConclusionThyroid gland invasion must not be underestimated in patients with advanced laryngopharyngeal cancer. Preoperative CT is an essential part of the preoperative work-up. Thyroidectomy must not be performed systematically

Use of a stimulated echo sequence in the MRI study of the brain and spine

We describe in this paper how the STEAM sequence can be an efficient tool to obtain images free of flow artifacts in anatomical situation where the spin echo failed. The simplest way to eliminate flow artifacts is to exploit the dephasing induced by motion in magnetic field gradients and to reduce to zero the signal from moving tissues. This can be achieve by increasing the time elapsed between the spin excitation and the signal observed. Because of T2 relaxation, such an increase results in a signal decrease when the spin echo sequence is used. The STEAM sequence has the unique property that the time elapsed between observation and excitation can be increased without change in T2 value and so allows a good suppression of signals from the moving spins with short TE. Our results demonstrate that, although the stimulated echo intensity is only half that of a spin echo taken at the same read out time, the advantages of STEAM imaging can compensate for this partial loss in signal to noise in some particular clinical situations. The influence of mixing time on contrast has been evaluated using thoracic spine imaging and it has been shown that contrast between spine and CSF can be significantly improved (+ 60%) when TM is increased (from 17 ms to 50 ms). In the same time, the contrast between spine and fat issue decreases (40%). This last effect facilitates the adjustment of contrast window. Suppression of motion artifacts has first been evaluated with thoracic spine imaging, using a whole body coil. Suppression of artifacts was better than that obtained with a flow compensated spin echo sequence, especially in the case of kyphotic patients when a presaturation band was inefficient. In a second step suppression of motion artifacts has been evaluated from posterior fossa examination after injection of a paramagnetic contrast agent. The images obtained with the stimulated echo sequence show a dramatic reduction of signal from blood in the lateral sinus, and therefore an increase of quality by elimination of motion artifacts

Pan-Arctic diel vertical migration during the polar night

Diel vertical migration (DVM) has generally been assumed to cease during the polarnight in the high Arctic, although recent studies have shown the occurrence of lunar vertical migrations (LVMs) and shallow DVMs. Here, we quantified when and where full-depth (>20 m), solar-mediated DVM exists on a pan-Arctic scale. We observed the scattering population, most likely to be comprised of zooplankton, using 300 kHz acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs). We quantified the presence/absence of DVM, and found that DVM continues throughout the year to at least 20 m at all locations south of 74° N. North of 77° N, DVM ceases for a period of time duringthe polar night. The dates of this cessation accurately align with the date of the winter solstice (±2 d). Between 74 and 77° N, DVM presence/absence is variable. Acoustic data sampled at 89° N, however, showed no evidence of DVM at any time during the year — a new observation. Using indicators of presence/absence of sea ice from ADCPs and satellite-derived sea ice concentration data, we revealed that local variations in sea ice cover directly determine the continuation or cessationof DVM during the polar night. Earlier-forming and higher-concentration sea ice causes a cessation in DVM, whereas low-concentration or late-forming sea ice results in continuous DVM when comparing migrations at similar latitudes

Neutrophils enhance early Trypanosoma brucei infection onset.

In this study, Trypanosoma brucei was naturally transmitted to mice through the bites of infected Glossina morsitans tsetse flies. Neutrophils were recruited rapidly to the bite site, whereas monocytes were attracted more gradually. Expression of inflammatory cytokines (il1b, il6), il10 and neutrophil chemokines (cxcl1, cxcl5) was transiently up-regulated at the site of parasite inoculation. Then, a second influx of neutrophils occurred that coincided with the previously described parasite retention and expansion in the ear dermis. Congenital and experimental neutropenia models, combined with bioluminescent imaging, indicate that neutrophils do not significantly contribute to dermal parasite control and elicit higher systemic parasitemia levels during the infection onset. Engulfment of parasites by neutrophils in the skin was rarely observed and was restricted to parasites with reduced motility/viability, whereas live parasites escaped phagocytosis. To our knowledge, this study represents the first description of a trypanosome infection promoting role of early innate immunological reactions following an infective tsetse fly bite. Our data indicate that the trypanosome is not hindered in its early development and benefits from the host innate responses with the neutrophils being important regulators of the early infection, as already demonstrated for the sand fly transmitted Leishmania parasite

Chapter 14 - Regional development and cooperation

This chapter provides an assessment of knowledge and practice on regional development and cooperation to achieve climate change mitigation. It will examine the regional trends and dimensions of the mitigation challenge. It will also analyze what role regional initiatives, both with a focus on climate change and in other domains such as trade, can play in addressing these mitigation challenges. The regional dimension of mitigation was not explicitly addressed in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). Its discussion of policies, instruments, and cooperative agreements (Working Group III AR4, Chapter 13) was focused primarily on the global and national level. However, mitigation challenges and opportunities differ significantly by region. This is particularly the case for the interaction between development / growth opportunities and mitigation policies, which are closely linked to resource endowments, the level of economic development, patterns of urbanization and industrialization, access to finance and technology, and - more broadly - the capacity to develop and implement various mitigation options. There are also modes of regional cooperation, ranging from regional initiatives focused specifically on climate change (such as the emissions trading scheme (ETS) of the European Union (EU)) to other forms of cooperation in the areas of trade, energy, or infrastructure, that could potentially provide a platform for delivering and implementing mitigation policies. These dimensions will be examined in this chapter. Specifically, this chapter will address the following questions: - Why is the regional level important for analyzing and achieving mitigation objectives? - What are the trends, challenges, and policy options for mitigation in different regions? - To what extent are there promising opportunities, existing examples, and barriers for leapfrogging in technologies and development strategies to low-carbon development paths for different regions? - What are the interlinkages between mitigation and adaptation at the regional level? - To what extent can regional initiatives and regional integration and cooperation promote an agenda of low-carbon climate-resilient development? What has been the record of such initiatives, and what are the barriers? Can they serve as a platform for further mitigation activities

Postglacial expansion of the arctic keystone copepod calanus glacialis

Calanus glacialis, a major contributor to zooplankton biomass in the Arctic shelf seas, is a key link between primary production and higher trophic levels that may be sensitive to climate warming. The aim of this study was to explore genetic variation in contemporary populations of this species to infer possible changes during the Quaternary period, and to assess its population structure in both space and time. Calanus glacialis was sampled in the fjords of Spitsbergen (Hornsund and Kongsfjorden) in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2012. The sequence of a mitochondrial marker, belonging to the ND5 gene, selected for the study was 1249 base pairs long and distinguished 75 unique haplotypes among 140 individuals that formed three main clades. There was no detectable pattern in the distribution of haplotypes by geographic distance or over time. Interestingly, a Bayesian skyline plot suggested that a 1000-fold increase in population size occurred approximately 10,000 years before present, suggesting a species expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum.GAME from the National Science Centre, the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education Iuventus Plus [IP2014 050573]; FCT-PT [CCMAR/Multi/04326/2013]; [2011/03/B/NZ8/02876

Model-informed classification of broadband acoustic backscatter from zooplankton in an in situ mesocosm

Funding: The fieldwork was registered in the Research in Svalbard database (RiS ID 11578). Fieldwork and research were financed by Arctic Field Grant Project AZKABAN-light (Norwegian Research Council project no. 322 332), Deep Impact (Norwegian Research Council project no. 300 333), Deeper Impact (Norwegian Research Council project no. 329 305), Marine Alliance for Science and Technology in Scotland (MASTS), the Ocean Frontier Institute (SCORE grant no. HR09011), and Glider Phase II financed by ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS. Geir Pedersen’s participation was co-funded by CRIMAC (Norwegian Research Council project no. 309 512). Maxime Geoffroy was financially supported by the Ocean Frontier Institute of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant Programme, the ArcticNet Network of Centres of Excellence Canada, the Research Council of Norway Grant Deep Impact, and the Fisheries and Oceans Canada through the Atlantic Fisheries Fund.Classification of zooplankton to species with broadband echosounder data could increase the taxonomic resolution of acoustic surveys and reduce the dependence on net and trawl samples for ‘ground truthing’. Supervised classification with broadband echosounder data is limited by the acquisition of validated data required to train machine learning algorithms (‘classifiers’). We tested the hypothesis that acoustic scattering models could be used to train classifiers for remote classification of zooplankton. Three classifiers were trained with data from scattering models of four Arctic zooplankton groups (copepods, euphausiids, chaetognaths, and hydrozoans). We evaluated classifier predictions against observations of a mixed zooplankton community in a submerged purpose-built mesocosm (12 m3) insonified with broadband transmissions (185–255 kHz). The mesocosm was deployed from a wharf in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, during the Arctic polar night in January 2022. We detected 7722 tracked single targets, which were used to evaluate the classifier predictions of measured zooplankton targets. The classifiers could differentiate copepods from the other groups reasonably well, but they could not differentiate euphausiids, chaetognaths, and hydrozoans reliably due to the similarities in their modelled target spectra. We recommend that model-informed classification of zooplankton from broadband acoustic signals be used with caution until a better understanding of in situ target spectra variability is gained.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

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Can a key boreal Calanus copepod species now complete its life-cycle in the Arctic? Evidence and implications for Arctic food-webs

The changing Arctic environment is affecting zooplankton that support its abundant wildlife. We examined how these changes are influencing a key zooplankton species, Calanus finmarchicus, principally found in the North Atlantic but expatriated to the Arctic. Close to the ice-edge in the Fram Strait, we identified areas that, since the 1980s, are increasingly favourable to C. finmarchicus. Field-sampling revealed part of the population there to be capable of amassing enough reserves to overwinter. Early developmental stages were also present in early summer, suggesting successful local recruitment. This extension to suitable C. finmarchicus habitat is most likely facilitated by the long-term retreat of the ice-edge, allowing phytoplankton to bloom earlier and for longer and through higher temperatures increasing copepod developmental rates. The increased capacity for this species to complete its life-cycle and prosper in the Fram Strait can change community structure, with large consequences to regional food-webs

Nucleation of β-FeSi2 nanostructures at pinned step bunches on the Si(111) surface

This article discusses nucleation of β-FeSi2 nanostructures at pinned step bunches on the Si(111) surface