Inflammation, ECG changes and pericardial effusion: Whom to biopsy in suspected myocarditis?

The role of endomyocardial biopsies in patients with clinically suspected acute myocarditis, myocarditis in the past, and dilated cardiomyopathy is discussed controversially. In fact, it is still under discussion whether information obtained from endomyocardial biopsies is relevant for further clinical decisions. Therefore this Critical Perspective will deal with the question, which patient should undergo endomyocardial biopsy investigations for an etiopathogenic differentiation of the disease and for the possible choice of immunomodulatory treatment strategies

New constraints create ‘profound crisis’ for independent media

A public forum on “The Future of the Independent Media in South Africa” was hosted by IFAA, with the support of the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation. The gathering was chaired by Professor Ben Turok, Director of IFAA, and addressed by a panel of media experts who discussed the relationship between media, governance and human rights, especially given recent incidents of harassment and intimidation of journalists in South Africa

Parliament and the Auditor General: The accountability gap and what can be done about it?

Dr Nicol is consulting as the senior researcher on this project. Also participating in the Checks and Balances Project are staff members of the Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA), Bruce Kadalie, who is responsible for IFAA’s events and research, and Moira Levy, production manager of New Agenda

Magn Reson Med

To propose a quantitative 3D double-echo steady-state (DESS) sequence that offers rapid and repeatable T mapping of the human brain using different encoding schemes that account for respiratory B variation. A retrospective self-gating module was firstly implemented into the standard DESS sequence in order to suppress the respiratory artifact via data binning. A compressed-sensing trajectory (CS-DESS) was then optimized to accelerate the acquisition. Finally, a spiral Cartesian encoding (SPICCS-DESS) was incorporated to further disrupt the coherent respiratory artifact. These different versions were compared to a standard DESS sequence (fully DESS) by assessing the T distribution and repeatability in different brain regions of eight volunteers at 3 T. The respiratory artifact correction was determined to be optimal when the data was binned into seven respiratory phases. Compared to the fully DESS, T distribution was improved for the CS-DESS and SPICCS-DESS with interquartile ranges reduced significantly by a factor ranging from 2 to 12 in the caudate, putamen, and thalamus regions. In the gray and white matter areas, average absolute test-retest T differences across all volunteers were respectively 3.5 ± 2% and 3.1 ± 2.1% for the SPICCS-DESS, 4.6 ± 4.6% and 4.9 ± 5.1% for the CS-DESS, and 15% ± 13% and 7.3 ± 5.6% for the fully DESS. The SPICCS-DESS sequence's acquisition time could be reduced by half (<4 min) while maintaining its efficient T mapping. The respiratory-resolved SPICCS-DESS sequence offers rapid, robust, and repeatable 3D T mapping of the human brain, which can be especially effective for longitudinal monitoring of cerebral pathologies.Développement de l'IRM ultra-rapide pour la mesure des temps de relaxation : Apllication à la thérapide guidée par IR