Fiducial markers in the treatment of prostate cancer: technique and short term observation

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common cancers in the elderly population. The incidence is constantly growing. Radiotherapy for PC is rapidly evolving, which contributes to better cancer control. The escalation of RT dose requires better target localisation in order to avoid RT complications. Fiducial markers are improvements widely used for better accuracy of radiation. Material and method: We implanted gold markers to 56 patients with confirmed PC between January and August 2014. After the procedure we controlled complication rate and proper localisation of the markers. Results: No serious complication occurred. We observed a few cases of epididymitis, dysuria, and blood trace in urine. Four patients lost one seed. Conclusions: Implantation of fiducial markers is simple and save ambulatory procedure and improves the results of radical radiotherapy in PC due to exact positioning

Business and technical aspects of mobile peer-to-peer social networks

Introduction of mobile high-capacity networks, as well as the widespread penetration of powerful mobile handsets provide a good basis for the development of peer-to-peer applications in the mobile environment. However, it is not certain if the P2P services that were well adopted in the fixed In-ternet can also be successfully launched in the mobile environment.   This article dissertation presents research results of mobile community service provisioning using P2P technology. The study was carried out on two levels: technical and business. On the business level the dissertation discusses the mobile P2P service provisioning ecosystem including analysis of stakeholder needs as well as potential scenarios for mobile P2P services. The dissertation presents the results of a user survey and a literature study. The presented material reveals that there is room for P2P services in the mobile environment, however user requirements are different than in the fixed environment. The dissertation also presents a scenario planning methodology that proposes the Schoemaker’s variant of scenario planning as a suitable method for evaluating emerging mobile services. Consistent and coherent learning scenarios that were developed using the proposed methodology are also presented.   On the technical level, the dissertation presents P2P system architectures, protocols, and algorithms that enable the provision of community services in the mobile environment. In particular, the dissertation describes the world first resource sharing system that works on top of SIP networks. The system enables mobile phone users to share resources with each other and does not require any changes to the basic SIP infrastructure. A Social DHT architecture that allows for efficient formation of mobile communities is also presented. The dissertation shows how the P2P infrastructure can become a feasible cost efficient replacement for a mobile infrastructure by presenting a Distributed IP Multimedia Subsystem as well as a pioneering new mobile P2PSIP system for real-time communication services. The dissertation discusses an implementation of a P2P system that allows mobile phone users to search for knowledge in their trusted social communities overcoming the problems identified in the business study of the dissertation. The results of measurements and trials conducted show the technical feasibility of mobile community service provisioning using P2P technology

Znaczniki śródtkankowe w leczeniu raka prostaty: technika zabiegowa i obserwacja krótkookresowa

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common cancers in the elderly population. The incidence is constantly growing. Radiotherapy (RT) for PC is rapidly evolving, which contributes to better cancer control. The escalation of RT dose requires better target localisation in order to avoid RT complications. Fiducial markers are improvements widely used for better accuracy of radiation. Material and method: We implanted gold markers to 56 patients with confirmed PC between January and August 2014. After the procedure we controlled complication rate and proper localisation of the markers. Results: No serious complication occurred. We observed a few cases of epididymitis, dysuria, and blood trace in urine. Four patients lost one seed. Conclusions: Implantation of fiducial markers is simple and save ambulatory procedure and improves the results of radical RT in PC due to exact positioning.  Wstęp: Rak prostaty (PC) jest jednym z najczęstszych nowotworów u osób w podeszłym wieku. Zapadalność na ten nowotwór ciągle rośnie. Szybki postęp w radioterapii PC przyczynia się do poprawy wyników leczenia tej grupy chorych. Zwiększanie dawki promieniowania wymaga lepszej lokalizacji obszaru tarczowego, aby uniknąć powikłań po napromienianiu. Znaczniki śródtkankowe są powszechnie stosowane w celu poprawienia dokładności napromieniania. Materiał i metody: W okresie od stycznia do sierpnia 2014 r. wszczepiono złote znaczniki 56 chorym z potwierdzonym PC. Po zabiegu oceniano częstość powikłań i właściwe umiejscowienie znaczników. Wyniki: Nie odnotowano poważnych powikłań. Stwierdzono kilka przypadków zapalenia najądrza, dysurii i śladowych ilości krwi w moczu. Czterech pacjentów straciło jedno ziarno. Wnioski: Implantacja znaczników śródtkankowych jest prostym i bezpiecznym zabiegiem ambulatoryjnym, który poprawia wyniki radykalnej radioterapii u chorych z rakiem prostaty dzięki dokładnemu ustaleniu położenia narządu.

Alterations in religious rituals due to COVID-19 could be related to intragroup negativity: a case of changes in receiving holy communion in the Roman Catholic community in Poland

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected various domains of everyday life, including important religious rituals. In the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, the reception of Holy Communion was substantially altered. The suggestion of the Polish Episcopal Conference and diocesan bishops was to receive Holy Communion on the hand during the pandemic, while receiving on the tongue had been the default form before the pandemic. The present studies investigated whether alterations in the form of receiving Holy Communion during the pandemic resulted in intragroup negativity. A total of 376 Polish Roman Catholics participated in two online studies. The most ambivalent emotions toward their religious community were experienced by the followers who recognized reception of Holy Communion on the hand only. Intergroup bias occurred within the “hand only” and the “mouth only” groups and consisted in out-group favoritism (within the “hand only”) and out-group derogation (“mouth only”) in their perception of religious orientation. Intergroup empathy bias occurred in the “hand only” and “spiritual reception” groups, which reported less empathy toward those of the out-group (“mouth only”) infected with SARS-CoV-2. The highest legitimacy of the Church authority was agreed upon by the supporters of both forms of receiving Holy Communion

MRI in the evaluation of the azoospermic male

PURPOSEWe aimed to show the usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of infertile men and its ability to distinguish obstructive from nonobstructive azoospermia. METHODSBetween April 2015 and February 2018, 45 azoospermic men underwent scrotal MRI. We evaluated the images with an emphasis on signal characteristics of the testis and morphologic changes typical for obstruction. Testicular volume (TV), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value, T1 and T2 signal ratios (testis/muscle) were measured for every testis. On the basis of histologic results, patients were divided into two groups: obstructive azoospermia (OA) and nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA).RESULTSTestes of patients in the OA group had significantly lower ADC values (mean 0.876±101 ×10-3 mm2/s) than in the NOA group (mean, 1.114±147 ×10-3 mm2/s). TV was significantly higher in patients with OA (median, 17.61 mL; range, 11.1–38.4 mL) than in those with NOA (median, 10.5 mL; range, 5.2–22.2 mL). ROC analysis showed that both TV and ADC values were highly predictive for distinguishing between OA and NOA patients, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.82 and 0.92 respectively. A cutoff value of ≥12.4 mL could distinguish obstructive from nonobstructive azoospermia with a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 63%, whereas for ADC measurements a cutoff value of ≥0.952 ×10-3 mm2/s exhibited a sensitivity of 81% and specificity of 90% There was no statistically significant difference in T1 and T2 signal ratios between both groups. Abnormalities typical for obstruction of the male reproductive tract (e.g., dilatation of ejaculatory ducts, prostatic or seminal vesicle cysts) were found in 78% of patients (14/18) in the obstructive group.CONCLUSIONScrotal MRI is a very effective tool for the evaluation of azoospermic men and may provide important information facilitating interventional treatment of infertility

MRI in patients with urethral stricture: a systematic review

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is gaining acceptance as a diagnostic tool in urethral stricture disease. Numerous publications emphasize on the advantages of MRI including its ability to determine periurethral spongiofibrosis, thus overcoming the main limitation of retrograde urethrography (RUG). It is also becoming an alternative for sonourethrography (SUG), which is a highly subjective examination. Magnetic resonance urethrography (MRU) has become an increasingly appreciated tool for diagnosing patients with urethral stricture disease. Obtained data provides radiologists and urethral reconstructive surgeons with additional information regarding anatomical relationships and periurethral tissue details, facilitating further treatment planning. Considering the great prevalence of urethral stricture disease and necessity of using accurate, and acceptable diagnostic method, this review was designed to provide radiologists and clinicians with a systematic review of the literature on the use of MRI in the urethral stricture disease

Nephro-oncology: clinical and biochemical aspects of kidney disease and cancer

Kidney disease; CancerEnfermedad renal; CáncerMalaltia renal; CàncerOnco-nephrology is a new field of medicine which combines many aspects of kidney injury in cancer patients and cancers in patients with kidney disease. This connection takes many forms and includes drug-induced nephrotoxicity, electrolyte disorders, numerous paraneoplastic syndromes and an increased rate cancers in dialysis and transplanted patients. The appropriate laboratory assessment of the kidney function allows to optimize chemotherapy and thus minimizes the risk of complications. This article focuses on acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic kidney disease (CKD), various electrolyte and acid-base disorders, the most common cancers after kidney transplantation and the kidney disorders associated with HSCT (hematopoietic stem cell transplantation). The possibility of the application of novel cancer therapy, such as cancer immunotherapy and proton therapy in transplant recipients was also discussed

Multimodal imaging of brain reorganization in hearing late learners of sign language

The neural plasticity underlying language learning is a process rather than a single event. However, the dynamics of training - induced brain reorganization have rarely been examined, especially using a multimodal magnetic resonance imaging approach, which allows us to study the relationship between functional and structural changes. We focus on sign language acquisition in hearing adults who underwent an 8‐month long course and five neuroimaging sessions. We assessed what neural changes occurred as participants learned a new language in a different modality - as reflected by task‐based activity, connectivity changes, and co‐occurring structural alterations. Major changes in the activity pattern appeared after just 3 months of learning, as indicated by increases in activation within the modality‐independent perisylvian language network, together with increased activation in modality‐dependent parieto‐occipital, visuospatial and motion‐sensitive regions. Despite further learning, no alterations in activation were detected during the following months. However, enhanced coupling between left‐lateralized occipital and inferior frontal regions was observed as the proficiency increased. Furthermore, an increase in gray matter volume was detected in the left inferior frontal gyrus which peaked at the end of learning. Overall, these results showed complexity and temporal distinctiveness of various aspects of brain reorganization associated with learning of new language in different sensory modality

Functional reorganization of the reading network in the course of foreign language acquisition

During foreign language acquisition neural representations of native language and foreign language assimilate. In the reading network, this assimilation leads to a shift from effortful processing to automated reading. Longitudinal studies can track this transition and reveal dynamics that might not become apparent in behavior. Here, we report results from a longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, which tracked functional changes in the reading network of beginning learners of Greek over one year. We deliberately chose Greek as foreign language that would have similar orthographic transparency but a different alphabet than the native language (Polish). fMRI scans with lexical and semantic decision tasks were performed at five different time points (every similar to 3 months). Classical language areas (the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left precentral gyrus, and the bilateral supplementary motor cortex), and cognitive control areas (left inferior parietal lobe and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex) showed stronger activation after the first months of instruction as compared to the activation before instruction. This pattern occured in both tasks. Task-related activity in the reading network remained constant throughout the remaining 6 months of learning and was also present in a follow-up scan 3 months after the end of the course. A similar pattern was demonstrated by the analysis of convergence between foreign and native languages occurring within the first months of learning. Additionally, in the lexical task, the extent of spatial overlap, between foreign and native language in Broca's area increased constantly from the beginning till the end of training. Our findings support the notion that reorganization of language networks is achieved after a relatively short time of foreign language instruction. We also demonstrate that cognitive control areas are recruited in foreign language reading at low proficiency levels. No apparent changes in the foreign or native reading network occur after the initial 3 months of learning. This suggests that task demand might be more important than proficiency in regulating the resources needed for efficient foreign language reading