The Role of Somatostatin Receptor Scintigraphy on the Diagnosis of Desmoid Tumors

Background. Magnetic resonance imaging is considered as imaging modality of choice in diagnosis of desmoid tumors, though even this technique can lack the ability to distinguish aggressive fibromatosis from other benign or malignant soft tissue tumors. The aim of this study was to investigate if desmoid tumors would show an adequate tracer uptake in somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and moreover to correlate these results with immunohistochemical staining. Patients and Methods. Thirteen patients with desmoid tumors were examined with somatostatin receptor scintigraphy. Additionally, seven of these patients have been tested for the immunohistochemical expression of somatostatin receptor subtype 2A. The results of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and the results of immunohistochemical staining (somatostatin receptor subtype 2A) were evaluated and correlated. Results. Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy revealed that eight of 13 affected patients (62%) showed an enhanced tracer uptake. On the other hand, the correlation between the results of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and immunohistochemical investigations was poor (two out of seven cases). Conclusion. The current study demonstrated that desmoid tumors frequently express somatostatin receptor subtype 2, while immunohistochemical investigations did not correlate with these findings. This may likely be due to lack of standardization of this technique and also due to heterogeneous receptor distribution within the tumors

Diversity of Mobile Genetic Elements in the Mitogenomes of Closely Related Fusarium culmorum and F. graminearum sensu stricto Strains and Its Implication for Diagnostic Purposes

Much of the mitogenome variation observed in fungal lineages seems driven by mobile genetic elements (MGEs), which have invaded their genomes throughout evolution. The variation in the distribution and nucleotide diversity of these elements appears to be the main distinction between different fungal taxa, making them promising candidates for diagnostic purposes. Fungi of the genus Fusarium display a high variation in MGE content, from MGE-poor (Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium fujikuroi species complex) to MGE-rich mitogenomes found in the important cereal pathogens F. culmorum and F. graminearum sensu stricto. In this study, we investigated the MGE variation in these latter two species by mitogenome analysis of geographically diverse strains. In addition, a smaller set of F. cerealis and F. pseudograminearum strains was included for comparison. Forty-seven introns harboring from 0 to 3 endonucleases (HEGs) were identified in the standard set of mitochondrial protein-coding genes. Most of them belonged to the group I intron family and harbored either LAGLIDADG or GIY-YIG HEGs. Among a total of 53 HEGs, 27 were shared by all fungal strains. Most of the optional HEGs were irregularly distributed among fungal strains/species indicating ancestral mosaicism in MGEs. However, among optional MGEs, one exhibited species-specific conservation in F. culmorum. While in F. graminearum s.s. MGE patterns in cox3 and in the intergenic spacer between cox2 and nad4L may facilitate the identification of this species. Thus, our results demonstrate distinctive traits of mitogenomes for diagnostic purposes of Fusaria

Diversity of mobile genetic elements in the mitogenome of closely related Fusarium culmorum and F. graminearum sensu stricto strains ans its implication for diagnostic purposes

Much of the mitogenome variation observed in fungal lineages seems driven by mobile genetic elements (MGEs), which have invaded their genomes throughout evolution. The variation in the distribution and nucleotide diversity of these elements appears to be the main distinction between different fungal taxa, making them promising candidates for diagnostic purposes. Fungi of the genus Fusarium display a high variation in MGE content, from MGE-poor (F. oxysporum and Fusarium fujikuroi species complex) to MGE-rich mitogenomes found in the important cereal pathogens F. culmorum and F. graminearum sensu stricto. In this study, we investigated the MGE variation in these latter two species by mitogenome analysis of geographically diverse strains. In addition, a smaller set of F. cerealis and F. pseudograminearum strains was included for comparison. Forty-seven introns harboring from 0 to 3 endonucleases (HEGs) were identified in the standard set of mitochondrial protein-coding genes. Most of them belonged to the group I intron family and harbored either LAGLIDADG or GIY-YIG HEGs. Among a total of 53 HEGs, 27 were shared by all fungal strains. Most of the optional HEGs were irregularly distributed among fungal strains/species indicating ancestral mosaicism in MGEs. However, among optional MGEs, one exhibited species-specific conservation in F. culmorum. While in F. graminearum s.s. MGE patterns in cox3 and in the intergenic spacer between cox2 and nad4L may facilitate the identification of this species. Thus, our results demonstrate distinctive traits of mitogenomes for diagnostic purposes of Fusaria.Fil: Kulik, Tomasz. Department Of Botany And Nature Protection, University; PoloniaFil: Brankovics, Balazs. Wageningen Plant Research, Wageningen University; Países BajosFil: Van Diepeningen, Anne D.. Waneningen Plant Research; Países BajosFil: Bilska, Katarzyna. Department Of Botany And Nature Protection, University; PoloniaFil: Zelechowski, Maciej. Department Of Botany And Nature Protection, University; PoloniaFil: Myszczyński, Kamil. Department Of Botany And Nature Protection, University; PoloniaFil: Molcan, Tomasz. Faculty Of Biology And Biotechnology, University; PoloniaFil: Stakheev. Alexander. Institute Of Bioorganic Chemistry (ras); RusiaFil: Stenglein, Sebastian Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnolológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología. Laboratorio de Biología Funcional y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Beyer, Marco. Luxembourg Institute Of Science And Technology; LuxemburgoFil: Pasquali, Matias. Faculty Of Agricultural And Food Sciences; ItaliaFil: Sawicki, Jakub. Department Of Botany And Nature Protection, University; PoloniaFil: Baturo Cieśniewska, Anna. Baturo-cieśniewska; Poloni

Characterising pulverised fuel ignition in a visual drop tube furnace by use of a high-speed imaging technique

This study investigates the ignition characteristics of pulverised coal, biomass and co-firing by use of a visual drop tube furnace (VDTF) and a high speed imaging technique. Three coals (anthracite, a bituminous coal and a lignite), four biomasses (Pine, Eucalyptus, Olive Residue and Miscanthus) and various biomass-coal mixtures were tested. With each coal, biomass or their mixture, a distinct flame was established within the VDTF through the continuous feeding of the fuel under the environment of air and at a furnace temperature of 800 °C. To observe the ignition point, a Phantom v12.1 high-speed camera was used to capture the videos of fuel combustion at 500 frames per second (FPS). A technique was developed using MATLAB's image analysis tool to automate the ignition point detection. The results of the image processing were used to statistically analyse and determine the changes to the ignition behaviour with different fuels and co-firing ratios. The results obtained with the tested coals have shown that the distance to ignition increases as the coal volatile matter content decreases, whereas the opposite trend was found for the biomass fuels. Further, the addition of biomass to the anthracite significantly reduces the distance to ignition but a much less pronounced effect on the ignition was found when biomass was co-fired with the bituminous coal or lignite. The synergistic effect on the ignition of biomass-anthracite mixture is mainly attributed to the high volatile content and the potential effects of catalysis from the alkali metals present in the biomass. The results of this study have shown that the VDTF testing coupled with the image analysis technique allows for an effective and simple method of characterising ignition behaviours of pulverised coal, biomass and their mixtures

Prenatal Hypoxia Affects Foetal Cardiovascular Regulatory Mechanisms in a Sex- and Circadian-Dependent Manner: A Review

Prenatal hypoxia during the prenatal period can interfere with the developmental trajectory and lead to developing hypertension in adulthood. Prenatal hypoxia is often associated with intrauterine growth restriction that interferes with metabolism and can lead to multilevel changes. Therefore, we analysed the effects of prenatal hypoxia predominantly not associated with intrauterine growth restriction using publications up to September 2021. We focused on: (1) The response of cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms, such as the chemoreflex, adenosine, nitric oxide, and angiotensin II on prenatal hypoxia. (2) The role of the placenta in causing and attenuating the effects of hypoxia. (3) Environmental conditions and the mother’s health contribution to the development of prenatal hypoxia. (4) The sex-dependent effects of prenatal hypoxia on cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms and the connection between hypoxia-inducible factors and circadian variability. We identified that the possible relationship between the effects of prenatal hypoxia on the cardiovascular regulatory mechanism may vary depending on circadian variability and phase of the days. In summary, even short-term prenatal hypoxia significantly affects cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms and programs hypertension in adulthood, while prenatal programming effects are not only dependent on the critical period, and sensitivity can change within circadian oscillations