Current trends in the management of extra-abdominal desmoid tumours

Extra-abdominal desmoid tumours are slow-growing, histologically benign tumours of fibroblastic origin with variable biologic behaviour. They are locally aggressive and invasive to surrounding anatomic structures. Magnetic resonance imaging is the modality of choice for the diagnosis and the evaluation of the tumours. Current management of desmoids involves a multidisciplinary approach. Wide margin surgical resection remains the main treatment modality for local control of the tumour. Amputation should not be the initial treatment, and function-preserving procedures should be the primary treatment goal. Adjuvant radiation therapy is recommended both for primary and recurrent lesions. Chemotherapy may be used for recurrent or unresectable disease. Overall local recurrence rates vary and depend on patient's age, tumour location and margins at resection

Robust Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Polymer Fibers Sensitized by Inorganic and Hybrid Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystal Emitters

Advances in the technology and processing of flexible optical materials have paved the way toward the integration of semiconductor emitters and polymers into functional light emitting fabrics. Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals appear as highly suitable optical sensitizers for such polymer fiber emitters due to their ease of fabrication, versatile solution-processing and highly efficient, tunable, and narrow emission across the visible spectrum. A beneficial byproduct of the nanocrystal incorporation into the polymer matrix is that it provides a facile and low-cost method to chemically and structurally stabilize the perovskite nanocrystals under ambient conditions. Herein, we demonstrate two types of robust fiber composites based on electrospun hydrophobic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) or hydrophilic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) fibrous membranes sensitized by green-emitting all-inorganic CsPbBr3 or hybrid organic-inorganic FAPbBr3 nanocrystals. We perform a systematic investigation on the influence of the nanocrystal-polymer relative content on the structural and optical properties of the fiber nanocomposites and we find that within a wide content range, the nanocrystals retain their narrow and high quantum yield emission upon incorporation into the polymer fibers. Quenching of the radiative recombination at the higher/lower bound of the nanocrystal:polymer mass ratio probed is discussed in terms of nanocrystal clustering/ligand desorption due to dilution effects, respectively. The nanocomposite's optical stability over an extended exposure in air and upon immersion in water is also discussed. The studies confirm the demonstration of robust and bright polymer-fiber emitters with promising applications in backlighting for LCD displays and textile-based light emitting devices

Mutagens in Edible Mushrooms.

Ethanolic extracts from Agaricus bisporus, the most extensively cultivated and consumed type of mushroom in the Western hemisphere, displayed a direct-acting mutagenic response in various Salmonella typhimurium strains, TA 104 being clearly the most sensitive. Ethanolic extracts from two other edible mushrooms, namely Pleurotus ostreatus and Lentinus edodes, were also screened for mutagenic activity in the Ames test. Pleurotus ostreatus extracts exhibited weak, direct-acting mutagenicity towards all bacterial strains studied. Extracts from Lentinus edodes were bacteriocidal when tested at concentrations similar to those of Pleurotus ostreatus extracts. Incorporation of hepatic S9 activation systems (i.e., microsomes and soluble fractions) from laboratory animals, control or induced, did not alter the mutagenic response of the extracts from Agaricus bisporus. The mutagenic potential was also unaffected by purified prostaglandin H synthase. The mutagenicity was, however, markedly enhanced in the presence of a rat activation system containing hepatic cytosolic fraction, i.e., in the absence of microsomes. This cytosol-mediated potentiation in mutagenicity was dependent on NADPH, was inhibited by NADH and was abolished by heat-treatment. Moreover, the cytosolic-mediated mutagenic response was inhibited by dicoumarol and menadione, implicating the cytosolic enzyme, DT-diaphorase, in the cytosolic activation of the mushroom extracts. Factors such as mushroom strain, break, and time of harvest did not have any significant effect on the mutagenic potential of the extracts from Agaricus bisporus. In contrast, the mutagenicity decreased with the age of the fruit body and enhanced with storage. Moreover, cooking of mushrooms resulted in a reduction of the mutagenic response. Non-polar solvents such as chloroform and ethyl acetate failed to extract the mushroom mutagens whereas methanolic and water extracts from Agaricus bisporus exhibited mutagenicity of the same magnitude as the ethanolic extracts. Agaritine, the postulated mutagenic/carcinogenic component of Agaricus bisporus, was mutagenic in a narrower range of Salmonella strains than the ethanolic extracts from the mushroom. Moreover, the mutagenic potency of ethanolic extracts from various types of mushroom containing markedly different amounts of agaritine did not correlate with the agaritine content. Finally, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, did not enhance the mutagenic response. It is, therefore concluded that agaritine does not mediate the mutagenicity of the fungal extracts to TA 104. Incubation of the ethanolic extracts from Agaricus bisporus with purified mushroom tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of phenols to quinones within the mushroom, markedly enhanced the mutagenic activity. The enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase, that detoxicate O2- and H2O2 respectively, glutathione, which breaks down H2O2 to H2O, and the OH- scavenger DMSO, significantly decreased mutagenicity. These findings indicate that the fungal phenols/quinones and reactive oxygen species make important contributions in the mushroom mutagenicity

Nonlinear filtering for LIDAR signal processing

LIDAR (Laser Integrated Radar) is an engineering problem of great practical importance in environmental monitoring sciences. Signal processing for LIDAR applications involves highly nonlinear models and consequently nonlinear filtering. Optimal nonlinear filters, however, are practically unrealizable. In this paper, the Lainiotis's multi-model partitioning methodology and the related approximate but effective nonlinear filtering algorithms are reviewed and applied to LIDAR signal processing. Extensive simulation and performance evaluation of the multi-model partitioning approach and its application to LIDAR signal processing shows that the nonlinear partitioning methods are very effective and significantly superior to the nonlinear extended Kalman filter (EKF), which has been the standard nonlinear filter in past engineering applications