Towards accurate and precise T1 and extracellular volume mapping in the myocardium: a guide to current pitfalls and their solutions

Mapping of the longitudinal relaxation time (T1) and extracellular volume (ECV) offers a means of identifying pathological changes in myocardial tissue, including diffuse changes that may be invisible to existing T1-weighted methods. This technique has recently shown strong clinical utility for pathologies such as Anderson- Fabry disease and amyloidosis and has generated clinical interest as a possible means of detecting small changes in diffuse fibrosis; however, scatter in T1 and ECV estimates offers challenges for detecting these changes, and bias limits comparisons between sites and vendors. There are several technical and physiological pitfalls that influence the accuracy (bias) and precision (repeatability) of T1 and ECV mapping methods. The goal of this review is to describe the most significant of these, and detail current solutions, in order to aid scientists and clinicians to maximise the utility of T1 mapping in their clinical or research setting. A detailed summary of technical and physiological factors, issues relating to contrast agents, and specific disease-related issues is provided, along with some considerations on the future directions of the field. Towards accurate and precise T1 and extracellular volume mapping in the myocardium: a guide to current pitfalls and their solutions. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317548806_Towards_accurate_and_precise_T1_and_extracellular_volume_mapping_in_the_myocardium_a_guide_to_current_pitfalls_and_their_solutions [accessed Jun 13, 2017]

Sport, War and Democracy in Classical Athens

This article concerns the paradox of athletics in classical Athens. Democracy may have opened up politics to every class of Athenian but it had little impact on sporting participation. The city’s athletes continued to drawn predominantly from the upper class. It comes as a surprise then that lower-class Athenians actually esteemed athletes above every other group in the public eye, honoured them very generously when they won, and directed a great deal of public and private money to sporting competitions and facilities. In addition athletics escaped the otherwise persistent criticism of upper-class activities in the popular culture of the democracy. The research of social scientists on sport and aggression suggests this paradox may have been due to the cultural overlap between athletics and war under the Athenian democracy. The article concludes that the practical and ideological democratization of war by classical Athens legitimized and supported upper-class sport

Variation in frost tolerance of the 1,8-cineole-rich variants of the peppermint eucalypts, 'Eucalyptus radiata' and 'E. dives'

Frost tolerance is a necessary characteristic for the successful establishment of 'Eucalyptus radiata' subsp. 'radiata' Sieber ex DC (1,8-cineole variant) for production of essential oil on frost-prone sites. The frost tolerance of seedlings from six commercial oil-producing provenances of this taxon was examined using the electrical conductivity method. One provenance of 'E. radiata' subsp. robertsonii and two provenances of E. dives Schauer were also included for comparison. To verify the validity of this method, frost tolerance was also assessed in two field trials near Armidale on the New England Tableland of New South Wales where plants at one year from planting were scored for physical damage attributed to the effects of frost, viz. leaf fall and stem splitting. There were consistent and significant differences in modified relative conductivity (RC) between provenances, and between open-pollinated families within provenances, across temperatures. 'Eucalyptus radiata' subsp. 'radiata' from Isabella River, followed closely by provenances from Reedy Creek and Yowrie, were the most cold-tolerant, while the two 'E. dives' provenances and 'E. radiata' subsp. 'radiata' from Alexandra were the least frost tolerant, based on RC values. Rankings of 'E. radiata' subsp. 'radiata' provenances based on scores for stem splitting and leaf fall after their first winter in the field corresponded well to the RC rankings, with Reedy Creek the best performing provenance overall. Apart from limiting frost damage through selection of hardy provenances, the significant within-provenance family variation in frost tolerance, and the substantial variation between individuals within families noted in these trials, suggest good potential for selection and breeding amongst hardy individuals of the best ranked families to improve frost tolerance