Complete improvement in a patient with multiple irreversible defects of the left ventricle on 99m technetium-sestamibi SPECT after percutaneous coronary intervention.

99mTc-sestamibi has been investigated as a potential viability marker; initial studies have shown good concordance between 201Tl and 99mTc-sestamibi activities in both viable and nonviable myocardium. However, assessment of myocardial viability by 99mTc-sestamibi remains controversial for tissue recovery after revascularization. Here, we present a patient with several regions of severely diminished and irreversible (defect persisting in both early and delay images of each set scanning) defects on initial scan which were dissolved completely on the follow up scan after an intervention. In a 75 year-old Asian woman with acute myocardial infarction who received thrombolytic therapy and subjected to percutaneous coronary angiography (PCI) on day 28 after acute myocardial infarction(MI), resting 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT was applied on day 4 (initial scan) and 138 (follow up scan) after acute MI at 30 and 180 min after injection of tracer (740 MBq); Two-dimensional echocardiography was carried out at the same time. On the initial image set, there was irreversible defects in the apex, anteroapical, inferoapical, anteroseptal, septal and also anterior walls, while the follow up image was normal in all regions.The angiography intervention showed just significant stenosis on left anterior descending (LAD) vessel (95). This may highlight the failure of 99mTc-sestamibi as a marker of myocardial viability and also mandate further validating of the procedure with follow up scan or other modalities for myocardial viability investigation

In situ visualization of Ni-Nb bulk metallic glasses phase transition

We report the results of the Ni-based bulk metallic glass structural evolution and crystallization behavior in situ investigation. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nano-beam diffraction (NBD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), radial distribution function (RDF) and scanning probe microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) techniques were applied to analyze the structure and electronic properties of Ni63.5Nb36.5 glasses before and after crystallization. It was proved that partial surface crystallization of Ni63.5Nb36.5 can occur at the temperature lower than for the full sample crystallization. According to our STM measurements the primary crystallization is originally starting with the Ni3Nb phase formation. It was shown that surface crystallization drastically differs from the bulk crystallization due to the possible surface reconstruction. The mechanism of Ni63.5Nb36.5 glass alloy 2D-crystallization was suggested, which corresponds to the local metastable (3x3)-Ni(111) surface phase formation. The possibility of different surface nano-structures development by the annealing of the originally glassy alloy in ultra high vacuum at the temperature lower, than the crystallization temperature was shown. The increase of mean square surface roughness parameter Rq while moving from glassy to fully crystallized state can be caused by concurrent growth of Ni3Nb and Ni6Nb7 bulk phases. The simple empirical model for the estimation of Ni63.5Nb36.5 cluster size was suggested, and the obtained values (7.64 A, 8.08 A) are in good agreement with STM measurements data (8 A-10 A)

Enthalpies of formation of L12 intermetallics derived from heats of reordering

A new method is proposed for estimating the enthalpies of formation of L12 (fcc-ordered) intermetallics from the heat release measured during ordering of their disordered polymorphs. The method is applied to Cu3Au, Ni3Al, and Ni3Si. The resulting estimates of enthalpies of formation are close to values obtained by high temperature dissolution calorimetry. They also appear to be more precise than estimates based on Miedema's correlations provided that care is taken to account properly for the magnetic and lattice stability contributions to the formation enthalpies in the ordered and disordered states

The intersection of blockchain technology and circular economy in the agri-food sector

The following are the supplementary data related to this article: Table A1. Main drivers and examples of food loss and waste across food supply chains (not exhaustive). Available online at: https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2352550922002986-mmc1.docx (Word document (33KB)); Table B1. A List of the reviewed literature and a summary of the findings (in total 44 articles were collected of which 39 were retrieved from databases and five articles were added manually after checking the references within the reviewed articles). Available online at: https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2352550922002986-mmc2.docx (Word document (59KB)); Table C1. Evidence of employing blockchain-based use cases on the ‘Circular Economy’ within the agri-food domain. Available online at: https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2352550922002986-mmc3.docx (Word document (47KB)).Copyright © 2022 The Authors / Institution of Chemical Engineers. A transition towards a circular economy within the agri-food sector requires the improvement of efficiency in resource utilization, the prevention of food loss or waste, whilst adopting regenerative agricultural practices. In addition to the technical challenges, the agri-food industry needs to address the food safety concerns resulting from biomass recycling processes. Increasingly, blockchain technology is gaining traction, moving towards more sustainable and precision agriculture. The blockchain is a decentralized, immutable, and shared database that records the provenance of digital assets, making it a suitable platform for traceability and food supply chain management. Despite its growing importance, the existing literature regarding these themes and the empirical evidence of blockchain-based solutions for a circular economy is rather fragmented. This paper offers a scoping review regarding the role of blockchain technology in the transition towards a circular food system. A total of 44 papers published in peer-reviewed journals were reviewed to identify new scientific insights into the application of blockchains within the agricultural sector. The results indicate that blockchain technology has a great potential in reducing food loss through optimized eco-efficiency (e.g., digitalization and integration with the Internet of Things) and by alleviating asymmetric information (by increasing transparency and reducing dependence on intermediaries). However, in the case of recycling efficiency, despite its potential, there remains a paucity of evidence regarding the use of blockchain technology in improving the residual valorization processes. Furthermore, there is a stream of literature focusing on the ability of blockchain-enabled traceability (e.g., for organic production or supply chain management). Yet, the role of blockchain traceability in the monitoring of risks from recycled biomass and the reporting of the sustainability performance in the supply chain has received scant attention within research literature. These results provide insights for supply chain management operations with the view of shifting towards a circular economy whilst also suggesting an agenda for future research areas.This work was supported by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden, by a scholarship from L Nannesson’s foundation, grant number Dnr SLU.ua.2019.3.1.5-617

Determination of maturation and spawning season of Otolithes ruber (Croaker Fish) in Khuzestan coastal water, Iran

In this study, the stage of gonadal development, type and season of spawning of Otolithes ruber in the North West of Persian Gulf were identified. O.ruber maturation and spawning were studied by macroscopic, microscopic, and histologic observation of gonads which obtained from October 1996 to September 1997 in Khouzestan coasts. In the histologic sections of gonad tissue, stages I to VII of gonadal development were distinguished. Post Spawning follicules were observed only in stages VI and VII (in April and May). Atretic ovums were also clearly observed in these stages. Frequency of Ovum diameter distribution in stages II to V is a unimodal which proves that annual maturation of ovums and spawning of this species are simultaneous. The highest level of GSI was observed in March and also higher stages 01' gonadal maturation were observed in March and April. Fast drop in GSI in May and within occurrence of both spawning and spent individuals in only two months of the year shows the relatively short spawning season is spring (April-May). Sexual maturation of females occured after the males and its first length in females was 216 mm

Scintigraphic parameters with emphasis on perfusion appraisal in rest 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT in the recovery of myocardial function after thrombolytic therapy in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)

Introduction: This study was performed to determine the clinical application of rest 99mTc-sestamibi in the assessment of viability and functional improvement of the left ventricle (LV) myocardium in the post-thrombolytic therapy of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Material and methods: In 37 patients with AMI who received thrombolytic therapy, 2-dimensional (2D) echocardiography, as well as the resting redistribution of 99mTc-sestamibi, was investigated, both within 1 week and 3-5 months after AMI. The predictive capacity of the perfusion percentage for myocardial function recovery was evaluated. Also, the capacities of the possible variables in the prediction of recovery of myocardial function resulting from a change in LV ejection fraction (EF) were evaluated using stepwise multiple regression analysis. Results: Thirty-seven patients (30 men and 7 women; mean age: 58±14 years) with AMI were enrolled in the study. Redistribution was observed in 35 and 50 segments of the initial and follow-up scans, respectively. In addition, 146 segments with reverse redistribution (RR), both in the initial scan (118 segments) and the follow-up scan (86 segments), were also observed. An apparent difference in wall motion scores was seen between the initial and follow-up echocardiographs (p<0.001). Furthermore, using the optimal cut-off point of perfusion percentage in each image set, sensitivity as well as specificity and likelihood ratio (LR) for the improvement of regional wall motion after 3-5 months were defined. Conclusion: These data showed that redistribution and reverse redistribution of 99mTc-sestamibi post thrombolytic therapy can be used as a marker of viability to predict the recovery of segmental wall motion abnormality (stunning), as well as the improvement of segmental perfusion uptake. This study also demonstrates that the resting 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT can be used for an approximate assessment of LV function status and can predict the recovery of jeopardized myocardium function after thrombolytic therapy. © 2011 SAGE Publications

Metabolic profiling of aortic stenosis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy identifies mechanistic contrasts in substrate utilization

Open Access via the Wiley Agreement UKRI | Medical Research Council (MRC), Grant/Award Number: MR/ P011705/1, MC_UP_A090_1006 and MR/S010483; British Heart Foundation (BHF); NIHR | NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (OxBRC)Peer reviewe