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Purpose: Metastatic melanoma lymph nodes (MMLns) might be challenging to detect on MR-WBI, as both MMLns and normal lymph nodes (NLns) can show restricted water diffusion. Our purpose is to assess the potential contribution of the DIXON sequence in differentiating MMLns from NLns. Material and methods: We followed a cohort of 107 patients with stage IIIb/c and IV skin melanoma for 32 months using MR-WBI with DIXON, STIR, and DWI/ADC sequences. We compared signal intensity (SI) values of MMLns and NLns in the four series of the DIXON sequence (in/out-of-phase, fat_only, and water_only series). The fat fraction (SIfat_only/SIin) and the long:short axis ratio of MMLns were calculated. The fat fraction was also calculated in the fatty hila of NLns. Results: All MMLns (8 from 7 patients) showed SIout>SIin with a mean fat fraction of 10%. In 40 normal fatty hila (25 patients), the proportion of SIout>SIin was 100% and mean fat fraction was 89% (pSIin pattern was identified in 41/113 cases from 19/40 patients. The median long:short axis ratio in MMLns was 1.13 (range 1.03–1.25). Conclusion: The combination of three features of MMLns (SIout>SIin, low-fat fraction and rounded shape) might hold promise in differentiating NLns from MMLns in patients with skin melanoma. Further research is warranted due to the small number of MMLns in our cohort.

Abstract Objectives The need of a standardized reporting scheme and language, in imaging of COVID-19 pneumonia, has been welcomed by major scientific societies. The aim of the study was to build the reporting scheme of chest CT in COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods A team of experts, of the Italian Society of Medical and Interventional Radiology (SIRM), has been recruited to compose a consensus panel. They used a modified Delphi process to build a reporting scheme and expressed a level of agreement for each section of the report. To measure the internal consistency of the panelist ratings for each section of the report, a quality analysis based on the average inter-item correlation was performed with Cronbach’s alpha (Cα) correlation coefficient. Results The overall mean score of the experts and the sum of score were 3.1 (std.dev. ± 0.11) and 122 in the second round, and improved to 3.75 (std.dev. ± 0.40) and 154 in the third round. The Cronbach’s alpha (Cα) correlation coefficient was 0.741 (acceptable) in the second round and improved to 0.789 in the third round. The final report was built in the management of radiology report template (MRRT) and includes n = 4 items in the procedure information, n = 5 items in the clinical information, n = 16 in the findings, and n = 3 in the impression, with overall 28 items. Conclusions The proposed structured report could be of help both for expert radiologists and for the less experienced who are faced with the management of these patients. The structured report is conceived as a guideline, to recommend the key items/findings of chest CT in COVID-19 pneumonia.

The Nitrogen Footprint (N-Footprint) is the total amount of reactive nitrogen (Nr) released to the environment as a result of an entity's consumption patterns. N-Footprint assessments have mainly been consumer-oriented and country-sized, although concern has recently focused on single products, especially particular foods.While traditionally obtained from several software and/or calculators, the N-Footprint is here proposed to be evaluated by combining the Life Cycle (LCA) approach with a specific N based impact assessment modelling, as derived from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines.The theoretical procedure is then applied to a real livestock case study (the Mora Romagnola pig that provides high quality pork), mainly based on primary data. The total amount of Nr released was about 40 kg per pig (live weight), mainly due to direct components (i.e. manure management ∼ 85%). The results highlight the importance of more comprehensive and systematic quantification of emissions, especially direct ones that are neglected in the classical database and software. The Virtual N-Factor (VNF) was 2.3, which indicates that about 30% of N input by weight is incorporated in the meat, while most of it (∼70%) is dispersed to different environmental compartments (38% atmosphere, 35% soil, 27% water). A comparative analysis to check the reliability of outcomes and the robustness of the accounting procedure is also offered and show that these results are consistent with those reported in the literature for other pork products.The main benefit of this procedure is that it produces a unique aggregate result of the entity of human pressure on nitrogen cycle. This ensures a high comparability for results, transparency, and reproducibility of the method.

Topological gauge theories provide powerful effective descriptions of certain strongly correlated systems, a prime example being the Chern-Simons gauge theory of fractional quantum Hall states. Engineering topological gauge theories in controlled quantum systems is of both conceptual and practical importance, as it would provide access to systems with exotic excitations such as anyons without the need for strong correlations. Here, we discuss a scheme to engineer the chiral BF theory, a minimal model of a topological gauge theory corresponding to a one-dimensional reduction of the Chern-Simons theory, with ultracold atoms. Using the local conservation laws of the theory, we encode its quantum Hamiltonian into an ultracold quantum gas with chiral interactions. Building on a seminal proposal by Edmonds et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 085301 (2013)10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.085301], we show how to implement it in a Raman-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate with imbalanced scattering lengths, as we have recently realized experimentally [Frölian et al., Nature (London) 608, 293 (2022)10.1038/s41586-022-04943-3]. We discuss the properties of the chiral condensate from a gauge theory perspective and assess the validity of the effective quantum description for accessible experimental parameters via numerical simulations. Our approach lays the foundation for realizing topological gauge theories in higher dimensions with Bose-Einstein condensates.

Life Cycle Assessment methodology was applied to the industrial sector, with the aim to evaluate the environmental sustainability of different chemical processes. In particular, the ammoxidation reaction to produce acrylonitrile was chosen as a case study, comparing the environmental loads of the traditional process (SOHIO) with the alternative routes starting from propane on the base of the same amount of acrylonitrile produced (1 kg). Information reported on patents, and data collected on Ecoinvent 2.2 database were used to create each ammoxidation scenario in SimaPro 7.3.3 software. The system boundaries of the study include the main production stages on industrial scale: reaction flows, heat exchange, raw materials for catalyst manufacture, the main plant emissions and transportation phase. The comparison was carried out using ReCiPe 2008 method, expressing results in terms of midpoint impact categories, as: climate change (both damage on human health and on ecosystem), particulate matter formation, fossil fuel depletion and metal depletion. Results show how the alternative routes starting from propane seem to have higher potential impact than the traditional SOHIO process, due to the lower catalysts activity. Also, to quantify the environmental load of ammoxidation processes a comparison with other common chemical industrial productions was done. This simplified approach is able to show the environmental impacts of the ammoxidation scenarios in a broader industrial context.

Fruit production development is resulting in large commercial orchards with improved water management standards. While the agronomic and economic benefits of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) have long been established, the local variability in soils and climate and the irrigation system design limits its practical applications. This paper uses a case study approach (a 225 ha stone fruit orchard) to unveil limitations derived from environmental spatial variability and irrigation performance. The spatial variability of soil physical parameters and meteorology in the orchard was characterized, and its implication on crop water requirements was established. Irrigation depths applied during 2004-2009 were analysed and compared with crop water requirements under standard and RDI strategies. Plant water status was also measured during two irrigation seasons using stem water potential measurements. On-farm wind speed variability amounted to 55%, representing differences of 17% in reference evapotranspiration. During the study seasons, irrigation scheduling evolved towards deficit irrigation; however, the specific traits of RDI in stone fruits were not implemented. RDI implementation was limited by: 1) poor correspondence between environmental variability and irrigation system design; 2) insufficient information on RDI crop water requirements and its on-farm spatial variability within the farm; and 3) low control of the water distribution network.

We derive the most general expression for the Skyrmion topological charge for a two-dimensional spin texture, valid for any type of boundary conditions or for any arbitrary spatial region within the texture. It reduces to the usual one for the appropriate boundary conditions. The general expression resembles the Gauss-Bonet theorem for the Euler-Poincaré characteristic of a 2D surface, but it has definite differences, responsible for the assignment of the proper signs of the Skyrmion charges. Additionally, we show that the charge of a single Skyrmion is the product of the value of the normal component of the spin texture at the singularity times the Index or winding number of the transverse texture, a generalization of a Poincaré theorem. We illustrate our general results analyzing in detail a two-component spinor Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in 2D in the presence of an external magnetic field, via the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The condensate spin textures present Skyrmions singularities at the spatial locations where the transverse magnetic field vanishes. We show that the ensuing superfluid vortices and Skyrmions have the same value for their corresponding topological charges, in turn due to the structure of the magnetic field.

A 34-year-old healthy male presented as a trauma activation after sustaining a gunshot wound to his face. CT head imaging was suggestive of a ballistic fragment adjacent to a posterior wall sphenoid sinus fracture with likely a small volume of adjacent blood products. He was ultimately diagnosed with hypopituitarism which included central diabetes insipidus, central hypothyroid, and adrenocorticotropic hormone deficiency secondary to cortisol deficiency. This case illustrates the spectrum of endocrine dysfunction that can occur with skull base injuries, and the appropriate pituitary-function screening and treatment that should be performed if there is clinical concern. Early recognition and prompt treatment of pituitary insufficiency can facilitate overall rehabilitation after TBI.

Universality of the long-distance behavior across the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BEC)-Bose–Einstein condensate (BCS) smooth transition for two-body density correlation functions and the Cooper-pair probability density is demonstrated in a balanced mixture of a two-component Fermi gas at T = 0. It is numerically shown at the mean-field level that these two-body quantities exhibit an exponential decay in terms of the chemical potential and the low-energy behavior of the gap. A general expression is found for the two-body distributions holding for different features of finite-range potentials, such as divergences at the origin, discontinuities at a finite radius, power-law decay, and exponential decay. The correlation length characterizing the long-distance behavior unravels the dependence on the energy needed to break pairs along the BEC-BCS crossover, a quantity meaningful to the stability of the many-body state.

Infant hydrocephalus poses a severe global health burden; 80% of cases occur in the developing world where patients have limited access to neurosurgical care. Surgical treatment combining endoscopic third ventriculostomy and choroid plexus cauterization (ETV/CPC), first practiced at CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda (CCHU), is as effective as standard ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement while requiring fewer resources and less post-operative care. Although treatment focuses on controlling ventricle size, this has little association with treatment failure or long-term outcome. This study aims to monitor the progression of hydrocephalus and treatment response, and investigate the association between cerebral physiology, brain growth, and neurodevelopmental outcomes following surgery. We will enroll 300 infants admitted to CCHU for treatment. All patients will receive pre/post-operative measurements of cerebral tissue oxygenation (SO2), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO2) using frequency-domain near-infrared combined with diffuse correlation spectroscopies (FDNIRS-DCS). Infants will also receive brain imaging, to monitor tissue/ventricle volume, and neurodevelopmental assessments until two years of age. This study will provide a foundation for implementing cerebral physiological monitoring to establish evidence-based guidelines for hydrocephalus treatment. This paper outlines the protocol, clinical workflow, data management, and analysis plan of this international, multi-center trial.

Introduction Preterm and small for gestational age (SGA) infants are at increased risk of poor growth, disability and delayed development. While growing up they are also at increased risk of obesity, diabetes and later heart disease. The risk of such adverse outcomes may be altered by how preterm and SGA infants are fed after birth. Faltering postnatal growth is common due to failure to achieve recommended high energy and protein intakes, and thus preterm and SGA infants are often provided with supplemental nutrition soon after birth. Enhanced nutrition has been associated with improved early growth and better cognitive development. However, limited evidence suggests that faster growth may increase the risk for later adiposity, metabolic and cardiovascular disease, and that such risks may differ between girls and boys.Methods and analysis We will search Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, controlled-trials.com, ClinicalTrials.gov and anzctr.org.au for randomised trials that studied the effects of macronutrient supplements for preterm and SGA infants on (i) developmental and metabolic and (ii) growth outcomes after hospital discharge. The outcomes will be (i) cognitive impairment and metabolic risk (co-primary) and (ii) body mass index. Individual participant data (IPD) from all available trials will be included using an intention-to-treat approach. A one-stage procedure for IPD meta-analysis (MA) will be used, accounting for clustering of participants within studies. Exploratory subgroup analyses will further investigate sources of heterogeneity, including sex and size of infants, different timing, duration and type of supplements.Ethics and dissemination This IPD-MA is approved by the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee (reference number: 019874). Individual studies have approval from relevant local ethics committees. Results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at international conferences.PROSPERO registration number CRD42017072683

The World Health Organization (2003) stated that there is growing evidence that changes in the global climate will have profound effects on the well-being of citizens in countries throughout the world. The "business as usual" frame of mind in dealing with this phenomenon is no longer feasible. Rather, there is a great need for a "sense of urgency" to empower and actively involve every individual to adapt and to mitigate the worsening of climate change. A great number of studies show that the leadership of the educational system in developed countries for more than 2 decades has been successful in promoting environmental sustainability. Some of these studies are reviewed and documented in this paper so that vulnerable countries may learn and benchmark from their experiences.