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The Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) was requested by the European Commission (EC) to provide a scientific opinion on the safety of breast implants in relation to anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). There are several types of textured breast implants; surface textures of breast implants are not all manufactured in the same way, and breast implants with diverse surface textures may also present different benefits. The magnitude of the risk per type of textured implant is difficult to establish due to the low incidence of the breast implants associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). Therefore, risk assessments per implant type are needed. Overall SCHEER considers that there is a moderate weight of evidence for a causal relationship between textured breast implants and BIA-ALCL, particularly in relation to implants with an intermediate to high surface roughness.The pathogenic mechanisms are not fully elucidated; current hypotheses include genetic drivers, chronic inflammation resulting either from bacterial contamination, shell shedding of particulates, or shell surface characteristics leading to friction, or by implant associated reactive compounds. Reporting of new BIA-ALCL cases by the national clinical registries is critically important to obtain a better estimate of the risk of BIA-ALCL for patients with a breast implant., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The potential of magnetite nanoparticles to be applied in drinking water treatment for the removal of hexavalent chromium is discussed. In this study, a method for their preparation which combines the use of low-cost iron sources (FeSO4 and Fe2(SO4)3) and a continuous flow mode, was developed. The produced magnetite nanoparticles with a size of around 20 nm, appeared relatively stable to passivation providing a removal capacity of 1.8 μg Cr(VI)/mg for a residual concentration of 50 μg/L when tested in natural water at pH7. Such efficiency is explained by the reducing ability of magnetite which turns Cr(VI) to an insoluble Cr(OH)3 form. The successful operation of a small-scale system consisting of a contact reactor and a magnetic separator demonstrates a way for the practical introduction and recovery of magnetite nanoparticles in water treatment technology., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The objective of the current work was to study the sink effect in radiofrequency ablation (RFA) caused by a blood vessel located close to an electrode in a two-compartment numerical model, consisting of a spherical tumor embedded in healthy liver tissue. Several blood vessels of different sizes were studied at different distances from the electrode. It was found that when a straight blood vessel, cylindrical in shape, is located parallel to the electrode, the minimum distance for a drop of only 10% in the isothermal treatment volume above 50°C, compared to the model without the blood vessel, varies from 4.49 mm (for a vessel of 2mm in diameter) to 20.02 mm (for a vessel 20mm in diameter). The results can be used as a guideline to clinical practitioners, in order to quickly assess the potential impact of existing blood vessels on the resulting treatment volume., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the present work we studied some of the features related to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) computational modeling. Particularly we investigated the impact of head model resolution on the estimated distribution of the induced electric field, as well as the role of the stimulating magnetic coil model in TMS. Using the impedance method we calculated the induced electric field inside a realistic numerical phantom of the human head from a commercially available eight-shaped coil, which was modeled in two ways. The results showed that finer resolution of the model has better performance at tissue interfaces eliminating numerical artifacts of local peaks. Furthermore, the geometrical details of a TMS coil must be taken into account since the predicted amount of volume of brain tissue involved can have great variation. Finally, the secondary magnetic field that is generated by the induced eddy currents in the tissues can be neglected., (© 2013.)

A numerical study of the performance of antenna arrays used in microwave ablation (MWA) is carried out. Double-slot coaxial antennas in triangular and square configurations are studied. Clinical (healthy vs. malignant) and experimental (in vs. ex vivo) scenarios for hepatic cancer treatment are modeled, and further application in bone and lung tissue is examined. It is found that triangular arrays can create spherical ablation zones, while square configurations result in flatter ones. Thresholds in power and application times for creating continuous ablation zones are calculated, and the characteristics of the latter are quantified., (© 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)