Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Myocarditis.

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium, and its diagnosis remains challenging owing to a varying clinical presentation and broad spectrum of underlying aetiologies. In clinical practice, cardiovascular magnetic resonance has become an invaluable non-invasive imaging tool in the evaluation of patients with clinically suspected myocarditis, mainly thanks to its unique multiparametric tissue characterization ability. Although considered as useful, the method also has its limitations.

THE POTENTIAL TO USE TLD MEASUREMENTS TO VALIDATE THE OCCUPATIONAL RADIATION PROTECTION AT THE DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE.

Diagnostic examinations in nuclear medicine increase. This can cause a higher radiation burden to the personnel. The aim of this study was to create and apply a method to validate the occupational radiation protection at the Department of Nuclear Medicine using thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLD).

Lower Ga-DOTATOC uptake in nonfunctioning pituitary neuroendocrine tumours compared to normal pituitary gland-A proof-of-concept study.

Objectives: Ga-DOTATOC PET targets somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) and is well established for the detection of SSTR-expressing tumors, such as gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors. Pituitary adenomas, recently designated as pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs), also express SSTRs, but there has been no previous evaluations of Ga-DOTATOC PET in PitNET patients. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the diagnostic properties of Ga-DOTATOC PET in the most common PitNET, ie non-functioning (NF)-PitNET.

Extended Duration of Active Surveillance of Small Renal Masses: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: We report the natural history of small renal masses in patients undergoing active surveillance with extended followup.

Materials And Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study in patients undergoing active surveillance of small renal masses diagnosed between 2001 and 2011 at a single institution. All patients underwent active surveillance of small renal masses presumed to be renal cell carcinoma based on diagnostic imaging.

Accuracy of kidney cancer diagnosis and histological subtype within Canadian cancer registry data.

Introduction: Provincial/territorial cancer registries (PTCRs) are the mainstay for Canadian population-based cancer statistics. Each jurisdiction captures this data in a population-based registry, including the Nova Scotia Cancer Registry (NSCR). The goal of this study was to describe data from the NSCR regarding renal cell carcinoma (RCC) pathology subtype and method of diagnosis and compare it to the actual pathology reports to determine the accuracy of diagnosis and histological subtype assignment.

Overactive Bladder and Storage Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Following Radical Prostatectomy.

Objective: To describe the rate of overactive bladder (OAB) and storage lower urinary tract symptoms following radical prostatectomy (RP) and determine if subsequent radiation increases the risk of OAB.

Methods: We reviewed all patients who underwent open RP at our tertiary care institution from January 2006 to June 2011. Primary outcomes were the proportion of patients with new OAB and time to development of OAB in those treated with RP alone vs RP plus radiation.

Linking loss of sodium-iodide symporter expression to DNA damage.

Radiotherapy of thyroid cancer with I-131 is abrogated by inherent loss of radioiodine uptake due to loss of sodium iodide symporter (NIS) expression in poorly differentiated tumor cells. It is also known that ionizing radiation per se down-regulates NIS (the stunning effect), but the mechanism is unknown. Here we investigated whether loss of NIS-mediated iodide transport may be elicited by DNA damage.

Acute renal infarct without apparent cause: A case report and review of the literature.

Acute renal infarction is a rare clinical entity most commonly occurring as a result of a thromboembolic event in patients with predisposing risk factors. Its non-specific presentation can lead to delayed or missed diagnosis. However, modern imaging technology has allowed for the diagnosis of renal infarction to be made earlier in its clinical course.

A magnetic mass within the bladder.

A search of the literature finds that there have been many case reports documenting a wide array of objects found within the bladder, ranging from magnets and paper clips to telephone and aluminum wire. The goal of treatment is to remove the object quickly, using the least invasive method possible. Therefore, the ideal treatment is removal through endoscopic means; however, in some cases, the size, mobility and shape of the foreign body can prevent its removal endoscopically and more invasive means must be employed.

Swimming away or clamming up: the use of phasic and tonic adductor muscles during escape responses varies with shell morphology in scallops.

The simple locomotor system of scallops facilitates the study of muscle use during locomotion. We compared five species of scallops with different shell morphologies to see whether shell morphology and muscle use change in parallel or whether muscle use can compensate for morphological constraints. Force recordings during escape responses revealed that the use of tonic and phasic contractions varied markedly among species.

Intraperitoneal alpha-particle radioimmunotherapy of ovarian cancer patients: pharmacokinetics and dosimetry of (211)At-MX35 F(ab')2--a phase I study.

Unlabelled: The alpha-emitter (211)At labeled to a monoclonal antibody has proven safe and effective in treating microscopic ovarian cancer in the abdominal cavity of mice. Women in complete clinical remission after second-line chemotherapy for recurrent ovarian carcinoma were enrolled in a phase I study. The aim was to determine the pharmacokinetics for assessing absorbed dose to normal tissues and investigating toxicity.

Contribution of food availability to the more rapid growth of the scallop, Euvola ziczac (Pteroida, Pectinidae) in bottom than in suspended culture.

We conducted a 5-month experiment at Turpialito in the Golfo de Cariaco, Venezuela, to examine whether the previously reported more rapid growth of scallop Euvola ziczac in bottom compared to suspended culture can be attributed to more abundant or higher quality food resources near the sediment/water interface. The various body components (shell, muscle, digestive gland, gonad and remaining tissues) increased in size at a much greater rate for scallops maintained on the bottom, in partly buried cages at 5 m in depth, than in cages suspended at the same depth in the water column. Furthermore, survival was greater on the bottom.

[Availabilty of juveniles from natural sources of the oyster Pteria colymbus (Bivalvia: Mytilidae), in the Gulf of Cariaco, Venezuela].

We examined the spat availability the oyster Pteria colymbus at 6-8 and 19-21 m depths for 15 months (March 1993-June 1994) in Turpialito, Golfo de Cariaco, Venezuela. Spats were trapped using artificial collectors (plastic filaments in bags, 30 x 60 mm), suspended from a long line. Each collector was replaced by a replica monthly to analyse abundance, shell dimension and mass of P.

Stunning of iodide transport by (131)I irradiation in cultured thyroid epithelial cells.

Unlabelled: The existence of thyroid stunning (i.e., inhibited thyroidal iodide uptake after administration of diagnostic amounts of (131)I) is controversial and is currently a subject of debate.

Aggregation of whelks, Buccinum undatum, near feeding predators: the role of reproductive requirements.

In the Mingan Islands, northern Gulf of St Lawrence (eastern Canada), the whelk Buccinum undatum displays a strong escape response to its predator, the asteroid Leptasterias polaris, nevertheless large sexually mature individuals occasionally approach feeding L. polaris to obtain food. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that reproductive requirements increase the tendency of sexually mature whelks to approach feeding asteroids.

Subtidal food thieves: interactions of four invertebrate kleptoparasites with the sea star Leptasterias polaris.

We used time-lapse underwater video systems in the subtidal zone of the Mingan Islands, eastern Canada, to examine behavioural interactions of four kleptoparasites with the sea star Leptasterias polaris when it was feeding on infaunal (buried) clams. Departures of L. polaris from its prey coincided with interactions with kleptoparasites in 10 out of 10 filmed feeding bouts on the large clam Spisula polynyma, compared with only four out of 10 of filmed bouts on the smaller clam Mya truncata.

Decision of the asteroid Leptasterias polaris to abandon its prey when confronted with its predator, the asteroid Asterias vulgaris.

We examined the decision of the asteroid Leptasterias polaris to abandon its bivalve prey Spisula polynyma when confronted with the predatory asteroid Asterias vulgaris. The frequency of abandonment decreased as the proportion of prey ingested increased from 10 to 40%, and increased with further increases in proportion of prey ingested. The escape response of L.

Effect of reproduction on escape responses and muscle metabolic capacities in the scallop Chlamys islandica Müller 1776.

In scallops, gametogenesis leads to mobilization of glycogen and proteins from the adductor muscle towards the gonad. This mobilization is likely to diminish the metabolic capacities of the adductor muscle and thereby the scallops' escape response. We examined the escape response in terms of number of valve claps until exhaustion, rate of clapping and the recovery during and after valve closure in adult scallops, Chlamys islandica, sampled at different stages in the reproductive cycle (immature, mature, before and after spawning).

Impact of a castrating trematode, Neophasis sp., on the common whelk, Buccinum undatum, in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

We observed heavy trematode infections of whelks, Buccinum undatum, from the Mingan Islands, eastern Canada, by larval stages of a species of Neophasis. Only sexually mature whelks were infected, 23% of mature females and 15% of mature males, and prevalence increased rapidly with whelk size. In most cases the parasite completely occupied the gonad, causing castration.

Interpopulation and context-related differences in responses of a marine gastropod to predation risk.

We conducted laboratory experiments to investigate interpopulation differences in the behavioural responses of the whelk Buccinum undatum to the predatory lobster Homarus americanus and the asteroid Leptasterias polaris, both in the absence and presence of feeding opportunities. Whelks from three populations in the eastern North Atlantic (1) responded to lobsters by displaying avoidance behaviours (burrowing in the sediments or retreating inside their shell), (2) responded to asteroids by displaying escape responses (rapid crawling, shell rocking behaviour or foot contortions), and (3) more often refrained from feeding in the presence of a lobster than in the presence of an asteroid. Although whelks from the three populations responded similarly to lobsters and asteroids, interpopulation differences were evident.

A field test of threat sensitivity in a marine gastropod.

In the Mingan Islands, the whelk Buccinum undatum displays defensive manoeuvres to both contact and water-borne chemical cues from the predatory asteroid Leptasterias polarisIn spite of this, whelks occasionally aggregate in great numbers near L. polaris while it is ingesting a prey; they then attempt to steal food from their predator and also wait for leftovers. In this study, the response of whelks in different types of encounters with L.

Gametogenesis and Spawning of the Sea Cucumber Psolus fabricii (Duben and Koren).

The reproductive cycle of the sea cucumber Psolus fabricii was studied in a population from the St. Lawrence Estuary in eastern Canada from May 1988 through August 1989. The gonad consists of numerous germinal tubules which vary greatly in size.

Direct coupling of marine invertebrate spawning with phytoplankton blooms.

Spawning of green sea urchins and blue mussels may be triggered by a heat-stable metabolite released by various species of phytoplankton. Mussels require a higher phytoplankton density for a maximum response than urchins, perhaps because mussels are exposed to higher concentrations of phytoplankton as a result of their filtering activity. Phytoplankton as a spawning cue appears to integrate numerous physical and biotic factors indicating favorable conditions for larval growth and survival.

Community development following removal of urchins, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, from the rocky subtidal zone of the St. Lawrence Estuary, Eastern Canada.

The role of sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, in structuring the rocky subtidal community was examined at Anse aux Basques on the north shore of the St. Lawrence Estuary, Québec. In an experimental area, measuring 20x20 m and extending from 0 to 10 m in depth, we greatly reduced the intensity of urchin grazing by eliminating all urchins larger than 10 mm in test diameter.