Seagrass wasting disease: Nitrate enrichment and exposure to a herbicide (Diuron) increases susceptibility of Zostera marina to infection.

Seagrass meadows suffered large-scale declines in the past century. The 'wasting disease', pathognomonically associated with Labyrinthula zosterae, reduced populations of Zostera marina on both sides of the North Atlantic in, and since, the 1930s, coinciding with intensive agricultural use of artificial fertilizers and herbicides. This study tests the long-standing hypothesis that nutrient enrichment and a herbicide increases vulnerability to pathogens. Z. marina shoots from the Thames Estuary grown in elevated nitrate concentrations had significantly higher rates of infection by L. zosterae than controls, but not by Aplanochytrium sp., another slime-mould like protist. Z. marina shoots grown in 2µg·l-1 Diuron solutions and infected separately by L. zosterae and Aplanochytrium sp. had significantly higher wasting indices than controls. The results identified Aplanochytrium sp. as another opportunistic pathogen causing a seagrass wasting-type disease and support the hypothesis that pollution by herbicides and nitrate increases the susceptibility of Z. marina to infections.

Evaluation and Identification of Lumbosacral Transitional Vertebra Causing Intractable Low Back Pain Utilizing Bone Single-Photon Emission Tomography with Computed Tomography.

The cause of low back pain due to lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV) still remains a debated topic. Functional imaging with bone scintigraphy has been a valuable adjunct in its assessment; however, in recent years, the additional utility of single-photon emission tomography with computed tomography (SPECT/CT) is evolving as the imaging modality of choice in identifying range of complex lower back pain sources, leading to the provision of suitable treatment options. We present a case demonstrating a variant type of LSTV as a source of pain localized and delineated on hybrid SPECT/CT imaging treated by minimally invasive microendoscopic resection of the pseudoarticulations.

Diffusion-weighted MRI of lymphoma: prognostic utility and implications for PET/MRI?

PURPOSE: With the recent introduction of PET/MRI, we investigated whether diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can complement PET for predicting local treatment response in Hodgkin lymphoma. METHODS: This retrospective study included 39 patients selected from a hospital database with a histological diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing whole-body MRI (supplemented by DWI) and PET/CT before and after two cycles of vincristine, etoposide, prednisolone and doxorubicin (OEPA). The pretreatment volume, MRI apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and PET maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) of the largest nodal mass were determined quantitatively for evaluation of the local response following two cycles of OEPA. Quantitative pretreatment imaging biomarkers (disease volume, ADC, SUV(max)) were compared between sites with an adequate and those with an inadequate response using Fisher's exact test and Mann Whitney statistics. Multivariate models predictive of an inadequate response based on demographic/clinical features, pretreatment disease volume and SUV(max) without (model 1) and with (model 2) the addition of ADC were derived and crossvalidated. The ROC area under curve (AUC) was calculated for both models using the full dataset (training) and the crossvalidation (test) data. RESULTS: Sites with an adequate response had a significantly lower median pretreatment ADC (1.0 × 10(-3)mm(2)s(-1)) than those with an inadequate response (1.26 × 10(-3)mm(2)s(-1); p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in patient demographic/clinical parameters, pretreatment SUV(max) or pretreatment nodal volume between sites with inadequate and adequate response. The ROC-AUCs for prediction of an inadequate response for the training and test data for model 1 were 0.90 and 0.53, and for model 2 were 0.84 and 0.71, respectively. CONCLUSION: DWI complements PET for prediction of site-specific interim response to chemotherapy.