Objective: To evaluate the imaging features of spondyloarthritis on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the sacroiliac (SI) joints in terms of topography (in thirds) and affected margin, since this aspect is rarely addressed in the literature. Methods: Cross-sectional study with MRI (1.5 T) evaluation of the SI in 16 patients with diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis regarding the presence of acute (subchondral bone edema, enthesitis, synovitis and capsulitis) and chronic changes (erosions, subchondral bone sclerosis, bone bridging and fatty replacement), performed by two radiologists, blinded to clinical data. MRI findings were correlated with clinical data including age, disease duration, medications, HLA-B27, BASDAI, ASDAS-VHS and ASDAS-PCR, BASMI, BASFI, and mSASSS. Results: Bone edema pattern and erosions showed predominance in the upper third of SI (p = 0.050, p = 0.0014, respectively). There was a correlation between the time of disease and structural changes by affected third (p = 0.028-0.037), as well as the presence of bone bridges with BASMI (p = 0.028) and mSASSS (p = 0.014). Patients with osteitis of the lower third had higher ASDAS values (ESRV: p = 0.011 and CRP: p = 0.017). Conclusion: Chronic inflammatory changes and the pattern of bone edema predominated in the upper third of the SI, but there was also concomitant involvement of the middle or lower thirds of the joint. The localization of involvement in the upper third of the SI was insufficient to differentiate between degeneration and inflammation.

Introduction: Chest trauma has a high incidence and pneumothorax is the most frequent finding. The literature is scarce on what to do with asymptomatic patients with pneumothorax due to penetrating chest trauma. The aim of this study was to evaluate what are the findings of the control radiography of patients with penetrating chest trauma who are not initially taken to surgery, and their usefulness in determining the need for further treatment. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed, including patients older than 15 years who were admitted for penetrating chest trauma between January 2015 and December 2017 and who did not require initial surgical management. We analyzed the results of chest radiography, the time of its acquisition, and the behavior decided according to the findings in patients initially left under observation. Results: A total of 1,554 patients were included, whose average age was 30 years, 92.5% were male and 97% had a sharp weapon wound. Of these, 186 (51.5%) had no alterations in their initial X-ray, 142 had pneumothorax less than 30% and 33 had pneumothorax greater than 30 %, hemopneumothorax or hemothorax. Closed thoracostomy was required as the final procedure in 78 cases, sternotomy or thoracotomy in 2 cases and discharged in 281. Conclusion: In asymptomatic patients with small or moderate pneumothorax and no other significant lesions, longer observation times, radiographs and closed thoracostomy may be unnecessary.

Today, diffusion-weighted MRI is an important, complementary sequence in an MRI of the abdomen, especially in oncological questions, but also in inflammatory diseases. The following paper deals with the technical basics and shows typical indications and findings as well as the value of the method in the diagnosis of parenchymatous upper abdominal organs and the gastrointestinal tract.

Background: Through the development of robust techniques and their comprehensive validation, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has developed a wide range of indications in its almost 25 years of clinical use. The recording of cardiac volumes and systolic ventricular function as well as the characterization of focal myocardial scars are now part of standard CMR imaging. Recently, the introduction of accelerated image acquisition technologies, the new imaging methods of myocardial T1 and T2 mapping and 4-D flow measurements, and the new post-processing technique of myocardial feature tracking have gained relevance. Method: This overview is based on a comprehensive literature search in the PubMed database on new CMR techniques and their clinical application. Results and conclusion: This article provides an overview of the latest technical developments in the field of CMR and their possible applications based on the most important clinical questions.

Carbon-based hollow structured nanomaterials have become one of the hot areas for research and development of hollow structured nanomaterials due to their unique structure, excellent physicochemical properties and promising applications. The design and synthesis of novel carbon-based hollow structured nanomaterials are of great scientific significance and wide application value. The recent research on the synthesis, structure and functionalization of carbon-based hollow structured nanomaterials and their related applications are reviewed. The basic synthetic strategies of carbon-based hollow structure nanomaterials are briefly introduced, and the structural design, material functionalization and main applications of carbon-based hollow structure nanomaterials are described in detail. Finally, the current challenges and opportunities in the synthesis and application of carbon-based hollow structured nanomaterials are discussed.

This work shows the results of the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using the microalga Chlorella sp, using growth media with different concentrations of glycerol, between 5%–20%, and different light and temperature conditions. The synthesis of nanoparticles was studied using supernatants and pellets from autotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic cultures of the microalga. The presence of nanoparticles was verified by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and the samples showing the highest concentration of nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The mixotrophic growth conditions favored the excretion of exopolymers that enhanced the reduction of silver and thus the formation of nanoparticles. The nanoparticles obtained presented predominantly ellipsoidal shape with dimensions of 108 nm × 156 nm and 87 nm × 123 nm for the reductions carried out with the supernatants of the mixotrophic cultures with 5% and 10% glycerol, respectively.