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Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations are a common event in secondary glioblastoma multiforme and lower-grade adult infiltrative astrocytomas and independently confer a better prognosis [1,2]. These are highly conserved mutations during glioma progression and thus also a useful diagnostic marker amenable to modern molecular sequencing methods. These mutations can even be detected in sites distant from the primary tumour. We use an illustrative case of a patient with radiologically suspected recurrent astrocytoma and negative histology, but positive IDH-mutated tumour DNA detected within CSF. Our results demonstrated the usefulness of liquid biopsy for recurrent glioma within the context of equivocal or negative histopathological results, whilst also showing the ability to detect a de-novo IDH-2 mutation not present in the previous resection. Building on this ‘proof-of-concept’ result, we also take the opportunity to briefly review the current literature describing the various liquid biopsy substrates available to diagnose infiltrative gliomas, namely the study of circulating tumour DNA, circulating tumour cells, and extracellular vesicles. We outline the current challenges and prospects of liquid biopsies in these tumours and suggest that more studies are required to overcome these challenges and harness the potential benefits of liquid biopsies in guiding our management of gliomas

Rubella remains an important pathogen worldwide, with many cases of congenital rubella syndrome per year. Rubella vaccination is included in the vaccination program of many countries. WHO has set goals for the elimination of measles and rubella and prevention of congenital rubella syndrome by 2020. Worldwide, the rubella vaccine is highly effective and safe, and as a result, endemic rubella transmission has been halted in the Americas since 2009. Incomplete rubella vaccination programs result in continuous disease transmission, as evidenced by major recent outbreaks in some countries around the world. In this review, we present the rubella control, elimination and eradication policies and a brief review of the rubella laboratory diagnosis.

Vaginal bleeding during pregnancy can often be frightening for women. However, such bleeding does not always indicate a serious problem. This type of bleeding occurs routinely, especially in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. A significant proportion of women who experience bleeding during pregnancy go on to give birth to healthy babies. Despite this, women who frequently experience bleeding problems at different stages of pregnancy may need to take this situation seriously. A critical approach is important both from the gynecologist and from the pregnant woman.

Research on psychological risk factors for upper respiratory tract illnesses (URTIs) has been conducted for over fifty years. Early studies failed to control for exposure and also often relied on self-report rather than clinical and virological assessment. A universal policy used in the current COVID-19 pandemic has been to restrict exposure by social isolation. This leads to increased stress and removal of social interaction. In addition, information overload about the disease, and incorrect information, can also reduce wellbeing. Studies of experimentally-induced URTIs have shown that stress increases susceptibility to infection. Other research has shown that stress due to job insecurity and few social contacts are key risk factors for infection. This suggests that while social isolation will reduce exposure, it will also lead to an increased risk of illnesses, due to increased stress and reduced social support, should the person become infected with the virus. Other research has shown that infection and illness lead to changes in behaviour. These effects include greater negative affect and impaired attention and slower speed of response. Such effects are not only present when the person is symptomatic but also occur with sub-clinical infections, during the incubation period and after the illness. People with the illness are also more sensitive to other negative influences such as fatigue, and this has implications for safety critical jobs such as those carried out by healthcare professionals treating those with COVID-19.

The paper analyses performance boundaries of systems converting the heat energy into the mechanical or separation work. Authors approach this problem from the view-point of the finite-time thermodynamics. Using thermodynamic balance equations, authors provide the algorithm for calculation of realizability domain for such systems. The paper shows that the performance of these systems is the upper bounded function of the heat flux, assuming that heat and mass transfer coefficients are given. Authors present sufficient conditions under which the efficiency (specific heat flux per unit of the useful flux) of the system does not depend on kinetic coefficients when operating in the maximum performance mode. The paper shows how to use these conditions to optimally choose the separation order for multicomponent distillation.

Stroke following coronary interventions is a devastating and most dreaded complication with signiβicant morbidity and mortality. Various factors have been ascribed for this complication including the technical errors [1]. A small percentage of strokes are iatrogenic, including those associated with invasive cardiac procedures. According to the literature, it is a rare complication of left heart catheterization [2]. Percutaneous coronary intervention is increasingly used to treat patients with diffuse atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndromes and even high-risk patients such as low ejection fraction [1]. The authors describe a patient who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in the context of inferior infarction, which was complicated by ischemic stroke during cardic catheterization.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death and its prevalence and incidence is also related to smoking behavior [1]. COPD is still a chronic inflammatory and progressive disease caused by multifactorial agents including environmental pollutants [2]. Besides that, it is emerging that endogenous epigenetic factors induced by lifestyle and environment [3] could play a role in the etiopathogenesis of the disease [4]. In the last years, several authors suggested that low vitamin D levels seem to be related with the increase of COPD manifestations [5]. Moreover, a multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial documented that vitamin D supplementation protects against moderate or severe exacerbation of the disease, but not by upper respiratory infections [6]. However, low levels of vitamin D can be extended to many other diseases, including multiple sclerosis, diabetes, colon rectal cancer, headache or drug use [7-11]. Moreover, it is also important to remember that Vitamin D deficiency is common in high latitude regions, such as northern Europe, New Zealand, northern USA, and Canada where weaker ultraviolet B rays is not able to produce enough vitamin D. Finally, methodological factors (using low sensitivity methods) could contribute to misleading evaluation of circulating vitamin D levels. In any case, here we shall remind that vitamin D has a fundamental role in immunity [12]. In particular, it has been reported that vitamin D is able to shift the pro-inflammatory T-helper cell 1 to anti-inflammatory T-helper cell 2 [13]. Therefore, benefits of vitamin D supplementation in chronic diseases which directly or indirectly affect immune system are obvious. Today, the burden of COPD in never smokers is higher than previously believed. Therefore, more research is needed to unravel the characteristics of non-smokers COPD [1]. Notably, vitamin D levels are reported to be significantly lower in smoker’ssubjects than in non-smokers ones [14]. Therefore, low plasma vitamin D levels in COPD seems to be more a causality than a correlation.

The review article examines the production of molecular hydrogen from the decomposition of water by various irradiation methods. The article shows different types of radiation: UV radiation, visible radiation, gamma radiation, X-ray radiation and neutron radiation. Electrons generated by radiation inside a nanoparticle of radius R suspense in fluid water are diffused with equal probability in all directions inside the particle and gradually lose their kinetic energy as a result of elastic and inelastic collisions. Some of these electrons are transported to the nanoparticle surface during the physical and physicochemical stages of the process and emitted into the water. It is extremely important for the formation of nanostructured materials after exposure to ordered nanostructure from the new phase with a period of a few nanometers, promoting the preservation of the properties of materials under high irradiation.

Since the discovery of glare illuminators, considerable efforts have been devoted to achieving a breakthrough of high light intensity on the order of magnitude. In this paper, we prepared strong flash blinding agents for the first time by using aluminum powder, oxidant, and adhesive as the main materials, and tris-(8-hydroxyquinolinato) aluminum (Al2Q3), triazoindolizine, or nano zinc oxide, etc. as electronic output brightener after mixing and granulation according to the developed formulation. It was discovered that the luminescence intensity was related to the thermal effect of the substance while the brightener only served as an auxiliary brightening effect to achieve energy non-destructive conversion. With the same formula, the luminescence intensities of glaze agents with ADN and potassium perchlorate as oxidants were slightly higher than that of ammonium perchlorate oxidant; the brightening effect of nano-zinc oxide was slightly higher than those of tris-(8-hydroxyquinolinato) aluminum (Al2Q3) and triazoindolizine. The luminescence intensity of the substance with a high thermal effect value was high, but the luminescence time was slightly short. Under identical conditions, the luminescence effect of nano-aluminum powder was obviously better than that of micro-aluminum powder with the highest luminescence intensity of 3.9 × 1010 ~ 1.9 × 1011 cd and the luminescence time of 39 - 48 ms. The effects of shell material and structure and the effect of heat-induced mode on the luminescence intensity were also investigated. The luminescence intensity of the glare agent with a high shell strength was high, but the luminescence time was slightly short. Moreover, the energy level of the brightener is excited under the induction of high temperatures, which leads to a blue shift to promote the chemical reaction of the material in a favorable direction. Finally, the optical radiation of the thermally induced high-temperature combustion system was analyzed from the aspects of thermal effect, combustion temperature, and chemiluminescence effect. A way to improve the optical radiation intensity of a high-temperature combustion system was proposed.

Background: Obesity is a global health concern associated with a range of perioperative challenges, particularly during general anesthesia. Altered respiratory mechanics, pharmacokinetics, and increased comorbidities in obese patients may compromise anesthetic safety and recovery outcomes. Despite rising obesity rates in Libya, local data on anesthesia-related risks in this population remain limited.Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of obesity on anesthetic recovery times and hemodynamic parameters in patients undergoing general anesthesia in a public hospital in Libya.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted on 20 adult surgical patients from January to May 2023. Patients were divided into obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2)and non-obese groups. Parameters assessed included time to spontaneous ventilation, Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) removal time, eye-opening time, and post-anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) discharge time. Intraoperative hemodynamic measures and the prevalence of comorbidities were also recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant.Results: Obese patients (n = 12) exhibited significantly longer recovery times compared to non-obese patients (n = 8): spontaneous ventilation (12.8 vs. 9.4 min, p = 0.002), LMA removal (14.1 vs. 10.1 min, p = 0.001), eye opening (13.5 vs. 9.7 min, p < 0.001), and PACU discharge (68.3 vs. 49.5 min, p < 0.001). Obese patients also had lower mean arterial pressure (82.4 vs. 91.5 mmHg, p = 0.026), higher heart rates (95.2 vs. 88.3 bpm, p = 0.041), and reduced oxygen saturation (94.1% vs. 96.7%, p = 0.018). Comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes were significantly more prevalent among obese patients.Conclusion: Obesity significantly prolongs anesthetic recovery and impairs hemodynamic stability in surgical patients undergoing general anesthesia. These findings support the need for targeted perioperative strategies, preoperative risk stratification, and extended postoperative monitoring for obese individuals, particularly in resource-limited healthcare settings.