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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common neoplasms worldwide and the third most common cause of cancer-related death. Several liver-targeted intra-arterial therapies are available for unresectable HCC, including selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) and trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Those two are the most used treatment modalities in localized non-operable HCC. TACE is the treatment option for patients with stage B, according to the BCLC staging system. In contrast, SIRT does not have an official role in the treatment algorithm, but recent studies showed promising outcomes in patients treated with SIRT. Although TACE is globally a safe procedure, it might provoke several vascular complications such as spasms, inflammatory constriction, and, in severe cases, occlusion, dissection, or collateralization. Hence, it is acclaimed that those complications could restrain the targeted response of the radio-embolization when we use it as second-line therapy post TACE. In this study, we will assess the efficacity of SIRT using Yttrium 90 Microspheres post incomplete or failure response to TACE. In our retrospective study, we had 23 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Furthermore, those patients have been followed radiologically and biologically. Then, we evaluated the therapeutic effect according to the mRECIST criteria, in addition to the personalized dose analysis. We found 8 patients were treated with TheraSphere®, with a median tumor absorbed dose of 445 Gy, while 15 received SIR-Spheres® treatment with a mean tumor dose of 268 Gy. After radiological analysis, 56.5% of the patients had a complete response, and 17.3% showed partial response, whereas 13% had stable disease and 13% had progressive disease. For patients treated with SIRT after an incomplete response or failure to TACE, we found an objective response rate of 73.8%. Despite the known vascular complications of TACE, SIRT can give a favorable response.

Early studies suggest that radiofrequency-based renal denervation reduces blood pressure in patients with moderate hypertension. We investigated whether an alternative technology using endovascular ultrasound renal denervation reduces ambulatory blood pressure in patients with hypertension in the absence of antihypertensive medications. RADIANCE-HTN SOLO was a multicentre, international, single-blind, randomised, sham-controlled trial done at 21 centres in the USA and 18 in Europe. Patients with combined systolic–diastolic hypertension aged 18–75 years were eligible if they had ambulatory blood pressure greater than or equal to 135/85 mm Hg and less than 170/105 mm Hg after a 4-week discontinuation of up to two antihypertensive medications and had suitable renal artery anatomy. Patients were randomised (1:1) to undergo renal denervation with the Paradise system (ReCor Medical, Palo Alto, CA, USA) or a sham procedure consisting of renal angiography only. The randomisation sequence was computer generated and stratified by centres with randomised blocks of four or six and permutation of treatments within each block. Patients and outcome assessors were blinded to randomisation. The primary effectiveness endpoint was the change in daytime ambulatory systolic blood pressure at 2 months in the intention-to-treat population. Patients were to remain off antihypertensive medications throughout the 2 months of follow-up unless specified blood pressure criteria were exceeded. Major adverse events included all-cause mortality, renal failure, an embolic event with end-organ damage, renal artery or other major vascular complications requiring intervention, or admission to hospital for hypertensive crisis within 30 days and new renal artery stenosis within 6 months. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02649426. Between March 28, 2016, and Dec 28, 2017, 803 patients were screened for eligibility and 146 were randomised to undergo renal denervation (n=74) or a sham procedure (n=72). The reduction in daytime ambulatory systolic blood pressure was greater with renal denervation (−8·5 mm Hg, SD 9·3) than with the sham procedure (−2·2 mm Hg, SD 10·0; baseline-adjusted difference between groups: −6·3 mm Hg, 95% CI −9·4 to −3·1, p=0·0001). No major adverse events were reported in either group. Compared with a sham procedure, endovascular ultrasound renal denervation reduced ambulatory blood pressure at 2 months in patients with combined systolic–diastolic hypertension in the absence of medications. ReCor Medical.

PurposePrimary Aldosteronism (PA) is increasingly considered as a common disease affecting up to 10% of the hypertensive population. Standard of care comprises laparoscopic total adrenalectomy but innovative treatment such as RadioFrequency Ablation (RFA) constitutes an emerging promising alternative to surgery. The main aim of this study is to analyse the cost of RFA versus surgery on aldosterone-producing adenoma patient from the French National Health Insurance (FNHI) perspective.MethodsThe ADERADHTA study was a prospective pilot study aiming to evaluate both safety and efficacy of the novel use of adrenal RFA on the patients with PA. This study conducted on two French sites and enrolled adult patients, between 2016 and 2018, presenting hypertension and underwent the RFA procedure. Direct medical (inpatient and outpatient) and non-medical (transportation, daily allowance) costs were calculated over a 6-month follow-up period. Moreover, the procedure costs for the RFA were calculated from the hospital perspective. Descriptive statistics were implemented.ResultsAnalysis was done on 21 patients in RFA groups and 27 patients in the surgery group.The difference in hospital costs between the RFA and surgery groups was €3774 (RFA: €1923; Surgery: €5697 p < 0.001) in favour of RFA. Inpatient and outpatient costs over the 6-month follow-up period were estimated at €3,48 for patients who underwent RFA. The production cost of implementing the RFA procedure was estimated at €1539 from the hospital perspective.ConclusionOur study was the first to show that RFA is 2 to 3 times less costly than surgery.The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under the number NCT02756754.

Due to the pressures imposed by climate change, the European Union (EU) has been forced to design several initiatives (the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Green Deal, Farm to Fork) to tackle the climate crisis and ensure food security. Through these initiatives, the EU aspires to mitigate the adverse effects of the climate crisis and achieve collective prosperity for humans, animals, and the environment. The adoption or promotion of crops that would facilitate the attaining of these objectives is naturally of high importance. Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a multipurpose crop with many applications in the industrial, health, and agri-food sectors. This crop is mainly grown for its fibers or its seed and has recently gained increasing attention. The literature suggests that flax can be grown in several parts of the EU, and potentially has a relatively low environmental impact. The aim of the present review is to: (i) briefly present the uses, needs, and utility of this crop and, (ii) assess its potential within the EU by taking into account the sustainability goals the EU has set via its current policies.

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a retrovative crop with highly nutritious seeds. The study aimed to assess the effect of plant density and type of fertilizer on crop growth and productivity. A three-year experiment was conducted at the Agricultural University of Athens, focusing on two densities (D1 and D2) and four fertilizers (urea with inhibitors (I), organic (O), urea (U) and control (C)). Measurements included plant height, dry weight, number of capsules, number of seeds per capsule, Thousand Seeds Weight (TSW), yield, Harvest Index (HI), seed oil content and oil yield. Fertilization increased plant height (14.6–15.2%), dry weight (34.1%) and number of capsules (24.9%). D2 improved biomass production by 52.6%, while D1 increased the number of capsules by 16.4%. TSW increased by 6.7 and 23.9% at D2 and fertilized treatments, respectively. Yield, HI and oil yield were affected by the interaction of density and fertilization, while seed oil content was affected only by fertilization. D2I increased yield by 67.9% compared to D2C, while oil yield increased over twofold. Overall, flax represents a promising alternative crop against climate change in the Mediterranean Basin.

This three-year field study evaluated the agronomic and physiological responses of Tritordeum to nitrogen fertilisation strategies under Mediterranean conditions using an integrated approach combining GDD-aligned phenological monitoring, UAV-based multispectral imaging, and soil analysis. Treatments included conventional urea, urea with a nitrification inhibitor (U+NI; DMPP-based), and urea with a urease inhibitor (U+UI; NBPT-based), compared to an unfertilised control. All nitrogen treatments significantly increased grain yield, reaching up to 2319 kg ha−1 under the nitrification inhibitor treatment (26% higher than the control), and protein content, which peaked at 16.04% under urea. Temporal analysis revealed that urea with nitrification inhibitors consistently enhanced plant height, canopy greenness, and pigment retention during flowering to ripening stages, with NDVI and MCARI peaking under U+NI in 2025. In contrast, urea with urease inhibitor promoted greater early-season biomass and height. Soil nitrogen retention was slightly improved under both EEF treatments, with no adverse effects on pH or salinity. The strong alignment between UAV-derived indices and agronomic traits supports their use for monitoring nitrogen response. These findings demonstrate the benefits of a stage-specific fertilisation strategy, deploying urea with nitrification inhibitor early and urea with urease inhibitor during peak vegetative growth, to improve nitrogen synchrony with crop demand and support sustainable crop management in Tritordeum.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is a major industrial crop that has being cultivated for centuries for the manufacturing of cigarettes, cigars, and other smoking products. Due to its negative effects on both human health and the environment, the European Union has adopted strict policies that aspire to reduce the consumption of tobacco. Herbal cigarettes are alternative smoking products that are often advertised as healthier than conventional tobacco cigarettes and are especially popular in Asian markets. Even though the available literature suggests that they are equally detrimental to human health, the introduction of tobacco-alternative crops (TACs) to the European tobacco industry could smoothen the abandonment of tobacco, and eventually smoking products altogether, in the EU. The aim of the present systematic review was to compile a list of possible TACs that could be incorporated in the European smoking industry, and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. The most dominant crops in the literature (and in the existing market products) were calendula (Calendula officinalis L.), mullein (Verbascum thapsus L.), ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A.Mey.), tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze), chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.), and mentha (Mentha spp.). Even though these crops are promising, further research is required for their incorporation in the European tobacco industry.

We studied the laminar fully developed ferrofluid flow and heat transfer phenomena of an otherwise magnetic fluid into a vertical annular duct of circular cross-section and uniform temperatures on walls which were subjected to a transverse external magnetic field. A computational algorithm was used, which coupled the continuity, momentum, energy, magnetization and Maxwell’s equations, accompanied by the appropriate conditions, using the continuity–vorticity–pressure (C.V.P.) method and a non-uniform grid. The results were obtained for different values of field strength and particles’ volumetric concentration, wherein the effects of the magnetic field on the ferrofluid flow and the temperature are revealed. It is shown that the axial velocity distribution is highly affected by the field strength and the volumetric concentration, the axial pressure gradient depends almost linearly on the field strength, while the heat transfer significantly increases due to the generated secondary flow.

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a multipurpose crop known for its highly nutritious seeds. This study aimed to determine how plant density and fertilizer type influence the nutritional composition of flaxseed, addressing a gap in the literature where combined effects on seed quality have not been thoroughly evaluated. Two plant densities (D1, 500 plants m−2; D2, 300 plants m−2) and four fertilizers (control, C; inhibited urea, I; organic, O; and urea, U), were compared. According to the results, the interactions of these factors influenced most of the traits. The highest yields were reported at D1I. Organic fertilization improved protein (7%) and fat (28%) content and reduced fiber (46%) and carbohydrates. In contrast, inorganic fertilization increased fiber, NDF (10%) and ADF (8%) content. Mineral composition was also affected, with O and I increasing K, Mg, Fe and Cu by 31%, 6%, 14% and 24% for O and 48%, 1%, 17% and 18%, respectively, for I. The correlation matrix analysis revealed a positive relationship between protein and fat content, whereas both traits were negatively correlated with fiber and carbohydrates. Overall, optimized density and fertilizer can improve the quality of flaxseed, supporting its use as functional food and feed ingredient.

The increasing demand for resilient and multifunctional crops in the Mediterranean region has renewed interest in Urtica dioica L. as a potential alternative crop. This study evaluated the combined effects of fertilization and row spacing on the growth, yield, and nitrogen use efficiency of nettle in Athens, Greece. A split-plot experimental design was employed in a three-year experiment, with three fertilization treatments (C = control, U = urea, and I = urea with urease inhibitor) and two different row spacings (D1 = 30 cm × 20 cm, and D2 = 50 cm × 20 cm). Agronomic traits, seed yield, nitrogen content, vegetation indices (NDVI), chlorophyll content (SPAD), and nitrogen efficiency indices were assessed. Fertilization significantly enhanced plant performance, with the application of I consistently producing the highest values for plant height (increased by 10–30%), biomass (increased by 10–20%), and seed yield (increased up to 30%) compared to C. Row spacing influenced crop performance, with D2 favoring plant height (up to 9% compared to D1), while D1 generally increased biomass production per unit area (up to 20% compared to D2). Nitrogen-related indices (NUE, NAE, and NUtE) were markedly improved under fertilized treatments, particularly when I was applied (up to 20%, 100%, and 19% compared to U). NDVI and SPAD values were also influenced by fertilization and row spacing at early growth stages. The findings demonstrate that both factors play critical roles in optimizing nettle cultivation under Mediterranean conditions, highlighting the importance of integrated agronomic management practices.