Nordion (Canada)

In todays society, domestic violence has stood out as a major social concern, given its profound influence on public harmony and stability. Severe physical and psychological damage is a common plight for victims, and under certain circumstances, they may be forced to resort to extreme means to break free from the abusive situation. However, in judicial practice, these defensive measures are often deemed intentional homicide or assault, failing to gain reasonable recognition as legitimate self-defense. Such a scenario leaves victims trapped in an awkward legal dilemma: enduring the abuse passively means continuing their suffering, while resisting actively brings heavy legal risks. Chinas Anti-Domestic Violence Law has established a legal system to handle abuse, yet it offers no explicit criteria for the application of self-defense in domestic violence cases. As such, developing legal mechanisms that well balance jurisprudential principles and humanitarian considerations has become an urgent mission.

Poweshiek skipperling ( Oarisma poweshiek Parker, 1870) populations have declined precipitously in the past few decades, and their global range is now restricted to two isolated regions, one of which is the managed Manitoba tall grass prairie in Canada. In this paper, we used a decade of survey data from 2010 to 2019 to understand how habitat features, management practices, and extreme weather impact Poweshiek skipperling abundance in Manitoba. The strongest predictor of abundance was the density of black-eyed Susans ( Rudbeckia hirta L.), a primary nectar plant for adults. Poweshiek skipperling abundance also had a negative relationship with both the number of years since a burn occurred and the number of years since grazing occurred. Cumulative precipitation during their active period (May–June) had a negative relationship with skipperling abundance, whereas warm early springs and cool temperatures during the active period had positive relationships. These results suggest that management actions that maintain tall grass prairie habitat in an early successional stage (burning and grazing) and maintain important nectar sources benefit this population. In contrast, extreme weather events had varying effects on Poweshiek skipperling abundance. Results from this study inform ongoing management practices in the Manitoba tall grass prairie to support this endangered population.

Radioembolization aims to selectively target radiation to all liver tumors while limiting the dose to normal liver parenchyma. The deposition of yttrium-90 ((90)Y) microspheres delivered through the hepatic artery are preferentially implanted within liver tumors in a 3:1 to 20:1 ratio compared with a normal liver. The principles and mode of action of radioembolization are fundamentally different from the conventional embolization of liver tumors through transarterial embolization or chemoembolization. A meticulous work-up, involving computed tomography scanning, contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, and transfemoral hepatic angiogram, is essential to assess the appropriateness of the patient for treatment. A simulation of the treatment, done with technetium-99m-labeled macroaggregated albumin particles, which approximate the size of microspheres, is used to identify the shunting of microparticles to the lungs or gastrointestinal tract, thus helping to determine patient selection. Whole-liver or unilobar treatment approaches are chosen according to the anatomic distribution of the tumors, concomitant factors affecting liver function, and institutional preferences. Optimal periprocedural care, discharge planning, and follow-up care are essential to assess treatment response and ensure that short-term side effects of radioembolization are adequately managed. The expanding literature on radioembolization shows that this is an effective treatment for the management of both primary and metastatic tumors.

Semiconductor Quantum dots (QDs) have generated extensive interest for biological and clinical applications. These applications arise from their unique properties, such as high brightness, long‐term stability, simultaneous detection of multiple signals, tunable emission spectra. However, high‐quality QDs, whether single or core‐shell QDs, are most commonly synthesized in organic solution and surface‐stabilized with hydrophobic organic ligands and thus lack intrinsic aqueous solubility. For biological applications, very often it is necessary to make the QDs dispersible in water and therefore to modify the QD surfaces with various bifunctional surface ligands or caps to promote solubility in aqueous media. Well‐defined methods have been developed for QD surface modification to impart biocompatibility to these systems. In this review, we summarize the recent progress and strategies of QDs surface modification for potential cancer diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In addition, the question that arose from QD surface modification, such as impact of size increase of QD bioconjugates after surface‐functionalization or surface modification on photophysical properties of QDs, are also discussed.