Chronic hepatitis E virus-induced spinal cord atrophy in a patient with chronic lymphatic leukemia: a case report and interdisciplinary management proposal.

Background: The hepatitis E virus (HEV) can cause acute viral hepatitis with or without neurological manifestations, and occasionally progresses to chronic infection in immunocompromised individuals. The management of chronic HEV infection in cancer patients may be challenging due to the complex immunological constellation. Furthermore, the diagnostic workflow and the impact on quality of life of neurological HEV manifestations in immunocompromised patients have not been sufficiently delineated previously.

Effects of Polarizer-Analyzer Configurations for FTIR Spectroscopy: Implications for Multiple Polarization Algorithms.

Polarized Fourier transform infrared (p-FTIR) spectroscopy is a widely used technique for determining orientational information in thin organic materials. Conventionally, a single polarizer is placed in the path of the incident light (termed the polarizer). Occasionally, a second polarizer is also placed after the sample (referred to as the analyzer).

Near-infrared spectroscopy as a novel method of ex vivo bladder cancer tissue characterisation.

Objective: To evaluate near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in differentiating between benign and malignant bladder pathologies ex vivo immediately after resection, including the grade and stage of malignancy.

Patients And Methods: A total of 355 spectra were measured on 71 bladder specimens from patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) between April and August 2022. Scan time was 5 s, undertaken using a portable NIR spectrometer within 10 min from excision.

Development and implementation of a student tumor board as a teaching format for medical students.

Purpose: Tumor boards serve as established platforms for interdisciplinary expert discussions and therapeutic recommendations tailored to individual patient characteristics. Despite their significance, medical students often lack exposure to such interdisciplinary discussions as tumor boards are currently not integrated into medical curricula. To address this, we aimed to enhance future physicians' interdisciplinary communication skills and subject-specific knowledge by introducing an interactive series of five linked tumor board seminars within the domain of neuro-oncology.

Tumor size, treatment patterns, and survival in neuro-oncology patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare delivery worldwide, leading to significant delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the pandemic on the diagnosis and treatment of malignant brain tumors, specifically glioblastoma (GBM) and cerebral metastasis (CM), in a specialized neuro-oncology center. We analyzed data from 236 patients diagnosed with previously unknown malignant brain tumors between January 2018 and December 2021.

Towards a point-of-care multimodal spectroscopy instrument for the evaluation of human cardiac tissue.

To demonstrate that point-of-care multimodal spectroscopy using Near-Infrared (NIR) and Raman Spectroscopy (RS) can be used to diagnose human heart tissue. We generated 105 spectroscopic scans, which comprised 4 NIR and 3 RS scans per sample to generate a "multimodal spectroscopic scan" (MSS) for each heart, done across 15 patients, 5 each from the dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD) and Normal pathologies. Each of the MSS scans was undertaken in 3 s.

Inter-Rater Reliability of Hounsfield Units as a Measure of Bone Density: Applications in the Treatment of Thoracolumbar Fractures.

Objective: The study sought to investigate the reliability of computed tomography (CT)-derived Hounsfield unit (HU) measurements and ascertain the correlation between HU with quantitative CT (qCT)-derived bone mineral density (BMD) in cases of traumatic thoracolumbar fracture, based on native CT scans.

Methods: This study is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of data sets from patients who received native CT scans and bone mineral density measurements (qCT) of the same vertebral body. Two different CT scanner models were used.

Infrared Based Saliva Screening Test for COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in an unprecedented need for diagnostic testing that is critical in controlling the spread of COVID-19. We propose a portable infrared spectrometer with purpose-built transflection accessory for rapid point-of-care detection of COVID-19 markers in saliva. Initially, purified virion particles were characterized with Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron infrared (IR) and AFM-IR.

Proposed definition of competencies for surgical neuro-oncology training.

Objective: The aim of this work is to define competencies and entrustable professional activities (EPAs) to be imparted within the framework of surgical neuro-oncological residency and fellowship training as well as the education of medical students. Improved and specific training in surgical neuro-oncology promotes neuro-oncological expertise, quality of surgical neuro-oncological treatment and may also contribute to further development of neuro-oncological techniques and treatment protocols. Specific curricula for a surgical neuro-oncologic education have not yet been established.

Utility of image-guided external ventriculostomy: analysis of contemporary practice in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Objective: Freehand external ventricular drain (EVD) insertion is associated with a high rate of catheter misplacement. Image-guided EVD placement with neuronavigation or ultrasound has been proposed as a safer, more accurate alternative with potential to facilitate proper placement and reduce catheter malfunction risk. This study aimed to determine the impact of image-guided EVD placement on catheter tip position and drain functionality.

Risk Factors for Adjacent Fractures After Cement-Augmented Thoracolumbar Pedicle Screw Instrumentation.

Background: The aim of our study was to identify factors that influence the occurrence of adjacent fractures in patients with cement-augmented pedicle screw instrumentation.

Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from medical charts and operative reports for every surgery in which cement-augmented instrumentation was used in our hospital of 4 consecutive years. A total of 93 operations were included and examined for gender, age, T-score, number of fused segments, number of implanted screws, broken screws, loosening of screws, leakage and distribution pattern of cement, pre- and postoperative kyphosis angle, revision surgery and adjacent fractures in follow-up.

Epidemiology of Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury in a Dense Urban Area Served by a Helicopter Trauma Service.

Objective: Pediatric traumatic brain injury is the most common cause of death and a major cause of morbidity in children and young adults worldwide. Despite this, our understanding of epidemiological factors relating to this type of injury is incomplete. The objective of this study was to explore a variety of factors relating to these injuries including mechanism, timing of emergency response, prehospital management, radiological diagnosis, neurosurgical care, and final outcomes.

Prediction of 30-day mortality in spontaneous cerebellar hemorrhage.

Background: Cerebellar hemorrhage is a potentially life-threatening condition and an understanding of the factors influencing outcome is essential for sound clinical decision-making.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated data from 50 consecutive patients who suffered a first spontaneous cerebellar hemorrhage (SCH) from 2005 to 2014, analysing their short-term outcomes and identifying possible clinical, radiological and therapeutic risk factors for poor prognosis and death within 30 days.

Results: Among 50 patients with first SCH, the mean age was 72 ± 10 years.

NANOG overexpression and its correlation with stem cell and differentiation markers in meningiomas of different WHO grades.

NANOG, as a key regulator of pluripotency and acting synergistically with other factors, has been described as a crucial transcription factor in various types of cancer. In meningiomas the expression of this marker has not yet been described. With our study, we aimed to identify and localize NANOG and other possible markers of pluripotency, stem cell properties and differentiation in meningioma tissue, to elucidate a possible effect on tumorigenesis.

Evaluating vestibular schwannoma size and volume on magnetic resonance imaging: An inter- and intra-rater agreement study.

Objectives: In the management of patients with vestibular schwannoma it is essential to reliably assess tumor size. In respect to volumetric and linear measurements of these tumors we evaluated a) the inter-rater reliability, b) the intra-rater variability, c) the concordance of volume measurements derived from axial versus those from coronal MRI datasets, and d) the correlation of one-dimensional and volumetric measurements.

Patients And Methods: We selected gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MRI datasets from 20 patients who had both axial and coronal datasets available with the same slice thickness in each of these orientations.

Femoral replacement for salvage of periprosthetic fracture around a total hip replacement.

A total of 20 patients with a mean age of 72 (range: 36-91) were managed with replacement of the proximal (15) or total (5) femur for salvage of a periprosthetic femoral fracture with bone loss. A mean 12.5 years had elapsed between primary total hip replacement and surgery and the mean follow-up was 48 months (range: 12-116 months).

sp-9-(o-Methylphenyl)fluorene.

While the barriers of rotation of the sp and ap rotamers of 9-(o-methylphenyl)fluorene, C(20)H(16), are sufficiently similar to permit them to equilibrate, both being observed (NMR) in solution, crystallization provides the sp rotamer, (I), exclusively. Although in the sp conformation the intramolecular distance between adjacent C atoms of the phenyl and fluorene rings is small [3.382 (4) A, within 0.

ap-9-(o-Methylphenyl)-9-fluorenol, a structure exhibiting several aryl-H...pi(arene) intermolecular interactions.

The title compound, C(20)H(16)O, (I), which crystallized exclusively as its ap rotamer, exhibits several intermolecular aryl-H.pi(arene) interactions, resulting in planar molecular arrays in which each molecule interacts with six adjacent molecules. Surprisingly, there were no O-H.

ap-9-(meta-tert-butylphenyl)fluorene.

The title compound, C(23)H(22), (I), crystallizes in an ap conformationThe designations sp (synperiplanar) and ap (antiperiplanar) for these fluorene rotamers are in accordance with Rule E-6.6, IUPAC Tentative Rules, Section E, Fundamental Stereochemistry [J. Org.