Abdominal Noncontrast Computed Tomography Scanning to Screen for Kidney Cancer and Other Abdominal Pathology Within Community-based Computed Tomography Screening for Lung Cancer: Results of the Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial.

Background And Objective: The Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial (YKST) assessed the feasibility of adding abdominal noncontrast computed tomography (NCCT) to lung cancer screening to screen for kidney cancer and other abdominal pathology.

Methods: A prospective diagnostic study offered abdominal NCCT to 55-80-yr-old ever-smokers attending a UK randomised lung cancer screening trial (May 2021 to October 2022). The exclusion criteria were dementia, frailty, previous kidney/lung cancer, and computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and thorax within previous 6 and 12 mo, respectively.

Acceptability of adding a non-contrast abdominal CT scan to screen for kidney cancer and other abdominal pathology within a community-based CT screening programme for lung cancer: A qualitative study.

Objectives: The Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial (YKST) is a feasibility study of adding non-contrast abdominal CT scanning to screen for kidney cancer and other abdominal malignancies to community-based CT screening for lung cancer within the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial (YLST). This study explored the acceptability of the combined screening approach to participants and healthcare professionals (HCPs) involved in the trial.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight HCPs and 25 participants returning for the second round of scanning within YLST, 20 who had taken up the offer of the additional abdominal CT scan and five who had declined.

Short-term psychosocial outcomes of adding a non-contrast abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan to the thoracic CT within lung cancer screening.

Objectives: To evaluate psychological, social, and financial outcomes amongst individuals undergoing a non-contrast abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan to screen for kidney cancer and other abdominal malignancies alongside the thoracic CT within lung cancer screening.

Subjects And Methods: The Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial (YKST) is a feasibility study of adding a non-contrast abdominal CT scan to the thoracic CT within lung cancer screening. A total of 500 participants within the YKST, comprising all who had an abnormal CT scan and a random sample of one-third of those with a normal scan between 14/03/2022 and 24/08/2022 were sent a questionnaire at 3 and 6 months.

The Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial (YKST): protocol for a feasibility study of adding non-contrast abdominal CT scanning to screen for kidney cancer and other abdominal pathology within a trial of community-based CT screening for lung cancer.

Introduction: Kidney cancer (renal cell cancer (RCC)) is the seventh most common cancer in the UK. As RCC is largely curable if detected at an early stage and most patients have no symptoms, there is international interest in evaluating a screening programme for RCC. The Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial (YKST) will assess the feasibility of adding non-contrast abdominal CT scanning to screen for RCC and other abdominal pathology within the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial (YLST), a randomised trial of community-based CT screening for lung cancer.

Is there a correlation between urolithiasis in horseshoe kidneys and isthmus thickness or renal angulation?

Background: Stone disease is a common complication of horseshoe kidneys (HSK). There are currently limited studies that examine the relationship between HSK anatomy and stone formation. We aim to determine if there is such an association by measuring the isthmus size and renal angulation in both stone and non-stone forming HSK using computed tomography (CT).

A real-world study evaluating ultrasound-guided percutaneous non-targeted liver biopsy needle failures and pathology sample-quality assessment in both end-cut and side-notch needles.

Objectives: To determine biopsy device failures, causative factors, complications and sample quality of the 16G end-cut Biopince and side-notch Bard needles.

Methods: All ultrasound-guided non-targeted liver biopsies between 01/01/2016 and 31/12/2018 were included. Operator, device, number of failures, complications and repeat biopsies were recorded.

Current Treatment and Outcomes Benchmark for Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Cancer From a Large UK-Based Single Centre.

To characterize treatment patterns and survival outcomes for patients with locally advanced or metastatic malignancy of the urothelial tract during a period immediately preceding the widespread use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the UK. We retrospectively examined the electronic case notes of patients attending the Leeds Cancer Center, UK with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, receiving chemotherapy between January 2003 and March 2017. Patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes were collected.

Antegrade removal of a knotted ureteric stent: Case report and review of literature.

Ureteral stents are routinely used in urological practice for many indications including obstruction of ureter, ureteral stricture, prior to treatment with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, and to promote healing following ureteral injury. Complications reported with ureteric stents include stent migration, stent rupture, encrustation, ureteral perforation, erosion, and fistulation. Knotting of an indwelling ureteral stent is a very rare complication, with fewer than 30 cases reported in the literature.

The novel CXCR4 antagonist, PRX177561, reduces tumor cell proliferation and accelerates cancer stem cell differentiation in glioblastoma preclinical models.

Glioblastoma is the most frequent and the most lethal primary brain tumor among adults. Standard of care is the association of radiotherapy with concomitant or adjuvant temozolomide. However, to date, recurrence is inevitable.

The brain-penetrating CXCR4 antagonist, PRX177561, increases the antitumor effects of bevacizumab and sunitinib in preclinical models of human glioblastoma.

Background: Glioblastoma recurrence after treatment with the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody bevacizumab is characterized by a highly infiltrative and malignant behavior that renders surgical excision and chemotherapy ineffective. It has been demonstrated that anti-VEGF/VEGFR therapies control the invasive phenotype and that relapse occurs through the increased activity of CXCR4. We therefore hypothesized that combining bevacizumab or sunitinib with the novel CXCR4 antagonist, PRX177561, would have superior antitumor activity.

The role of CT and staging laparoscopy in the staging of gastric cancer.

Aim: To assess the relative roles of computed tomography (CT) and diagnostic laparoscopy in the staging process of patients with potentially curable gastric cancer.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-two patients underwent laparoscopy and CT as part of staging; 36 patients underwent surgery without laparoscopy. Pathological findings at laparoscopy or surgery were compared with initial CT reports, and analysis of the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) was performed.

Merging long range transportation planning with public health: a case study from Utah's Wasatch Front.

Objective: US transportation systems have been identified as a problem for public health, as they often encourage automobile transportation and discourage physical activity. This paper provides a case study examination of the Public Health Component of the Wasatch Front Regional Council's Regional Transportation Plan. This plan provides an example of what transportation planners at Utah's largest metropolitan planning organization (MPO) are doing to encourage physical activity through transportation.

Abeta(1-42) reduces synapse number and inhibits neurite outgrowth in primary cortical and hippocampal neurons: a quantitative analysis.

Synaptic loss represents one of the earliest signs of neuronal damage and is observed within both Alzheimer's disease patients and transgenic mouse models of the disease. We have developed a novel in vitro assay using high content screening technology to measure changes in a number of cell physiological parameters simultaneously within a neuronal population. Using Hoechst-33342 to label nuclei, betaIII-tubulin as a neuron-specific marker, and synapsin-I as an indicator of pre-synaptic sites, we have designed software to interrogate triple-labelled images, counting only those synaptic puncta associated with tubulin-positive structures.

Abeta deposition and related pathology in an APP x PS1 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

A transgenic mouse bearing mutant transgenes linked to familial forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) for the amyloid precursor protein and presenilin-1 (TASTPM) showed Abeta plaque deposition and age-related histological changes in associated brain pathology. The Abeta present was of multiple forms, including species with a C-terminus at position 40 or 42, as well as an N-terminus at position 1 or truncated in a pyro-3-glutamate form. Endogenous rodent Abeta was also present in the deposits.

Hippocalcin functions as a calcium sensor in hippocampal LTD.

It is not fully understood how NMDAR-dependent LTD causes Ca(2+)-dependent endocytosis of AMPARs. Here we show that the neuronal Ca(2+) sensor hippocalcin binds the beta2-adaptin subunit of the AP2 adaptor complex and that along with GluR2 these coimmunoprecipitate in a Ca(2+)-sensitive manner. Infusion of a truncated mutant of hippocalcin (HIP(2-72)) that lacks the Ca(2+) binding domains prevents synaptically evoked LTD but has no effect on LTP.

Identification of neuroprotective properties of anti-MAG antibody: a novel approach for the treatment of stroke?

The inhibitory activity of myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) on neurons is thought to contribute to the lack of regenerative capacity of the CNS after injury. The interaction of MAG and its neuronal receptors mediates bidirectional signaling between neurons and oligodendrocytes. The novel finding that an anti-MAG monoclonal antibody not only possesses the ability to neutralise the inhibitory effect of MAG on neurons but also directly protects oligodendrocytes from glutamate-mediated oxidative stress-induced cell death is reported here.

KCNQ/M currents in sensory neurons: significance for pain therapy.

Neuronal hyperexcitability is a feature of epilepsy and both inflammatory and neuropathic pain. M currents [IK(M)] play a key role in regulating neuronal excitability, and mutations in neuronal KCNQ2/3 subunits, the molecular correlates of IK(M), have previously been linked to benign familial neonatal epilepsy. Here, we demonstrate that KCNQ/M channels are also present in nociceptive sensory systems.

Molecular cloning, distribution and functional analysis of the NA(V)1.6. Voltage-gated sodium channel from human brain.

We have cloned and expressed the full-length human Na(V)1.6 sodium channel cDNA. Northern analysis showed that the hNa(V)1.

Modulation of KCNQ2/3 potassium channels by the novel anticonvulsant retigabine.

Retigabine is a novel anticonvulsant with an unknown mechanism of action. It has recently been reported that retigabine modulates a potassium channel current in nerve growth factor-differentiated PC12 cells (), however, to date the molecular correlate of this current has not been identified. In the present study we have examined the effects of retigabine on recombinant human KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 potassium channels, expressed either alone or in combination in Xenopus oocytes.

Localization of the type VI voltage-gated sodium channel protein in human CNS.

The cellular distribution of the type VI human voltage-gated sodium channel (Type VI) was examined in selected human brain regions. Antibodies designed to be specific to rat and human Type VI were raised against a synthetic peptide from the predicted NH2-terminal of the protein, and used for an immunohistochemical investigation. Immunoblot experiments showed that purified antibodies specifically detected the presence of Type VI in transfected cells and human brain membrane preparations.

Modulation of E2F activity via signaling through surface IgM and CD40 receptors in WEHI-231 B lymphoma cells.

Stimulation of the phenotypically immature B cell lymphoma WEHI-231 with anti-IgM induces G1 arrest followed by apoptotic cell death, which can be reversed by stimulation via the CD40 receptor. Here, we show that cells expressing bcl-xL (WEHI-bcl-xL) arrest at G0/G1 following culture with anti-IgM but do not undergo apoptosis. These arrested cells can be induced to reenter the cell cycle by ligation of CD40.

Isolation of a Xenopus laevis genomic clone representing a novel N-cadherin related gene.

We have isolated a Xenopus laevis genomic sequence distinct from, but sharing high sequence similarity with N-cadherin. We present evidence that the gene represented by this sequence, named XNcad3, resides at a separate locus to the two previously isolated N-cadherin clones from this species. Extensive analysis could detect no expression of XNcad3 in embryonic or adult tissues.

Discordance between accumulated p53 protein level and its transcriptional activity in response to u.v. radiation.

In response to DNA damage, the transcriptional activity of p53 rises. This has been thought to be due to an increase in the level of p53 protein. By comparing the p53 protein level and its ability to transactivate target genes Waf1/Cip1 and mdm2 in both T22 and NIH3T3 cells irradiated with u.

Physical and functional interactions between p53 and cell cycle co-operating transcription factors, E2F1 and DP1.

One way in which wild-type p53 is able to regulate cell cycle progression is thought to be via the induction of its downstream target gene Waf1/CIP1, thus indirectly regulating the transcriptional activity of E2F. The E2F transcription factors are known to be key effectors of the cell cycle. We report here that there is a physical and functional interaction between p53 and two of the components of the E2F transcription factors, E2F1 and DP1.