The utility of low-cost negative pressure wound therapy in Cameroon.

Musculoskeletal injuries are common in Cameroon. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) can effectively manage complex wounds including open fractures, however high cost and unavailability prevent its widespread use. We sought to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy in Cameroon of a low-cost NPWT (LCNPWT) device built from an aquarium pump costing less than $100.

[Events and errors in radiation oncology: Conciliating perspectives to support care].

The term "event" covers a wide range of concrete situations in radiation oncology, from particularly intense radiation-related side effects to the possibility of technical or human error. Although quality procedures are an integral part of radiotherapy oncology department operations ensuring the analysis and prevention of such events, their occurrence during radiation treatment still has a significant impact on patients and their experience of the treatment process, as well as on health professionals. These practical, emotional and symbolic impacts are all the greater when the event occurs in the aftermath of an error.

The role of medical physics experts in clinical trials: A guideline from the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics.

The EFOMP working group on the Role of Medical Physics Experts (MPEs) in Clinical Trials was established in 2010, with experts from across Europe and different areas of medical physics. Their main aims were: (1) To develop a consensus guidance document for the work MPEs do in clinical trials across Europe. (2) Complement the work by American colleagues in AAPM TG 113 and guidance from National Member Organisations.

Dye-Based Fluorescent Organic Nanoparticles, New Promising Tools for Optogenetics.

Dye-based fluorescent organic nanoparticles are a specific class of nanoparticles obtained by nanoprecipitation in water of pure dyes only. While the photophysical and colloidal properties of the nanoparticles strongly depend on the nature of the aggregated dyes, their excellent brightness in the visible and in the near infrared make these nanoparticles a unique and versatile platform for in vivo application. This article examines the promising utilization of these nanoparticles for in vivo optogenetics applications.

Professional ethics in the French medical physicist community: Survey results and implications.

Introduction: Since 2017, in France, medical physicists (MP) are finally defined by law as health professionals and as such, the roles and responsibilities of an MP lean on those medical professional ethics but MPs lack initial or continuing training in this subject. In order to find out how our colleagues feel about this subject, the following survey was conducted.

Methods: French Society of Medical Physics (SFPM) designed a web survey addressed to its members and non-members concerning ethics based on the 2013 AAPM work; experience and training were highlighted as particularly important within the survey structure.

Tracking defensive states with prefrontal dynorphin-expressing neurons.

The dynamic suppression of threat-related behavior as a function of environmental constraint is critical for survival in mammals, yet the neurobiological underpinnings remain largely unknown. In this issue of Neuron, Wang et al. identified prefrontal dynorphin-expressing neurons as key elements for tracking threat-related behavioral states and regulating fear suppression.

Reconstructive flap surgery in head and neck cancer patients: an interdisciplinary view of the challenges encountered by radiation oncologists in postoperative radiotherapy.

Background: Major advances have been made in reconstructive surgery in the last decades to reduce morbidity in head and neck cancer. Flaps are now present in 80% of patients with oral cavity cancer to cover anatomic, functional, and cosmetic needs. However, gaps in interdisciplinary innovation transfer from surgery to postoperative radiotherapy (poRT) remain challenging.

[Issues and implementation of postoperative radiotherapy after flap reconstructive surgery in head and neck cancers].

The management of head and neck cancers is multidisciplinary, often relying on the use of combined treatments to maximize the chances of cure. Combined treatments are however also responsible for cumulative side effects. The aim of reconstructive surgery with a flap is to restore a function lost with the loss of substance from the tumor resection.

CA3 hippocampal synaptic plasticity supports ripple physiology during memory consolidation.

The consolidation of recent memories depends on memory replays, also called ripples, generated within the hippocampus during slow-wave sleep, and whose inactivation leads to memory impairment. For now, the mobilisation, localisation and importance of synaptic plasticity events associated to ripples are largely unknown. To tackle this question, we used cell surface AMPAR immobilisation to block post-synaptic LTP within the hippocampal region of male mice during a spatial memory task, and show that: 1- hippocampal synaptic plasticity is engaged during consolidation, but is dispensable during encoding or retrieval.

Haitian State Hospital Orthopedic Grand Rounds Series: A Virtual Curriculum to Address Global Surgery Needs.

Background: Orthopedic Relief Services International (ORSI), in partnership with the Foundation for Orthopedic Trauma and the department of Orthopedic Surgery of La Paix University Hospital in Haiti, has developed a year-round Orthopedic Grand Round series. This series is moderated by Haitian faculty, features presentations by American orthopedic surgeons, and is broadcast to major state hospitals in Haiti for residents and attendings.

Objective: To introduce clinical concepts and increase knowledge in an area that is medically underserved, especially in the field of orthopedics, through lectures that tailor to the educational needs of Haiti.

Detecting Central Auditory Processing Disorders in Awake Mice.

Mice are increasingly used as models of human-acquired neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease. All these conditions involve central auditory processing disorders, which have been little investigated despite their potential for providing interesting insights into the mechanisms behind such disorders. Alterations of the auditory steady-state response to 40 Hz click trains are associated with an imbalance between neuronal excitation and inhibition, a mechanism thought to be common to many neurological disorders.

Prefrontal circuits encode both general danger and specific threat representations.

Behavioral adaptation to potential threats requires both a global representation of danger to prepare the organism to react in a timely manner but also the identification of specific threatening situations to select the appropriate behavioral responses. The prefrontal cortex is known to control threat-related behaviors, yet it is unknown whether it encodes global defensive states and/or the identity of specific threatening encounters. Using a new behavioral paradigm that exposes mice to different threatening situations, we show that the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) encodes a general representation of danger while simultaneously encoding a specific neuronal representation of each threat.

Need for standardization in the use of structures in the intensity-modulated radiation therapy planning of head and neck cancers, a GORTEC study.

Background: Most radiotherapy structures contoured on CT scans during IMRT planning are defined by the ICRU, forming part of standard practice. Associated dose-volume constraints serve as parameters for dose computation algorithms to produce optimized dose maps. On the ground, however, physicists/dosimetrists routinely delineate auxiliary "non-standard" radiotherapy structures (nsRS).

[Ethical stakes of information in radiation oncology: Thinking the risk and building the therapeutic alliance].

Informing patients before receiving radiation therapy is a fundamental ethical imperative. As a condition of the possibility of autonomy, information allows people to make health decisions concerning themselves, which is required by French law. This information includes in particular the potential risks due to radiation therapy.

Ancient mitochondrial genome diversity in South America: Contributions from Quebrada del Toro, Northwestern Argentina.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to enhance our understanding of the population history in South America, specifically Northwestern Argentina, by analyzing complete ancient mitogenomes of individuals from the Ojo de Agua archeological site (970 BP) in Quebrada del Toro (Salta, Argentina).

Materials And Methods: We analyzed teeth from four individuals from the site Ojo de Agua (970 ± 60 BP), located in Quebrada del Toro (Andean region of Northwestern Argentina). DNA extracts were converted to double-stranded DNA libraries and indexed using unique dual-indexing primer combinations.

Sagittal correction after short percutaneous fixation for thoracolumbar compression fractures: comparison of the combination of SpineJack® kyphoplasty and fractured vertebra screw fixation.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare two percutaneous pedicle fixations for the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures: one associating a jack kyphoplasty (SpineCut) and the other using intermediate screws (Trident).

Methods: All adult patients treated for single-level Magerl/AO type A thoracolumbar traumatic fractures in four orthopaedic departments, with SpineCut or Trident, with a one year minimum follow-up, were retrospectively included. Neurological disorders and osteoporotic fractures were not included.

Evaluation of a Novel Skin Emollient Cream on Skin Lipidome and Lipid Organization.

Introduction: The stratum corneum (SC) matrix is composed of free fatty acids, cholesterol, and ceramides (CERs), which play a key role in the skin barrier function. Changes in the composition and content of skin lipids will affect the function of the skin barrier. The effect of a glycerol/petrolatum-based emollient (G/P-emollient) cream on the lipid profiles of isolated ex vivo human SC and the SC of a reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) model was measured.

Implant removal after short percutaneous pedicle fixation associated with SpineJack kyphoplasty: is correction sustained?

Purpose: This study objective was to evaluate sagittal correction loss after instrumentation removal in patients treated for thoracic or lumbar compression fractures treated with SpineJack kyphoplasty associated with short percutaneous pedicle screw fixation.

Methods: This retrospective multicenter study was carried out in three major French trauma centers. All patients with a single type A thoracic or lumbar fracture, treated by the studied technique between 2017 and 2020, have been included.

Feasibility and early toxicity of intraoperative radiotherapy for breast cancer using the papillon + system: First results.

Background And Purpose: Breast intra operative radiation therapy has been evaluated with different systems delivering 20-21 Gy with treatment times around 30 min. Papillon + Contact X-ray machine was designed to produce a 50 kVp beam with a high dose rate ≥ 15 Gy/minute. A pilot study with the first prototype was conducted in Nice.

[Crisis situations: Ethical reflection on prioritization of care access in radiation oncology].

Understood as a disruption of the conditions of care practice according to established protocols or procedures, crisis situations in radiation oncology departments can have multiple causes. Their seriousness can sometimes impose changes in the decision-making, organizational or technical paradigms. A possible consequence may be the need to make prioritization decisions in access to care, when there is a mismatch between the care needs of a population and the available health resources (whether technical or human).

Applicability of the IrisPlex system for eye color prediction in an admixed population from Argentina.

Eye color prediction based on an individual's genetic information is of interest in the field of forensic genetics. In recent years, researchers have studied different genes and markers associated with this externally visible characteristic and have developed methods for its prediction. The IrisPlex represents a validated tool for homogeneous populations, though its applicability in populations of mixed ancestry is limited, mainly regarding the prediction of intermediate eye colors.

The inverse square law: A basic principle in brachytherapy.

The purpose of this article is to remind the importance of the inverse square law in radiotherapy and especially in brachytherapy. Indeed, beyond the impact in radiation therapy with high energy beam, there is the use of radionuclides and low energy photons with short FSD where it is still more important. Comparisons between Iridium Brachytherapy and low energy X-rays brachytherapy show equivalent dose distributions in the first few centimeters.

Targeted Radiotherapy Using Contact X-ray Brachytherapy 50 kV.

Rectal adenocarcinoma is a quite radioresistant tumor. In order to achieve non-operative management (NOM) radiotherapy plays a major role. Targeted radiotherapy aiming at high precision 3D radiotherapy uses stereotactic image-guided external beam radiotherapy machines.