Bilobed gallbladder discovered during laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a tale of two lobes and one duct.

Bilobed gallbladder (BG) is a rare congenital anomaly with just 24 cases documented in medical literature in the past 127 years. There are only three documented cases of BG's managed with laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and in all three cases the bilobed anomaly was discovered preoperatively. We present a case of symptomatic cholelithiasis in a BG that was discovered intraoperatively.

Autonomous early detection of eye disease in childhood photographs.

The "red reflex test" is used to screen children for leukocoria ("white eye") in a standard pediatric examination, but is ineffective at detecting many eye disorders. Leukocoria also presents in casual photographs. The clinical utility of screening photographs for leukocoria is unreported.

High-Throughput Microplate-Based Fluorescence Assays for Studying Stochastic Aggregation of Superoxide Dismutase-1.

Investigating in vitro kinetics of superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) aggregation with high-throughput microplate-based assays provides valuable information regarding SOD1 pathogenesis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and opens venues for the development of effective therapies. In this chapter, we first explain the step-by-step purification and demetallation of wild-type (WT) and ALS-variant SOD1 proteins from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast). We then describe the methodology for a microplate-based fluorescence assay that is used to study real-time kinetics of metal-free (apo)-SOD1 aggregation.

Glycerolipid Headgroups Control Rate and Mechanism of Superoxide Dismutase-1 Aggregation and Accelerate Fibrillization of Slowly Aggregating Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Mutants.

Interactions between superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) and lipid membranes might be directly involved in the toxicity and intercellular propagation of aggregated SOD1 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but the chemical details of lipid-SOD1 interactions and their effects on SOD1 aggregation remain unclear. This paper determined the rate and mechanism of nucleation of fibrillar apo-SOD1 catalyzed by liposomal surfaces with identical hydrophobic chains (RCH(OCH)), but headgroups of different net charge and hydrophobicity (i.e.

Lysine acylation in superoxide dismutase-1 electrostatically inhibits formation of fibrils with prion-like seeding.

The acylation of lysine residues in superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) has been previously shown to decrease its rate of nucleation and elongation into amyloid-like fibrils linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The chemical mechanism underlying this effect is unclear, hydrophobic/steric effects electrostatic effects. Moreover, the degree to which the acylation might alter the prion-like seeding of SOD1 has not been addressed.