Background: Percutaneous rhizotomy of the Gasserian ganglion is a well-established intervention for patients suffering from refractory trigeminal pain, not amenable to pharmacological management or microvascular decompression. Traditionally conducted under fluoroscopic guidance using Hartel's technique, this study investigates a modified approach employing low-dose CT guidance to achieve maximal procedural precision and safety with the emphasis on minimizing radiation exposure.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients undergoing percutaneous rhizotomy of the Gasserian ganglion at our institution was undertaken.
The Victorian government's Alcohol and other drugs (AOD) workforce policy calls for greater recruitment of alcohol and other drugs nurse practitioners (AODNPs). However, frontline organisations in Victoria report several systemic barriers to their recruitment and retention. Additionally, there is scant Australian literature that examines the experiences of AODNP in opioid agonist treatment (OAT) provision in regional/rural areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTarget analysis is employed to resolve the ground and excited state properties from simultaneously measured Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectra (FSRS) and Transient Absorption Spectra (TAS). FSRS is a three-pulse technique, involving picosecond Raman pump pulses and femtosecond visible pump and probe pulses. The TAS are needed to precisely estimate the properties of the Instrument Response Function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Human diving reflex is a well-studied phenomenon. However, very little is known about the possible relationship between augmented diving reflex and autonomic dysfunction.
Methods: We retrospectively studied a group of four swimmers who underwent a diving reflex test as part of the examination due to symptoms related to autonomic dysfunction during swimming.
J Neurol Surg A Cent Eur Neurosurg
August 2024
INTRODUCTION Microvascular anastomosis using interrupted suture is a widely accepted standard technique. Continuous suture is less common due to the presumption that its firmness can negatively affect anastomosis maturation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of continuous suture allows maturation of the microanastomosis site.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Provision of take-home naloxone (THN) and overdose education reduces opioid-related mortality. In Australia, from July 2022, all Australian community pharmacies were eligible to supply naloxone for free through the national THN Program.
Aim: This study aimed to identify naloxone stocking rates and correlates of stocking naloxone across Australian pharmacies.
T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT) is an immune checkpoint molecule that suppresses T cell activation and promotes an immunosuppressive environment to suppress autoimmune diseases. However, the impact of a TIGIT agonist as a treatment for ocular autoimmune disease has not been investigated. We examined TIGIT expression on T helper 17 (Th17) and regulatory T cells (Tregs), the role of TIGIT on experimental autoimmune uveitis and Th17 cells, and the impact of Treg generation following TIGIT stimulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBestrhodopsins constitute a class of light-regulated pentameric ion channels that consist of one or two rhodopsins in tandem fused with bestrophin ion channel domains. Here, we report on the isomerization dynamics in the rhodopsin tandem domains of bestrhodopsin, which binds all-trans retinal Schiff-base (RSB) absorbing at 661 nm and, upon illumination, converts to the meta-stable P540 state with an unusual 11- RSB. The primary photoproduct P682 corresponds to a mixture of highly distorted 11 and 13- RSB directly formed from the excited state in 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Biol (Stuttg)
February 2024
Drought is becoming more frequent and severe in numerous wine-growing regions. Nevertheless, limited research has examined the legacy of recurrent droughts, focusing on leaf physiology and anatomy over consecutive seasons. We investigated drought legacies (after 2 years of drought exposure) in potted grapevines, focusing on stomatal behaviour under well-watered conditions during the third year.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report on porphyrin-flavonol hybrids consisting of a porphyrin antenna and four covalently bound 3-hydroxyflavone (flavonol) groups, which act as highly efficient photoactivatable carbon monoxide (CO)-releasing molecules (photoCORMs). These bichromophoric systems enable activation of the UV-absorbing flavonol chromophore by visible light up to 650 nm and offer precise spatial and temporal control of CO administration. The physicochemical properties of the porphyrin antenna system can also be tuned by inserting a metal cation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Neurochir (Wien)
December 2023
A 58-year-old patient presented with a severe neurological deficit due to a stroke caused by an occlusion of the left internal carotid artery siphon. Standard treatment failed and neurosurgical consult was delayed. Because of a favorable perfusion imaging finding, microsurgical revascularization via an extra-intracranial bypass (left superficial temporal artery - left middle cerebral artery) was performed 36 hours after the onset of the symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe recently discovered Neorhodopsin (NeoR) exhibits absorption and emission maxima in the near-infrared spectral region, which together with the high fluorescence quantum yield makes it an attractive retinal protein for optogenetic applications. The unique optical properties can be rationalized by a theoretical model that predicts a high charge transfer character in the electronic ground state (S) which is otherwise typical of the excited state S in canonical retinal proteins. The present study sets out to assess the electronic structure of the NeoR chromophore by resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopy since frequencies and relative intensities of RR bands are controlled by the ground and excited state's properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutations in the splicing factor 3b subunit 1 (SF3B1) gene are frequent in myelodysplastic neoplasms (MDS). Because the splicing process is involved in the production of circular RNAs (circRNAs), we investigated the impact of SF3B1 mutations on circRNA processing. Using RNA sequencing, we measured circRNA expression in CD34+ bone marrow MDS cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCervical mucus is a viscous fluid functioning as a cervix plug. Products of the endometrial and cervical glands can be detected in the cervical mucus. Cervical mucus is further enriched with transudate originating from the fallopian tubes and proteins originating from the ovaries, peritoneum and distant tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCervical mucus (CM) is a viscous fluid that is produced by the cervical glands and functions as a uterine cervix plug. Its viscosity decreases during ovulation, providing a window for non-invasive sampling. This study focuses on proteomic characterization of CM to evaluate its potential as a non-invasively acquired source of biomarkers and in understanding of molecular (patho)physiology of the female genital tract.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Self-determination theory (SDT), when applied to curricular construction, emphasizes curiosity, self-awareness, and resilience. Physicians need these qualities to face the challenges of clinical practice. SDT offers a lens for medical educators to track learner development toward sustainable, rewarding careers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc
February 2022
Coherent electronic two-dimensional spectroscopy is nowadays a matured experimental technique that monitors the time evolution of the studied sample after its resonant optical excitation. However, the experimental experience shows that even nonresonant interactions can provide detectable spectral contributions. These are often present as a weak parasitic signals originating in the solvent and/or cuvette walls underlying the resonant spectrum of the actual sample and as such they are usually discarded from the analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCircadian clocks regulate multiple physiological domains from molecular to behavioral levels and adjust bodily physiology to seasonal changes in day length. Circadian regulation of cellular bioenergy and immunity in the cardiovascular and muscle systems may underpin the individual diurnal differences in performance capacity during exercise. Several studies have shown diurnal differences in cardiopulmonary parameters at maximal and submaximal workloads in morning and evening circadian human phenotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Triassic volcanic rocks of Wrangellia erupted at an equatorial to tropical latitude that was within 3000 km of western North America. The mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks are compositionally and isotopically similar to those of oceanic plateaux that were generated from a Pacific mantle plume-type source. The thermal conditions, estimated from the primitive rocks, indicate that it was a high temperature regime (T > 1550 °C) consistent with elevated temperatures expected for a mantle plume.
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