Stereotactic Percutaneous Electrochemotherapy as a New Minimal Invasive Treatment Modality for Primary and Secondary Liver Malignancies.

: To report on the first results of safety, efficacy, and outcome of CT-navigated stereotactic percutaneous electrochemotherapy (SpECT) in patients with primary and secondary liver malignancies. : This retrospective study included 23 consecutive lesions in 22 patients who underwent SpECT for primary and secondary malignant liver lesions with locally curative intention. The endpoints were primary technique efficacy (PTE), local tumor progression (LTP), time to progression (TTP), and occurrence of adverse events.

The Efficacy and Safety of a Microwave Ablation System with a Dipole Antenna Design Featuring Floating Sleeves and Anti-Phase Technology in Stereotactic Percutaneous Liver Tumor Ablation: Results from a Prospective Study.

: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Surgnova Dophi™ M150E microwave ablation system in a prospective single-center observational study. : A cohort of 50 patients with 77 primary or secondary liver tumors underwent CT-navigated stereotactic percutaneous microwave ablation with curative intention using the Surgnova Dophi™ M150E system. The endpoints were primary technique efficacy (PTE), number of complications, ablation defect dimensions, and sphericity index compared to previously reported findings.

Thiazole-Based IL-17 Inhibitors Discovered by Scaffold Morphing.

The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-17A (IL-17) plays an important role in the body's defense against bacterial and fungal infections. However, overexpression of IL-17 has been associated with several diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, psoriasis, and even cancer. The role of IL-17 in psoriasis has been confirmed by clinical use of IL-17 antibodies, e.

Receptor polarization through localized activity and global sensitization.

Eukaryotic cells concentration gradients of extracellular ligands using membrane-bound receptors that polarize their activity. Receptors from several chemosensing families are preferentially degraded after activation and undergo significant lateral diffusion, both of which may blunt their polarization. To explore the combined role of these two seemingly detrimental phenomena on active receptor polarization, we use a reaction/diffusion model.

Do mobile applications foster sustainable mobility? Evidence from a field experiment.

Mobile applications hold promise to foster sustainable mobility behavior, but evaluations of their effectiveness are subject to a number of empirical challenges. We conduct a randomized controlled trial with three distinctive features: unobtrusive tracking of the control group, limited sample attrition, and a representative sample. In our study, 410 participants track their mobility behavior over a 5 week period.

The Provision and Utilization of Telehealth within Academic Mental Health Clinics in North America during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: To document the experience of 14 academic child and adolescent psychiatry programs in transitioning to and managing telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal was to understand how programs adopted and sustained telehealth during the pandemic. Telehealth was defined as services delivered via videoconferencing and telephony.

Computational Modeling of Drug Response Identifies Mutant-Specific Constraints for Dosing panRAF and MEK Inhibitors in Melanoma.

Purpose: This study explores the potential of pre-clinical in vitro cell line response data and computational modeling in identifying the optimal dosage requirements of pan-RAF (Belvarafenib) and MEK (Cobimetinib) inhibitors in melanoma treatment. Our research is motivated by the critical role of drug combinations in enhancing anti-cancer responses and the need to close the knowledge gap around selecting effective dosing strategies to maximize their potential.

Results: In a drug combination screen of 43 melanoma cell lines, we identified specific dosage landscapes of panRAF and MEK inhibitors for NRAS vs.

Virtual flow diverter deployment and embedding for hemodynamic simulations.

Flow-diverter stents offer clinicians an effective solution for treating intracranial aneurysms, especially in cases where other devices may be unsuitable. However, strongly deviating success rates among different centres, manufacturers, and aneurysm phenotypes highlight the need for better in-situ studies of these devices. To support research in this area, virtual stenting algorithms have been proposed that, combined with computational fluid dynamics, provide insights into the hemodynamic alterations induced by the device.

Computational modeling of drug response identifies mutant-specific constraints for dosing panRAF and MEK inhibitors in melanoma.

Purpose: This study explores the potential of preclinical cell line response data and computational modeling in identifying optimal dosage requirements of pan-RAF (Belvarafenib) and MEK (Cobimetinib) inhibitors in melanoma treatment. Our research is motivated by the critical role of drug combinations in enhancing anti-cancer responses and the need to close the knowledge gap around selecting effective dosing strategies to maximize their potential.

Results: In a drug combination screen of 43 melanoma cell lines, we identified unique dosage landscapes of panRAF and MEK inhibitors for NRAS vs BRAF mutant melanomas.

Differentiating Well-Differentiated from Poorly-Differentiated HCC: The Potential and the Limitation of Gd-EOB-DTPA in the Presence of Liver Cirrhosis.

This study uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the potential of the hepatospecific contrast agent gadolinium ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) in distinguishing G1- from G2/G3-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our approach involved analyzing the dynamic behavior of the contrast agent in different phases of imaging by signal intensity (SI) and lesion contrast (C), to surrounding liver parenchyma, and comparing it across distinct groups of patients differentiated based on the histopathological grading of their HCC lesions and the presence of liver cirrhosis. Our results highlighted a significant contrast between well- and poorly-differentiated lesions regarding the lesion contrast in the arterial and late arterial phases.

: a comprehensive fluid-structure interaction study of 101 intracranial aneurysms.

Advances in computational fluid dynamics continuously extend the comprehension of aneurysm growth and rupture, intending to assist physicians in devising effective treatment strategies. While most studies have first modelled intracranial aneurysm walls as fully rigid with a focus on understanding blood flow characteristics, some researchers further introduced Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) and reported notable haemodynamic alterations for a few aneurysm cases when considering wall compliance. In this work, we explore further this research direction by studying 101 intracranial sidewall aneurysms, emphasizing the differences between rigid and deformable-wall simulations.

Assessing human carcinogenicity risk of agrochemicals without the rodent cancer bioassay.

The rodent cancer bioassays are conducted for agrochemical safety assessment yet they often do not inform regulatory decision-making. As part of a collaborative effort, the Rethinking Carcinogenicity Assessment for Agrochemicals Project (ReCAAP) developed a reporting framework to guide a weight of evidence (WOE)-based carcinogenicity assessment that demonstrates how to fulfill the regulatory requirements for chronic risk estimation without the need to conduct lifetime rodent bioassays. The framework is the result of a multi-stakeholder collaboration that worked through an iterative process of writing case studies (in the form of waivers), technical peer reviews of waivers, and an incorporation of key learnings back into the framework to be tested in subsequent case study development.

A global view of T cell metabolism in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Impaired metabolism is recognized as an important contributor to pathogenicity of T cells in (SLE). Over the last two decades, we have acquired significant knowledge about the signaling and transcriptomic programs related to metabolic rewiring in healthy and SLE T cells. However, our understanding of metabolic network activity derives largely from studying metabolic pathways in isolation.

Intravenous Opioid Medication with Piritramide Reduces the Risk of Pneumothorax During CT-Guided Percutaneous Core Biopsy of the Lung.

Purpose: CT-guided percutaneous core biopsy of the lung is usually performed under local anesthesia, but can also be conducted under additional systemic opioid medication. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the effect of intravenous piritramide application on the pneumothorax rate and to identify risk factors for post-biopsy pneumothorax.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and seventy-one core biopsies of the lung were included in this retrospective single center study.

Analysis of Intracranial Aneurysm Haemodynamics Altered by Wall Movement.

Computational fluid dynamics is intensively used to deepen our understanding of aneurysm growth and rupture in an attempt to support physicians during therapy planning. Numerous studies assumed fully rigid vessel walls in their simulations, whose sole haemodynamics may fail to provide a satisfactory criterion for rupture risk assessment. Moreover, direct in vivo observations of intracranial aneurysm pulsation were recently reported, encouraging the development of fluid-structure interaction for their modelling and for new assessments.

Comparison of N···I and N···O Halogen Bonds in Organoiodine Cocrystals of Heterocyclic Aromatic Diazine Mono--oxides.

A series of cocrystals of halogen bond donors 1,4-diiodotetrafluorobenzene (-FDIB) and tetraiodoethylene (TIE) with five aromatic heterocyclic diazine mono--oxides based on pyrazine, tetramethylpyrazine, quinoxaline, phenazine, and pyrimidine as halogen bonding acceptors were studied. Structural analysis of the mono--oxides allows comparison of the competitive occurrence of N···I vs O···I interactions and the relative strength and directionality of these two types of interactions. Of the aromatic heterocyclic diazine mono--oxide organoiodine cocrystals examined, six exhibited 1:1 stoichiometry, forming chains that utilized both N···I and O···I interactions.

The ability to sense the environment is heterogeneously distributed in cell populations.

Channel capacity of signaling networks quantifies their fidelity in sensing extracellular inputs. Low estimates of channel capacities for several mammalian signaling networks suggest that cells can barely detect the presence/absence of environmental signals. However, given the extensive heterogeneity and temporal stability of cell state variables, we hypothesize that the sensing ability itself may depend on the state of the cells.

Volume-Assisted Estimation of Remnant Liver Function Based on Gd-EOB-DTPA Enhanced MR Relaxometry: A Prospective Observational Trial.

In the context of liver surgery, predicting postoperative liver dysfunction is essential. This study explored the potential of preoperative liver function assessment by MRI for predicting postoperative liver dysfunction and compared these results with the established indocyanine green (ICG) clearance test. This prospective study included patients undergoing liver resection with preoperative MRI planning.

Ligand Rigidity Steers the Selectivity and Efficiency of the Photosubstitution Reaction of Strained Ruthenium Polypyridyl Complexes.

While photosubstitution reactions in metal complexes are usually thought of as dissociative processes poorly dependent on the environment, they are, in fact, very sensitive to solvent effects. Therefore, it is crucial to explicitly consider solvent molecules in theoretical models of these reactions. Here, we experimentally and computationally investigated the selectivity of the photosubstitution of diimine chelates in a series of sterically strained ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes in water and acetonitrile.

Reinforcement learning for patient-specific optimal stenting of intracranial aneurysms.

Developing new capabilities to predict the risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture and to improve treatment outcomes in the follow-up of endovascular repair is of tremendous medical and societal interest, both to support decision-making and assessment of treatment options by medical doctors, and to improve the life quality and expectancy of patients. This study aims at identifying and characterizing novel flow-deviator stent devices through a high-fidelity computational framework that combines state-of-the-art numerical methods to accurately describe the mechanical exchanges between the blood flow, the aneurysm, and the flow-deviator and deep reinforcement learning algorithms to identify a new stent concepts enabling patient-specific treatment via accurate adjustment of the functional parameters in the implanted state.

Assessment of the Impact of Alternative Fixatives on HER2 Detection in Breast Cancer and Gastric Cancer Tumor Specimens.

The type of fixative used for preserving tumor specimens can significantly impact the performance of the immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization assays used for assessing human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status. This study reports the prevalence of the use of alternative fixatives other than the guideline-recommended 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF) during HER2 testing in a real-world setting. The effects of alternative fixatives [20% NBF and 10% unbuffered formalin (UBF) fixatives] on HER2 testing of breast cancer (BC) and gastric cancer (GC) cell lines and tissues are also assessed.

The ability to sense the environment is heterogeneously distributed in cell populations.

Channel capacity of signaling networks quantifies their fidelity in sensing extracellular inputs. Low estimates of channel capacities for several mammalian signaling networks suggest that cells can barely detect the presence/absence of environmental signals. However, given the extensive heterogeneity and temporal stability of cell state variables, we hypothesize that the sensing ability itself may depend on the state of the cells.

Thymine DNA glycosylase is an RNA-binding protein with high selectivity for G-rich sequences.

Thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) is a multifaceted enzyme involved in several critical biological pathways, including transcriptional activation, DNA demethylation, and DNA repair. Recent studies have established regulatory relationships between TDG and RNA, but the molecular interactions underlying these relationships are poorly understood. Herein, we now demonstrate that TDG binds directly to RNA with nanomolar affinity.