Objectives: Radiographers use advanced medical imaging and radiotherapy (MIRT) equipment. They are also a digitally mature and digitally resilient workforce in healthcare. Artificial intelligence is already changing their clinical practice and roles in data acquisition, post-processing, and workflow management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnfractionated heparin (UFH) is an effective antithrombotic during surgery but has known adverse effects, in particular on platelets. A marked increase in platelet responsiveness has previously been observed in patients within minutes of receiving UFH, despite adequate inhibition by aspirin prior to heparin. We studied this phenomenon in patients undergoing cardiac artery bypass grafting (n = 17) to determine whether the effects of heparin were systemic or platelet-specific.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacrophages are central innate immune cells whose function declines with age. The molecular mechanisms underlying age-related changes remain poorly understood, particularly in human macrophages. We report a substantial reduction in phagocytosis, migration, and chemotaxis in human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from older (>50 years old) compared with younger (18-30 years old) donors, alongside downregulation of transcription factors MYC and USF1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mathematical models of coagulation have been developed to mirror thrombin generation in plasma, with the aim of investigating how variation in coagulation factor levels regulates hemostasis. However, current models vary in the reactions they capture and the reaction rates used, and their validation is restricted by a lack of large coherent datasets, resulting in questioning of their utility.
Objectives: To address this debate, we systematically assessed current models against a large dataset, using plasma coagulation factor levels from 348 individuals with normal hemostasis to identify the causes of these variations.
Additive manufacturing (AM), commonly termed 3D printing, is a revolutionary manufacturing technology with great industrial relevance in the aerospace, medical and automotive sectors. Metallic AM allows creation of complex intricate parts and repair of large components; however, certification is currently a concern due to lack of process consistency. A versatile, inexpensive process control system was developed and integrated, reducing variability in melt pool fluctuation and improving microstructural homogeneity of components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Infection with the myxozoan parasite Parvicapsula pseudobranchicola causes disease in wild and farmed salmonids in Norway. In the northeast Pacific Ocean, the parasite has been reported in Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. without evidence of disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute cardiorespiratory breathlessness accounts for one in eight of all emergency hospitalizations. Early, noninvasive diagnostic testing is a clinical priority that allows rapid triage and treatment. Here, we sought to find and replicate diagnostic breath volatile organic compound (VOC) biomarkers of acute cardiorespiratory disease and understand breath metabolite network enrichment in acute disease, with a view to gaining mechanistic insight of breath biochemical derangements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTribbles 3 (TRIB3) modulates lipid and glucose metabolism, macrophage lipid uptake, with a gain-of-function variant associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Here we set out to examine the role of this pseudokinase in atherosclerotic plaque development. Human endarterectomy atherosclerotic tissue specimens analysed by immunofluorescence showed upregulated TRIB3 in unstable plaques and an enrichment in unstable regions of stable plaques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and subsequent reconstruction is common and has a profound effect on health-related quality of life. There is currently limited understanding as to which variables are associated with a successful outcome post-ACL reconstruction (ACLR) in recreational athletes.
Purpose: Explore the association between both patient-reported and performance-based measures, and successful outcome, post-ACLR in recreational athletes.
Advances in DNA sequencing technologies have drastically changed our perception of the structure and complexity of the plant microbiome. By comparison, our ability to accurately identify the metabolically active fraction of soil microbiota and its specific functional role in augmenting plant health is relatively limited. Important ecological interactions being performed by microbes can be investigated by analyzing the extracellular protein fraction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Advancing understanding of key factors that determine the magnitude of the hemostatic response may facilitate the identification of individuals at risk of generating an occlusive thrombus as a result of an atherothrombotic event such as an acute Myocardial Infarction (MI). While fibrinogen levels are a recognized risk factor for MI, the association of thrombotic risk with other coagulation proteins is inconsistent. This is likely due to the complex balance of pro- and anticoagulant factors in any individual.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecular mechanisms that regulate tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) phenotype and function are incompletely understood. The pseudokinase TRIB1 has been reported as a regulator of macrophage phenotypes, both in mouse and human systems. Bioinformatic analysis was used to investigate the link between expression in breast cancer and therapeutic response to chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Underserved ethnic minorities with psychiatric disorders are at an increased risk of COVID-19. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of one-to-one counseling on COVID-19 vaccination and vaccination readiness among underserved African American and Latinx individuals with mental illnesses and adult caregivers of children with mental illness.
Methods: Through an academic-community partnered collaboration, a multidisciplinary and culturally sensitive training on COVID-19 was co-developed and delivered to 68 therapists from January to March 2021.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released from activated platelets contain microRNAs, the most abundant of which is hsa-miR-223-3p. Endogenous hsa-miR-223-3p suppresses the expression of tissue factor (TF), the initiator of the extrinsic coagulation pathway, in endothelial cells. Monocytes can be induced to express TF to enhance coagulation, but the role of hsa-miR-223-3p in regulating monocyte TF remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProstaglandins Other Lipid Mediat
February 2022
In addition to haemostasis, platelets are involved in pathological processes, often driven by material released upon activation. Interaction between collagen and glycoprotein VI (GPVI) is a primary platelet stimulus that liberates arachidonic acid and linoleic acid from membrane phospholipids. These are oxidised by cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and 12-lipoxygenase (12-LOX) to eicosanoids and other oxylipins with various biological properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSecondary primary malignancies within the head and neck region are well documented. Within this group, synchronous tumours with an index oral cancer are usually found in the oropharyngeal or laryngeal sites. We present a rare case of an index squamous cell carcinoma in the tongue with a synchronous primary intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Fetal "black bone" MRI could be useful in the diagnosis of various skeletal conditions during pregnancy without exposure to ionizing radiation. Previously suggested susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is not available in the suggested form on all scanners leading to long imaging times that are susceptible to motion artefacts. We aimed to assess if an optimized T2*-weighted GRE sequence can provide viable "black bone" contrast and compared it to other sequences in the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHyperphosphatemia has been proposed as a cardiovascular risk factor, contributing to long-term vascular calcification in hyperphosphatemic Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients. However, more recent studies have also demonstrated acute effects of inorganic phosphate (Pi) on endothelial cells in vitro, especially generation of pro-coagulant endothelial microvesicles (MV). Hitherto, such direct effects of hyperphosphatemia have not been reported in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMontmorillonite clays could be promising sorbents to mitigate toxic compound exposures. Bisphenols A (BPA) and S (BPS) as well as phthalates, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), are ubiquitous environmental contaminants linked to adverse health effects. Here, we combined computational and experimental methods to investigate the ability of montmorillonite clays to sorb these compounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing an online tool, we report the association between tasks and 'affect' (underlying experience of feeling, emotion or mood) among 565 doctors in training, how positive and negative emotional intensity are associated with time of day, the extent to which positive affect is associated with breaks, and consideration about leaving the profession. Respondents spent approximately 25% of their day on paperwork or clinical work that did not involve patients, resulting in more negative emotions. Positive emotions were expressed for breaks, staff meetings, research, learning and clinical tasks that involved patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPiscirickettsia salmonis, the aetiological agent of salmonid rickettsial septicaemia (SRS), is a global pathogen of wild and cultured marine salmonids. Here, we describe the development and application of a reproducible, standardized immersion challenge model to induce clinical SRS in juvenile pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), Atlantic (Salmo salar) and sockeye salmon (O. nerka).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHyperphosphataemia increases cardiovascular mortality in patients with kidney disease. Direct effects of high inorganic phosphate (Pi) concentrations have previously been demonstrated on endothelial cells (ECs), including generation of procoagulant endothelial microvesicles (MVs). However, no mechanism directly sensing elevated intracellular Pi has ever been described in mammalian cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In cancer, platelets may facilitate metastatic spread by a number of mechanisms as well as contribute to thrombotic complications. Ticagrelor, a platelet antagonist- that blocks adenosine diphosphate activation of platelet P2Y receptors, is widely used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, but its efficacy in cancer remains unknown.
Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the effect of aspirin and ticagrelor monotherapy, as well as dual antiplatelet therapy, on platelet activation in cancer.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the feasibility of extracellular volume-fraction (ECV) measurement, and time to achieve contrast equilibrium (CE), in healthy muscles, and to determine whether in-flow and partial-volume errors in the femoral artery affect measurements, and if there are differences in the partition coefficient (λ) between muscles.
Methods: T1 was measured in the biceps femoris, vastus intermedius, femoral artery and aorta of 10 healthy participants. This was repeated alternately between the thigh and aorta for ≥25 min following a bolus of gadoterate meglumine.