Visualization of primary afferent-evoked excitation of spinal dorsal horn neurons using an intracellular Ca imaging technique in adult rat spinal cord slices.

Purpose: Intracellular Ca imaging is a valuable tool for studying neuronal activity; however, its application in the spinal cord of mature animals remains underdeveloped. This study aimed to establish an intracellular Ca imaging method in adult rat spinal cord slices without complex genetic modifications and characterize primary afferent-evoked intracellular Ca responses in spinal dorsal horn neurons.

Methods: L5 lumbar spinal cord slices from adult rats were stained with a Ca indicator.

Anesthetic management using desflurane and nitrous oxide in a child with non-ketotic hyperglycinemia: a case report.

Background: Non-ketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by defects in the glycine cleavage system, leading to elevated glycine levels in the central nervous system. NKH manifests in various forms, with the neonatal type being the most severe and often associated with high mortality and significant neurological impairment. This case report highlights the successful uses of desflurane and nitrous oxide for anesthetic management in a patient with NKH.

Quantification of beam size impact on intensity-modulated proton therapy with robust optimization in head and neck cancer-comparison with intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

We assessed the effect of beam size on plan robustness for intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) of head and neck cancer (HNC) and compared the plan quality including robustness with that of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). IMPT plans were generated for six HNC patients using six beam sizes (air-sigma 3-17 mm at isocenter for a 70-230 MeV) and two optimization methods for planning target volume-based non-robust optimization (NRO) and clinical target volume (CTV)-based robust optimization (RO). Worst-case dosimetric parameters and plan robustness for CTV and organs-at-risk (OARs) were assessed under different scenarios, assuming a ± 1-5 mm setup error and a ± 3% range error.

Japanese Spotted Fever with Severe Myositis: A Diagnostic Challenge.

A woman in her late 70s presented with a fever, rashes, and marked proximal muscle weakness. Noninfectious conditions, including myositis and vasculitis, were initially considered. Treatment with cephalosporins was ineffective, but the symptoms improved with minocycline, indicating possible Japanese spotted fever (JSF) despite no apparent history of tick exposure.

Improving survival models in healthcare: a novel matching approach.

We present, to our knowledge, the first methodological study aimed at enhancing the prognostic power of Cox regression models, widely used in survival analysis, through optimized data selection. Our approach employs a novel two-stage mechanism: by framing the prognostic stratum matching problem intuitively, we select prognostically representative patient observations to create a more balanced training set. This enables the model to assign equal attention to distinct prognostic subgroups.