Edge Creep: Increased Pigmentation at the Border of Choroidal Melanomas Treated with Plaque Brachytherapy.

Introduction: There is an increase in pigmentation that occurs in many tumors following plaque brachytherapy for choroidal melanoma. Correctly distinguishing between increased pigment at the tumor border versus true growth is imperative. We performed a retrospective review of patients treated with I-125 brachytherapy for choroidal melanoma at our institution to study this phenomenon.

Setup and characterisation according to NEMA NU 4 of thePET scanner, a PET system dedicated for plant sciences.

ThePET system is a plant dedicated positron emission tomography (PET) scanner consisting of fully digital photo multipliers with lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate crystals and located inside a custom climate chamber. Here, we present the setup ofPET, its data processing and image reconstruction together with its performance.The performance characterization follows the national electrical manufacturers association (NEMA) standard for small animal PET systems with a number of adoptions due to the vertical oriented bore of a PET for plant sciences.

Arachidonic acid inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome is a mechanism to explain the anti-inflammatory effects of fasting.

Elevated interleukin (IL)-1β levels, NLRP3 inflammasome activity, and systemic inflammation are hallmarks of chronic metabolic inflammatory syndromes, but the mechanistic basis for this is unclear. Here, we show that levels of plasma IL-1β are lower in fasting compared to fed subjects, while the lipid arachidonic acid (AA) is elevated. Lipid profiling of NLRP3-stimulated mouse macrophages shows enhanced AA production and an NLRP3-dependent eicosanoid signature.

Assessment of Platelet Function by Automated Light Transmission Aggregometry.

Light transmission aggregometry (LTA) has long been the historical "gold standard" of platelet function testing and is typically performed in specialized hemostasis laboratories due to its manual and labor intensive process. However, newer automated testing provides a means of standardization and ability to perform the testing in routine laboratories. Here we describe the measurement of platelet aggregation in the CS-Series (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan) and CN-Series™ (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan) routine blood coagulation analyzers.

Postoperative Echography for Optimization of Radiation Dosimetry in Patients with Uveal Melanoma Treated with Plaque Brachytherapy.

Purpose: (1) To describe the technique of postoperative echography to confirm the intended treatment dose to the tumor apex in patients with uveal melanoma treated with plaque brachytherapy. (2) To describe the local tumor control rate and visual outcomes with the brachytherapy strategies used at our institution.

Design: Retrospective review.

At Crossroads in a Virtual City: Effect of Spatial Disorientation on Gait Variability and Psychophysiological Response among Healthy Older Adults.

Introduction: Aging has been associated with a decline in cognitive and motor performance, often expressed in multitasking situations, which could include wayfinding. A major challenge to successful wayfinding is spatial disorientation, occurring mostly at crossings. Although gait changes have been observed in various dual-task conditions, little is known about the effect of disorientation on gait and psychophysiological response among older adults during wayfinding.

Machine Learning Algorithms for Classification of MALDI-TOF MS Spectra from Phylogenetically Closely Related Species , and .

(1) Background: MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) is the gold standard for microbial fingerprinting, however, for phylogenetically closely related species, the resolution power drops down to the genus level. In this study, we analyzed MALDI-TOF spectra from 44 strains of , and to identify the optimal classification method within popular supervised and unsupervised machine learning (ML) algorithms. (2) Methods: A consensus feature selection strategy was applied to pinpoint from among the 500 MS features those that yielded the best ML model and that may play a role in species differentiation.

Adaptation of Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing to the ISO 20776 Standard and Validation of the Method.

Brucellosis, mainly caused by (B.) , is associated with a risk of chronification and relapses. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) standards for are not available, and the agent is not yet listed in the EUCAST breakpoint tables.

Predicted vs Observed Metastasis-Free Survival in Individuals With Uveal Melanoma.

Importance: Accuracy of the predicted metastasis-free survival (MFS) by a commercially available gene expression profiling (GEP) test is not known.

Objective: To compare the predicted MFS with the observed MFS in patients in this cohort and with those in published studies (published MFS, meta-analysis).

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study included consecutive patients from the University of Iowa and Cleveland Clinic who were diagnosed with uveal melanoma who underwent prognostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy at the time of primary treatment.

Retinal Capillary Hemangioma Leading to a Diagnosis of von Hippel-Lindau Disease in a Patient with Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is a rare inherited cancer syndrome that results in the development of tumor formation in multiple systems. In the eye, retinal capillary hemangioma (RCH) can lead to severe vision loss. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is likewise a rare disease in which abnormal retinal vasculature develops in premature infants.

Guilty by dissociation: Part A: Development of a rapid Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC)-MS/MS methodology for the analysis of regioisomeric diphenidine-derived Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS).

This study describes the first reported development of a rapid, generic gradient Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) methodology with targeted triple quadrupole MS/MS using electrospray positive ionisation to detect and unambiguously confirm the identity of 33 substituted 1, 2-diarylethamine (or diphenidine) derivatives in solid drug samples. The in-house synthesised library included a range of derivatives possessing either electron donating/withdrawing substituents, commonly included in combinatorial libraries, of varying size and lipophilicity on the phenyl ring. These test probes were used to investigate if their order of elution and that of their regioisomers were dependent on the position and type of the substituent on the phenyl ring.

Oxylipin metabolism is controlled by mitochondrial β-oxidation during bacterial inflammation.

Oxylipins are potent biological mediators requiring strict control, but how they are removed en masse during infection and inflammation is unknown. Here we show that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) dynamically enhances oxylipin removal via mitochondrial β-oxidation. Specifically, genetic or pharmacological targeting of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 (CPT1), a mitochondrial importer of fatty acids, reveal that many oxylipins are removed by this protein during inflammation in vitro and in vivo.

Platelets induce free and phospholipid-esterified 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid generation in colon cancer cells by delivering 12-lipoxygenase.

Platelets promote tumor metastasis by inducing promalignant phenotypes in cancer cells and directly contributing to cancer-related thrombotic complications. Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) can promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer cells, which confers high-grade malignancy. 12S-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE) generated by platelet-type 12-lipoxygenase (12-LOX) is considered a key modulator of cancer metastasis through unknown mechanisms.

[Rehabilitation of orphan diseases in adulthood: osteogenesis imperfecta].

Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) is an orphan disease caused by a genetic mutation in collagen metabolism. Bone fractures are the most common symptoms; however, the clinical manifestation can vary widely. Additional features can include blue sclera, dwarfism, bone deformities, muscular weakness, scoliosis, hearing loss and hypermobility of joints.

Consequences of Lipid Remodeling of Adipocyte Membranes Being Functionally Distinct from Lipid Storage in Obesity.

Obesity is a complex disorder where the genome interacts with diet and environmental factors to ultimately influence body mass, composition, and shape. Numerous studies have investigated how bulk lipid metabolism of adipose tissue changes with obesity and, in particular, how the composition of triglycerides (TGs) changes with increased adipocyte expansion. However, reflecting the analytical challenge posed by examining non-TG lipids in extracts dominated by TGs, the glycerophospholipid composition of cell membranes has been seldom investigated.

Metabolic Dysregulation of the Lysophospholipid/Autotaxin Axis in the Chromosome 9p21 Gene SNP rs10757274.

Background: Common chromosome 9p21 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) increase coronary heart disease risk, independent of traditional lipid risk factors. However, lipids comprise large numbers of structurally related molecules not measured in traditional risk measurements, and many have inflammatory bioactivities. Here, we applied lipidomic and genomic approaches to 3 model systems to characterize lipid metabolic changes in common Chr9p21 SNPs, which confer ≈30% elevated coronary heart disease risk associated with altered expression of ANRIL, a long ncRNA.

Gene Expression Profiling Prognostication of Posterior Uveal Melanoma: Does Size Matter?

Purpose: Investigate the influence of tumor size by American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) size, tumor largest basal diameter (LBD), and tumor thickness on prognostication by gene expression profiling (GEP) class.

Design: Two-center retrospective study.

Participants: Two hundred fifteen consecutive patients diagnosed with posterior uveal melanoma over a 5-year period who were evaluated with prognostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy at the time of primary treatment.

Multicolor femtosecond pump-probe system with single-electron sensitivity at low temperatures and high magnetic fields.

We present an ultrafast spectroscopy system designed for temporal and spectral resolution of transient transmission changes after excitation of single electrons in solid-state quantum structures. The system is designed for optimum long-term stability, offering the option of hands-off operation over several days. Pump and probe pulses are generated in a versatile Er:fiber laser system where visible photon energies may be tuned independently from 1.

Long-term outcome of patients with pregnancy and lactation-associated osteoporosis (PLO) with a particular focus on quality of life.

Background: Pregnancy and lactation-associated osteoporosis (PLO) is a very rare form of osteoporosis. Vertebral fractures either occur in the last trimester of pregnancy or after childbirth. Pathogenesis is still unclear.

Revising the structure of a new eicosanoid from human platelets to 8,9-11,12-diepoxy-13-hydroxyeicosadienoic acid.

Eicosanoids are critical mediators of fever, pain, and inflammation generated by immune and tissue cells. We recently described a new bioactive eicosanoid generated by cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) turnover during platelet activation that can stimulate human neutrophil integrin expression. On the basis of mass spectrometry (MS/MS and MS), stable isotope labeling, and GC-MS analysis, we previously proposed a structure of 8-hydroxy-9,11-dioxolane eicosatetraenoic acid (DXA).

Italian cohort of patients affected by inflammatory bowel disease is characterised by variation in glycerophospholipid, free fatty acids and amino acid levels.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease is a group of pathologies characterised by chronic inflammation of the intestine and an unclear aetiology. Its main manifestations are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Currently, biopsies are the most used diagnostic tests for these diseases and metabolomics could represent a less invasive approach to identify biomarkers of disease presence and progression.

Efficient Emission Enhancement of Single CdSe/CdS/PMMA Quantum Dots through Controlled Near-Field Coupling to Plasmonic Bullseye Resonators.

A strong increase of spontaneous radiative emission from colloidally synthesized CdSe/CdS/PMMA hybrid particles is achieved when manipulated into plasmonic bullseye resonators with the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM). This type of antenna provides a broadband resonance, which may be precisely matched to the exciton ground state energy in the inorganic cores. Statistically analyzing the spectral photoluminescence (PL) of a large number of individual coupled and uncoupled CdSe/CdS/PMMA quantum dots, we find an order of magnitude of intensity enhancement due to the Purcell effect.