Clinical Application of Deep Learning-Assisted Needles Reconstruction in Prostate Ultrasound Brachytherapy.

Purpose: High dose rate (HDR) prostate brachytherapy (BT) procedure requires image-guided needle insertion. Given that general anesthesia is often employed during the procedure, minimizing overall planning time is crucial. In this study, we explore the clinical feasibility and time-saving potential of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven auto-reconstruction of transperineal needles in the context of ultrasound (US)-guided prostate BT planning.

Production, purification, and quality assessment of borrelial proteins CspZ from Borrelia burgdorferi and FhbA from Borrelia hermsii.

Borrelia, spirochetes transmitted by ticks, are the etiological agents of numerous multisystemic diseases, such as Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF). This study focuses on two surface proteins from two Borrelia subspecies involved in these diseases: CspZ, expressed by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (also named BbCRASP-2 for complement regulator-acquiring surface protein 2), and the factor H binding A (FhbA), expressed by Borrelia hermsii. Numerous subspecies of Borrelia, including these latter, are able to evade the immune defenses of a variety of potential vertebrate hosts in a number of ways.

Comparative Study of Single-stranded Oligonucleotides Secondary Structure Prediction Tools.

Background: Single-stranded nucleic acids (ssNAs) have important biological roles and a high biotechnological potential linked to their ability to bind to numerous molecular targets. This depends on the different spatial conformations they can assume. The first level of ssNAs spatial organisation corresponds to their base pairs pattern, i.

Lyme borreliosis diagnosis: state of the art of improvements and innovations.

With almost 700 000 estimated cases each year in the United States and Europe, Lyme borreliosis (LB), also called Lyme disease, is the most common tick-borne illness in the world. Transmitted by ticks of the genus Ixodes and caused by bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, LB occurs with various symptoms, such as erythema migrans, which is characteristic, whereas others involve blurred clinical features such as fatigue, headaches, arthralgia, and myalgia. The diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis, based on a standard two-tiered serology, is the subject of many debates and controversies, since it relies on an indirect approach which suffers from a low sensitivity depending on the stage of the disease.

Conditional deletion of KCC2 impairs synaptic plasticity and both spatial and nonspatial memory.

The postsynaptic inhibition through GABA receptors (GABAR) relies on two mechanisms, a shunting effect due to an increase in the postsynaptic membrane conductance and, in mature neurons, a hyperpolarization effect due to an entry of chloride into postsynaptic neurons. The second effect requires the action of the K-Cl cotransporter KCC2 which extrudes Cl from the cell and maintains its cytosolic concentration very low. Neuronal chloride equilibrium seems to be dysregulated in several neurological and psychiatric conditions such as epilepsy, anxiety, schizophrenia, Down syndrome, or Alzheimer's disease.

Dexamethasone Modulates the Cytokine Response but Not COVID-19-Induced Coagulopathy in Critically Ill.

Severe forms of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease are caused by an exaggerated systemic inflammatory response and subsequent inflammation-related coagulopathy. Anti-inflammatory treatment with low dose dexamethasone has been shown to reduce mortality in COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen therapy. However, the mechanisms of action of corticosteroids have not been extensively studied in critically ill patients in the context of COVID-19.

A First Look at Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion of Canadian Medical Physicists: Results From the 2021 COMP EDI Climate Survey.

Purpose: In 2021, the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP) conducted its first equity, diversity, and inclusion Climate Survey. The membership's experiences of inclusion, belonging, professional opportunities, discrimination, microaggressions, racism, and harassment in their professional lives are presented.

Methods And Materials: The ethics-reviewed survey was distributed in English and French to full members of COMP.

2021 AAPM Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Climate Survey Executive Summary.

Purpose: The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) shares the results, conclusions, and recommendations from the initial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Climate Survey conducted in 2021.

Methods And Materials: The climate survey targeted medical physicists who are full members of the AAPM and included demographic inquiries and questions intended to assess the working environmental climate in terms of a sense of belonging and inclusion, experiences of discrimination and harassment, and obstacles to participation within the AAPM. The survey invitation was sent to 5,500 members.

Inflammation-Induced Coagulopathy Substantially Differs Between COVID-19 and Septic Shock: A Prospective Observational Study.

Critical COVID-19, like septic shock, is related to a dysregulated systemic inflammatory reaction and is associated with a high incidence of thrombosis and microthrombosis. Improving the understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of critical COVID-19 could help in finding new therapeutic targets already explored in the treatment of septic shock. The current study prospectively compared 48 patients with septic shock and 22 patients with critical COVID-19 regarding their clinical characteristics and outcomes, as well as key plasmatic soluble biomarkers of inflammation, coagulation, endothelial activation, platelet activation, and NETosis.

Anti-GPVI (HY101) activates platelets in a multicolor flow cytometry panel.

The platelet transmembrane receptor GPVI can be assessed together with other platelet membrane markers in a whole blood multicolor flow cytometry panel. The advantage of combining multiple antibodies in a single tube is the possibility of distinguishing multiple platelet subgroups. In this short communication, we describe an activation problem encountered with anti-GPVI, clone HY101.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase Inhibitor CP640.186 Increases Tubulin Acetylation and Impairs Thrombin-Induced Platelet Aggregation.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) is the first enzyme regulating de novo lipid synthesis via the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA into malonyl-CoA. The inhibition of its activity decreases lipogenesis and, in parallel, increases the acetyl-CoA content, which serves as a substrate for protein acetylation. Several findings support a role for acetylation signaling in coordinating signaling systems that drive platelet cytoskeletal changes and aggregation.

Overexpression of wild-type human amyloid precursor protein alters GABAergic transmission.

The function of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is not fully understood, but its cleavage product amyloid beta (Aβ) together with neurofibrillary tangles constitute the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Yet, imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission accompanied by loss of synaptic functions, has been reported much earlier and independent of any detectable pathological markers. Recently, soluble APP fragments have been shown to bind to presynaptic GABA receptors (GABARs), subsequently decreasing the probability of neurotransmitter release.

Regulation of PPARα by APP in Alzheimer disease affects the pharmacological modulation of synaptic activity.

Among genetic susceptibility loci associated with late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD), genetic polymorphisms identified in genes encoding lipid carriers led to the hypothesis that a disruption of lipid metabolism could promote disease progression. We previously reported that amyloid precursor protein (APP) involved in Alzheimer disease (AD) physiopathology impairs lipid synthesis needed for cortical networks' activity and that activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), a metabolic regulator involved in lipid metabolism, improves synaptic plasticity in an AD mouse model. These observations led us to investigate a possible correlation between PPARα function and full-length APP expression.

CSF1R inhibition rescues tau pathology and neurodegeneration in an A/T/N model with combined AD pathologies, while preserving plaque associated microglia.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a sequential progression of amyloid plaques (A), neurofibrillary tangles (T) and neurodegeneration (N), constituting ATN pathology. While microglia are considered key contributors to AD pathogenesis, their contribution in the combined presence of ATN pathologies remains incompletely understood. As sensors of the brain microenvironment, microglial phenotypes and contributions are importantly defined by the pathologies in the brain, indicating the need for their analysis in preclinical models that recapitulate combined ATN pathologies, besides their role in A and T models only.

Alzheimer's Disease, a Lipid Story: Involvement of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor α.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. Mutations in genes encoding proteins involved in amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) production are responsible for inherited AD cases. The amyloid cascade hypothesis was proposed to explain the pathogeny.

Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) Controls the Expression of the Transcriptional Activator Neuronal PAS Domain Protein 4 (NPAS4) and Synaptic GABA Release.

The amyloid precursor protein (APP) has been extensively studied as the precursor of the β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide, the major component of the senile plaques found in the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. However, the function of APP per se in neuronal physiology remains to be fully elucidated. APP is expressed at high levels in the brain.

Platelet Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase Phosphorylation: A Risk Stratification Marker That Reveals Platelet-Lipid Interplay in Coronary Artery Disease Patients.

Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) signaling is activated in platelets by atherogenic lipids, particularly by oxidized low-density lipoproteins, through a CD36-dependent pathway. More interestingly, increased platelet AMPK-induced ACC phosphorylation is associated with the severity of coronary artery calcification as well as acute coronary events in coronary artery disease patients. Therefore, AMPK-induced ACC phosphorylation is a potential marker for risk stratification in suspected coronary artery disease patients.

Influence of the familial Alzheimer's disease-associated T43I mutation on the transmembrane structure and γ-secretase processing of the C99 peptide.

Extracellular deposition of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides in the brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Upon β-secretase-mediated cleavage of the β C-terminal fragment (β-CTF) from the Aβ precursor protein, the γ-secretase complex produces the Aβ peptides associated with AD. The familial T43I mutation within the transmembrane domain of the β-CTF (also referred to as C99) increases the ratio between the Aβ42 and Aβ40 peptides largely due to a decrease in Aβ40 formation.

Aggregated Tau activates NLRP3-ASC inflammasome exacerbating exogenously seeded and non-exogenously seeded Tau pathology in vivo.

Brains of Alzheimer's disease patients are characterized by the presence of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, both invariably associated with neuroinflammation. A crucial role for NLRP3-ASC inflammasome [NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3)-Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC)] in amyloid-beta (Aβ)-induced microgliosis and Aβ pathology has been unequivocally identified. Aβ aggregates activate NLRP3-ASC inflammasome (Halle et al.

Contribution of the Endosomal-Lysosomal and Proteasomal Systems in Amyloid-β Precursor Protein Derived Fragments Processing.

Aβ peptides, the major components of Alzheimer's disease (AD) amyloid deposits, are released following sequential cleavages by secretases of its precursor named the amyloid precursor protein (APP). In addition to secretases, degradation pathways, in particular the endosomal/lysosomal and proteasomal systems have been reported to contribute to APP processing. However, the respective role of each of these pathways toward APP metabolism remains to be established.

A gas chromatography full scan high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry method for separation and characterization of 3-hydroxymethyl pyridine ester of fatty acids at low levels.

Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), which are commonly used to characterize lipids, have several limitations to conclude on many structures. 3-Pyridylcarbinol esters (3-PCE) are used to characterize fatty acid structures [1], in particular, to identify ring and double bond positions on the carbon chain. Chromatographic separation of these esters is complex due to their polarity and high boiling points.