Microbeam Radiation Therapy Bio-Dosimetry Enhanced by Novel Radiosensitiser Combinations in the Treatment of Brain Cancer.

: Brain cancer is notoriously resistant to traditional treatments, including radiotherapy. Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), arrays of ultra-fast synchrotron X-ray beams tens of micrometres wide (called peaks) and spaced hundreds of micrometres apart (valleys), is an effective alternative to conventional treatments. MRT's advantage is that normal tissues can be spared from harm whilst maintaining tumour control.

A novel approach to double-strand DNA break analysis through γ-H2AX confocal image quantification and bio-dosimetry.

DNA damage occurs in all living cells. γ-H2AX imaging by fluorescent microscopy is widely used across disciplines in the analysis of double-strand break (DSB) DNA damage. Here we demonstrate a method for the quantitative analysis of such DBSs.

The use of carbon fiber/polyetheretherketone (CF/PEEK) in pedicle screw fixation for spinal neoplasms-potential advantages in postoperative imaging and radiotherapy planning.

Background: Titanium pedicle screw fixation complicates postoperative care in patients with spinal neoplasms due to postoperative imaging artefacts and dose perturbation. This study aims to measure the benefits of using carbon fiber/polyetheretherketone (CF/PEEK) pedicle fixation compared to titanium in postoperative imaging, radiotherapy planning and delivery for spinal neoplasms treated with conventional external beam radiotherapy with a commercial treatment planning system.

Methods: The properties of CF/PEEK pedicle fixation systems were compared to titanium in radiotherapy dose planning accuracy and postoperative computed tomography (CT) image quality.

High Average Gradient in a Laser-Gated Multistage Plasma Wakefield Accelerator.

Plasma wakefield accelerators driven by particle beams are capable of providing accelerating gradient several orders of magnitude higher than currently used radio-frequency technology, which could reduce the length of particle accelerators, with drastic influence on the development of future colliders at TeV energies and the minimization of x-ray free-electron lasers. Since interplasma components and distances are among the biggest contributors to the total accelerator length, the design of staged plasma accelerators is one of the most important outstanding questions in order to render this technology instrumental. Here, we present a novel concept to optimize interplasma distances in a staged beam-driven plasma accelerator by drive-beam coupling in the temporal domain and gating the accelerator via a femtosecond ionization laser.

Commissioning of Aktina SRS cones and dosimetric validation of the RayStation photon Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm.

Clinical implementation of SRS cones demands particular experimental care and dosimetric considerations in order to deliver precise and safe radiotherapy to patients. The purpose of this work was to present the commissioning data of recent Aktina cones combined with a 6MV flattened beam produced by an Elekta VersaHD linear accelerator. Additionally, the modelling process, and an assessment of dosimetric accuracy of the RayStation Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm for cone based SRS was performed.

Nano X Image Guidance in radiation therapy: feasibility study protocol for cone beam computed tomography imaging with gravity-induced motion.

Background: This paper describes the protocol for the Nano X Image Guidance (Nano X IG) trial, a single-institution, clinical imaging study. The Nano X is a prototype fixed-beam radiotherapy system developed to investigate the feasibility of a low-cost, compact radiotherapy system to increase global access to radiation therapy. This study aims to assess the feasibility of volumetric image guidance with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) acquired during horizontal patient rotation on the Nano X radiotherapy system.

Accurate and Fast Deep Learning Dose Prediction for a Preclinical Microbeam Radiation Therapy Study Using Low-Statistics Monte Carlo Simulations.

Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) utilizes coplanar synchrotron radiation beamlets and is a proposed treatment approach for several tumor diagnoses that currently have poor clinical treatment outcomes, such as gliosarcomas. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are one of the most used methods at the Imaging and Medical Beamline, Australian Synchrotron to calculate the dose in MRT preclinical studies. The steep dose gradients associated with the 50μm-wide coplanar beamlets present a significant challenge for precise MC simulation of the dose deposition of an MRT irradiation treatment field in a short time frame.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Brucellosis in Ruminants in Dhofar Province in Southern Oman.

Objective: The aim of the present work was to raise awareness of Brucella infection and emphasize the use of serological tests for screening and confirmation of the presence of the infection in different localities in the Dhofar region in the Sultanate of Oman.

Methods: A seroprevalence of Brucella infection in naturally infected livestock was undertaken in 50 farms (a total of 434 sera, 207 goats, 84 sheep, 54 cattle, and 89 camels) from different wilayat of the Dhofar region in the southern part of Oman. Rose Bengal (RBT), complement fixation (CFT), and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (I-ELISA) tests were used to determine the presence of Brucella antibodies.

Development and reliability of the coding system evaluating maternal sensitivity to social interactions with 34- to 36-week postmenstrual age preterm infants.

Unlabelled: Maternal sensitivity (MS), the ability to perceive and synchronously respond to the social signals (SSs), is affected by prematurity. The development of early supportive psychotherapy to foster MS, before discharge of the infant from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a major challenge in the prevention of subsequent developmental and mental disorders in the child. There are currently no reliable methods for evaluating MS to social interactions with very to moderate preterm infants.

A narrative review of the effect of parent-child shared reading in preterm infants.

The benefits of book-reading interventions on language development in full-term infants have been well investigated. Because children born preterm face a greater risk of cognitive, language and emotional impairments, this narrative review examines the theoretical evidence, empirical findings, and practical challenges for introducing such intervention to this population. The effect of shared book interventions on typically developing infants is mediated by three components: a linguistic aspect (i.

A New in Silico Antibody Similarity Measure Both Identifies Large Sets of Epitope Binders with Distinct CDRs and Accurately Predicts Off-Target Reactivity.

Developing a therapeutic antibody is a long, tedious, and expensive process. Many obstacles need to be overcome, such as biophysical properties (issues of solubility, stability, weak production yields, etc.), as well as cross-reactivity and subsequent toxicity, which are major issues.

Toxicological analysis of a "poison vial" found in the remains of an SS soldier (Maltot, Normandy, France).

In Maltot (Normandy, France), one grave containing the remains of a German soldier, who died in 1944, was excavated amongst other graves and isolated elements. A dozen whole vials were unearthed, resulting in questions about their content. Various screenings were carried out on the contents of one single vial: HPLC-DAD and HR-LC-MS screening after 1/10 dilution in mobile phase, GC-MS and HS-GC-MS after 1/10 dilution in methanol, multi-element research by HR-ICP-MS after total mineralization, and cyanide analysis.

FLASH radiotherapy with photon beams.

Ultra-high-dose rate "FLASH" radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) has been shown to drastically reduce normal tissue toxicities while being as efficacious as conventional dose rate radiotherapy to treat tumors. A large number of preclinical studies describing this so-called FLASH effect have led to the clinical translation of FLASH-RT using ultra-high-dose rate electron and proton beams. Although the vast majority of radiation therapy treatments are delivered using X-rays, few preclinical data using ultra-high-dose rate X-ray irradiation have been published.

Accurate determination of epitope for antibodies with unknown 3D structures.

MAbTope is a docking-based method for the determination of epitopes. It has been used to successfully determine the epitopes of antibodies with known 3D structures. However, during the antibody discovery process, this structural information is rarely available.

Demonstration of a compact plasma accelerator powered by laser-accelerated electron beams.

Plasma wakefield accelerators are capable of sustaining gigavolt-per-centimeter accelerating fields, surpassing the electric breakdown threshold in state-of-the-art accelerator modules by 3-4 orders of magnitude. Beam-driven wakefields offer particularly attractive conditions for the generation and acceleration of high-quality beams. However, this scheme relies on kilometer-scale accelerators.

The adaptation and investigation of cone-beam CT reconstruction algorithms for horizontal rotation fixed-gantry scans of rabbits.

Fixed-gantry radiation therapy has been proposed as a low-cost alternative to the conventional rotating-gantry radiation therapy, that may help meet the rising global treatment demand. Fixed-gantry systems require gravitational motion compensated reconstruction algorithms to produce cone-beam CT (CBCT) images of sufficient quality for image guidance. The aim of this work was to adapt and investigate five CBCT reconstruction algorithms for fixed-gantry CBCT images.

First extensive study of silver-doped lanthanum manganite nanoparticles for inducing selective chemotherapy and radio-toxicity enhancement.

Nanoparticles have a great potential to increase the therapeutic efficiency of several cancer therapies. This research examines the potential for silver-doped lanthanum manganite nanoparticles to enhance radiation therapy to target radioresistant brain cancer cells, and their potential in combinational therapy with magnetic hyperthermia. Magnetic and structural characterisation found all dopings of nanoparticles (NPs) to be pure and single phase with an average crystallite size of approximately 15 nm for undoped NPs and 20 nm for silver doped NPs.

Generation of Terawatt Attosecond Pulses from Relativistic Transition Radiation.

When a femtosecond duration and hundreds of kiloampere peak current electron beam traverses the vacuum and high-density plasma interface, a new process, that we call relativistic transition radiation (RTR), generates an intense ∼100 as pulse containing ∼1 terawatt power of coherent vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation accompanied by several smaller femtosecond duration satellite pulses. This pulse inherits the radial polarization of the incident beam field and has a ring intensity distribution. This RTR is emitted when the beam density is comparable to the plasma density and the spot size much larger than the plasma skin depth.

Extremely Dense Gamma-Ray Pulses in Electron Beam-Multifoil Collisions.

Sources of high-energy photons have important applications in almost all areas of research. However, the photon flux and intensity of existing sources is strongly limited for photon energies above a few hundred keV. Here we show that a high-current ultrarelativistic electron beam interacting with multiple submicrometer-thick conducting foils can undergo strong self-focusing accompanied by efficient emission of gamma-ray synchrotron photons.

Facilitating mGluR4 activity reverses the long-term deleterious consequences of chronic morphine exposure in male mice.

Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of abstinence from drugs of abuse is critical to allow better recovery and ensure relapse prevention in addicted subjects. By comparing the long-term transcriptional consequences of morphine and cocaine exposure, we identified the metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 4 (mGluR4) as a promising pharmacological target in morphine abstinence. We evaluated the behavioral and molecular effects of facilitating mGluR4 activity in abstinent mice.

Thulium oxide nanoparticles as radioenhancers for the treatment of metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Metastases from cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) occur in 2%-5% of cases. Surgery is the standard treatment, often combined with adjuvant radiotherapy. Concurrent carboplatin treatment with post-operative radiotherapy may be prescribed, although it has not shown benefit in recent clinical trials in high-risk cSCC patients.

Toward personalized synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy.

Synchrotron facilities produce ultra-high dose rate X-rays that can be used for selective cancer treatment when combined with micron-sized beams. Synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) has been shown to inhibit cancer growth in small animals, whilst preserving healthy tissue function. However, the underlying mechanisms that produce successful MRT outcomes are not well understood, either in vitro or in vivo.

Correction to: Investigation on Brucella infection in farm animals in Saham, Sultanate of Oman with reference to human brucellosis outbreak.

The original article [1] incorrectly presents final author, Eugene H. Johnson's name incorrectly whereby middle initial, 'H.' is mistakenly presented as a Family Name.

The orphan receptor GPR88 blunts the signaling of opioid receptors and multiple striatal GPCRs.

GPR88 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) considered as a promising therapeutic target for neuropsychiatric disorders; its pharmacology, however, remains scarcely understood. Based on our previous report of increased delta opioid receptor activity in null mice, we investigated the impact of GPR88 co-expression on the signaling of opioid receptors in vitro and revealed that GPR88 inhibits the activation of both their G protein- and β-arrestin-dependent signaling pathways. In knockout mice, morphine-induced locomotor sensitization, withdrawal and supra-spinal analgesia were facilitated, consistent with a tonic inhibitory action of GPR88 on µOR signaling.