Defining the potential for sexual structures-sparing for prostate cancer external beam radiotherapy: A dosimetric study.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the dosimetric impact of sexual-sparing radiotherapy for prostate cancer, with magnetic resonance-only treatment planning.

Material And Methods: Fifteen consecutive patients receiving prostate cancer radiotherapy were selected. A synthetic CT was generated with a deep learning method from each T2-weighted MRI performed at the time of treatment planning.

NADPH oxidase exerts a B cell-intrinsic contribution to lupus risk by modulating endosomal TLR signals.

Genome-wide association studies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have linked loss-of-function mutations in phagocytic NADPH oxidase complex (NOX2) genes, including NCF1 and NCF2, to disease pathogenesis. The prevailing model holds that reduced NOX2 activity promotes SLE via defective efferocytosis, the immunologically silent clearance of apoptotic cells. Here, we describe a parallel B cell-intrinsic mechanism contributing to breaks in tolerance.

Indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care and outcomes of people with MS: A combined survey and insurance claims study.

Background: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) have been particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes due to increased risk of severe infection and/or widespread disruptions in care. The CopeMS study led by The University of Texas at Austin and the MS Association of America investigates the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare access, disease modifying therapy (DMT) utilization and outcomes of pwMS.

Methods: This retrospective cohort analysis used Optum's de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database (CDM), a large de-identified administrative healthcare claims database to identify pwMS who were continuously enrolled from 01/01/2019 to 12/31/2020 and assessed changes in the utilization of DMTs and healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the year prior.

Dysregulated IFN-γ signals promote autoimmunity in STAT1 gain-of-function syndrome.

Heterozygous signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 () gain-of-function (GOF) mutations promote a clinical syndrome of immune dysregulation characterized by recurrent infections and predisposition to humoral autoimmunity. To gain insights into immune characteristics of STAT1-driven inflammation, we performed deep immunophenotyping of pediatric patients with STAT1 GOF syndrome and age-matched controls. Affected individuals exhibited dysregulated CD4 T cell and B cell activation, including expansion of T1-skewed CXCR3 populations that correlated with serum autoantibody titers.

A high-performance method of deep learning for prostate MR-only radiotherapy planning using an optimized Pix2Pix architecture.

Purpose: The first aim was to generate and compare synthetic-CT (sCT) images using a conditional generative adversarial network (cGAN) method (Pix2Pix) for MRI-only prostate radiotherapy planning by testing several generators, loss functions, and hyper-parameters. The second aim was to compare the optimized Pix2Pix model with five other architectures (bulk-density, atlas-based, patch-based, U-Net, and GAN).

Methods: For 39 patients treated by VMAT for prostate cancer, T2-weighted MRI images were acquired in addition to CT images for treatment planning.

Cutting Edge: Systemic Autoimmunity in Murine STAT3 Gain-of-Function Syndrome Is Characterized by Effector T Cell Expansion in the Absence of Overt Regulatory T Cell Dysfunction.

Germline gain-of-function mutations in the transcriptional factor promote early-onset multisystemic autoimmunity. To investigate how increased STAT3 promotes systemic inflammation, we generated a transgenic knock-in strain expressing a pathogenic human mutation within the endogenous murine locus. As predicted, mice develop progressive lymphoid hyperplasia and systemic inflammation, mirroring the human disease.

Automated 3D Fetal Brain Segmentation Using an Optimized Deep Learning Approach.

Background And Purpose: MR imaging provides critical information about fetal brain growth and development. Currently, morphologic analysis primarily relies on manual segmentation, which is time-intensive and has limited repeatability. This work aimed to develop a deep learning-based automatic fetal brain segmentation method that provides improved accuracy and robustness compared with atlas-based methods.

Enrollment of Non-White Participants and Reporting of Race and Ethnicity in Phase III Trials of Multiple Sclerosis DMTs: A Systematic Review.

Background And Objectives: Black and Hispanic people with multiple sclerosis (MS) (pMS) have been found to have different disease courses or worse outcomes associated with MS compared to White pMS. They are also more likely to be negatively affected by social determinants of health, further worsening disparities in outcomes. As these disparities may affect treatment response, non-White pMS must be included in trials for greater generalizability of research and therefore more inclusive treatment plans.

Automatic brain segmentation in preterm infants with post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus using 3D Bayesian U-Net.

Post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH) is a severe complication of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in very preterm infants. PHH monitoring and treatment decisions rely heavily on manual and subjective two-dimensional measurements of the ventricles. Automatic and reliable three-dimensional (3D) measurements of the ventricles may provide a more accurate assessment of PHH, and lead to improved monitoring and treatment decisions.

Cutting Edge: A Threshold of B Cell Costimulatory Signals Is Required for Spontaneous Germinal Center Formation in Autoimmunity.

Cognate interactions between autoreactive B and T cells promote systemic lupus erythematosus pathogenesis by inter alia facilitating spontaneous germinal center (GC) formation. Whereas both myeloid and B cell APCs express B7 ligands (CD80 and CD86), the prevailing model holds that dendritic cell costimulation is sufficient for CD28-dependent T cell activation. In this study, we report that B cell-intrinsic CD80/CD86 deletion unexpectedly abrogates GCs in murine lupus.

Deep learning methods to generate synthetic CT from MRI in radiotherapy: A literature review.

Purpose: In radiotherapy, MRI is used for target volume and organs-at-risk delineation for its superior soft-tissue contrast as compared to CT imaging. However, MRI does not provide the electron density of tissue necessary for dose calculation. Several methods of synthetic-CT (sCT) generation from MRI data have been developed for radiotherapy dose calculation.

Moderate reliability of the lateral step down test amongst experienced and novice physical therapists.

Background/introduction: The lateral step-down test is used to appraise movement quality in patients with patellofemoral pain (PFP), however, it is unclear if reliability of the test is affected by physical therapist experience.

Objective: Determine if there is a difference in reliability between 'experienced' and 'novice' physical therapists appraising movement quality of patients with PFP during the lateral step-down test.

Methods: Three 'experienced' and 3 'novice' physical therapists analyzed movement quality of 22 participants [mean age (SD) 28.

Image Quality Assessment of Fetal Brain MRI Using Multi-Instance Deep Learning Methods.

Background: Due to random motion of fetuses and maternal respirations, image quality of fetal brain MRIs varies considerably. To address this issue, visual inspection of the images is performed during acquisition phase and after 3D-reconstruction, and the images are re-acquired if they are deemed to be of insufficient quality. However, this process is time-consuming and subjective.

Comparison of CBCT-based dose calculation methods in head and neck cancer radiotherapy: from Hounsfield unit to density calibration curve to deep learning.

Purpose: Anatomical variations occur during head and neck (H&N) radiotherapy treatment. kV cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images can be used for daily dose monitoring to assess dose variations owing to anatomic changes. Deep learning methods (DLMs) have recently been proposed to generate pseudo-CT (pCT) from CBCT to perform dose calculation.

Head-and-Neck MRI-only radiotherapy treatment planning: From acquisition in treatment position to pseudo-CT generation.

Purpose: In context of head-and-neck radiotherapy, this study aims to compare MR image quality according to diagnostic (DIAG) and radiotherapy (RT) setups; and to optimise an MRI-protocol (including 3D T and T-weighted sequences) for dose-planning (based on pseudo-CT generation).

Materials And Methods: To compare DIAG and RT setups, signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and percentage-image-uniformity (PIU) were computed on T images of phantoms and volunteers. Influence of the sample conductivity on SNR was quantified using homemade phantoms.

Functional Characterization of CD11c Age-Associated B Cells as Memory B Cells.

Age-associated B cells (ABCs) are a unique subset of B cells defined by surface CD11b and CD11c expression. Although ABC expansion has been observed in both human and animal studies in the setting of advanced age, during humoral autoimmunity and following viral infection, the functional properties of this cellular subset remain incompletely defined. In the current study, we demonstrate that ABCs fulfill the criteria for memory B cells (MBCs), based on evidence of Ag-dependent expansion and persistence in a state poised for rapid differentiation into Ab-secreting plasma cells during secondary responses.

Comparison of Deep Learning-Based and Patch-Based Methods for Pseudo-CT Generation in MRI-Based Prostate Dose Planning.

Purpose: Deep learning methods (DLMs) have recently been proposed to generate pseudo-CT (pCT) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based dose planning. This study aims to evaluate and compare DLMs (U-Net and generative adversarial network [GAN]) using various loss functions (L2, single-scale perceptual loss [PL], multiscale PL, weighted multiscale PL) and a patch-based method (PBM).

Methods And Materials: Thirty-nine patients received a volumetric modulated arc therapy for prostate cancer (78 Gy).

Pseudo-CT Generation for MRI-Only Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning: Comparison Among Patch-Based, Atlas-Based, and Bulk Density Methods.

Purpose: Methods have been recently developed to generate pseudo-computed tomography (pCT) for dose calculation in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-only radiation therapy. This study aimed to propose an original nonlocal mean patch-based method (PBM) and to compare this PBM to an atlas-based method (ABM) and to a bulk density method (BDM) for prostate MRI-only radiation therapy.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-nine patients received a volumetric modulated arc therapy for prostate cancer.

Role of quantitative computed tomography texture analysis in the prediction of adherent perinephric fat.

Objective: To assess the performance of computed tomography (CT) texture analysis to predict the presence of adherent perinephric fat (APF).

Materials And Methods: Seventy patients with small renal tumors treated with robot-assisted partial nephrectomy were included. Patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of APF.

WT1 Is Necessary for the Proliferation and Migration of Cells of Renin Lineage Following Kidney Podocyte Depletion.

Wilms' tumor suppressor 1 (WT1) plays an important role in cell proliferation and mesenchymal-epithelial balance in normal development and disease. Here, we show that following podocyte depletion in three experimental models, and in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and membranous nephropathy, WT1 increased significantly in cells of renin lineage (CoRL). In an animal model of FSGS in RenWt1 reporter mice with inducible deletion of WT1 in CoRL, CoRL proliferation and migration to the glomerulus was reduced, and glomerular disease was worse compared with wild-type mice.

[MRI-based radiotherapy planning].

MRI-based radiotherapy planning is a topical subject due to the introduction of a new generation of treatment machines combining a linear accelerator and a MRI. One of the issues for introducing MRI in this task is the lack of information to provide tissue density information required for dose calculation. To cope with this issue, two strategies may be distinguished from the literature.