SMAC mimetics induce human macrophages to phagocytose live cancer cells.

Macrophages engulf apoptotic bodies and cellular debris as part of homeostasis, but they can also phagocytose live cells such as aged red blood cells. Pharmacologic reprogramming with the SMAC mimetic LCL161 in combination with T cell-derived cytokines can induce macrophages to phagocytose live cancer cells in mouse models. Here we extend these findings to encompass a wide range of monovalent and bivalent SMAC mimetic compounds, demonstrating that live cell phagocytosis is a class effect of these agents.

Association of Disease-Modifying Treatment With Outcome in Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis and Isolated MRI Activity.

Background And Objectives: Isolated value of MRI metrics in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) as a surrogate marker of response to disease-modifying treatment (DMT) and, thus, as decision criteria for DMT escalation in the absence of clinical signs of disease activity is still a matter of debate. The aim of this study was to investigate whether DMT escalation based on isolated MRI activity affects clinical outcome.

Methods: Combining data from 5 MS centers in Austria and Switzerland, we included patients with RMS aged at least 18 years who (1) had initiated first-line, low-to-moderate-efficacy DMT (interferon β, glatiramer acetate, teriflunomide, or dimethyl fumarate) continued for ≥12 months, (2) were clinically stable (no relapses or disability progression) on DMT for 12 months, (3) had MRI at baseline and after 12 months on DMT, and (4) had available clinical follow-up for ≥2 years after the second MRI.

Cold-induced expression of a truncated adenylyl cyclase 3 acts as rheostat to brown fat function.

Promoting brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity innovatively targets obesity and metabolic disease. While thermogenic activation of BAT is well understood, the rheostatic regulation of BAT to avoid excessive energy dissipation remains ill-defined. Here, we demonstrate that adenylyl cyclase 3 (AC3) is key for BAT function.

Advancing in vivo reprogramming with synthetic biology.

Reprogramming cells will play a fundamental role in shaping the future of cell therapies by developing new strategies to engineer cells for improved performance and higher-order physiological functions. Approaches in synthetic biology harness cells' natural ability to sense diverse signals, integrate environmental inputs to make decisions, and execute complex behaviors based on the health of the organism or tissue. In this review, we highlight strategies in synthetic biology to reprogram cells, and discuss how recent approaches in the delivery of modified mRNA have created new opportunities to alter cell function in vivo.

2022 Recommendations of the AFU Lithiasis Committee: Diagnosis.

The choice of imaging modality is guided by the clinical presentation and the context (acute or not). Although ultrasound is safe (no radiation) and easily available, non-contrast-enhanced CT has become the gold standard in the diagnostic strategy for patients with acute flank pain because of its sensitivity (93.1%) and specificity (96.

AdipoQ-a simple, open-source software to quantify adipocyte morphology and function in tissues and in vitro.

The different adipose tissues (ATs) can be distinguished according to their function. For example, white AT stores energy in form of lipids, whereas brown AT dissipates energy in the form of heat. These functional differences are represented in the respective adipocyte morphology; whereas white adipocytes contain large, unilocular lipid droplets, brown adipocytes contain smaller, multilocular lipid droplets.

A cAMP signalosome in primary cilia drives gene expression and kidney cyst formation.

The primary cilium constitutes an organelle that orchestrates signal transduction independently from the cell body. Dysregulation of this intricate molecular architecture leads to severe human diseases, commonly referred to as ciliopathies. However, the molecular underpinnings how ciliary signaling orchestrates a specific cellular output remain elusive.

Development of oxaalkyne and alkyne fatty acids as novel tracers to study fatty acid beta-oxidation pathways and intermediates.

Fatty acid beta-oxidation is a key process in mammalian lipid catabolism. Disturbance of this process results in severe clinical symptoms, including dysfunction of the liver, a major beta-oxidizing tissue. For a thorough understanding of this process, a comprehensive analysis of involved fatty acid and acyl-carnitine intermediates is desired, but capable methods are lacking.

Evaluation of the female bladder neck and urethra using MRI with fiber tractography: Prospective study on a large cohort of continent women.

Aims: To prospectively evaluate the performance of a last generation magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device with tractography to identify the normal female urethral sphincters in terms of morphology and quantification on a large cohort of continent women.

Methods: We have recorded the data of 75 continent women who underwent a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) sequence with fiber tractography during a pelvic MR examination. Three groups of age were analyzed in terms of color fiber tracking quality and quantitative parameters (fractional anisotropy [FA] and mean diffusibility [MD]).

COVID-19 in Patients with Cancer: A Retrospective Study of 212 Cases from a French SARS-CoV-2 Cluster During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We describe a large series of patients with solid tumors in an early COVID-19 cluster in the eastern part of France. From February to May 2020, this multicenter retrospective study enrolled 212 patients with cancer under treatment or on follow-up for any type of malignant solid tumor and positive for SARS-CoV-2. The mortality rate was 30%.

Factors associated with coinfections in invasive aspergillosis: a retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To describe the coinfections in invasive aspergillosis (IA), to identify factors associated with coinfections, and to evaluate the impact of coinfection on mortality.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a monocentric retrospective study of consecutive putative, probable, or proven IA that occurred between 1997 and 2017. All coinfections, with an onset within 7 days before or after the first sign of aspergillosis, were identified.

Radiomics in the evaluation of lung nodules: Intrapatient concordance between full-dose and ultra-low-dose chest computed tomography.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the quantitative and qualitative intrapatient concordance of pulmonary nodule risk assessment by commercially available radiomics software between full-dose (FD) chest-CT and ultra-low-dose (ULD) chest CT.

Materials And Methods: Between July 2013 and September 2015, 68 patients (52 men and16 women; mean age, 65.5±10.

Normal chest CT in 1091 symptomatic patients with confirmed Covid-19: frequency, characteristics and outcome.

Objective: Frequency of normal chest CT in symptomatic COVID-19 patients as well as the outcome of these patients remains unknown. The objectives of this work were to assess the incidence of initially normal chest CT in a cohort of consecutive confirmed COVID-19 patients with respiratory symptoms and to compare their clinical characteristics and their outcome to matched patients with typical COVID-19 lesions at initial CT.

Methods: From March 6 to April 22, all consecutive adult patients referred to the COVID-19 clinic of our Emergency Department were retrospectively analyzed.

Clinical characteristics of and outcomes for patients with COVID-19 and comorbid lung diseases primarily hospitalized in a conventional pulmonology unit: A retrospective study.

Background: Scant data are currently available about a potential link between comorbid chronic lung diseases (CLD) and the risk and severity of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection.

Methods: To describe the clinical characteristics of and outcomes for patients with COVID-19 infection, including patients with comorbid respiratory diseases, who have been primarily hospitalized in the pulmonology department of Strasbourg University Hospital, France. In this retrospective, single-center study, we included all confirmed cases of COVID-19 from March 3 to April 15, 2020.

Temporal variations in the diagnostic performance of chest CT for Covid-19 depending on disease prevalence: Experience from North-Eastern France.

Rationale And Objective: The purpose of this work was to analyze temporal variations in the diagnostic performance of chest CT for Covid-19 throughout the first wave, depending on disease prevalence variations between the ascending, peak and descending phases of the epidemic in North-Eastern France.

Materials And Methods: From March 6th to April 22nd 2020, all consecutive adult patients referred to the "Covid-19 clinic" of our Emergency Department with the availability of chest CT and of at least one RT-PCR result were retrospectively included in the present study. Chest CT was considered positive when typical Covid-19 lesions were observed (bilateral and predominantly peripheral and sub-pleural ground glass opacities and/or alveolar consolidations).

The Importance of Autopsy in a Case of Digestive Perforation Undetected by Postmortem Computed Tomography.

Cases of foreign body ingestion in the forensic literature are mainly described in children or psychiatric patients. Postmortem imaging can detect most foreign bodies, but its sensitivity depends, among other things, on the type of item and its location. In some cases, the ingestion of foreign bodies can remain unnoticed and have serious consequences for the patient.

Acute adrenal infarction as an incidental CT finding and a potential prognosis factor in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection: a retrospective cohort analysis on 219 patients.

Objectives: To retrospectively investigate the incidence of acute adrenal infarction (AAI) in patients who underwent chest CT for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and to correlate findings with prognosis.

Methods: The local ethics committee approved this retrospective study and waived the need of informed consent. From March 9 to April 10, 2020, all patients referred to our institution for a clinical suspicion of COVID-19 with moderate to severe symptoms underwent a chest CT for triage.

SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia in Hospitalized Asthmatic Patients Did Not Induce Severe Exacerbation.

Background: Viral infections are known to exacerbate asthma in adults. Previous studies have found few patients with asthma among severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia cases. However, the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe asthma exacerbation is not known.

Shear-wave elastography of the testicle: potential role of the stiffness value in various common testicular diseases.

Aim: To assess the value and efficacy of real-time shear-wave elastography (SWE) of normal testicular parenchyma and various common testicular diseases in clinical practice.

Materials And Methods: SWE was undertaken in 338 patients (mean age: 43.2±17.

Multiplexed and single cell tracing of lipid metabolism.

Cellular lipid metabolism is a complex network process comprising dozens of enzymes, multiple organelles and more than a thousand lipid species. Tracing metabolic reactions in this network is a major technological and scientific challenge. Using a click-chemistry mass spectrometry reporter strategy, we have developed a specific, highly sensitive and robust tracing procedure for alkyne-labeled lipids.

Wide-volume versus helical acquisition in unenhanced chest CT: prospective intra-patient comparison of diagnostic accuracy and radiation dose in an ultra-low-dose setting.

Objectives: Diagnostic performance and potential radiation dose reduction of wide-area detector CT sequential acquisition ("wide-volume" acquisition (WV)) in unenhanced chest examination are unknown. This study aims to assess the image quality, the diagnostic performance, and the radiation dose reduction of WV mode compared with the classical helical acquisition for lung parenchyma analysis in an ultra-low-dose (ULD) protocol.

Methods: After Institutional Review Board Approval and written informed consent, 64 patients (72% men; 67.

Ultra-low-dose unenhanced chest CT: Prospective comparison of high kV/low mA versus low kV/high mA protocols.

Purpose: To qualitatively and quantitatively compare unenhanced ultra-low-dose chest computed tomography (ULD-CT) acquired at 80kVp and 135kVp.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-one patients referred for unenhanced chest CT were prospectively included. There were 29 men and 22 women, with a mean age of 64.

Prospective evaluation of ultra-low-dose contrast-enhanced 100-kV abdominal computed tomography with tin filter: effect on radiation dose reduction and image quality with a third-generation dual-source CT system.

Objectives: To investigate the radiation dose exposure, image quality, and diagnostic performance of enhanced 100-kVp abdominopelvic single-energy CT protocol with tin filter (TF).

Methods: Ninety-three consecutive patients referred for a single-phase enhanced abdominopelvic CT were prospectively included after informed consent. They underwent in addition to a standard protocol (SP) an acquisition with TF.

Wide volume versus helical acquisition using 320-detector row computed tomography for computed tomography urography in adults.

Purpose: To evaluate the best collimation used in wide volume (WV) mode to cover the abdomen in computed tomography (CT) urography in terms of radiation dose and image quality.

Materials And Methods: This study was performed on a 320×0.5mm detector row CT unit.