Polygenic overlap with granulocyte counts identifies novel loci for clozapine metabolism and clozapine-induced agranulocytosis.

While clozapine is the most effective antipsychotic drug, its use is limited due to hematological adverse effects involving the reduction of granulocyte counts with potential life-threatening agranulocytosis. It is not yet possible to predict or prevent the risk of agranulocytosis, and the mechanisms are unknown but likely related to clozapine metabolism. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of clozapine metabolism and clozapine-induced agranulocytosis have identified few genetic loci.

Sister Mary Joseph's Nodule as a Cutaneous Expression of Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.

A Sister Mary Joseph's nodule (SMJN) is characterized by a palpable umbilical nodule and is often a clinical indicator of the metastasis of an advanced abdominal or pelvic malignancy. Observing the cutaneous manifestation of an abdomino-pelvic malignancy is a relatively rare phenomenon due to the appearance of visible changes in the later stages of the disease. With the pancreas being a less common primary tumor site for SMJN, this case report describes a 57-year-old male diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma with a SMJN.

Variable-RBE-induced NTCP predictions for various side-effects following proton therapy for brain tumors - Identification of high-risk patients and risk mitigation.

Background And Purpose: Disregarding the increase of relative biological effectiveness (RBE) may raise the risk of acute and late adverse events after proton beam therapy (PBT). This study aims to explore the relationship between variable RBE (above 1.1)-induced normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP) and patient-specific factors, identify patients at high risk of RBE-induced NTCP increase, and assess risk mitigation by incorporating RBE variability into treatment planning.

Experience Matters: Impact on Technical Success and Complication Rate in Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage.

Rationale And Objectives: To investigate factors influencing the success and complication rate of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD).

Materials And Methods: PTBD procedures between 2017 and 2022 were enrolled retrospectively. Success rate, complications, and technical considerations were compared using Mann-Whitney U-, X-, and Fishers exact tests.

Scalable mesoporous biochars from bagasse waste for Cu (II) removal: Process optimisation, kinetics and techno-economic analysis.

As the world faces the brink of climatological disaster, it is crucial to utilize all available resources to facilitate environmental remediation, especially by accommodating waste streams. Lignocellulosic waste residues can be transformed into mesoporous biochar structures with substantial pore capacity. While biochars are considered a method of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), they are in fact an environmental double-edged sword that can be used to extract metal ions from water bodies.

Artificial intelligence for response prediction and personalisation in radiation oncology.

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems may personalise radiotherapy by assessing complex and multifaceted patient data and predicting tumour and normal tissue responses to radiotherapy. Here we describe three distinct generations of AI systems, namely personalised radiotherapy based on pretreatment data, response-driven radiotherapy and dynamically optimised radiotherapy. Finally, we discuss the main challenges in clinical translation of AI systems for radiotherapy personalisation.

Diffusion decrease in normal-appearing white matter structures following photon or proton irradiation indicates differences in regional radiosensitivity.

Purpose: Radio(chemo)therapy (RCT) as part of the standard treatment of glioma patients, inevitably leads to radiation exposure of the tumor-surrounding normal-appearing (NA) tissues. The effect of radiotherapy on the brain microstructure can be assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The aim of this study was to analyze regional DTI changes of white matter (WM) structures and to determine their dose- and time-dependency.

Molecular simulation of [P8883][TfN] ionic liquid decorated silica in 6FDA-ODA based mixed matrix membrane for enhanced CO/CH separation.

Mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) have been reported to have considerable scope in gas separation applications because of their merged inherent strength of a durable polymer matrix and the exceptional performance capabilities of inorganic fillers. The selection of comparatively suitable polymers with fillers that can match each other and boost interfacial compatibility while ensuring uniform dispersion of filler within the polymer is still intensively demanding and is challenging at the experimental scale. Ionic liquids (ILs) are effective in promoting better dispersion and compatibility, leading to improved separation performance.

A deep-learning-based surrogate model for Monte-Carlo simulations of the linear energy transfer in primary brain tumor patients treated with proton-beam radiotherapy.

This study explores the use of neural networks (NNs) as surrogate models for Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations in predicting the dose-averaged linear energy transfer (LET) of protons in proton-beam therapy based on the planned dose distribution and patient anatomy in the form of computed tomography (CT) images. As LETis associated with variability in the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of protons, we also evaluate the implications of using NN predictions for normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models within a variable-RBE context.The predictive performance of three-dimensional NN architectures was evaluated using five-fold cross-validation on a cohort of brain tumor patients (= 151).

Comprehensive Analysis of Pressure Drop Phenomena in Rotating Packed Bed Distillation: An In-Depth Investigation.

A rotating packed bed (RPB) is an innovative intensification technology that improves its separation capabilities in high-gravity conditions. This process increases efficiency with smaller equipment size and footprint than conventional packed columns. Although significant advancements have been made regarding RPBs, most studies only focused on single or dual rotor configurations in addressing dry pressure drop.

Type I conventional dendritic cells and CD8 T cells predict favorable clinical outcome of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common tumor entities worldwide, with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection contributing to cancer development. Conventional therapies achieve only limited efficiency, especially in recurrent or metastatic HNSCC. As the immune landscape decisively impacts the survival of patients and treatment efficacy, this study comprehensively investigated the immunological tumor microenvironment (TME) and its association with patient outcome, with special focus on several dendritic cell (DC) and T lymphocyte subpopulations.

Removal of Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen Sulfide from Natural Gas Using a Hybrid Solvent of Monoethanolamine and -Methyl 2-Pyrrolidone.

The main goal of traditional methods for sweetening natural gas (NG) is to remove hydrogen sulfide (HS) and significantly lower carbon dioxide (CO). However, when NG processes are integrated into the carbon capture and storage (CCS) framework, there is potential for synergy between these two technologies. A steady-state model utilizing a hybrid solvent consisting of -methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and monoethanolamine (MEA) has been developed to successfully anticipate the CO and HS capture process from NG.

A review on recent advances of cellulose acetate membranes for gas separation.

This review thoroughly investigates the wide-ranging applications of cellulose-based materials, with a particular focus on their utility in gas separation processes. By focusing on cellulose acetate (CA), the review underscores its cost-effectiveness, robust mechanical attributes, and noteworthy CO solubility, positioning it as a frontrunner among polymeric gas separation membranes. The synthesis techniques for CA membranes are meticulously examined, and the discourse extends to polymeric blend membranes, underscoring their distinct advantages in gas separation applications.

Correlation of microscopic tumor extension with tumor microenvironment in esophageal cancer patients.

Objective: In the era of image-guided adaptive radiotherapy, definition of the clinical target volume (CTV) is a challenge in various solid tumors, including esophageal cancer (EC). Many tumor microenvironmental factors, e.g.

Transfusions of packed red blood cells in surgery for liver cancer: predictor of impaired overall survival but not recurrence-free survival - impact of blood transfusions in liver surgery.

Background: Liver surgery remains a cornerstone of potentially curative multimodal treatments for primary malignancies of the liver and hepatic metastases. Improving perioperative safety is a prerequisite in this context. Perioperative blood transfusions negatively influence postoperative recovery.

Dose and dose rate dependence of the tissue sparing effect at ultra-high dose rate studied for proton and electron beams using the zebrafish embryo model.

Purpose: A better characterization of the dependence of the tissue sparing effect at ultra-high dose rate (UHDR) on physical beam parameters (dose, dose rate, radiation quality) would be helpful towards a mechanistic understanding of the FLASH effect and for its broader clinical translation. To address this, a comprehensive study on the normal tissue sparing at UHDR using the zebrafish embryo (ZFE) model was conducted.

Methods: One-day-old ZFE were irradiated over a wide dose range (15-95 Gy) in three different beams (proton entrance channel, proton spread out Bragg peak and 30 MeV electrons) at UHDR and reference dose rate.

Radiomics for residual tumour detection and prognosis in newly diagnosed glioblastoma based on postoperative [C] methionine PET and T1c-w MRI.

Personalized treatment strategies based on non-invasive biomarkers have potential to improve patient management in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM). The residual tumour burden after surgery in GBM patients is a prognostic imaging biomarker. However, in clinical patient management, its assessment is a manual and time-consuming process that is at risk of inter-rater variability.

Epigenetic Targeting to Overcome Radioresistance in Head and Neck Cancer.

(1) Background: The sensitivity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) to ionizing radiation, among others, is determined by the number of cells with high clonogenic potential and stem-like features. These cellular characteristics are dynamically regulated in response to treatment and may lead to an enrichment of radioresistant cells with a cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype. Epigenetic mechanisms, particularly DNA and histone methylation, are key regulators of gene-specific transcription and cellular plasticity.

The Image Biomarker Standardization Initiative: Standardized Convolutional Filters for Reproducible Radiomics and Enhanced Clinical Insights.

Filters are commonly used to enhance specific structures and patterns in images, such as vessels or peritumoral regions, to enable clinical insights beyond the visible image using radiomics. However, their lack of standardization restricts reproducibility and clinical translation of radiomics decision support tools. In this special report, teams of researchers who developed radiomics software participated in a three-phase study (September 2020 to December 2022) to establish a standardized set of filters.

Comparative analysis of radiomics and deep-learning algorithms for survival prediction in hepatocellular carcinoma.

To examine the comparative robustness of computed tomography (CT)-based conventional radiomics and deep-learning convolutional neural networks (CNN) to predict overall survival (OS) in HCC patients. Retrospectively, 114 HCC patients with pretherapeutic CT of the liver were randomized into a development (n = 85) and a validation (n = 29) cohort, including patients of all tumor stages and several applied therapies. In addition to clinical parameters, image annotations of the liver parenchyma and of tumor findings on CT were available.

ALDH1A1 drives prostate cancer metastases and radioresistance by interplay with AR- and RAR-dependent transcription.

Current therapies for metastatic osseous disease frequently fail to provide a durable treatment response. To date, there are only limited therapeutic options for metastatic prostate cancer, the mechanisms that drive the survival of metastasis-initiating cells are poorly characterized, and reliable prognostic markers are missing. A high aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity has been long considered a marker of cancer stem cells (CSC).