A National Cyberattack Affecting Radiation Therapy: The Irish Experience.

On Friday, May 14, 2021, the Health Service Executive, the organization providing public health services in the Republic of Ireland, was the victim of a significant cyberattack on its information technology systems. All systems were subsequently shut down to prevent further damage and to allow cybersecurity experts to investigate the attack. As a result, oncology services were severely disrupted, with the cessation of radiation therapy treatments in all public radiation therapy departments.

The identification of fall risk through tests of mediolateral stability during gait.

Introduction: Many falls in older adults are due to a loss of mediolateral stability during gait. This investigation examines if a simple beam-walking task can assess fall risk in older adults by taxing mediolateral control during gait.

Material And Methods: 50 older adults (65-96 yrs.

INSPEX: Optimize Range Sensors for Environment Perception as a Portable System.

Environment perception is crucial for the safe navigation of vehicles and robots to detect obstacles in their surroundings. It is also of paramount interest for navigation of human beings in reduced visibility conditions. Obstacle avoidance systems typically combine multiple sensing technologies (i.

Patellar dislocation: Not the bees knees.

Background: Patellar dislocations are common, particularly in the adolescent polulation. Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioners are healthcare professionals who can appropriately manage these injuries to minimise the risk of chronicity.

Methods: This is a case study which uses a clinical examplar from the authors practice focusing on the assessment, diagnosis and managment of patellar dislocations.

Inhibition of nuclear factor-kappa B activation decreases survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in human macrophages.

Nuclear factor-kappa B (NFκB) is a ubiquitous transcription factor that mediates pro-inflammatory responses required for host control of many microbial pathogens; on the other hand, NFκB has been implicated in the pathogenesis of other inflammatory and infectious diseases. Mice with genetic disruption of the p50 subunit of NFκB are more likely to succumb to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). However, the role of NFκB in host defense in humans is not fully understood.

An oxidative environment promotes growth of Mycobacterium abscessus.

Mycobacterium abscessus infections, particularly those causing chronic lung diseases, are becoming more prevalent worldwide. M. abscessus infections are difficult to treat because of antibiotic resistance.

IL-32 is a host protective cytokine against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in differentiated THP-1 human macrophages.

Macrophages provide a first line of defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, in instances where macrophage activation for killing is suboptimal, M. tuberculosis is capable of surviving intracellularly.

Suppression of IFNgamma+mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan-induced NO by IL-4 is due to decreased IRF-1 expression.

In mice, and possibly in humans, nitric oxide (NO) is an important host-defense molecule against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and NO are upregulated in murine macrophages stimulated with interferon-gamma (IFNgamma) and mannose-capped lipoarabinomannan (ManLAM), a major lipoglycan in the cell wall of M. tuberculosis.

Induction of IL-8 by Mycoplasma pneumoniae membrane in BEAS-2B cells.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an extracellular pathogen, residing on mucosal surfaces of the respiratory and genital tracts. The lack of cell walls in mycoplasmas facilitates the direct contact of the bacterial membrane with the host cell. The cell membrane of mycoplasma is the major inducer of the host pathogenic response.

Cone beam computed tomography guidance for setup of patients receiving accelerated partial breast irradiation.

Purpose: To evaluate the role of cone-beam CT (CBCT) guidance for setup error reduction and soft tissue visualization in accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI).

Methods And Materials: Twenty patients were recruited for the delivery of radiotherapy to the postoperative cavity (3850 cGy in 10 fractions over 5 days) using an APBI technique. Cone-beam CT data sets were acquired after an initial skin-mark setup and before treatment delivery.

Vasopressin for the septic burn patient.

Background: Exogenous arginine vasopressin (VP) has been increasingly used in the hemodynamic management of critically ill patients with septic shock, but its use in septic burn patients has not been systematically examined.

Purpose: To review our experience with the use of VP in septic burn patients.

Methods: Retrospective review of all patients who received VP at a tertiary care adult regional burn centre.

Risk of serious upper gastrointestinal toxicity with over-the-counter nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Background & Aims: Use of prescription nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NANSAIDs) increases the risk of serious upper gastrointestinal toxicity. Less is known about over-the-counter (OTC) NANSAIDs, which are typically used at lower doses and for shorter durations. This study assessed the risk of toxicity with OTC NANSAIDs.

Analysis of dose distribution in the 'Rind'--a volume outside the PTV--in 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy of non-small cell lung cancer.

Background And Purpose: Appropriate planning target volume (PTV) definition is critical for local disease eradication in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). When margins are added to the gross tumour volume (GTV) in the standard way, the PTV formed may be too large to facilitate dose escalation due to normal tissue tolerance. To increase the feasibility of dose escalation with 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), this study examines an alternative method for the formation of the PTV in NSCLC.

Conditioned locomotion in rats following amphetamine infusion into the nucleus accumbens: blockade by coincident inhibition of protein kinase A.

Recent studies demonstrate a role for cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKA) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in reward-related learning. To clarify this role, we assessed the effect of PKA inhibition on the unconditioned and conditioned locomotor activating properties of intra-NAc amphetamine. Rats underwent three 60 min conditioning sessions, pairing a test environment with bilateral co-infusions of amphetamine (25 microg/side) and the PKA inhibitor Rp-adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphothioate triethylamine (Rp-cAMPS) (0, 2.

HIV gag mRNA transfection of dendritic cells (DC) delivers encoded antigen to MHC class I and II molecules, causes DC maturation, and induces a potent human in vitro primary immune response.

Dendritic cells (DC) are the major APCs involved in naive T cell activation making them prime targets of vaccine research. We observed that mRNA was efficiently transfected, resulting in superior translation in DC compared with other professional APCs. A single stimulation of T cells by HIV gag-encoded mRNA-transfected DC in vitro resulted in primary CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell immune responses at frequencies of Ag-specific cells (5-12.

The impact of three-dimensional radiation on the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with locally advanced unresectable disease have a grim prognosis. Radiotherapeutic strategies are necessary to improve the permanent eradication of thoracic disease. The poor results achieved with conventional external beam radiation therapy reflect in part, the inadequacy of such therapy in achieving its primary objective of achieving local control.

Dose escalation of chart in non-small cell lung cancer: is three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy really necessary?

Purpose: To evaluate, preclinically, the potential for dose escalation of continuous, hyperfractionated, accelerated radiation therapy (CHART) for non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we examined the strategy of omission of elective nodal irradiation with and without the application of three-dimensional conformal radiation technology (3DCRT).

Methods And Materials: 2D, conventional therapy plans were designed according to the specifications of CHART for 18 patients with NSCLC (Stages Ib, IIb, IIIa, and IIIb). Further plans were generated with the omission of elective nodal irradiation (ENI) from the treatment portals (2D minus ENI plans [2D-ENI plans]).

Foster family care: an innovative home care option.

Home care agencies can extend the range of long-term care service they provide by including foster family care. With this care option, clients move into host homes, where they receive room, board, and other necessary care. Foster family care is yielding benefits to clients, care providers, and agencies alike--and it's helping to achieve long-term care cost savings.

An unbiased signal-to-noise ratio measure for magnetic resonance images.

Estimating the true signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of magnetic resonance (MR) images with low signal is confounded by the magnitude presentation of the data. This paper suggests a simple solution to this problem. A common method of measuring SNR compares the mean signal to the standard deviation of the noise.

Quantitative evaluation of several partial Fourier reconstruction algorithms used in MRI.

Partial Fourier reconstruction algorithms exploit the redundancy in magnetic resonance data sets so that half of the data is calculated during image reconstruction rather than acquired. The conjugate synthesis, Margosian, homodyne detection, Cuppen and POCS algorithms are evaluated using spatial frequency domain analysis to show their characteristics and where limitations may occur. The phase correction used in partial Fourier reconstruction is equivalent to a convolution in the frequency domain and the importance of accurately implementing this convolution is demonstrated.