Monte Carlo in the mechanistic modelling of the FLASH effect: a review.

FLASH radiotherapy employs ultra-high dose rates of >40 Gy/s, which may reduce normal tissue complication as compared to conventional dose rate treatments, while still ensuring the same level of tumour control. The potential benefit this can offer to patients has been the cause of great interest within the radiation oncology community, but this has not translated to a direct understanding of the FLASH effect. The oxygen depletion and inter-track interaction hypotheses are currently the leading explanations as to the mechanisms behind FLASH, but these are still not well understood, with many questions remaining about the exact underpinnings of FLASH and the treatment parameters required to optimally induce it.

Microbial DNA sample preservation and possible artifacts for field-based research in remote tropical peatlands.

Surveying bacterial and archaeal microbial communities in host and environmental studies requires the collection and storage of samples. Many studies are conducted in distant locations challenging these prerequisites. The use of preserving buffers is an important alternative when lacking access to cryopreservation, however, its effectivity for samples with challenging chemistry or samples that provide opportunities for fast bacterial or archaeal growth upon exposure to an aerobic environment, like peat samples, requires methodological assessment.

New insights into the signal transduction mechanism of O-sensing FixL and other biological heme-based sensor proteins.

Recent structural and biophysical studies of O-sensing FixL, NO-sensing soluble guanylate cyclase, and other biological heme-based sensing proteins have begun to reveal the details of their molecular mechanisms and shed light on how nature regulates important biological processes such as nitrogen fixation, blood pressure, neurotransmission, photosynthesis and circadian rhythm. The O-sensing FixL protein from S. meliloti, the eukaryotic NO-sensing protein sGC, and the CO-sensing CooA protein from R.

Transformer CycleGAN with uncertainty estimation for CBCT based synthetic CT in adaptive radiotherapy.

. Clinical implementation of synthetic CT (sCT) from cone-beam CT (CBCT) for adaptive radiotherapy necessitates a high degree of anatomical integrity, Hounsfield unit (HU) accuracy, and image quality. To achieve these goals, a vision-transformer and anatomically sensitive loss functions are described.

Photoacoustic Calorimetry Studies of O-Sensing FixL and (R200, I209) Variants from Reveal Conformational Changes Coupled to Ligand Photodissociation from the Heme-PAS Domain.

FixL is an oxygen-sensing heme-PAS protein that regulates nitrogen fixation in the root nodules of plants. In this paper, we present the first photothermal studies of the full-length wild-type FixL protein from and the first thermodynamic profile of a full-length heme-PAS protein. Photoacoustic calorimetry studies reveal a quadriphasic relaxation for FixL*WT and the five variant proteins (FixL*R200H, FixL*R200Q, FixL*R200E, FixL*R200A, and FixL*I209M) with four intermediates from <20 ns to ∼1.

Developing machine learning systems worthy of trust for infection science: a requirement for future implementation into clinical practice.

Infection science is a discipline of healthcare which includes clinical microbiology, public health microbiology, mechanisms of microbial disease, and antimicrobial countermeasures. The importance of infection science has become more apparent in recent years during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent highlighting of critical operational domains within infection science including the hospital, clinical laboratory, and public health environments to prevent, manage, and treat infectious diseases. However, as the global community transitions beyond the pandemic, the importance of infection science remains, with emerging infectious diseases, bloodstream infections, sepsis, and antimicrobial resistance becoming increasingly significant contributions to the burden of global disease.

Machine learning pipeline for blood culture outcome prediction using Sysmex XN-2000 blood sample results in Western Australia.

Background: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are a significant burden on the global population and represent a key area of focus in the hospital environment. Blood culture (BC) testing is the standard diagnostic test utilised to confirm the presence of a BSI. However, current BC testing practices result in low positive yields and overuse of the diagnostic test.

The Safety of Inpatient Health Care.

Background: Adverse events during hospitalization are a major cause of patient harm, as documented in the 1991 Harvard Medical Practice Study. Patient safety has changed substantially in the decades since that study was conducted, and a more current assessment of harm during hospitalization is warranted.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to assess the frequency, preventability, and severity of patient harm in a random sample of admissions from 11 Massachusetts hospitals during the 2018 calendar year.

Trend of Incidence of Ocular Injury in Service Members of the U.S. Armed Forces in 2016-2019.

Purpose: Ocular injuries pose a significant threat to performance of military functions by the U.S. service members.

Association of Chlorhexidine Use and Scaling and Root Planing With Birth Outcomes in Pregnant Individuals With Periodontitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Importance: Chlorhexidine mouthwash enhances treatment effects of conventional periodontal treatment, but data on chlorhexidine as a source of heterogeneity in meta-analyses assessing the treatment of maternal periodontitis in association with birth outcomes are lacking.

Objective: To assess possible heterogeneity by chlorhexidine use in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of periodontal treatment (ie, scaling and root planing [SRP]) vs no treatment on birth outcomes.

Data Sources: Cochrane Oral Health's Trials Register, Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's Trials Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE Ovid, Embase Ovid, LILACS BIREME Virtual Health Library (Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Information database), US National Institutes of Health Ongoing Trials Register (ClinicalTrials.

Coupled abiotic-biotic cycling of nitrous oxide in tropical peatlands.

Atmospheric nitrous oxide (NO) is a potent greenhouse gas thought to be mainly derived from microbial metabolism as part of the denitrification pathway. Here we report that in unexplored peat soils of Central and South America, NO production can be driven by abiotic reactions (≤98%) highly competitive to their enzymatic counterparts. Extracted soil iron positively correlated with in situ abiotic NO production determined by isotopic tracers.

Deep learning methods for enhancing cone-beam CT image quality toward adaptive radiation therapy: A systematic review.

The use of deep learning (DL) to improve cone-beam CT (CBCT) image quality has gained popularity as computational resources and algorithmic sophistication have advanced in tandem. CBCT imaging has the potential to facilitate online adaptive radiation therapy (ART) by utilizing up-to-date patient anatomy to modify treatment parameters before irradiation. Poor CBCT image quality has been an impediment to realizing ART due to the increased scatter conditions inherent to cone-beam acquisitions.

A new approach to categorization of ocular injury among U.S. Armed Forces.

This report describes a new approach to categorizing ocular injury using Military Health System data, the application of an algorithm to a dataset, and the verification of the results using an audit of clinical data. Based on health care encounter data, an algorithm was developed to systematically document the occurrence of specific complications and medical procedures in the 12 months following initial ocular injuries. The injuries were classified into 1 of 2 groups: "uncomplicated injury" with no complications or medical procedures and "complicated injury" with complications and/or medical procedures.

Delineating the Drivers and Functionality of Methanogenic Niches within an Arid Landfill.

Microbial communities mediate the transformation of organic matter within landfills into methane (CH). Yet their ecological role in CH production is rarely evaluated. To characterize the microbiome associated with this biotransformation, the overall community and methanogenic were surveyed in an arid landfill using leachate collected from distinctly aged landfill cells (i.

Decreasing Tryptophan and Increasing Neopterin Plasma Levels During Pregnancy are Associated with High First Trimester K-Serotype IgG Serointensity in a Cohort of Hispanic Women.

Background: Immune activation or high levels of stress may lead to increased metabolism of tryptophan during pregnancy. Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), the "keystone" periodontal pathogen, induces immune and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) activation. Thus, we hypothesized that larger gestational decreases in tryptophan and elevations in neopterin and kynurenine would occur in pregnant women with elevated IgG antibodies to Pg capsular (K) serotypes.

Both real-time and long-term environmental data perform well in predicting shorebird distributions in managed habitat.

Highly mobile species, such as migratory birds, respond to seasonal and interannual variability in resource availability by moving to better habitats. Despite the recognized importance of resource thresholds, species-distribution models typically rely on long-term average habitat conditions, mostly because large-extent, temporally resolved, environmental data are difficult to obtain. Recent advances in remote sensing make it possible to incorporate more frequent measurements of changing landscapes; however, there is often a cost in terms of model building and processing and the added value of such efforts is unknown.

Reaching Herd Immunity During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: What School Nurses Need to Know.

The National Association of School Nurses supports pandemic control efforts. School nurses are advocates for their students, caregivers, school staff, teachers, and school administrators. With a clear understanding of how the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) virus evolves over time and changes transmissibility through mutations, school nurses gain understanding in epidemiologic calculation of herd immunity.

Incidence of Optic Neuritis and the Associated Risk of Multiple Sclerosis for Service Members of U.S. Armed Forces.

Introduction: Optic neuritis (ON), an acute inflammation of the optic nerve resulting in eye pain and temporary vision loss, is one of the leading causes of vision-related hospital bed days in the U.S. Military and may be a harbinger of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Effecting change in academic dentistry through small groups.

Purpose/objective: The work of faculty, staff, and students is driven by their alignment with an institution's vision and purpose, as set forth in its strategic plan. Any plan that calls for innovative growth must address certain aspects of organizational culture as roadblocks to success and should foster relationship building to achieve long-standing progress. This demonstration project investigates a method for effecting change through a Small Group Initiative (SGI).

Vaccine Strategy During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: What School Nurses Need to Know.

The National Association of School Nurses supports immunization to reduce the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases. School nurses have the obligation to discern and understand vaccine strategies to aid in the advocacy and education of their school administrators, faculty, staff, students, and caregivers. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread to all continents, and the total number of those infected or immune through effective vaccination is well below the estimated need for herd immunity.

'Face time' for the first time: Video communication between relatives and junior doctors in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Working on a COVID-19 ward presents a number of challenges to staff, with communication between families, patients and staff being highlighted as a key challenge. Novel methods are needed to overcome the barriers presented by COVID-19, with many turning to technology to offer solutions. Recognising these challenges as an area for improvement on our own ward, we sought to introduce new methods of communication to improve patient, relative and staff understanding and wellbeing.