Current State and Outlook in Medical 3D Printing and the Role of Radiology.

Medical three-dimensional (3D) printing is playing an increasingly important role in clinical practice. The use of 3D printed models in patient care offers a wide range of possibilities in terms of personalized medicine, training and education of medical professionals, and communication with patients. DICOM files from imaging modalities such as CT and MRI provide the basis for the majority of the 3D models in medicine.

Lateral atrial septal defect closure with induced ventricular fibrillation versus cardioplegic arrest.

Unlabelled: Minimally invasive surgical closure of atrial septal defects is gaining widespread acceptance and can be performed via a right midaxillary thoracotomy. In addition, the procedure can be performed in ischaemic cardiac arrest or fibrillation with a core body temperature between 34°C and 36°C.

Objectives: We present our single-centre results of paediatric patients who underwent surgical atrial septal defect II closure via lateral thoracotomy.

Pyramidal neurons form active, transient, multilayered circuits perturbed by autism-associated mutations at the inception of neocortex.

Cortical circuits are composed predominantly of pyramidal-to-pyramidal neuron connections, yet their assembly during embryonic development is not well understood. We show that mouse embryonic Rbp4-Cre cortical neurons, transcriptomically closest to layer 5 pyramidal neurons, display two phases of circuit assembly in vivo. At E14.

BDNF signaling in correlation-dependent structural plasticity in the developing visual system.

During development, patterned neural activity instructs topographic map refinement. Axons with similar patterns of neural activity converge onto target neurons and stabilize their synapses with these postsynaptic partners, restricting exploratory branch elaboration (Hebbian structural plasticity). On the other hand, non-correlated firing in inputs leads to synapse weakening and increased exploratory growth of axons (Stentian structural plasticity).

Nanoscale Electron Transfer Variations at Electrocatalyst-Electrolyte Interfaces Resolved by Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy.

Rational innovation of electrocatalysts requires detailed knowledge of spatial property variations across the solid-electrolyte interface. We introduce correlative atomic force microscopy (AFM) to simultaneously probe, and at the nanoscale, electrical conductivity, chemical-frictional, and morphological properties of a bimetallic copper-gold system for CO electroreduction. In air, water, and bicarbonate electrolyte, current-voltage curves reveal resistive CuO islands in line with local current contrasts, while frictional imaging indicates qualitative variations in the hydration layer molecular ordering upon change from water to electrolyte.

General anesthesia globally synchronizes activity selectively in layer 5 cortical pyramidal neurons.

General anesthetics induce loss of consciousness, a global change in behavior. However, a corresponding global change in activity in the context of defined cortical cell types has not been identified. Here, we show that spontaneous activity of mouse layer 5 pyramidal neurons, but of no other cortical cell type, becomes consistently synchronized in vivo by different general anesthetics.

Cell Types of the Human Retina and Its Organoids at Single-Cell Resolution.

Human organoids recapitulating the cell-type diversity and function of their target organ are valuable for basic and translational research. We developed light-sensitive human retinal organoids with multiple nuclear and synaptic layers and functional synapses. We sequenced the RNA of 285,441 single cells from these organoids at seven developmental time points and from the periphery, fovea, pigment epithelium and choroid of light-responsive adult human retinas, and performed histochemistry.

Stentian structural plasticity in the developing visual system.

In a small fraction of tadpoles, a single retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axon misprojects to the ipsilateral optic tectum. Presenting flashes of light to the ipsilateral eye causes that ipsilateral axon to fire, whereas stimulating the contralateral eye excites all other RGC inputs to the tectum. We performed time-lapse imaging of individual ipsilaterally projecting axons while stimulating either the ipsilateral or contralateral eye.

Patient-specific instrumentation improved three-dimensional accuracy in total knee arthroplasty: a comparative radiographic analysis of 1257 total knee arthroplasties.

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare restoration of mechanical limb alignment and three-dimensional component-positioning between conventional and patient-specific instrumentation in total knee arthroplasty.

Methods: Radiographic data of patients undergoing mobile-bearing total knee arthroplasty (n = 1257), using either conventional (n = 442) or patient-specific instrumentation (n = 812), were analyzed. To evaluate accuracy of axis restoration and 3D-component-positioning between conventional and patient-specific instrumentation, absolute deviations from the targeted neutral mechanical limb alignment and planned implant positions were determined.

Anoctamin-6 regulates ADAM sheddase function.

ADAM17, a prominent member of the "Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase" (ADAM) family, controls vital cellular functions through cleavage of transmembrane substrates including TGF-alpha, Amphiregulin (AREG) and TNF-Receptor 1 (TNFR1). We recently presented evidence that surface exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) is pivotal for ADAM17 to exert sheddase activity. Anoctamin-6 (ANO6) has Ca-dependent phospholipid scramblase activity and it followed that the functions of ANO6 and ADAM17 might be linked.

Azathioprine-induced reversible EBV-associated Hodgkin-like lymphoma after immunosuppressive therapy for autoimmune hepatitis .

The use of immunosuppressive agents is associated with an increased risk of the development of certain types of malignancies, particularly lymphoma. Many of these lymphomas are associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which might be reactivated under immunosuppression. We present the case of a patient with an autoimmune hepatitis who developed EBV-associated Hodgkin-like lymphoma under immunosuppressive treatment with azathioprine.

Virus stamping for targeted single-cell infection in vitro and in vivo.

Genetic engineering by viral infection of single cells is useful to study complex systems such as the brain. However, available methods for infecting single cells have drawbacks that limit their applications. Here we describe 'virus stamping', in which viruses are reversibly bound to a delivery vehicle-a functionalized glass pipette tip or magnetic nanoparticles in a pipette-that is brought into physical contact with the target cell on a surface or in tissue, using mechanical or magnetic forces.

Severe Drug-Induced Liver Injury as an Adverse Drug Event of Antibiotics: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Drug-induced liver injury is one of the main reasons for acute liver failure. We report the case of a young patient who experienced a drug-induced liver injury resulting in life-threatening acute liver failure after treatment with different antibiotics (amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, cefazolin, clindamycin) and acetaminophen, or a combination of these drugs. Moreover, we provide an overview of the hepatotoxic potential of these drugs.

Rules for Shaping Neural Connections in the Developing Brain.

It is well established that spontaneous activity in the developing mammalian brain plays a fundamental role in setting up the precise connectivity found in mature sensory circuits. Experiments that produce abnormal activity or that systematically alter neural firing patterns during periods of circuit development strongly suggest that the specific patterns and the degree of correlation in firing may contribute in an instructive manner to circuit refinement. In fish and amphibians, unlike amniotic vertebrates, sensory input directly drives patterned activity during the period of initial projection outgrowth and innervation.

Peptide engineered microcantilevers for selective chemical force microscopy and monitoring of nanoparticle capture.

Engineered peptides capable of binding to silica have been used to provide contrast in chemical force microscopy and tested for their capacity to selectively capture silica nanoparticles (NPs). Gold coated atomic force microscopy (AFM) microcantilevers with integrated tips and colloidal probes were functionalized with engineered peptides through a thiol group of a terminal cysteine which was linked via a glycine trimer to a 12-mer binding sequence. The functionalized probes demonstrated a significantly increased binding force on silicon oxide areas of a gold-patterned silicon wafer, whereas plain gold probes, and those functionalized with a random permutation of the silica binding peptide motif or an all-histidine sequence displayed similar adhesion forces to gold and silicon oxide.

Thickness-Dependent Hydrophobicity of Epitaxial Graphene.

This article addresses the much debated question whether the degree of hydrophobicity of single-layer graphene (1LG) is different from that of double-layer graphene (2LG). Knowledge of the water affinity of graphene and its spatial variations is critically important as it can affect the graphene properties as well as the performance of graphene devices exposed to humidity. By employing chemical force microscopy with a probe rendered hydrophobic by functionalization with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS), the adhesion force between the probe and epitaxial graphene on SiC has been measured in deionized water.

Rapid Hebbian axonal remodeling mediated by visual stimulation.

We examined how correlated firing controls axon remodeling, using in vivo time-lapse imaging and electrophysiological analysis of individual retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons that were visually stimulated either synchronously or asynchronously relative to neighboring inputs in the Xenopus laevis optic tectum. RGCs stimulated out of synchrony rapidly lost the ability to drive tectal postsynaptic partners while their axons grew and added many new branches. In contrast, synchronously activated RGCs produced fewer new branches, but these were more stable.

Size dependence of shape and stiffness of single sessile oil nanodroplets as measured by atomic force microscopy.

This article presents results and guidelines on the quantitative analysis of size, shape, and stiffness of single sessile oil droplets in air and in water. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) facilitates the analysis of micro- and nanoscale droplets which are of growing importance for agrochemicals, cosmetics, or foodstuffs containing emulsions with nanoscale compartments or droplets. Measurement of droplet shape and stiffness provides information on the contact angle with the support surface as well as the interfacial tension of the liquid-liquid interface.

Facile synthesis of titania nanowires via a hot filament method and conductometric measurement of their response to hydrogen sulfide gas.

Titania nanostructures are of increasing interest for a variety of applications, including photovoltaics, water splitting, and chemical sensing. Because of the photocatalytical properties of TiO₂, chemical processes that occur at its surface can be exploited for highly efficient nanodevices. A facile and fast synthesis route has been explored that is free of catalysts or templates.

A CANDLE for a deeper in vivo insight.

A new Collaborative Approach for eNhanced Denoising under Low-light Excitation (CANDLE) is introduced for the processing of 3D laser scanning multiphoton microscopy images. CANDLE is designed to be robust for low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions typically encountered when imaging deep in scattering biological specimens. Based on an optimized non-local means filter involving the comparison of filtered patches, CANDLE locally adapts the amount of smoothing in order to deal with the noise inhomogeneity inherent to laser scanning fluorescence microscopy images.

Overton's rule helps to estimate the penetration of anti-infectives into patients' cerebrospinal fluid.

In 1900, Ernst Overton found that the entry of anilin dyes through the cell membranes of living cells depended on the lipophilicity of the dyes. The brain is surrounded by barriers consisting of lipid layers that possess several inward and outward active transport systems. In the absence of meningeal inflammation, the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) penetration of anti-infectives in humans estimated by the ratio of the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) in CSF (AUC(CSF)) to that in serum (AUC(CSF)/AUC(S)) correlated positively with the lipid-water partition coefficient at pH 7.

The neurobiology of Etruscan shrew active touch.

The Etruscan shrew, Suncus etruscus, is not only the smallest terrestrial mammal, but also one of the fastest and most tactile hunters described to date. The shrew's skeletal muscle consists entirely of fast-twitch types and lacks slow fibres. Etruscan shrews detect, overwhelm, and kill insect prey in large numbers in darkness.

Active touch during shrew prey capture.

Although somatosensation in multiple whisker systems has been studied in considerable detail, relatively little information is available regarding whisker usage and movement patterns during natural behaviors. The Etruscan shrew, one of the smallest mammals, relies heavily on its whisker system to detect and kill its highly mobile insect prey. Here, we tracked whisker and body motion during prey capture.