Augmented reality in neurovascular surgery: feasibility and first uses in the operating room.

Purpose: The aim of this report is to present a prototype augmented reality (AR) intra-operative brain imaging system. We present our experience of using this new neuronavigation system in neurovascular surgery and discuss the feasibility of this technology for aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), and arteriovenous fistulae (AVFs).

Methods: We developed an augmented reality system that uses an external camera to capture the live view of the patient on the operating room table and to merge this view with pre-operative volume-rendered vessels.

PureB single-photon avalanche diodes for low-energy electron detection down to 200 eV.

Single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) have been fabricated on Si using PureB (Pure Boron) chemical-vapor deposition (CVD) to create both a nanometer-thin anode junction and a robust front-entrance window. The device shows high sensitivity to low radiation levels of electrons with energies down to 200 eV when measurements are performed at room temperature where the dark count rate can be as low as 10 Hz. An implicit guard ring, using an n-enhancement implantation in the central region of the diode, is applied, and this gives a very uniform sensitivity across the whole front-entrance window.

Sub-diffuse interstitial optical tomography to improve the safety of brain needle biopsies: a proof-of-concept study.

The extraction of tissue samples during brain needle biopsy can cause life-threatening hemorrhage because of significant blood vessel injury during the procedure. Vessel rupture can have significant consequences for patient health, ranging from transient neurological deficits to death. Here, we present a sub-diffuse optical tomography technique that can be integrated into neurosurgical workflow to detect the presence of blood vessels.

Small HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Should Size Affect Adjuvant Treatment?

Introduction: The adjuvant trastuzumab trials largely excluded women with small, node-negative, HER2-positive breast cancers. Accordingly, limited data exist regarding the effect of trastuzumab in the management of these patients. Our aim was to assess the outcomes of, and treatments administered to, women with small (≤ 2 cm), node-negative, HER2-positive breast cancer in 4 Australian cancer centers.

Intraoperative brain cancer detection with Raman spectroscopy in humans.

Cancers are often impossible to visually distinguish from normal tissue. This is critical for brain cancer where residual invasive cancer cells frequently remain after surgery, leading to disease recurrence and a negative impact on overall survival. No preoperative or intraoperative technology exists to identify all cancer cells that have invaded normal brain.

EB1 regulates tubulin and actin cytoskeletal networks at the sertoli cell blood-testis barrier in male rats: an in vitro study.

During spermatogenesis, developing germ cells are transported across the seminiferous epithelium. Studies propose that because microtubules (MTs) serve as the tracks for transporting cell organelles, they may also serve a similar function in the transport of developing germ cells. Polarized MTs may provide the tracks along which polarized actin microfilaments, which act as vehicles to transport cargo, such as preleptotene spermatocytes through the blood-testis barrier (BTB) and spermatids across the epithelium.

rpS6 regulates blood-testis barrier dynamics through Akt-mediated effects on MMP-9.

Mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is an emerging regulator of blood-tissue barriers that utilizes ribosomal protein S6 (rpS6) as the downstream signaling molecule. To explore the role of rpS6 in blood-testis barrier (BTB) function, a constitutively active quadruple rpS6 phosphomimetic mutant was constructed in mammalian expression vector and overexpressed in Sertoli cells cultured in vitro that mimicked the BTB in vivo. Using this quadruple phosphomimetic mutant, phosphorylated (p)-rpS6 was shown to disrupt IGF-1/insulin signaling, thereby abolishing Akt phosphorylation, which led to an induction of MMP-9.

Screening a UK amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cohort provides evidence of multiple origins of the C9orf72 expansion.

An expanded hexanucleotide repeat in the C9orf72 gene is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (C9ALS/FTD). Although 0-30 hexanucleotide repeats are present in the general population, expansions >500 repeats are associated with C9ALS/FTD. Large C9ALS/FTD expansions share a common haplotype and whether these expansions derive from a single founder or occur more frequently on a predisposing haplotype is yet to be determined and is relevant to disease pathomechanisms.

Adjuvant heparanase inhibitor PI-88 therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence.

Aim: To demonstrate that administering heparanase inhibitor PI-88 at 160 mg/d is safe and promising in reducing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence for up to 3 year following curative resection.

Methods: A total of 143 patients (83.1% of the 172 participants in the phase II study) participated in the follow-up study.

Parkinson's disease in GTP cyclohydrolase 1 mutation carriers.

GTP cyclohydrolase 1, encoded by the GCH1 gene, is an essential enzyme for dopamine production in nigrostriatal cells. Loss-of-function mutations in GCH1 result in severe reduction of dopamine synthesis in nigrostriatal cells and are the most common cause of DOPA-responsive dystonia, a rare disease that classically presents in childhood with generalized dystonia and a dramatic long-lasting response to levodopa. We describe clinical, genetic and nigrostriatal dopaminergic imaging ([(123)I]N-ω-fluoropropyl-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl) tropane single photon computed tomography) findings of four unrelated pedigrees with DOPA-responsive dystonia in which pathogenic GCH1 variants were identified in family members with adult-onset parkinsonism.

Time to Administration of Antibiotics among Inpatients with Severe Sepsis or Septic Shock.

Background: Current evidence suggests that administration of appropriate antibiotic therapy within 1 h after the onset of hypotension significantly improves mortality rates among patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.

Objectives: To determine the interval from recognition of severe sepsis or septic shock in inpatients to initial administration of antibiotic and to assess institutional compliance with the Surviving Sepsis Campaign's recommendation for early antibiotic therapy.

Methods: A 6-month retrospective chart analysis was conducted to determine the interval from documented onset of hypotension to initial administration of antibiotic for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.

Gastric digestion of α-lactalbumin in adult human subjects using capsule endoscopy and nasogastric tube sampling.

In the present study, structural changes in the milk protein α-lactalbumin (α-LA) and its proteolysis were investigated for the potential formation of protein-fatty acid complexes during in vivo gastric digestion. Capsule endoscopy allowed visualisation of the digestion of the test drinks, with nasogastric tubes allowing sampling of the gastric contents. A total of ten healthy volunteers had nasogastric tubes inserted into the stomach and ingested test drinks containing 50 g/l of sucrose and 25 g/l of α-LA with and without 4 g/l of oleic acid (OA).

N-wasp is required for structural integrity of the blood-testis barrier.

During spermatogenesis, the blood-testis barrier (BTB) segregates the adluminal (apical) and basal compartments in the seminiferous epithelium, thereby creating a privileged adluminal environment that allows post-meiotic spermatid development to proceed without interference of the host immune system. A key feature of the BTB is its continuous remodeling within the Sertoli cells, the major somatic component of the seminiferous epithelium. This remodeling is necessary to allow the transport of germ cells towards the seminiferous tubule interior, while maintaining intact barrier properties.

Lung ultrasound imaging in avian influenza A (H7N9) respiratory failure.

Background: Lung ultrasound has been shown to identify in real-time, various pathologies of the lung such as pneumonia, viral pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Lung ultrasound maybe a first-line alternative to chest X-ray and CT scan in critically ill patients with respiratory failure. We describe the use of lung ultrasound imaging and findings in two cases of severe respiratory failure from avian influenza A (H7N9) infection.

Improved MR venography using quantitative susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Purpose: To remove the geometry dependence of phase-based susceptibility weighting masks in susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) and to improve the visualization of the veins and microbleeds.

Materials And Methods: True SWI (tSWI) was generated using susceptibility-based masks. Simulations were used to evaluate the influence of the characteristic parameters defining the mask.

Is C-reactive protein a useful adjunct in selecting patients for emergency cholecystectomy by predicting severe/gangrenous cholecystitis?

Unlabelled: Gangrenous cholecystitis is difficult to diagnose clinically and carries risk of morbidity and mortality if not treated urgently. Complex scoring systems exist to predict the condition. C reactive protein may be a single independent predictor as suggested in this small study.

Polymorphisms in BACE2 may affect the age of onset Alzheimer's dementia in Down syndrome.

It is known that Alzheimer's disease (AD) presents at an early age in people with Down syndrome (DS). The trisomy 21 in DS provides an opportunity to study the effect of duplicated genes in AD. APP and BACE2 are 2 genes located in chromosome 21 and related to AD.

Endogenous oils derived from human adipocytes are potent adjuvants that promote IL-1α-dependent inflammation.

Obesity is characterized by chronic inflammation associated with neutrophil and M1 macrophage infiltration into white adipose tissue. However, the mechanisms underlying this process remain largely unknown. Based on the ability of oil-based adjuvants to induce immune responses, we hypothesized that endogenous oils derived from necrotic adipocytes may function as an immunological "danger signal.

Human gut microbes use multiple transporters to distinguish vitamin B₁₂ analogs and compete in the gut.

Genomic and metagenomic sequencing efforts, including human microbiome projects, reveal that microbes often encode multiple systems that appear to accomplish the same task. Whether these predictions reflect actual functional redundancies is unclear. We report that the prominent human gut symbiont Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron employs three functional, homologous vitamin B₁₂ transporters that in at least two cases confer a competitive advantage in the presence of distinct B₁₂ analogs (corrinoids).

Genomewide association study in cervical dystonia demonstrates possible association with sodium leak channel.

Dystonia is a common movement disorder. A number of monogenic causes have been identified. However, the majority of dystonia cases are not explained by single gene defects.

Increased glycemic variability is independently associated with length of stay and mortality in noncritically ill hospitalized patients.

Objective: To investigate the association between glycemic variability (GV) and both length of stay (LOS) and 90-day mortality in noncritically ill hospitalized patients.

Research Design And Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 4,262 admissions to the general medicine or surgery services during a 2 year period. Patients with point-of-care glucose monitoring and a minimum of two glucose values per day on average were selected.