Comparison of dual-energy CT with positron emission tomography for lung perfusion imaging in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Functional lung avoidance (FLA) radiotherapy treatment aims to spare lung regions identified as functional from imaging. Perfusion contributes to lung function and can be measured from the determination of pulmonary blood volume (PBV). An advantageous alternative to the current determination of PBV from positron emission tomography (PET) may be from dual energy CT (DECT), due to shorter examination time and widespread availability.

Revision rates of flow- versus pressure-regulated ventricular shunt valves for the treatment of hydrocephalus in neonates following germinal matrix haemorrhage-a retrospective review.

Purpose: Neonates with ventricular shunts inserted for hydrocephalus following germinal matrix haemorrhage (GMH) have high rates of shunt revision. The shunt valve plays a key role in regulating the function of the shunt. In this study, we aim to determine if the choice of flow-regulated or pressure-regulated valve used in the initial implantation of a shunt affects the rate of shunt revision.

Financial vulnerability and the impact of COVID-19 on American households.

In May 2020, Westat, in partnership with Stanford University School of Medicine, conducted a nationally-representative household survey of American attitudes and behaviors regarding COVID-19. In this article, we examine what the Coronavirus Attitudes and Behaviors Survey tells us about the impact of COVID-19 on financial status and how this impact varies by demographic characteristics, the presence of health risk factors, and financial status (including employment factors). The survey reveals significant inequality in financial impact, as those who were most financially vulnerable prior to the pandemic found themselves under greater financial strain, while those who were more financially secure have experienced a neutral or even positive impact of the pandemic on household finances.

Endovascular treatment of trigeminal neuralgia with cranial autonomic symptoms due to a right-sided petrous ridge dAVF.

Dural arteriovenous fistula represents a rare cause of secondary Trigeminal Neuralgia. To date, there have been 18 reported cases of successful treatment of trigeminal neuralgia with endovascular embolization. Here we describe a unique case of a 51-year-old man with right-sided petrous ridge dural arteriovenous fistula causing ipsilateral V1 pain and cranial autonomic dysfunction.

Ga PSMA-11 PET with CT urography protocol in the initial staging and biochemical relapse of prostate cancer.

Background: Ga-labelled prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) ligand PET/CT is a promising modality in primary staging (PS) and biochemical relapse (BCR) of prostate cancer (PC). However, pelvic nodes or local recurrences can be difficult to differentiate from radioactive urine. CT urography (CT-U) is an established method, which allows assessment of urological malignancies.

Skeletal muscle metabolism in individuals with spinal cord injury.

With increasing survival rates in people with spinal cord injuries (SCI), detection and prevention of metabolic and cardiovascular disease have become increasingly important. Few studies have evaluated in vivo mitochondrial function in paralyzed skeletal muscle. The purpose of this study was to compare oxidative muscle metabolism using the rate of phosphocreatine (PCr) resynthesis measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in people with SCI and able-bodied (AB) controls.

Water use and carbon exchange of red oak- and eastern hemlock-dominated forests in the northeastern USA: implications for ecosystem-level effects of hemlock woolly adelgid.

Water use and carbon exchange of a red oak-dominated (Quercus rubra L.) forest and an eastern hemlock-dominated (Tsuga canadensis L.) forest, each located within the Harvard Forest in north-central Massachusetts, were measured for 2 years by the eddy flux method.

Experimental validation of data mined single nucleotide polymorphisms from several databases and consecutive dbSNP builds.

Rapid development in the annotation of human genetic variation has increased the numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate genes by several orders of magnitude. The selection of both useful target SNPs for disease-gene association studies and SNPs associated with the treatment response is therefore an increasingly challenging task. We describe a workflow for selecting SNPs based on their putative function and frequency in candidate genes extracted from PubMed resources.

Stage 2 of the Wellcome Trust UK-Irish bipolar affective disorder sibling-pair genome screen: evidence for linkage on chromosomes 6q16-q21, 4q12-q21, 9p21, 10p14-p12 and 18q22.

Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) is a common psychiatric disorder with complex genetic aetiology. We have undertaken a genome-wide scan in one of the largest samples of bipolar affected sibling pairs (ASPs) using a two-stage approach combining sample splitting and marker grid tightening. In this second stage analysis, we have examined 17 regions that achieved a nominally significant maximum likelihood LOD score (MLS) threshold of 0.

CpG-island fragments from the HNRPA2B1/CBX3 genomic locus reduce silencing and enhance transgene expression from the hCMV promoter/enhancer in mammalian cells.

Background: The hCMV promoter is very commonly used for high level expression of transgenes in mammalian cells, but its utility is hindered by transcriptional silencing. Large genomic fragments incorporating the CpG island region of the HNRPA2B1 locus are resistant to transcriptional silencing.

Results: In this report we describe studies on the use of a novel series of vectors combining the HNRPA2B1 CpG island with the hCMV promoter for expression of transgenes in CHO-K1 cells.

Transgenes encompassing dual-promoter CpG islands from the human TBP and HNRPA2B1 loci are resistant to heterochromatin-mediated silencing.

The genetic elements that are responsible for establishing a transcriptionally competent, open chromatin structure at a region of the genome that consists only of ubiquitously expressed, housekeeping genes are currently unknown. We demonstrate for the first time through functional analysis in stably transfected tissue culture cells that transgenes containing methylation-free CpG islands spanning the dual divergently transcribed promoters from the human TATA binding protein (TBP)-proteasome component-B1 (PSMB1) and heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1 (HNRPA2B1)-heterochromatin protein 1Hs-gamma (chromobox homolog 3, CBX3) gene loci are sufficient to prevent transcriptional silencing and a variegated expression pattern when integrated within centromeric heterochromatin. In addition, only transgene constructs extending over both the HNRPA2B1 and the CBX3 promoters, and not the HNRPA2B1 promoter alone, were able to confer high and stable long-term EGFP reporter gene expression.

The Wellcome trust UK-Irish bipolar affective disorder sibling-pair genome screen: first stage report.

We have completed the first stage of a two-stage genome wide screen designed to identify chromosomal regions that may harbour susceptibility genes for bipolar affective disorder. The first stage screening sample included 509 subjects from 151 nuclear families recruited within the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. This sample contained 154 narrowly defined affected sibling pairs (DSM-IV BPI) and 258 broadly defined affected sibling pairs (DSM-IV BPI, SABP, BPII, BPNOS or MDD(R)), approximately two thirds of all families contained at least one other additional typed individual.

Overlapping antioxidant response element and PMA response element sequences mediate basal and beta-naphthoflavone-induced expression of the human gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase catalytic subunit gene.

gamma-Glutamylcysteine synthetase (GCS), the rate-limiting enzyme in the de novo synthesis of GSH, is a heterodimer, consisting of a catalytic (GCSh) and a regulatory subunit (GCSl). We previously demonstrated that the constitutive and beta-naphthoflavone (beta-NF)-induced expression of the GCSh gene is mediated by a distal antioxidant response element (ARE), ARE4, located 3.1 kb upstream of the transcriptional start site [Mulcahy, Wartman, Bailey and Gipp (1997) J.

Coexistent Hirschsprung's disease and esophageal achalasia in male siblings.

Achalasia of the esophagus developed in two male siblings soon after birth, and they were successfully treated by surgery. Persistent signs resulted in the later diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease. One required subtotal colectomy and ileoanal anastomosis, and the other is managing well on conservative treatment.

Comparison of three permanent intraocular magnets.

A comparison was performed of three small-gauge, permanent, rare-earth, intraocular magnets to assist the posterior segment surgeon with the decision as to which magnet to purchase or to use in different clinical situations. The magnetic force was measured at varying distances from the instrument tip using a 1/8-inch steel ball as the test object. There were small differences in magnetic strength between the three instruments that may have clinical significance in certain situations.