National audit on the appropriateness of CT and MRI examinations in Luxembourg.

Objectives: In Luxembourg, the frequency of CT and MRI examinations per inhabitant is among the highest in Europe. A national audit was conducted to evaluate the appropriateness of CT and MRI examinations according to the national referral guidelines for medical imaging.

Methods: Three hundred and eighty-eight CT and 330 MRI requests corresponding to already performed examinations were provided by all radiology departments in Luxembourg.

An aspirin a day.

The title of this article is also its punch line. The thesis that I will prove is that every adult, with a few exceptions, should take one 325 mg aspirin tablet each day. The drug is extraordinary and is beneficial in myriad ways.

Achieving cross-border consistency during a nuclear emergency.

The aim of the HERCA working group on emergencies (WGE) is to develop proposals to align decisions of European national crisis management organisations in a consistent manner during a nuclear emergency. The focus is to enhance the cooperation between the European organisations responsible for emergency radiological assessment, such as nuclear safety and radiological safety authorities, and their respective technical support organisations. A common understanding of a given emergency situation between those bodies will form the basis for consistent appropriate recommendations on protective actions and other response actions.

Myotubularin-related protein (MTMR) 9 determines the enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, and role in autophagy of MTMR8.

The myotubularins are a large family of inositol polyphosphate 3-phosphatases that, despite having common substrates, subsume unique functions in cells that are disparate. The myotubularin family consists of 16 different proteins, 9 members of which possess catalytic activity, dephosphorylating phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate [PtdIns(3)P] and phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(3,5)P(2)] at the D-3 position. Seven members are inactive because they lack the conserved cysteine residue in the CX(5)R motif required for activity.

Regulation of inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate 5/6-kinase (ITPK1) by reversible lysine acetylation.

The enzyme inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate 5/6-kinase (ITPK1) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the formation of higher phosphorylated forms of inositol in mammalian cells. Because it sits at a key regulatory point in the inositol metabolic pathway, its activity is likely to be regulated. We have previously shown that ITPK1 is phosphorylated, a posttranslational modification used by cells to regulate enzyme activity.