Immunophenotypic analysis on circulating T cells for early diagnosis of lung cancer.

The immune system continuously interacts with tumors, possibly leading to systemic alterations in circulating immune cells. However, the potential of these cancer-associated changes for diagnostic purposes remains poorly explored. To investigate this, we conducted a comprehensive flow cytometric analysis of 452 peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples from 206 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, 100 small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients, 94 healthy individuals, and 52 benign lung disease (BLD) patients.

Can Endovascular Repair of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms Be Safely Performed in an Outpatient Setting? Lessons Learned from Spine Outcome Control Groups.

Background And Objectives: The performance of select neurosurgical procedures is being transitioned to an outpatient setting rather than an inpatient setting to increase healthcare cost-effectiveness. Despite numerous technological advancements in the treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs), the procedures are solely performed in an inpatient setting. We aimed to compare the rate of short-term outcomes associated with inpatient endovascular treatment of UIAs with those for established outpatient neurosurgical procedures, including anterior cervical discectomy and fusions (ACDFs) and lumbar discectomies.

Safe and effective use of the Celt ACD vascular closure device for rapid hemostasis following direct carotid puncture thrombectomy.

A man in his early 70s presented to the emergency department about 3.5 hours after acute onset right sided hemiplegia and aphasia. CT angiography confirmed an acute occlusion of the M1 segment of the left middle cerebral artery and severe, but stable, dissection of the aortic arch and a large dissecting aortic aneurysm extending into the innominate artery and beyond into the descending aorta.

Achieving Optical Refractive Index of 10-Plus by Colloidal Self-Assembly.

This study demonstrates the developments of self-assembled optical metasurfaces to overcome inherent limitations in polarization density (P) and high refractive indices (n) within naturally occurring materials. The Maxwellian macroscopic description establishes a link between P and n, revealing a static limit in natural materials, restricting n to ≈4.0 at optical frequencies.

Cervical Vertebral Bone Quality Score Independently Predicts Distal Junctional Kyphosis After Posterior Cervical Fusion.

Background And Objective: Posterior cervical fusion is the surgery of choice when fusing long segments of the cervical spine. However, because of the limited presence of this pathology, there is a paucity of data in the literature about the postoperative complications of distal junctional kyphosis (DJK). We aimed to identify and report potential associations between the preoperative cervical vertebral bone quality (C-VBQ) score and the occurrence of DJK after posterior cervical fusion.

CD5 Expression Dynamically Changes During the Differentiation of Human CD8 T Cells Predicting Clinical Response to Immunotherapy.

Defining the molecular dynamics associated with T cell differentiation enhances our understanding of T cell biology and opens up new possibilities for clinical implications. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of CD5 expression in CD8 T cell differentiation and explored its potential clinical uses. Using PBMCs from 29 healthy donors, we observed a stepwise decrease in CD5 expression as CD8 T cells progressed through the differentiation stages.

Complications associated with subaxial placement of pedicle screws versus lateral mass screws in the cervical spine (C2-T1): systematic review and meta-analysis comprising 4,165 patients and 16,669 screws.

Lateral mass screw (LMS) and cervical pedicle screw (CPS) fixation are among the most popular techniques for posterior fusion of the cervical spine. Early research prioritized the LMS approach as the trajectory resulted in fewer neurovascular complications; however, with the incorporation of navigation assistance, the CPS approach should be re-evaluated. Our objective was to report the findings of a meta-analysis focused on comparing the LMS and CPS techniques in terms of rate of various complications with inclusion of all levels from C2 to T1.

Ultralow-Loss Substrate for Nanophotonic Dark-Field Microscopy.

For the colloidal nanophotonic structures, a transmission electron microscope (TEM) grid has been widely used as a substrate of dark-field microscopy because a nanometer-scale feature can be effectively determined by TEM imaging following dark-field microscopic studies. However, an optically lossy carbon layer has been implemented in conventional TEM grids. A broadband scattering from the edges of the TEM grid further restricted an accessible signal-to-noise ratio.

A Novel Cervical Vertebral Bone Quality Score Independently Predicts Cage Subsidence After Anterior Cervical Diskectomy and Fusion.

Background: Surgeons can preoperatively assess bone quality using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry or computed tomography; however, this is not feasible for all patients. Recently, a MRI-based scoring system was used to evaluate the lumbar spine's vertebral bone quality.

Objective: To create a similar MRI-based scoring system for the cervical spine (C-VBQ), correlate C-VBQ scores with computed tomography-Hounsfield units (HU), and evaluate the utility of this scoring system to independently predict cage subsidence after single-level anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion (ACDF).

Use of drug-eluting, balloon-expandable resolute onyx coronary stent as a novel treatment strategy for vertebral artery ostial stenosis: Case series.

Introduction: Vertebral artery (VA) ostial stenosis is notoriously difficult to treat using bare-metal stents owing to high rates of restenosis and stent kinking and breakage. We investigated the safety and effectiveness of treatment with a drug-eluting, balloon-expandable coronary stent (Resolute Onyx, Medtronic).

Methods: Our prospectively maintained database was retrospectively searched for consecutive patients diagnosed with VA ostial stenosis who underwent Resolute Onyx stenting with/without angioplasty between January 1, 2015 and January 1, 2022.

Parallelization of Microfluidic Droplet Junctions for Ultraviscous Fluids.

The parallelization of multiple microfluidic droplet junctions has been successfully achieved so that the production throughput of the uniform microemulsions/particles has witnessed considerable progress. However, these advancements have been observed only in the case of a low viscous fluid (viscosity of 10 -10 Pa s). This study designs and fabricates a microfluidic device, enabling a uniform micro-emulsification of an ultraviscous fluid (viscosity of 3.

Performance of a Machine Learning-Based Methicillin Resistance of Identification System Using MALDI-TOF MS and Comparison of the Accuracy according to SCC Types.

The prompt presumptive identification of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) can aid in early clinical management and infection control during routine bacterial identification procedures. This study applied a machine learning approach to MALDI-TOF peaks for the presumptive identification of MRSA and compared the accuracy according to staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) types. We analyzed 194 clinical isolates to evaluate the machine learning-based identification system (AMRQuest software, v.

Prolonged Opioid Use After Lumbar Fusion Surgery: A Meta-Analysis of Prevalence and Risk Factors.

Background: Persistent opioid utilization after spine surgery is a rising complication among both preoperatively opioid-naïve and opioid-tolerant patients. To our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis to determine the prevalence and characterize the risk factors that predispose patients to prolonged opioid use (≥3 months) after lumbar fusion.

Methods: Studies were identified through searches in PubMed and EMBASE from each database's earliest records to February 1, 2022.

Extracranial-to-Intracranial Bypass for Distal Internal Carotid Artery and/or Proximal Middle Cerebral Artery Steno-Occlusive Disease: A Case Series of Clinical Outcomes at a Single, High-Volume Cerebrovascular Center.

Background: Extracranial-to-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass was first described by Yasargil in the 1960s for treatment of symptomatic distal internal carotid artery (ICA) and/or proximal middle cerebral artery (MCA) steno-occlusive disease through direct anastomosis. Subsequent bypass trials failed to demonstrate benefit for overall outcomes and stroke rates compared with best medical therapy. However, the procedure remained in the neurosurgeon's armament, with studies showing benefits in select patient populations.

Action-driven contrastive representation for reinforcement learning.

In reinforcement learning, reward-driven feature learning directly from high-dimensional images faces two challenges: sample-efficiency for solving control tasks and generalization to unseen observations. In prior works, these issues have been addressed through learning representation from pixel inputs. However, their representation faced the limitations of being vulnerable to the high diversity inherent in environments or not taking the characteristics for solving control tasks.

Minimally Invasive Robot-Guided Dual Cortical Bone Trajectory for Adjacent Segment Disease.

Here we present a novel application of cortical bone trajectory (CBT) fixation utilizing robotic guidance in a previously instrumented spine with a traditional pedicle screw (PS), obviating the need for a larger posterior incision, reducing the risk of infection, muscular dissection, and likely decreasing hospital length of stay. A 60-year-old woman with prior left L3-L4 extreme lateral interbody fusion and unilateral percutaneous PS placed at L3 to L5 presented with progressive bilateral lower-extremity pain and diminished sensation in the S1 dermatome secondary to adjacent segment disease (ASD). The patient underwent an L5-S1 anterior lumbar interbody fusion for indirect decompression and restoration of segmental lordosis.

Social Media Use Among Neurosurgery Trainees: A Survey of North American Training Programs.

Background: Social media have revolutionized access to educational content. Given the extensive presence of social media, these platforms have the potential to influence neurosurgical training and education of residents and fellows. We explored the attitudes of neurosurgical trainees (postgraduate years 1-9) toward social media and their perceived influence on training and education.

The effect of COVID-19 on trainee operative experience at a multihospital academic neurosurgical practice: A first look at case numbers.

Background: COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the economy, health care, and society as a whole. To prevent the spread of infection, local governments across the United States issued mandatory lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. In the surgical world, elective cases ceased to help "flatten the curve" and prevent the infection from spreading to hospital staff and patients.

Genomic Analysis of Heterogeneous Vancomycin-Intermediate Strains from Different Clonal Lineages in South Korea.

Recent genomic studies of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) have revealed genetic diversity in the various clonal lineages. Along with clinical concerns of MRSA infection, infection with heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate (hVISA) is closely associated with treatment failure. In this study, we investigated the magnitude of genetic variation and features at the genomic level of hVISA strains isolated in South Korea.

Performance Analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolyzer Using OpenFOAM: Two-Phase Flow Regime, Electrochemical Model.

In this study, an electrochemical model was incorporated into a two-phase model using OpenFOAM (London, United Kingdom) to analyze the two-phase flow and electrochemical behaviors in a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer. The performances of serpentine and parallel designs are compared. The current density and overpotential distribution are analyzed, and the volume fractions of oxygen and hydrogen velocity are studied to verify their influence on the current density.

Transradial access for flow diversion of intracranial aneurysms: Case series.

Background: Transradial access for neurointerventions offers advantages of fewer access-site complications, reduced procedure time, and greater patient comfort over transfemoral access. Data about transradial access for flow diversion are limited. We share our early experience with transradial access for flow diversion in a relatively large case series.

Transradial middle meningeal artery embolization for chronic subdural hematoma using Onyx: case series.

Background: Middle meningeal artery (MMA) embolization is an emerging therapy for the resolution of subacute or chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH). CSDH patients are often elderly and have several comorbidities. We evaluated our experience with transradial access (TRA) for MMA embolization using predominantly Onyx under conscious sedation.

Comparing Cortical Bone Trajectories for Pedicle Screw Insertion using Robotic Guidance and Three-Dimensional Computed Tomography Navigation.

Background: Cortical bone trajectories (CBTs) for pedicle screw insertion can be used to stabilize the spine. Surgeons often rely on fluoroscopy or computed tomography (CT)-navigation technologies to guide screw placement. Robotic technology has potential to increase accuracy.