Publications by authors named "Robin P"

Introduction: Surgeries in the occipitocervical and upper cervical region are always quite challenging and need adequate surgical experience and expertise. Especially in cases, where both anterior and posterior surgical access is required, complication rates could be significantly high. The transoral approach for the ventral pathologies of the upper cervical region has been previously described using the conventional open technique where post-operative morbidity is a concern.

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Angiotensin II (AngII) regulates cerebral circulation and binds with a similar affinity to AT and AT receptors. Biased AT agonists, such as TRV027, which are able to selectively activate β-arrestin while blocking the G pathway, appear promising as new therapeutics. New pharmacological tools are needed to further explore the impact of biased AT agonists on cells or tissues, such as the cerebral vessels.

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Surface-based biosensors have proven to be of particular interest in the monitoring of human pathogens by means of their distinct nucleic acid sequences. Genosensors rely on targeted gene/DNA probe hybridization at the surface of a physical transducer and have been exploited for their high specificity and physicochemical stability. Unfortunately, these sensing materials still face limitations impeding their use in current diagnostic techniques.

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  • - Crotalphine, an analgesic peptide from South American rattlesnake venom, has a well-known pain-relieving effect, but its exact working mechanisms remain unclear.
  • - Research focused on how crotalphine affects the Na1.7 channel, a target involved in pain sensation, using adult mouse neurons and various assays to assess effects on ion currents and cell viability.
  • - Findings revealed that crotalphine can significantly inhibit Na current and impact cell viability, suggesting it may contribute to pain relief through the Na1.7 channel while also causing some cellular damage at higher concentrations.
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Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains a malignancy with high rates of locoregional recurrence and poor prognosis for recurrent cases. Early detection of subclinical lesions is challenging but critical for effective patient management. Imaging surveillance after treatment, particularly F-FDG PET/CT, has shown promise in the diagnosis of HNSCC recurrence.

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  • Pulmonary embolism (PE) is difficult to diagnose, and using new methods like SPECT V/Q may improve diagnosis but no comprehensive studies have been done yet comparing it to traditional techniques.!
  • A planned randomized trial will include 3,672 patients split into three groups to assess diagnostic strategies based on SPECT V/Q, CTPA, and traditional V/Q scans, focusing on safety and effectiveness of these methods in identifying PE.!
  • The study aims to provide important insights for clinical guidelines while ensuring ethical standards by obtaining patient consent and being funded by reputable institutions. !
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Electrostatic correlations between ions dissolved in water are known to impact their transport properties in numerous ways, from conductivity to ion selectivity. The effects of these correlations on the solvent itself remain, however, much less clear. In particular, the addition of salt has been consistently reported to affect the solution's viscosity, but most modeling attempts fail to reproduce experimental data even at moderate salt concentrations.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the necessity to develop fast, highly sensitive and selective virus detection methods. Surface-based DNA-biosensors are interesting candidates for this purpose. Functionalization of solid substrates with DNA must be precisely controlled to achieve the required accuracy and sensitivity.

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Ion transport through biological and solid-state nanochannels is known to be a highly noisy process. The power spectrum of current fluctuations is empirically known to scale like the inverse of frequency, following the long-standing yet poorly understood Hooge's law. Here, we report measurements of current fluctuations across nanometer-scale two-dimensional channels with different surface properties.

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Purpose: Primary objective was to compare the per-patient detection rates (DR) of [F]DCFPyL versus [F]fluoromethylcholine positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), in patients with first prostate cancer (PCa) biochemical recurrence (BCR). Secondary endpoints included safety and impact on patient management (PM).

Methods: This was a prospective, open label, cross-over, comparative study with randomized treatment administration of [F]DCFPyL (investigational medicinal product) or [F]fluoromethylcholine (comparator).

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Nanofluidics, the field interested in flows at the smallest scales, has grown at a fast pace, reaching an ever finer control of fluidic and ionic transport at the molecular level. Until now, artificial pores are far from reaching the wealth of functionalities of biological channels that regulate sensory detection, biological transport, and neurostransmission-all while operating at energies comparable to thermal noise. Here, we argue that artificial ionic machines can be designed by harnessing the entire wealth of phenomena available at the nanoscales and exploiting techniques developed in various fields of physics.

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Ion transport measurements are widely used as an indirect probe for various properties of confined electrolytes. It is generally assumed that the ion concentration in a nanoscale channel is equal to the ion concentration in the macroscopic reservoirs it connects to, with deviations arising only in the presence of surface charges on the channel walls. Here, we show that this assumption may break down even in a neutral channel due to electrostatic correlations between the ions arising in the regime of interaction confinement, where Coulomb interactions are reinforced due to the presence of the channel walls.

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  • The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is crucial for regulating heart and blood vessel functions, involving key components like ACE and the AT1 and AT2 receptors.
  • While ACE and AT1 are targets for hypertension treatments, the AT2 receptor's role remains less understood and underutilized.
  • Researchers discovered a new toxin called A-CTX-cMila from Brazilian viper venom, showing strong selectivity for the AT1 receptor and blocking various cellular pathways, marking it as the first animal toxin known to impact angiotensin II receptors.
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We aimed to assess the relationship between residual pulmonary vascular obstruction (RPVO) on planar lung scan after completion of at least 3 months of anticoagulant therapy for acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) or death due to PE one year after treatment discontinuation. The systematic review was registered with the International Prospective Registry of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO: CRD42017081080). The primary outcome measure was to generate a pooled estimate of the rate of recurrent VTE at one year in patient with RPVO diagnosed on planar lung scan after discontinuation of at least 3 months of anticoagulant treatment for an acute PE.

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Despite their high sensitivity and their suitability for miniaturization, biosensors are still limited for clinical applications due to the lack of reproducibility and specificity of their detection performance. The design and preparation of sensing surfaces are suspected to be a cause of these limitations. Here, we first present an updated overview of the current state of use of capacitive biosensors in a medical context.

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  • Prostate adenocarcinoma is the most common cancer among men, and a significant number of patients face biochemical recurrence (BR) after treatment, making early detection of recurrence critical for personalized therapy.
  • This study evaluated the effectiveness of Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT scans in identifying recurrence in prostate cancer patients who had negative results from another type of scan (F-choline PET/CT) and examined its detection rates based on various PSA levels.
  • Results showed a 65.9% overall detection rate for Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT, with 75.9% of patients starting treatment based on positive scan results, indicating its potential to influence management decisions significantly.
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Fine-tuned ion transport across nanoscale pores is key to many biological processes, including neurotransmission. Recent advances have enabled the confinement of water and ions to two dimensions, unveiling transport properties inaccessible at larger scales and triggering hopes of reproducing the ionic machinery of biological systems. Here we report experiments demonstrating the emergence of memory in the transport of aqueous electrolytes across (sub)nanoscale channels.

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The emergence of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) arose the need for rapid, accurate and massive virus detection methods to control the spread of infectious diseases. In this work, a device, deployable in non-medical environments, has been developed for the detection of non-amplified SARS-CoV-2 RNA. A SARS-CoV-2 specific probe was designed and covalently immobilized at the surface of glass slides to fabricate a DNA biosensor.

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Introduction: Ventilation/Perfusion (V/Q) PET/CT is an emerging imaging modality for regional lung function evaluation. The same carrier molecules as conventional V/Q scintigraphy are used but they are radiolabelled with gallium-68 (Ga) instead of technetium-99m (Tc). A recurrent concern regarding V/Q PET imaging is the radiation dose to the healthcare workers.

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