Quantitative digital pathology enables automated and quantitative assessment of inflammatory activity in patients with autoimmune hepatitis.

Background: Chronic liver disease diagnoses depend on liver biopsy histopathological assessment. However, due to the limitations associated with biopsy, there is growing interest in the use of quantitative digital pathology to support pathologists. We evaluated the performance of computational algorithms in the assessment of hepatic inflammation in an autoimmune hepatitis in which inflammation is a major component.

Increased glucose availability sensitizes pancreatic cancer to chemotherapy.

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is highly resistant to chemotherapy. Effective alternative therapies have yet to emerge, as chemotherapy remains the best available systemic treatment. However, the discovery of safe and available adjuncts to enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy can still improve survival outcomes.

Quantitative MR in Paediatric Patients with Wilson Disease: A Case Series Review.

Wilson disease (WD) is a liver disorder characterized by improper copper metabolism. Although non-invasive tools are currently used to support diagnosis and management, this is still an area of unmet need, as patients present with a wide range of symptoms. Our aim was to investigate the potential utility of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) and quantitative magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP+) to support patient management.

Isolated systolic hypertension is associated with increased left ventricular mass index and aortic stiffness in adolescents: a cardiac magnetic resonance study.

Objectives: Despite the high prevalence of isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) among hypertensive adolescents, its clinical significance is not determined. In addition, it is hypothesized that ISH with normal central blood pressure (BP) in young patients is a benign phenomenon and was hence labeled spurious hypertension (sHTN).

Methods: Using cardiac magnetic resonance we evaluated a group of 73 patients with suspected primary hypertension, aged 13-17 years (median: 16.

Segmenting pediatric optic pathway gliomas from MRI using deep learning.

Optic pathway gliomas are low-grade neoplastic lesions that account for approximately 3-5% of brain tumors in children. Assessing tumor burden from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a central role in its efficient management, yet it is a challenging and human-dependent task due to the difficult and error-prone process of manual segmentation of such lesions, as they can easily manifest different location and appearance characteristics. In this paper, we tackle this issue and propose a fully-automatic and reproducible deep learning algorithm built upon the recent advances in the field which is capable of detecting and segmenting optical pathway gliomas from MRI.

Quantitative multiparametric MRI as a non-invasive stratification tool in children and adolescents with autoimmune liver disease.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis (ASC) are two very closely related autoimmune liver diseases with overlapping clinical features and similar management strategies. The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of quantitative imaging markers to distinguish ASC from AIH in paediatrics. 66 participants (N = 52 AIH, N = 14 ASC) aged 14.

Multiparametric MRI as a Noninvasive Monitoring Tool for Children With Autoimmune Hepatitis.

Objectives: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a progressive liver disease managed with corticosteroids and immunosuppression and monitored using a combination of liver biochemistry and histology. However, liver biopsy is invasive with risk of pain and bleeding. The aim of the present study was to investigate the utility of noninvasive imaging with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (mpMRI) to provide clinically useful information on the presence and extent of hepatic inflammation, potentially guiding immunosuppression.

Deficiency in Acyl-CoA:Wax Alcohol Acyltransferase 2 causes evaporative dry eye disease by abolishing biosynthesis of wax esters.

Lipids secreted by the meibomian glands (MGs) of the eyelids are essential to the protection of the eye's surface. An altered meibum composition represents the primary cause of evaporative dry eye disease (DED). Despite the critical importance of the meibum, its biosynthetic pathways and the roles of individual lipid components remain understudied.

Impact of LCA-Associated E14L LRAT Mutation on Protein Stability and Retinoid Homeostasis.

Vitamin A (all-trans-retinol) is metabolized to the visual chromophore (11-cis-retinal) in the eyes and to all-trans-retinoic acid, a hormone like compound, in most tissues. A key enzyme in retinoid metabolism is lecithin:retinol acyltransferase (LRAT), which catalyzes the esterification of vitamin A. The importance of LRAT is indicated by pathogenic missense and nonsense mutations, which cause devastating blinding diseases.

Allosteric modulation of the substrate specificity of acyl-CoA wax alcohol acyltransferase 2.

The esterification of alcohols with fatty acids is a universal mechanism to form inert storage forms of sterols, di- and triacylglycerols, and retinoids. In ocular tissues, formation of retinyl esters is an essential step in the enzymatic regeneration of the visual chromophore (11--retinal). Acyl-CoA wax alcohol acyltransferase 2 (AWAT2), also known as multifunctional -acyltransferase (MFAT), is an integral membrane enzyme with a broad substrate specificity that has been shown to preferentially esterify 11--retinol and thus contribute to formation of a readily available pool of retinoids in the eye.

Molecular Basis for Vitamin A Uptake and Storage in Vertebrates.

The ability to store and distribute vitamin A inside the body is the main evolutionary adaptation that allows vertebrates to maintain retinoid functions during nutritional deficiencies and to acquire new metabolic pathways enabling light-independent production of 11- retinoids. These processes greatly depend on enzymes that esterify vitamin A as well as associated retinoid binding proteins. Although the significance of retinyl esters for vitamin A homeostasis is well established, until recently, the molecular basis for the retinol esterification enzymatic activity was unknown.

Evaluation of brain lesions in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting using MRI with the emphasis on susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Introduction: Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are at risk of strokes and neurocognitive disorders.

The Aim Of The Study: The aim of the study was to assess the clinical utility of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) MRI in detection of new brain lesions in patients after CABG. We assessed the incidence and types of brain lesions and correlated the data with neurological examinations in groups of patients who underwent on-pump and off-pump CABG.

CD34+ progenitor cells in pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Unlabelled: Sarcoidosis is a disease of unclear etiology, immunopathogenesis complex and diverse clinical course.

Aim: The aim of study was to evaluate the usefulness of CD34+ cells, CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes in peripheral blood for the diagnosis and better understanding of the sarcoidosis pathogenesis.

Materials And Methods: The study included 40 patients (16 women and 24 men) aged 29-71 years (mean 45 years) with newly diagnosed pulmonary sarcoidosis.

IGRA as a predictive factor of silent pulmonary changes in individuals following exposure to tuberculosis.

Objectives: We conducted a study on usefulness of the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the Quantiferon-TB Gold IT (QFT) tests as predictors of radiological changes after contact with tuberculosis.

Materials And Methods: The study group consisted of TB-exposed HCWs working in the Military Institute of Medicine (Warsaw, Poland). The usefulness of TST, QFT, and a combination of both tests was assessed for prediction of silent radiological findings.

[The role of fibrocytes in pulmonary fibrosis].

Fibrocytes are bone-marrow derived mesenchymal progenitor cells. They express typical markers of leukocytes, hematopoietic stem cells and fibroblasts. They play a pivotal role in the tissue remodeling and fibrosis in both physiologic and pathologic settings.

MR venography in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis does not show increased prevalence of extracranial veins anomalies.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that affects mainly young adults, but can occur also in children and adolescents. The pathogenesis of MS is still not fully understood and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) was suggested to be implicated in MS. Although there is no strong evidence to support this hypothesis, a considerable number of MS patients, including adolescents, have undergone endovascular treatment procedures.

"Drop attacks" as first clinical symptoms in a child carrying MTTK m.8344A>G mutation.

Unlabelled: We describe a child with dyslexia and difficulty in school who, at the age of 13 years, began to suffer from several head injuries resulting from falls of uncertain cause. Two years later, the patient developed symptoms of a severe mitochondrial disorder (involving bulbar-pyramidal paralysis, ophthalmoplegia, and hyperlactatemia) that coincided with VPA administration. Brain MR imaging revealed rapidly developing Leigh syndrome (LS), and muscle biopsy showed ragged blue fibres (RBF).

Tuberculin skin test and interferon-γ release assay in the detection of latent tuberculosis infection among Polish health care workers.

Introduction:  For many years, Poland has had a mandatory vaccination program against tuberculosis, which recommended repeated vaccinations from birth to adulthood. Therefore, the clinical value of the tuberculin skin test (TST) in diagnosing latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in Poland remains unclear.

Objectives:  We conducted a study on the usefulness of the TST and QuantiFERON®-TB test (QFT) for the evaluation of the prevalence and risk factors of L TBI among Polish health care workers.

Usefulness of corregistration and post-processing of MR and interictal SPECT images for localization of epileptogenic focus in children - preliminary report.

Background: Children with focal epilepsy unresponsive to anticonvulsant therapy may become surgical candidates. Inter-ictal SPECT (SPECT-IN) studies demonstrate an area of hypoperfusion within the seizure focus in up to 50% of patients. The goal of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of corregistration of MR and SPECT-IN images for localization of the epileptogenic focus.

Infratentorial tumors in children - value of ADC in prediction of grade of neoplasms.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate ADC values in the preoperative grading of primary infratentorial brain tumors in children. MATERIAL /METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 50 MR examinations of patients with infratentorial tumors. All children were operated on and tumors were histopathologically proved as low-grade - 25 (24 pilocytic astrocytomas, 1 ependymoma) and high-grade lesions - 25 (19 medulloblastomas, 6 anaplastic ependymomas).

Elements regulating Potato leafroll virus sgRNA1 translation are located within the coding sequences of the coat protein and read-through domain.

Translation of viral proteins from subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) is a common strategy among positive-stranded RNA viruses. Unlike host mRNA, sgRNA of Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) does not possess a cap at its 5' end nor a poly(A) tail at the 3' terminus, both of which are known to be crucial for translation of RNA in eukaryotic cells. Here, we demonstrate, that in wheat germ extract (WGE) truncation of the sgRNA1 5' UTR increases translation efficiency, as it has previously been observed in rabbit reticulocyte lysate (RRL), whereas removal of the 3' UTR does not affect translation.