Optic Nerve Sheath Meningiomas: A Retrospective Cohort Study Comparing Outcomes in Treated Versus Observed Patients.

Background: The rarity of optic nerve sheath meningiomas (ONSMs) complicates the guidelines surrounding optimal treatment strategies and prognostic factors. There are limited data on the visual outcomes of those treated with radiotherapy versus those observed without treatment. This study aimed to characterize the clinical and radiographic presentations of patients diagnosed with ONSMs and to identify factors predicting improvement in visual function after treatment.

Single-molecule tracking reveals dual front door/back door inhibition of Cel7A cellulase by its product cellobiose.

Degrading cellulose is a key step in the processing of lignocellulosic biomass into bioethanol. Cellobiose, the disaccharide product of cellulose degradation, has been shown to inhibit cellulase activity, but the mechanisms underlying product inhibition are not clear. We combined single-molecule imaging and biochemical investigations with the goal of revealing the mechanism by which cellobiose inhibits the activity of Cel7A, a well-characterized exo-cellulase.

Transition From Pediatric to Adult Healthcare for Colorectal Conditions: A Systematic Review.

Background: Despite surgical advances for complex congenital colorectal conditions, such as anorectal malformation (ARM) and Hirschsprung disease (HD), many adolescents require transfer from specialist pediatric to adult providers for ongoing care.

Methodology: A systematic review of PubMed, MEDLINE and Embase was conducted to identify what is known about the transitional care of patients with ARM and HD (PROSPERO # CRD42022281558). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework guided our reporting of studies that focused on the transition care of 10-30-year-olds with ARM and HD.

Lignin impairs Cel7A degradation of in vitro lignified cellulose by impeding enzyme movement and not by acting as a sink.

Background: Cellulose degradation by cellulases has been studied for decades due to the potential of using lignocellulosic biomass as a sustainable source of bioethanol. In plant cell walls, cellulose is bonded together and strengthened by the polyphenolic polymer, lignin. Because lignin is tightly linked to cellulose and is not digestible by cellulases, is thought to play a dominant role in limiting the efficient enzymatic degradation of plant biomass.

Post-Operative Anorectal Manometry in Children following Anorectal Malformation Repair: A Systematic Review.

Despite surgical correction, children with anorectal malformations may experience long-term bowel dysfunction, including fecal incontinence and/or disorders of evacuation. Anorectal manometry is the most widely used test of anorectal function. Although considerable attention has been devoted to its application in the anorectal malformation cohort, there have been few attempts to consolidate the findings obtained.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Cardiac Procedural Care.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic altered the racial and ethnic composition of patients receiving cardiac procedural care.

Design: This was a retrospective observational study.

Setting: This study was conducted at a single tertiary-care university hospital.

Faces, English words and Chinese characters: a study of dual-task interference in mono-and bilingual speakers.

The many-to-many hypothesis suggests that face and visual-word processing tasks share neural resources in the brain, even though they show opposing hemispheric asymmetries in neuroimaging and neuropsychologic studies. Recently it has been suggested that both stimulus and task effects need to be incorporated into the hypothesis. A recent study found dual-task interference between face and text functions that lateralized to the same hemisphere, but not when they lateralized to different hemispheres.

Parabolic Potential Surfaces Localize Charge Carriers in Nonblinking Long-Lifetime "Giant" Colloidal Quantum Dots.

Materials for studying biological interactions and for alternative energy applications are continuously under development. Semiconductor quantum dots are a major part of this landscape due to their tunable optoelectronic properties. Size-dependent quantum confinement effects have been utilized to create materials with tunable bandgaps and Auger recombination rates.

Should Aquaporin-4 Antibody Test Be Performed in all Patients With Isolated Optic Neuritis?

Background: Optic neuritis (ON) may be the initial manifestation of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4 Ab) is used to diagnose NMOSD. This has implications on prognosis and is important for optimal management.

A Novel Methodology for Detecting Variations in Cell Surface Antigens Using Cell-Tearing by Optical Tweezers.

The quantitative analysis of cell surface antigens has attracted increasing attention due to the antigenic variation recognition that can facilitate early diagnoses. This paper presents a novel methodology based on the optical "cell-tearing" and the especially proposed "dilution regulations" to detect variations in cell surface antigens. The cell attaches to the corresponding antibody-coated slide surface.

Post-operative colonic manometry in children with anorectal malformations: A systematic review.

Background: Children with anorectal malformations may experience constipation and fecal incontinence following repair. The contribution of altered anorectal function to these persistent symptoms is relatively intuitive; however, colonic motility in this cohort is less well understood. Manometry may be used to directly assess colonic motility.

Perioperative opioid use in paediatric inguinal hernia patients: A systematic review and retrospective audit of practice.

Background: Opioids play a major role in postoperative pain management in children, but their administration remains an under investigated topic. This study aimed to describe perioperative opioid prescribing practices for paediatric inguinal hernia patients in the literature and at The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne, Australia.

Material/method: A systematic review of English articles (published from 2009 to 2019) was conducted on paediatric (0-18y) inguinal hernia patients who received a postoperative or discharge opioid prescription, or both.

Leveraging lifetime information to perform real-time 3D single-particle tracking in noisy environments.

A microscopy platform that leverages the arrival time of individual photons to enable 3D single-particle tracking of fast-moving (translational diffusion coefficient of ≃3.3 µm/s) particles in high-background environments is reported here. It combines a hardware-based time-gating module, which enables the rate of photon processing to be as high as 100 MHz, with a two-photon-excited 3D single-particle tracking confocal microscope to enable high sample penetration depth.

Designing supply chains to meet the growing need of vaccines: evidence from four countries.

Background: Immunization supply chains (iSCs) move vaccines from manufacturer to point of use with the added complexities of requiring cold chain and an increasing need for agility and efficiency to ensure vaccine quality and availability. Underperforming iSCs have been widely acknowledged as a key constraint to achieving high immunization coverage rates in low- and middle-income countries. This paper details the system design approach used to analyze the iSC network in Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Niger and Guinea and documents six lessons.

Ocular Adverse Events After COVID-19 Vaccination.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has galvanized the development of new vaccines at an unprecedented pace. Since the widespread implementation of vaccination campaigns, reports of ocular adverse effects after COVID-19 vaccinations have emerged. This review summarizes ocular adverse effects possibly associated with COVID-19 vaccination, and discusses their clinical characteristics and management.

Nanoscale dynamics of cellulose digestion by the cellobiohydrolase TrCel7A.

Understanding the mechanism by which cellulases from bacteria, fungi, and protozoans catalyze the digestion of lignocellulose is important for developing cost-effective strategies for bioethanol production. Cel7A from the fungus Trichoderma reesei is a model exoglucanase that degrades cellulose strands from their reducing ends by processively cleaving individual cellobiose units. Despite being one of the most studied cellulases, the binding and hydrolysis mechanisms of Cel7A are still debated.

Integrated multi-wavelength microscope combining TIRFM and IRM modalities for imaging cellulases and other processive enzymes.

We describe a multimodal microscope for visualizing processive enzymes moving on immobilized substrates. The instrument combines interference reflection microscopy (IRM) with multi-wavelength total internal reflectance fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM). The microscope can localize quantum dots with a precision of 2.

Redesigning immunization supply chains: Results from three country analyses.

Introduction: Immunization supply chains (iSC) are essential for ensuring access to vaccines that prevent diseases. Guinea, Madagascar, and Niger initiated iSC system design efforts to conduct analysis of alternative supply chain scenarios to identify areas for improvement.

Methodology: Key stakeholders from Ministries of Health and immunization programs identified bottlenecks in the current iSC and prioritized five general design scenarios to model in each country.

Severe retinal vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus leading to vision threatening paracentral acute middle maculopathy.

Systemic lupus erythematosus can affect any organ system at presentation and throughout its course. Lupus retinal vasculitis is responsible for the visual loss of variable severity and typically ascribed to the involvement of pre-capillary superficial arterial vasculature. Using multimodal imaging techniques and electrophysiology, we demonstrate the first-ever case of severe lupus retinal vasculitis resulting in the rare association of paracentral acute middle maculopathy.

The role of gonadotrophins in gonocyte transformation during minipuberty.

Purpose: Postnatal surge of gonadotrophins, Luteinizing hormone (LH) and Follicle-Stimulating hormone (FSH) known as minipuberty, is critical for gonocyte maturation into spermatogonial stem cells (SSC) in the testis. Gonadotrophins are essential for optimum fertility in men, but very little is known how they regulate germ cells during minipuberty. This study examined whether gonadotrophins play a role on gonocyte transformation in vivo.