3D-targeted, electrocardiographic imaging-aided stereotactic radioablation for ventricular tachycardia storm: a case report.

Background: Stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) is a promising non-invasive therapy for patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT). Accurate identification of the arrhythmogenic volume, or clinical target volume (CTV), on the radiotherapy (RT) 4D planning computed tomography (CT) scan is key for STAR efficacy and safety. This case report illustrates our workflow of electro-structural image integration for CTV delineation.

Some like it hot: adaptation to the urban heat island in common dandelion.

The Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) is a globally consistent pressure on biological species living in cities. Adaptation to the UHIE may be necessary for urban wild flora to persist in cities, but experimental evidence is scarce. Here, we report evidence of adaptive evolution in a perennial plant species in response to the UHIE.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of risk factors influencing patient-reported arm symptoms post-breast cancer treatment: Accounting for radiotherapy impact.

Objectives: To systematically review risk factors for patient-reported arm symptoms (AS) in breast cancer (BC), considering radiotherapy (RT) impact, using the EORTC QLQ-BR23 questionnaire (BR23).

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and Web of Science were searched using the keywords "breast neoplasms", "radiotherapy", and "BR23" up to March 5th, 2024.

Inclusion Criteria: both univariate and multivariate analyses.

Molecular Mechanisms of Temperature Tolerance Plasticity in an Arthropod.

How species thrive in a wide range of environments is a major focus of evolutionary biology. For many species, limited genetic diversity or gene flow among habitats means that phenotypic plasticity must play an important role in their capacity to tolerate environmental heterogeneity and to colonize new habitats. However, we have a limited understanding of the molecular components that govern plasticity in ecologically relevant phenotypes.

Early developmental carry-over effects on exploratory behaviour and DNA methylation in wild great tits ().

Adverse, postnatal conditions experienced during development are known to induce lingering effects on morphology, behaviour, reproduction and survival. Despite the importance of early developmental stress for shaping the adult phenotype, it is largely unknown which molecular mechanisms allow for the induction and maintenance of such phenotypic effects once the early environmental conditions are released. Here we aimed to investigate whether lasting early developmental phenotypic changes are associated with post-developmental DNA methylation changes.

Autosomal dominant in cis D4Z4 repeat array duplication alleles in facioscapulohumeral dystrophy.

Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) has a unique genetic aetiology resulting in partial chromatin relaxation of the D4Z4 macrosatellite repeat array on 4qter. This D4Z4 chromatin relaxation facilitates inappropriate expression of the transcription factor DUX4 in skeletal muscle. DUX4 is encoded by a retrogene that is embedded within the distal region of the D4Z4 repeat array.

Herbivory induced methylation changes in the Lombardy poplar: A comparison of results obtained by epiGBS and WGBS.

DNA cytosine methylation is an epigenetic mechanism involved in regulation of plant responses to biotic and abiotic stress and its ability to change can vary with the sequence context in which a cytosine appears (CpG, CHG, CHH, where H = Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine). Quantification of DNA methylation in model plant species is frequently addressed by Whole Genome Bisulfite Sequencing (WGBS), which requires a good-quality reference genome. Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) is a cost-effective potential alternative for ecological research with limited genomic resources and large experimental designs.

A Framework for Assessing the Effect of Cardiac and Respiratory Motion for Stereotactic Arrhythmia Radioablation Using a Digital Phantom With a 17-Segment Model: A STOPSTORM.eu Consortium Study.

Purpose: The optimal motion management strategy for patients receiving stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) for the treatment of ventricular tachycardia (VT) is not fully known. We developed a framework using a digital phantom to simulate cardiorespiratory motion in combination with different motion management strategies to gain insight into the effect of cardiorespiratory motion on STAR.

Methods And Materials: The 4-dimensional (4D) extended cardiac-torso (XCAT) phantom was expanded with the 17-segment left ventricular (LV) model, which allowed placement of STAR targets in standardized ventricular regions.

Phylogenomic analysis provides insights into and gene diversification and floral development of the Asteraceae, supported by genome and transcriptome sequences from dandelion ().

The Asteraceae is the largest angiosperm family with more than 25,000 species. Individual studies have shown that and transcription factors are regulators of the development and symmetry of flowers, contributing to their iconic flower-head (capitulum) and floret. However, a systematic study of and genes across the Asteraceae is lacking.

Adaptive plasticity and fitness costs of endangered, nonendangered, and invasive plants in response to variation in nitrogen and phosphorus availabilities.

Global change drivers such as eutrophication and plant invasions will create novel environments for many plant species. Through adaptive trait plasticity plants may maintain their performance under these novel conditions and may outcompete those showing low-adaptive trait plasticity. In a greenhouse study, we determined if plasticity in traits is adaptive or maladaptive in endangered, nonendangered, and invasive plant species in response to variation of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability (N:P ratios 1.

Developmental stress does not induce genome-wide DNA methylation changes in wild great tit (Parus major) nestlings.

The environment experienced during early life is a crucial factor in the life of many organisms. This early life environment has been shown to have profound effects on morphology, physiology and fitness. However, the molecular mechanisms that mediate these effects are largely unknown, even though they are essential for our understanding of the processes that induce phenotypic variation in natural populations.

Variation in DNA Methylation in Avian Nestlings Is Largely Determined by Genetic Effects.

As environmental fluctuations are becoming more common, organisms need to rapidly adapt to anthropogenic, climatic, and ecological changes. Epigenetic modifications and DNA methylation in particular provide organisms with a mechanism to shape their phenotypic responses during development. Studies suggest that environmentally induced DNA methylation might allow for adaptive phenotypic plasticity that could last throughout an organism's lifetime.

C-terminal frameshift variant of TDP-43 with pronounced aggregation-propensity causes rimmed vacuole myopathy but not ALS/FTD.

Neuronal TDP-43-positive inclusions are neuropathological hallmark lesions in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Pathogenic missense variants in TARDBP, the gene encoding TDP-43, can cause ALS and cluster in the C-terminal prion-like domain (PrLD), where they modulate the liquid condensation and aggregation properties of the protein. TDP-43-positive inclusions are also found in rimmed vacuole myopathies, including sporadic inclusion body myositis, but myopathy-causing TDP-43 variants have not been reported.

Environmental and genealogical effects on DNA methylation in a widespread apomictic dandelion lineage.

DNA methylation in plant genomes occurs in different sequences and genomic contexts that have very different properties. DNA methylation that occurs in CG (mCG) sequence context shows transgenerational stability and high epimutation rate, and can thus provide genealogical information at short time scales. However, due to meta-stability and because mCG variants may arise due to other factors than epimutation, such as environmental stress exposure, it is not clear how well mCG captures genealogical information at micro-evolutionary time scales.

Corrigendum to "Harmonization of breast cancer radiotherapy treatment planning in the Netherlands" [Tech. Innov. Patient Support Radiat. Oncol. 19 (2021) 26-32].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.tipsro.

Cosmetic Results and Side Effects of Accelerated Partial-Breast Irradiation Versus Whole-Breast Irradiation for Low-Risk Invasive Carcinoma of the Breast: The Randomized Phase III IRMA Trial.

Purpose: The results in terms of side effects vary among the published accelerated partial-breast irradiation (APBI) studies. Here, we report the 5-year results for cosmetic outcomes and toxicity of the IRMA trial.

Methods: We ran this randomized phase III trial in 35 centers.

Changes in the rearing environment cause reorganization of molecular networks associated with DNA methylation.

Disentangling the interaction between the genetic basis and environmental context underlying phenotypic variation is critical for understanding organismal evolution. Environmental change, such as increased rates of urbanization, can induce shifts in phenotypic plasticity with some individuals adapting to city life while others are displaced. A key trait that can facilitate adaptation is the degree at which animals respond to stressors.

Exploring the Interspecific Interactions and the Metabolome of the Soil Isolate Hylemonella gracilis.

Microbial community analysis of aquatic environments showed that an important component of its microbial diversity consists of bacteria with cell sizes of ~0.1 μm. Such small bacteria can show genomic reductions and metabolic dependencies with other bacteria.

DNA methylation in clonal duckweed (Lemna minor L.) lineages reflects current and historical environmental exposures.

Environmentally induced DNA methylation variants may mediate gene expression responses to environmental changes. If such induced variants are transgenerationally stable, there is potential for expression responses to persist over multiple generations. Our current knowledge in plants, however, is almost exclusively based on studies conducted in sexually reproducing species where the majority of DNA methylation changes are subject to resetting in germlines, limiting the potential for transgenerational epigenetics stress memory.

Clinical implementation and validation of an automated adaptive workflow for proton therapy.

Background And Purpose: Treatment quality of proton therapy can be monitored by repeat-computed tomography scans (reCTs). However, manual re-delineation of target contours can be time-consuming. To improve the workflow, we implemented an automated reCT evaluation, and assessed if automatic target contour propagation would lead to the same clinical decision for plan adaptation as the manual workflow.

Adapting to climate with limited genetic diversity: Nucleotide, DNA methylation and microbiome variation among populations of the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola.

Understanding the role of genetic and nongenetic variants in modulating phenotypes is central to our knowledge of adaptive responses to local conditions and environmental change, particularly in species with such low population genetic diversity that it is likely to limit their evolutionary potential. A first step towards uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying population-specific responses to the environment is to carry out environmental association studies. We associated climatic variation with genetic, epigenetic and microbiome variation in populations of a social spider with extremely low standing genetic diversity.

Real-world analysis of manual editing of deep learning contouring in the thorax region.

Background And Purpose: User-adjustments after deep-learning (DL) contouring in radiotherapy were evaluated to get insight in real-world editing during clinical practice. This study assessed the amount, type and spatial regions of editing of auto-contouring for organs-at-risk (OARs) in routine clinical workflow for patients in the thorax region.

Materials And Methods: A total of 350 lung cancer and 362 breast cancer patients, contoured between March 2020 and March 2021 using a commercial DL-contouring method followed by manual adjustments were retrospectively analyzed.