Bumblebees land remarkably well in red-blue greenhouse LED light conditions.

Red-blue emitting LEDs have recently been introduced in greenhouses to optimise plant growth. However, this spectrum may negatively affect the performance of bumblebees used for pollination, because the visual system of bumblebees is more sensitive to green light than to red-blue light. We used high-speed stereoscopic videography to three-dimensionally track and compare landing manoeuvres of bumblebees in red-blue light and in regular, broad-spectrum white light.

Automated cot-side tracking of functional brain age in preterm infants.

Objective: A major challenge in the care of preterm infants is the early identification of compromised neurological development. While several measures are routinely used to track anatomical growth, there is a striking lack of reliable and objective tools for tracking maturation of early brain function; a cornerstone of lifelong neurological health. We present a cot-side method for measuring the functional maturity of the newborn brain based on routinely available neurological monitoring with electroencephalography (EEG).

Cerebral palsy after very preterm birth - an imaging perspective.

Neonatal brain imaging undoubtedly can provide the most accurate information from which to determine whether cerebral palsy is likely to affect an individual infant born preterm. The sensitivity and specificity of that information is different between cranial ultrasound and MRI, depending on what approaches and sequences are used and the timing of the examinations. In this chapter we highlight the changing incidence of different patterns of brain injury in the preterm newborn and present a comparison of cranial ultrasound and MRI for predicting cerebral palsy in preterm infants affected by the commoner intracranial pathologies.

Morphine affects brain activity and volumes in preterms: An observational multi-center study.

Objective: We hypothesized that morphine has a depressing effect on early brain activity, assessed using quantitative aEEG/EEG parameter and depressed activity will be associated with brain volumes at term in extremely preterm infants.

Study Design: 174 preterm infants were enrolled in 3 European tertiary NICUs (mean GA:26 ± 1wks) and monitored during the first 72 h after birth with continuous 2 channel aEEG. Six epochs of aEEG recordings were selected and minimum amplitude of aEEG (min aEEG), percentage of time amplitude <5 μV (% of time < 5 μV), spontaneous activity transients (SATrate) and interSAT interval (ISI) were calculated.

Predictors of Outcomes in Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy following Hypothermia: A Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Prediction of neurodevelopmental outcome in infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy remains an important challenge. Various studies have shown that the predictive ability of different modalities changed after the introduction of therapeutic hypothermia. This paper reviews the diagnostic test accuracy of the different modalities that are being used to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes following therapeutic hypothermia.

The development and validation of a cerebral ultrasound scoring system for infants with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy.

Background: Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. When the gold standard MRI is not feasible, cerebral ultrasound (CUS) might offer an alternative. In this study, the association between a novel CUS scoring system and neurodevelopmental outcome in neonates with HIE was assessed.

Perinatal thalamic injury: MRI predictors of electrical status epilepticus in sleep and long-term neurodevelopment.

Objective: Perinatal thalamic injury is associated with epilepsy with electrical status epilepticus in sleep (ESES). The aim of this study was to prospectively quantify the risk of ESES and to assess neuroimaging predictors of neurodevelopment.

Methods: We included patients with perinatal thalamic injury.

Ga-PSMA PET/CT in radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer and first treatment results with Lu-PSMA-617.

Background: Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) is the most common type of thyroid cancer. Treatment with surgery, radioactive iodine (RAI), and TSH suppression is effective in most patients. Five to 15% of patients become RAI refractory and need alternative therapy; however, treatment options are limited.

Tocilizumab as an Effective Treatment Option in Children with Refractory Intermediate and Panuveitis.

: To describe the results of tocilizumab treatment in children with refractory non-anterior uveitis.: A case series of seven children with refractory non-anterior uveitis (onset ≤16 years) with leakage on fluorescein angiogram (FA) were treated with tocilizumab intravenously every 4 weeks (eight mg/kg). Minimum follow-up was 6 months.

Identification of Plasmodium dipeptidyl aminopeptidase allosteric inhibitors by high throughput screening.

Dipeptidyl aminopeptidases (DPAPs) are cysteine proteases that cleave dipeptides from the N-terminus of protein substrates and have been shown to play important roles in many pathologies including parasitic diseases such as malaria, toxoplasmosis and Chagas's disease. Inhibitors of the mammalian homologue cathepsin C have been used in clinical trials as potential drugs to treat chronic inflammatory disorders, thus proving that these enzymes are druggable. In Plasmodium species, DPAPs play important functions at different stages of parasite development, thus making them potential antimalarial targets.

Additional value of advanced neurosonography and magnetic resonance imaging in fetuses at risk for brain damage.

Objective: To assess the additional value of fetal multiplanar (axial, coronal and sagittal) neurosonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to that of the standard axial ultrasound planes in diagnosing brain damage in fetuses at high risk.

Methods: This was a prospective, multicenter, observational study. Women were eligible for participation if their fetus was at risk for acquired brain anomalies.

Viral Infections and the Neonatal Brain.

This review includes the congenital infections best known by the acronym TORCH (Toxoplasma gondii, rubella virus, cytomegalovirus, and herpes virus), as well as Zika virus infection and perinatally acquired infections (enterovirus, parechovirus, rotavirus, parvovirus). Congenital infections are due to pathogens that can cross the placenta and are more likely to injure the brain when the infection occurs early in pregnancy. There are many similarities, with regards to brain lesions, for congenital Zika syndrome and congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

TMX2 Is a Crucial Regulator of Cellular Redox State, and Its Dysfunction Causes Severe Brain Developmental Abnormalities.

The redox state of the neural progenitors regulates physiological processes such as neuronal differentiation and dendritic and axonal growth. The relevance of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated oxidoreductases in these processes is largely unexplored. We describe a severe neurological disorder caused by bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in thioredoxin (TRX)-related transmembrane-2 (TMX2); these variants were detected by exome sequencing in 14 affected individuals from ten unrelated families presenting with congenital microcephaly, cortical polymicrogyria, and other migration disorders.

Neonatal care bundles are associated with a reduction in the incidence of intraventricular haemorrhage in preterm infants: a multicentre cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the effect of a nursing intervention bundle, applied during the first 72 hours of life, on the incidence of germinal matrix-intraventricular haemorrhage (GMH-IVH) in very preterm infants.

Design: Multicentre cohort study.

Setting: Two Dutch tertiary neonatal intensive care units.

Early prediction of unilateral cerebral palsy in infants at risk: MRI versus the hand assessment for infants.

Background: Neonates with unilateral perinatal brain injury (UPBI) are at risk for developing unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP). This study compares several predictors for USCP later in life.

Methods: Twenty-one preterm and 24 term born infants with UPBI were included, with an MRI scan including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) performed at term equivalent age or around 3 months after birth, respectively.

Periventricular Hemorrhagic Infarction in Very Preterm Infants: Characteristic Sonographic Findings and Association with Neurodevelopmental Outcome at Age 2 Years.

Objective: To describe the sonographic characteristics of periventricular hemorrhagic infarction (PVHI) and their association with mortality and neurodevelopmental disability in very preterm infants born in 2008-2013.

Study Design: Retrospective multicenter observational cohort study. Diagonal PVHI size was measured and severity score assessed.

Signal Change in the Mammillary Bodies after Perinatal Asphyxia.

Background And Purpose: Research into memory deficits associated with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy has typically focused on the hippocampus, but there is emerging evidence that the medial diencephalon may also be compromised. We hypothesized that mammillary body damage occurs in perinatal asphyxia, potentially resulting in mammillary body atrophy and subsequent memory impairment.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed brain MRIs of 235 clinically confirmed full-term patients with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy acquired at a single center during 2004-2017.

Two-dimensional ultrasound measurements vs. magnetic resonance imaging-derived ventricular volume of preterm infants with germinal matrix intraventricular haemorrhage.

Background: Post-haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation can be measured accurately by MRI. However, two-dimensional (2-D) cranial US can be used at the bedside on a daily basis.

Objective: To assess whether the ventricular volume can be determined accurately using US.

Obesity and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children and Young Adults With Non-classical 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency.

Classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia is associated with an increased risk of obesity and cardiometabolic disease. The aim of the study was to determine if this is also true for non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCCAH). A retrospective, cross-sectional, single-center study design was used.

Plasma Renin Measurements are Unrelated to Mineralocorticoid Replacement Dose in Patients With Primary Adrenal Insufficiency.

Context: No consensus exists for optimization of mineralocorticoid therapy in patients with primary adrenal insufficiency.

Objective: To explore the relationship between mineralocorticoid (MC) replacement dose, plasma renin concentration (PRC), and clinically important variables to determine which are most helpful in guiding MC dose titration in primary adrenal insufficiency.

Design: Observational, retrospective, longitudinal analysis.

Heterozygous Variants in the Mechanosensitive Ion Channel TMEM63A Result in Transient Hypomyelination during Infancy.

Mechanically activated (MA) ion channels convert physical forces into electrical signals. Despite the importance of this function, the involvement of mechanosensitive ion channels in human disease is poorly understood. Here we report heterozygous missense mutations in the gene encoding the MA ion channel TMEM63A that result in an infantile disorder resembling a hypomyelinating leukodystrophy.

[A young man with a painful scrotum].

A 16-year-old male patient with no known medical history presented at the Emergency Department (ED) with a 2-day history of pain and swelling in his right hemiscrotum. He was diagnosed with non-bacterial epididymitis and discharged home with medical advice. Six days after being diagnosed, the pain and swelling worsened and he was seen by a general practitioner who concluded that the symptoms were attributable to the previously diagnosed epididymitis.