Objective: The objective of our study was to develop an automated calculation method to provide organ dose assessment for a large cohort of pediatric and adult patients undergoing CT examinations.
Materials And Methods: We adopted two dose libraries that were previously published: the volume CT dose index-normalized organ dose library and the tube current-exposure time product (100 mAs)-normalized weighted CT dose index library. We developed an algorithm to calculate organ doses using the two dose libraries and the CT parameters available from DICOM data. We calculated organ doses for pediatric (n = 2499) and adult (n = 2043) CT examinations randomly selected from four health care systems in the United States and compared the adult organ doses with the values calculated from the ImPACT calculator.
Results: The median brain dose was 20 mGy (pediatric) and 24 mGy (adult), and the brain dose was greater than 40 mGy for 11% (pediatric) and 18% (adult) of the head CT studies. Both the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and ImPACT methods provided similar organ doses (median discrepancy < 20%) for all organs except the organs located close to the scanning boundaries. The visual comparisons of scanning coverage and phantom anatomies revealed that the NCI method, which is based on realistic computational phantoms, provides more accurate organ doses than the ImPACT method.
Conclusion: The automated organ dose calculation method developed in this study reduces the time needed to calculate doses for a large number of patients. We have successfully used this method for a variety of CT-related studies including retrospective epidemiologic studies and CT dose trend analysis studies.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2214/AJR.14.14135 | DOI Listing |
Epilepsia
January 2025
IRCCS Institute of Neurological Sciences of Bologna, Full Member of the European Reference Network EpiCARE, Bologna, Italy.
Objective: This study aimed to identify prescribing behaviors in women of childbearing potential (WOCP) with epilepsy already taking valproate (VPA), and to investigate the relationship between VPA maintenance, substitution, reduction, or withdrawal as part of polytherapy, and seizure worsening or relapse.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the prescription behaviors and seizure outcomes in WOCP (16-50 years of age) with epilepsy, referred to eight Italian epilepsy centers, who were taking VPA for at least 1 year between 2014 and 2019.
Results: Among 750 women (~12% of all WOCP), 528 (70.
Microbiol Spectr
January 2025
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA.
Unlabelled: Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) using engineered bioluminescent viruses has emerged as a powerful tool for real-time, noninvasive monitoring of viral replication in living animals. While traditional luciferase-based systems, such as firefly luciferase, have been widely used, the NanoLuc luciferase system offers distinct advantages, including its significantly smaller gene size, increased brightness, and independence from ATP as a cofactor, allowing for extracellular detection. However, the utility of NanoLuc has been limited by its traditional substrate, furimazine, which exhibits poor water solubility and potential cytotoxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Med Virol
February 2025
Key Laboratory of Artificial Organs and Computational Medicine in Zhejiang Province, Shulan International Medical College, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P. R. China.
Immunity against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be induced through either infection with the virus or vaccination, providing protection against reinfection or reducing the risk of severe clinical outcomes. In this study, we recruited 172 volunteers who received different vaccination regimens, including 124 individuals who had recovered from breakthrough infections caused by the Omicron variant (27 with 2 doses, 49 with 3 doses, and 48 with 4 doses) and 48 healthy donors who did not experience breakthrough infections (all of whom received a fourth dose during the infection wave). We measured neutralizing antibody levels against Omicron BA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxicon
January 2025
Laboratory of Experimental Pathophysiology, Health Sciences, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense. Universitário, 88806-000. Criciúma. Santa Catarina, Brazil. Electronic address:
Tityus serrulatus accident promote vast symptomatology related to toxins of the venom, which leads to a massive release of neurotransmitters, notably dopamine, affecting behavior and neurochemistry. The recommended treatment for envenomation is the antiscorpionic serum (SAEsc) administration. Related to this complexity of the Tityus serrulatus envenomation, this study aimed to assess organism responses to the venom, its impact on behavior, oxidative stress, neurochemistry, and genetic impacts, as well as the efficacy of SAEsc, especially concerning dopamine levels and genetic interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Pharmacol
January 2025
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy,. Electronic address:
Sarcoglycanopathies are rare forms of severe muscular dystrophies currently without a therapy. Mutations in sarcoglycan (SG) genes cause the reduction or absence of the SG-complex, a tetramer located in the sarcolemma that plays a protective role during muscle contraction. Missense mutations in SGCA, which cause α-sarcoglycanopathy, otherwise known as LGMD2D/R3, lead to folding defective forms of α-SG that are discarded by the cell quality control.
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