Clinical feasibility of MRI-guided in-bore prostate biopsies at 0.55T.

Objective: In-bore MRI-guided biopsy allows direct visualization of suspicious lesions, biopsy needles, and trajectories, allowing accurate sampling when MRI-ultrasound fusion biopsy is not feasible. However, its use has been limited. Wide-bore, lower-field, and lower-cost scanners could help address these issues, but their feasibility for prostate biopsy is unknown.

The feasibility of high-resolution organ-axial T2-weighted MRI when combined with federation of gynecology and obstetrics (FIGO) classification of uterine fibroid patients.

Purpose: Correctly classifying uterine fibroids is essential for treatment planning. The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy and reliability of the FIGO classification system in categorizing uterine fibroids via organ-axial T2WI and to further investigate the factors associated with uterine compression.

Methods: A total of 130 patients with ultrasound-confirmed fibroids were prospectively enrolled between March 2023 and May 2024.

Liver stiffness: a novel imaging biomarker by ultrasound elastography for prediction of early allograft failure following liver transplantation.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of Liver Stiffness Measurement (LSM) and serum transaminase levels for predicting early allograft failure (EAF) after liver transplantation (LT).

Methods: A total of 189 patients who underwent LT were prospectively recruited in the study. Of these patients, 13 cases died or received re-transplantation within 90 days after surgery were classified as EAF group, while rest 176 patients were included in the non-EAF group.

Endothelial IGFBP6 suppresses vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis.

Beyond dyslipidemia, inflammation contributes to the development of atherosclerosis. However, intrinsic factors that counteract vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis remain scarce. Here we identify insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 (IGFBP6) as a homeostasis-associated molecule that restrains endothelial inflammation and atherosclerosis.

A BCG kill switch strain protects against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mice and non-human primates with improved safety and immunogenicity.

Improved vaccination strategies for tuberculosis are needed. Intravenous (i.v.

Engineered Mycobacterium tuberculosis triple-kill-switch strain provides controlled tuberculosis infection in animal models.

Human challenge experiments could accelerate tuberculosis vaccine development. This requires a safe Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strain that can both replicate in the host and be reliably cleared. Here we genetically engineered Mtb strains encoding up to three kill switches: two mycobacteriophage lysin operons negatively regulated by tetracycline and a degron domain-NadE fusion, which induces ClpC1-dependent degradation of the essential enzyme NadE, negatively regulated by trimethoprim.

Seasonal changes of mélange thickness coincide with Greenland calving dynamics.

Iceberg calving is a major contributor to Greenland's ice mass loss. Ice mélange, tightly packed sea ice and icebergs, has been hypothesized to buttress the calving fronts. However, quantifying the mélange buttressing force from field observations remains a challenge.

Host-microbe multiomic profiling identifies distinct COVID-19 immune dysregulation in solid organ transplant recipients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses significant risks for solid organ transplant recipients, who have atypical but poorly characterized immune responses to infection. We aim to understand the host immunologic and microbial features of COVID-19 in transplant recipients by leveraging a prospective multicenter cohort of 86 transplant recipients age- and sex-matched with 172 non-transplant controls. We find that transplant recipients have higher nasal SARS-CoV-2 viral abundance and impaired viral clearance, and lower anti-spike IgG levels.

Why the belief in meritocracy is so pervasive.

People worldwide tend to believe that their societies are more meritocratic than they actually are. We propose the belief in meritocracy is widespread because it is rooted in simple, seemingly obvious causal-explanatory intuitions. Our proposal suggests solutions for debunking the myth of meritocracy and increasing support for equity-oriented policies.

New device, old algorithm? Bridging generations in perioperative coagulation management.

Viscoelastic testing permits targeted correction of coagulopathy in bleeding patients. As new generations of viscoelastic testing platforms become available, research exploring similarities and differences with older devices can provide insight for institutions seeking to use the newer technologies. Care must be taken to ensure such studies are designed to produce clinically meaningful guidance for adapting existing treatment algorithms to accommodate the latest viscoelastic testing technology.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A narrative synthesis of its hallmarks for palliative care clinicians.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a life-limiting condition and the third leading cause of death worldwide. People with COPD experience physical and psychological symptoms and functional limitations that impair their quality of life. Their caregivers face adverse clinical outcomes due to personal, social, and financial demands.

The α-synuclein seed amplification assay: Interpreting a test of Parkinson's pathology.

The α-synuclein seed amplification assay (αSyn-SAA) sensitively detects Lewy pathology, the amyloid state of α-synuclein, in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The αSyn-SAA harnesses the physics of seeding, whereby a superconcentrated solution of recombinant α-synuclein lowers the thermodynamic threshold (nucleation barrier) for aggregated α-synuclein to act as a nucleation catalyst ("seed") to trigger the precipitation (nucleation) of monomeric α-synuclein into pathology. This laboratory setup increases the signal for identifying a catalyst if one is present in the tissue examined.

Does extending the body contour into air enhance surface dose calculation accuracy?

Purpose: In radiotherapy treatment planning systems, modelling of superficial dose may be aided by a body contour that is, by default, placed at the outermost air-tissue interface. Here we investigate the accuracy of superficial dose calculated using either the default body contour (DBC) or an extended body contour (EBC) compared to radiochromic film measurements made on a slab phantom and an anthropomorphic phantom.

Methods: Depth dose curves in the superficial region of the slab phantom were measured using stacked radiochromic films and irradiated using static beams delivered from varying incident angles.

Improving the Robustness of Deep-Learning Models in Predicting Hematoma Expansion from Admission Head CT.

Background And Purpose: Robustness against input data perturbations is essential for deploying deep-learning models in clinical practice. Adversarial attacks involve subtle, voxel-level manipulations of scans to increase deep-learning models' prediction errors. Testing deep-learning model performance on examples of adversarial images provides a measure of robustness, and including adversarial images in the training set can improve the model's robustness.

Temporally dissociable neural representations of pitch height and chroma.

The extraction and analysis of pitch underpin speech and music recognition, sound segregation, and other auditory tasks. Perceptually, pitch can be represented as a helix composed of two factors: height monotonically aligns with frequency, while chroma cyclically repeats at doubled frequencies. Although the early perceptual and neurophysiological mechanisms for extracting pitch from acoustic signals have been extensively investigated, the equally essential subsequent stages that bridge to high-level auditory cognition remain less well understood.

Cigarette smoke extract induces p38-mediated expression and ROS/rho-mediated translocation of alpha 2C adrenoceptor in human microvascular smooth muscle cells.

Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is a vascular disease characterized by exaggerated vasoconstriction in response to stressors, mainly cold and emotional stress. This vasoconstriction is mediated solely by alpha 2C-adrenoceptors (α-AR) expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells of dermal arterioles. Several factors, among which is cigarette smoking, are associated with aggravated symptoms of and increased risk for RP.

Effect of low dose colchicine on long term recurrence after atrial fibrillation ablation.

Background: Colchicine is commonly used early after atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation to reduce inflammation and reduce AF recurrence, but there is limited long-term efficacy data.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of low dose colchicine use on long-term AF recurrence after AF ablation.

Methods: From 2013 to 2021, all AF ablations performed at a single tertiary care medical center were analyzed for colchicine use, clinical and procedural characteristics, and AF recurrence.

Transcriptomic profiling of chronic hand eczema skin reveals shared immune pathways and molecular drivers across subtypes.

Background: Chronic hand eczema (CHE) is a common skin disease with different subtypes, but knowledge of the molecular patterns associated with each subtype is limited.

Objective: To characterize the CHE transcriptome across subtypes.

Methods: Using RNA-sequencing, we studied the transcriptome of 220 full-thickness skin biopsies collected from palms, dorsa, and arms from 96 patients with CHE and/or atopic dermatitis (AD) and 32 healthy controls.

One BAG doesn't fit all: the differences and similarities of BAG family members in mediating CNS homeostasis.

There is an increasing awareness that B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated athanogene (BAG) proteins play critical roles in maintaining neural homeostasis, and that their dysregulation contributes to neurological disorders. This protein family of nine members is evolutionarily conserved, with each member having at least one BAG domain that binds to the nucleotide-binding domains of Heat Shock Protein (Hsp) 70 family members. Collectively, these proteins are essential for the proper functioning of the central nervous system (CNS).