Synchrotron radiation-based experimental determination of the optimal energy for cell radiotoxicity enhancement following photoelectric effect on stable iodinated compounds

This study was designed to experimentally evaluate the optimal X-ray energy for increasing the radiation energy absorbed in tumours loaded with iodinated compounds, using the photoelectric effect. SQ20B human cells were irradiated with synchrotron monochromatic beam tuned at 32.8, 33.5, 50 and 70 keV. Two cell treatments were compared to the control: cells suspended in 10 mg ml1 of iodine radiological contrast agent or cells pre-exposed with 10 mM of iodo-desoxyuridine (IUdR) for 48 h. Our radiobiological end point was clonogenic cell survival. Cells irradiated with both iodine compounds exhibited a radiation sensitisation enhancement. Moreover, it was energy dependent, with a maximum at 50 keV. At this energy, the sensitisation calculated at 10% survival was equal to 2.03 for cells suspended in iodinated contrast agent and 2.60 for IUdR. Cells pretreated with IUdR had higher sensitisation factors over the energy range than for those suspended in iodine contrast agent. Also, their survival curves presented no shoulder, suggesting complex lethal damages from Auger electrons. Our results confirm the existence of the 50 keV energy optimum for a binary therapeutic irradiation based on the presence of stable iodine in tumours and an external irradiation. Monochromatic synchrotron radiotherapy concept is hence proposed for increasing the differential effect between healthy and cancerous tissue irradiation

Adult venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe respiratory failure: Current status and future perspectives

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for severe acute respiratory failure was proposed more than 40 years ago. Despite the publication of the ARDSNet study and adoption of lung protective ventilation, the mortality for acute respiratory failure due to acute respiratory distress syndrome has continued to remain high. This technology has evolved over the past couple of decades and has been noted to be safe and successful, especially during the worldwide H1N1 influenza pandemic with good survival rates. The primary indications for ECMO in acute respiratory failure include severe refractory hypoxemic and hypercarbic respiratory failure in spite of maximum lung protective ventilatory support. Various triage criteria have been described and published. Contraindications exist when application of ECMO may be futile or technically impossible. Knowledge and appreciation of the circuit, cannulae, and the physiology of gas exchange with ECMO are necessary to ensure lung rest, efficiency of oxygenation, and ventilation as well as troubleshooting problems. Anticoagulation is a major concern with ECMO, and the evidence is evolving with respect to diagnostic testing and use of anticoagulants. Clinical management of the patient includes comprehensive critical care addressing sedation and neurologic issues, ensuring lung recruitment, diuresis, early enteral nutrition, treatment and surveillance of infections, and multisystem organ support. Newer technology that delinks oxygenation and ventilation by extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal may lead to ultra-lung protective ventilation, avoidance of endotracheal intubation in some situations, and ambulatory therapies as a bridge to lung transplantation. Risks, complications, and long-term outcomes and resources need to be considered and weighed in before widespread application. Ethical challenges are a reality and a multidisciplinary approach that should be adopted for every case in consideration

Cognition and multiple sclerosis: a historical analysis of medical perceptions

The earliest descriptions of multiple sclerosis (MS) rarely distinguished cognitive impairment from the general category of "mental symptoms", which also encompassed a broad range of affective disorders. Case-study methods led to disputes about the extent and nature of these symptoms, exacerbated by different national medical traditions. Appropriate scientific methods were only used to investigate cognitive performance in a modest number of studies up to the 1960s, and it was being argued as late as the mid 1970s that affective processes rather than cognitive processes were the key to understanding the psychological aspects of MS. However, the early 1980s, saw major developments in test procedures for the detection of subtle and selective cognitive changes, in the use of brain imaging techniques, and in collaboration between neurologists and neuropsychologists. Pressure to use research findings to improve patients' daily lives suggests a need to reconsider the connection between affective and cognitive processes in MS

Ålegræstransplantering og tangdyrkning som marine virkemidler: Potentialer, effekter og juridiske aspekter:Opsummering af hovedresultater fra projektet ”Udviklingsinitiativer for Marine Virkemidler”

Denne rapport opsummerer hovedresultaterne fra forskningsprojektet ”Udviklingsinitiativer for marine virkemidler”, der er besluttet og finansieret af ”Aftale om grøn omstilling af dansk landbrug” fra 2021 og udmøntet via Miljøstyrelsen. Projektet skal danne grundlag for beslutning om, og i givet fald hvordan de marine virkemidler ”reetablering af ålegræs” og ”dyrkning af tang” kan anvendes i vandplanlægningen til at opsamle næringsstoffer og/eller opnå andre positive miljøeffekter, som kan bidrage til hurtigere opnåelse af god økologisk tilstand i danske kystvandområder i overensstemmelse med vandrammedirektivet.Forskningsprojektet og nærværende opsummerende rapport er ledet af DTU Aqua ved projektleder Karen Timmermann og udført i samarbejde med Syddansk Universitet (SDU), Københavns Universitet (KU), Aarhus Universitet (AU) og DHI. Rapporten er en del af rapportserien ”Udviklingsinitiativer for marine virkemidler”, som udover den opsummerende rapport omfatter en række baggrundsrapporter med videnskabelig dokumentation for projektets resultater.Baggrundsrapporterne i serien udgives i løbet af 2024 og udgøres af:• En dybdegående projektsynteserapport.• Vidensyntese om ålegræstransplantering.• Videnssyntese om tangdyrkning.• Rapporten ”Muligheder for at indregne marine virkemidler i den nationale drivhusgasopgørelse”.• Rapporten ”Retlige rammer for marine virkemidler og marin natur”.• Arbejdspakkerapporter med videnskabelig dokumentation for resultaterne fra hver af projektets centrale faglige arbejdspakker omhandlende ”Ålegræstransplantering”, ”Dyrkning af sukkertang” og "Modellering af virkemiddeleffekter”.Miljøstyrelsen har haft rapportudkast til kommentering undervejs i projektgruppens arbejde, men valg af metoder og konklusioner er alene projektgruppens ansvar