Sonological appearance of idiopathic arterial calcification in fetus: A rare case

Idiopathic arterial calcification (IAC) is a rare disease characterized by extensive arterial wall calcification. This condition is almost always fatal. A total of 162 cases have been reported to date, with most cases diagnosed postnatally and less than 13 cases having been suspected antenatally. This case report describes a case of IAC detected antenatally with USG at 28 weeks' gestation

Unsuspecting Dietary Factors in Hyperkalemia: A Case Report on Why History Matters

Introduction: We present a case of hyperkalemia secondary to excessive dietary intake of hard caramel candies.Case Report: An 88-year-old male who presented with acute abdominal pain and vomiting was found to have hyperkalemia of 6.9 milliequivalents per liter. He was stabilized, treated, and discharged the following day after resolution. The cause was identified as his daily consumption of 200 hard caramel candies.Discussion: The patient had been consuming sugar-free candies, which induced a chronic diarrhea. This led to potassium wasting and augmentation of his home medications. When he transitioned to eating regular caramel candies, he retained too much potassium leading to his presentation.Conclusion: While often overlooked, dietary history is a crucial part of history-taking to ensure that the underlying cause for illness is discovered and addressed

Object recognition by discriminative combinations of line segments, ellipses, and appearance features

We present a novel contour-based approach that recognizes object classes in real-world scenes using simple and generic shape primitives of line segments and ellipses. Compared to commonly used contour fragment features, these primitives support more efficient representation since their storage requirements are independent of object size. Additionally, these primitives are readily described by their geometrical properties and hence afford very efficient feature comparison. We pair these primitives as shape-tokens and learn discriminative combinations of shape-tokens. Here, we allow each combination to have a variable number of shape-tokens. This, coupled with the generic nature of primitives, enables a variety of class-specific shape structures to be learned. Building on the contour-based method, we propose a new hybrid recognition method that combines shape and appearance features. Each discriminative combination can vary in the number and the types of features, where these two degrees of variability empower the hybrid method with even more flexibility and discriminative potential. We evaluate our methods across a large number of challenging classes, and obtain very competitive results against other methods. These results show the proposed shape primitives are indeed sufficiently powerful to recognize object classes in complex real-world scenes

Improving Time-to-Treatment for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients through Faster Single Gene EGFR Testing Using the Idylla™ EGFR Testing Platform

Introduction: Patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may benefit from a short time-to-treatment (TTT). Predictive biomarker testing is performed prior to treatment, as recommended by various international expert consensus bodies. Genetic testing is more time-intensive than immunohistochemistry (IHC) and commonly contributes to prolonged TTT. For epidermal growth factor receptor-positive patients (EGFR+), further genetic testing may not be required due to the mutual exclusivity of actionable mutations. Methods: The trial cohort (N = 238) received both BC Cancer NGS panel (Oncopanel) and Idylla EGFR testing. Data were also collected for a control cohort (N = 220) that received Oncopanel testing. For each patient, the time that the lab received the sample, the time taken to report the NGS and Idylla tests, the time of first treatment, and the final treatment regimen were recorded. Results: A concordance frequency of 98.7% (232/235) was observed between the Idylla and NGS panel. The lab turnaround time (TAT) was faster for the Idylla test by an average of 12.4 days (N = 235, p < 0.01). Overall, the average TTT in the trial cohort (N = 114) was 10.1 days faster (p < 0.05) than the control (N = 114), leading to a 25% reduction in TTT. For patients treated based on EGFR positivity, the mean TTT was 16.8 days faster (p < 0.05) in the trial cohort (N = 33) than the control cohort (N = 28), leading to a 48% reduction in TTT. Conclusion: Using the Idylla EGFR test as part of the molecular testing repertoire in advanced-stage NSCLC patients could significantly reduce TTT

Goa1p of Candida albicans Localizes to the Mitochondria during Stress and Is Required for Mitochondrial Function and Virulence▿ †

Using a Tn7 transposon library of Candida albicans, we have identified a mutant that exhibited sensitivity in drop plate assays to oxidants such as menadione and hydrogen peroxide. To verify the role of the mutated gene in stress adaptation, null mutants were constructed and phenotypically characterized. Because of its apparent functions in growth and oxidant adaptation, we have named the gene GOA1. Goa1p appears to be unique to the CTG subclade of the Saccharomycotina, including C. albicans. Mutants of C. albicans lacking goa1 (strain GOA31) were more sensitive to 6 mM H2O2 and 0.125 mM menadione than the wild type (wt) or a gene-reconstituted (GOA32) strain. The sensitivity to oxidants correlated with reduced survival of the GOA31 mutant in human neutrophils and avirulence compared to control strains. Other phenotypes of GOA31 include reduced growth and filamentation in 10% serum, Spider, and SLAD agar media and an inability to form chlamydospores. Since Goa1p has an N-terminal mitochondrion localization site, we also show that green fluorescent protein-tagged Goa1p shows a mitochondrionlike distribution during oxidant or osmotic stress. Further, the inability of GOA31 to grow in medium containing lactate, ethanol, or glycerol as the sole carbon source indicates that the mitochondria are defective in the mutant. To determine how Goa1p contributes to mitochondrial function, we compared the wt, GOA32, and GOA31 strains for mitochondrial electrical membrane potential, respiration, and oxidative phosphorylation. We now show that GOA31, but not the wt or GOA32, had decreased respiration and mitochondrial membrane potential such that mutant cells are unable to drive oxidative phosphorylation. This is the first report in C. albicans of a respiratory defect caused by a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential