188Re-SSS/Lipiodol: Development of a Potential Treatment for HCC from Bench to Bedside

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 5th most common tumour worldwide and has a dark prognosis. For nonoperable cases, metabolic radiotherapy with Lipiodol labelled with β-emitters is a promising therapeutic option. The Comprehensive Cancer Centre Eugène Marquis and the National Graduate School of Chemistry of Rennes (ENSCR) have jointly developed a stable and efficient labelling of Lipiodol with rhenium-188 (Eβmax = 2.1 MeV) for the treatment of HCC. The major “milestones” of this development, from the first syntheses to the recent first injection in man, are described

Life-Threatening Adverse Reaction after Self-Initiated, Off-Label Use of High Dose Nicotinamide for the Treatment of Friedreich’s Ataxia

A 40-year old woman, previously known for Friedreich’s ataxia, presented with shock, profound lactic acidosis and hepatic failure after ingestion of a high dose of nicotinamide, the amide form of vitamin B3. On her own initiative, she was taking up to 4.4 g per day of nicotinamide, after having learned the results of a phase 2 study suggesting a potential benefit in Friedreich’s ataxia. The outcome was good with supportive care and withdrawal of nicotinamide

COCHLEAR IMPLANTS AND PSYCHIATRIC ASSESSMENTS: A NORRIE DISEASE CASE REPORT

Background: It is important to perform psychiatric assessments of adult patients who are candidates for cochlear implants both to screen them for psychiatric disorders and to assess their understanding and compliance with the procedure. Deafness is a factor of difficulty for conducting in-depth psychiatric interviews, but concomitant blindness may make it impossible. Subjects and method: After a description of Norrie disease, a rare disease in which blindness and deafness may occur together, we propose a case report of a patient suffering from the disease and who consulted in view of a cochlear implant. Results: Early information on cochlear implants appears to be necessary before total deafness occurs in patients suffering from Norrie disease. An inventory of digital communication tools that can be used by the patient is also highly valuable. Conclusions: Research should be supported for a more systematic use of psychiatric assessments prior to cochlear implants. In the special case of Norrie disease, we recommend early screening for mental retardation and related psychotic disorders and, depending on the patient’s level of understanding, preventive information on the benefits and limits of cochlear implants before total deafness occurs

: Tubulin dimer binding proteins

International audienceMicrotubules play an essential role in eukaryotic cells, where they perform a wide variety of functions. In this paper, we describe the characterization of proteins associated to tubulin dimer in its native form, using affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry. We used an immunoaffinity column with coupled-monoclonal antibody directed against the alpha-tubulin C-terminus. Tubulin was first loaded onto the column, then interphase and mitotic cell lysates were chromatographed. Tubulin-binding proteins were eluted using a peptide mimicking the alpha-tubulin C-terminus. Elution fractions were analyzed by SDS-PAGE, and a total of 14 proteins were identified with high confidence by mass spectrometry. These proteins could be grouped in four classes: known tubulin-binding proteins, one microtubule-associated protein, heat shock proteins, and proteins that were not shown previously to bind tubulin dimer or microtubules

Pengaruh Pemberian Probiotik pada Infeksi Clostridium Difficile

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a gram-positive, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium, and is an important pathogen in antibiotic-associated diarrhea. These bacteria are normal flora in the human digestive tract but can become pathogenic and form toxins consisting of 2, namely toxin A and toxin B. Due to antibiotics including risk factors for C. difficile infection (CDI), the treatment that can be given is probiotics. Probiotics may be effective in the prevention and treatment of CDI in several ways: alteration of gut flora, enhancement of antimicrobial activity, and as immunomodulators. The effect of probiotics, the method of administration, and the varying duration of administration make probiotics unable to be used as a therapy for C. difficile infection. However, probiotics can still be an option for adjuvant therapy in the treatment of CDI.Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) merupakan bakteri gram positif, bersifat anaerob, membentuk spora, dan merupakan patogen penting pada penyakit diare akibat antibiotik. Bakteri ini merupakan flora normal dalam saluran pencernaan manusia namun dapat menjadi patogen serta membentuk toksin yang terdiri dari 2, yaitu toksin A dan toksin B. Dikarenakan antibiotik termasuk faktor risiko terjadinya infeksi C. difficile (CDI), tatalaksana yang dapat diberikan yaitu probiotik. Probiotik mungkin efektif dalam pencegahan dan pengobatan CDI dalam beberapa cara: perubahan flora usus, peningkatan aktivitas antimikroba, dan sebagai imunomodulasi. Pengaruh probiotik, cara pemberian, serta lama pemberian yang masih bervariasi membuat probiotik belum bisa dijadikan sebagai terapi infeksi C. difficile. Namun, probiotik masih dapat menjadi salah satu pilihan terapi adjuvant pada penanganan infeksi CDI

Energy-aware wireless networked control using radio-mode management in the case of a finite horizon

Energy efficiency is one of the main issues in wireless Networked Control Systems. The control community has already shown large interest in the topics of intermittent estimation and control, allowing to turn off the radio of the nodes which is the main energy consumer. While the existing literature only addresses policies using two radio-modes (ON/OFF), this paper considers intermediate radio-modes (\eg IDLE), which consume less energy than the ON mode and offer better reactivity than the OFF mode, but introduce transition costs. The objective of the paper is to discuss the relevance and benefit to use low consuming radio-modes and to propose a mode switching policy to perform a trade-off between energy savings and performance of the control application in the case where we have a finite horizon. We propose two possible algorithms which solve this using dynamic programming, and then test them with an example of an application.La consommation d'énergie est l'un des principaux problèmes dans les Systèmes de Contrôle en Réseaux. La communauté de contrôle a déjà montré beaucoup d'intérêt pour les estimations et contrôles intermittents, en permettant d'éteindre la radio qui est le composant qui consomme le plus. La littérature existante n'adresse que les systèmes avec deux modes (ON,OFF).Ce papier considère des modes intermédiaires (\eg IDLE), qui consomment moins d'énergie que ON et offrent une meilleure réactivité que OFF, mais qui introduit des coups de transition. L'objectif de ce papier est d'étudier les effets et les avantages d'utiliser des modes intermédiaires et de proposer une méthode pour décider quand changer de mode pour avoir un On propose deux algorithmes qui résolvent ce problème et ensuite on les teste avec un exemple d'une application

LOw-dose CT Or Lung UltraSonography versus standard of care based-strategies for the diagnosis of pneumonia in the elderly: protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial (OCTOPLUS).

INTRODUCTION Pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality and a common indication for antibiotic in elderly patients. However, its diagnosis is often inaccurate. We aim to compare the diagnostic accuracy, the clinical and cost outcomes and the use of antibiotics associated with three imaging strategies in patients >65 years old with suspected pneumonia in the emergency room (ER): chest X-ray (CXR, standard of care), low-dose CT scan (LDCT) or lung ultrasonography (LUS). METHODS AND ANALYSIS This is a multicentre randomised superiority clinical trial with three parallel arms. Patients will be allocated in the ER to a diagnostic strategy based on either CXR, LDCT or LUS. All three imaging modalities will be performed but the results of two of them will be masked during 5 days to the patients, the physicians in charge of the patients and the investigators according to random allocation. The primary objective is to compare the accuracy of LDCT versus CXR-based strategies. As secondary objectives, antibiotics prescription, clinical and cost outcomes will be compared, and the same analyses repeated to compare the LUS and CXR strategies. The reference diagnosis will be established a posteriori by a panel of experts. Based on a previous study, we expect an improvement of 16% of the accuracy of pneumonia diagnosis using LDCT instead of CXR. Under this assumption, and accounting for 10% of drop-out, the enrolment of 495 patients is needed to prove the superiority of LDCT over CRX (alpha error=0.05, beta error=0.10). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION Ethical approval: CER Geneva 2019-01288. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT04978116

Leaching mechanisms of industrial powders of spent nickel metal hydride batteries in a pilot‐scale reactor

In view of a sustainable recycling process, the leaching mechanisms of nickel and rare‐earth elements (REEs) contained within industrial samples of spent nickel metal hydride battery powders were investigated in HCl and H2SO4, under mild temperature (25–60 °C) and pH (3–5.5). First, in‐depth characterization of the heterogeneous battery powder was carried out with powder XRD, SEM, electron probe microanalyzer wavelength‐dispersive spectroscopy (EPMA‐WDS) quantitative analyses of individual particles, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP‐OES) elemental analysis. An unusual result is the identification of particles that exhibit a core–shell structure, which is related to anode active mass aging mechanisms. Then, a leaching study in a 10 L pilot‐scale reactor demonstrated the selective dissolution of REEs, with respect to nickel, at pH 3, which is attributed to 1) the kinetic inhibition of nickel metal dissolution, and 2) the specific core–shell structure of aged mischmetal particles. Furthermore, the use of H2SO4 led to coprecipitation of lanthanide–alkali double sulfates and nickel salts

Lipid Nanocapsules Loaded with Rhenium-188 Reduce Tumor Progression in a Rat Hepatocellular Carcinoma Model

International audienceBACKGROUND: Due to their nanometric scale (50 nm) along with their biomimetic properties, lipid nanocapsules loaded with Rhenium-188 (LNC(188)Re-SSS) constitute a promising radiopharmaceutical carrier for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment as its size may improve tumor penetration in comparison with microspheres devices. This study was conducted to confirm the feasibility and to assess the efficacy of internal radiation with LNC(188)Re-SSS in a chemically induced hepatocellular carcinoma rat model. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Animals were treated with an injection of LNC(188)Re-SSS (80 MBq or 120 MBq). The treated animals (80 MBq, n = 12; 120 MBq, n = 11) were compared with sham (n = 12), blank LNC (n = 7) and (188)Re-perrhenate (n = 4) animals. The evaluation criteria included rat survival, tumor volume assessment, and vascular endothelial growth factor quantification. Following treatment with LNC(188)Re-SSS (80 MBq) therapeutic efficiency was demonstrated by an increase in the median survival from 54 to 107% compared with control groups with up to 7 long-term survivors in the LNC(188)Re-SSS group. Decreased vascular endothelial growth factor expression in the treated rats could indicate alterations in the angiogenesis process. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Overall, these results demonstrate that internal radiation with LNC(188)Re-SSS is a promising new strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment