Integrins are not essential for entry of coxsackievirus A9 into SW480 human colon adenocarcinoma cells

Background: Coxsackievirus A9 (CV-A9) is a pathogenic enterovirus type within the family Picornaviridae. CV-A9 infects A549 human epithelial lung carcinoma cells by attaching to the aVβ6 integrin receptor through a highly conserved Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) motif, which is located at the exposed carboxy-terminus of the capsid protein VP1 in all studied clinical isolates. However, genetically-modified CV-A9 that lacks the RGD motif (CV-A9-RGDdel) has been shown to be infectious in some cell lines but not in A549, suggesting that RGD-mediated integrin binding is not always essential for efficient entry of CV-A9.   Methods: Two cell lines, A549 and SW480, were used in the study. SW480 was the study object for the integrin-independent entry and A549 was used as the control for integrin-dependent entry. Receptor levels were quantitated by cell sorting and quantitative PCR. Antibody blocking assay and siRNA silencing of receptor-encoding genes were used to block virus infection. Peptide phage display library was used to identify peptide binders to CV-A9. Immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy were used to visualize the virus infection in the cells.   Results: We investigated the receptor use and early stages of CV-A9 internalization to SW480 human epithelial colon adenocarcinoma cells. Contrary to A549 infection, we showed that both CV-A9 and CV-A9-RGDdel internalized into SW480 cells and that function-blocking anti-αV integrin antibodies had no effect on the binding and entry of CV-A9. Whereas siRNA silencing of β6 integrin subunit had no influence on virus infection in SW480, silencing of β2-microglobulin (b2M) inhibited the virus infection in both cell lines. By using a peptide phage display screening, the virus-binding peptide identical to the N-terminal sequence of HSPA5 protein was identified and shown to block the virus infection in both A549 and SW480 cell lines. HSPA5 was also found to co-localize with CV-A9 at the SW480 cell periphery during the early stages of infection by confocal microscopy.   Conclusions: The data suggest that while aVβ6 integrin is essential for CV-A9 in A549 cell line, it is not required in SW480 cell line in which β2M and HSPA5 alone are sufficient for CV-A9 infection. This suggests that the choice of CV-A9 receptor(s) is dependent on the tissue/cellular environment.</p

Characterization of MOSFET dosimeters for low-dose measurements in maxillofacial anthropomorphic phantoms

Peer reviewe

Gonad shielding in paediatric pelvic radiography: disadvantages prevail over benefit

Objective To re-evaluate gonad shielding in paediatric pelvic radiography in terms of attainable radiation risk reduction and associated loss of diagnostic information. Methods A study on patient dose and the quality of gonad shielding was performed retrospectively using 500 pelvic radiographs of children from 0 to 15 years old. In a subsequent study, 195 radiographs without gonad shielding were included. Patient doses and detriment adjusted risks for heritable disease and cancer were calculated with and without gonad shielding. Results For girls, gonad shields were placed incorrectly in 91% of the radiographs; for boys, in 66%. Without gonad shielding, the hereditary detriment adjusted risk for girls ranged between 0.1?×?10?6 and 1.3?×?10?6 and for boys between 0.3?×?10?6 and 3.9?×?10?6, dependent on age. With shielding, the reduction in hereditary risk for girls was on average 6?±?3% of the total risk of the radiograph, for boys 24?±?6%. Without gonad shielding, the effective dose ranged from 0.008 to 0.098 mSv. Conclusions With modern optimised X-ray systems, the reduction of the detriment adjusted risk by gonad shielding is negligibly small. Given the potential consequences of loss of diagnostic information, of retakes, and of shielding of automatic exposure-control chambers, gonad shielding might better be discontinued.Support TNWApplied Science

Kansallinen allergiaohjelma 2008-2018 muutti asenteita ja vähensi sairastavuutta

Lähtökohdat : Allergiaohjelma 2008–2018 on kansallinen kansanterveysohjelma, jonka avulla välttö­strategia on käännetty sietostrategiaksi ja painotettu allergiaterveyttä. Raportoimme 10 vuoden tulokset.Menetelmät : Ohjelmalla oli kuusi tavoitetta, joiden toteuttamiseksi määriteltiin tehtävät, työkalut ja mittarit. Ohjelmaa toteutettiin kouluttamalla terveydenhuoltoa ja viestimällä väestölle.Tulokset : Astman ja allergisen nuhan esiintyvyys tasoittui asevelvollisissa ja Helsingin aikuisväestössä. Helsingin aikuisista astmaatikoista 41 % oli ollut vuoden 2016 kyselyä edeltäneen vuoden oireettomia (31 % 2006). Lasten allergiaruokavaliot vähenivät koko maassa noin puoleen. Työperäiset allergiset sairaudet vähenivät 45 %. Astman sairaalahoidon tarve puolittui, mutta päivystyskäynnit vähenivät oleellisesti vain lapsilla. Anafylaksia aiheutti aiempaa enemmän päivystyskäyntejä. Allergiasta ja astmasta aiheutuvat vuosittaiset suorat ja epäsuorat kustannukset vähenivät 200 miljoonaa euroa ­(30 %) verrattaessa vuosia 2007 ja 2018.Päätelmät : Allergian ja astman aiheuttama sairastavuus ja niistä koituvat kustannukset vähenivät merkittävästi. Haitat vähenivät aluksi nopeasti, myöhemmin hitaammin. Ammattilaiset ja suuri yleisö hyväksyivät uuden suunnan, jossa painottuivat sietokyky ja terveys allergiasta huolimatta. Tietoon perustuvat systemaattiset ohjelmat ovat vahva keino parantaa kansanterveyttä

A Deep Learning-Based Automated CT Segmentation of Prostate Cancer Anatomy for Radiation Therapy Planning-A Retrospective Multicenter Study

A commercial deep learning (DL)-based automated segmentation tool (AST) for computed tomography (CT) is evaluated for accuracy and efficiency gain within prostate cancer patients. Thirty patients from six clinics were reviewed with manual- (MC), automated- (AC) and automated and edited (AEC) contouring methods. In the AEC group, created contours (prostate, seminal vesicles, bladder, rectum, femoral heads and penile bulb) were edited, whereas the MC group included empty datasets for MC. In one clinic, lymph node CTV delineations were evaluated for interobserver variability. Compared to MC, the mean time saved using the AST was 12 min for the whole data set (46%) and 12 min for the lymph node CTV (60%), respectively. The delineation consistency between MC and AEC groups according to the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) improved from 0.78 to 0.94 for the whole data set and from 0.76 to 0.91 for the lymph nodes. The mean DSCs between MC and AC for all six clinics were 0.82 for prostate, 0.72 for seminal vesicles, 0.93 for bladder, 0.84 for rectum, 0.69 for femoral heads and 0.51 for penile bulb. This study proves that using a general DL-based AST for CT images saves time and improves consistency

Stable Isotope Evidence for Dietary Overlap between Alien and Native Gastropods in Coastal Lakes of Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Tarebia granifera (Lamarck, 1822) is originally from South-East Asia, but has been introduced and become invasive in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world. In South Africa, T. granifera is rapidly invading an increasing number of coastal lakes and estuaries, often reaching very high population densities and dominating shallow water benthic invertebrate assemblages. An assessment of the feeding dynamics of T. granifera has raised questions about potential ecological impacts, specifically in terms of its dietary overlap with native gastropods.A stable isotope mixing model was used together with gut content analysis to estimate the diet of T. granifera and native gastropod populations in three different coastal lakes. Population density, available biomass of food and salinity were measured along transects placed over T. granifera patches. An index of isotopic (stable isotopes) dietary overlap (IDO, %) aided in interpreting interactions between gastropods. The diet of T. granifera was variable, including contributions from microphytobenthos, filamentous algae (Cladophora sp.), detritus and sedimentary organic matter. IDO was significant (>60%) between T. granifera and each of the following gastropods: Haminoea natalensis (Krauss, 1848), Bulinus natalensis (Küster, 1841) and Melanoides tuberculata (Müller, 1774). However, food did not appear to be limiting. Salinity influenced gastropod spatial overlap. Tarebia granifera may only displace native gastropods, such as Assiminea cf. ovata (Krauss, 1848), under salinity conditions below 20. Ecosystem-level impacts are also discussed.The generalist diet of T. granifera may certainly contribute to its successful establishment. However, although competition for resources may take place under certain salinity conditions and if food is limiting, there appear to be other mechanisms at work, through which T. granifera displaces native gastropods. Complementary stable isotope and gut content analysis can provide helpful ecological insights, contributing to monitoring efforts and guiding further invasive species research

Trophic Ecology of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Larvae from the Gulf of Mexico and NW Mediterranean Spawning Grounds: A Comparative Stable Isotope Study

The present study uses stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon (δ15Nandδ13C) as trophic indicators for Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae (BFT) (6–10mm standard length) in the highly contrasting environmental conditions of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the Balearic Sea (MED). These regions are differentiated by their temperature regime and relative productivity, with the GOM being significantly warmer and more productive. MED BFT larvae showed the highest δ15N signatures, implying an elevated trophic position above the underlyingmicrozooplankton baseline. Ontogenetic dietary shifts were observed in the BFT larvae from the GOM and MED which indicates early life trophodynamics differences between these spawning habitats. Significant trophic differences between the GOM and MED larvae were observed in relation to δ15N signatures in favour of the MED larvae, which may have important implications in their growth during their early life stages. These low δ15N levels in the zooplankton from the GOM may be an indication of a shifting isotopic baseline in pelagic food webs due to diatrophic inputs by cyanobacteria. Lack of enrichment for δ15N in BFT larvae compared to zooplankton implies an alternative grazing pathway from the traditional food chain of phytoplankton— zooplankton—larval fish. Results provide insight for a comparative characterization of the trophic pathways variability of the two main spawning grounds for BFT larvaeVersión del editor4,411