Radiation-induced accelerated aging of the brain vasculature in young adult survivors of childhood brain tumors

Background. Cranial radiotherapy may damage the cerebral vasculature. The aim of this study was to understand the prevalence and risk factors of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) in childhood brain tumors (CBT) survivors treated with radiotherapy.Methods. Seventy CBT survivors who received radiotherapy were enrolled in a cross-sectional study at a median 20 years after radiotherapy cessation. The prevalence of and risk factors for CVD were investigated using MRI, MRA, and laboratory testing. Tumors, their treatment, and stroke-related data were retrieved from patients' files.Results. Forty-four individuals (63%) had CVD at a median age of 27 years (range, 16-43 years). The prevalence rates at 20 years for CVD, small-vessel disease, and large-vessel disease were 52%, 38%, and 16%, respectively. Ischemic infarcts were diagnosed in 6 survivors, and cerebral hemorrhage in 2. Lacunar infarcts were present in 7, periventricular or deep WMHs in 34 (49%), and mineralizing microangiopathy in 21 (30%) survivors. Multiple pathologies were detected in 44% of the participants, and most lesions were located in a high-dose radiation area. Higher blood pressure was associated with CVD and a presence of WMHs. Higher cholesterol levels increased the risk of ischemic infarcts and WMHs, and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein and higher waist circumference increased the risk of lacunar infarcts.Conclusions. Treating CBTs with radiotherapy increases the risk of early CVD and WMHs in young adult survivors. These results suggest an urgent need for investigating CVD prevention in CBT patients.</div

Differentiation of Gram-Negative Bacterial Aerosol Exposure Using Detected Markers in Bronchial-Alveolar Lavage Fluid

The identification of biosignatures of aerosol exposure to pathogens has the potential to provide useful diagnostic information. In particular, markers of exposure to different types of respiratory pathogens may yield diverse sets of markers that can be used to differentiate exposure. We examine a mouse model of aerosol exposure to known Gram negative bacterial pathogens, Francisella tularensis novicida and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Mice were subjected to either a pathogen or control exposure and bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected at four and twenty four hours post exposure. Small protein and peptide markers within the BALF were detected by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) and analyzed using both exploratory and predictive data analysis methods; principle component analysis and degree of association. The markers detected were successfully used to accurately identify the four hour exposed samples from the control samples. This report demonstrates the potential for small protein and peptide marker profiles to identify aerosol exposure in a short post-exposure time frame

Follicle Stimulating Hormone is an accurate predictor of azoospermia in childhood cancer survivors

Funding: RTM is supported by a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship (grant no: 098522), https://wellcome.ac.uk/what-we-do/directories/intermediate-clinical-fellowships-people-funded. TWK is supported by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant EP/P015638/1, http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/P015638/1.The accuracy of Follicle Stimulating Hormone as a predictor of azoospermia in adult survivors of childhood cancer is unclear, with conflicting results in the published literature. A systematic review and post hoc analysis of combined data (n = 367) were performed on all published studies containing extractable data on both serum Follicle Stimulating Hormone concentration and semen concentration in survivors of childhood cancer. PubMed and Medline databases were searched up to March 2017 by two blind investigators. Articles were included if they contained both serum FSH concentration and semen concentration, used World Health Organisation certified methods for semen analysis, and the study participants were all childhood cancer survivors. There was no evidence for either publication bias or heterogeneity for the five studies. For the combined data (n = 367) the optimal Follicle Stimulating Hormone threshold was 10.4 IU/L with specificity 81% (95% CI 76%–86%) and sensitivity 83% (95% CI 76%–89%). The AUC was 0.89 (95%CI 0.86–0.93). A range of threshold FSH values for the diagnosis of azoospermia with their associated sensitivities and specificities were calculated. This study provides strong supporting evidence for the use of serum Follicle Stimulating Hormone as a surrogate biomarker for azoospermia in adult males who have been treated for childhood cancer.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Quality of life of adult retinoblastoma survivors in the Netherlands

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Planck intermediate results. XLI. A map of lensing-induced B-modes

The secondary cosmic microwave background (CMB) $B$-modes stem from the post-decoupling distortion of the polarization $E$-modes due to the gravitational lensing effect of large-scale structures. These lensing-induced $B$-modes constitute both a valuable probe of the dark matter distribution and an important contaminant for the extraction of the primary CMB $B$-modes from inflation. Planck provides accurate nearly all-sky measurements of both the polarization $E$-modes and the integrated mass distribution via the reconstruction of the CMB lensing potential. By combining these two data products, we have produced an all-sky template map of the lensing-induced $B$-modes using a real-space algorithm that minimizes the impact of sky masks. The cross-correlation of this template with an observed (primordial and secondary) $B$-mode map can be used to measure the lensing $B$-mode power spectrum at multipoles up to $2000$. In particular, when cross-correlating with the $B$-mode contribution directly derived from the Planck polarization maps, we obtain lensing-induced $B$-mode power spectrum measurement at a significance level of $12\,\sigma$, which agrees with the theoretical expectation derived from the Planck best-fit $\Lambda$CDM model. This unique nearly all-sky secondary $B$-mode template, which includes the lensing-induced information from intermediate to small ($10\lesssim \ell\lesssim 1000$) angular scales, is delivered as part of the Planck 2015 public data release. It will be particularly useful for experiments searching for primordial $B$-modes, such as BICEP2/Keck Array or LiteBIRD, since it will enable an estimate to be made of the lensing-induced contribution to the measured total CMB $B$-modes.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures; Accepted for publication in A&A; The B-mode map is part of the PR2-2015 Cosmology Products; available as Lensing Products in the Planck Legacy Archive http://pla.esac.esa.int/pla/#cosmology; and described in the 'Explanatory Supplement' https://wiki.cosmos.esa.int/planckpla2015/index.php/Specially_processed_maps#2015_Lensing-induced_B-mode_ma

A change in the optical polarization associated with a gamma-ray flare in the blazar 3C 279

It is widely accepted that strong and variable radiation detected over all accessible energy bands in a number of active galaxies arises from a relativistic, Doppler-boosted jet pointing close to our line of sight. The size of the emitting zone and the location of this region relative to the central supermassive black hole are, however, poorly known, with estimates ranging from light-hours to a light-year or more. Here we report the coincidence of a gamma-ray flare with a dramatic change of optical polarization angle. This provides evidence for co-spatiality of optical and gamma-ray emission regions and indicates a highly ordered jet magnetic field. The results also require a non-axisymmetric structure of the emission zone, implying a curved trajectory for the emitting material within the jet, with the dissipation region located at a considerable distance from the black hole, at about 10^5 gravitational radii.Comment: Published in Nature issued on 18 February 2010. Corresponding authors: Masaaki Hayashida and Greg Madejsk

Planck 2015 results: XV. gravitational lensing

We present the most significant measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing potential to date (at a level of 40 sigma), using temperature and polarization data from the Planck 2015 full-mission release. Using a polarization-only estimator we detect lensing at a significance of 5 sigma. We cross-check the accuracy of our measurement using the wide frequency coverage and complementarity of the temperature and polarization measurements. Public products based on this measurement include an estimate of the lensing potential over approximately 70% of the sky, an estimate of the lensing potential power spectrum in bandpowers for the multipole range 40<L<400 and an associated likelihood for cosmological parameter constraints. We find good agreement between our measurement of the lensing potential power spectrum and that found in the best-fitting LCDM model based on the Planck temperature and polarization power spectra. Using the lensing likelihood alone we obtain a percent-level measurement of the parameter combination σ 8 Ω 0.25 m =0.591±0.021 . We combine our determination of the lensing potential with the E-mode polarization also measured by Planck to generate an estimate of the lensing B-mode. We show that this lensing B-mode estimate is correlated with the B-modes observed directly by Planck at the expected level and with a statistical significance of 10 sigma, confirming Planck's sensitivity to this known sky signal. We also correlate our lensing potential estimate with the large-scale temperature anisotropies, detecting a cross-correlation at the 3 sigma level, as expected due to dark energy in the concordance LCDM model

Biomedical informatics and translational medicine

Biomedical informatics involves a core set of methodologies that can provide a foundation for crossing the "translational barriers" associated with translational medicine. To this end, the fundamental aspects of biomedical informatics (e.g., bioinformatics, imaging informatics, clinical informatics, and public health informatics) may be essential in helping improve the ability to bring basic research findings to the bedside, evaluate the efficacy of interventions across communities, and enable the assessment of the eventual impact of translational medicine innovations on health policies. Here, a brief description is provided for a selection of key biomedical informatics topics (Decision Support, Natural Language Processing, Standards, Information Retrieval, and Electronic Health Records) and their relevance to translational medicine. Based on contributions and advancements in each of these topic areas, the article proposes that biomedical informatics practitioners ("biomedical informaticians") can be essential members of translational medicine teams

Planck 2015 results XV. Gravitational lensing

We present the most significant measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing potential to date (at a level of 40σ), using temperature and polarization data from the Planck 2015 full-mission release. Using a polarization-only estimator, we detect lensing at a significance of 5σ. We cross-check the accuracy of our measurement using the wide frequency coverage and complementarity of the temperature and polarization measurements. Public products based on this measurement include an estimate of the lensing potential over approximately 70% of the sky, an estimate of the lensing potential power spectrum in bandpowers for the multipole range 40 ≤ L ≤ 400, and an associated likelihood for cosmological parameter constraints. We find good agreement between our measurement of the lensing potential power spectrum and that found in the ΛCDM model that best fits the Planck temperature and polarization power spectra. Using the lensing likelihood alone we obtain a percent-level measurement of the parameter combination σ8Ω0.25m = 0.591 ± 0.021. We combine our determination of the lensing potential with the E-mode polarization, also measured by Planck, to generate an estimate of the lensing B-mode. We show that this lensing B-mode estimate is correlated with the B-modes observed directly by Planck at the expected level and with a statistical significance of 10σ, confirming Planck’s sensitivity to this known sky signal. We also correlate our lensing potential estimate with the large-scale temperature anisotropies, detecting a cross-correlation at the 3σ level, as expected because of dark energy in the concordance ΛCDM model

Planck 2015 results XXVI. The Second Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources

The Second Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources is a list of discrete objects detected in single-frequency maps from the full duration of the Planck mission and supersedes previous versions. It consists of compact sources, both Galactic and extragalactic, detected over the entire sky. Compact sources detected in the lower frequency channels are assigned to the PCCS2, while at higher frequencies they are assigned to one of two subcatalogues, the PCCS2 or PCCS2E, depending on their location on the sky. The first of these (PCCS2) covers most of the sky and allows the user to produce subsamples at higher reliabilities than the target 80% integral reliability of the catalogue. The second ( PCCS2E) contains sources detected in sky regions where the diffuse emission makes it difficult to quantify the reliability of the detections. Both the PCCS2 and PCCS2E include polarization measurements, in the form of polarized flux densities, or upper limits, and orientation angles for all seven polarization-sensitive Planck channels. The improved data-processing of the full-mission maps and their reduced noise levels allow us to increase the number of objects in the catalogue, improving its completeness for the target 80% reliability as compared with the previous versions, the PCCS and the Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC)