Brain stem tumors in children less than 3 months: Clinical and radiologic findings of a rare disease

\ua9 The Author(s) 2024.Purpose: Brain stem tumors in children < 3 months at diagnosis are extremely rare. Our aim is to study a retrospective cohort to improve the understanding of the disease course and guide patient management. Methods: This is a multicenter retrospective analysis across the European Society for Pediatric Oncology SIOP-E HGG/DIPG Working Group linked centers, including patients with a brainstem tumor diagnosed between 2009 and 2020 and aged < 3 months at diagnosis. Clinical data were collected, and imaging characteristics were analyzed blindly and independently by two neuroradiologists. Results: Five cases were identified. No patient received any therapy. The epicenter of two tumors was in the medulla oblongata alone and in the medulla oblongata and the pons in three. For patients with tumor in equal parts in the medulla oblongata and the pons (n = 3), the extension at diagnosis involved the spinal cord; for the two patients with the tumor epicenter in the medulla oblongata alone (n = 2), the extension at diagnosis included the pons (n = 2) and the spinal cord (n = 1). Biopsy was performed in one patient identifying a pilocytic astrocytoma. Two patients died. In one patient, autopsy revealed a high-grade glioma (case 3). Three survivors showed either spontaneous tumor regression (n = 2) or stable disease (n = 1). Survivors were followed up for 10, 7, and 0.6 years, respectively. One case had the typical imaging characteristics of a dorsal exophytic low-grade glioma. Conclusions: No patient fulfilled the radiologic criteria defining a high-grade glioma. Central neuroradiological review and biopsy may provide useful information regarding the patient management

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots deposited on titania nanoparticles: unconventional near-infrared active photocatalysts for cancer therapy

Cancer represents a major public health issue and a primary cause of death for the mankind and the search for alternative cancer treatments that assist or alleviate the drawbacks of current cancer therapies remains imperative. Nanocatalytic medicine represents a new discipline that aims at exploiting the unique response of heterogeneous catalysts exposed to unconventional conditions such as those encountered in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Photo-triggered cancer therapies using light-activable catalytic materiales can stimulate and activate multiple biological processes and represent a very promising field of study. Herein, we evaluate the use of carbon nanodots with different composition (CNDs) retrieved by laser pyrolysis as potential near-infrared (NIR) photosensitizers able to activate P25 semiconductor nanostructured photocatalysts. We describe the enhanced photocatalytic response towards glucose conversion and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation upon irradiation with NIR-LEDs when CNDs doped with heteroatoms were tested. The most active photocatalysts were evaluated in the presence of cancer cells and revealed a promising photodynamic effect under NIR irradiation. This work represents one of the scarce examples of a conventional inorganic photocatalyst containing TiO2 that is translated into a biomedical application with a successful outcome

Разработка казуального игрового приложения для развития аналитического мышления

В настоящее время рынок мобильных игр активно развивается. На мобильные игры приходится 33% всех загрузок приложений. Игры — это непрерывный процесс обучения пользователей. Люди не перестают обучаться через какое-то время, они постоянно развиваются и движутся вперёд. Объектом исследования являются платформа Unity, в которой разработано игровое приложение, среда разработки Microsoft Visual Studio, для написания скриптов на языке программирования С#, методы генерации случайных событий, среда моделирования Blender, для создания 3D объектов и Adobe Photoshop для реализации графического интерфейса пользователя. Цель работы – разработать казуальное игровое приложения для развития аналитического мышления.Currently, the mobile games market is actively developing. Mobile games account for 33% of all app downloads. Games are a continuous learning process for users. People do not stop learning after a while, they are constantly developing and moving forward. The object of research is the Unity platform, in which a game application has been developed, the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment for writing scripts in the C # programming language, methods for generating random events, the Blender modeling environment for creating 3D objects and Adobe Photoshop for implementing a graphical user interface. The purpose of the work is to develop a casual game application for the development of analytical thinking

Modular framework to assess the risk of African swine fever virus entry into the European Union

BACKGROUND The recent occurrence and spread of African swine fever (ASF) in Eastern Europe is perceived as a serious risk for the pig industry in the European Union (EU). In order to estimate the potential risk of ASF virus (ASFV) entering the EU, several pathways of introduction were previously assessed separately. The present work aimed to integrate five of these assessments (legal imports of pigs, legal imports of products, illegal imports of products, fomites associated with transport and wild boar movements) into a modular tool that facilitates the visualization and comprehension of the relative risk of ASFV introduction into the EU by each analyzed pathway. RESULTS The framework's results indicate that 48% of EU countries are at relatively high risk (risk score 4 or 5 out of 5) for ASFV entry for at least one analyzed pathway. Four of these countries obtained the maximum risk score for one pathway: Bulgaria for legally imported products during the high risk period (HRP); Finland for wild boar; Slovenia and Sweden for legally imported pigs during the HRP. Distribution of risk considerably differed from one pathway to another; for some pathways, the risk was concentrated in a few countries (e.g., transport fomites), whereas other pathways incurred a high risk for 4 or 5 countries (legal pigs, illegal imports and wild boar). CONCLUSIONS The modular framework, developed to estimate the risk of ASFV entry into the EU, is available in a public domain, and is a transparent, easy-to-interpret tool that can be updated and adapted if required. The model's results determine the EU countries at higher risk for each ASFV introduction route, and provide a useful basis to develop a global coordinated program to improve ASFV prevention in the EU

Isolation of plant nuclei suitable for flow cytometry from species with extremely mucilaginous compounds: an example in the genus <i>Viola</i> L. (Violaceae)

Cires, E., Cuesta, C., Fernández, M.A., Nava, H.S., Vázquez, V.M. & Fernández, J.A. 2011. Isolation of plant nuclei suitable for flow cytometry from species with extremely mucilaginous compounds: an example in the genus Viola L. (Violaceae). Anales.Iard. Bot. Madrid 68(2): 139-154. Flow cytometry analysis has been widely appljed in the determination of nuclear DNA content and ploidy level in many organisms. Despite being the most appropriate method for DNA content measurement, flow cytometry also presents some limitations. A fairly common, but little-studied problem is the effect on measurements of the presente of secondary metabolites. A good example is the genus Viola, which is composed of 525-600 species distributed worldwide. These species have proved to be problematic for flow cytometric analyses due to the release of extremely mucilaginous compounds into the nuclear suspension. In this work, the genome size of 13 species of Viola using flow cytometry are presented for the first time. Despite obtaining histograms with high coefficients of variation, we here pre-sent an optimized protocol to remove cytoplasmic compounds, particularly mucilaginous ones, from plant nudei that paye the way for its application to estimate the genome size of other species exhibiting similar problems. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences between sections Viola and Melanium, and within each section (P < 0.001). Furthermore, statistically significant differences were not detected among samples of the same species.Cires, E., Cuesta, C., Fernández, M.A., Nava, H.S., Vázquez, V.M. & Fernández, J.A. 2011. Aislamiento de núcleos para citometría de flujo en plantas con alto contenido de compuestos mucilaginosos: un ejemplo en el género Viola L. (Violaceae). Anales.lard. Bot. Madrid 68(2): 139-154 (en inglés). El análisis mediante citometría de flujo ha sido aplicado de modo general para determinar el contenido de ADN nuclear y el nivel de ploidía en muchos organismos. A pesar de ser el método más adecuado para medir la cantidad de ADN, esta técnica también presenta algunas limitaciones. Un problema bastante común, aunque poco estudiado, es el efecto de los metabolitos secundarios en los resultados obtenidos. Un ejemplo respecto a la presencia de estos compuestos se encuentra en el género Viola, compuesto por 525-600 especies distribuidas por todo el mundo. Las especies de este género ya han sido previamente descritas como problemáticas en los análisis de citometría de flujo debido a la presencia de compuestos extremadamente mucilaginosos en las suspensiones de núcleos. En el presente trabajo se analiza por primera vez el tamaño genómico de 13 especies del genero Viola mediante el empleo de citometría de flujo. A pesar de los altos valores mostrados en los coeficientes de variación de los histogramas, se presenta un protocolo optimizado para eli-minar compuestos citoplasmáticos, y más concretamente mucilaginosos de las suspensiones nucleares, siendo de aplicación en la estimación del tamaño genómico de plantas con problemas similares. Los análisis estadísticos mostraron diferencias significativas entre las secciones Viola y Melanium, así como dentro de cada sección (P < 0,001). Además, no se encontraron diferencias significativas entre aquellas muestras pertenecientes a la misma especie

Follow-up care over 12months of patients with prostate cancer in Spain A multicenter prospective cohort study

The therapeutic approach is crucial to prostate cancer prognosis. We describe treatments and outcomes for a Spanish cohort of patients with prostate cancer during the first 12 months after diagnosis and identify the factors that influenced the treatment they received. This multicenter prospective cohort study included patients with prostate cancer followed up for 12 months after diagnosis. Treatment was stratified by factors such as hospital, age group (<70 and ≥70 years), and D'Amico cancer risk classification. The outcomes were Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, adverse events (AEs), and mortality. The patient characteristics associated with the different treatment modalities were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. We included 470 men from 7 Spanish tertiary hospitals (mean (standard deviation) age 67.8 (7.6) years), 373 (79.4%) of which received treatment (alone or in combination) as follows: surgery (n = 163; 34.7%); radiotherapy (RT) (n = 149; 31.7%); and hormone therapy (HT) (n = 142; 30.2%). The remaining patients (n = 97) were allocated to no treatment, that is, watchful waiting (14.0%) or active surveillance (5.7%). HT was the most frequently administered treatment during follow-up and RT plus HT was the most common therapeutic combination. Surgery was more frequent in patients aged <70, with lower histologic tumor grades, Gleason scores <7, and lower prostate-specific antigen levels; while RT was more frequent in patients aged ≥70 with histologic tumor grade 4, and higher ECOG scores. HT was more frequent in patients aged ≥70, with histologic tumor grades 3 to 4, Gleason score ≥8, ECOG ≥1, and higher prostate-specific antigen levels. The number of fully active patients (ECOG score 0) decreased significantly during follow-up, from 75.3% at diagnosis to 65.1% at 12 months (P <.001); 230 (48.9%) patients had at least 1 AE, and 12 (2.6%) patients died. Surgery or RT were the main curative options. A fifth of the patients received no treatment. Palliative HT was more frequently administered to older patients with higher tumor grades and higher Gleason scores. Close to half of the patients experienced an AE related to their treatment

Heritability of sleep quality in a middle-aged twin sample from Spain

Study objectives: Sleep quality is associated with health throughout the life span, which is particularly salient in middle-age and older adulthood. Sleep quality appears to be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. However, there is still limited information about genetic influences on sleep quality in middle-aged adults, and particularly in those from certain geographical locations. We estimated the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on sleep quality in a representative sample of middle-aged Spanish twins. Methods: The sample comprised 2150 individuals born between 1939 and 1966, who participate in the Murcia Twin Registry. In order to estimate the heritability of sleep quality variables we performed univariate analyses for the global score on the Pittsburgh sleep quality index and for each of its components. Results: We found moderate but significant heritability (34%) for sleep quality. The genetic variance of the components of the Pittsburgh index ranged from 30% to 45%, except for sleep efficiency for which no genetic influence could be detected. In summary, there was a moderate genetic influence on most dimensions of sleep quality in a sample of adult male and female twins. Shared environment influences were not found. Conclusions: This study adds new information regarding the underlying determinants of sleep quality by providing heritability estimates in a middle-aged population-based representative sample from a geographical location that has not been included in studies of this type previously. This could provide a reference point for future research regarding sleep research in middle-age

Fragmentation of daily rhythms associates with obesity and cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents: The HELENA study

Background & aims: Chronobiology studies periodic changes in living organisms and it has been proposed as a promising approach to investigate obesity. We analyze the association of the characteristics of the rest-activity rhythms with obesity, cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic risk in adolescents from nine European countries. Methods: 1044 adolescents (12.5-17.5 y) were studied. Circadian health was evaluated by actigraphy with accelerometers (Actigraph GT1M). Characteristics of the daytime activity such as fragmentation (intradaily variability), estimated acrophase, and 10 h mean daytime activity index were obtained. Body composition was assessed using Bioelectrical-Impedance-Analysis, skinfold thickness, air-displacement-plethysmography and Dual-energy-X-ray-Absorptiometry. Cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) and metabolic risk were studied. Results: Highly fragmented activity rhythms were associated with obesity and central adiposity (P < 0.05). Obese adolescents had-3 times higher odds of having a high fragmentation of daytime activity compared to normal weight adolescents OR (95% CI) = 2.8 (1.170, 6.443). A highly fragmented rhythm was also related to lower cardiorespiratory fitness and higher metabolic risk (P < 0.05) so those adolescents classified as low fitness showed a significantly higher fragmentation of daytime activity than those included in the high fitness group (P < 0.0001). Other characteristics of the rhythms such as smaller 10 h daytime mean activity index and delayed estimated acrophase were also related to obesity and metabolic risk (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results indicate that the daily organization of the rest-activity cycle is more fragmented in obese and less fit adolescents and correlates with higher metabolic risk. This fact reinforces our hypothesis that disturbances in daily rhythms can be considered as sensitive markers of poorer adolescent's health

Molecularly defined diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumor (DLGNT) comprises two subgroups with distinct clinical and genetic features

Diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumors (DLGNT) represent rare CNS neoplasms which have been included in the 2016 update of the WHO classification. The wide spectrum of histopathological and radiological features can make this enigmatic tumor entity difficult to diagnose. In recent years, large-scale genomic and epigenomic analyses have afforded insight into key genetic alterations occurring in multiple types of brain tumors and provide unbiased, complementary tools to improve diagnostic accuracy. Through genome-wide DNA methylation screening of &gt; 25,000 tumors, we discovered a molecularly distinct class comprising 30 tumors, mostly diagnosed histologically as DLGNTs. Copy-number profiles derived from the methylation arrays revealed unifying characteristics, including loss of chromosomal arm 1p in all cases. Furthermore, this molecular DLGNT class can be subdivided into two subgroups [DLGNT methylation class (MC)-1 and DLGNT methylation class (MC)-2], with all DLGNT-MC-2 additionally displaying a gain of chromosomal arm 1q. Co-deletion of 1p/19q, commonly seen in IDH-mutant oligodendroglioma, was frequently observed in DLGNT, especially in DLGNT-MC-1 cases. Both subgroups also had recurrent genetic alterations leading to an aberrant MAPK/ERK pathway, with KIAA1549:BRAF fusion being the most frequent event. Other alterations included fusions of NTRK1/2/3 and TRIM33:RAF1, adding up to an MAPK/ERK pathway activation identified in 80% of cases. In the DLGNT-MC-1 group, age at diagnosis was significantly lower (median 5 vs 14 years, p &lt; 0.01) and clinical course less aggressive (5-year OS 100, vs 43% in DLGNT-MC-2). Our study proposes an additional molecular layer to the current histopathological classification of DLGNT, of particular use for cases without typical morphological or radiological characteristics, such as diffuse growth and radiologic leptomeningeal dissemination. Recurrent 1p deletion and MAPK/ERK pathway activation represent diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets, respectively—laying the foundation for future clinical trials with, e.g., MEK inhibitors that may improve the clinical outcome of patients with DLGNT

Study of the reaction e^{+}e^{-} -->J/psi\pi^{+}\pi^{-} via initial-state radiation at BaBar

We study the process $e^+e^-\to J/\psi\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ with initial-state-radiation events produced at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy collider. The data were recorded with the BaBar detector at center-of-mass energies 10.58 and 10.54 GeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 454 $\mathrm{fb^{-1}}$. We investigate the $J/\psi \pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ mass distribution in the region from 3.5 to 5.5 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$. Below 3.7 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$ the $\psi(2S)$ signal dominates, and above 4 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$ there is a significant peak due to the Y(4260). A fit to the data in the range 3.74 -- 5.50 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$ yields a mass value $4244 \pm 5$ (stat) $\pm 4$ (syst)$\mathrm{MeV/c^{2}}$ and a width value $114 ^{+16}_{-15}$ (stat)$\pm 7$(syst)$\mathrm{MeV}$ for this state. We do not confirm the report from the Belle collaboration of a broad structure at 4.01 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$. In addition, we investigate the $\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ system which results from Y(4260) decay