Signal Intensity Change on Unenhanced T1-Weighted Images in Dentate Nucleus Following Gadobenate Dimeglumine in Patients With and Without Previous Multiple Administrations of Gadodiamide

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of previous administration of gadodiamide and neural tissue gadolinium deposition in patients who received gadobenate dimeglumine. METHODS: Our population included 62 patients who underwent at least three administrations of gadobenate dimeglumine, plus an additional contrast-enhanced last MRI for reference, divided into two groups: group 1, patients who in addition to gadobenate dimeglumine administrations had prior exposure to multiple doses of gadodiamide; group 2, patients without previous exposure to other gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCAs). Quantitative analysis was performed on the first and last gadobenate dimeglumine MRIs in both groups. Dentate nucleus-to-middle cerebellar peduncle signal intensity ratios (DN/MCP) and relative change (RC) in signal over time were calculated and compared between groups using generalized additive model. RESULTS: Group 1 showed significant increase in baseline and follow-up DN/MCP compared to group 2 (p < 0.0001). The RC DN/MCP showed a non-statistically significant trend towards an increase in patients who underwent previous gadodiamide (p = 0.0735). CONCLUSION: There is increased T1 signal change over time in patients who underwent gadobenate dimeglumine and had received prior gadodiamide compared to those without known exposure to previous gadodiamide. A potentiating effect from prior gadodiamide on subsequent administered gadobenate dimeglumine may occur. KEY POINTS: • Neural gadolinium deposition is associated with multiple administrations of less stable GBCAs. • Less stable GBCA effect on subsequent more stable GBCA administrations is undetermined. • Significant increase of DN/MCP was seen in patients with previous gadodiamide exposure. • RC DN/MCP showed a non-significant increase in patients who received previous gadodiamide. • Potentiating effects from prior gadodiamide on subsequent administered gadobenate dimeglumine may occur.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agent Accumulation and Toxicity: an Update

In current practice, gadolinium-based contrast agents have been considered safe when used at clinically recommended doses in patients without severe renal insufficiency. The causal relationship between gadolinium-based contrast agents and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis in patients with renal insufficiency resulted in new policies regarding the administration of these agents. After an effective screening of patients with renal disease by performing either unenhanced or reduced-dose-enhanced studies in these patients and by using the most stable contrast agents, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis has been largely eliminated since 2009. Evidence of in vivo gadolinium deposition in bone tissue in patients with normal renal function is well-established, but recent literature showing that gadolinium might also deposit in the brain in patients with intact blood-brain barriers caught many individuals in the imaging community by surprise. The purpose of this review was to summarize the literature on gadolinium-based contrast agents, tying together information on agent stability and animal and human studies, and to emphasize that low-stability agents are the ones most often associated with brain deposition.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assisting dependent people at home through autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles

This work describes a proposal of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) for home assistance of dependent people. AUAVs will monitor and recognize human activities during flight to improve their quality of life. However, before bringing such AUAV assistance to real homes, several challenges must be faced to make them viable and practical. Some challenges are technical and some others are related to human factors. In particular, several technical aspects are described for AUAV assistance: (1) flight control, based on our active disturbance rejection control algorithm, (2) flight planning (navigation in obstacle environments), and, (3) processing signals, acquired both from flight-control and monitoring sensors. From the assisted person’s viewpoint, our research focuses on three cues: (1) the user’s perception about AUAV assistance, (2) the influence on human acceptance of AUAV appearance and behavior at home, and (3) the human-robot interaction between assistant AUAV and assisted person. Finally, virtual reality environments are proposed to carry out preliminary tests and user acceptance evaluations.This work has been partially supported by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigaci´on (AEI) / European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, UE) under DPI2016-80894-R grant, and by CIBERSAM of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Lidia M. Belmonte holds FPU014/05283 scholarship from Spanish Ministerio de Educaci´on y Formación Profesional

A novel East African monopartite begomovirus-betasatellite complex that infects Vernonia amygdalina

The complete genomes of a monopartite begomovirus (genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae) and an associated betasatellite found infecting Vernonia amygdalina Delile (family Compositae) in Uganda were cloned and sequenced. Begomoviruses isolated from two samples showed the highest nucleotide sequence identity (73.1% and 73.2%) to an isolate of the monopartite begomovirus tomato leaf curl Vietnam virus, and betasatellites from the same samples exhibited the highest nucleotide sequence identity (67.1% and 68.2%) to vernonia yellow vein Fujian betasatellite. Following the current taxonomic criteria for begomovirus species demarcation, the isolates sequenced here represent a novel begomovirus species. Based on symptoms observed in the field, we propose the name vernonia crinkle virus (VeCrV) for this novel begomovirus and vernonia crinkle betasatellite (VeCrB) for the associated betasatellite. This is the first report of a monopartite begomovirus-betasatellite complex from Uganda

Sex-biased parental care and sexual size dimorphism in a provisioning arthropod

The diverse selection pressures driving the evolution of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) have long been debated. While the balance between fecundity selection and sexual selection has received much attention, explanations based on sex-specific ecology have proven harder to test. In ectotherms, females are typically larger than males, and this is frequently thought to be because size constrains female fecundity more than it constrains male mating success. However, SSD could additionally reflect maternal care strategies. Under this hypothesis, females are relatively larger where reproduction requires greater maximum maternal effort – for example where mothers transport heavy provisions to nests. To test this hypothesis we focussed on digger wasps (Hymenoptera: Ammophilini), a relatively homogeneous group in which only females provision offspring. In some species, a single large prey item, up to 10 times the mother’s weight, must be carried to each burrow on foot; other species provide many small prey, each flown individually to the nest. We found more pronounced female-biased SSD in species where females carry single, heavy prey. More generally, SSD was negatively correlated with numbers of prey provided per offspring. Females provisioning multiple small items had longer wings and thoraxes, probably because smaller prey are carried in flight. Despite much theorising, few empirical studies have tested how sex-biased parental care can affect SSD. Our study reveals that such costs can be associated with the evolution of dimorphism, and this should be investigated in other clades where parental care costs differ between sexes and species

Bacterial microevolution and the Pangenome

The comparison of multiple genome sequences sampled from a bacterial population reveals considerable diversity in both the core and the accessory parts of the pangenome. This diversity can be analysed in terms of microevolutionary events that took place since the genomes shared a common ancestor, especially deletion, duplication, and recombination. We review the basic modelling ingredients used implicitly or explicitly when performing such a pangenome analysis. In particular, we describe a basic neutral phylogenetic framework of bacterial pangenome microevolution, which is not incompatible with evaluating the role of natural selection. We survey the different ways in which pangenome data is summarised in order to be included in microevolutionary models, as well as the main methodological approaches that have been proposed to reconstruct pangenome microevolutionary history

Desmodium mottle virus, the first legumovirus (genus Begomovirus) from East Africa

A novel bipartite legumovirus (genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae), that naturally infects the wild leguminous plant Desmodium sp. in Uganda, was molecularly characterized and named Desmodium mottle virus. The highest nucleotide identities for DNA-A, obtained from two field-collected samples, were 79.9% and 80.1% with the legumovirus, soybean mild mottle virus. DNA-B had the highest nucleotide identities (65.4% and 66.4%) with a typical non-legumovirus Old World begomovirus, African cassava mosaic virus. This is the first report of a legumovirus in East Africa and extends the known diversity of begomoviruses found infecting wild plants in this continent

Conjugation with L, L-diphenylalanine Self-Assemblies Enhances In Vitro Antitumor Activity of Phthalocyanine Photosensitizer

We present the synthesis and characterization of new peptide conjugates obtained by hierarchical co-assembly of L,L-diphenylalanine (FF) and zinc phthalocyanine complexes (ZnPc) in water. Self-assembly capabilities under defined conditions were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, and photophysical properties were evaluated using UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. AFM observations demonstrated that these ZnPcs form different highly ordered arrays on the crystalline faces of the FF microplates and that surface roughness significantly changes with the presence of differently substituted phthalocyanine units. XRD assays showed that the overall molecular packing of the conjugates is organized according to a hexagonal symmetry, with ZnPcs hosted in the interstices of the peptide phase. In vitro photodynamic studies were conducted on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells to investigate both cellular uptake and cytotoxicity. It was shown that FF self-assemblies are not toxicity and enhance accumulation of ZnPc in MCF-7 cells, improving apoptotic cell death upon irradiation. Our findings demonstrate enhancement of ZnPc antitumor efficiency by FF conjugates and a proof-of-concept for new photosensitizer carriers based on peptide conjugates

Strongly magnetized pulsars: explosive events and evolution

Well before the radio discovery of pulsars offered the first observational confirmation for their existence (Hewish et al., 1968), it had been suggested that neutron stars might be endowed with very strong magnetic fields of $10^{10}$-$10^{14}$G (Hoyle et al., 1964; Pacini, 1967). It is because of their magnetic fields that these otherwise small ed inert, cooling dead stars emit radio pulses and shine in various part of the electromagnetic spectrum. But the presence of a strong magnetic field has more subtle and sometimes dramatic consequences: In the last decades of observations indeed, evidence mounted that it is likely the magnetic field that makes of an isolated neutron star what it is among the different observational manifestations in which they come. The contribution of the magnetic field to the energy budget of the neutron star can be comparable or even exceed the available kinetic energy. The most magnetised neutron stars in particular, the magnetars, exhibit an amazing assortment of explosive events, underlining the importance of their magnetic field in their lives. In this chapter we review the recent observational and theoretical achievements, which not only confirmed the importance of the magnetic field in the evolution of neutron stars, but also provide a promising unification scheme for the different observational manifestations in which they appear. We focus on the role of their magnetic field as an energy source behind their persistent emission, but also its critical role in explosive events.Comment: Review commissioned for publication in the White Book of "NewCompStar" European COST Action MP1304, 43 pages, 8 figure

Assessment of risk factors related to healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection at patient admission to an intensive care unit in Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(HA-MRSA) infection in intensive care unit (ICU) patients prolongs ICU stay and causes high mortality. Predicting HA-MRSA infection on admission can strengthen precautions against MRSA transmission. This study aimed to clarify the risk factors for HA-MRSA infection in an ICU from data obtained within 24 hours of patient ICU admission.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We prospectively studied HA-MRSA infection in 474 consecutive patients admitted for more than 2 days to our medical, surgical, and trauma ICU in a tertiary referral hospital in Japan. Data obtained from patients within 24 hours of ICU admission on 11 prognostic variables possibly related to outcome were evaluated to predict infection risk in the early phase of ICU stay. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors for HA-MRSA infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty patients (6.3%) had MRSA infection, and 444 patients (93.7%) were infection-free. Intubation, existence of open wound, treatment with antibiotics, and steroid administration, all occurring within 24 hours of ICU admission, were detected as independent prognostic indicators. Patients with intubation or open wound comprised 96.7% of MRSA-infected patients but only 57.4% of all patients admitted.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Four prognostic variables were found to be risk factors for HA-MRSA infection in ICU: intubation, open wound, treatment with antibiotics, and steroid administration, all occurring within 24 hours of ICU admission. Preemptive infection control in patients with these risk factors might effectively decrease HA-MRSA infection.</p