Evaluation of influencing factors on the radiation dose of hospitalized neonates: Maturity status and type of disease

Context: Premature neonates have multiple medical and surgical problems; therefore, hospitalization and imaging are required. Recently there has been too much concern about the long-term effects of radiation in neonates. In this survey, we assessed the frequency of imaging and radiation dose in neonates hospitalized in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in our University-affiliated hospital. Materials and methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted during a year (2019–2020) on 291 neonates. The information has been gathered from Health Information System and picture archiving and communication system, and analyzed with SPSS version 22. Results: 291 neonates were included in the study, from which 175 (60%) neonates were preterm and 116 (40%) neonates were term neonates. The mean gestational age (GA) was 35.5 weeks and the mean hospital admission duration was 15.8 days. The mean number of portable and non-portable imaging procedures was 5.13 and 0.62 for preterm and term neonates, respectively. There is a statistically significant relationship between gastrointestinal disease and the number of abdominal X-rays. There is also a statistically significant relationship between acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and chest X-rays; there is no statistically significant relationship between pneumonia and the number of chest X-rays in the hospital course. The mean accumulation effective doses in preterm and term neonates in-hospital course were 0.549 and 0.498 mSv, respectively. Discussion: The neonates in NICU are more susceptible to radiation hazards due to numerous imaging than other neonates. Portable imaging is eight times more dosing than non-portable imaging, so due to the scattered radiation from portable devices, the actual radiation dose may be higher than what we estimated. No brain CT scan was done for the neonates with convulsion because of using safer and more valuable modalities; so we could recommend radiologists and pediatrics to use substitute modalities like sonography and MRI instead of CT scan and X-rays

Genetic stability of in vitro multiplied Phalaenopsis gigantea protocorm-like bodies as affected by chitosan

Chitosan is a carbohydrate polymer derivative of chitin which presents in shell of crustaceans. This biopolymer is a non toxic and environmentally friendly, considered as a plant growth stimulator in some plant species. The present study investigates the effects of chitosan and media types on multiplication and genetic stability of Phalaenopsis gigantea protocorm-like bodies (PLBs). PLBs were inoculated in liquid New Dogashima Medium (NDM) and Vacin and Went (VW) supplemented with various concentrations of chitosan (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 mg/L). The highest PLB multiplication was observed on VW and NDM supplemented with 10 mg/L chitosan with mean number of PLBs 177 and 147, respectively. Chitosan promoted the formation of juvenile leaves and the highest number was observed in NDM supplemented with 20 mg/L chitosan with mean number of 66 leaves after 8 weeks of culture. Genetic stability was assessed among mother plant and secondary PLBs after 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of culture in liquid media. 8 out of 10 ISSR markers produced a total of 275 clear and reproducible bands with mean of 6.9 bands per primer. The secondary PLBs produced during sub-culturing process of chitosan treated liquid culture were genetically uniform and similar to mother plant

Shoot tip regeneration and optimization of Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) cv. Green Marvel

A protocol of plant regeneration from shoot tips and optimization of Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) cv. Green Marvel have been developed. Shoot tip response was assessed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations of zeatin. The highest regeneration with a maximum of 13 shoots per explant was obtained on MS medium containing 1.5 mg l-1 zeatin. Primary selection of putative transformed explants was performed on the optimized regeneration medium (MS medium containing 1.5 mg l-1 zeatin and 80 mg l-1 kanamycin) for 60 days. The effects of preculture, acetosyringone and growth of bacterial culture were studied. Explants precultured on callus induction medium for 4 days prior to inoculation with A. tumefaciens with 200 lM acetosyringone resulted in improved transformation frequency. The Agrobacterium culture dilution of 1:5 and inoculation time of 30 min increased the efficiency of transformation of shoot tip explants. The results also indicated that 150 mg l-1 ampicillin alone was adequate to eradicate Agrobacterium growth in the SRM incorporated with the respective minimum inhibitory concentration of 80 mg l-1 kanamycin. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blot assays confirmed the transgenic status of the broccoli cv. Green Marvel regenerants. A transformation efficiency of 5 % was achieved based on the positive PCR results using the optimized procedure. The expression of luciferase reporter gene in the transformed cells and the transcription of AtHSP101 using RT-PCR further confirmed the transgenic status of the regenerated plants

Burden of respiratory syncytial virus infection in community-dwelling older adults in Europe (RESCEU): an international prospective cohort study

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in older adults is recognised as an important health issue. We aimed to assess the community burden of RSV in Europe in older adults aged ≥60 years. Methods: This international, prospective, observational cohort study is part of work by the REspiratory Syncytial virus Consortium in EUrope (RESCEU). Participants were recruited through general practitioners' (GPs) offices before two independent RSV seasons. Participants reported weekly about symptoms of acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) during one RSV season. ARTI patients were tested for RSV during home visits and completed a daily symptom diary. RSV illness included PCR-confirmed ARTI and those showing seroconversion over the season. RSV ARTI was based on PCR alone (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03621930). Results: We recruited 1040 participants (527 in season 2017–2018 and 513 in season 2018–2019) with a median age of 75 years (range 60–100 years). Of these, 1023 (99%) lived independently at home at baseline. RSV illness incidence was 22 out of 527 (4.2%) and 37 out of 513 (7.2%) in the respective seasons. RSV illness did not affect frailty or cardiopulmonary status during the course of the study. No patients were hospitalised or died from RSV illness. In the 36 patients with PCR confirmed RSV ARTI, symptom duration averaged 19 days, while a doctor's visit took place in 11 out of 36 cases (31%). RSV ARTI could not be differentiated clinically from all other ARTIs based on symptoms. Conclusion: This European study showed that RSV is prevalent in community-dwelling older adults and rarely causes severe disease. This suggests that watchful waiting, using a continuity of care approach to identify those who do need more intensive care, is often justified when RSV is suspected in family practice.</p

Burden of respiratory syncytial virus infection in community-dwelling older adults in Europe (RESCEU): An international prospective cohort study

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in older adults is recognised as an important health issue. We aimed to assess the community burden of RSV in Europe in older adults aged >60 years. Methods: This international, prospective, observational cohort study is part of work by the REspiratory Syncytial virus Consortium in EUrope (RESCEU). Participants were recruited through general practitioners’ (GPs) offices before two independent RSV seasons. Participants reported weekly about symptoms of acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) during one RSV season. ARTI patients were tested for RSV during home visits and completed a daily symptom diary. RSV illness included PCR-confirmed ARTI and those showing seroconversion over the season. RSV ARTI was based on PCR alone (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03621930). Results: We recruited 1040 participants (527 in season 2017–2018 and 513 in season 2018–2019) with a median age of 75 years (range 60–100 years). Of these, 1023 (99%) lived independently at home at baseline. RSV illness incidence was 22 out of 527 (4.2%) and 37 out of 513 (7.2%) in the respective seasons. RSV illness did not affect frailty or cardiopulmonary status during the course of the study. No patients were hospitalised or died from RSV illness. In the 36 patients with PCR confirmed RSV ARTI, symptom duration averaged 19 days, while a doctor’s visit took place in 11 out of 36 cases (31%). RSV ARTI could not be differentiated clinically from all other ARTIs based on symptoms. Conclusion: This European study showed that RSV is prevalent in community-dwelling older adults and rarely causes severe disease. This suggests that watchful waiting, using a continuity of care approach to identify those who do need more intensive care, is often justified when RSV is suspected in family practice

First-in-human immunoPET imaging of HIV-1 infection using 89 Zr-labeled VRC01 broadly neutralizing antibody

A major obstacle to achieving long-term antiretroviral (ART) free remission or functional cure of HIV infection is the presence of persistently infected cells that establish a long-lived viral reservoir. HIV largely resides in anatomical regions that are inaccessible to routine sampling, however, and non-invasive methods to understand the longitudinal tissue-wide burden of HIV persistence are urgently needed. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a promising strategy to identify and characterize the tissue-wide burden of HIV. Here, we assess the efficacy of using immunoPET imaging to characterize HIV reservoirs and identify anatomical foci of persistent viral transcriptional activity using a radiolabeled HIV Env-specific broadly neutralizing antibody, (89)Zr-VRC01, in HIV-infected individuals with detectable viremia and on suppressive ART compared to uninfected controls (NCT03729752). We also assess the relationship between PET tracer uptake in tissues and timing of ART initiation and direct HIV protein expression in CD4 T cells obtained from lymph node biopsies. We observe significant increases in (89)Zr-VRC01 uptake in various tissues (including lymph nodes and gut) in HIV-infected individuals with detectable viremia (N = 5) and on suppressive ART (N = 5) compared to uninfected controls (N = 5). Importantly, PET tracer uptake in inguinal lymph nodes in viremic and ART-suppressed participants significantly and positively correlates with HIV protein expression measured directly in tissue. Our strategy may allow non-invasive longitudinal characterization of residual HIV infection and lays the framework for the development of immunoPET imaging in a variety of other infectious diseases