Standards for European training requirements in interventional neuroradiology: Guidelines by the Division of Neuroradiology/Section of Radiology European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), in cooperation with the Division of Interventional Radiology/UEMS, the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR), and the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (ESMINT)

This document sets out standards for training in Interventional Neuroradiology (INR) in Europe. These standards have been developed by a working group of the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR) and the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (ESMINT) on the initiative and under the umbrella of the Division of Neuroradiology/Section of Radiology of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS)

A cross-sectional study of self-reported chemical-related sensitivity is associated with gene variants of drug-metabolizing enzymes

BACKGROUND: N-acetyltransferases (NAT) and glutathione S-transferases (GST) are involved in the metabolism of several ubiquitous chemical substances leading to the activation and detoxification of carcinogenic heterocyclic and aromatic amines. Since polymorphisms within these genes are described to influence the metabolism of ubiquitous chemicals, we conducted the present study to determine if individuals with self-reported chemical-related sensitivity differed from controls without self-reported chemical-related sensitivity with regard to the distribution of genotype frequencies of NAT2, GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms. METHODS: Out of 800 subjects who answered a questionnaire of ten items with regard to their severity of chemical sensitivity 521 unrelated individuals agreed to participate in the study. Subsequently, genetic variants of the NAT2, GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 genes were analyzed. RESULTS: The results show significant differences between individuals with and without self-reported chemical-related sensitivity with regard to the distribution of NAT2, GSTM1, and GSTT1 gene variants. Cases with self-reported chemical-related sensitivity were significantly more frequently NAT2 slow acetylators (controlled OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.27–2.59, P = 0.001). GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes were significantly more often homozygously deleted in those individuals reporting sensitivity to chemicals compared to controls (GSTM1: controlled OR 2.08, 95% CI = 1.46–2.96, P = 0.0001; GSTT1: controlled OR = 2.80, 95% CI = 1.65–4.75, P = 0.0001). Effects for GSTP1 gene variants were observed in conjunction with GSTM1, GSTT1 and NAT2 gene. CONCLUSION: The results from our study population show that individuals being slow acetylators and/or harbouring a homozygous GSTM1 and/or GSTT1 deletion reported chemical-related hypersensitivity more frequently

Genome Instability and Bleomicin Sensitivity Test

Procjena individualne osjetljivosti na mutagene često je dio istraživanja u epidemiološkim studijama koje prate pojavnost zloćudnih bolesti u populacijama. Posljedica djelovanja mutagena u genomu izloženih osoba jest nastanak određene, manje ili veće, količine oštećenja, uvjetovane individualnim razlikama u osjetljivosti. Viša razina takve genomske nestabilnosti znači opasnost (rizik) od razvoja zloćudnih bolesti. Interindividualne razlike u odgovoru na mutagene obično se povezuju i s promijenjenom (većinom smanjenom) sposobnosti (kapacitetom) za popravak DNA. Citogenetičke studije su pokazale da je genom tumorskih stanica nestabilniji od normalnih, a time i skloniji akumuliranju oštećenja, bilo da je nestabilnost uzrokovana nasljeđem, izloženošću ili kombinacijom tih dvaju učinaka. U oboljelih ispitanika utvrđena je povećana učestalost kromatidnih i kromosomskih aberacija naspram normalne populacije te sklonost razvoju određenih vrsta neoplazija. U praćenju povezanosti promijenjenog odgovora i pojavnosti tumora služe nam različiti biomarkeri. Kao indirektni pokazatelji uspješnosti popravka DNA često se rabe testovi osjetljivosti na mutagene u kulturama limfocita periferne krvi. Jedan od takvih testova je i bleomicinski test. Radiomimetik i citostatik, a po strukturi glikopeptid, bleomicin se u stanici prevodi u aktivni oblik sposoban cijepati molekulu DNA što uzrokuje brojne jednolančane i dvolančane lomove. Kao jednostavna i jeftina metoda, zasniva se na utvrđivanju ukupnog broja jednolančanih lomova u kromosomima limfocita uzgajanih u staničnoj kulturi koji su u uvjetima in vitro tijekom kasne G2-faze staničnog ciklusa bili izloženi bleomicinu. Ovaj revijalni rad daje pregled utjecaja raznih faktora na rezultate samog testa i pokazuje njegovu široku primjenu u proučavanju genomske nestabilnosti koju najčešće uzrokuje kombinacija raznih faktora.Estimation of individual susceptibility to mutagens is often a part of epidemiological studies monitoring the appearance of malignant disease in different populations. Genome exposure to mutagens can lead to DNA damage. The rate of damage depends on individual differences in response, which are usually associated with differences in DNA repair capacity. Cytogenetic studies have shown that the genome of tumour cells is less stable than normal cells and therefore accumulates more damage. Tumour patients show a higher frequency of chromatid and chromosomal aberrations and a predisposition to certain types of tumours. One of the common biomarkers used in monitoring tumour appearance and changed response to DNA damage is the bleomycin test. In its active form, bleomycin (glycopeptid) is a radiomimetic cytostatic that can damage the DNA molecule and cause multiple single and double strands. The bleomycin test is simple and inexpensive, and is based on scoring chromatid breaks in lymphocytes in vitro exposed to bleomycin during the late G2 phase of the cell cycle. This review looks into different factors that may affect test results and discusses its wide implementation in studies of genome instability usually caused by a combination of factors

Repetitive learning with fuzzy logic adaptive control of a flexible robot manipulator

Operational problems with robot manipulators in space relate to several factors, one most importantly being structural flexibility and subsequently significant difficulties with the control systems, especially, position control. A control strategy is devised for positioning the endpoint of a two-link robot manipulator modeled with assumed modes flexible dynamics repetitively tracking a square trajectory. The dominant assumed modes of vibration are determined for Euler-Bemoulli cantilever beam boundary conditions then, coupled with the nonlinear dynamics for rigid links to form an Euler-Lagrange inverse flexible dynamics robot model. A Jacobian transpose control law actuates the robot links. While repetitive tracking alone achieves no improvement in control precision, adapting the control law by a fuzzy logic system achieves consistent tracking precision