Congo’s Ebola outbreak has now recorded more than 4,000 deaths, authorities said, in what has become the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.
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White matter pathlength maps from diffusion-weighted MRI tractography for radiotherapy target planning in glioblastoma
Conventional radiotherapy target delineation for glioblastoma (GBM) includes an isotropic expansion from gross tumor visible on anatomic MRI to an empirically defined clinical target volume (CTV) for coverage of microscopic infiltrative disease. GBM spreads preferentially along white matter tracts, but this information has not previously been systematically incorporated into radiotherapy planning. We investigated using white matter tractography from diffusion-weighted MRI (dwMRI) to inform target delineation.
Thirteen patients with GBM underwent 55-directional dwMRI at the time of post-operative radiation planning MRI. Whole-brain tractography was performed, and streamlines passing within 5 mm of gross disease were used to generate maps representing white matter path length from gross disease. Clinical target volumes were generated using tractography (CTVtract) and conventional isotropic expansion (CTVisotropic). MRI at time of GBM recurrence was registered to the radiation planning MRI, and coverage of the recurrence volume was compared between CTVtract and CTVisotropic.
CTVtract demonstrated non-isotropic expansion of the primary tumor along regional white matter tracts while respecting natural anatomic boundaries. CTVtract volumes using a 2 cm path-length were a median of 67 cc smaller (−19%) than the paired 2 cm CTVisotropic volumes (p = 0.003). 10/13 recurrence volumes were included in CTVisotropic, while 12/13 recurrence volumes were included in CTVtract.
Field Persistence and Application Timing of Beauveria bassiana and Two Surfactants to Suppress Tarnished Plant Bug Population in Cotton
A commercial and native isolates of Beauveria bassiana (Bb) and two emulsifiers, Tween-80 and starched-based sprayable bioplastic, applied at night and morning were evaluated in the field to measure the indices of damage caused by the tarnished plant bug (TPB), Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) on cotton. Effects of solar radiation on TPB suppression, infectivity, and Bb sporulation were also examined. The TPB population was significantly reduced 7 days after spray (DAS) for all treated plots, suppressing population from 5–6 adults/10 sweep nets (SN) to 1 adult/10-SN 3-DAS and 0–1 adults/10-SN 7-DAS for all treatments. Little to no variation was observed in TPB nymph populations between treated and untreated plots. No significant differences in adult suppression were observed between morning and night application (MA, NA). The highest mortality rates and sporulation were found in insects exposed to cotton terminals sprayed with NI8+Tween-80-NA, 0-DAS. Although, no significant differences were observed between MA and NA, mortality and sporulation were higher in plots sprayed at night. Mortality and sporulation significantly decreased by the first day of application for all treatments regardless of NA or MA corresponding to the high susceptibility of Bb to sunlight. The highest percentage retention of all first position fruiting structures was observed in plots treated with NI8 + Tween-80-MA (88.30 ± 1.41), NI8+BioPlastic-MA (90.77 ± 1.28), and NI8 + Tween-80-NA (87.60 ± 1.15). Which were significantly higher than the controls. Overall, the seasonal plant mapping provided clear evidence of damage to cotton caused by TPB and how Bb regardless of the isolate, surfactant, or timing prevents indices of cotton damage.
Surfactants, UV Light, Microbial Control, B. bassiana, Lygus.
Cellular recycling changes with age, but not how we expected
Taking out the trash is a chore that even our cells cannot escape. Through a process known as autophagy, they place misshapen proteins and other cellular garbage in biological containers to digest them into their molecular building blocks.
Autophagy is designed to prevent the buildup of waste that causes cellular damage. A decline in this cellular recycling process is considered one of the hallmarks of aging and is associated with many age-related diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neurodegeneration.
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute published findings in Aging Cell adding new wrinkles to our understanding of the links between aging and autophagy.
Laser tech detects colorectal cancer biomarker in minutes
What new methods can be developed to improve cancer detection in blood samples? This is what a recent study published in Nanoscale Horizons hopes to address as a team of researchers from Japan investigated a novel technique that could revolutionize cancer detection. This study has the potential to help scientists, medical professionals, and the public better understand new developments in cancer detection and the steps that can be taken to implement them.
For the study, the researchers introduced how laser-powered technology could help enhance blood-based tests traditionally used for cancer detection. The primary motivation behind the study was to address longstanding roadblocks with cancer detection, specifically regarding traditional cancer detection processes being time-consuming and lacks accuracy.
To test their new method, the researchers focused on a common biomarker of colorectal cancer, glycoprotein CEACAM-5, where they introduced beads of glycoprotein CEACAM-5 into blood plasma and used their laser-based technology to identify and measure the glycoprotein CEACAM-5. In the end, the researcher found their laser-based technology successfully identified nanoscale-sized glycoprotein CEACAM-5 within the blood plasma.
Experimental KRAS Vaccine Generates Immune Response Against Pancreatic Cancer in People at High Risk
@hopkinskimmel researchers report that an experimental vaccine targeting the most common genetic driver of pancreatic cancer safely generated durable immune responses in people at high risk for the disease. The first-in-human findings support further development of a vaccine aimed at preventing pancreatic cancer. ›
Stem Cell-Derived Brain Models Offer a New Window Into How Anesthesia Works
Newswise — Every day, hundreds of thousands of people undergo general anesthesia, trusting they’ll drift into unconsciousness and wake safely after surgery. Yet despite decades of use, scientists still don’t fully understand how anesthetic drugs reshape the brain’s electrical activity to produce unconsciousness.
Studying the brain’s response to anesthesia has been difficult: in living humans, there’s no safe way to study the brain cell by cell, and in animals, the drugs act on many different brain regions at once, making it hard to isolate where the effects arise.
Now, UCLA researchers have shown for the first time that human stem cell-derived brain assembloids — tiny, three-dimensional models that recreate simplified human brain circuits — can reproduce the electrical changes seen during general anesthesia. Their findings were just published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.
Earth and Mars: Built from different cosmic recipes
Four and a half billion years ago, Earth and Mars were born in the rotating cloud of gas and dust that would eventually become our solar system. Yet exactly how the planets formed remains one of the most disputed questions in planetary science.
Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen are adding new evidence to the debate. Using a novel approach, they have reconstructed the earliest stages of the planets’ formation by analyzing their chemical composition.
And the results surprised them.
Physicists who uncovered the first particle accelerator were honored with a Nobel Prize 75 years ago — their work shaped physics, medicine and even art research
Particle accelerators aren’t just for testing the Standard Model. They’re also used to diagnose and treat disease and study world history.