13 research outputs found
Solitary Renal Metastasis Arising from a Pulmonary Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
No full textAdenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a malignancy affecting the salivary glands and rarely involving the lung. Due to its rarity, primary lung ACC remains incompletely understood. We herein report the case of a 57-year-old female patient who was initially diagnosed with primary lung ACC and was treated by lobectomy. Seven years later, an abdominal computed tomography scan performed in the context of surveillance revealed the presence of a solid lesion arising from the lower pole of the left kidney. The patient underwent left partial nephrectomy, and histopathology confirmed a completely excised metastatic ACC
Fitness Ranking of Individual Mutants Drives Patterns of Epistatic Interactions in HIV-1
No full textThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Killing them softly:managing pathogen polymorphism and virulence in spatially variable environments
No full textUnderstanding why pathogen populations are genetically variable is vital because genetic variation fuels evolution, which often hampers disease control efforts. Here I argue that classical models of evolution in spatially variable environments - specifically, models of hard and soft selection - provide a useful framework to understand the maintenance of pathogen polymorphism and the evolution of virulence. First, the similarities between models of hard and soft selection and pathogen life cycles are described, highlighting how the type and timing of pathogen control measures impose density regulation that may affect both the level of pathogen polymorphism and virulence. The article concludes with an outline of potential lines of future theoretical and experimental work.</p
Spinal versus General Anaesthesia in Postoperative Pain Management during Transurethral Procedures
No full textWe compared the analgesic efficacy of spinal and general anaesthesia following transurethral procedures. 97 and 47 patients underwent transurethral bladder tumour resection (TUR-B) and transurethral prostatectomy (TUR-P), respectively. Postoperative pain was recorded using an 11-point visual analogue scale (VAS). VAS score was greatest at discharge from recovery room for general anaesthesia (). The pattern changed significantly at 8 h and 12 h for general anaesthesia's efficacy (
and
resp.). A higher VAS score was observed in pT2 patients. Patients with resected tumour volume >10 exhibited a VAS score >3 at 8 h and 24 h (, resp.). Multifocality of bladder tumours induced more pain overall. It seems that spinal anaesthesia is more effective during the first 2 postoperative hours, while general prevails at later stages and at larger traumatic surfaces. Finally, we incidentally found that tumour stage plays a significant role in postoperative pain, a point that requires further verification.</jats:p
Detection of archaeological surface ceramics using very high-resolution remotely sensed data
No full textThis study explores using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the detection of archaeological features from images taken by Unmanned Aerial Ve-hicles (UAVs). The aim is to complement traditional archaeological survey meth-ods. With the advancement of Remote Sensing (RS), the use of low-altitude sys-tems for documenting archaeological sites has become popular due to cost-effec-tiveness. Additionally, the application of Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) techniques has shown promise in improving the efficiency of ar-chaeological feature detection. However, there are still challenges in accurately interpreting results, especially when methodologies are inadequate. This study addresses the need to detect non-uniformly better-distributed surface ceramics in high-resolution aerial images, a challenge characterized by imbalanced data dis-tribution. The authors propose an innovative AI-driven methodology; the re-search aims to fill a gap in the current literature, improving the precision and reliability of archaeological research through advanced technological ap-proaches. Upon reviewing the overall results alongside the in-situ survey records, it has been determined that using high-resolution UAV imagery combined with automated AI methods is an effective preliminary approach for detecting surface archaeological ceramics.This project has received funding from the European Un-ion’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03, Twinning Call) under the grant agreement No 101079377 and the UKRI under pro-ject number 10050486. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the au-thor(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the UKRI. Neither the European Union nor the UKRI can be held responsible for them. This paper is a part of the PhD of the first author on the same topic
Friedreich ataxia patient tissues exhibit increased 5-hydroxymethylcytosine modification and decreased CTCF binding at the FXN locus
No full text© 2013 Al-Mahdawi et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is caused by a homozygous GAA repeat expansion mutation within intron 1 of the FXN gene, which induces epigenetic changes and FXN gene silencing. Bisulfite sequencing studies have identified 5-methylcytosine (5 mC) DNA methylation as one of the epigenetic changes that may be involved in this process. However, analysis of samples by bisulfite sequencing is a time-consuming procedure. In addition, it has recently been shown that 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5 hmC) is also present in mammalian DNA, and bisulfite sequencing cannot distinguish between 5 hmC and 5 mC.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 242193/EFACTS (CS), the Wellcome Trust [089757] (SA) and Ataxia UK (RMP) to MAP
Effect of vitamin D supplementation on frozen embryo transfer cycle outcomes
No full textThe role of serum 25-OH D3 (D3) in the physiology and regulation of the female genital system has gained significant research interest. Recent data have suggested that sufficient D3 levels are associated with improved outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF), although other studies failed to confirm so. Screening for D3 levels before IVF is becoming common practice in many IVF centres, and D3 insufficiency is treated with supplements before treatment. However, little is known about the effect of this intervention on D3 levels during endometrial preparation for frozen-embryo transfer (FET) cycles, especially regarding clinical outcomes. To examine the effect of vitamin D supplementation and the impact of vitamin D status in women undergoing FET cycles, a prospective study of infertile women undergoing FET cycles was carried out. Initial screening of D3 levels was performed in 252 infertile women before a FET cycle, and where insufficiency was found (<30 ng/mL) [115 (45.6%)], supplements were prescribed according to a standardized protocol. Serum D3 levels were measured at three distinct time-points: at the initiation of endometrial preparation (T1), embryo transfer (T2), and beta-hCG testing (T3). We found no significant difference in ongoing pregnancy [40 (34.8%) vs. 51 (37.2%); odds ratio (OR) 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54–1.51; adjusted OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.58–1.83], live birth, positive β-hCG, clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, and ectopic pregnancy rates between D3-insufficient participants at T1 receiving vitamin D and D3-replete ones not receiving any supplementation (p-values >0.05). We also found no significant difference in ongoing pregnancy [21 (30.9%) vs. 66 (40.2%), and 17 (34.0%) vs. 51 (41.5%)] and the rest of the outcomes between D3-insufficient and replete participants at T2 and T3, respectively (p-values >0.05). In conclusion, this prospective cohort study of women undergoing FET cycles found no significant difference in ongoing pregnancy rates between D3-insufficient participants receiving supplementation at the beginning of endometrial preparation and replete ones receiving no supplementation. Large, high-quality trials are required to further investigate this hypothesis and compare the IVF outcomes between replete participants, insufficient participants receiving no supplementation, and insufficient participants receiving supplementation. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
An Enhanced Methodology for Creating Digital Twins within a Paleontological Museum Using Photogrammetry and Laser Scanning Techniques
No full textIn recent years, researchers in the field of natural heritage have intensified their efforts to develop new ways to enhance the promotion and accessibility of natural content in order to attract more audiences using virtual representations of physical objects (digital twins). Therefore, they are increasingly incorporating new technologies and digital tools in their operations since their usage by the general public and in the natural heritage (NH) museums is considered particularly effective. Simultaneously, the increasing quality of the produced digitizations has opened up new opportunities for the exploitation of the outcomes of digitization beyond the initial anticipations. Responding to the growing demand of museum visitors for a personalized digital tour experience, especially amidst the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the v-PalM project aims to develop a digital platform to offer virtual guidance and education services at the Museum of Paleontology and Geology, which is hosted at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens. The development of the platform will be based on collecting data through various methods, including crowdsourcing, innovative information, and communication technologies, taking advantage of content digitization using 3D scanning devices. This paper demonstrates an enhanced methodology for the digitization of paleontological exhibits. The methodology uses photogrammetry and laser scanning methods from various devices, such as drones, laser scanners, and smartphones. These methods create digital twins that are suitable for various scenarios, including research, education, and entertainment. The proposed methodology has been applied to over fifty paleontological museum exhibits of varying sizes and complexities, and the resulting 3D models exhibit high accuracy in both their material and geometric aspects, while they also feature crucial details that assist researchers and the scientific community
Phylogenetic analyses and taxonomic studies of Senecioninae : southern African Senecio section Senecio
No full textMolecular phylogenetic analyses of subtribe Senecioninae, based on combining sequenced ITS and trnL-F fragments from specimens collected in the field with sequences collected from GenBank, suggest the subtribe is monophyletic, as is Senecio s.str. (including Robinsonia), and suggest an expanded monophyletic section Senecio. Many Senecio species should be removed from the genus, as they are only distantly related to it, emphasising the para- or polyphyletic nature of Senecio as it is currently circumscribed.
Area optimisation suggests southern Africa as a possible geographical origin for the genus and section. Harvey’s (1865) sectional classification of South African Senecio species (the only attempt to date to impose infrageneric groupings on these taxa), was tested for monophyly which, however, was not seen in the sections tested. A number of southern African species from Harvey’s sections are suggested for inclusion in an expanded section Senecio.
A clade suggested as basal to sect. Senecio, consisting of Senecio engleranus and Senecio flavus, was found to be only distantly related to the section. Resolution of the two species within the clade was not evident; a comparative study was therefore made employing RAPDs, morphometrics and breeding experiments. The two proved to be distinct entities, both genetically and morphologically, although they remain interfertile, suggesting that intrinsic postzygotic barriers between them are weak, and that hybridisation – not found in the wild - is mainly prevented by prezygotic barriers. F1 hybrids created between the two were seen to have intermediate morphologies and RAPD profiles. A single F1 individual self-pollinated to produce a vigorous F2 generation, allowing preliminary surveys of pollen number, pollen fertility and pappus type. Pappus type is seen to be under the control of allelic variations in a single major gene, while pollen numbers and pollen fertility are seen to be under more complex genetic control
