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Cancer is one of the leading causes of global mortality, and its incidence is increasing annually. Neutron capture therapy (NCT) is a unique anticancer modality capable of selectively eliminating tumor cells within normal tissues. The development of accelerator-based, clinically mountable neutron sources has stimulated a worldwide search for new, more effective compounds for NCT. We synthesized magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) that concurrently incorporate boron and gadolinium, potentially enhancing the effectiveness of NCT. These magnetic nanoparticles underwent sequential modifications through silane polycondensation and allylamine graft polymerization, enabling the creation of functional amino groups on their surface. Characterization was performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). ICP-AES measurements indicated that boron (B) content in the NPs reached 3.56 ppm/mg, while gadolinium (Gd) averaged 0.26 ppm/mg. Gadolinium desorption was observed within 4 h, with a peak rate of 61.74%. The biocompatibility of the NPs was confirmed through their relatively low cytotoxicity and sufficient cellular tolerability. Using NPs at non-toxic concentrations, we obtained B accumulation of up to 5.724 × 1010 atoms per cell, sufficient for successful NCT. Although limited by its content in the NP composition, the Gd amount may also contribute to NCT along with its diagnostic properties. Further development of the NPs is ongoing, focusing on increasing the boron and gadolinium content and creating active tumor targeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) is often characterized by vascular disorders related to vessel vulnerability that can lead to unfavorable outcomes. Here, we describe a case of NF-1 complicated with a massive subcutaneous hematoma posing a risk of visual impairment for which rapid decompression and a subsequent less invasive approach result in a favorable outcome. Case Description: A 40-year-old woman with NF-1 presented with a massive left subcutaneous temporal hematoma following a mild head contusion. Four days after hospitalization, the hematoma increased in size and severely compressed the left eye, prompting immediate hematoma removal to preserve visual function. Immediately after the hematoma removal, a superficial temporal arteriovenous fistula was found on the digital subtraction angiography and embolized by the endovascular procedure. Her visual acuity was preserved, and no bleeding recurrence was observed throughout the follow-up. Conclusion: Surgical hematoma removal followed by endovascular treatment was effective in preserving visual function. Since vessel fragility is characteristic of patients with NF-1, it should be kept in mind that vascular complications may lead to serious clinical outcomes. In certain NF-1 cases, less invasive treatments for vascular abnormalities may be preferable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In myoelectrical pattern recognition (PR), the feature extraction methods for stroke-oriented applications are challenging and remain discordant due to a lack of hemiplegic data and limited knowledge of skeletomuscular function. Additionally, technical and clinical barriers create the need for robust, subject-independent feature generation while using supervised learning (SL). To the best of our knowledge, we are the first study to investigate the brute-force analysis of individual and combinational feature vectors for acute stroke gesture recognition using surface electromyography (EMG) of 19 patients. Moreover, post-brute-force singular vectors were concatenated via a Fibonacci-like spiral net ranking as a novel, broadly applicable concept for feature selection. This semi-brute-force navigated amalgamation in linkage (SNAiL) of EMG features revealed an explicit classification rate performance advantage of 10–17% compared to canonical feature sets, which can drastically extend PR capabilities in biosignal processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote traumatic intracranial haemorrhage (RTIH) may develop after neurosurgery. Recognition of the risk factors for RTIH before surgery might be of great value. The purpose of this study was to verify if the fibrin/fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) value may be a risk factor for RTIH. This was a retrospective study of the data of 56 patients with traumatic intracranial hematomas shown on initial computed tomography (CT) who were treated with craniotomy or decompressive craniectomy and underwent a follow-up CT at a single centre over a period of approximately 10.5 years. We divided the patients into 2 groups: those who developed RTIH (Positive: P-group) and those who did not (Negative: N-group). We compared the 2 groups in terms of not only the laboratory data before surgery, but also patient age, sex, antiplatelet/antithrombotic medications received, cause of injury, and GCS score on arrival. RTIH was observed in 22 patients (P-group, 39.3%). The FDP value was the only significant risk factor identified in this study (p = 0.00076). The cut-off value was estimated on the basis of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The cut-off FDP value was 120 µg/mL (63.6% sensitivity and 85.3% specificity). FDP levels over 120 µg/mL were determined to be a risk factor for progressive RTIH after neurosurgery. We suggest the FDP level be checked before surgery for traumatic intracranial haemorrhage and follow-up CT be done as soon as possible after the surgery if the serum FDP level is over 120 µg/mL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthma is a life-altering, chronic disease of heterogenous origin that features a complex interplay of immune and environmental signaling. Although very little progress has been made in prevention, diverse types of medications and delivery systems, including nanoscale systems, have been or are currently being developed to control airway inflammation and prevent exacerbations and fibrosis. These medications are delivered through mechanical methods, with various inhalers (with benefits and drawbacks) existing, and new types offering some variety in delivery. Of particular interest is the progress being made in nanosized materials for efficient penetration into the epithelial mucus layer and delivery into the deepest parts of the lungs. Liposomes, nanoparticles, and extracellular vesicles, both natural and synthetic, have been explored in animal models of asthma and have produced promising results. This review will summarize and synthesize the latest developments in both macro-(inhaler) and micro-sized delivery systems for the purpose of treating asthma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) is often characterized by vascular disorders related to vessel vulnerability that can lead to unfavorable outcomes. Here, we describe a case of NF-1 complicated with a massive subcutaneous hematoma posing a risk of visual impairment for which rapid decompression and a subsequent less invasive approach result in a favorable outcome., Case Description: A 40-year-old woman with NF-1 presented with a massive left subcutaneous temporal hematoma following a mild head contusion. Four days after hospitalization, the hematoma increased in size and severely compressed the left eye, prompting immediate hematoma removal to preserve visual function. Immediately after the hematoma removal, a superficial temporal arteriovenous fistula was found on the digital subtraction angiography and embolized by the endovascular procedure. Her visual acuity was preserved, and no bleeding recurrence was observed throughout the follow-up., Conclusion: Surgical hematoma removal followed by endovascular treatment was effective in preserving visual function. Since vessel fragility is characteristic of patients with NF-1, it should be kept in mind that vascular complications may lead to serious clinical outcomes. In certain NF-1 cases, less invasive treatments for vascular abnormalities may be preferable., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Surgical Neurology International.)