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In this article, an investigation has been performed to analyze the role of hollow cathode aperture wall profile on pseudospark (PS) discharge-based single gap sheet electron beam source. A simulation study using COMSOL Multiphysics has been carried out for different hollow cathode aperture wall profile parameters, such as thickness and radius of curvature of aperture wall. The role of hollow cathode aperture wall thickness “ $t$ ” and the radius of curvature of aperture wall “ $R$ ” for different gas pressures, 16–20 Pa, and the corresponding applied gap voltage 16–20 kV have been studied. The hollow cathode aperture wall thickness has been analyzed for the range of ~1–3 mm, keeping the constant aspect ratio 12:1, while the radius of curvature of aperture wall has been analyzed for the range of 0–3 mm for different wall thicknesses. Experimental studies have also been performed to analyze the role of the thickness of the aperture wall on PS discharge. A good correlation has been obtained between the simulation and experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ocular tuberculosis can have protean manifestations. Anti-tubercular therapy (ATT) and oral steroids are employed in the management of this condition. There is evidence in the literature which has highlighted the use of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs as an adjunct to systemic therapy.Report of the Case: A 44-year-old male presented with a decrease of vision in the right eye was diagnosed choroidal tuberculoma with massive exudation and subretinal fluid. The patient was treated with intravitreal ranibizumab injection. The lesion regressed completely within 6 weeks without any additional systemic corticosteroids and ATT without any recurrence over 6 months during follow-up.Conclusions: Ranibizumab monotherapy may lead in complete regression of vascularized tubercular choroidal granulomas without the need of adjunctive ATT and corticosteroids. After intravitreal injection of ranibizumab, the lesion may be observed for regression over several weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To measure the choroidal thickness among subjects with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection from two diverse ethnic populations and to compare it with healthy controls. Methods: Subjects with HIV infection and healthy controls were enrolled in two referring centers in Italy and India. Clinical data were collected. All subjects underwent enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography and measurement of choroidal thickness. Results: A total of 68 eyes from 68 patients with HIV (44 Caucasian, 24 Indians) and 60 eyes from 60 healthy volunteers (36 Caucasian, 24 Indians) were included. Mean choroidal thickness was significantly higher in HIV patients compared to controls (312.91 ± 65 µm vs. 266.57 ± 47 µm; p < 0.001). Choroidal thickness was higher among subjects with HIV-related retinopathy compared to HIV without retinopathy (285 ± 30 µm vs. 352 ± 17 µm; p < 0.01). Conclusions: Patients with HIV infection, especially with HIV microangiopathy, have thicker choroid compared to age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects. These changes may be related to HIV-associated choroidal vascular dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The concept of peptide-based vaccines against cancer has made noteworthy progress. Metadherin (MTDH) overexpression and its role in the development of diverse cancers make it an attractive target for cancer immunotherapy. In the current study, six different T cell epitope prediction tools were run to identify MTDH peptides with multiple immunogenic regions. Further, molecular docking was performed to assess HLA-peptide binding interactions. Nine and eleven peptides fragments containing multiple CD8 + and CD4 + T-cell epitopes, ranging from 9 to 20 amino acids, respectively, were obtained using a consensus immunoinformatics approach. The three peptides that were finally identified as having overlapping CD4 + and CD8 + T- cell epitopes are ARLREMLSVGLGFLRTELG, FLLGYGWAAACAGAR, YIDDEWSGLNGLSSADP. These peptides were found to not only have multiple T cell epitopes but also to have binding affinity with wide HLA molecules. A molecular docking study revealed that the predicted immunogenic peptides (with single or multiple T cell epitopes) of MTDH have comparable binding energies with naturally bound peptides for both HLA classes I and II. Thus, these peptides have the potential to induce immune responses that could be considered for developing synthetic peptide vaccines against multiple cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The rhesus monkey is a useful model for examining age-related effects on the brain, because of the extensive neuroanatomical homology between the monkey and the human brain, the tight control for neurological diseases as well as the possibility of obtaining relevant behavioral data and post-mortem tissue for histological analyses. Here, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used together with high-resolution anatomical MRI images to carefully assess regional concentrations of brain metabolites in a group of 20 rhesus monkeys. In an anterior volume of interest (VOI) that covered frontal and prefrontal areas, significant positive correlations of myo-inositol and of total creatine concentrations with age were detected, whereas N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and choline compounds (Cho) were not significantly correlated with age. In an occipito-parietal VOI, all metabolites showed no statistically significant age-dependent trend. Strong correlations were found between NAA concentration and gray matter fraction in the VOIs as well as between choline compounds and white matter fraction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

TIMM50, an essential TIM23 complex subunit, is suggested to facilitate the import of ∼60% of the mitochondrial proteome. In this study, we characterized a TIMM50 disease causing mutation in human fibroblasts and noted significant decreases in TIM23 core protein levels (TIMM50, TIMM17A/B, and TIMM23). Strikingly, TIMM50 deficiency had no impact on the steady state levels of most of its putative substrates, suggesting that even low levels of a functional TIM23 complex are sufficient to maintain the majority of TIM23 complex-dependent mitochondrial proteome. As TIMM50 mutations have been linked to severe neurological phenotypes, we aimed to characterize TIMM50 defects in manipulated mammalian neurons. TIMM50 knockdown in mouse neurons had a minor effect on the steady state level of most of the mitochondrial proteome, supporting the results observed in patient fibroblasts. Amongst the few affected TIM23 substrates, a decrease in the steady state level of components of the intricate oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial ribosome complexes was evident. This led to declined respiration rates in fibroblasts and neurons, reduced cellular ATP levels and defective mitochondrial trafficking in neuronal processes, possibly contributing to the developmental defects observed in patients with TIMM50 disease. Finally, increased electrical activity was observed in TIMM50 deficient mice neuronal cells, which correlated with reduced levels of KCNJ10 and KCNA2 plasma membrane potassium channels, likely underlying the patients' epileptic phenotype.

Ebolaviruses are at the forefront of emerging viruses and present a very perceptible threat to global peace and harmony. In the last decade, Ebola virus disease has claimed more than 90% of total lives since its inception in 1976. Owing to multiple host immune evasion methods employed by the virus and the limitations of traditional vaccine development approaches, finding a globally effective and reliable counter measure against Ebola virus remains a challenge. Highly conserved peptide fragments belonging to critical viral proteins and containing multiple epitopes which have the capacity to interact with a wide array of HLA molecules present a viable solution. Immunoinformatics or computational immunology enables rapid screening and shortlisting of plausible epitopes with a high immunogenic potential, thus, supporting expeditious elucidation of efficacious vaccine candidates. In light of above facts, we describe a computational methodology in this chapter for identification of potent peptide vaccine candidates against human infecting viruses. By applying this stringent methodology, we were able to identify multiple, immunogenic ebolavirus peptide fragments which, after verification in animal models, might be considered as part of future synthetic Ebola vaccine., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A 5-year-old girl presented with decreased vision and outward deviation of her right eye. Fundus examination revealed multiple hard exudates in the macula in the right eye and nasal to the disk in the left eye. The patient was lost to follow-up in the near term but presented 9 months later with reduced vision and an increase in exudates in both eyes. RetCam fluorescein angiography confirmed the diagnosis of bilateral Coats disease., (Copyright © 2019 American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)