VNI

Cryptococcosis is one of the major life-threatening opportunistic/systemic fungal diseases of worldwide occurrence, which can be asymptomatic or establish pneumonia and meningoencephalitis mainly in immunosuppressed patients, caused by the Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii species complexes. Acquisition is by inhaling fungal propagules from avian droppings, tree hollows and decaying wood, and the association of the molecular types with geographic origin, virulence and antifungal resistance have epidemiological importance...

Acute respiratory failure (ARF) is a leading cause, along with sepsis, of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) of patients with active cancer. Presenting variable clinical severity, ARF in onco-hematological patients has differing etiologies, primarily represented by possibly opportunistic acute infectious pneumonia (de novo hypoxemic ARF), and decompensation in chronic cardiac or respiratory diseases (e.g., acute pulmonary edema or exacerbated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). In these patients, orotracheal intubation is associated with a doubled risk of in-hospital mortality...

The development of high-density and closely spaced frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) is crucial for enhancing catalyst activity and accelerating reaction rates. However, constructing efficient FLPs by breaking classical Lewis bonds poses a significant challenge. Here, we have made a pivotal discovery regarding the Jahn-Teller effect during the formation of grain boundaries in carbon-encapsulated Ni/NiOx (Ni/NiOx @C). This effect facilitates the formation of high-density O (VO ) and Ni (VNi ) vacancy sites with different charge polarities, specifically FLP-VO -C basic sites and FLP-VNi -C acidic sites...

Photon-counting detector (PCD)-CT allows for reconstruction of virtual non-iodine (VNI) images from contrast-enhanced datasets. This study assesses the diagnostic performance of aortic valve calcification scoring (AVCS) derived from VNI datasets generated with a 1st generation clinical dual-source PCD-CT. AVCS was evaluated in 123 patients (statistical analysis only comprising patients with aortic valve calcifications [n = 56; 63.2 ± 11.6 years]), who underwent contrast enhanced electrocardiogram-gated (either prospective or retrospective or both) cardiac CT on a clinical PCD system...

Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii cause cryptococcosis, a systemic mycosis that infects a wide range of species. Recent molecular biological investigations have allowed for the genotyping of these species, providing more detailed information on their pathogenicity and infection routes. Koalas ( Phascolarctos cinereus ) are frequently colonized by Cryptococcus spp., but molecular epidemiological studies have yet to be conducted in Japan. Here, we conducted multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) analysis on Cryptococcus spp...

Antifungal therapy, especially with the azoles, could promote the incidence of less susceptible isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii species complexes (SC), mostly in developing countries. Given that these species affect mostly the immunocompromised host, the infections are severe and difficult to treat. This review encompasses the following topics: 1. infecting species and their virulence, 2. treatment, 3. antifungal susceptibility methods and available categorical endpoints, 4. genetic mechanisms of resistance, 5...

OBJECTIVES: To compare coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores measured on virtual non-contrast (VNC) and virtual non-iodine (VNI) reconstructions computed from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) using photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) to true non-contrast (TNC) images. METHODS: We included 88 patients (mean age = 59 years ± 13.5, 69% male) who underwent a TNC coronary calcium scan followed by CCTA on PCCT...

BACKGROUND: Serotonin (5-HT) 5-HT2C receptor mRNA editing (at five sites, A-E), implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders, including clinical depression, remains unexplored during alcohol abstinence-often accompanied by depressive symptoms. METHODS: We used deep sequencing to investigate 5-HT2C receptor editing in mice during early ethanol deprivation following prolonged alcohol exposure and mice lacking tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH)2, a key enzyme in central 5-HT production...

The Cryptococcus genus comprises more than 100 species, of which C. neoformans and C. gattii are the leading cause of cryptococcosis. The distribution of C. gattii and C. neoformans species complexes has been extensively studied and widely reported globally. Other species such as Naganishia albida, Papiliotrema laurentii, and Papiliotrema flavescens have been reported as pathogenic yeasts. Since there are no reports of environmental isolation in the Boyacá region (Colombia), this study aimed to isolate and characterize Cryptococcus and Cryptococcus-like yeasts from pigeon feces, Eucalyptus, and olive trees distributed in the municipalities of Tunja and Ricaute Alto...

INTRODUCTION: Here we tested the correlation between minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of major antifungal agents and sequence types (STs) within Cryptococcus neoformans VNI isolates, and explored the ERG11 gene of included strains. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed 23 C. neoformans strains categorised into two groups according to the distribution of the ST profile in Kinshasa clinics (Democratic Republic of Congo): major ST [ST93 (n = 15)], and less common STs [ST659 (n = 2), ST5 (n = 2), ST4 (n = 1), ST 53 (n = 1), ST31 (n = 1), and ST69 (n = 1)]...

INTRODUCTION: Obtaining accurate coronary artery calcium (CAC) score measurements from CCTA datasets with virtual non-iodine (VNI) algorithms would reduce acquisition time and radiation dose. We aimed to assess the agreement of VNI-derived and conventional true non-contrast (TNC)-based CAC scores and to identify the predictors of accuracy. METHODS: CCTA datasets were acquired with either 120 or 140 ​kVp. CAC scores and volumes were calculated from TNC and VNI images in 197 consecutive patients undergoing CCTA...

Mopane tree (Colophospermum mopane) is one of the main ecological niches of Cryptococcus neoformans, an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes cryptococcosis primarily on immunocompromised hosts after inhalation of basidiospores from the environment. Hence, we investigated the prevalence, and phenotypically (antifungal resistance and biofilm formation capacity) and genotypically (mating type and genetic structure) characterized C. neoformans isolated from C. mopane, Acacia tortilis, Adansonia digitata and Ziziphus mucronata in Botswana...

This study assessed the impact of cardiac motion and in-vessel attenuation on coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring using virtual non-iodine (VNI) against virtual non-contrast (VNC) reconstructions on photon-counting detector CT. Two artificial vessels containing calcifications and different in-vessel attenuations (500, 800HU) were scanned without (static) and with cardiac motion (60, 80, 100 beats per minute [bpm]). Images were post-processed using a VNC and VNI algorithm at 70 keV and quantum iterative reconstruction (QIR) strength 2...

BACKGROUND: We wanted to evaluate if a visual nutritional indicator (VNI), which shows the total amount of calories and protein, can improve the quality of nutritional therapy (NT) and result in better clinical outcomes prospectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We randomly assigned patients to VNI or non-VNI (NVNI) groups. In the VNI group, VNI was attached to the patient's bed for the attending physician. The primary goal was a higher supply of calories and proteins...

It is with a saddened heart that we are dedicating this article to the loving memory of our dear departed friend and associate B. William Downs. Bill was well known in the nutritional space worldwide for his major contributions to the health and welfare of millions around the globe. The founder of Victory Nutrition International (VNI) in conjunction with Kim Downs, as well as so many contributions to scientific literature, to those that knew him personally will forever be touched. Bill was a highly spirited human with a never ending love for caring and helping so many individuals...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare image quality and endoleak detection after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair between a triphasic computed tomography (CT) with true noncontrast (TNC) and a biphasic CT with virtual noniodine (VNI) images on photon-counting detector CT (PCD-CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult patients after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair who received a triphasic examination (TNC, arterial, venous phase) on a PCD-CT between August 2021 and July 2022 were retrospectively included...

Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii species complexes (phylum: Basidiomycota) are environmental yeasts and are the main cause of human cryptococcosis worldwide. The most recent molecular typing studies in Latin America have focused on the intertropical region. Thus, this study aimed to update the knowledge of human cryptococcosis in the South American temperate region. We obtained and analyzed 116 C. neoformans/C. gattii species complex isolates from the Public Health Surveillance Laboratory between 2008-2013 and 2017-2021 (C...

INTRODUCTION: The recently described frontal bossing index (FBI) and occipital bullet index (OBI) allow for quantification of scaphocephaly. A similar index examining biparietal narrowing has not been described. Addition of such an index measuring width would allow for direct evaluation of the primary growth restriction in sagittal craniosynostosis (SC) and the formation of an optimized global Width/Length measure. METHODS: CT scans and 3D photos were used to recreate scalp surface anatomy...

Background: On the basis of the hypothesis that virtual noniodine (VNI)-based coronary artery calcium scoring (CACS) is feasible at reduced radiation doses, this study assesses the impact of radiation dose reduction on the accuracy of this VNI algorithm on a photon-counting detector (PCD)-CT. Methods: In a systematic in vitro setting, a phantom for CACS simulating three chest sizes was scanned on a clinical PCD-CT. The standard radiation dose was chosen at volumetric CT dose indices (CTDIVol ) of 1.5, 3.3, 7...

Clinical isolates of a fungal pathogen from a single region or country often exhibit structural clonality or phylogenetic clustering at the sequence or MLST level; such population structure can persist also in larger samples. In efforts to improve causal understanding of pathogenesis at the molecular level, genome-wide association screening methods initially designed for other kingdoms have been applied to fungi. The example of a Colombian dataset of 28 clinical Cryptococcus neoformans VNI isolates indicates where the output from standard pipelines may need to be analyzed in new ways in order to efficiently extract hypotheses for experiments from fungal genotype-phenotype data...