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Introduction: The high incidence and increasing awareness of prostate cancer, along with ongoing development of new and improved treatment methods have generated considerable need for imaging techniques that allow for accurate detection and staging of tumour prior to treatment. Aim: To compare the findings of Transrectal Ultrasound (TRUS) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis and localisation of carcinoma prostate. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Radiodiagnosis, Mysore Medical College, Mysore, Karnataka, India from April 2018 to June 2019. This study included 43 male patients, with age ranging from 49 to 76 years. They underwent TRUS, MRI and TRUS guided 12-core biopsies after being suspected with prostate cancer based on high Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) values (greater than 4.0 ng/mL) or abnormal Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) findings. A cross table was used to compare the histopathology results, TRUS and MRI findings, from which sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) were calculated. Results: Total of 43 male patients were included with mean age of 64.8 years. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of TRUS for detection of malignancy was 69.70, 80, 92 and 44.44 respectively and for MRI, it was 87.88%, 70%, 90.63% and 63.64% respectively. In addition, MRI detected lymphadenopathy in three patients and skeletal metastasis in four patients. Conclusion: MRI can improve the false negative biopsies resulting due to the inability of TRUS in the detection of abnormal areas, by showing the exact area of abnormality.

Introduction: Computed Tomography (CT) remains the mainstay in the detection of traumatic brain injuries in children just as in the adult population. However, unnecessary and inadvertent use of CT in minor and less significant head injuries exposes children to harmful ionising radiation and subsequently increases the lifetime cancer risk. So, there is a need to use CT judiciously in cases of minor head injuries. The Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) can provide a comprehensive framework for proper stratification of neural impairment and head injury severity. Aim: To assess the concordance between CT scan findings and GCS scores in paediatric patients with acute Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study of paediatric head injury cases who were referred to the Department of Radiodiagnosis, Mysore Medical College, Karnataka, India. from January 2021 to December 2021. The head CT of 110 patients was reviewed. Demographic details, mode of accident, CT findings, and GCS scores were collected from hospital records. Descriptive statistics were used and results were expressed in terms of frequency and percentages. Results: Out of 110 patients (mean age: 9.17±3.02 years) reviewed, males were 78 (71%) and females were 32 (29%). Road traffic accident was found to be the most common cause, i.e., in 71 patients (64.5%). The most common CT scan finding was fracture as seen in 12 cases. Out of 110 patients, 94 had mild injury according to GCS scores, 12 had a moderate head injury and four had a severe head injury. As the GCS scores decreased, the percentage of positive findings on CT increased. Conclusion: Percentage of positive CT findings was higher in the moderate and severe head injury category, where the role of CT scans in acute settings becomes valuable.

BackgroundThe microbiome is essential to immune development, defense against pathogens, and modulation of inflammation. Microbial dysbiosis has been reported in various diseases including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and opioid use disorder (OUD). Notably, people living with HIV (PLWH) have been reported to both have higher rates of OUD and use opioids at higher rates than the general public. Thus, studying gut microbial alterations in people living with HIV and with OUD could elucidate mechanisms pertaining to how these conditions both shape and are shaped by the microbiome. However, to date few studies have investigated how HIV and OUD in combination impact the microbiome.Aim of reviewHere, we review previous studies outlining interactions between HIV, opioid use, and microbial dysbiosis and describe attempts to treat this dysbiosis with fecal microbial transplantation, probiotics, and dietary changes.Key scientific concepts of reviewWhile the limited number of studies prevent overgeneralizations; accumulating data suggest that HIV and opioid use together induce distinct alterations in the gut microbiome. Among the three existing preclinical studies of HIV and opioid use, two studies reported a decrease in Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae, and one study reported a decrease in Muribaculaceae in the combined HIV and opioid group relative to HIV-alone, opioid-alone, or control groups. These bacteria are known to modulate immune function, decrease colonic inflammation, and maintain gut epithelial barrier integrity in healthy individuals. Accordingly, modulation of the gut microbiome to restore gut homeostasis may be attempted to improve both conditions. While mixed results exist regarding treating dysbiosis with microbial restoration in PLWH or in those with opioid dependency, larger well-defined studies that can improve microbial engraftment in hosts hold much promise and should still be explored.

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can probe tissue biochemistry in vivo with high resolution and sensitivity without requiring exogenous contrast agents. Applying CEST MRI at ultrahigh field provides advantages of increasing spectral resolution and improving sensitivity to metabolites with faster proton exchange rates such as glutamate, a critical neurotransmitter in the brain. Prior magnetic resonance spectroscopy and CEST MRI studies have revealed altered regulation of glutamate in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). While CEST imaging facilitates new strategies for investigating the pathology underlying this complex and heterogeneous neurological disease, CEST signals are contaminated or diluted by concurrent effects (e.g., semi-solid magnetization transfer (MT) and direct water saturation) and are scaled by the T1 relaxation time of the free water pool which may also be altered in the context of disease. In this study of 20 relapsing-remitting MS patients and age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers, glutamate-weighted CEST data were acquired at 7.0 T. A Lorentzian fitting procedure was used to remove the asymmetric MT contribution from CEST z-spectra, and the apparent exchange-dependent relaxation (AREX) correction was applied using an R1 map derived from an inversion recovery sequence to further isolate glutamate-weighted CEST signals from concurrent effects. Associations between AREX and cognitive function were examined using the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in MS battery. After isolating CEST effects from MT, direct water saturation, and T1 effects, glutamate-weighted AREX contrast remained higher in gray matter than in white matter, though the difference between these tissues decreased. Glutamate-weighted AREX in normal-appearing gray and white matter in MS patients did not differ from healthy gray and white matter but was significantly elevated in white matter lesions. AREX in some cortical regions and in white matter lesions correlated with disability and measures of cognitive function in MS patients. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these relationships due to potential confounding effects. The application of MT and AREX corrections in this study demonstrates the importance of isolating CEST signals for more specific characterization of the contribution of metabolic changes to tissue pathology and symptoms in MS.

Focal lesions may affect functional connectivity (FC) of the ventral and dorsal networks in the cervical spinal cord of people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Resting-state FC can be measured using functional MRI (fMRI) at 3T. This study sought to determine whether alterations in FC may be related to the degree of damage in the normal-appearing tissue. Tissue integrity and FC in the cervical spinal cord were assessed with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state fMRI, respectively, in a group of 26 RRMS participants with high cervical lesion load, low disability, and minimally impaired sensorimotor function, and healthy controls. Lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher radial diffusivity (RD) were observed in the normal-appearing white matter in the RRMS group relative to controls. Average FC in ventral and dorsal networks was similar between groups. Significant associations were found between higher FC in the dorsal sensory network and several DTI markers of pathology in the normal-appearing tissue. In the normal-appearing grey matter, dorsal FC was positively correlated with axial diffusivity (AD) (r = 0.46, p = 0.020) and mean diffusivity (MD) (r = 0.43, p = 0.032). In the normal-appearing white matter, dorsal FC was negatively correlated with FA (r = −0.43, p = 0.028) and positively correlated with RD (r = 0.49, p = 0.012), AD (r = 0.42, p = 0.037) and MD (r = 0.53, p = 0.006). These results suggest that increased connectivity, while remaining within the normal range, may represent a compensatory mechanism in response to structural damage in support of preserved sensory function in RRMS.

After over a century of internal combustion engines ruling the transport sector, electric vehicles appear to be on the verge of gaining traction due to a slew of advantages, including lower operating costs and lower CO2 emissions. By using the Vehicle-to-Grid (or Grid-to-Vehicle if Electric vehicles (EVs) are utilized as load) approach, EVs can operate as both a load and a source. Primary frequency regulation and congestion management are two essential characteristics of this technology that are added to an industrial microgrid. Industrial Microgrids are made up of different energy sources such as wind farms and PV farms, storage systems, and loads. EVs have gained a lot of interest as a technique for frequency management because of their ability to regulate quickly. Grid reliability depends on this quick reaction. Different contingency, state of charge of the electric vehicles, and a varying number of EVs in an EV fleet are considered in this work, and a proposed control scheme for frequency management is presented. This control scheme enables bidirectional power flow, allowing for primary frequency regulation during the various scenarios that an industrial microgrid may encounter over the course of a 24-h period. The presented controller will provide dependable frequency regulation support to the industrial microgrid during contingencies, as will be demonstrated by simulation results, achieving a more reliable system. However, simulation results will show that by increasing a number of the EVs in a fleet for the Vehicle-to-Grid approach, an industrial microgrid’s frequency can be enhanced even further.

After over a century of internal combustion engines ruling the transport sector, electric vehicles appear to be on the verge of gaining traction due to a slew of advantages, including lower operating costs and lower CO2 emissions. By using the Vehicle-to-Grid (or Grid-to-Vehicle if Electric vehicles (EVs) are utilized as load) approach, EVs can operate as both a load and a source. Primary frequency regulation and congestion management are two essential characteristics of this technology that are added to an industrial microgrid. Industrial Microgrids are made up of different energy sources such as wind farms and PV farms, storage systems, and loads. EVs have gained a lot of interest as a technique for frequency management because of their ability to regulate quickly. Grid reliability depends on this quick reaction. Different contingency, state of charge of the electric vehicles, and a varying number of EVs in an EV fleet are considered in this work, and a proposed control scheme for frequency management is presented. This control scheme enables bidirectional power flow, allowing for primary frequency regulation during the various scenarios that an industrial microgrid may encounter over the course of a 24-h period. The presented controller will provide dependable frequency regulation support to the industrial microgrid during contingencies, as will be demonstrated by simulation results, achieving a more reliable system. However, simulation results will show that by increasing a number of the EVs in a fleet for the Vehicle-to-Grid approach, an industrial microgrid's frequency can be enhanced even further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]