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Purpose: Metastatic melanoma lymph nodes (MMLns) might be challenging to detect on MR-WBI, as both MMLns and normal lymph nodes (NLns) can show restricted water diffusion. Our purpose is to assess the potential contribution of the DIXON sequence in differentiating MMLns from NLns. Material and methods: We followed a cohort of 107 patients with stage IIIb/c and IV skin melanoma for 32 months using MR-WBI with DIXON, STIR, and DWI/ADC sequences. We compared signal intensity (SI) values of MMLns and NLns in the four series of the DIXON sequence (in/out-of-phase, fat_only, and water_only series). The fat fraction (SIfat_only/SIin) and the long:short axis ratio of MMLns were calculated. The fat fraction was also calculated in the fatty hila of NLns. Results: All MMLns (8 from 7 patients) showed SIout>SIin with a mean fat fraction of 10%. In 40 normal fatty hila (25 patients), the proportion of SIout>SIin was 100% and mean fat fraction was 89% (pSIin pattern was identified in 41/113 cases from 19/40 patients. The median long:short axis ratio in MMLns was 1.13 (range 1.03–1.25). Conclusion: The combination of three features of MMLns (SIout>SIin, low-fat fraction and rounded shape) might hold promise in differentiating NLns from MMLns in patients with skin melanoma. Further research is warranted due to the small number of MMLns in our cohort.

We report the first documented case of Yersinia ruckeri isolated from a wound infection, in a 16-year-old male after hitting a stone while paddling in a river.

An inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare mesenchymal tumor that occurs predominantly in children and young adults. Etiology remains unclear. But based on the frequent detection of chromosomic alterations, especially near the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene, IMT is now considered to be a true neoplasm. In addition, the possible aggressive behavior, and the ability to metastasize suggest at least an intermediate malignant potential. Surgery remains the treatment of choice, but the use of chemotherapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy are reported. We describe a case of a pulmonary IMT in a 6-year-old boy with an incidental finding of a lesion in the right upper lobe. A video-assisted thoracoscopic right upper lobectomy with lymph node resection was performed. Microscopic examination confirmed the diagnosis of IMT with the nodule showing spindle cells in a background of plasma cells. ALK immunohistochemical expression was negative., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None declared., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).)

Background: In lung transplantation (LuTx), various ischemic phases exist, yet the rewarming ischemia time (RIT) during implantation has often been overlooked. During RIT, lungs are deflated and exposed to the body temperature in the recipient's chest cavity. Our prior clinical findings demonstrated that prolonged RIT increases the risk of primary graft dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms of rewarming ischemic injury in this context remain unexplored. We aimed to characterize the rewarming ischemia phase during LuTx by measuring organ temperature and comparing transcriptome and metabolome profiles in tissue obtained at the end versus the start of implantation., Methods: In a clinical observational study, 34 double-LuTx with ice preservation were analyzed. Lung core and surface temperature (n = 65 and 55 lungs) were measured during implantation. Biopsies (n = 59 lungs) were wedged from right middle lobe and left lingula at start and end of implantation. Tissue transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling were performed., Results: Temperature increased rapidly during implantation, reaching core/surface temperatures of 21.5°C/25.4°C within 30 minutes. Transcriptomics showed increased proinflammatory signaling and oxidative stress at the end of implantation. Upregulation of NLRP3 and NFKB1 correlated with RIT. Metabolomics indicated elevated levels of amino acids, hypoxanthine, uric acid, and cysteineglutathione disulfide alongside decreased levels of glucose and carnitines. Arginine, tyrosine, and 1-carboxyethylleucine showed a correlation with incremental RIT., Conclusions: The final rewarming ischemia phase in LuTx involves rapid organ rewarming, accompanied by transcriptomic and metabolomic changes indicating proinflammatory signaling and disturbed cell metabolism. Limiting implantation time and cooling of the lung represent potential interventions to alleviate rewarming ischemic injury., (Copyright © 2024 International Society for the Heart and Lung Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Modest response rates to immunotherapy observed in advanced lung cancer patients underscore the need to identify reliable biomarkers and targets, enhancing both treatment decision-making and efficacy. Factors such as PD-L1 expression, tumor mutation burden, and a 'hot' tumor microenvironment with heightened effector T cell infiltration have consistently been associated with positive responses. In contrast, the predictive role of the abundantly present tumor-infiltrating myeloid cell (TIMs) fraction remains somewhat uncertain, partly explained by their towering variety in terms of ontogeny, phenotype, location, and function. Nevertheless, numerous preclinical and clinical studies established a clear link between lung cancer progression and alterations in intra- and extramedullary hematopoiesis, leading to emergency myelopoiesis at the expense of megakaryocyte/erythroid and lymphoid differentiation. These observations affirm that a continuous crosstalk between solid cancers such as lung cancer and the bone marrow niche (BMN) must take place. However, the BMN, encompassing hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, differentiated immune and stromal cells, remains inadequately explored in solid cancer patients. Subsequently, no clear consensus has been reached on the exact breadth of tumor installed hematopoiesis perturbing cues nor their predictive power for immunotherapy. As the current era of single-cell omics is reshaping our understanding of the hematopoietic process and the subcluster landscape of lung TIMs, we aim to present an updated overview of the hierarchical differentiation process of TIMs within the BMN of solid cancer bearing subjects. Our comprehensive overview underscores that lung cancer should be regarded as a systemic disease in which the cues governing the lung tumor-BMN crosstalk might bolster the definition of new biomarkers and druggable targets, potentially mitigating the high attrition rate of leading immunotherapies for NSCLC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Calderon-Espinosa, De Ridder, Benoot, Jansen, Vanhonacker, Heestermans, De Becker, Van Riet, Decoster and Goyvaerts.)

Introduction: Compared with traditional static ice storage, controlled hypothermic storage (CHS) at 4-10°C may attenuate cold-induced lung injury between procurement and implantation. In this study, we describe the first European lung transplant (LTx) experience with a portable CHS device., Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted of all consecutively performed LTx following CHS (11 November 2022 and 31 January 2024) at two European high-volume centers. The LUNGguard device was used for CHS. The preservation details, total ischemic time, and early postoperative outcomes are described. The data are presented as median (range: minimum-maximum) values., Results: A total of 36 patients underwent LTx (i.e., 33 bilateral, 2 single LTx, and 1 lobar). The median age was 61 (15-68) years; 58% of the patients were male; 28% of the transplantations had high-urgency status; and 22% were indicated as donation after circulatory death. In 47% of the patients, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was used for perioperative support. The indications for using the CHS device were overnight bridging ( n  = 26), remote procurement ( n  = 4), rescue allocation ( n  = 2), logistics ( n  = 2), feasibility ( n  = 1), and extended-criteria donor ( n  = 1). The CHS temperature was 6.5°C (3.7°C-9.3°C). The preservation times were 11 h 18 (2 h 42-17 h 9) and 13 h 40 (4 h 5-19 h 36) for the first and second implanted lungs, respectively, whereas the total ischemic times were 13 h 38 (4 h 51-19 h 44) and 15 h 41 (5 h 54-22 h 48), respectively. The primary graft dysfunction grade 3 (PGD3) incidence rates were 33.3% within 72 h and 2.8% at 72 h. Intensive care unit stay was 8 (4-62) days, and the hospital stay was 28 (13-87) days. At the last follow-up [139 (7-446) days], three patients were still hospitalized. One patient died on postoperative day 7 due to ECMO failure. In-hospital Clavien-Dindo complications of 3b were observed in six (17%) patients, and 4a in seven (19%)., Conclusion: CHS seems safe and feasible despite the high-risk recipient and donor profiles, as well as extended preservation times. PGD3 at 72 h was observed in 2.8% of the patients. This technology could postpone LTx to daytime working hours. Larger cohorts and longer-term outcomes are required to confirm these observations., Competing Interests: In relation to this manuscript, we disclose that Paragonix granted five LUNGguard™ devices to the authors to test their feasibility. No financial compensation was granted. DVR is supported by the Broere Charitable Foundation. RV is a senior Clinical Research Fellow of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) (#1803521N). LJC is a senior Clinical Research Fellow of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) (#18E2B24N). LJC is supported by a KU Leuven University Chair funded by Medtronic. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2024 Provoost, Novysedlak, Van Raemdonck, Van Slambrouck, Prisciandaro, Vandervelde, Barbarossa, Jin, Denaux, De Leyn, Van Veer, Depypere, Jansen, Pirenne, Neyrinck, Bouneb, Ingels, Jacobs, Godinas, De Sadeleer, Vos, Svorcova, Vajter, Kolarik, Tavandzis, Havlin, Ozaniak Strizova, Pozniak, Simonek, Vachtenheim Jr, Lischke and Ceulemans.)

This paper explores a novel approach to communicating plausible space-based temporal variability of travel durations. Digital maps most often only convey single numerical values as the estimated duration for a path and this piece of information does not account for the multiple scenarios hidden behind this point estimate, nor for the temporal uncertainty along the route (e.g., the likelihood of being slowed down at an intersection). We explore conveying this uncertainty by animating hypothetical trips onto maps in the form of moving dots along one or more paths. We conducted a study with 16 participants and observed that they were able to correctly extract and infer simple information from our uncertainty visualizations but that identifying moving dots' changes in speed is a more complex task. We discuss design challenges and implications for future visualizations of space-based temporal uncertainty.

Background: To identify intersegmental planes (ISPs) in video/robot-assisted thoracoscopic segmentectomies, indocyanine green (ICG) is commonly used. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous ICG in the identification of ISP., Methods: A systematic search was performed. Studies evaluating patients who underwent a video/robot-assisted thoracoscopic segmentectomy using intravenous ICG were included. The primary outcome measure was the frequency and percentage of patients in whom the ISP was adequately visualized. Secondary outcomes encompassed the ICG dose, time to visualization, time to maximum ICG visualization, time to disappearance of ICG effect and adverse reactions to ICG., Results: Eighteen studies were included for systematic review, enrolling a total of 1,090 patients. Irrespective of the injected dose, intravenous ICG identified the ISP in 94% of the cases (range, 30-100%). Overall, there was a considerable amount of heterogeneity regarding the injected dose of ICG (range, 5-25 mg or 0.05-0.5 mg/kg). The mean time before first effect of ICG was visible ranged from 10 to 40 seconds. The mean total time of ICG visibility ranged from 90 to 140 seconds after a bolus injection and was 170 seconds after continuous infusion. No adverse reactions were reported., Conclusions: After administration of intravenous ICG, visualization of the ISP is successful in up to 94% of cases, even after administration of a low dose (0.05 mg/kg) of ICG. The use of intravenous ICG is safe with no reported adverse effects in the immediate peri-operative period., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tlcr.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tlcr-23-807/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Translational Lung Cancer Research. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Metastatic melanoma lymph nodes (MMLns) might be challenging to detect on MR-WBI, as both MMLns and normal lymph nodes (NLns) can show restricted water diffusion. Our purpose is to assess the potential contribution of the DIXON sequence in differentiating MMLns from NLns., Material and Methods: We followed a cohort of 107 patients with stage IIIb/c and IV skin melanoma for 32 months using MR-WBI with DIXON, STIR, and DWI/ADC sequences. We compared signal intensity (SI) values of MMLns and NLns in the four series of the DIXON sequence (in/out-of-phase, fat&#95;only, and water&#95;only series). The fat fraction (SI fat&#95;only /SI in ) and the long:short axis ratio of MMLns were calculated. The fat fraction was also calculated in the fatty hila of NLns., Results: All MMLns (8 from 7 patients) showed SI out >SI in with a mean fat fraction of 10%. In 40 normal fatty hila (25 patients), the proportion of SI out >SI in was 100% and mean fat fraction was 89% (p<0.001 for fat fraction, Mann-Whitney U-test). In the cortex of NLns, a SI out >SI in pattern was identified in 41/113 cases from 19/40 patients. The median long:short axis ratio in MMLns was 1.13 (range 1.03-1.25)., Conclusion: The combination of three features of MMLns (SI out >SI in , low-fat fraction and rounded shape) might hold promise in differentiating NLns from MMLns in patients with skin melanoma. Further research is warranted due to the small number of MMLns in our cohort., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest., (© 2024 The Authors.)

CCL17 is produced by conventional dendritic cells (cDCs), signals through CCR4 on regulatory T cells (Tregs), and drives atherosclerosis by suppressing Treg functions through yet undefined mechanisms. Here we show that cDCs from CCL17-deficient mice display a pro-tolerogenic phenotype and transcriptome that is not phenocopied in mice lacking its cognate receptor CCR4. In the plasma of CCL17-deficient mice, CCL3 was the only decreased cytokine/chemokine. We found that CCL17 signaled through CCR8 as an alternate high-affinity receptor, which induced CCL3 expression and suppressed Treg functions in the absence of CCR4. Genetic ablation of CCL3 and CCR8 in CD4 + T cells reduced CCL3 secretion, boosted FoxP3 + Treg numbers, and limited atherosclerosis. Conversely, CCL3 administration exacerbated atherosclerosis and restrained Treg differentiation. In symptomatic versus asymptomatic human carotid atheroma, CCL3 expression was increased, while FoxP3 expression was reduced. Together, we identified a non-canonical chemokine pathway whereby CCL17 interacts with CCR8 to yield a CCL3-dependent suppression of atheroprotective Tregs., Competing Interests: Competing Financial Interests The authors declare no competing financial interests.

The CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is crucial for vascular integrity. The atheroprotective functions of CXCR4 in vascular cells may be counteracted by atherogenic functions in other nonvascular cell types. Thus, strategies for cell-specifically augmenting CXCR4 function in vascular cells are crucial if this receptor is to be useful as a therapeutic target in treating atherosclerosis and other vascular disorders. Here, we identified miR-206-3p as a vascular-specific CXCR4 repressor and exploited a target-site blocker (CXCR4-TSB) that disrupted the interaction of miR-206-3p with CXCR4 in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, CXCR4-TSB enhanced CXCR4 expression in human and murine ECs and VSMCs to modulate cell viability, proliferation, and migration. Systemic administration of CXCR4-TSB in Apoe -deficient mice enhanced Cxcr4 expression in ECs and VSMCs in the walls of blood vessels, reduced vascular permeability and monocyte adhesion to endothelium, and attenuated the development of diet-induced atherosclerosis. CXCR4-TSB also increased CXCR4 expression in B cells, corroborating its atheroprotective role in this cell type. Analyses of human atherosclerotic plaque specimens revealed a decrease in CXCR4 and an increase in miR-206-3p expression in advanced compared with early lesions, supporting a role for the miR-206-3p-CXCR4 interaction in human disease. Disrupting the miR-206-3p-CXCR4 interaction in a cell-specific manner with target-site blockers is a potential therapeutic approach that could be used to treat atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases.

The changing climate and increasingly unpredictable sea ice conditions have created life-threatening risks for Inuit, the residents of the Arctic, who depend on the ice for transportation and livelihood. In response, they are turning to technology (e.g., RADAR imagery from the Canadian RADARSAT satellite) to augment their traditional knowledge of the ice and to map potential hazards. The difficulty lies in the actual RADAR interpretation process. In order to support understanding of the RADAR image content, we introduce a work-in-progress (WIP), INTUIT, a physicalization that represents the RADAR reflection strength, which is highly influenced by surface roughness, as a tactile texture. Such tactile texture is made by resampling the RADAR imagery to a number of UV cells and mapping the average brightness value of each cell to a physical variable. A proof of concept was designed for a region in Baffin Island (Nunavut) and sent to the Arctic for initial feedback. Preliminary study results are promising: it is expected that INTUIT will facilitate the interpretation learning process for RADAR imagery.

Patients suffering from pectus excavatum often experience psychosocial distress due to perceived anomalies in their physical appearance. The ability to visually inform patients about their expected aesthetic outcome after surgical correction is still lacking. This study aims to develop an automatic, patient-specific model to predict aesthetic outcome after the Nuss procedure. Patients prospectively received preoperative and postoperative 3-dimensional optical surface scanning of their chest during the Nuss procedure. A prediction model was composed based on nonlinear least squares data-fitting, regression methods and a 2-dimensional Gaussian function with adjustable amplitude, variance, rotation, skewness, and kurtosis components. Morphological features of pectus excavatum were extracted from preoperative images using a previously developed surface analysis tool to generate a patient-specific model. Prediction accuracy was evaluated through cross-validation, utilizing the mean root squared deviation and maximum positive and negative deviations as performance measures. The prediction model was evaluated on 30 (90% male) prospectively imaged patients. The model achieved an average root mean squared deviation of 6.3 ± 2.0 mm, with average maximum positive and negative deviations of 12.7 ± 6.1 and -10.2 ± 5.7 mm, respectively, between the predicted and actual postoperative aesthetic result. Our developed 2-dimensional Gaussian model based on 3-dimensional optical surface images is a clinically promising tool to predict postsurgical aesthetic outcome in patients with pectus excavatum. Prediction of the aesthetic outcome after the Nuss procedure potentially improves information provision and expectation management among patients. Further research should assess whether increasing the sample size may reduce deviations and improve performance., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To describe our experience with lung transplantation (LTx) from donors ≥70 years and compare short and long-term outcomes to a propensity-matched cohort of donors <70 years., Background: Although extended-criteria donors have been widely used to enlarge the donor pool, the experience with LTx from older donors (≥70 years) remains limited., Methods: All single-center bilateral LTx between 2010 and 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Matching (1:1) was performed for the donor (type, sex, smoking history, x-ray abnormalities, partial pressure of oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen ratio, and time on ventilator) and recipient characteristics (age, sex, LTx indication, perioperative extracorporeal life support, and cytomegalovirus mismatch). Primary graft dysfunction grade-3, 5-year patient, and chronic lung allograft dysfunction-free survival were analyzed., Results: Out of 647 bilateral LTx, 69 were performed from donors ≥70 years. The mean age in the older donor cohort was 74 years (range: 70-84 years) versus 49 years (range: 12-69 years) in the matched younger group. No significant differences were observed in the length of ventilatory support, intensive care unit, or hospital stay. Primary graft dysfunction-3 was 26% in the older group versus 29% in younger donor recipients ( P = 0.85). Reintervention rate was comparable (29% vs 16%; P = 0.10). Follow-up bronchoscopy revealed no difference in bronchial anastomotic complications ( P = 1.00). Five-year patient and chronic lung allograft dysfunction-free survivals were 73.6% versus 73.1% ( P = 0.72) and 51.5% versus 59.2% ( P = 0.41), respectively., Conclusions: LTx from selected donors ≥70 years is feasible and safe, yielding comparable short and long-term outcomes in a propensity-matched analysis with younger donors (<70 years)., Competing Interests: R.V. is supported as a senior clinical research fellow by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) Belgium. G.M.V. and D.V.R. are supported by the Broere Charitable Foundation. L.J.C. is supported by a KU Leuven University Chair funded by Medtronic, a post-doctoral grant from the University Hospitals Leuven (KOOR—UZ Leuven) and a research project from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) Belgium (G090922N). The remaining authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Introduction: The transmembrane protease A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) displays a "pattern regulatory function," by cleaving a range of membrane-bound proteins. In endothelium, it regulates barrier function, leukocyte recruitment and angiogenesis. Previously, we showed that ADAM10 is expressed in human atherosclerotic plaques and associated with neovascularization. In this study, we aimed to determine the causal relevance of endothelial ADAM10 in murine atherosclerosis development in vivo ., Methods and Results: Endothelial Adam10 deficiency ( Adam10 ecko ) in Western-type diet (WTD) fed mice rendered atherogenic by adeno-associated virus-mediated PCSK9 overexpression showed markedly increased atherosclerotic lesion formation. Additionally, Adam10 deficiency was associated with an increased necrotic core and concomitant reduction in plaque macrophage content. Strikingly, while intraplaque hemorrhage and neovascularization are rarely observed in aortic roots of atherosclerotic mice after 12 weeks of WTD feeding, a majority of plaques in both brachiocephalic artery and aortic root of Adam10 ecko mice contained these features, suggestive of major plaque destabilization. In vitro , ADAM10 knockdown in human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs) blunted the shedding of lectin-like oxidized LDL (oxLDL) receptor-1 (LOX-1) and increased endothelial inflammatory responses to oxLDL as witnessed by upregulated ICAM-1, VCAM-1, CCL5, and CXCL1 expression (which was diminished when LOX-1 was silenced) as well as activation of pro-inflammatory signaling pathways. LOX-1 shedding appeared also reduced in vivo , as soluble LOX-1 levels in plasma of Adam10 ecko mice was significantly reduced compared to wildtypes., Discussion: Collectively, these results demonstrate that endothelial ADAM10 is atheroprotective, most likely by limiting oxLDL-induced inflammation besides its known role in pathological neovascularization. Our findings create novel opportunities to develop therapeutics targeting atherosclerotic plaque progression and stability, but at the same time warrant caution when considering to use ADAM10 inhibitors for therapy in other diseases., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 van der Vorst, Maas, Theodorou, Peters, Jin, Rademakers, Gijbels, Rousch, Jansen, Weber, Lehrke, Lebherz, Yildiz, Ludwig, Bentzon, Biessen and Donners.)

Purpose of Review: Emerging data indicate that immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in patients with metastatic melanoma can be stopped electively or at the time of toxicity with an acceptable risk for progression. However, the optimal treatment duration remains to be defined. We review published data on treatment duration, outcome after treatment discontinuation, and treatment re-introduction in patients with metastatic melanoma., Recent Findings: Published studies indicate that disease control can be maintained after discontinuation of ICB therapy. Discontinuation of therapy in responders decreases the risk for treatment-related adverse events and lowers the financial burden of ICB. With the limitation of the limited and heterogenous available published data, elective treatment discontinuation after 1 year of treatment appears safe with an acceptable risk of disease progression. The depth of response is currently the best predictor of prolonged response. The metabolic response on 18F-FDG-PET/CT is expected to gain importance, especially for partial responders., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Atherosclerosis is the foundation of potentially fatal cardiovascular diseases and it is characterized by plaque formation in large arteries. Current treatments aimed at reducing atherosclerotic risk factors still allow room for a large residual risk; therefore, novel therapeutic candidates targeting inflammation are needed. The endothelium is the starting point of vascular inflammation underlying atherosclerosis and we could previously demonstrate that the chemokine axis CXCL12-CXCR4 plays an important role in disease development. However, the role of ACKR3, the alternative and higher affinity receptor for CXCL12 remained to be elucidated. We studied the role of arterial ACKR3 in atherosclerosis using western diet-fed Apoe -/- mice lacking Ackr3 in arterial endothelial as well as smooth muscle cells. We show for the first time that arterial endothelial deficiency of ACKR3 attenuates atherosclerosis as a result of diminished arterial adhesion as well as invasion of immune cells. ACKR3 silencing in inflamed human coronary artery endothelial cells decreased adhesion molecule expression, establishing an initial human validation of ACKR3's role in endothelial adhesion. Concomitantly, ACKR3 silencing downregulated key mediators in the MAPK pathway, such as ERK1/2, as well as the phosphorylation of the NF-kB p65 subunit. Endothelial cells in atherosclerotic lesions also revealed decreased phospho-NF-kB p65 expression in ACKR3-deficient mice. Lack of smooth muscle cell-specific as well as hematopoietic ACKR3 did not impact atherosclerosis in mice. Collectively, our findings indicate that arterial endothelial ACKR3 fuels atherosclerosis by mediating endothelium-immune cell adhesion, most likely through inflammatory MAPK and NF-kB pathways., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

When showing data about people, visualization designers and data journalists often use design strategies that presumably help the audience relate to those people. The term anthropographics has been recently coined to refer to this practice and the resulting visualizations. Anthropographics is a rich and growing area, but the work so far has remained scattered. Despite preliminary empirical work and a few web essays written by practitioners, there is a lack of clear language for thinking about and communicating about anthropographics. We address this gap by introducing a conceptual framework and a design space for anthropographics. Our design space consists of seven elementary design dimensions that can be reasonably hypothesized to have some effect on prosocial feelings or behavior. It extends a previous design space and is informed by an analysis of 105 visualizations collected from newspapers, websites, and research articles. We use our conceptual framework and design space to discuss trade-offs, common design strategies, as well as future opportunities for design and research in the area of anthropographics.

Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is the clinical syndrome of acute lung injury after lung transplantation (LTx). However, PGD is an umbrella term that encompasses the ongoing pathophysiological and -biological mechanisms occurring in the lung grafts. Therefore, we aim to provide a focused review on the clinical, physiological, radiological, histological and cellular level of PGD. PGD is graded based on hypoxemia and chest X-ray (CXR) infiltrates. High-grade PGD is associated with inferior outcome after LTx. Lung edema is the main characteristic of PGD and alters pulmonary compliance, gas exchange and circulation. A conventional CXR provides a rough estimate of lung edema, while a chest computed tomography (CT) results in a more in-depth analysis. Macroscopically, interstitial and alveolar edema can be distinguished below the visceral lung surface. On the histological level, PGD correlates to a pattern of diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). At the cellular level, ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is the main trigger for the disruption of the endothelial-epithelial alveolar barrier and inflammatory cascade. The multilevel approach integrating all PGD-related aspects results in a better understanding of acute lung failure after LTx, providing novel insights for future therapies.

Lung transplantation improves the outcome and quality of life of patients with end-stage pulmonary disease. However, the procedure is still hampered by the lack of suitable donors, the complexity of the surgery, and the risk of developing chronic lung allograft dysfunction. Over the past decades, translational experiments in animal models have led to a better understanding of physiology and immunopathology following the lung transplant procedure. Small animal models (e.g., rats and mice) are mostly used in experiments regarding immunology and pathobiology and are preferred over large animal models due to the ethical aspects, the cost-benefit balance, and the high throughput possibility. In this comprehensive review, we summarize the reported surgical techniques for lung transplantation in rodent models and the management of perioperative complications. Furthermore, we propose a guide to help identify the appropriate species for a given experiment and discuss recent experimental findings in small animal lung transplant models.