Insertion Patterns Research Articles

Multinomial regression modeling of vowel insertion patterns: adaptation of coda stops from English to Korean

Abstract When an English word ending in a stop is adapted to Korean, a vowel is variably inserted after the final stop. Vowel insertion in this position is surprising because voiceless stops are permissible in coda position in Korean and it is not motivated by Korean native phonology. This study examines five factors that have been hypothesized to affect the likelihood of vowel insertion, i.e., tenseness of the pre-final vowel, voicing and place of the English final stop, word size and final stress. These possibilities were tested using a corpus of Korean loanwords whose source word ends in a stop. Patterns of vowel insertion were classified as no vowel insertion, vowel insertion, or optional vowel insertion, and analyzed using multinomial regression modeling. The results confirmed that all the relevant factors significantly increased the likelihood of vowel insertion and optional vowel insertion patterns relative to no vowel insertion patterns compared with the reference condition rates. These findings suggest that particular features indeed impact production patterns in loanword phonology. My Results support the need for further research into how other possible auditory factors such as stop release may shape speech perception in loanword adaptation.

Dynamics and Impacts of Transposable Element Proliferation in the Drosophila nasuta Species Group Radiation.

Transposable element (TE) mobilization is a constant threat to genome integrity. Eukaryotic organisms have evolved robust defensive mechanisms to suppress their activity, yet TEs can escape suppression and proliferate, creating strong selective pressure for host defense to adapt. This genomic conflict fuels a never-ending arms race that drives the rapid evolution of TEs and recurrent positive selection of genes involved in host defense; the latter has been shown to contribute to postzygotic hybrid incompatibility. However, how TE proliferation impacts genome and regulatory divergence remains poorly understood. Here, we report the highly complete and contiguous (N50 = 33.8–38.0 Mb) genome assemblies of seven closely related Drosophila species that belong to the nasuta species group—a poorly studied group of flies that radiated in the last 2 My. We constructed a high-quality de novo TE library and gathered germline RNA-seq data, which allowed us to comprehensively annotate and compare TE insertion patterns between the species, and infer the evolutionary forces controlling their spread. We find a strong negative association between TE insertion frequency and expression of genes nearby; this likely reflects survivor bias from reduced fitness impact of TEs inserting near lowly expressed, nonessential genes, with limited TE-induced epigenetic silencing. Phylogenetic analyses of insertions of 147 TE families reveal that 53% of them show recent amplification in at least one species. The most highly amplified TE is a nonautonomous DNA element (Drosophila INterspersed Element; DINE) which has gone through multiple bouts of expansions with thousands of full-length copies littered throughout each genome. Across all TEs, we find that TEs expansions are significantly associated with high expression in the expanded species consistent with suppression escape. Thus, whereas horizontal transfer followed by the invasion of a naïve genome has been highlighted to explain the long-term survival of TEs, our analysis suggests that evasion of host suppression of resident TEs is a major strategy to persist over evolutionary times. Altogether, our results shed light on the heterogenous and context-dependent nature in which TEs affect gene regulation and the dynamics of rampant TE proliferation amidst a recently radiated species group.

Euarchontoglires Challenged by Incomplete Lineage Sorting.

Euarchontoglires, once described as Supraprimates, comprise primates, colugos, tree shrews, rodents, and lagomorphs in a clade that evolved about 90 million years ago (mya) from a shared ancestor with Laurasiatheria. The rapid speciation of groups within Euarchontoglires, and the subsequent inherent incomplete marker fixation in ancestral lineages, led to challenged attempts at phylogenetic reconstructions, particularly for the phylogenetic position of tree shrews. To resolve this conundrum, we sampled genome-wide presence/absence patterns of transposed elements (TEs) from all representatives of Euarchontoglires. This specific marker system has the advantage that phylogenetic diagnostic characters can be extracted in a nearly unbiased fashion genome-wide from reference genomes. Their insertions are virtually free of homoplasy. We simultaneously employed two computational tools, the genome presence/absence compiler (GPAC) and 2-n-way, to find a maximum of diagnostic insertions from more than 3 million TE positions. From 361 extracted diagnostic TEs, 132 provide significant support for the current resolution of Primatomorpha (Primates plus Dermoptera), 94 support the union of Euarchonta (Primates, Dermoptera, plus Scandentia), and 135 marker insertion patterns support a variety of alternative phylogenetic scenarios. Thus, whole genome-level analysis and a virtually homoplasy-free marker system offer an opportunity to finally resolve the notorious phylogenetic challenges that nature produces in rapidly diversifying groups.

Whole-genome sequencing and genetic characteristics of representative porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) isolates in Korea

BackgroundPorcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a macrophage-tropic arterivirus with extremely high genetic and pathogenic heterogeneity that causes significant economic losses in the swine industry worldwide. PRRSV can be divided into two species [PRRSV1 (European) and PRRSV2 (North American)] and is usually diagnosed and genetically differentiated into several lineages based on the ORF5 gene, which constitutes only 5% of the whole genome. This study was conducted to achieve nonselective amplification and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) based on a simplified sequence-independent, single-primer amplification (SISPA) technique with next-generation sequencing (NGS), and to genetically characterize Korean PRRSV field isolates at the whole genome level.MethodsThe SISPA-NGS method coupled with a bioinformatics pipeline was utilized to retrieve full length PRRSV genomes of 19 representative Korean PRRSV strains by de novo assembly. Phylogenetic analysis, analysis of the insertion and deletion (INDEL) pattern of nonstructural protein 2 (NSP2), and recombination analysis were conducted.ResultsNineteen complete PRRSV genomes were obtained with a high depth of coverage by the SISPA-NGS method. Korean PRRSV1 belonged to the Korean-specific subtype 1A and vaccine-related subtype 1C lineages, showing no evidence of recombination and divergent genetic heterogeneity with conserved NSP2 deletion patterns. Among Korean PRRSV2 isolates, modified live vaccine (MLV)-related lineage 5 viruses, lineage 1 viruses, and nation-specific Korean lineages (KOR A, B and C) could be identified. The NSP2 deletion pattern of the Korean lineages was consistent with that of the MN-184 strain (lineage 1), which indicates the common ancestor and independent evolution of Korean lineages. Multiple recombination signals were detected from Korean-lineage strains isolated in the 2010s, suggesting natural interlineage recombination between circulating KOR C and MLV strains. Interestingly, the Korean strain GGYC45 was identified as a recombinant KOR C and MLV strain harboring the KOR B ORF5 gene and might be the ancestor of currently circulating KOR B strains. Additionally, two novel lineage 1 recombinants of NADC30-like and NADC34-like viruses were detected.ConclusionGenome-wide analysis of Korean PRRSV isolates retrieved by the SISPA-NGS method and de novo assembly, revealed complex evolution and recombination in the field. Therefore, continuous surveillance of PRRSV at the whole genome level should be conducted, and new vaccine strategies for more efficient control of the virus are needed.

Patterns of external insertion in global value chains: a comparative analysis between Brazil and China

ABSTRACT The international trade literature has shown the benefits of the international fragmentation of production for developing countries. However, there are considerations about the hierarchy and control in Global Value Chains (GVCs). Thus, this research aims to evaluate the Brazilian and Chinese international insertion in GVCs by proposing an index about technological sophistication in exports (qtech) by technological intensity for 2005-2015. The results pointed out that the integration in GVCs and technological sophistication have been directed towards technological clusters in which Brazil has revealed comparative advantages, while China has been moving towards technological clusters with dynamic comparative advantages.

Risk of penetration of the baseplate peg in reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for an Asian population.

Baseplate positioning may affect clinical outcome after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of penetration of the baseplate peg in RTSA. Forty-four patients with rotator cuff arthropathy or massive rotator cuff tears were included. Using their computed tomography data, ten insertion patterns of the baseplate pegs were simulated. First, in the axial plane, the baseplate was placed perpendicular to the Friedman axis (Friedman placement) and parallel to the glenoid surface (glenoid placement). Second, each of these placements were classified into the following groups: The baseplate peg was placed 2mm anterior to the long axis of the glenoid (group A2), 1mm anterior (group A1), on the long axis (group C0), 1mm posterior (group P1), and 2mm posterior (group P2). Cases in which the baseplate peg was within the scapular neck were defined as non-penetration, and the non-penetration rates among each group were evaluated and compared between sexes, and their relationship with patient height was evaluated. In both the Friedman and glenoid placements, the non-penetration rate was significantly higher in groups A2 (68.2% and 70.5%) and A1 (65.9% and 65.9%) compared with groups P1 (18.2% and 29.5%) and P2 (9.1% and 13.6%; p < 0.001) and in males than in females (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the non-penetration rate tended to be higher as the patient's height increased. It is recommended that the baseplate peg be placed anterior to the long axis of the glenoid.

Unusual additional distal aponeurotic slips of biceps brachii: A rare variation

Biceps brachii muscle is basically a powerful supinator. Although there is ample literature on variant origin of biceps brachii, variant insertion pattern was minimally reported. Here, we report a case, in which apart from usual insertion of biceps brachii, three distal accessory aponeurotic slips were found on the right arm of 55-year-old embalmed male cadaver. Two slips were arising from the lateral most part of bicipital aponeurosis traversing across the cubital fossa superficial to the brachial artery and median nerve and get attached to deep fascia covering the brachioradialis and pronator teres. Third accessory aponeurotic slip arises from the lateral side of biceps brachii muscle belly, traversing superficial to the musculocutaneous nerve and get attached to deep fascia covering the lateral border of brachioradialis and extensor carpi radialis longus. These extra slips may affect the kinematics of biceps brachii muscle and adds to the differential diagnosis of variety of clinical symptoms of neurovascular syndrome.

Evidence of the Physical Interaction between Rpl22 and the Transposable Element Doc5, a Heterochromatic Transposon of Drosophila melanogaster.

Chromatin is a highly dynamic biological entity that allows for both the control of gene expression and the stabilization of chromosomal domains. Given the high degree of plasticity observed in model and non-model organisms, it is not surprising that new chromatin components are frequently described. In this work, we tested the hypothesis that the remnants of the Doc5 transposable element, which retains a heterochromatin insertion pattern in the melanogaster species complex, can be bound by chromatin proteins, and thus be involved in the organization of heterochromatic domains. Using the Yeast One Hybrid approach, we found Rpl22 as a potential interacting protein of Doc5. We further tested in vitro the observed interaction through Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay, uncovering that the N-terminal portion of the protein is sufficient to interact with Doc5. However, in situ localization of the native protein failed to detect Rpl22 association with chromatin. The results obtained are discussed in the light of the current knowledge on the extra-ribosomal role of ribosomal protein in eukaryotes, which suggests a possible role of Rpl22 in the determination of the heterochromatin in Drosophila.

The incidence of dysgraphia in Arabic language in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

BackgroundAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a brain disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development. Although children with ADHD made much more spelling errors, they had a distinct pattern of letter insertions, replacements, transpositions, and omissions. This mistake type is sometimes referred to as graphemic buffer errors, and it is caused by a lack of attention required for motor planning. The aim of study was to assess the incidence of dysgraphia in Arabic language in children with ADHD for better helping, diagnosis and management of those children.ResultsTen percent of ADHD children had normal handwriting with no disability, 40% had excellent handwriting with a minimum of disability and 50% of ADHD children showed mild to moderate disability. There were significant differences between ADHD children and control children regarding results of each item on the subtest of handwriting of dysgraphia disability scale (DDS), respecting lines, spacing between words, letter direction, spelling a sentence, and punctuation. Drawing affected in ADHD children. The finger tapping speed was affected in almost ADHD children.ConclusionsDysgraphia highly presents in our sample of ADHD children with poor fine motor skills in ADHD children than normal children. ADHD children have illegible handwriting, not respecting lines, insufficient space between and within words, multiple spelling errors, and omissions of letters or words. Graphesthesia and stereognosis are affected more in ADHD children than in control children drawing and finger tapping speed affected in ADHD children.

A Capacitive Cochlear Implant Electrode Array Sensing System to Discriminate Fold-Over Pattern.

Purpose During insertion of the cochlear implant electrode array, the tip of the array may fold back on itself and can cause serious complications to patients. This article presents a sensing system for cochlear implantation in a cochlear model. The electrode array fold-over behaviors can be detected by analyzing capacitive information from the array tip. Method Depending on the angle of the array tip against the cochlear inner wall when it enters the cochlear model, different insertion patterns of the electrode array could occur, including smooth insertion, buckling, and fold-over. The insertion force simulating the haptic feedback for surgeons and bipolar capacitance signals during the insertion progress were collected and compared. The Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) was applied to the collected capacitive signals to discriminate the fold-over pattern. Results Forty-six electrode array insertions were conducted and the deviation of the measured insertion force varies between a range of 20% and 30%. The capacitance values from electrode pair (1, 2) were recorded for analyzing. A threshold for the PCC is set to be 0.94 that can successfully discriminate the fold over insertions from the other two types of insertions, with a success rate of 97.83%. Conclusions Capacitive measurement is an effective method for the detection of faulty insertions and the maximization of the outcome of cochlear implantation. The proposed capacitive sensing system can be used in other tissue implants in vessels, spinal cord, or heart.

Immune Reconstitution and Preliminary Safety Analysis Of 9 Patients Treated With Somatic Gene Therapy For X-Linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID-X1) With a Self-Inactivating Gammaretroviral Vector

▪X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID-X1) is a fatal genetic disease currently treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Previous gene therapy trials using a MLV-based gammaretroviral vector expressing the IL-2 receptor gamma chain (γc) controlled by the viral long-terminal repeat (LTR) induced T cell reconstitution in 18 of 20 boys with SCID-X1, but also resulted in insertional oncogenesis in 5 of 20, leading to leukemia, with 4 of the 5 demonstrating insertion at the LMO2 locus (Trial 1). We tested whether a self-inactivating (SIN) gammaretroviral vector, pSRS11.EFS.IL2RG.pre*, derived by removing the MLV LTR U3 (enhancer/promoter) region and driving expression of γc by an intronless elongation factor 1α (EF1-α) promoter, would promote T cell reconstitution in boys with X-SCID with an improved safety profile (Trial 2). Pre-clinical studies showed a lack of clonal skewing in primary and secondary transplant recipient mice in vivo and lack of insertions in either Lmo2 or Evi1 in these mice. The primary endpoints of the study are: 1. immune recovery defined as CD3+ T cell count >300/microliter and restoration of proliferation to phytohemagglutinin (PHA); and 2. Lack of insertional oncogenesis.To date 9 boys with SCID-X1 age 3.9 to 10.5 months were enrolled with 5-32 months follow-up on the current trial. All received bone marrow derived CD34+ cells transduced with the pSRS11.EFS.IL2RG.pre* vector, infused without conditioning. Transduction was performed at each site with one of two common protocols and the same GMP-produced vector supernatant. Transduction efficiency of infused CD34+ cells ranged from 0.25-2.92 vector copy number (VCN). One patient with a low initial transduction underwent a repeat procedure 1 month after infusion of the first product. Overall survival is excellent with 8 out of 9 patients alive and well; 1 patient died of overwhelming adenoviral infection, present at study entry, at 4 months prior to full reconstitution with genetically modified T cells. Excluding 1 patient with high level maternal engraftment who is unevaluable with regard to T cell number, 5 of 7 (71%) achieved CD3+ T cell count >300/microliter. The 2 patients who did not achieve T cell count >300/microliter received CD34+ cells with the lowest vector copy number (VCN). An early rise in CD16/56+ NK cells was also associated with T cell recovery. Of 8 surviving patients, 7 of 8 (87.5%) had PHA stimulation index >15 at or before 6 months (n=8; median 85.5; range 0.2-224); the patient who had no functional recovery received mismatched allogeneic cord blood transplant. At last follow-up, the remaining 7 patients have evidence of γc transgene expression in T cells, naïve T cell generation, and normal diversity. They are free of SCID related infections and humoral immune evaluation is ongoing.We compared the early immune recovery and peripheral blood insertion site analysis between 6 evaluable subjects on Trial 2 with the 20 subjects enrolled on the previous trials of MLV-based γc vector. The CD3+ T cell count at 6 months for Trial 2 (n=6; median 548/microliter; range 87-3960) does not appear to be lower than for Trial 1 (n=19; median 1755/microliter; range 200-4759; p=0.14 in 2-sided Wilcoxon rank sum test). However, we recognize that this test is underpowered, and results are preliminary. Because the latency time to leukemic events in the previous trial was long (33-60 months), we compared insertion sites as a surrogate measure of safety. Insertional activation of growth controlling genes has been demonstrated to be associated in some murine models with clonal skewing during in vitro expansion and in vivo reconstitution. Therefore, we hypothesized that removal of the transcription factor binding site-rich LTR U3 enhancer regions would change the insertion pattern detected in peripheral blood after transplantation away from the 5' ends of genes important for cell proliferation or persistence. Whereas in Trial 1, LMO2, EVI1 and other lymphoid proto-oncogenes showed prominent clusters of integration sites post-transplantation, these locations were not significant clusters in the second trial (p<10-4; comparison of n=19 Trial 1 versus n=6 Trial 2). Thus, we show promising early data that a modified gammaretroviral vector retains efficacy in treatment of SCID-X1 and is likely to have an improved safety profile. Disclosures:Off Label Use: Off-label use of CliniMACS device for purification of CD34+ bone marrow cells. Baum:Transatlantic Gene Therapy Consortium: Patents & Royalties.

Detection of 40bp tandem repeat motif and associated insertions and deletions (INDEL) in the mitochondrial DNA control region of Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor).

Sambar (Rusa unicolor) is the largest oriental deer and has a wide distribution across South and Southeast Asia. Despite its wide distribution range, little information on the genetics of this species is available to date. We examined the genetic variability of Sambar populations using a partial fragment of the mtDNA control region and reconstructed the phylogeographic association of Sambar populations across India. We detected 56 haplotypes with an overall haplotype diversity, Hd = 0.939 ± 0.012 and nucleotide diversity, Pi = 0.029 ± 0.002 in Sambar populations across India. The Sambar populations of Northeast India exhibits 30 localized mtDNA control region haplotypes with no haplotype sharing with other populations of India. We identified a 40bp tandem repeat motif in the mtDNA control region with variable copy numbers ranging between three to six duplications. The Sambar populations across India exhibited phylogeographic differentiation based on the observed insertion and deletion patterns in the mtDNA control region. The 40bp tandem repeat motif was associated with patterns of insertions and deletions among different populations of Sambar in India. The findings of this study provide baseline information on the mtDNA genetic variability of Sambar populations across India, which is crucial for future population genetic studies.

PHSOR03 Presentation Time: 10:10 AM: Practical Needle Placement and Dosimetry Improvements with Hybrid Intracavitary/Interstitial Ring Applicators

Purpose: Hybrid intracavitary/interstitial (IC/IS) applicators have been shown to improve local control for HRCTV > 30cc and dosimetry in all volume HRCTV compared to traditional intracavitary (IC) cervical HDR brachytherapy. Standard needle insertion patterns have not been well-established for hybrid IC/IS applicators. We quantify dosimetric benefits of the Vienna-style IC/IS applicator compared to IC-alone and aim to establish standard interstitial needle-loading and insertion depth patterns for non-bulky HRCTV.

On shear resistance of almond skin reinforced PLA composite matrix-based scaffold using cancellous screw

ABSTRACT The polylactic acid (PLA) matrix is being widely used as a scaffold for biomedical applications. But hitherto little has been reported on the use of 3D printed almond skin (AS) powder-reinforced matrix of PLA as a scaffold for ensuring shear resistance properties at different insertion angle, depth and infill pattern for holding a cancellous screw. This paper reports the shear fracture and morphological features of the 3D printed AS powder-reinforced matrix of PLA, prepared by fused deposition modelling for biomedical scaffolds using a cancellous pedicle screw. The study was performed using the angle of insertion 10°, 20° and 30°, depth of insertion of screw 40%, 70% and 100% in prototype and infill patterns (honeycomb, rectilinear and triangular) of 3D printed functional prototype. The study suggested that the maximum shear strength at peak (23.02 MPa) and maximum shear strength at break (22.90 MPa) were observed for honeycomb printing infill pattern, 100% insertion of screw and at 30° angle of insertion to prototype, whereas maximum modulus of toughness was observed for rectilinear pattern with 100% insertion of screw and 20° angle of insertion. Further morphological study was performed on the fractured surface to support the mechanical results obtained by pull-out test for ensuring shear resistance. Overall the study will be useful for an orthopaedic surgeon for ensuring angle, depth of insertion and infill pattern selection for minimising the shear fracture of the scaffold.

An efficient JPEG-2000 based multimodal compression scheme

In this paper, a wavelet-based multimodal compression method is proposed. The method jointly compresses a medical image and an ECG signal within a single codec, i.e., JPEG-2000 in an effective and simple way. The multimodal scheme operates in two main stages: the first stage, consists of the encoder and involves a mixing function, aiming at inserting the samples of the signal in the image according to a predefined insertion pattern in the wavelet domain. The second stage represented by a separation function, consists of the extraction process of the ECG signal from the image after performing the decoding stage. Both the cubic spline and the median edge detection (MED) predictor have been adopted to conduct the interpolation process for estimating image pixels. Intensive experiments have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the multimodal scheme using objective distortion criteria. Results show clear superiority of the proposed scheme over the conventional separate compression approach involving two codecs: JPEG-2000 for images and ECG SPIHT-1D as well as other competing multimodal compression schemes in terms of both PRD and SNR at the signal decompression stage while maintaining good image quality and exhibiting a reduced computational complexity. Improvements in terms of average PRD and SNR values are as significant as 0.7 and 6 dB at low bit rates and 0.06 and 2 dB at higher bit rates on a number of test ECG signals and medical images.

SE-SqueezeNet: SqueezeNet extension with squeeze-and-excitation block

Convolutional neural networks have been popularly used for image recognition tasks. It is known that deep convolutional neural network can yield high recognition accuracy while training it can be very time-consuming. AlexNet was one of the very first networks shown to be effective for the tasks. However, due to its large kernel sizes and fully connected layers, the training time is significant. SqueezeNet has been known as smaller network that yields the same performance as AlexNet. Based on SqueezeNet, we are interested in exploring the effective insertion of the squeeze-and-excitation (SE) module into SqueezeNet that can further improve the performance and cost efficiency. The promising methodology and pattern of module insertion have been explored. The experimental results for evaluating the module insertion show the improvement on top1 accuracy by 1.55% and 3.32% while the model size is enlarged by up to 16% and 10% for CIFAR100 and ILSVRC2012 datasets respectively.

Diversity of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus inShandong, China.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most economically significant pathogens in swine industry of China. To study infection and genetic variation of PRRSV, 637 tissue samples were collected from diseased pigs in Shandong, and then subjected to detection of PRRSV. The nsp2 and ORF5 genes were sequenced for investigation of variations and phylogenetic analysis. The results showed that positive rate of PRRSV was 9.58% in the collected samples. Phylogenetic analysis of GP5 showed that these strains were clustered into two lineages (1 and 8) indicating different genotypes of PRRSV were circulating in Shandong province. Meanwhile, sequence analysis Of nsp2 showed that the PRRSV strains with 30 amino acids deletions were dominant. Moreover, novel pattern of recombination/deletion and insertion in nsp2 was observed in these strains, indicating that novel PRRSV strains with different patterns of deletions or insertions in nsp2 are emerging in China. All the results suggested that continuous surveillance of PRRSV in China is warranted. Keywords: PRRSV; GP5; nsp2; genetic analysis; Shandong.

Practical needle selection for Vienna-style applicators: improving therapeutic ratio in hybrid intracavitary-interstitial brachytherapy.

PurposeHybrid intracavitary and interstitial (IC/IS) applicators improve dose distribution compared to traditional IC applicators in cervical high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. There is a learning curve to these applicators, and initial standard needle insertion patterns have not been well-established. In this study, we quantified dosimetric benefits of IC/IS applicators, and offer practical initial interstitial needle-selection, insertion depths, and dwell position recommendations.Material and methodsFifteen patients previously treated with a tandem and ring IC applicator and magnetic resonance (MR)-guidance were re-planned at first fraction using a digital template of Vienna-style interstitial needles. IC/IS plans maintained identical high-risk clinical target volume (HR-CTV) D90% while reducing dose to organs at risk (OARs). To assess the validity of planning using virtual needles, virtual needle templates were overlaid on twelve clinical IC/IS plans, and the displacements between 40 physical and virtual needles were measured at 3 cm depth.ResultsThe median HR-CTV volume in the present study was 19.6 cc (range, 6.6-60.5 cc). HR-CTV D90% was maintained in all re-plans. Median bladder D2cc decreased from 5.4 Gy per fraction to 4.8 Gy (p = 0.003); median rectum D2cc decreased from 2.4 Gy per fraction to 2.0 Gy (p = 0.007). We suggest that a standard loading pattern should include needles in lateral channels 4, 5, and 9, 10 inserted 3 cm deep, with dwell times < 20% of the combined tandem and ring dwells. The mean displacement between planned and physical needles was 1.8 mm. All needles but three deviated less than 3.3 mm, demonstrating the validity of re-planning with virtual needles.ConclusionsHybrid IC/IS applicators maintain excellent D90% coverage while improving dose to OARs compared to IC-only applicators, even in non-bulky HR-CTVs. We offer practical recommendations for needle selection, insertion depth, and relative weighting for Vienna-style applicators in small HR-CTVs. These results support previous publications, offering practical recommendations for users of Vienna-style hybrid applicators.

COVID-19, Retroelements, and Aging

The review presents an analysis of the scientific data on the characteristics of COVID-19 from the perspective of potential interactions between the virus and the host genome retroelements. According to global statistical data, severe COVID-19 with immune-system hyperactivity is observed mainly in elderly people. At the same time, aging is characterized by a decrease in immune responses. This paradox may be resolved by the assumption that DNA regions that can move along the genome with the “copy and paste” mechanism (retroelements) may play a role in COVID-19 development; these elements are characterized by abnormal expression patterns in aging. Their interaction with SARS-CoV-2 may occur at the level of RNA interference or RNA recombination, or the virus can use retroelement proteins to integrate into the host genome. There is supporting evidence of this interaction: data indicating the efficiency of antiretroviral drugs at the early stage of COVID-19, the isolation of SARS-CoV-2 for a long time after recovery, the persistence of coronavirus infections, and changes in the L1 retrotransposon expression patterns in the lung tissues of COVID-19 patients. In additional, retroelements affect the functioning of the immune system and affect the receptors interacting with SARS-CoV-2. Recombination with retroelements and viral insertions into host genomes have been demonstrated in the case of other infections caused by nonretroviral, RNA-containing viruses. The presumable interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and retroelements may explain the differences in the severity and lethality of COVID-19 in different countries as a result of specific insertional patterns in the genomes of individuals belonging to different human populations. The possible insertion of SARS-CoV-2 cDNA into the genome should be kept in mind in the design of anti-COVID-19 vaccines. Peptide preparations are the most promising in this regard.

Clinico-Anatomical Elucidation of Teres Minor Muscle

Rotator cuff muscles (RCM) are the dynamic stabilisers of glenohumeral joint. Rotator cuff disorders are common and hence RCM have been the area of interest for researchers. Teres minor, a RCM, assists in lateral rotation at shoulder joint. Among all the RCM, anatomical variations in teres minor muscle have been least documented in literature and hence considered as a neglected muscle. The aim of the present study was to explore variant morphology, insertion sites and patterns of insertion of teres minor muscle. Sixty adult embalmed human cadavers were dissected to delineate the fibers of teres minor muscle, from their site of origin on scapula up to the site of insertion on the humerus. Variant morphology along with unusual pattern and site of insertion of teres minor muscle was noted in two (3.33%) cadaveric specimens. The results of the present study highlight the continuous phylogenetic change taking place in a RCM. Familiarity about the variation reported is paramount for the surgeons planning rotator cuff surgery and other invasive procedures in shoulder region. The current data will be significant for radiologist interpreting magnetic resonance imaging scans to report post-operative outcome of rotator cuff surgeries.