Author affiliation addition: “Hepatitis B virus detected in paper currencies in a densely populated city of India: A plausible source of horizontal transmission?”

Addition of authors’ affiliation to "Hepatitis B virus detected in paper currencies in a densely populated city of India: A plausible source of horizontal transmission?" World J Hepatol 2020 Oct 27; 12(10): 775-791. In this article, one of the affiliations of two authors was not mentioned. Ruchi Supekar, a joint first author and Subhajit Biswas, the corresponding author are affiliated to Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) Ghaziabad- 201002, India.     

A stapled POL κ peptide targets REV1 to inhibit mutagenic translesion synthesis

Stapled α-helical RIR (Rev1-interacting region) peptides of DNA POL κ bind more effectively to the RIR-interface of the C-terminal recruitment domain of the translesion synthesis DNA polymerase Rev1 than unstapled peptide. The tightest-binding stapled peptide translocates into cells and enhances the cytotoxicity of DNA damaging agents while reducing mutagenesis. Drugs with these characteristics could potentially serve as adjuvants to improve chemotherapy and reduce acquired resistance by inhibiting Rev1-dependent mutagenic translesion synthesis.     

Motion‐compensated b‐tensor encoding for in vivo cardiac diffusion‐weighted imaging

Motion is a major confound in diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) in the body, and it is a common cause of image artefacts. The effects are particularly severe in cardiac applications, due to the nonrigid cyclical deformation of the myocardium. Spin echo‐based DWI commonly employs gradient moment‐nulling techniques to desensitise the acquisition to velocity and acceleration, ie, nulling gradient moments up to the 2nd order (M2‐nulled). However, current M2‐nulled DWI scans are limited to encode diffusion along a single direction at a time. We propose a method for designing b‐tensors of arbitrary shapes, including planar, spherical, prolate and oblate tensors, while nulling gradient moments up to the 2nd order and beyond. The design strategy comprises initialising the diffusion encoding gradients in two encoding blocks about the refocusing pulse, followed by appropriate scaling and rotation, which further enables nulling undesired effects of concomitant gradients. Proof‐of‐concept assessment of in vivo mean diffusivity (MD) was performed using linear and spherical tensor encoding (LTE and STE, respectively) in the hearts of five healthy volunteers. The results of the M2‐nulled STE showed that (a) the sequence was robust to cardiac motion, and (b) MD was higher than that acquired using standard M2‐nulled LTE, where diffusion‐weighting was applied in three orthogonal directions, which may be attributed to the presence of restricted diffusion and microscopic diffusion anisotropy. Provided adequate signal‐to‐noise ratio, STE could significantly shorten estimation of MD compared with the conventional LTE approach. Importantly, our theoretical analysis and the proposed gradient waveform design may be useful in microstructure imaging beyond diffusion tensor imaging where the effects of motion must be suppressed.     

Sham-Controlled Randomized Trials of Catheter-Based Renal Denervation in Patients With Hypertension

Background

There are conflicting data regarding the relative effectiveness of renal sympathetic denervation (RSD) in patients with hypertension.

Incidence,Cost, and Risk Factors for Readmission After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

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Role of Phenol-Soluble Modulins in Formation of Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms in Synovial Fluid

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of prosthetic joint infections, which, as we recently showed, proceed with the involvement of biofilm-like clusters that cause recalcitrance to antibiotic treatment. Here we analyzed why these clusters grow extraordinarily large, reaching macroscopically visible extensions (>1 mm). We found that while specific S. aureus surface proteins are a prerequisite for agglomeration in synovial fluid, low activity of the Agr regulatory system and subsequent low production of the phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) surfactant peptides cause agglomerates to grow to exceptional dimensions. Our results indicate that PSMs function by disrupting interactions of biofilm matrix molecules, such as the polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA), with the bacterial cell surface. Together, our findings support a two-step model of staphylococcal prosthetic joint infection: As we previously reported, interaction of S. aureus surface proteins with host matrix proteins such as fibrin initiates agglomeration; our present results show that, thereafter, the bacterial agglomerates grow to extremely large sizes owing to the lack of PSM expression under the specific conditions present in joints. Our findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the reported extreme resistance of joint infection to antibiotic treatment, lend support to the notions that Agr functionality and PSM production play a major role in defining different forms of S. aureus infection, and have important implications for antistaphylococcal therapeutic strategies.