Université De Picardie Jules Verne

The duodeno-pancreatic region is a highly vascularized area. The superior and posterior pancreaticoduodenal artery is a vessel primarily originating from the gastroduodenal artery. It exhibits rare anatomical variations, such as its emergence from the right branch of the hepatic artery, which we fortuitously identified during a cadaver dissection.

The body studied in this dissection was from cadavers donated to science at the Anatomy Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine in Amiens. This dissection was part of a Master's project aimed at studying the branches of the celiac trunk.

We identified a superior and posterior pancreaticoduodenal artery arising from the right branch of the hepatic artery, coursing to the right of the gastroduodenal artery and sharing a very proximal anastomotic branch that gave rise to seven short retro-duodenal arteries. This artery provided branches to the bile duct and then ran along the duodenum and the pancreas while giving off about ten small branches to these two adjacent organs. It anastomosed with the posterior and inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery, which originated from the superior mesenteric artery.

Knowledge of this anatomical variation is fundamental for the visceral surgeon performing a cephalic duodenopancreatectomy, a resection of the pancreatic head with preservation of the duodenal framework, a resection of the pancreatic head with pancreatic-jejunostomy, or even in managing a hemorrhagic duodenal ulcer. This aberrant origin of the superior and posterior pancreaticoduodenal artery should also be known by the interventional radiologist during arterial embolizations related to the rupture of pseudoaneurysms of the pancreatic arcades.

Green hydrogen is a highly sought-after clean fuel for the next generation of engines aimed at achieving net-zero emissions. Herein, we design and fabricate a mixed-phase core/shell nanoparticles consisting of a semiconducting 2H-MoS₂ core and a metallic 1T-MoS₂ coating. The core/shell exhibits spherical morphology with an average diameter of 60 nm. To leverage this unique structure, we develop a photocathode device composed of 1T/2H-MoS₂ core/shell integrated with p-type silicon to catalyze hydrogen evolution reaction via water splitting driven by solar energy. The core/shell device demonstrates, at zero bias, a remarkable current density of -13.5 ± 1 mA/cm² and an onset potential of 110 mV. Additionally, the device exhibited a rapid photoresponse time and a high incident photon-to-current efficiency reaching 80 % at 450 nm. Our findings highlight the synergistic effect of 1T/2H-MoS₂ mixed-phase core/shell structure in developing the next generation of high-efficient photocatalysts for green hydrogen generation.

BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) is responsible for hemorrhagic cystitis and nephropathy in bone marrow- and kidney transplant recipients, respectively. Monitoring BKPyV DNAuria and/or DNAemia by quantitative molecular tests is thus a common practice in the management of these patients. However, critical issues have been raised regarding these methods and the detection of viral genomes by positive PCR is not always associated with true viral replication. Identification of novel biomarkers and development of new assays are thus needed to help clinicians in patients' follow-up and enable timely and beneficial therapeutic interventions. Here, we describe the development of a urinary lateral flow assay that specifically detects the major BKPyV VP1 protein in a few minutes. This assay was characterized using cell culture-produced virus, pseudoviruses as well as VP1 pentamers representing the four BKPyV genotypes, diluted in urine matrix. The limit of detection was around 1 µg/mL of purified VP1 pentamers. This assay also enabled to detect BKPyV VP1 in frozen urine from transplant patients with high DNAuria. Clinical validation studies are now needed to evaluate the performance of this assay in real life and its relevance for interventions.