Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for treatment of liver tumors is often limited by liver dose constraints. Protons offer potential for more liver sparing, but clinical situations in which ...protons may be superior to photons are not well described. We developed and validated a treatment decision model to determine whether liver tumors of certain sizes and locations are more suited for photon versus proton SBRT.
Six spherical mock tumors from 1 to 6 cm in diameter were contoured on computed tomography images of 1 patient at 4 locations: dome, caudal, left medial, and central. Photon and proton plans were generated to deliver 50 Gy in 5 fractions to each tumor and optimized to deliver equivalent target coverage and maximal liver sparing. Using these plans, we developed a hypothesis-generating model to predict the optimal modality for maximal liver sparing based on tumor size and location. We then validated this model in 10 patients with liver tumors.
Protons spared significantly more liver than photons for dome or central tumors ≥3 cm (dome: 134 ± 21 cm(3), P = .03; central: 108 ± 4 cm(3), P = .01). Our model correctly predicted the optimal SBRT modality for all 10 patients. For patients with dome or central tumors ≥3 cm, protons significantly increased the volume of liver spared (176 ± 21 cm(3), P = .01) and decreased the mean liver dose (8.4 vs 12.2 Gy, P = .01) while offering no significant advantage for tumors <3 cm at any location or for caudal and left medial tumors of any size.
When feasible, protons should be considered as the radiation modality of choice for dome and central tumors >3 cm to allow maximal liver sparing and potentially reduce radiation toxicity. Protons should also be considered for any tumor >5 cm if photon plans fail to achieve adequate coverage or exceed the mean liver threshold.
Total biomass dry weight (DW) and ash free dry weight (AFDW) of five species of marine microalgae, Dunaliella sp., Isochrysis galbana, Nannochloropsis sp., Nitzschia closterium and Porphyridium ...cruentum, retained on filter paper, were determined. Dunaliella and Isochrysis cells have no cell wall; Nannochloropsis, Nitzschia and Porphyridium possess a cell wall and Nitzschia and Porphyridium cells are covered by silica and mucilage coating, respectively. In all these algae, DW of non-washed samples was at least 1.2 times higher than those washed by distilled water, 0.9% sodium chloride, 0.5 M ammonium formate or 0.5 M ammonium bicarbonate. DW of 0.9% sodium chloride washed samples was more than 0.8 times higher than the other three washed samples. In most of the cases, there was no significant difference between DW of samples washed by ammonium formate and ammonium bicarbonate solutions (p>0.05). The AFDW of the non-washed algal samples was about twice that of washed samples, and could be accounted for by a volatile component in the sea water medium. Isotonic solution of ammonium bicarbonate is a satisfactory washing agent for algal cells for dry weight determination.
Fast block motion estimation normally consists of low-resolution coarse search and the following fine-resolution inner search. Most motion estimation algorithms developed attempt to speed up the ...coarse search without considering accelerating the focused inner search. On top of the hexagonal search method recently developed, an enhanced hexagonal search algorithm is proposed to further improve the performance in terms of reducing number of search points and distortion, where a novel fast inner search is employed by exploiting the distortion information of the evaluated points. Our experimental results substantially justify the merits of the proposed algorithm.
Heat treatment of Zr-24 at% Ti alloy with barrier-type dielectric anodic oxide films was conducted at 473 K in air to examine the thermal stability of the dielectric oxide films for possible ...electrolytic capacitor application. The anodic oxide film was formed by anodizing of the alloy at 50 V for 30 min in 0.1 mol dm
−3
ammonium pentaborate electrolyte. The anodic oxide film of 125 nm thickness was crystalline, containing both monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO
2
phase. It was found that marked thickening of the oxide film with generation of cracks occurred during heat treatment at 473 K. Thus, the dielectric loss was largely increased along with the capacitance increase. In contrast, the anodic oxide film formed on the oxygen-incorporated alloy remained uniform, and no significant increase in dielectric loss was observed even after the heat treatment. The capacitance of the anodic film became as high as 4.8 mF m
−2
, which was nearly twice that on Ta. The high capacitance was associated with the preferential formation of tetragonal ZrO
2
phase in the anodic oxide film on the oxygen-incorporated alloy. Findings indicated that the oxygen-incorporated Zr-Ti alloy is a promising novel material for capacitor application.
Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) modulates the activity of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 9, an important mediator of vascular remodeling and plaque instability in atherosclerosis. ...This study aimed to analyze the expression of NGAL in atherosclerotic plaques and myocardial infarction (MI).
Atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E (apoE)(-/-) x low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR)(-/-) and C57BL/6J control mice were exposed to brief hypoxic stress (10 minutes of 10% oxygen). Expression of the mouse NGAL homolog (24p3) and MMP-9 was analyzed 48 hours later by quantitative RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, and zymography. Hypoxic stress increased NGAL/24p3 mRNA in the cardiac vasculature. NGAL/24p3 was also increased in atherosclerotic plaques of apolipoprotein E(-/-) x LDLR(-/-) mice compared with C57BL/6J mice. Mice developing MI exhibited the highest plaque mRNA expression of NGAL/24p3 and MMP-9. Zymography revealed strong proteolytic activity in areas rich in 24p3 and MMP-9 protein. Immunohistochemistry performed on human carotid endarterectomy specimens and control tissue from the internal mammary artery showed colocalization of MMP-9 and NGAL with macrophages in the atherosclerotic plaques.
NGAL/24p3 is increased in atherosclerotic plaques and MI. Colocalization with MMP-9 in areas with high-proteolytic activity suggests a role for NGAL/24p3 in modulating the MMP-9-mediated remodeling of plaques and infarcted hearts.
A modified HR3C austenitic steel has been designed by optimizing the chemical composition. Compared with a commercial HR3C alloy, the modified steel has comparable oxidation resistance, yield ...strength, and plasticity, but higher creep rupture strength and impact toughness after long-term thermal exposure. The results suggest that the modified alloy is a promising candidate for the applications of ultra-supercritical power plants operating beyond 650 °C.
Aims
Histological chorioamnionitis (HCA) is a condition linked to preterm birth and neonatal infection and its relationship with various pathological stages in extremely preterm neonates, and with ...their associated short‐ and long‐term consequences, remains a subject of research. This study investigated the connection between different pathological stages of HCA and both short‐term complications and long‐term outcomes in preterm infants born at or before 32 weeks of gestational age.
Methods
Preterm infants born at ≤ 32 weeks of gestation who underwent placental pathology evaluation and were followed‐up at 18–24 months of corrected age were included. Neonates were classified based on their exposure to HCA and were further subdivided into different groups according to maternal inflammatory responses (MIR) and fetal inflammatory responses (FIR) stages. We compared short‐term complications during their hospital stay between the HCA‐exposed and ‐unexposed groups and examined the influence of HCA stages on long‐term outcomes.
Results
The HCA group exhibited distinct characteristics such as higher rates of premature rupture of membranes > 18 h, reduced amniotic fluid, early‐onset sepsis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia and intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) grades III–IV (P < 0.05). The moderate–severe HCA group displayed lower gestational age, lower birth weight and higher incidence of IVH (grades III–IV) and preterm sepsis compared with the mild HCA group (P < 0.05). After adjusting for confounders, the MIR stages 2–3 group showed associations with cognitive impairment and cerebral palsy (P < 0.05), and the FIR stages 2–3 group also showed poor long‐term outcomes and cognitive impairment (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
Moderate–severe HCA was associated with increased early‐onset sepsis, severe IVH and poor long‐term outcomes, including cognitive impairment and cerebral palsy. Vigilant prevention strategies are warranted for severe HCA cases in order to mitigate poorer clinical outcomes.
Moderate–severe HCA was associated with decreased gestational age, birth weight and increased early‐onset sepsis, severe IVH (IVH grades III–IV) and poor long‐term outcomes, including and cognitive impairment and cerebral palsy.
N-Doped activated carbons with high CO
2
adsorption capacity have been prepared from sugar-rich microalgae (
Chlorococcum
sp.) feedstock
via
simple hydrothermal carbonization coupled with KOH ...activation or NH
3
modification. The KOH activated carbons exhibit higher CO
2
capture performance compared with the ones treated by NH
3
. The nitrogen-enriched hydro-char derived from microalgae was activated with KOH at 700 °C to improve the textural characteristics (surface area, pores size, and total pore volume), and the resulting carbon showed a highly ordered structure with a surface area of 1745 m
2
g
−1
, and narrow pore size distribution with the maxima peak located in the micropore range (<1.0 nm). The activated carbon exhibited CO
2
uptakes of 4.03 and 6.68 mmol g
−1
at 25 °C and 0 °C, respectively. Further XPS analysis revealed the effective pyridonic-nitrogen species (up to 58.32%) on the carbon surface favored a higher CO
2
capture capacity. The N-doped activated carbons displayed rapid adsorption kinetics with ultrahigh selectivity for CO
2
over N
2
(up to 11 at 25 °C), and no obvious decrease in the CO
2
uptake capacity was observed even after seven cycles, which may be due to the dominant physisorption between CO
2
and the surface of carbon.
N-Doped activated carbons with high CO
2
adsorption capacity have been prepared from sugar-rich microalgae (
Chlorococcum
sp.) feedstock
via
simple hydrothermal carbonization coupled with KOH activation or NH
3
modification.
Yu J, Zhu C, Yin J, et al. Drug Des Dev Ther.2020;14:361-370.The authors have advised that in Figure 3 on page 365, theimage of the Blank group was mistakenly duplicated fromthe NC group.Read the ...original article
Modified high shear homogenization and ultrasound techniques were employed to produce solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs). Model drug mifepristone had been incorporated in SLNs. The mean particle size ...measured by laser diffractometry (LD) was found to be 106
nm with a narrow particle distribution of polydispersity index, 0.278. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction measurements suggested that the majority of the SLNs were less ordered arrangement of crystals, and this was favorable for increasing the drug loading capacity. The drug entrapment efficiency (EE%) of SLNs was more than 87 percent and showed relatively long-term physical stability as the leakage was very small after being stored for one month. Therefore, seemed this modified method could prepare high quality SLNs loading lipophilic drugs. It is a simple, available and effective method to produce SLNs.
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