•SGRT introduction in clinical practice is team effort by RTTS, physicists and clinicians.•It improves set up precision and is an important tool to reduce late effects by better sparing of normal ...tissues.•SGRT enhances patient comfort by eliminating skin markers in a majority of cases.
To describe the rationale and process how SGRT was implemented in our department from the original decision to daily clinical practice.
Internal clocks driving rhythms of about a day (circadian) are ubiquitous in animals, allowing them to anticipate environmental changes. Genetic or environmental disturbances to circadian clocks or ...the rhythms they produce are commonly associated with illness, compromised performance or reduced survival. Nevertheless, some animals including Arctic mammals, open sea fish and social insects such as honeybees are active around-the-clock with no apparent ill effects. The mechanisms allowing this remarkable natural plasticity are unknown. We generated and validated a new and specific antibody against the clock protein PERIOD of the honeybee Apis mellifera (amPER) and used it to characterize the circadian network in the honeybee brain. We found many similarities to Drosophila melanogaster and other insects, suggesting common anatomical organization principles in the insect clock that have not been appreciated before. Time course analyses revealed strong daily oscillations in amPER levels in foragers, which show circadian rhythms, and also in nurses that do not, although the latter have attenuated oscillations in brain mRNA clock gene levels. The oscillations in nurses show that activity can be uncoupled from the circadian network and support the hypothesis that a ticking circadian clock is essential even in around-the-clock active animals in a constant physical environment.
Beer K, Biesman B, Cox SE, Smith S, Picault L, Trevidic P. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2023;16:959-972. The authors advised an inadvertent error at the time of figure assembly led to the selection ...of incorrect versions of graphs displayed in Figure 1 on page 964 (ie, needle and cannula legends were switched) and Figure 4B on page 965 (ie, incorrect label values for timepoint V3). Consequently, result description and discussion associated with Figure 1 in this publication were opposite to what is actually observed. Page 963, Injection Volume and Technique section, second paragraph, last sentence, the text "However, there were slightly more "very easy" versus "easy" answers for the cannula-treated side (Figure 1)" should read "However, there were slightly more "very easy" versus "easy" answers for the needle-treated side (Figure 1)". Page 969, second paragraph from the bottom, last sentence, the text "For some practitioners, cannula injections may be seen as an "advanced" technique, yet the higher "ease of injection" scores obtained in the present study show that this technique is easier to use than a needle injection" should be deleted. The interpretation of results shown in Figure 4B remain accurate. The authors apologize for these errors. The correct Figures 1 and 4 are shown below. Figure 1 Ease of injection of RHA 4 into the nasolabial fold with a cannula or a needle, according to the treating investigator. Figure 4 Percentage of subjects rated "improved" or "much improved" on the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale at each visit by the treating investigator (A) and the subjects (B).
No evidenced link exists between myositis and incontinence, however myositis patients identify incontinence as an issue. This research was initiated in response to advocacy by consumers to ...investigate this topic.
The aim of this research was to explore the prevalence of urinary incontinence and bowel incontinence in the Australian myositis population, compared to an age-matched general Australian population.
An online survey with validated questionnaires measured urinary and bowel incontinence and physical function amongst individuals with myositis. Recruitment was via email in collaboration with the Myositis Association of Australia. Published Australian general population data was used as the comparison group.
Results revealed urinary incontinence and bowel incontinence prevalence was significantly higher in the myositis population compared to the Australian population.
This is the first known study to explore the prevalence of urinary and bowel incontinence in a Myositis population. This consumer-driven study confirmed anecdotal reporting of increased prevalence of urinary and bowel incontinence within the myositis population. The study also evidences the critical role of consumers in better understanding complex conditions and their impact.
•Consumer advocacy revealed the pertinent issue of incontinence in myositis.•Significantly increased incontinence prevalence exists in this myositis population.•Two thirds of incontinent myositis participants had never sought help.
Cannulas are increasingly used for injecting hyaluronic acid fillers, as they are thought to improve patient comfort safety and treatment tolerability. This study aimed to demonstrate the ...non-inferiority of a Resilient Hyaluronic Acid 4 (RHA 4) filler injected with a cannula versus a needle for the treatment of moderate to severe nasolabial folds (NLF).
A total of 50 subjects were included in a randomized, evaluator-blinded, split-face trial. The NLF were injected with RHA 4 using a cannula on one side of the face and using a needle on the other side on Day 0. A touch-up could be performed 4 weeks later. The subjects were followed up for 12 weeks after the last injection, ie, injection on Day 0 or touch-up. Efficacy was evaluated using a Wrinkle Severity Rating Scale (WSRS), the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS), and patient-reported outcomes. Safety assessments included the injection-site pain, common treatment reactions (CTRs), and adverse events (AEs).
Twelve weeks after the last injection, the efficacy of the cannula treatment was found to be non-inferior to that of the needle treatment, based on the WSRS score improvements. The other study endpoints showed the equivalent efficacy and safety of the two methods. No serious or unexpected AEs were reported.
RHA 4 may be effectively and safely injected into the NLF using a cannula or a needle, provided it is administrated by a trained practitioner.
Epidemiologic evidence points to a connection between viral infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV) and a subgroup of squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx. To assess the impact of HPV ...infection on the response of these tumors toward radiotherapy, the authors retrospectively determined the presence of the virus and the integrity of the viral E2 gene in tumors of patients who have undergone curative irradiation.
Paraffin embedded biopsies from 99 patients were analyzed for HPV infection and E2 gene integrity by multiplex PCR. The experimental findings were correlated with clinical characteristics, known risk factors, and treatment outcome.
Fourteen of 99 tumors were HPV positive (11 HPV16, 1 HPV33, 1 HPV35, and 1 HPV45). Human papillomavirus positivity was closely linked to female gender (odds ratio OR, 5.75; P = 0.004), age older than 56 years (OR, 7.42; P = 0.012), nonsmokers (OR, 21.33; P = 0.00001), and alcohol abstainers (OR, 5.35; P = 0.012). There was an inverse association with p53 nuclear immunoreactivity (OR, 0.06; P = 0.008). The Kaplan-Meier survival estimates showed a better local control (P = 0.050, log-rank) and a better overall survival (P = 0.046, log-rank) for patients with HPV positive tumors. In the multivariate analysis, HPV positivity remained to be associated with a lower risk of local failure (risk ratio RR, 0.31; P = 0.048). Four of 11 HPV16 positive tumors had a disrupted E2 gene. Only tumors with a disrupted E2 gene manifested local treatment failure.
Human papillomavirus positivity designates a specific subgroup of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas of the oropharynx that arise preferentially among individuals with no consumption of tobacco and alcohol and that have a favorable outcome attributable to an increased sensitivity toward radiotherapy.
Mixtures of coal and biomass were co-gasified in a jetting, ash-agglomerating, fluidized-bed, pilot scale-sized gasifier to provide steady-state operating data for numerical simulation verification. ...Biomass used was sanding waste from furniture manufacture. Powder River Basin subbituminous and Pittsburgh No. 8 bituminous coals (screened from −1.2 to
+0.25
mm
) were mixed with sawdust (screened to
−1.2
mm
) and pneumatically conveyed into the gasifier at an operating pressure of
3.03
MPa
. Feed mixtures ranged up to 35% by weight biomass. The results of gasification tests of subbituminous coal/sawdust mixtures showed few differences in operations compared to subbituminous coal only tests. The bituminous coal mixture had marked differences. Transport properties of coal/biomass mixtures were greatly improved compared to coal only.
Abstract
The crisis related to the COVID 19 pandemic caused an increase in nickel prices on the global markets. From this perspective, it seems promising to search for the possibilities of effective ...recycling of nickel-based alloys as biomaterials. The topic of the recasting of Ni-Cr dental alloys is currently being broadly described in the literature. Nonetheless, there are still no conclusive results on the impact of recasting on the quality of the cast dentures. Considering the aforementioned, for research, the effect of recasting on the wear resistance and microstructure of NiCrMo dental alloy was investigated. The Heraenium NA alloy was used for testing. Abrasion resistance was tested by the ball on disc method. Microstructure and wear trace were observed using an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope. The tests showed a higher wear resistance of the re-casted material. The average coefficient of friction for the initially cast alloys was 0.664, while for the remelted samples the mean value was 0.441. The tested samples are characterised by an abrasive-adhesive wear mechanism. Piling up of the wear tracks edges was observed – the highest for H100. For the H100 samples, a slightly lower average hardness value (HV10) was observed – 226 compared to 233 (HV10) for the samples made from the re-casted alloy (H0). The presence of a dendritic structure of alloys was demonstrated. Blocky eutectic precipitations are visible against the matrix. The observed growth of interdendritic precipitations constitute a natural barrier for the counterpart material and increases its tribological properties. Obtained results suggest that alloy recasting does not constitute a limitation to its use.
The economic upheaval of COVID-19 forced companies to invest in emerging technologies to aid recovery. One such technology is extended reality, which is becoming a mature and innovative tool. Early ...adopters are seeing significant benefits in learning, training, immersive data visualization, and remote assistance. In South Africa, the mining industry is increasingly interested in using extended reality to optimize and innovate operations. The Minerals Council of South Africa's July 2021 report highlighted the potential of extended reality's to achieve zero-harm production and modernize the industry. However, the extent of extended reality adoption in mining remains unclear due to limited information on its usage. This study addressed this gap by distributing an online survey to assess awareness, knowledge, and current uses of extended reality in South Africa's mining sector. The results indicated that virtual and augmented reality had the highest levels of awareness and usage, primarily for learning and training. Mixed reality, however, had the lowest awareness and knowledge levels. In terms of applications, visualization and remote assistance had the least use cases. These findings highlight that the South African mining industry is deficient in its understanding and use of extended reality technologies. Without better awareness and application, the South African industry risks missing out on the full benefits of extended reality. The study underlines the need for the South African mining industry to improve its outlook on extended reality technologies to fully leverage their potential applications and benefits.
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