An explorative study on energy balance in patients with head and neck cancer

Background: Involuntary body weight loss in head and neck cancer is common. Fundamental for weight loss is an energy imbalance where total energy expenditure exceeds energy intake. Aim: To map energy intake and parameters of energy expenditure at the start of and after radiotherapy, and their relation to weight change, body mass index, and immune markers in patients with head and neck cancer. Materials and Methods: Data from 20 patients on energy intake (24-hour dietary intake recalls), total energy expenditure (SenseWear Armband Pro3), resting energy expenditure (indirect calorimetry), body weight, body mass index, and immune markers in serum (C-reactive protein and Interleukin-6) were collected at the start of and after radiotherapy (median 8 mo, range 5–13). Results: No statistical significance was shown between the two measurement points for energy intake or for the different parameters of energy expenditure. Median values for energy balance were 0.93 and 0.96 for the start of treatment and follow-up, respectively. Twelve and 13 patients had a negative energy balance at the start of radiotherapy and at follow-up, respectively. Conclusion: A negative energy balance was seen for the majority of patients, which stresses the importance of nutritional treatment at the start of and after radiotherapy

Error probability evaluation of optical systems disturbed by phase noise and additive noise

A direct and efficient method for evaluation of the error probability of optical heterodyne receivers in the presence of phase noise is presented. Closed form expressions for the statistics of the decision variable, including photodetector shot noise and thermal noise from electronic circuitry, are shown. Amplitude shift keying (ASK), frequency shift keying (FSK) and differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) are examined

Mapping the impact of malnutrition as defined by the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition and nutrition impact symptoms on the possibility of returning to work after treatment for head and neck cancer

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether malnutrition or nutrition impact symptoms (NIS) affect the possibility of returning to work after treatment for head and neck cancer. Methods: Patients of working age with head and neck cancer were followed up from treatment initiation to 3 months (n = 238), 1 year (n = 182), and 2 years (n = 130) after treatment completion. The observed decrease in the number of patients over time was due to retirement, lack of follow-up, or death. Returning to work was dichotomised as yes or no. Malnutrition was diagnosed 7 weeks after treatment initiation using the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria. This time-point corresponds to the end of chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy (with or without prior surgery), except for patients who underwent exclusive surgery. NIS were scored on a Likert scale (1-5) at each follow-up using the Head and Neck Patient Symptom Checklist (c) (HNSC (c)). Nonparametric tests were used to analyse the ability of patients with/without malnutrition and high/low NIS scores to return to work. Results: At 3 months, 1 year, and 2 years after treatment completion, 135/238 (56.7%), 49/182 (26.9%), and 23/130 (17.7%) patients had not returned to work. Patients with malnutrition at 7 weeks after treatment initiation were more likely to not return to work at 3 months than those without malnutrition, 70.5% compared to 47.1% (p < 0.001). At all three follow-up time-points, patients reporting high scores for a number of NIS had more often not returned to work, with this pattern being most distinct at 2 years. Conclusion: Malnutrition according to the GLIM criteria at 7 weeks after treatment initiation and NIS assessed by the HNSC (c) at subsequent follow-ups were predictors of the return-to-work process after treatment for up to 2 years

ESTIMATING THE EU BIOGAS POTENTIAL FROM MANURE AND CROP RESIDUES – A SPATIAL ANALYSIS

Anaerobic fermentation of agricultural wastes such as crop residues and animal manure, producing biogas, is an example of an advanced biofuel that can contribute to the EU target of a minimum 10% of transport fuels from renewable sources in 2020. Producing biogas from residues has received increasing attention following the debate on the impact conventional biofuel production has on food prices, poverty and land-use change. The EU, as well as major producers of biogas such as Germany and Italy, are currently revising their policy framework to incentivize the sourcing of biogas substrates from waste streams.Given these developments it is important to improve our understanding of how large the potential is for producing biogas and biomethane from agricultural wastes in the EU, how that potential is distributed across member states, and what the main limitations to this potential are. Previous studies on the potential for producing biogas from agricultural wastes in the EU, however, have either been local cases studies that account for a host of detailed economic and technical constraints, an approach that is almost impossible to scale up to the EU level, or top-down assessments of gross substrate potentials that do not account for any of the technical and economic limitations specific to biogas production.In this report we present a spatially explicit approach for estimating the availability of agricultural wastes - crop residues and animal manure - across the EU, which also allows for an analysis of how key economic and technical constraints such as minimum viable plant size, maximum collection distances for substrates, and substrate composition affects the total potential for biogas production.Our main results from this analysis can be summarized as follows:* Total annually available biogas substrates from agricultural wastes in the EU28 amounts to roughly 80 million tonnes of crop residues (dry matter) and 110 million tonnes (dry matter) of animal manure.* In our base case scenario, three quarters of the manure and a fifth of the crop residues are technically and economically exploitable for biogas production, yielding a total biogas potential from agricultural wastes of almost 700 PJ (HHV) per year.* Animal production and arable farming are spatially highly segregated in some parts of the EU28. This leads to some areas having considerable surpluses of either dry, carbon-rich crop residues or nitrogen-rich manures which cannot be fully utilized due to technical constraints on dry matter content and carbon-to-nitrogen ratios. There are, however, potential ways to relax these constraints, for example using dry fermentation technology or adding wet, carbon-rich co-substrates, such as energy crops.* If we assume a larger minimum viable biogas plant size of 8 MW, typical if the biogas is to be upgraded to vehicle fuel quality, the potential decreases by about a quarter. However, the base case potential can still be reached or even surpassed under this constraint if one allows for a somewhat increased collection radius for substrates or if the constraint on maximum dry matter content is relaxed