975 research outputs found
Biological modelling of the radiation dose escalation effect of regional hyperthermia in cervical cancer
Background Locoregional hyperthermia combined with radiotherapy significantly
improves locoregional control and overall survival for cervical tumors
compared to radiotherapy alone. In this study biological modelling is applied
to quantify the effect of radiosensitization for three cervical cancer
patients to evaluate the improvement in equivalent dose for the combination
treatment with radiotherapy and hyperthermia. Methods The Linear-Quadratic
(LQ) model extended with temperature-dependent LQ-parameters α and β was used
to model radiosensitization by hyperthermia and to calculate the conventional
radiation dose that is equivalent in biological effect to the combined
radiotherapy and hyperthermia treatment. External beam radiotherapy planning
was performed based on a prescription dose of 46Gy in 23 fractions of 2Gy.
Hyperthermia treatment using the AMC-4 system was simulated based on the
actual optimized system settings used during treatment. Results The simulated
hyperthermia treatments for the 3 patients yielded a T50 of 40.1 °C, 40.5 °C,
41.1 °C and a T90 of 39.2 °C, 39.7 °C, 40.4 °C, respectively. The combined
radiotherapy and hyperthermia treatment resulted in a D95 of 52.5Gy, 55.5Gy,
56.9Gy in the GTV, a dose escalation of 7.3–11.9Gy compared to radiotherapy
alone (D95 = 45.0–45.5Gy). Conclusions This study applied biological modelling
to evaluate radiosensitization by hyperthermia as a radiation-dose escalation
for cervical cancer patients. This model is very useful to compare the
effectiveness of different treatment schedules for combined radiotherapy and
hyperthermia treatments and to guide the design of clinical studies on dose
escalation using hyperthermia in a multi-modality setting
Counter-propagating entangled photons from a waveguide with periodic nonlinearity
The conditions required for spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a
waveguide with periodic nonlinearity in the presence of an unguided pump field
are established. Control of the periodic nonlinearity and the physical
properties of the waveguide permits the quasi-phase matching equations that
describe counter-propagating guided signal and idler beams to be satisfied. We
compare the tuning curves and spectral properties of such counter-propagating
beams to those for co-propagating beams under typical experimental conditions.
We find that the counter-propagating beams exhibit narrow bandwidth permitting
the generation of quantum states that possess discrete-frequency entanglement.
Such states may be useful for experiments in quantum optics and technologies
that benefit from frequency entanglement.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.
Submerged in the mainstream? A case study of an immigrant learner in a New Zealand primary classroom
Immigrant children from diverse language backgrounds face not only linguistic challenges when enrolled in mainstream English-medium classrooms, but also difficulties adjusting to an unfamiliar learning community. The culture of primary school classrooms in New Zealand typically reflects conventions across three dimensions: interactional, instructional task performance and cognitive-academic development. All three dimensions are underpinned by the culturally specific discourse conventions involved in language socialisation. New learners may be helped by classmates or their teacher to understand and successfully use these conventions, but left on their own they may sink rather than swim. This is a case study of one Taiwanese 11-year old boy, 'John', who entered a New Zealand primary classroom midway through the school year. John's basic conversational ability was sound, but he did not possess the interactive classroom skills needed to operate in the new culture of learning. Selected from a wider study of the classroom, transcript data from audio-recorded excerpts of John's interactions over several months with his teacher and classmates are interpreted from perspectives derived from sociocultural and language socialisation theories. The article concludes with a brief consideration of the extent to which John constructed, or was constrained from constructing meaningful learning experiences, and suggestions for further research and reflection
Polychromatic solitons in a quadratic medium
We introduce the simplest model to describe parametric interactions in a
quadratically nonlinear optical medium with the fundamental harmonic containing
two components with (slightly) different carrier frequencies [which is a direct
analog of wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) models, well known in media
with cubic nonlinearity]. The model takes a closed form with three different
second-harmonic components, and it is formulated in the spatial domain. We
demonstrate that the model supports both polychromatic solitons (PCSs), with
all the components present in them, and two types of mutually orthogonal simple
solitons, both types being stable in a broad parametric region. An essential
peculiarity of PCS is that its power is much smaller than that of a simple
(usual) soliton (taken at the same values of control parameters), which may be
an advantage for experimental generation of PCSs. Collisions between the
orthogonal simple solitons are simulated in detail, leading to the conclusion
that the collisions are strongly inelastic, converting the simple solitons into
polychromatic ones, and generating one or two additional PCSs. A collision
velocity at which the inelastic effects are strongest is identified, and it is
demonstrated that the collision may be used as a basis to design a simple
all-optical XOR logic gate.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev.
Dialysis delivery of an adenosine A 2A agonist into the pontine reticular formation of C57BL/6J mouse increases pontine acetylcholine release and sleep
In vivo microdialysis in C57BL/6J (B6) mouse was used to test the hypothesis that activating adenosine A 2A receptors in the pontine reticular formation (PRF) increases acetylcholine (ACh) release and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Eight concentrations of the adenosine A 2A receptor agonist 2- p- (2-carboxyethyl)phenethylamino-5′-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine hydrochloride (CGS 21680; CGS) were delivered to the PRF and ACh in the PRF was quantified. ACh release was significantly increased by dialysis with 3 μm CGS and significantly decreased by dialysis with 10 and 100 μm CGS. Co-administration of the adenosine A 2A receptor antagonist 4-(2-[7-amino-2-(2-furyl)[1,2,4]triazolo[2,3-a][1,3,5]triazin-5-ylamino]ethyl)phenol (ZM 241385; 30 nm) blocked the CGS-induced increase in ACh release. In a second series of experiments, CGS (3 μm) was delivered by dialysis to the PRF for 2 h while recording sleep and wakefulness. CGS significantly decreased time in wakefulness (−51% in h 1; −54% in h 2), increased time in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep (90% in h 1; 151% in h 2), and increased both time in REM sleep (331% in h 2) and the number of REM sleep episodes (488% in h 2). The enhancement of REM sleep is consistent with the interpretation that adenosine A 2A receptors in the PRF of the B6 mouse contribute to REM sleep regulation, in part, by increasing ACh release in the PRF. A 2A receptor activation may promote NREM sleep via GABAergic inhibition of arousal promoting neurons in the PRF.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66018/1/j.1471-4159.2006.03700.x.pd
Genomic contributions to infant and toddler vocabulary scores: Implications for association with health-, cognition-, and behaviour-related outcomes
Axion-like-particle search with high-intensity lasers
We study ALP-photon-conversion within strong inhomogeneous electromagnetic
fields as provided by contemporary high-intensity laser systems. We observe
that probe photons traversing the focal spot of a superposition of Gaussian
beams of a single high-intensity laser at fundamental and frequency-doubled
mode can experience a frequency shift due to their intermittent propagation as
axion-like-particles. This process is strongly peaked for resonant masses on
the order of the involved laser frequencies. Purely laser-based experiments in
optical setups are sensitive to ALPs in the mass range and can
thus complement ALP searches at dipole magnets.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figure
Technologies of sleep research
Sleep is investigated in many different ways, many different species and under many different circumstances. Modern sleep research is a multidisciplinary venture. Therefore, this review cannot give a complete overview of all techniques used in sleep research and sleep medicine. What it will try to do is to give an overview of widely applied techniques and exciting new developments. Electroencephalography has been the backbone of sleep research and sleep medicine since its first application in the 1930s. The electroencephalogram is still used but now combined with many different techniques monitoring body and brain temperature, changes in brain and blood chemistry, or changes in brain functioning. Animal research has been very important for progress in sleep research and sleep medicine. It provides opportunities to investigate the sleeping brain in ways not possible in healthy volunteers. Progress in genomics has brought new insights in sleep regulation, the best example being the discovery of hypocretin/orexin deficiency as the cause of narcolepsy. Gene manipulation holds great promise for the future since it is possible not only to investigate the functions of different genes under normal conditions, but also to mimic human pathology in much greater detail
Not Just Efficiency: Insolvency Law in the EU and Its Political Dimension
Certain insolvency law rules, like creditors’ priorities and set-off rights, have a distributive impact on creditors. Distributional rules reflect the hierarchies of values and interests in each jurisdiction and, as a result, have high political relevance and pose an obstacle to reforming the EU Insolvency Regulation. This paper will show the difficulty of reform by addressing two alternative options to regulate cross-border insolvencies in the European Union. The first one is the ‘choice model’, under which companies can select the insolvency law they prefer. Although such a model would allow distressed firms to select the most efficient insolvency law, it would also displace Member States’ power to protect local constituencies. The choice model therefore produces negative externalities and raises legitimacy concerns. The opposite solution is full harmonisation of insolvency law at EU level, including distributional rules. Full harmonisation would have the advantage of internalising all externalities produced by cross-border insolvencies. However, the EU legislative process, which is still based on negotiations between states, is not apt to decide on distributive insolvency rules; additionally, if harmonisation includes such rules, it will indirectly modify national social security strategies and equilibria. This debate shows that the choice regarding power allocation over bankruptcies in the EU depends on the progress of European integration and is mainly a matter of political legitimacy, not only of efficiency
Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents : an in vitro study
Adenosine acting in the basal forebrain is a key mediator of sleep homeostasis. Extracellular adenosine concentrations increase during wakefulness, especially during prolonged wakefulness and lead to increased sleep pressure and subsequent rebound sleep. The release of endogenous adenosine during the sleep-wake cycle has mainly been studied in vivo with microdialysis techniques. The biochemical changes that accompany sleep-wake status may be preserved in vitro. We have therefore used adenosine-sensitive biosensors in slices of the basal forebrain (BFB) to study both depolarization-evoked adenosine release and the steady state adenosine tone in rats, mice and hamsters. Adenosine release was evoked by high K+, AMPA, NMDA and mGlu receptor agonists, but not by other transmitters associated with wakefulness such as orexin, histamine or neurotensin. Evoked and basal adenosine release in the BFB in vitro exhibited three key features: the magnitude of each varied systematically with the diurnal time at which the animal was sacrificed; sleep deprivation prior to sacrifice greatly increased both evoked adenosine release and the basal tone; and the enhancement of evoked adenosine release and basal tone resulting from sleep deprivation was reversed by the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitor, 1400 W. These data indicate that characteristics of adenosine release recorded in the BFB in vitro reflect those that have been linked in vivo to the homeostatic control of sleep. Our results provide methodologically independent support for a key role for induction of iNOS as a trigger for enhanced adenosine release following sleep deprivation and suggest that this induction may constitute a biochemical memory of this state
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