High-dose rate brachytherapy in the treatment of cancer of the cervix uteri

Analysis of the results of examining and treating 246 patients with Stages IIA-IIIB cancer of the cervix uteri (CCU), receiving specific chemoradiotherapy (CRT) at the Department of Radiotherapy, National Oncology Center (Baku), has ascertained that CRT using two high-dose (9 Gy) rate brachytherapy fractions and competitive cisplatin chemotherapy is an effective, reasonably safe, and economically sound treatment method for locally advanced CCU. The method shows acceptable toxicity and may be used in routine clinical practice

The first experience of the use of two-fraction adaptive intracavitary/interstitial brachytherapy in the treatment of cervical cancer

Aim. The study of the results of chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer with the use of two-fraction brachytherapy. Methods. The article presents analysis of the examination and treatment results of 17 patients with IIB-IIIB stage cervical cancer. The average age was 51±4.6 years (44 to 62 years). External beam radiotherapy was performed with single boost dose of 1.8 Gy to total dose of 45 Gy. Also the patients received 40 mg/m2 of weekly cisplatin. Intracavitary/interstitial high dose-rate brachytherapy with insertion of parametrial needles consisted of two weekly fractions of 10.0 Gy. Results. Due to the use of interstitial needles the average dose was 82.2 Gy when recalculated to classical 2 Gy fractions. The median follow up was 16±3,2 months. The used radiotherapy modality for cervical cancer allowed achieving complete tumor involution in 16 (94.1%) patients and partial involution only in 1 (5.9%) case. All females had favorable tolerance and received the entire regimen of planned radiation. Conclusion. The first experience of the use of concurrent chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer with external beam radiotherapy, two-fraction intracavitary/interstitial adaptive brachytherapy with single boost dose of 10 Gy and 5 weekly infusions of 40 mg/m2 of cisplatin showed high probability of complete and partial tumor response rate with favorable tolerance and acceptable incidence and severity of toxicity

Future projections of cyclone activity in the Arctic for the 21st century from regional climate models (Arctic-CORDEX)

Changes in the characteristics of cyclone activity (frequency, depth and size) in the Arctic are analyzed based on simulations with state-of-the-art regional climate models (RCMs) from the Arctic-CORDEX initiative and global climate models (GCMs) from CMIP5 under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario. Most of RCMs show an increase of cyclone frequency in winter (DJF) and a decrease in summer (JJA) to the end of the 21st century. However, in one half of the RCMs, cyclones become weaker and substantially smaller in winter and deeper and larger in summer. RCMs as well as GCMs show an increase of cyclone frequency over the Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, north of Greenland, Canadian Archipelago, and a decrease over the Nordic Seas, Kara and Beaufort Seas and over the sub-arctic continental regions in winter. In summer, the models simulate an increase of cyclone frequency over the Central Arctic and Greenland Sea and a decrease over the Norwegian and Kara Seas by the end of the 21st century. The decrease is also found over the high-latitude continental areas, in particular, over east Siberia and Alaska. The sensitivity of the RCMs' projections to the boundary conditions and model physics is estimated. In general, different lateral boundary conditions from the GCMs have larger effects on the simulated RCM projections than the differences in RCMs' setup and/or physics

Effect of sonication time on the synthesis of the CdS nanoparticle based multiwall carbon nanotube – maleic anhydride – 1-octene nanocomposites

Effect of sonication time on the synthesis of the CdS nanoparticles within the matrix obtained through the covalent functionalization of multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) with maleic anhydride (MA) - 1-octene copolymer was investigated. Cadmium chloride and thiourea were used as the raw materials. MWCNTs used for the matrix were synthesized by Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition using Fe-Co/Al2O3 as the catalyst. The obtained nanostructures were characterized by FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, TEM, SEM, TG and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Electrophysical properties of the polymer nanocomposites obtained using different periods of time for sonication were comparably investigated. The average CdS particle diameter was between 3.9-7.9nm as confirmed independently by TEM and XRD. UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed that the obtained nanostructures are appropriate base materials for making optical devices

Cyclone Activity in the Arctic From an Ensemble of Regional Climate Models (Arctic CORDEX)

The ability of state‐of‐the‐art regional climate models to simulate cyclone activity in the Arctic is assessed based on an ensemble of 13 simulations from 11 models from the Arctic‐CORDEX initiative. Some models employ large‐scale spectral nudging techniques. Cyclone characteristics simulated by the ensemble are compared with the results forced by four reanalyses (ERA‐Interim, National Centers for Environmental Prediction‐Climate Forecast System Reanalysis, National Aeronautics and Space Administration‐Modern‐Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2, and Japan Meteorological Agency‐Japanese 55‐year reanalysis) in winter and summer for 1981–2010 period. In addition, we compare cyclone statistics between ERA‐Interim and the Arctic System Reanalysis reanalyses for 2000–2010. Biases in cyclone frequency, intensity, and size over the Arctic are also quantified. Variations in cyclone frequency across the models are partly attributed to the differences in cyclone frequency over land. The variations across the models are largest for small and shallow cyclones for both seasons. A connection between biases in the zonal wind at 200 hPa and cyclone characteristics is found for both seasons. Most models underestimate zonal wind speed in both seasons, which likely leads to underestimation of cyclone mean depth and deep cyclone frequency in the Arctic. In general, the regional climate models are able to represent the spatial distribution of cyclone characteristics in the Arctic but models that employ large‐scale spectral nudging show a better agreement with ERA‐Interim reanalysis than the rest of the models. Trends also exhibit the benefits of nudging. Models with spectral nudging are able to reproduce the cyclone trends, whereas most of the nonnudged models fail to do so. However, the cyclone characteristics and trends are sensitive to the choice of nudged variables

Trends of intense cyclone activity in the Arctic from reanalyses data and regional climate models (Arctic-CORDEX)

peer reviewedThe ability of state-of-the-art regional climate models (RCMs) to simulate the trends of intense cyclone activity in the Arctic is assessed based on an ensemble of 13 simulations from 11 models from the Arctic-CORDEX initiative. Some models employ large-scale spectral nudging techniques. Cyclone characteristics simulated by the ensemble in winter and summer are compared with the results from four reanalyses (ERA-Interim, NCEP-CFSR, NASA-MERRA2 and JMA-JRA55) in winter and summer for 1981-2010 period. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

IMILAST \u2013 a community effort to intercompare extratropical cyclone detection and tracking algorithms: assessing method-related uncertainties.

An intercomparison experiment involving 15 commonly used detection and tracking algorithms for extratropical cyclones reveals those cyclone characteristics that are robust between different schemes and those that differ markedly