SpaceOAR to improve dosimetric outcomes for monotherapy high-dose-rate prostate implantation in a patient with ulcerative colitis.

High-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy is an attractive option for patients receiving definitive radiation therapy for prostate cancer with decreased overall dose to the pelvis. However, ulcerative colitis increases rectal toxicity risk and may be a contraindication. A synthetic hydrogel, SpaceOAR (Augmentix Inc., Waltham, MA, USA), can facilitate the use of HDR brachytherapy for patients where rectal toxicity is a limiting factor. SpaceOAR gel (13.19 cc) was utilized in a monotherapy HDR prostate treatment with Ir-192 under transrectal ultrasound guidance, with the intention of decreasing rectal dose. SpaceOAR gel was inserted transperineally into the patient 18 days prior to the procedure. The HDR brachytherapy procedure was tolerated without incident. All planning constraints were met, and the following dosimetry was achieved: Prostate – V100% = 97.3%, V150% = 35%, V200% = 14.5%; Urethra – V118% = 0%; Rectum – D2 cc = 51.6%, V75% = 0 cc. The rectum-catheter spacing was on average between 6-8 mm. Average spacing for our 10 most recent patients without SpaceOAR was 3 mm. SpaceOAR did not hinder or distort ultrasound imaging or increase treatment time. SpaceOAR successfully increases catheter-rectal wall spacing and decreases rectal dose due to improved planning capabilities, while decreasing the likelihood of rectal perforation. One application of this tool is presented to mitigate potential toxicities associated with ulcerative colitis. At five months, one week, and one day follow-up, the patient reported no bowel issues following HDR brachytherapy. © 2018 Termedia Publishing House Ltd. All Rights Reserved

The Effelsberg-Bonn HI Survey (EBHIS)

The new L-band 7-feed-array at the 100-m telescope in Effelsberg will be used to perform an unbiased fully sampled HI survey of the entire northern hemisphere observing the galactic and extragalactic sky using simultaneously two different backends. The survey will be extremely valuable for a broad range of research topics: study of the low-mass end of the HI mass function (HIMF) in the local volume, environmental and evolutionary effects (as seen in the HIMF), the search for galaxies near low-redshift Lyman-alpha absorbers, and analysis of multiphase and extraplanar gas, HI shells, and ultra-compact high-velocity-clouds.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in proceeding of "Galaxies in the Local Volume" Sydney 8-13 July 200

Which Way Was I Going? Contextual Retrieval Supports the Disambiguation of Well Learned Overlapping Navigational Routes

Groundbreaking research in animals has demonstrated that the hippocampus contains neurons that distinguish betweenoverlapping navigational trajectories. These hippocampal neurons respond selectively to the context of specific episodes despite interference from overlapping memory representations. The present study used functional magnetic resonanceimaging in humans to examine the role of the hippocampus and related structures when participants need to retrievecontextual information to navigate well learned spatial sequences that share common elements. Participants were trained outside the scanner to navigate through 12 virtual mazes from a ground-level first-person perspective. Six of the 12 mazes shared overlapping components. Overlapping mazes began and ended at distinct locations, but converged in the middle to share some hallways with another maze. Non-overlapping mazes did not share any hallways with any other maze. Successful navigation through the overlapping hallways required the retrieval of contextual information relevant to thecurrent navigational episode. Results revealed greater activation during the successful navigation of the overlapping mazes compared with the non-overlapping mazes in regions typically associated with spatial and episodic memory, including thehippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex. When combined with previous research, the current findings suggest that an anatomically integrated system including the hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortexis critical for the contextually dependent retrieval of well learned overlapping navigational routes

SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION IN THE FOOD AND CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRIES

The interorganizational structures necessary to implement and achieve the logistical performance improvements identified in the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) initiative and related supply chain management concepts are difficult to develop. Firms continue to struggle to implement integrated programs and techniques, particularly with respect to changing operating structures, relationships, and mindsets to facilitate true supply chain integration. This research explores the logistical strategies and structures used by selected food and consumer goods firms to integrate their supply chains. It illustrates effective integration strategies and identifies critical success factors and barriers to successful ECR implementation. A framework is used to guide managers in developing the competencies essential to integrating the supply chain and to establishing the relationships necessary to operate in an ECR environment. The framework, entitled Supply Chain 2000, depicts supply chain value creation as achieving synchronization and coordination across four critical supply chain flows: product/service; market accommodation; information; and cash.Industrial Organization,

Criteria for Approximating Certain Microgravity Flow Boiling Characteristics in Earth Gravity

The forces governing flow boiling, aside from system pressure, are buoyancy, liquid momentum, interfacial surface tensions, and liquid viscosity. Guidance for approximating certain aspects of the flow boiling process in microgravity can be obtained in Earth gravity research by the imposition of a liquid velocity parallel to a flat heater surface in the inverted position, horizontal, or nearly horizontal, by having buoyancy hold the heated liquid and vapor formed close to the heater surface. Bounds on the velocities of interest are obtained from several dimensionless numbers: a two-phase Richardson number, a two-phase Weber number, and a Bond number. For the fluid used in the experimental work here, liquid velocities in the range U = 5-10cm/sec are judged to be critical for changes in behavior of the flow boiling process. Experimental results are presented for flow boiling heat transfer, concentrating on orientations that provide the largest reductions in buoyancy parallel to the heater surface, varying ±5 degrees from facing horizontal downward. Results are presented for velocity, orientation, and subcooling effects on nucleation, dryout, and heat transfer. Two different heater surfaces were used: a thin gold film on a polished quartz substrate, acting as a heater and resistance thermometer, and a gold-plated copper heater. Both transient and steady measurements of surface heat flux and superheat were made with the quartz heater; only steady measurements were possible with the copper heater. R-113 was the fluid used; the velocity varied over the interval 4-16cm/sec; bulk liquid subcooling varied over 2-20°C; heat flux varied over 4-8W/cm 2 .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73628/1/j.1749-6632.2002.tb05926.x.pd

Orientation and Related Buoyancy Effects in Low-velocity Flow Boiling

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73459/1/j.1749-6632.2009.04081.x.pd

Post-drought decline of the Amazon carbon sink

Amazon forests have experienced frequent and severe droughts in the past two decades. However, little is known about the large-scale legacy of droughts on carbon stocks and dynamics of forests. Using systematic sampling of forest structure measured by LiDAR waveforms from 2003 to 2008, here we show a significant loss of carbon over the entire Amazon basin at a rate of 0.3 ± 0.2 (95% CI) PgC yr−1 after the 2005 mega-drought, which continued persistently over the next 3 years (2005–2008). The changes in forest structure, captured by average LiDAR forest height and converted to above ground biomass carbon density, show an average loss of 2.35 ± 1.80 MgC ha−1 a year after (2006) in the epicenter of the drought. With more frequent droughts expected in future, forests of Amazon may lose their role as a robust sink of carbon, leading to a significant positive climate feedback and exacerbating warming trends.The research was partially supported by NASA Terrestrial Ecology grant at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and partial funding to the UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability from previous National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Science Foundation grants. The authors thank NSIDC, BYU, USGS, and NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) for making their data available. (NASA Terrestrial Ecology grant at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology)Published versio

Dryout and Rewetting in the Pool Boiling Experiment Flown on STS-72 (PBE-2 B) and STS-77 (PBE-2 A)

Experiments were conducted in the microgravity of space in which a pool of liquid (R-113), initially at a precisely defined pressure and temperature, is subjected to a step imposed heat flux from a semi-transparent thin-film heater forming part of one wall of the container such that boiling is initiated and maintained for a defined period of time at a constant pressure level. A total of nine tests were conducted at three levels of heat flux and three levels of subcooling in each of the two space experiments in a GAS canister on the STS-77, -72, respectively. Three (3) modes of propagation of boiling across the heater surface and subsequent vapor bubble growths were observed, in addition to the two (2) modes observed in the previous microgravity pool boiling space flights on STS-47, -57, and -60. Of particular interest were the extremely dynamic or "explosive" growths, which were determined to be the consequence of the large increase in the liquid-vapor interface area associated with the appearance of a corrugated or rough interface. Predictions of circumstances for its onset have been carried out. Assumptions were necessary regarding the character of disturbances necessary for the instabilities to grow. Also, a new vapor bubble phenomena was observed in which small vapor bubbles migrated toward a larger bubble, eventually coalescing with this larger bubble. The heat transfer was enhanced approximately 30% as a result of these migrating bubbles, which is believed to be a vapor bubble manifestation of Marangoni convection and/or molecular momentum effects, sometimes referred to as vapor recoil. The circumstances of heat flux and liquid subcooling necessary to produce heater surface dryout for an initially stagnant liquid subjected to an imposed heat flux have been more closely identified

Well-to-wheel analysis of direct and indirect use of natural gas in passenger vehicles

AbstractThe abundance of natural gas in the United States because of the number of existing natural gas reserves and the recent advances in extracting unconventional reserves has been one of the main drivers for low natural gas prices. A question arises of what is the optimal use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. Is it more efficient to use natural gas in a stationary power application to generate electricity to charge electric vehicles, compress natural gas for onboard combustion in vehicles, or re-form natural gas into a denser transportation fuel? This study investigates the well-to-wheels energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from various natural gas to transportation fuel pathways and compares the results to conventional gasoline vehicles and electric vehicles using the US electrical generation mix. Specifically, natural gas vehicles running on compressed natural gas are compared against electric vehicles charged with electricity produced solely from natural gas combustion in stationary power plants. The results of the study show that the dependency on the combustion efficiency of natural gas in stationary power can outweigh the inherent efficiency of electric vehicles, thus highlighting the importance of examining energy use on a well-to-wheels basis

A 10-year prediagnostic follow-up study shows that serum RNA signals are highly dynamic in lung carcinogenesis

The majority of lung cancer (LC) patients are diagnosed at a late stage, and survival is poor. Circulating RNA molecules are known to have a role in cancer; however, their involvement before diagnosis remains an open question. In this study, we investigated circulating RNA dynamics in prediagnostic LC samples, focusing on smokers, to identify if and when disease-related signals can be detected in serum. We sequenced small RNAs in 542 serum LC samples donated up to 10 years before diagnosis and 519 matched cancer-free controls coming from 905 individuals in the Janus Serum Bank. This sample size provided sufficient statistical power to independently analyze time to diagnosis, stage, and histology. The results showed dynamic changes in differentially expressed circulating RNAs specific to LC histology and stage. The greatest number of differentially expressed RNAs was identified around 7 years before diagnosis for early-stage LC and 1–4 years prior to diagnosis for locally advanced and advanced-stage LC, regardless of LC histology. Furthermore, NSCLC and SCLC histologies have distinct prediagnostic signals. The majority of differentially expressed RNAs were associated with cancer-related pathways. The dynamic RNA signals pinpointed different phases of tumor development over time. Stage-specific RNA profiles may be associated with tumor aggressiveness. Our results improve the molecular understanding of carcinogenesis. They indicate substantial opportunity for screening and improved treatment and will guide further research on early detection of LC. However, the dynamic nature of the RNA signals also suggests challenges for prediagnostic biomarker discovery