On the use of Kodak CR film for quality assurance of needle loading in I-125 seed prostate brachytherapy

Copyright © 2007 ACPSEM. All rights reserved.The document attached has been archived with permission from the publisher.Low dose rate brachytherapy using implanted I-125 seeds as a monotherapy for prostate cancer is now in use in many hospitals. In contrast to fractionated brachytherapy treatments, where the effect of incorrect positioning of the source in one treatment raction can be diminished by correcting the position in subsequent fractions, the I-125 seed implant is permanent, making correct positioning of the seeds in the prostate essential. The seeds are inserted into the prostate using needles. Correct configuration of seeds in the needles is essential in order to deliver the planned treatment. A comparison of an autoradiograph obtained by exposing film to the seed-loaded needles with the patient treatment plan is a valuable quality assurance tool. However, the time required to sufficiently expose Kodak XOMAT V film, currently used in this department is significant. This technical note presents the use of Kodak CR film for acquisition of the radiograph. The digital radiograph can be acquired significantly faster, has superior signal-to-noise ratio and contrast and has the usual benefits of digital film, e.g. a processing time which is shorter than that required for non-digital film, the possibility of image manipulation, possibility of paper printing and electronic storage.Lotte S. Fog, Ralph Nicholls and Tim van Door

"Analyses of black Aspergillus species of peanut and maize for ochratoxins and fumonisins," a comment on: J. Food Prot. 77(5):805-813 (2014).

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Lactobacillus acidophilus Metabolizes Dietary Plant Glucosides and Externalizes Their Bioactive Phytochemicals

ABSTRACT Therapeutically active glycosylated phytochemicals are ubiquitous in the human diet. The human gut microbiota (HGM) modulates the bioactivities of these compounds, which consequently affect host physiology and microbiota composition. Despite a significant impact on human health, the key players and the underpinning mechanisms of this interplay remain uncharacterized. Here, we demonstrate the growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus on mono- and diglucosyl dietary plant glycosides (PGs) possessing small aromatic aglycones. Transcriptional analysis revealed the upregulation of host interaction genes and identified two loci that encode phosphotransferase system (PTS) transporters and phospho-β-glucosidases, which mediate the uptake and deglucosylation of these compounds, respectively. Inactivating these transport and hydrolysis genes abolished or severely reduced growth on PG, establishing the specificity of the loci to distinct groups of PGs. Following intracellular deglucosylation, the aglycones of PGs are externalized, rendering them available for absorption by the host or for further modification by other microbiota taxa. The PG utilization loci are conserved in L. acidophilus and closely related lactobacilli, in correlation with versatile growth on these compounds. Growth on the tested PG appeared more common among human gut lactobacilli than among counterparts from other ecologic niches. The PGs that supported the growth of L. acidophilus were utilized poorly or not at all by other common HGM strains, underscoring the metabolic specialization of L. acidophilus. These findings highlight the role of human gut L. acidophilus and select lactobacilli in the bioconversion of glycoconjugated phytochemicals, which is likely to have an important impact on the HGM and human host. IMPORTANCE Thousands of therapeutically active plant-derived compounds are widely present in berries, fruits, nuts, and beverages like tea and wine. The bioactivity and bioavailability of these compounds, which are typically glycosylated, are altered by microbial bioconversions in the human gut. Remarkably, little is known about the bioconversion of PGs by the gut microbial community, despite the significance of this metabolic facet to human health. Our work provides the first molecular insights into the metabolic routes of diet relevant and therapeutically active PGs by Lactobacillus acidophilus and related human gut lactobacilli. This taxonomic group is adept at metabolizing the glucoside moieties of select PG and externalizes their aglycones. The study highlights an important role of lactobacilli in the bioconversion of dietary PG and presents a framework from which to derive molecular insights into their metabolism by members of the human gut microbiota

Photoproduction of eta-mesic 3He

The photoproduction of eta-mesic 3He has been investigated using the TAPS calorimeter at the Mainz Microtron accelerator facility MAMI. The total inclusive cross section for the reaction gamma+3He->eta+X has been measured for photon energies from threshold to 820 MeV. The total and angular differential coherent eta cross sections have been extracted up to energies of 745 MeV. A resonance-like structure just above the eta production threshold with an isotropic angular distribution suggests the existence of a resonant quasi-bound state. This is supported by studies of a competing decay channel of such a quasi-bound eta-mesic nucleus into pi^0+p+X. A binding energy of (-4.4+-4.2) MeV and a width of (25.6+-6.1) MeV is deduced for the quasi-bound eta-mesic state in 3He.Comment: v1: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PRL; v2: minor revisions and corrections, new figure added, 4 pages, 5 figs; v3: minor change

The reaction γp→π∘γ′p\gamma p \to \pi^\circ \gamma^\prime p and the magnetic dipole moment of the Δ+(1232)\Delta^+(1232) resonance

The reaction $\gamma p \to \pi^\circ \gamma^\prime p$ has been measured with the TAPS calorimeter at the Mainz Microtron accelerator facility MAMI for energies between $\sqrt{s}$ = 1221--1331 MeV. Cross sections differential in angle and energy have been determined for all particles in the final state in three bins of the excitation energy. This reaction channel provides access to the magnetic dipole moment of the $\Delta^{+}(1232)$ resonance and, for the first time, a value of $\mu_{\Delta^+} = (2.7_{-1.3}^{+1.0}(stat.) \pm 1.5 (syst.) \pm 3(theo.)) \mu_N$ has been extracted

In-medium modifications of the ππ\pi\pi interaction in photon-induced reactions

Differential cross sections of the reactions $(\gamma,\pi^\circ\pi^\circ)$ and $(\gamma,\pi^\circ\pi^++\pi^\circ\pi^-)$ have been measured for several nuclei ($^1$H,$^{12}$C, and $^{\rm nat}$Pb) at an incident-photon energy of $E_{\gamma}$=400-460 MeV at the tagged-photon facility at MAMI-B using the TAPS spectrometer. A significant nuclear-mass dependence of the $\pi\pi$ invariant-mass distribution is found in the $\pi^\circ\pi^\circ$ channel. This dependence is not observed in the $\pi^\circ\pi^{+/-}$ channel and is consistent with an in-medium modification of the $\pi\pi$ interaction in the $I$=$J$=0 channel. The data are compared to $\pi$-induced measurements and to calculations within a chiral-unitary approach

Photoproduction of pi0-mesons from nuclei

Photoproduction of neutral pions from nuclei (carbon, calcium, niobium, lead) has been studied for incident photon energies from 200 MeV to 800 MeV with the TAPS detector using the Glasgow photon tagging spectrometer at the Mainz MAMI accelerator. Data were obtained for the inclusive photoproduction of neutral pions and the partial channels of quasifree single pi0, double pi0, and pi0pi+/- photoproduction. They have been analyzed in terms of the in-medium behavior of nucleon resonances and the pion - nucleus interaction. They are compared to earlier measurements from the deuteron and to the predictions of a Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) transport model for photon induced pion production from nuclei.Comment: 15 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in EPJ

Diversity in Secondary Metabolites Including Mycotoxins from Strains of <i>Aspergillus </i>Section <i>Nigri </i>Isolated from Raw Cashew Nuts from Benin, West Africa

<p>In a previous study, raw cashew kernels were assayed for the fungal contamination focusin on strains belonging to the genus Aspergillus and on aflatoxins producers. These sample showed high contamination with Aspergillus section Nigri species and absence o aflatoxins. To investigate the diversity of secondary metabolites, including mycotoxins, th species of A. section Nigri may produce and thus threaten to contaminate the raw cashe kernels, 150 strains were isolated from cashew samples and assayed for their productio of secondary metabolites using liquid chromatography high resolution mass spectrometr (LC-HRMS). Seven species of black Aspergilli were isolated based on morphological an chemical identification: A.Tubingensis (44%), A. niger (32%), A. brasiliensis (10%), A. carbonariu (8.7%), A. luchuensis (2.7%), A. aculeatus (2%) and A. aculeatinus (0.7%). Fro these, 45 metabolites and their isomers were identified. Aurasperone and pyranonigrin A produced by all species excluding A. aculeatus and A. aculeatinus, were most prevalen and were encountered in 146 (97.3%) and 145 (95.7%) isolates, respectively. Three mycotoxin groups were detected: fumonisins (B2 and B4) (2.7%) ochratoxin A (13.3%), an secalonic acids (2%), indicating that these mycotoxins could occur in raw cashew nuts Thirty strains of black Aspergilli were randomly sampled for verification of species identit based on sequences of β-Tubulin and calmodulin genes. Among them, 27 isolates wer positive to the primers used and 11 were identified as A. niger, 7 as A.Tubingensis, 6 as A carbonarius, 2 as A. luchuensis and 1 as A. welwitschiae confirming the species names a based on morphology and chemical features. These strains clustered in 5 clades in A. sectio Nigri. Chemical profile clustering also showed also 5 groups confirming the speciespecific metabolites production.</p

West-Central Asia: a comparative analysis of students’ trajectories in Russia (Moscow) from the 1980s and China (Yiwu) from the 2000s

Through an exploration of oral history and ethnographic material, this article makes a comparative examination of the life-trajectories of students from Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan who studied in Russia (Moscow) during the late 1980s, and from Tajikistan, Iran, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia who studied in China in the 2000s. In contrast to the cohort of students in Moscow who were mainly men from places with relatively amicable relations with the USSR, the female students of Muslim background from West and Central Asia regarded China as a place where they could pursue fulfilling forms of economic and personal autonomy. By comparing these two groups of international students, this article sheds light into the nature of historical, geographical and geopolitical connections and disconnections between West-Central Asia, Eurasia (especially Russia) and East Asia (especially China). By centring its attention to the demise of Soviet/Russian education and the emergence of China as a figure of economic prosperity, the article theorises West-Central Asia as a particular arena of interaction suitable to comprehend the networks, ‘third spaces’ or zones of interaction (e.g. Moscow and Yiwu), and forms of connection fostered by these students’ trajectories