164. 1H-MR Spectroscopy of normal brain tissue before and after postoperative radiotherapy for primary brain tumors

PurposeThe aim of the study was to reveal the impact of postoperative radiotherapy (pRT) on normai brain tissue metabolism and find out, if proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1 HMRS) can help in delineating tumor recurrence area.Methods and MaterialSpectra of 43 patients treated with pRT for glial tumors assessed by 1H-MRS were analyzed. Patients were treated with conformal 3D techniques using 6–20 MV photons to the total dose dr 60 Gy given in 30 fractions. Control group consisted of spectra registered for 30 healthy volunteers. Spectra were taken from tumor bed and from control region before pRT and from a 3 uninvolved regions 9–12 months after the end of pRT. Voxels were located in the region of low, medium and high total dose. Relative intensities of the signals due to N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline based compounds (Cho), mio-lnositol (ml), lactate (Lac) and lipids (Lip) were obtained. The statistical difference between means was calculated using Mann-Whitney U-test for independent samples or paired Wilcoxon test for the different dose levels for one patient.ResultsSpectra taken after pRT were significantly different from those obtained from healthy volunteers and those acquired before radiotherapy. The lactate and lipids signals were strong and not correlated with absorbed dose. NAA/Cr ratios were significantly lower than before pRT even for the low dose regions. These differences were increasing with radiation dose. Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA ratios increased significantly in medium and high dose area.Conclusion1H-MRS can not help in delineating tumor recurrence area after pRT. Surgery and pRT cause alteration of brain metabolism even in regions far from the postoperative tumor bed that received relatively low total radiation dose

Synthesis and Properties of High Tilted Antiferroelectric Esters with Partially Fluorinated Alkoxyalkoxy Terminal Chains

Novel chiral esters with partially fluorinated alkoxyalkoxy terminal chains are described. Their phase transition temperatures, enthalpies, and electrooptical properties are reported. A helical pitch in pure compounds and their mixtures based on selective reflection of light is also characterized

One Solar Cycle of Heliosphere Observations with the Interstellar Boundary Explorer: Energetic Neutral Hydrogen Atoms Observed with IBEX-Lo from 10 eV to 2 keV

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is a NASA satellite in Earth orbit, dedicated to observing both interstellar neutral atoms entering the heliosphere and energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) from the interstellar boundaries from roughly 10 eV to 6 keV. This work presents the averaged maps, energy spectra, and temporal variability of heliospheric ENA intensities measured with the IBEX-Lo instrument at 1 au at energies between 10 eV and 2 keV, covering one entire solar cycle from 2009 through 2019. These results expand the range in time and energy for studying the globally distributed ENA flux and the IBEX Ribbon. The observed ENA intensities exceed model predictions, in particular below 500 eV. Moreover, the ENA intensities between 50–200 eV energy show an unexpected rise and fall around the year 2015 in most sky regions

Electrical sensing of the dynamical structure of the planetary boundary layer

Turbulent and convective processes within the planetary boundary layer are responsible for the transport of moisture, momentum and particulate matter, but are also important in determining the electrical charge transport of the lower atmosphere. This paper presents the first high resolution vertical charge profiles during fair weather conditions obtained with instrumented radiosonde balloons over Alqueva, Portugal during the summer of 2014. The short intervals (4 hours) between balloon flights enabled the diurnal variation in the vertical profile of charge within the boundary layer to be examined in detail, with much smaller charges (up to 20pCm-3) observed during stable night time periods than during the day. Following sunrise, the evolution of the charge profile was complex, demonstrating charged ultrafine aerosol, lofted upwards by daytime convection. This produced charge up to 92pCm-3 up to 500m above the surface. The diurnal variation in the integrated column of charge above the site tracked closely with the diurnal variation in near surface charge as derived from a nearby electric field mill, confirming the importance of the link between surface charge generation processes and aloft. The local aerosol vertical profiles were estimated using backscatter measurements from a collocated ceilometer. These were utilised in a simple model to calculate the charge expected due to vertical conduction current flow in the global electric circuit through aerosol layers. The analysis presented here demonstrates that charge can provide detailed information about boundary layer transport, particularly in regard to the ultrafine aerosol structure, that conventional thermodynamic and ceilometer measurements do not

Heliolatitude and time variations of solar wind structure from in situ measurements and interplanetary scintillation observations

The 3D structure of solar wind and its evolution in time is needed for heliospheric modeling and interpretation of energetic neutral atoms observations. We present a model to retrieve the solar wind structure in heliolatitude and time using all available and complementary data sources. We determine the heliolatitude structure of solar wind speed on a yearly time grid over the past 1.5 solar cycles based on remote-sensing observations of interplanetary scintillations, in situ out-of-ecliptic measurements from Ulysses, and in situ in-ecliptic measurements from the OMNI-2 database. Since the in situ information on the solar wind density structure out of ecliptic is not available apart from the Ulysses data, we derive correlation formulae between solar wind speed and density and use the information on the solar wind speed from interplanetary scintillation observations to retrieve the 3D structure of solar wind density. With the variations of solar wind density and speed in time and heliolatitude available we calculate variations in solar wind flux, dynamic pressure and charge exchange rate in the approximation of stationary H atoms.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic