intraoperative Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer

Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) for early stage breast cancer is a technique for partial breast irradiation. There are several technologies in clinical use to perform breast IORT. Regardless of technique, IORT generally refers to the delivery of a single dose of radiation to the periphery of the tumor bed in the immediate intraoperative time frame, although some protocols have performed IORT as a second procedure. There are two large prospective randomized trials establishing the safety and efficacy of breast IORT in early stage breast cancer patients with sufficient follow-up time on thousands of women. The advantages of IORT for partial breast irradiation include: direct visualization of the target tissue ensuring treatment of the high-risk tissue and eliminating the risk of marginal miss; the use of a single dose coordinated with the necessary surgical excision thereby reduc- ing omission of radiation and the selection of mastectomy for women without access to a radiotherapy facility or unable to undergo several weeks of daily radiation; favorable toxicity profiles; patient convenience and cost savings; radiobiological and tumor micro- environment conditions which lead to enhanced tumor control. The main disadvantage of IORT is the lack of final pathologic information on the tumor size, histology, margins, and nodal status. When unexpected findings on final pathology such as positive margins or positive sentinel nodes predict a higher risk of local or regional recurrence, additional whole breast radiation may be indicated, thereby reducing some of the convenience and low-toxicity advantages of sole IORT. However, IORT as a tumor bed boost has also been studied and appears to be safe with acceptable toxicity. IORT has potential efficacy advantages related to overall survival related to reduced cardiopulmonary radia- tion doses. It may also be very useful in specific situations, such as prior to oncoplastic reconstruction to improve accuracy of adjuvant radiation delivery, or when used as a boost in higher risk patients to improve tumor control. Ongoing international clinical trials are studying these uses and follow-up data are accumulating on completed studies

Kissing Thro\u27 the Bars

‘Twas in a grove I met my love, One soft and balmy night; I own’d my flame, she did the same, And trembled with delight; When at her gate we parted late, I bless’d my lucky stars, And stole a kiss to seal our bliss, Between the wicket bars. I went again but sought in vain, The grove my love to find; I fear’d the worst and yet I durst Not think she was unkind; To solve my fate I sought the gate, And there Oh! Happy stars, I found and press’d her to my breast, And kiss’d her thro’ the bars. I ask’d her why she did not fly, Like me on wings of love, To where our vows beneath the boughs, Were whisper’d in the grove; She said of late the garden gate, Seem’d nearer to the stars, The hint was plain, and so again I kiss’d her thro’ the bars. But kissing leads to graver deeds, And constant visions brings, Of golden show’rs and orange flow’rs, White gloves and wedding rings, And now our fate no envious gate, With wicked wicket mars, For wedded fast, we’ve learn’d to last To kiss without the bars

Transportation Beyond 2000: Technologies Needed for Engineering Design

The purpose of the workshop was to acquaint the staff of the NASA Langley Research Center with the broad spectrum of transportation challenges and concepts foreseen within the next 20 years. The hope is that the material presented at the workshop and contained in this document will stimulate innovative high-payoff research directed towards the efficiency of future transportation systems. The workshop included five sessions designed to stress the factors that will lead to a revolution in the way we will travel in the 21st century. The first session provides the historical background and a general perspective for future transportation, including emerging transportation alternatives such as working at a distance. Personal travel is the subject of Session Two. The third session looks at mass transportation, including advanced rail vehicles, advanced commuter aircraft, and advanced transport aircraft. The fourth session addresses some of the technologies required for the above revolutionary transportation systems to evolve. The workshop concluded with a wrap-up panel discussion, Session Five. The topics presented herein all have viable technical components and are at a stage in their development that, with sufficient engineering research, one or more of these could make a significant impact on transportation and our social structure

How one institution overcame the challenges to start an MRI-based brachytherapy program for cervical cancer

Purpose : Adaptive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based brachytherapy results in improved local control and decreased high-grade toxicities compared to historical controls. Incorporating MRI into the workflow of a department can be a major challenge when initiating an MRI-based brachytherapy program. This project aims to describe the goals, challenges, and solutions when initiating an MRI-based cervical cancer brachytherapy program at our institution. Material and methods : We describe the 6-month multi-disciplinary planning phase to initiate an MRI-based brachytherapy program. We describe the specific challenges that were encountered prior to treating our first patient. Results : We describe the solutions that were realized and executed to solve the challenges that we faced to establish our MRI-based brachytherapy program. We emphasize detailed coordination of care, planning, and communication to make the workflow feasible. We detail the imaging and radiation physics solutions to safely deliver MRI-based brachytherapy. The focus of these efforts is always on the delivery of optimal, state of the art patient care and treatment delivery within the context of our available institutional resources. Conclusions : Previous publications have supported a transition to MRI-based brachytherapy, and this can be safely and efficiently accomplished as described in this manuscript

Synergistic Airframe-Propulsion Interactions and Integrations: A White Paper Prepared by the 1996-1997 Langley Aeronautics Technical Committee

This white paper addresses the subject of Synergistic Airframe-Propulsion interactions and integrations (SnAPII). The benefits of SnAPII have not been as extensively explored. This is due primarily to the separateness of design process for airframes and propulsion systems, with only unfavorable interactions addressed. The question 'How to design these two systems in such a way that the airframe needs the propulsion and the propulsion needs the airframe?' is the fundamental issue addressed in this paper. Successful solutions to this issue depend on appropriate technology ideas. This paper first details some ten technologies that have yet to make it to commercial products (with limited exceptions) and that could be utilized in a synergistic manner. Then these technologies, either alone or in combination, are applied to both a conventional twin-engine transonic transport and to an unconventional transport, the Blended Wing Body. Lastly, combinations of these technologies are applied to configuration concepts to assess the possibilities of success relative to five of the ten NASA aeronautics goals. These assessments are subjective, but they point the way in which the applied technologies could work together for some break-through benefits

Fabrication and in vitro deployment of a laser-activated shape memory polymer vascular stent

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vascular stents are small tubular scaffolds used in the treatment of arterial stenosis (narrowing of the vessel). Most vascular stents are metallic and are deployed either by balloon expansion or by self-expansion. A shape memory polymer (SMP) stent may enhance flexibility, compliance, and drug elution compared to its current metallic counterparts. The purpose of this study was to describe the fabrication of a laser-activated SMP stent and demonstrate photothermal expansion of the stent in an <it>in vitro </it>artery model.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A novel SMP stent was fabricated from thermoplastic polyurethane. A solid SMP tube formed by dip coating a stainless steel pin was laser-etched to create the mesh pattern of the finished stent. The stent was crimped over a fiber-optic cylindrical light diffuser coupled to an infrared diode laser. Photothermal actuation of the stent was performed in a water-filled mock artery.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At a physiological flow rate, the stent did not fully expand at the maximum laser power (8.6 W) due to convective cooling. However, under zero flow, simulating the technique of endovascular flow occlusion, complete laser actuation was achieved in the mock artery at a laser power of ~8 W.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have shown the design and fabrication of an SMP stent and a means of light delivery for photothermal actuation. Though further studies are required to optimize the device and assess thermal tissue damage, photothermal actuation of the SMP stent was demonstrated.</p

Comparative Survival of Asian and White Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Men Treated With Docetaxel

There are few data regarding disparities in overall survival (OS) between Asian and white men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). We compared OS of Asian and white mCRPC men treated in phase III clinical trials with docetaxel and prednisone (DP) or a DP-containing regimen. Individual participant data from 8820 men with mCRPC randomly assigned on nine phase III trials to receive DP or a DP-containing regimen were combined. Men enrolled in these trials had a diagnosis of prostate adenocarcinoma. The median overall survival was 18.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 17.4 to 22.1 months) and 21.2 months (95% CI = 20.8 to 21.7 months) for Asian and white men, respectively. The pooled hazard ratio for death for Asian men compared with white men, adjusted for baseline prognostic factors, was 0.95 (95% CI = 0.84 to 1.09), indicating that Asian men were not at increased risk of death. This large analysis showed that Asian men did not have shorter OS duration than white men treated with docetaxel

Registered Ship Notes

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Comparison of gastrointestinal pH in cystic fibrosis and healthy subjects

The primary objective of this study was to define the pH conditions under which supplemental pancreatic enzyme preparations must function in the upper gastrointestinal tract. The hypothesis was that normal or greater gastric acid output in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), combined with low pancreatic bicarbonate output, results in an acidic duodenal pH, compromising both dosage-form performance and enzyme activity. Gastrointestinal pH profiles were obtained in 10 CF and 10 healthy volunteers under fasting and postprandial conditions. A radiotelemetric monitoring method, the Heidelberg capsule, was used to continuously monitor pH. Postprandial duodenal pH was lower in CF than in healthy subjects, especially in the first postprandial hour (mean time greater than pH 6 was 5 min in CF, 11 min in healthy subjects, P <0.05). Based on the dissolution pH profiles of current enteric-coated pancreatic enzyme products, the duodenal postprandial pH in CF subjects may be too acidic to permit rapid dissolution of current enteric-coated dosage forms. However, the pH was above 4 more than 90% of the time on the average, suggesting that irreversible lipase inactivation in the duodenum is not likely to be a significant limitation to enzyme efficacy. Overall results suggest that slow dissolution of pH-sensitive coatings, rather than enzyme inactivation, may contribute to the failure of enteric-coated enzyme supplements to normalize fat absorption.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44403/1/10620_2005_Article_BF01296029.pd

Novel Loci for Adiponectin Levels and Their Influence on Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Traits : A Multi-Ethnic Meta-Analysis of 45,891 Individuals

J. Kaprio, S. Ripatti ja M.-L. Lokki työryhmien jäseniä.Peer reviewe