Analysis of Superconducting Microstructures: Critical Temperature of Two-Dimensional Structures

Critical temperatures of two-dimensional microstructures with superconducting proximity effect in the dirty limit are evaluated for various geometrical constructions. As a numerical method, the finite element method is applied. Guidelines in estimating critical temperatures are given for the case where the decay of superconducting order parameter is either sufficiently slow or fast in comparison with the scale length of the structure

Effect of Lighting Using Yellow LEDs Designed for Moth Control on Flowering Response of Chrysanthemum

In order to develop a single light source which can be used both for moth control and flower inhibition in chrysanthemum, effects of blue (463nm), green (519nm), yellow green (576nm), yellow (597nm) and red light (646nm) LEDs on the flowering and the cut flower characteristics of chrysanthemum were investigated. As irradiance increased, the days to flower budding increased except under blue light. Yellow green and yellow LED had flower inhibiting effect equivalent to red LED. There was no difference in the crown bud number and the occurrence of abnormal flower irrespective of the light quality and irradiance. Next the, effects of night break and continuous lighting treatment by yellow LED on the flowering and cut flower characteristics of the chrysanthemum were investigated. There were significant differences in the cut flower characteristics except for the blade number on the neck in these treatments ; there was no practical problem with night break or continuous lighting. The minimum irradiance strength enough for flower inhibition in the continuous lighting treatment was about 80 mW m−2 that was half in night break treatment. Therefore, it is considered that yellow LED can be used as single light source for both moth control and flower inhibition in chrysanthemum.キクの防蛾と開花抑制に両用できる単一の光源を開発するために，青（ピーク波長：463nm），緑（519nm），黄緑（576nm），黄（597nm）および赤色（646nm）LED光が開花および切り花形質に及ぼす影響を調査した．青色光を除いて，放射照度が大きいほど発蕾までの日数が大きくなった．黄緑および黄色光は，赤色光とほぼ同等の開花抑制作用を有していた．いずれの光質および放射照度に関わらず，やなぎ葉数や花弁の展開異常の発生に差は見られなかった．次に，黄色LED光による暗期中断と終夜照明による影響を調査した．暗期中断と終夜照明では，やなぎ葉数を除く切り花形質に有意な差が見られたが，実用上の問題はなかった．開花抑制に必要となる放射照度の下限値は，終夜照明では約80mW m-2であり，暗期中断のほぼ半分であった．以上のことから，黄色LED光は，単一の光源としてキクの防蛾と開花抑制に両用することが可能であった

Radiotherapy quality assurance review in a multi-center randomized trial of limited-disease small cell lung cancer: the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) trial 0202

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to analyze the radiotherapy (RT) quality assurance (QA) assessment in Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) 0202, which was the first trial that required on-going RT QA review in the JCOG.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>JCOG 0202 was a multi-center phase III trial comparing two types of consolidation chemotherapy after concurrent chemoradiotherapy for limited-disease small cell lung cancer. RT requirements included a total dose of 45 Gy/30 fx (bis in die, BID/twice a day) without heterogeneity correction; elective nodal irradiation (ENI) of 30 Gy; at least 1 cm margin around the clinical target volume (CTV); and interfraction interval of 6 hours or longer. Dose constraints were defined in regards to the spinal cord and the lung. The QA assessment was classed as per protocol (PP), deviation acceptable (DA), violation unacceptable (VU), and incomplete/not evaluable (I/NE).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 283 cases were accrued, of which 204 were fully evaluable, excluding 79 I/NE cases. There were 18 VU in gross tumor volume (GTV) coverage (8% of 238 evaluated); 4 VU and 23 DA in elective nodal irradiation (ENI) (2% and 9% of 243 evaluated, respectively). Some VU were observed in organs at risk (1 VU in the lung and 5 VU in the spinal cord). Overall RT compliance (PP + DA) was 92% (187 of 204 fully evaluable). Comparison between the former and latter halves of the accrued cases revealed that the number of VU and DA had decreased.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of the RT QA assessment in JCOG 0202 seemed to be acceptable, providing reliable results.</p

In Vitro Rooting and Multiple Buds Formation from Asparagus Lateral Buds with Ancymidol

アスパラガス側芽培養での発根促進と多芽体形成のための培地条件を検討した.供試材料として‘メリーワシントン500W’の播種後15-20日令植物の側芽を用いた.側芽を5μM ancymidolと5% ショ糖添加MS培地で2月間培養したところ,生存個体の90% が発根した.一方,3.9～39μM ancymido1と3% ショ糖添加MS培地で2月間培養後に多芽体が形成した11.7μM ancymidolでは生存個体の70% と最も高率に形成し,それからは12.7本の苗条が伸長したが,そのうちの一部分は水浸状であった.正常な植物体は,0.5～10μM ancymidolと5% ショ糖を添加したMS培地で2月間培養することにより得られ,特に5～10μMancymidol添加により植え付け外植体の約70%が正常個体となった.また,5～50μM ancymidolと5% ショ糖を添加したMS培地で2月間培養すると多芽体の形成が見られ,それらをMS培地に移植することにより苗条の伸長が見られた

Changes in volume of stage I non-small-cell lung cancer during stereotactic body radiotherapy

BACKGROUND: The overall treatment time of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for non-small-cell lung cancer is usually 3 to over 10 days. If it is longer than 7 days, tumor volume expansion during SBRT may jeopardize the target dose coverage. In this study, volume change of stage I NSCLC during SBRT was investigated. METHODS: Fifty patients undergoing 4-fraction SBRT with a total dose of 48 Gy (n = 36) or 52 Gy (n = 14) were analyzed. CT was taken for registration at the first and third SBRT sessions with an interval of 7 days in all patients. Patient age was 29–87 years (median, 77), and 39 were men. Histology was adenocarcinoma in 28, squamous cell carcinoma in 17, and others in 5. According to the UICC 7th classification, T-stage was T1a in 9 patients, T1b in 27, and T2a in 14. Tumor volumes on the first and 8th days were determined on CT images taken during the exhalation phase, by importing the data into the Dr. View/LINAX image analysis system. After determining the optimal threshold for distinguishing tumor from pulmonary parenchyma, the region above -250 HU was automatically extracted and the tumor volumes were calculated. RESULTS: The median tumor volume was 7.3 ml (range, 0.5-35.7) on day 1 and 7.5 ml (range, 0.5-35.7) on day 8. Volume increase of over 10% was observed in 16 cases (32%); increases by >10 to ≤20%, >20 to ≤30%, and >30% were observed in 9, 5, and 2 cases, respectively. The increase in the estimated tumor diameter was over 2 mm in 3 cases and 1–2 mm in 6. A decrease of 10% or more was seen in 3 cases. Among the 16 tumors showing a volume increase of over 10%, T-stage was T1a in 2 patients, T1b in 9, and T2a in 5. Histology was adenocarcinoma in 10 patients, squamous cell carcinoma in 5, and others in 1. CONCLUSIONS: Volume expansion >10% was observed in 32% of the tumors during the first week of SBRT, possibly due to edema or sustained tumor progression. When planning SBRT, this phenomenon should be taken into account

Impact of pre-Treatment C-reactive protein level and skeletal muscle mass on outcomes after stereotactic body radiotherapy for T1N0M0 non-small cell lung cancer: A supplementary analysis of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group study JCOG0403

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of pretreatment C-reactive protein (CRP) and skeletal muscle mass (SMM) on outcomes after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for T1N0M0 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as a supplementary analysis of JCOG0403. Patients were divided into high and low CRP groups with a threshold value of 0.3 mg/dL. The paraspinous musculature area at the level of the 12th thoracic vertebra was measured on simulation computed tomography (CT). When the area was lower than the sex-specific median, the patient was classified into the low SMM group. Toxicities, overall survival (OS) and cumulative incidence of cause-specific death were compared between the groups. Sixty operable and 92 inoperable patients were included. In the operable cohort, OS significantly differed between the CRP groups (log-rank test p = 0.009; 58.8% and 83.6% at three years for high and low CRP, respectively). This difference in OS was mainly attributed to the difference in lung cancer deaths (Gray’s test p = 0.070; 29.4% and 7.1% at three years, respectively). No impact of SMM on OS was observed. The incidence of Grade 3–4 toxicities tended to be higher in the low SMM group (16.7% vs 0%, Fisher’s exact test p = 0.052). In the inoperable cohort, no significant impact on OS was observed for either CRP or SMM. The toxicity incidence was also not different between the CRP and SMM groups. The present study suggests that pretreatment CRP level may provide prognostic information in operable patients receiving SBRT for early-stage NSCLC

A virtual audit system for intensity-modulated radiation therapy credentialing in Japan Clinical Oncology Group clinical trials: A pilot study

PURPOSE The Medical Physics Working Group of the Radiation Therapy Study Group at the Japan Clinical Oncology Group is currently developing a virtual audit system for intensity-modulated radiation therapy dosimetry credentialing. The target dosimeters include films and array detectors, such as ArcCHECK (Sun Nuclear Corporation, Melbourne, Florida, USA) and Delta4 (ScandiDos, Uppsala, Sweden). This pilot study investigated the feasibility of our virtual audit system using previously acquired data. METHODS We analyzed 46 films (32 and 14 in the axial and coronal planes, respectively) from 29 institutions. Global gamma analysis between measured and planned dose distributions used the following settings: 3%/3 mm criteria (the dose denominator was 2 Gy), 30% threshold dose, no scaling of the datasets, and 90% tolerance level. In addition, 21 datasets from nine institutions were obtained for array evaluation. Five institutions used ArcCHECK, while the others used Delta4. Global gamma analysis was performed with 3%/2 mm criteria (the dose denominator was the maximum calculated dose), 10% threshold dose, and 95% tolerance level. The film calibration and gamma analysis were conducted with in-house software developed using Python (version 3.9.2). RESULTS The means ± standard deviations of the gamma passing rates were 99.4 ± 1.5% (range, 92.8%-100%) and 99.2 ± 1.0% (range, 97.0%-100%) in the film and array evaluations, respectively. CONCLUSION This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of virtual audits. The proposed virtual audit system will contribute to more efficient, cheaper, and more rapid trial credentialing than on-site and postal audits; however, the limitations should be considered when operating our virtual audit system

Synthesis and antimalarial activity of calothrixins A and B, and their N-alkyl derivatives.

We synthesized calothrixin B using our developed biomimetic method and derived N-alkyl-calothrixins A and B. The in vitro antimalarial activity of the calothrixin derivatives, including calothrixins A and B, against the Plasmodium falciparum FCR-3 strain was evaluated. All test compounds exhibited antimalarial activity over a concentration range of 6.4×10(-6)-1.2×10(-7) M.We synthesized calothrixin B using our developed biomimetic method and derived N-alkyl-calothrixins A and B. The in vitro antimalarial activity of the calothrixin derivatives, including calothrixins A and B, against the Plasmodium falciparum FCR-3 strain was evaluated. All test compounds exhibited antimalarial activity over a concentration range of 6.4×10(-6)-1.2×10(-7) M