Interobserver agreement on definition of the target volume in stereotactic radiotherapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma using different imaging modalities.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate interobserver agreement (IOA) on target volume definition for pancreatic cancer (PACA) within the Radiosurgery and Stereotactic Radiotherapy Working Group of the German Society of Radiation Oncology (DEGRO) and to identify the influence of imaging modalities on the definition of the target volumes.

Methods: Two cases of locally advanced PACA and one local recurrence were selected from a large SBRT database. Delineation was based on either a planning 4D CT with or without (w/wo) IV contrast, w/wo PET/CT, and w/wo diagnostic MRI.

Stereotactic or conformal radiotherapy for adrenal metastases: Patient characteristics and outcomes in a multicenter analysis.

To report outcome (freedom from local progression [FFLP], overall survival [OS] and toxicity) after stereotactic, palliative or highly conformal fractionated (>12) radiotherapy (SBRT, Pall-RT, 3DCRT/IMRT) for adrenal metastases in a retrospective multicenter cohort within the framework of the German Society for Radiation Oncology (DEGRO). Adrenal metastases treated with SBRT (≤12 fractions, biologically effective dose [BED10] ≥ 50 Gy), 3DCRT/IMRT (>12 fractions, BED10 ≥ 50 Gy) or Pall-RT (BED10 < 50 Gy) were eligible for this analysis. In addition to unadjusted FFLP (Kaplan-Meier/log-rank), we calculated the competing-risk-adjusted local recurrence rate (CRA-LRR).

Microbial biodiversity assessment of the European Space Agency's ExoMars 2016 mission.

Background: The ExoMars 2016 mission, consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander, was launched on March 14 2016 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan and reached its destination in October 2016. The Schiaparelli lander was subject to strict requirements for microbial cleanliness according to the obligatory planetary protection policy. To reach the required cleanliness, the ExoMars 2016 flight hardware was assembled in a newly built, biocontrolled cleanroom complex at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy.

Preparing for the crewed Mars journey: microbiota dynamics in the confined Mars500 habitat during simulated Mars flight and landing.

Background: The Mars500 project was conceived as the first full duration simulation of a crewed return flight to Mars. For 520 days, six crew members lived confined in a specifically designed spacecraft mock-up. The herein described "MIcrobial ecology of Confined Habitats and humAn health" (MICHA) experiment was implemented to acquire comprehensive microbiota data from this unique, confined manned habitat, to retrieve important information on the occurring microbiota dynamics, the microbial load and diversity in the air and on various surfaces.

Potential proton and photon dose degradation in advanced head and neck cancer patients by intratherapy changes.

Purpose: Evaluation of dose degradation by anatomic changes for head-and-neck cancer (HNC) intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) relative to intensity-modulated photon therapy (IMRT) and identification of potential indicators for IMPT treatment plan adaptation.

Methods: For 31 advanced HNC datasets, IMPT and IMRT plans were recalculated on a computed tomography scan (CT) taken after about 4 weeks of therapy. Dose parameter changes were determined for the organs at risk (OARs) spinal cord, brain stem, parotid glands, brachial plexus, and mandible, for the clinical target volume (CTV) and the healthy tissue outside planning target volume (PTV).

Towards clinical application: prompt gamma imaging of passively scattered proton fields with a knife-edge slit camera.

Prompt γ-ray imaging with a knife-edge shaped slit camera provides the possibility of verifying proton beam range in tumor therapy. Dedicated experiments regarding the characterization of the camera system have been performed previously. Now, we aim at implementing the prototype into clinical application of monitoring patient treatments.

Evaluation of a deformable registration algorithm for subsequent lung computed tomography imaging during radiochemotherapy.

Purpose: Rating both a lung segmentation algorithm and a deformable image registration (DIR) algorithm for subsequent lung computed tomography (CT) images by different evaluation techniques. Furthermore, investigating the relative performance and the correlation of the different evaluation techniques to address their potential value in a clinical setting.

Methods: Two to seven subsequent CT images (69 in total) of 15 lung cancer patients were acquired prior, during, and after radiochemotherapy.

Challenges in radiobiological modeling: can we decide between LQ and LQ-L models based on reviewed clinical NSCLC treatment outcome data?

Aim: To study the dose-response of stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in terms of long-term local tumor control (LC) after conventional and hypofractionated photon radiotherapy, modeled with the linear-quadratic (LQ) and linear-quadratic-linear (LQ-L) approaches and to estimate the clinical α/β ratio within the LQ frame.

Material And Methods: We identified studies of curative radiotherapy as single treatment through MedLine search reporting 3-year LC as primary outcome of interest. Logistic models coupled with the biologically effective dose (BED) at isocenter and PTV edge according to both the LQ and LQ-L models with α/β = 10 Gy were fitted.

First clinical application of a prompt gamma based in vivo proton range verification system.

Background And Purpose: To improve precision of particle therapy, in vivo range verification is highly desirable. Methods based on prompt gamma rays emitted during treatment seem promising but have not yet been applied clinically. Here we report on the worldwide first clinical application of prompt gamma imaging (PGI) based range verification.

Quo vadis? Microbial profiling revealed strong effects of cleanroom maintenance and routes of contamination in indoor environments.

Space agencies maintain highly controlled cleanrooms to ensure the demands of planetary protection. To study potential effects of microbiome control, we analyzed microbial communities in two particulate-controlled cleanrooms (ISO 5 and ISO 8) and two vicinal uncontrolled areas (office, changing room) by cultivation and 16S rRNA gene amplicon analysis (cloning, pyrotagsequencing, and PhyloChip G3 analysis). Maintenance procedures affected the microbiome on total abundance and microbial community structure concerning richness, diversity and relative abundance of certain taxa.

Insights into the microbial diversity and bioburden in a South American spacecraft assembly clean room.

In this study, samples from the spacecraft assembly clean room BAF (final assembly building), located at Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana, were characterized by qualitative and quantitative methods to determine the bioburden and biodiversity. The cultivation assays mainly focused on extremotolerant microorganisms that have special metabolic skills, such as the ability to grow without oxygen, fix nitrogen, grow autotrophically, or reduce sulfate. A broad range of media and growth conditions were used to simulate possible extraterrestrial environments and clean room buildings.

Lessons learned from the microbial analysis of the Herschel spacecraft during assembly, integration, and test operations.

Understanding microbial diversity in spacecraft assembly clean rooms is of major interest with respect to planetary protection considerations. A coordinated screening of different clean rooms in Europe and South America by three German institutes [Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Leibniz-Institut DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH (DSMZ), and the Institute of Microbiology and Archaea Center, University of Regensburg] took place during the assembly, test, and launch operations of the Herschel spacecraft in 2006-2009. Through this campaign, we retrieved critical information regarding the microbiome within these clean rooms and on the Herschel spacecraft, which served as a model for upcoming ESA mission preparations.

Abundance and diversity of microbial inhabitants in European spacecraft-associated clean rooms.

The determination of the microbial load of a spacecraft en route to interesting extraterrestrial environments is mandatory and currently based on the culturable, heat-shock-surviving portion of microbial contaminants. Our study compared these classical bioburden measurements as required by NASA's and ESA's guidelines for the microbial examination of flight hardware, with molecular analysis methods (16S rRNA gene cloning and quantitative PCR) to further develop our understanding of the diversity and abundance of the microbial communities of spacecraft-associated clean rooms. Three samplings of the Herschel Space Observatory and its surrounding clean rooms were performed in two different European facilities.

EXPOSE-E: an ESA astrobiology mission 1.5 years in space.

The multi-user facility EXPOSE-E was designed by the European Space Agency to enable astrobiology research in space (low-Earth orbit). On 7 February 2008, EXPOSE-E was carried to the International Space Station (ISS) on the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) platform in the cargo bay of Space Shuttle STS-122 Atlantis. The facility was installed at the starboard cone of the Columbus module by extravehicular activity, where it remained in space for 1.