Particle arc therapy: Status and potential.

There is a rising interest in developing and utilizing arc delivery techniques with charged particle beams, e.g., proton, carbon or other ions, for clinical implementation.

Recent Advances in Organic Dyes for Application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells under Indoor Lighting Conditions.

Among the emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies, Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) appear especially interesting in view of their potential for unconventional PV applications. In particular, DSSCs have been proven to provide excellent performances under indoor illumination, opening the way to their use in the field of low-power devices, such as wearable electronics and wireless sensor networks, including those relevant for application to the rapidly growing Internet of Things technology. Considering the low intensity of indoor light sources, efficient light capture constitutes a pivotal factor in optimizing cell efficiency.

Partitioning of discrete proton arcs into interlaced subplans can bring proton arc advances to existing proton facilities.

Background: Proton arcs have shown potential to reduce the dose to organs at risks (OARs) by delivering the protons from many different directions. While most previous studies have been focused on dynamic arcs (delivery during rotation), an alternative approach is discrete arcs, where step-and-shoot delivery is used over a large number of beam directions. The major advantage of discrete arcs is that they can be delivered at existing proton facilities.

Proton arc therapy increases the benefit of proton therapy for oropharyngeal cancer patients in the model based clinic.

Background And Purpose: In the model-based approach, patients qualify for proton therapy when the reduction in risk of toxicity (ΔNTCP) obtained with IMPT relative to VMAT is larger than predefined thresholds as defined by the Dutch National Indication Protocol (NIPP). Proton arc therapy (PAT) is an emerging technology which has the potential to further decrease NTCPs compared to IMPT. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential impact of PAT on the number of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) patients that qualify for proton therapy.

Spot scanning proton arc therapy reduces toxicity in oropharyngeal cancer patients.

Background: Proton arc technology has recently shown dosimetric gains for various treatment indications. The increased number of beams and energy layers (ELs) in proton arc plans, increases the degrees of freedom in plan optimization and thereby flexibility to spare dose in organs at risk (OARs). A relationship exists between dosimetric plan quality, delivery efficiency, the number of ELs -and beams in a proton arc plan.

Comparison of the suitability of CBCT- and MR-based synthetic CTs for daily adaptive proton therapy in head and neck patients.

Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)- and magnetic resonance (MR)-images allow a daily observation of patient anatomy but are not directly suited for accurate proton dose calculations. This can be overcome by creating synthetic CTs (sCT) using deep convolutional neural networks. In this study, we compared sCTs based on CBCTs and MRs for head and neck (H&N) cancer patients in terms of image quality and proton dose calculation accuracy.

Easy Access to Phosphine-Borane Building Blocks.

In this paper, we highlight the synthesis of a variety of primary phosphine-boranes (RPH ⋅BH ) from the corresponding dichlorophosphines, simply by using Li[BH ] as reductant and provider of the BH protecting group. The method offers facile access not only to alkyl- and arylphosphine-boranes, but also to aminophosphine-boranes (R NPH ⋅BH ) that are convenient building blocks but without the protecting BH moiety thermally labile and notoriously difficult to handle. The borane-protected primary phosphines can be doubly deprotonated using n-butyllithium to provide soluble phosphanediides Li [RP⋅BH ] of which the phenyl-derivative Li [PhP⋅BH ] was structurally characterized in the solid state.

Factors affecting the harmonization of disease-related metabolic brain pattern expression quantification in [F]FDG-PET (PETMETPAT).

Introduction: The implementation of spatial-covariance [F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-based disease-related metabolic brain patterns as biomarkers has been hampered by intercenter imaging differences. Within the scope of the JPND-PETMETPAT working group, we illustrate the impact of these differences on Parkinson's disease-related pattern (PDRP) expression scores.

Methods: Five healthy controls, 5 patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, and 5 patients with Parkinson's disease were scanned on one positron emission tomography/computed tomography system with multiple image reconstructions.

Single-Crystal Pt-Decorated WO Ultrathin Films: A Platform for Sub-ppm Hydrogen Sensing at Room Temperature.

Hydrogen-related technologies are rapidly developing, driven by the necessity of efficient and high-density energy storage. This poses new challenges to the detection of dangerous gases, in particular the realization of cheap, sensitive, and fast hydrogen sensors. Several materials are being studied for this application, but most present critical bottlenecks, such as high operational temperature, low sensitivity, slow response time, and/or complex fabrication procedures.

Optimizing sharing of hospital biobank samples.

Implementing technical guidelines and standards as well as ways to boost cooperation should facilitate sharing of hospital biobank samples.

Translational cancer research: balancing prevention and treatment to combat cancer globally.

Cancer research is drawing on the human genome project to develop new molecular-targeted treatments. This is an exciting but insufficient response to the growing, global burden of cancer, particularly as the projected increase in new cases in the coming decades is increasingly falling on developing countries. The world is not able to treat its way out of the cancer problem.

Impact of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on cognition, motor skills and hippocampal neurogenesis in developing C57BL/6J mice.

Maternal intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) is critical during perinatal development of the brain. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the most abundant n-3 PUFA in the brain and influences neuronal membrane function and neuroprotection. The present study aims to assess the effect of dietary n-3 PUFA availability during the gestational and postnatal period on cognition, brain metabolism and neurohistology in C57BL/6J mice.

Fit for purpose frozen tissue collections by RNA integrity number-based quality control assurance at the Erasmus MC tissue bank.

About 5000 frozen tissue samples are collected each year by the Erasmus Medical Center tissue bank. Two percent of these samples are randomly selected annually for RNA isolation and RNA Integrity Number (RIN) measurement. A similar quality assessment was conducted during centralization of a 20-year-old tissue collection from the cancer institute, a 15-year-old liver sample archive (-80°C), and a 13-year-old clinical pathology frozen biopsy archive (Liquid Nitrogen).

Histological assessment of PAXgene tissue fixation and stabilization reagents.

Within SPIDIA, an EC FP7 project aimed to improve pre analytic procedures, the PAXgene Tissue System (PAXgene), was designed to improve tissue quality for parallel molecular and morphological analysis. Within the SPIDIA project promising results were found in both genomic and proteomic experiments with PAXgene-fixed and paraffin embedded tissue derived biomolecules. But, for this technology to be accepted for use in both clinical and basic research, it is essential that its adequacy for preserving morphology and antigenicity is validated relative to formalin fixation.

Changes in bladder wall blood oxygen saturation in the overactive obstructed bladder.

Purpose: Several studies suggest that hypoxia of the bladder wall contributes to bladder dysfunction but the exact relation between bladder function and blood oxygen saturation, a surrogate marker for hypoxia, is not known. We determined bladder wall blood oxygen saturation in vivo in an animal model of bladder outlet obstruction to establish the exact relation between blood oxygen saturation and bladder function.

Materials And Methods: In 8 sham operated and 8 urethrally obstructed guinea pigs we measured blood oxygen saturation of the bladder wall by differential path length spectroscopy before surgery and 8 weeks postoperatively.

The Organization of European Cancer Institute Pathobiology Working Group and its support of European biobanking infrastructures for translational cancer research.

Background: Today's translational cancer research increasingly depends on international multi-center studies. Biobanking infrastructure or comprehensive sample exchange platforms to enable networking of clinical cancer biobanks are instrumental to facilitate communication, uniform sample quality, and rules for exchange.

Methods: The Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) Pathobiology Working Group supports European biobanking infrastructure by maintaining the OECI-TuBaFrost exchange platform and organizing regular meetings.

Changes in the penile arteries of the rat after fractionated irradiation of the prostate: a pilot study.

Introduction: External beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer leads to erectile dysfunction in 36%-43% of patients. The underlying mechanism is largely unknown, although some clinical studies suggest that the arterial supply to the corpora cavernosa is responsible. Two animal experimental studies reported on the effects of a single fraction of prostate irradiation on the penile structures.

Higher capillary electrophoresis injection settings as an efficient approach to increase the sensitivity of STR typing.

Evidentiary traces may contain low quantities of DNA, and regularly incomplete short tandem repeat (STR) profiles are obtained. In this study, higher capillary electrophoresis injection settings were used to efficiently improve incomplete STR profiles generated from low-level DNA samples under standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) conditions. The method involves capillary electrophoresis with higher injection voltage and extended injection time.

The detrusor glycogen content of a de-obstructed bladder reflects the functional history of that bladder during PBOO.

Aims: To determine if detrusor glycogen content in a bladder after removal of a urethral obstruction reflects the situation of bladder dysfunction as it existed during the period of obstruction.

Methods: The glycogen content of the detrusor was scored using a Periodic Acid Schiff's (PAS) staining. It was related to the functional history of the bladder.

The effect of oxybutynin on structural changes of the obstructed guinea pig bladder.

Purpose: Oxybutynin is used clinically to lower intravesical pressure and detrusor overactivity. In vitro it inhibits stretch induced bladder smooth muscle cell proliferation. We tested whether oxybutynin also prevents hypertrophic bladder changes in vivo in a model of partial bladder obstruction.

Detrusor glycogen reflects the functional history of bladders with partial outlet obstruction.

Objective: To assess the relationship between glycogen content in bladder detrusor tissue and historical bladder function in a guinea-pig model of partial bladder outlet obstruction (PBOO).

Materials And Methods: In male immature guinea pigs PBOO was created with a silver ring around the proximal urethra; a control group had a sham operation for comparison. Longitudinal individual urodynamic data were obtained weekly, so that guinea pigs were killed at different levels of bladder dysfunction.

Tubular and interstitial nephrocalcinosis.

Purpose: We determined whether nephrocalcinosis is common and whether its detection is influenced by renal tissue processing.

Materials And Methods: Renal cortical and papillary tissue was obtained from the unaffected parts of 15 kidneys removed due to an oncological indication. The effect of tissue processing on the loss of crystals was studied in a kidney with nephrocalcinosis due to chronic pyelonephritis.

Discrimination between nontumor bladder tissue and tumor by Raman spectroscopy.

We have applied Raman spectroscopy to discriminate between nontumor and tumor bladder tissue and to determine the biochemical differences therein. Tissue samples from 15 patients were collected, and frozen sections were made for Raman spectroscopy and histology. Twenty-five pseudocolor Raman maps were created in which each color represents a cluster of spectra measured on tissue areas of similar biochemical composition.