Addressing lung truncation in Tc-MAA SPECT/CT for Y microsphere radioembolization treatment planning.

Background: Prior studies have established that macroaggregated albumin (MAA)-SPECT/CT offers more robust lung shunt fraction (LSF) and lung mean absorbed dose (LMD) estimates in Y radioembolization in comparison to planar imaging. However, incomplete SPECT/CT coverage of the lungs is common due to clinical workflows, complicating its potential use for LSF and LMD calculations. In this work, lung truncation in MAA-SPECT/CT was addressed via correction strategies to improve Y treatment planning.

Cows as canaries: The effects of ambient air pollution exposure on milk production and somatic cell count in dairy cows.

Exposure to air pollution, including criteria pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM) and ozone (O), has been associated with morbidity and mortality in mammals. As a genetically homogenous population that is closely monitored for health, dairy cattle present a unique opportunity to assess the association between changes in air pollution and mammalian health. Milk yield decreases in the summer if temperature and humidity, measured by the Temperature Humidity Index (THI).

Point absorbers in Advanced LIGO.

Small, highly absorbing points are randomly present on the surfaces of the main interferometer optics in Advanced LIGO. The resulting nanometer scale thermo-elastic deformations and substrate lenses from these micron-scale absorbers significantly reduce the sensitivity of the interferometer directly though a reduction in the power-recycling gain and indirect interactions with the feedback control system. We review the expected surface deformation from point absorbers and provide a pedagogical description of the impact on power buildup in second generation gravitational wave detectors (dual-recycled Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometers).

Inflammatory indexes as predictive factors for platinum sensitivity and as prognostic factors in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer patients: a MITO24 retrospective study.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and systemic inflammatory index (SII) are prognostic factors in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Their predictive value for platinum-sensitivity and their role in recurrent EOC are unknown. A total of 375 EOC patients were retrospectively analyzed.

Control of nongenetic heterogeneity in growth rate and stress tolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by cyclic AMP-regulated transcription factors.

Genetically identical cells exhibit extensive phenotypic variation even under constant and benign conditions. This so-called nongenetic heterogeneity has important clinical implications: within tumors and microbial infections, cells show nongenetic heterogeneity in growth rate and in susceptibility to drugs or stress. The budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, shows a similar form of nongenetic heterogeneity in which growth rate correlates positively with susceptibility to acute heat stress at the single-cell level.