Susceptibility of Capsicum varieties to Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) infestation for production optimization.

Thaumatotibia leucotreta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a major threat to the production and marketing of pepper (Capsicum spp.) in Ghana. To reduce the damage of the pest on pepper farming, it is important to find appropriate control methods, which may include the use of resistant host plants.

Diagnostic Delay in HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

 Human papillomavirus-related (HPV + ) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is increasing in incidence and presents diagnostic challenges given its unique clinical presentation.  The purpose of the present study is to characterize the impact of the unique clinical presentation of HPV-related OPSCC on delays in diagnosis.  Retrospective review of presenting symptoms and clinical characteristics of 284 patients with OPSCC treated from 2002-2014.

Marching across and beyond West Africa: First record of the stem-galling fly Cecidochares connexa (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Central Africa and the implications for biological control of Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae).

The Neotropical invasive plant Chromolaena odorata R.M. King and H.

STAT RAD: Prospective Dose Escalation Clinical Trial of Single Fraction Scan-Plan-QA-Treat Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Painful Osseous Metastases.

Purpose: Radiation therapy is a well-established treatment for symptomatic bone metastases. Despite continued advances in both planning techniques and treatment delivery, the standard workflow has remained relatively unchanged, often requiring 1 to 3 weeks and resulting in patient inconvenience and delayed palliation. We developed an expedited method wherein computed tomography simulation, treatment planning, quality assurance, and treatment delivery are performed in 1 day.

STAT RT: a prospective pilot clinical trial of Scan-Plan-QA-Treat stereotactic body radiation therapy for painful osseous metastases.

Background: Planning and treatment of bone metastases with palliative radiotherapy often requires 1-3 weeks, resulting in patient inconvenience and delayed palliation. We developed an expedited workflow that delivers palliative stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to painful bone metastases in which CT, planning, quality assurance (QA), and initial treatment are performed one day. This prospective pilot clinical trial evaluates the feasibility, safety, efficacy, and patient satisfaction of this workflow.

Safety and feasibility of STAT RAD: Improvement of a novel rapid tomotherapy-based radiation therapy workflow by failure mode and effects analysis.

Purpose: The clinical challenge of radiation therapy (RT) for painful bone metastases requires clinicians to consider both treatment efficacy and patient prognosis when selecting a radiation therapy regimen. The traditional RT workflow requires several weeks for common palliative RT schedules of 30 Gy in 10 fractions or 20 Gy in 5 fractions. At our institution, we have created a new RT workflow termed "STAT RAD" that allows clinicians to perform computed tomographic (CT) simulation, planning, and highly conformal single fraction treatment delivery within 2 hours.

Phantomless patient-specific TomoTherapy QA via delivery performance monitoring and a secondary Monte Carlo dose calculation.

Purpose: To describe the validation and implementation of a novel quality assurance (QA) system for TomoTherapy using a Monte Carlo (MC)-based secondary dose calculation and CT detector-based multileaf collimator (MLC) leaf opening time measurement QA verification. This system is capable of detecting plan transfer and delivery errors and evaluating the dosimetric impact of those errors.

Methods: The authors' QA process, MCLogQA, utilizes an independent pretreatment MC secondary dose calculation and postdelivery TomoTherapy exit detector-based MLC sinogram comparison and log file examination to confirm accurate dose calculation, accurate dose delivery, and to verify machine performance.

Dosimetric comparison of (192)Ir high-dose-rate brachytherapy vs. 50 kV x-rays as techniques for breast intraoperative radiation therapy: conceptual development of image-guided intraoperative brachytherapy using a multilumen balloon applicator and in-room CT imaging.

Purpose: At our institution, the availability of a shielded procedure room with in-room CT-on-rails imaging allows for the exploration of a high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy approach for breast intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT). We hypothesize that HDR brachytherapy will permit a higher prescription dose without increasing toxicity. In this study, we compare the dosimetry of intraoperative HDR brachytherapy, using multilumen balloon applicator, to IORT with a 50 kV source and then select a prescription dose for a subsequent clinical trial.

Prognostic significance of p16 and its relationship with human papillomavirus in pharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas.

Importance: The prognostic significance of p16 in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the hypopharynx (HP) and nasopharynx (NP) and relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) and p16 is unclear.

Objectives: To evaluate the prognostic significance of p16 in pharyngeal subsites (oropharynx [OP], HP, and NP) and assess the relationship between HPV and p16 in the HP and NP.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Retrospective medical record review of 172 patients with SCC of the pharynx treated with definitive radiation therapy from 2002 to 2013 at a university tertiary referral center, with tissue available for immunohistochemical analysis.

Treatment-related complications of radiation therapy after radical prostatectomy: comparative effectiveness of intensity-modulated versus conformal radiation therapy.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is frequently utilized after prostatectomy without strong evidence for an improvement in outcomes compared to conformal radiation therapy (RT). We analyzed a large group of patients treated with RT after radical prostatectomy (RP) to compare complications after IMRT and CRT. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database was queried to identify male Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 years or older who underwent prostatectomy with 1+ adverse pathologic features and received postprostatectomy RT between 1995 and 2007.

p16, Cyclin D1, and HIF-1α Predict Outcomes of Patients with Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treated with Definitive Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy.

We evaluated a panel of 8 immunohistochemical biomarkers as predictors of clinical response to definitive intensity-modulated radiotherapy in patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). 106 patients with OPSCC were treated to a total dose of 66-70 Gy and retrospectively analyzed for locoregional control (LRC), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS). All tumors had p16 immunohistochemical staining, and 101 tumors also had epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) staining.

p16 not a prognostic marker for hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the prognostic significance of p16 in patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) and to evaluate the relationship between p16 and human papillomavirus (HPV). Unlike in oropharyngeal SCC (OPSCC), the prognostic significance of p16 in HPSCC and its association with HPV is unclear.

Design: Retrospective medical chart review.

The synthesis and characterization of mono and dinuclear group 13 complexes derived from a Schiff base.

The coordination preferences of the tetradentate Schiff base, N,N'-ethylenebis(acetylacetoimine), H(2)L, with a variety of group 13 precursors, led to the formation of a series of mono and binuclear products. The reaction of H(2)L with AlMe(3) and Me(2)GaCl afforded the binuclear complexes, [L{Al(Me)(2)}(2)] 1 and [H(2)L{GaCl(Me)(2)}(2)], 3, the latter an adduct of the neutral ligand. Treatment of 1 with iodine generated the cationic Al(III) complex, [LAl(thf)(2)]I, 2, while the addition of n-BuLi to H(2)L, followed by reaction with GaCl(3) and InCl(3) led to an ionic complex [{LGaCl}(2)(μLi)]GaCl(4), 4, an In(III) dimer, [LInCl](2), 5 and monomeric [LInCl(thf)], 6.