Prognostic Significance of Plasma Soluble IL-6 Receptor in Carbon-ion Radiotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer.

Background/aim: For patients with unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC), carbon-ion radiotherapy (C-ion RT) can safely deliver higher doses than conventional photon therapy, increasing the potential for long-term survival. However, achieving meaningful improvements in survival rates requires reliable prognostic biomarkers to identify patients likely to benefit from treatment.

Patients And Methods: In this study, we measured plasma levels of soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R) before C-ion RT and examined their association with the risk of distant metastasis (DM), local recurrence (LR), and overall survival (OS).

Legume content estimation from UAV image in grass-legume meadows: comparison methods based on the UAV coverage vs. field biomass.

Legume content (LC) in grass-legume mixtures is important for assessing forage quality and optimizing fertilizer application in meadow fields. This study focuses on differences in LC measurements obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images and ground surveys based on dry matter assessments in seven meadow fields in Hokkaido, Japan. We propose a UAV-based LC (LC) estimation and mapping method using a land cover map from a simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC) algorithm and a random forest (RF) classifier.

Leaf Na+ effects and multi-trait GWAS point to salt exclusion as the key mechanism for reproductive stage salinity tolerance in rice.

Background And Aims: Since salinity stress may occur across stages of rice (Oryza sativa L.) crop growth, understanding the effects of salinity at reproductive stage is important although it has been much less studied than at seedling stage.

Methods: In this study, lines from the Rice Diversity Panel 1 (RDP1) and the 3000 Rice Genomes (3KRG) were used to screen morphological and physiological traits, map loci controlling salinity tolerance through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and identify favorable haplotypes associated with reproductive stage salinity tolerance.

Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis of Trapezoidal and Arc-Shaped Membranes Mimicking the Organ of Corti.

In a previous study [H. Shintaku et al., Sensors and Actuators A: Physical 158 (2010): 183-192], an artificially developed auditory sensor device showed a frequency selectivity in the range from 6.