Improving on whole-brain radiotherapy in patients with large brain metastases: A planning study to support the AROMA clinical trial.

Purpose: To develop a novel dose-escalated volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) strategy for patients with single or multiple large brain metastases which can deliver a higher dose to individual lesions for better local control (LC), and to compare dosimetry between whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), hippocampal-sparing whole brain radiotherapy (HS-WBRT) and different VMAT-based focal radiotherapy approaches.

Methods And Materials: We identified 20 patients with one to ten brain metastases and at least one lesion larger than 15 cm who had received WBRT as part of routine care. For each patient, we designed and evaluated five radiotherapy treatment plans, including WBRT, HS-WBRT and three VMAT dosing models.

Visibility and attractiveness of Fritillaria (Liliaceae) flowers to potential pollinators.

Visual floral characters play an important role in shaping plant-pollinator interactions. The genus Fritillaria L. (Liliaceae), comprising approximately 140 species, is described as displaying a remarkable variety of flower colours and sizes.

Evolution of Bird and Insect Flower Traits in L. (Liliaceae).

Pollinators are often perceived as a primary selective agent influencing flower traits such as colour, size, and nectar properties. The genus L. (Liliaceae), comprising approximately 150 species, is described as generally insect pollinated.

Functional Diversity of Nectary Structure and Nectar Composition in the Genus (Liliaceae).

is a genus consisting of 130 to 140 species of bulbous plants, native to temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Generally viewed as an insect pollinated genus with the exception of two North American species, and , which are described as hummingbird-pollinated and the Asian species, , described as passerine-pollinated. These pollinator shifts are possibly the result of adaptive changes to the structure and morphology of the nectary, as well as a change in the nectar concentration and composition.

Evolutionary relationships in the medicinally important genus Fritillaria L. (Liliaceae).

Fritillaria (Liliaceae) is a genus of approximately 140 species of bulbous perennial plants that includes taxa of both horticultural and medicinal importance. As well as being commercially valuable, Fritillaria species have attracted attention because of their exceptionally large genome sizes, with all values recorded to date in excess of 30Gb. Despite such interest in the genus, phylogenetic relationships between the majority of species have remained untested.