CT Derived Measurement of Body Composition: Observations from a Comparative Analysis of Patients with Colorectal and Lung Cancer.

Background: CT-derived measures of body composition have been shown to have prognostic value in patients with cancer. However, few studies have compared these observations across tumor types and stages of disease. The aim of the present study was to compare body composition measures between two types of cancers, i.

The prevalence and prognostic value of systemic inflammation in good performance status patients with advanced, inoperable non-small cell lung cancer receiving palliative radiotherapy: Comparison of composite ratios and cumulative scores.

Introduction: The present study sought to examine the relationships between systemic inflammatory composite ratios/cumulative scores, magnitude of systemic inflammatory response (SIR) and survival in good performance status patients (ECOG-PS 0/1) with advanced NSCLC receiving palliative radiotherapy.

Methods: Systemic inflammatory composite ratios/cumulative scores included the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), C-reactive protein, (CRP)-albumin ratio (CAR), neutrophil- lymphocyte score (NLS), platelet-lymphocyte score (PLS), lymphocyte-monocyte score (LMS), neutrophil-platelet score (NPS), modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS). The magnitude of SIR was determined by serum CRP concentration, with a median CRP concentration of >10 m mg/L considered to be systemically inflamed.

Adaptive radiotherapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer: a retrospective audit of two bladder filling protocols.

Background: Radical radiotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is challenging due to large variations in bladder shape, size and volume during treatment, with drinking protocols often employed to mitigate geometric uncertainties. Utilising adaptive radiotherapy together with CBCT imaging to select a treatment plan that best fits the bladder target and reduce normal tissue irradiation is an attractive option to compensate for anatomical changes. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare a bladder empty (BE) protocol to a bladder filling (BF) protocol with regards to variations in target volumes, plan of the day (PoD) selection and plan dosimetry throughout treatment.

A near-infrared laser dispersion spectrometer with phase modulation for open-path methane sensing.

A laser-based open-path dispersion spectrometer for measuring atmospheric methane has been developed with the goal of achieving a very simple architecture, yet enabling molecular dispersion measurements immune to optical power variation. Well-mature, near-infrared photonics components were retained to demonstrate a compact, cost-effective, and low-power consumption dispersion spectrometer. In particular, measurements immune to received optical power variations are demonstrated despite the use of only phase modulation and are supported by the development of the corresponding physical model.

Doubling the life of Cu/ZnO methanol synthesis catalysts via use of Si as a structural promoter to inhibit sintering.

Cu/ZnO/AlO catalysts used to synthesize methanol undergo extensive deactivation during use, mainly due to sintering. Here, we report on formulations wherein deactivation has been substantially reduced by the targeted use of a small quantity of a Si-based promoter, resulting in accrued activity benefits that can exceed a factor of 1.8 versus unpromoted catalysts.