A phase I/II study on stereotactic body radiotherapy with real-time tumor tracking using CyberKnife based on the Monte Carlo algorithm for lung tumors.

Background: In this phase I/II study, we assessed the safety and initial efficacy of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for lung tumors with real-time tumor tracking using CyberKnife based on the Monte Carlo algorithm.

Methods: Study subjects had histologically confirmed primary non-small-cell lung cancer staged as T1a-T2aN0M0 and pulmonary oligometastasis. The primary endpoint was the incidence of Grade ≥3 radiation pneumonitis (RP) within 180 days of the start of SBRT.

Hypofractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Auditory Canal or Middle Ear Cancer.

Background: Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) may represent a new treatment option for individuals with auditory canal or middle ear cancer.

Methods: Study participants with pathologically proven ear cancer were treated with SRT (35 Gy for 3 fractions or 40 Gy for 5 fractions) as first-line therapy. When local tumor recurrence developed following SRT, subtotal temporal bone resection and postoperative chemoradiotherapy were performed as salvage treatment.

Miscellaneous Topics in Computer-Aided Drug Design: Synthetic Accessibility and GPU Computing, and Other Topics.

Computer-aided drug design is still a state-of-the-art process in medicinal chemistry, and the main topics in this field have been extensively studied and well reviewed. These topics include compound databases, ligand-binding pocket prediction, protein-compound docking, virtual screening, target/off-target prediction, physical property prediction, molecular simulation and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) prediction. Message and Conclusion: However, there are also a number of secondary or miscellaneous topics that have been less well covered.

Long-term results of hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy with CyberKnife for growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma: evaluation by the Cortina consensus.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) with CyberKnife for growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma (GH-PA). Fifty-two patients with GH-PA were treated with hypofractionated SRT between September 2001 and October 2012. Eight patients had clinically silent GH-PA and 44 were symptomatic.

Re-irradiation of recurrent anaplastic ependymoma using radiosurgery or fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy.

Purpose: Recurrent ependymomas were retreated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT). The efficacy, toxicities, and differences between SRS and FSRT were analyzed.

Methods: Eight patients with recurrent ependymomas fulfilling the criteria described below were evaluated.

Development of system using beam's eye view images to measure respiratory motion tracking errors in image-guided robotic radiosurgery system.

The accuracy of the CyberKnife Synchrony Respiratory Tracking System (SRTS) is considered to be patient-dependent because the SRTS relies on an individual correlation between the internal tumor position (ITP) and the external marker position (EMP), as well as a prediction method to compensate for the delay incurred to adjust the position of the linear accelerator (linac). We aimed to develop a system for obtaining pretreatment statistical measurements of the SRTS tracking error by using beam's eye view (BEV) images, to enable the prediction of the patient-specific accuracy. The respiratory motion data for the ITP and the EMP were derived from cine MR images obtained from 23 patients.

Evaluation of Dose Uncertainty to the Target Associated With Real-Time Tracking Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Using the CyberKnife Synchrony System.

We investigated the dose uncertainty caused by errors in real-time tracking intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) using the CyberKnife Synchrony Respiratory Tracking System (SRTS). Twenty lung tumors that had been treated with non-IMRT real-time tracking using CyberKnife SRTS were used for this study. After validating the tracking error in each case, we did 40 IMRT planning using 8 different collimator sizes for the 20 patients.

Effects of ulvoid (Ulva spp.) accumulation on the structure and function of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) bed.

The objective of this study is to clarify the effect of ulvoid (Ulva spp.) accumulation on the structure and function of an eelgrass bed by the coast of Iwakuni, Seto Inland Sea, Japan. We monitored eelgrass shoot density and volume of ulvoid accumulation in the study site and evaluated effects of the accumulated ulvoid canopy on the percent survival, seedling density, growth rates, photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and carbon contents of eelgrass.

Spontaneous resolution of diabetes insipidus after pituitary stalk sectioning during surgery for large craniopharyngioma. Endocrinological evaluation and clinical implications for surgical strategy.

The mechanism of spontaneous resolution of diabetes insipidus (DI) was investigated after surgery for large craniopharyngioma. Twenty-two adult patients (mean age 48.9 years old), who underwent surgery via the anterior interhemispheric trans-lamina terminalis approach, were divided into three groups: Group I, the entire pituitary stalk was preserved (n = 2); Group II, the stalk was dissected distally from the tumor but ultimately sacrificed (n = 9); Group III, the stalk was not identified and was sacrificed (n = 11).

Encephalocele in the ethmoid sinus presenting as a massive intracerebral hemorrhage after a "polypectomy": a case report.

The discovery of a congenital transethmoidal encephalocele in an adult patient is very rare and is sometimes misdiagnosed as a polyp of the ethmoid sinus. It is important to note that a congenital transethmoidal encephalocele presenting as a massive intracerebral hemorrhage in an adult patient has never been reported. This study's patient underwent endoscopic polypectomy and suffered from massive intracerebral hemorrhage because the encephalocele contained a frontobasal artery.

Attenuation of canine cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage by protein kinase C inhibitors despite augmented phosphorylation of myosin light chain.

The purpose of the present study is to assess the roles of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms, especially PKC delta and alpha, and 20-kD myosin light chain (MLC(20)) phosphorylation in the mechanism of cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). We had shown that those PKC isoforms are involved in the development of cerebral vasospasm. Using PKC isoform-specific inhibitors in a 'two- hemorrhage' canine model, we examined changes in the development of cerebral vasospasm, translocation of PKC isoforms and MLC(20) phosphorylation level in canine basilar arteries.

Chronological changes of the contractile mechanism in prolonged vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage: from protein kinase C to protein tyrosine kinase.

Objective: Protein kinase C (PKC) plays a role in vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage with a "two-hemorrhage" canine model until Day 7. However, clinical vasospasm continues during the course of 2 weeks. This study sought to clarify whether the contractile property of cerebral arteries might change in prolonged vasospasm.

Role of Wnt pathway in medulloblastoma oncogenesis.

To clarify the roles of Wnt pathway in medulloblastoma oncogenesis, immunohistochemical staining of beta-catenin and Wnt-1 and genomic analyses of CTNNB1 (beta-catenin) and AXIN1 (axin 1) were examined in 23 sporadic cases. Accumulation of beta-catenin in tumor cells was immunohistochemically proven in 5 cases; 2 cases showed positive immunoreactivity for Wnt-1 and another 2 showed mutation of either CTNNB1 or AXIN1. AXIN1 mutation was in exon 3, corresponding to GSK-3beta binding site and CTNNB1 mutation was in exon 3, corresponding to its phosphorylation site.

Surgical strategy for spondylodiscitis due to Candida albicans in an immunocompromised host.

A 44-year-old woman receiving systemic chemotherapy for cerebellar medulloblastoma developed thoracolumbar spondylodiscitis due to Candida albicans associated with abscesses in the bilateral psoas muscles. As long-term medical therapy with fluconazole was not effective, radical removal of the affected lesions and anterior bone grafting were performed. Corpectomy of the infected vertebra with autologous bone grafting and removal of the psoas muscle were performed via the right transthoracic retroperitoneal approach.

Bilateral cavernous sinus actinomycosis resulting in painful ophthalmoplegia. Case report.

The authors report the successful treatment of a 42-year-old man who suffered from recurrent painful ophthalmoplegia caused by bilateral cavernous sinus (CS) actinomycosis. A presumptive diagnosis of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome was made when he presented with left painful ophthalmoplegia. Recurrent ophthalmoplegia on the opposite side when steroid medications were tapered led to repeated imaging and a pterional craniotomy and biopsy sampling of the CS.

High-dose methylprednisolone prevents vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage through inhibition of protein kinase C activation.

We have previously shown that the inflammatory process after subarachnoid hemorrhage causes vasospasm. The efficacy of methylprednisolone by suppression of the inflammatory process has been reported, although pharmacological mechanisms have not been clarified. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pharmacological mechanism of methylprednisolone on vasospasm.