IOERT versus external beam electrons for boost radiotherapy in stage I/II breast cancer: 10-year results of a phase III randomized study.

Background: Intraoperative radiotherapy with electrons (IOERT) boost could be not inferior to external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) boost in terms of local control and tissue tolerance. The aim of the study is to present the long-term follow-up results on local control, esthetic evaluation, and toxicity of a prospective study on early-stage breast cancer patients treated with breast-conserving surgery with an IOERT boost of 10 Gy (experimental group) versus 5 × 2 Gy EBRT boost (standard arm). Both arms received whole-breast irradiation (WBI) with 50 Gy (2 Gy single dose).

Early prediction of blood stream infection in a prospectively collected cohort.

Background: Blood stream infection (BSI) and sepsis are serious clinical conditions and identification of the disease-causing pathogen is important for patient management. The RISE (Rapid Identification of SEpsis) study was carried out to collect a cohort allowing high-quality studies on different aspects of BSI and sepsis. The aim of this study was to identify patients at high risk for BSI who might benefit most from new, faster, etiological testing using neutrophil to lymphocyte count ratio (NLCR) and Shapiro score.

Evaluation of the inter- and intrafraction displacement for head patients treated at the particle therapy centre MedAustron based on the comparison of different commercial immobilisation devices.

In December 2016 the clinical operation has started at the particle therapy centre MedAustron, Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Different commercial immobilisation devices are used for head patients. These immobilisation devices are a combination of table tops (Qfix BoS™ Headframe, Elekta HeadStep™), pillows (BoS™ Standard pillow, Moldcare®, HeadStep™ pillow) and thermoplastic masks (Klarity Green™, Qfix Fibreplast™, HeadStep™ iCAST double).

Reevaluating limits of detection of 12 lateral flow immunoassays for the detection of Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, and Bacillus anthracis spores using viable risk group-3 strains.

Aim: Rapid detection of biological agents in biodefense is critical for operational, tactical and strategic levels as well as for medical countermeasures. Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, and Bacillus anthracis are high priority agents of biological warfare or bioterrorism and many response forces use lateral flow assays (LFAs) for their detection. Several companies produce these assays, which offer results in short time and are easy to use.

In-situ extraction of depolymerization products by membrane filtration against lignin condensation.

Catalytic depolymerization of lignin is a challenging process due to competitive repolymerization reactions. In this paper, the oxidative depolymerization of lignin was catalyzed by a commercial laccase both in a batch experiment and in a membrane bioreactor using the same catalytic conditions. The membrane bioreactor was previously optimized to reach high permeation flux (25 L.

Toxicity and cosmetic outcome after hypofractionated whole breast irradiation and boost-IOERT in early stage breast cancer (HIOB): First results of a prospective multicenter trial (NCT01343459).

Background And Purpose: To assess the role of intraoperative radiation with electrons (IOERT) as tumor bed boost followed by hypofractionated whole breast irradiation (HWBI) after breast conserving surgery (BCS) of patients with low to intermediate risk breast cancer focusing on acute/late toxicity and cosmetic outcome.

Material And Methods: In 2011, a prospective multicenter trial (NCT01343459) was started. Treatment consisted of BCS, IOERT (11.

Lignin Carbohydrate Complexes structure preserved throughout downstream processes for their valorization after recovery from industrial process water.

Firstly studied and pointed out because of their major role in wood recalcitrance to delignification, LCCs are gradually raising interest about their own valorization thanks to their various interesting properties. Considering their future industrial production, this work is focused on evaluating the impact of different downstream processes (DSP) on their structure including moist heat sterilization, simple effect evaporation and spray-drying. LCCs were recovered from the mill water of a thermomechanical plant by successive membrane filtration steps.

16S rDNA droplet digital PCR for monitoring bacterial DNAemia in bloodstream infections.

Repeated quantitative measurement of bacterial DNA on whole blood has been shown to be a promising method for monitoring bloodstream infection (BSI) with selected bacterial species. To enable broad use of this method, we developed a quantitative droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) method for 16S rDNA. It was validated with species-specific ddPCRs for Staphylococcus aureus (nuc), Streptococcus pneumoniae (lytA), and Escherichia coli (uidA) on spiked whole blood samples and on repeated whole blood samples (days 0, 1-2, 3-4, 6-8, and 13-15) from 83 patients with BSI with these pathogens.

High nuc DNA load in whole blood is associated with sepsis, mortality and immune dysregulation in Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a disease with varying presentation, ranging from uncomplicated to life-threatening infections. In S. aureus bacteraemia, a high load of bacterial DNA in blood has been linked to mortality.

Lower serum extracellular superoxide dismutase levels are associated with polyneuropathy in recent-onset diabetes.

Increased oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of experimental diabetic neuropathy, but translational evidence in recent-onset diabetes is scarce. We aimed to determine whether markers of systemic oxidative stress are associated with diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) in recent-onset diabetes. In this cross-sectional study, we measured serum concentrations of extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD3), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and reduced glutathione (GSH) in 107 type 1 and 215 type 2 diabetes patients from the German Diabetes Study baseline cohort and 37 glucose-tolerant individuals (controls).

Spatial analysis improves the detection of early corneal nerve fiber loss in patients with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) has revealed reduced corneal nerve fiber (CNF) length and density (CNFL, CNFD) in patients with diabetes, but the spatial pattern of CNF loss has not been studied. We aimed to determine whether spatial analysis of the distribution of corneal nerve branching points (CNBPs) may contribute to improving the detection of early CNF loss. We hypothesized that early CNF decline follows a clustered rather than random distribution pattern of CNBPs.

Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) as boost in breast cancer.

The term IORT (intraoperative radiotherapy) is currently used for various techniques that show huge differences in dose delivery and coverage of the tissue at risk. The largest evidence for boost IORT preceding whole breast irradiation (WBI) originates from intraoperative electron treatments (IOERT) with single doses around 10 Gy. At median follow-up periods at 6 years, outstandingly low local recurrence rates of less than 1% are observed.

Revision of Viable Environmental Monitoring in a Development Pilot Plant Based on Quality Risk Assessment: A Case Study.

In this case study, the principles of quality risk management were applied to review sampling points and monitoring frequencies in the hormonal tableting unit of a formulation development pilot plant. In the cleanroom area, premises of different functions are located. Therefore a general method was established for risk evaluation based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) method to evaluate these premises (i.

Evaluation of a Commercial Multiplex PCR Assay for Detection of Pathogen DNA in Blood from Patients with Suspected Sepsis.

The Magicplex Sepsis Real-time Test (MST) is a commercial multiplex PCR that can detect more than 90 different pathogens in blood, with an analysis time of six hours. The aim of the present study was to evaluate this method for the detection of bloodstream infection (BSI). An EDTA whole blood sample for MST was collected together with blood cultures (BC) from patients with suspected sepsis at the Emergency Department of a university hospital.

Development and first use of a novel cylindrical ball bearing phantom for 9-DOF geometric calibrations of flat panel imaging devices used in image-guided ion beam therapy.

Image guidance during highly conformal radiotherapy requires accurate geometric calibration of the moving components of the imager. Due to limited manufacturing accuracy and gravity-induced flex, an x-ray imager's deviation from the nominal geometrical definition has to be corrected for. For this purpose a ball bearing phantom applicable for nine degrees of freedom (9-DOF) calibration of a novel cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanner was designed and validated.

Vibrational spectroscopic study of sodium-1,2,4-triazole, an important intermediate compound in the synthesis of several active substances.

The molecular properties, geometric parameters, atomic charges, and vibrational spectra of sodium 1,2,4-triazolate were investigated with both experimentally and quantum chemical modeling. During the quantum chemical calculations the possible tautomery and the aqueous environment were considered since the compound is hygroscopic. The polar environment was modeled as an aqueous solvent, and by adding water molecules as structural water.

Comparison of two different rectal spacers in prostate cancer external beam radiotherapy in terms of rectal sparing and volume consistency.

Background And Purpose: In external beam radiation (EBRT) of the prostate, the rectum is the dose-limiting organ at risk, and sparing of the anterior rectal wall is a prerequisite for safe delivery of doses beyond 70 Gy. Spatial sparing of the rectum can be achieved by introducing a spacer material into the retroprostatic space, thus separating the anterior rectal wall from the PTV.

Materials And Methods: Two spacer technologies, Spacer OAR, a polyethylene glycol gel and ProSpace, a saline inflated balloon, were compared in terms of spacer volume, stability, and dose reduction to the anterior rectum wall in 78 patients.

Overexpression of cutaneous mitochondrial superoxide dismutase in recent-onset type 2 diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: Oxidative stress and microvascular damage have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy, with manganese superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) responsible for superoxide detoxification in mitochondria. We hypothesised that patients with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes would show an altered cutaneous expression of SOD2 and endothelial cell area.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we assessed skin biopsies using immunohistochemistry, peripheral nerve function and heart rate variability in 69 participants of the German Diabetes Study with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes and 51 control individuals.

Boost IORT in Breast Cancer: Body of Evidence.

The term IORT (intraoperative radiotherapy) is currently used for various techniques that show decisive differences in dose delivery. The largest evidence for boost IORT preceding whole breast irradiation (WBI) originates from intraoperative electron treatments with single doses around 10 Gy, providing outstandingly low local recurrence rates in any risk constellation also at long term analyses. Compared to other boost methods, an intraoperative treatment has evident advantages as follows.

IOERT as anticipated tumor bed boost during breast-conserving surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer--results of a case series after 5-year follow-up.

To evaluate retrospectively rates of local (LCR) and locoregional tumor control (LRCR) in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) who were treated with preoperative chemotherapy (primary systemic treatment, PST) followed by breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and either intraoperative radiotherapy with electrons (IOERT) preceding whole-breast irradiation (WBI) (Group 1) or with WBI followed by an external tumor bed boost (electrons or photons) instead of IOERT (Group 2). From 2002 to 2007, 83 patients with clinical Stage II or III breast cancer were enrolled in Group 1 and 26 in Group 2. All patients received PST followed by BCS and axillary lymph node dissection.

Quantitative data from the SeptiFast real-time PCR is associated with disease severity in patients with sepsis.

Background: The commercial test, SeptiFast, is designed to detect DNA from bacterial and fungal pathogens in whole blood. The method has been found to be specific with a high rule-in value for the early detection of septic patients. The software automatically provides information about the identified pathogen, without quantification of the pathogen.