Precision and accuracy of indole-3-acetic acid analyses performed with the 2-methylindolo-α-pyrone fluorescence assay and with a high performance liquid chromatography technique with spectrofluorimetric detection, exemplified on pine tissue (Pinus sylvestris L.)

The precision and accuracy of two versions of the 2-methylindolo-α-pyrone (2-MIP) assay and of a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique was assessed when applied to analysis of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in pine ( Pinus sylvestris ) tissue. In one version of the 2-MIP assay total fluorescence at wavelengths > 450 nm was recorded, whereas in the other version fluorescence spectra were recorded and analyzed. Such analysis revealed the occurrence in some samples of fluorescent contaminants that impaired both precision and accuracy. The precision and accuracy of the 2-MIP assay could be improved by additional sample purification, and the over-all accuracy of the assay was finally verified, at a high level of sample purity, by successive approximation. The precision of the assay was then 14%. Successive approximation also verified that the HPLC technique was accurate at a less advanced stage of sample purity than the 2-MIP assay, and had a precision of 14%.     

New potential for enhancing concomitant chemoradiotherapy with FDA approved concentrations of cisplatin via the photoelectric effect

We predict, for the first time, that by using United States Food and Drug Administration approved concentrations of cisplatin, major radiosensitization may be achieved via photoelectric mechanism during concomitant chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Our analytical calculations estimate that radiotherapy (RT) dose to cancer cells may be enhanced via this mechanism by over 100% during CCRT. The results proffer new potential for significantly enhancing CCRT via an emerging clinical scenario, where the cisplatin is released in-situ from RT biomaterials loaded with cisplatin nanoparticles.     

Dosiomics-based prediction of radiation-induced hypothyroidism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients

PurposeTo predict the incidence of radiation-induced hypothyroidism (RHT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients, dosiomics features based prediction models were established.Materials and methodsA total of 145 NPC patients treated with radiotherapy from January 2012 to January 2015 were included. Dosiomics features of the dose distribution within thyroid gland were extracted. The minimal-redundancy-maximal-relevance (mRMR) criterion was used to rank the extracted features and selected the most relevant features. Machine learning (ML) algorithms including logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and k-nearest neighbor (KNN) were utilized to establish prediction models, respectively. Nested sampling and hyper-tuning methods were adopted to train and validate the prediction models. The dosiomics-based (DO) prediction models were evaluated through comparing with the dose-volume factor-based (DV) models in terms of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). The demographics factors (age and gender) were included in both DO model and DV model.ResultsAge, V45 and 37 dosiomics features exhibited significant correlations with RHT in univariate analysis. For prediction performance, DO prediction models exhibited better results with the best AUC value 0.7 while DV prediction models 0.61. In DO prediction models, the AUC values displayed a trend from ascending to descending with the increasing of selected features. The highest AUC value was achieved when the number of selected features was 3. In DV prediction model, similar trend was not observed.ConclusionThis study established a prediction model based on the dosiomics features with better performance than conventional dose-volume factors, leading to early predict the possible RHT among NPC patients who had received radiotherapy and take precaution measures for NPC patients.     

PCR rescue and analysis of transgene sequences directly from crude extracts of transgenic embryos and plants

We report the application of a PCR-based method in conjunction with automated sequencing for the reliable detection and verification of transgenes in crude extracts of leaf and callus tissue from different plant species. Transformed tissue can be identified easily at any stage of the regeneration process, whether it is via embryogenesis or organogenesis. This allows researchers to focus their attention and resources on truly transformed tissues and avoid unwittingly culturing untransformed tissues. This protocol can also be used to rescue relatively large PCR products as well as duplexing the detection of transgenes. Direct sequencing of the PCR products allows confirmation of the integrity of the transgenein planta.     

Quantitative comparison between the commercial software STRATOS® by Philips and a homemade software for voxel-dosimetry in radiopeptide therapy

BackgroundTargeted radionuclide therapy is a rapidly growing modality. A few commercial treatment planning systems are entering the market. However, some in-house systems are currently developed for a more flexible and customized dosimetry calculation at voxel-level. For this purpose, we developed a novel software, VoxelMed, and performed a comparison with the software STRATOS.MethodsThe validation of both of them was undertaken using radioactive phantoms with different volume inserts. A cohort of 10 patients was also studied after a therapeutic administration of ¹⁷⁷Lu-labelled radiopeptides. The activity, number of disintegrations, absorbed dose and dose-volume histogram (DVH) were calculated for the phantoms and the kidneys in patients, which were the main critical organs at risk in this study.ResultsIn phantoms the absorbed doses computed with VoxelMed and STRATOS agree within 5%. In patients at the voxel-level the absorbed dose to kidneys (VoxelMed: mean 0.66 Gy/GBq) showed a limited difference of 5%, but with a remarkable range (−40%, +60%) between the two software packages. Voxel-dosimetry allows to estimate the dose non-homogeneities in volumes, which may be evaluated through DVHs.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that a fully 3D voxel-dosimetry with multiple SPECT images is feasible by using home-made or commercial software package and absorbed dose results obtained are similar. The main difference between the studied tools was observed in the activity integration method (effective vs physical half-time to time activity curve tail). We believe that an effective half-time integration method produces a more accurate approximation of clinical uptake and resultant dosimetry.     

Ecological–genetic approach in modeling the natural evolution of a population: Prospects and special aspects of verification

This study presents a complex approach for modeling the natural evolution of a population in terms of population number and dynamics of the genetic structure. A set of dynamic models that consider various types of natural selection was applied to describe possible mechanisms underlying the formation of existing genetic variations in litter sizes in coastal, inland, and farmed arctic fox populations (Alopex lagopus, family Canidae, order Carnivora). The r–K selection model for uniform population and the models with natural selection were assessed on various life cycle stages in a two-age population. The life cycle of arctic fox was fitted to the population model with two age stages. The different reproductive potentials and survivability of progeny on the early stage of life cycle were genetically determined using the model with a single diallelic gene. A monomorphism was obtained for a considered characteristic in a population of coastal arctic fox with constant food supply. Meanwhile, a polymorphism with cyclic fluctuations in population number and gene frequency was obtained in inland arctic fox populations, which could be due to cyclic fluctuations of prey. In farmed fox populations, the considered gene becomes pleiotropic (defines the survival rate of individuals on early and late stages of the life cycle) because of artificial selection performed by farmers to increase the reproductive success of breeders. The application of an appropriate model (with selection by pleiotropic gene) can be used to determine the elimination rate of low litter size alleles from the farmed populations. The possible applications of the proposed models for formulating and solving optimal control tasks in arctic fox populations are discussed too.     

Ribonucleotides as nucleotide excision repair substrates

The incorporation of ribonucleotides in DNA has attracted considerable notice in recent years, since the pool of ribonucleotides can exceed that of the deoxyribonucleotides by at least 10–20-fold, and single ribonucleotide incorporation by DNA polymerases appears to be a common event. Moreover ribonucleotides are potentially mutagenic and lead to genome instability. As a consequence, errantly incorporated ribonucleotides are rapidly repaired in a process dependent upon RNase H enzymes. On the other hand, global genomic nucleotide excision repair (NER) in prokaryotes and eukaryotes removes damage caused by covalent modifications that typically distort and destabilize DNA through the production of lesions derived from bulky chemical carcinogens, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites, or via crosslinking. However, a recent study challenges this lesion-recognition paradigm. The work of Vaisman et al. (2013) [34] reveals that even a single ribonucleotide embedded in a deoxyribonucleotide duplex is recognized by the bacterial NER machinery in vitro. In their report, the authors show that spontaneous mutagenesis promoted by a steric-gate pol V mutant increases in uvrA, uvrB, or uvrC strains lacking rnhB (encoding RNase HII) and to a greater extent in an NER-deficient strain lacking both RNase HI and RNase HII. Using purified UvrA, UvrB, and UvrC proteins in in vitro assays they show that despite causing little distortion, a single ribonucleotide embedded in a DNA duplex is recognized and doubly-incised by the NER complex. We present the hypothesis to explain the recognition and/or verification of this small lesion, that the critical 2′-OH of the ribonucleotide – with its unique electrostatic and hydrogen bonding properties – may act as a signal through interactions with amino acid residues of the prokaryotic NER complex that are not possible with DNA. Such a mechanism might also be relevant if it were demonstrated that the eukaryotic NER machinery likewise incises an embedded ribonucleotide in DNA.     

Trajectory log file sensitivity: A critical analysis using DVH and EPID

Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate the sensitivity of the trajectory log file based quality assurance to detect potential errors such as MLC positioning and gantry positioning by comparing it with EPID measurement using the most commonly used criteria of 3%/3?mm.

不同剂量甲泼尼龙治疗老年AECOPD的疗效及其对炎症因子水平的影响比较

目的:观察和比较不同剂量甲泼尼龙治疗老年慢性阻塞性肺疾病急性加重(AECOPD)的疗效及其对炎症因子的影响。方法:选取2014年1月到2017年1月收治的114例老年AECOPD患者,随机将患者分为A组、B组和C组各38例。A组采用甲泼尼龙40 mg/d静脉推注,B组采用甲泼尼龙80 mg/d静脉推注,C组不使用甲泼尼龙。对比三组患者的临床疗效以及治疗前后的改良版英国医学研究委员会呼吸问卷(mMRC)评分、动脉血氧分压(PaO_2)、动脉二氧化碳分压(PaCO_2)、下去白细胞介素-6(IL-6)、白细胞介素-8(IL-8)、肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)以及C反应蛋白(CRP)水平的变化。结果:治疗后,A组的总有效率为89.47%,B组的总有效率为92.11%,均显著高于C组(均P0.05)。A组和B组治疗后的mMRC评分、PaCO_2水平均显著低于C组,而PaO_2水平显著高于C组(均P0.05);B组治疗后的m MRC评分、PaCO_2均显著低于A组,而PaO_2显著高于A组(均P0.05);A组和B组治疗后的血清IL-6、IL-8、TNF-α以及CRP水平均显著低于C组(均P0.05);B组治疗后的血清IL-6、IL-8、TNF-α、CRP水平均显著低于A组(均P0.05)。三组患者不良反应发生率的对比差异均无统计学意义(均P0.05)。结论:与40 mg/d甲泼尼龙相比,短期80 mg/d甲泼尼龙静脉推注可更显著减轻AECOPD患者的炎症反应,提高临床疗效,同时具有良好的安全性。     

Répartiteur de dose des médicaments radiopharmaceutiques : contrôle qualité sur deux sites hospitaliers et comparaison avec la législation en vigueur en France

An increasing number of nuclear medicine departments are equipped with automated measurement systems for the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals, with the main aim of minimising technician's irradiation. However, the automatic measurement of the patient activity differs from the manual measurement in material and method. In this context, the objective of the present study was to test the performances of one of these systems, the Unidose by TRASIS^®, in two newly equipped hospitals. The particularity of these systems is they are made up of two dose calibrators: the entrance calibrator (well chamber) and the exit calibrator (probe). Controls were performed on both of these dose calibrators. The results obtained, as well as the methodology employed, were then compared with the regulatory requirements in France. The results found are coherent between the two sites and have highlighted several non-conformities compared to the current regulations, part of which concerning the carpule dose calibrator, which is actually a probe. These results raise the question of a suitable regulation for the new automated measurement systems in nuclear medicine.