158 research outputs found
Set up errors in Brain tumours – A retrospective study to review the current practice of PTV margins in the institution
No full textSet up errors in Brain tumours – A retrospective study to review the current practice of PTV margins in the institution
Chaturvedi D.1 , Mehta A.2 , Kumar P.3*
1 Diksha Chaturvedi, Junior Resident, Department of Radiation Oncology, Shri Ram Murti Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India.
2 Ankita Mehta, Senior Resident, Department of Radiation Oncology, Shri Ram Murti Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India.
3* Piyush Kumar, Professor and Head, Department of Radiation Oncology, Shri Ram Murti Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Corresponding Author: Dr. Piyush Kumar, Professor and Head, Department of Radiation Oncology, all authors are affiliated to Shri Ram Murti Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India, E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
Background
Radiotherapy in brain tumors needs accuracy and reproducibility of the patient’s position. There may be set up errors which are taken care by adding planning target volume (PTV) margin. Lesser PTV margins may lead to tumor miss or greater margins may lead to unnecessary radiation of normal brain tissue. The present study is done to evaluate whether the current practice of PTV margins in our institute is optimum or not.
Materials and methods
Eleven patients of brain tumours who received adjuvant radiotherapy were retrospectively selected for determining the setup errors. These patients were immobilised in supine position and contrast enhanced CT of head was taken for radiotherapy planning. Delineation of gross tumor volume and clinical target volume was done with 5 mm PTV margin. The treatment was delivered by 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy or Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy Technique. The set up errors in three dimensions were determined retrospectively for all images. PTV margins were calculated using International Commission on Radiation Units And Measurements Report 62, Stroom’s and Van Herk formulae.
Results
The overall population set up error was 0.034,-0.048, 0.028 in X, Y, Z directions respectively. The population systematic error was calculated to be 0.107, 0.069, 0.092 and population random error was 0.221, 0.202, 0.217 in X, Y, Z directions respectively. The calculated setup margin as per the three formulas was less than 5 mm in all directions.
Conclusion
The present study showed that the institutional protocol of 5 mm is optimum to counter the setup errors. 
Effect of biofertilizers on horticultural and yield traits in french bean var. Contender under dry temperate conditions of Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh
No full textKinnaur district is known as the dry temperate zone of Himachal Pradesh and is known for off season and quality production of vegetables.In this district of Himachal Pradesh, Natural farming is mostly done with the minimum use of chemical fertilizers. Farmers are unaware of the judicious use of farm yard manure, and biofertilizers due to which yield of the french bean is very low (50-70 q/ha). French bean is one of the most important vegetables intercropped with apple in Kinnaur District. An experiment was conducted during the summer season of 2011 at the Experimental Farm of Vegetable Research Station, Kalpa, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh to study the effect of Rhizobium and Phosphorus Solublizing Bacteria (PSB) on the horticultural and yield traits in french bean var. Contender. Six treatments comprising seed treatments (with and without Rhizobium), seed treatment (with and without PSB) along with the combination of 60 % dose of recommended quantity of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate and 75 % dose of recommended quantity of Single Super Phosphate and organic matter were evaluated in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The results revealed that T5 treatment, i.e. Rhizobium+ PSB+ Organic matter resulted in more number of pods per plant (20), pod length (18 cm) and pod yield/ha (140 q/ha)
International Trade Modeling Indices and Measurement Issues
No full textTrade indices are used to measure different aspects of a country’s participation in world trade. Such indices range from Trade Openness Index (TOI) measuring the degree of openness of a country, to Commodity Concentration Index (CCI) and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) measuring diversity and competitiveness of a country’s export basket. However, each index being a summary measure has its own limitation and specific use. One must, therefore, be extremely careful in drawing policy conclusions from the values of these indices obtained in the context of a given data set at hand.Internationa Trade, RCA, CCI
Evaluation of genotypes of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in cold desert zone of Tabo valley of Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh
No full textLasers in medical applications: R&D Mapping
No full textA study of the MEDLINE CDROM database, for the period 1969-2000 was undertaken. The purpose was, to identify core areas of research and development, in the field of applications of lasers to humans, along with other bibliometric indicators of research. A total of 34,833 records were retrieved, downloaded and analysed. The results
indicate a steady increase in the number of publications every year, from 1970 onwards, with 1997 (2767 articles) and 1998 (2914 articles) being the most productive years. The most prolific contributors were J. Haut, with 95 publications to his credit, followed by M. Landthaler (82), G. Coscas (79), S.G. Bown (73) and P. Bjerring (70). Collaboration among the authors was high, with a maximum of 15 contributors observed in a few articles. The top ranking journal in the field was Ophthalmology, which published 769 articles starting from 1978. USA was way ahead as the country with the highest journal productivity (around 40% of the total number of records), followed by UK and Germany.
A total of 103 articles were published from India. English was the preferred language of publication, with 75% of the records being published in English language. In the use of
lasers for humans, maximum number of records were found for adult and middle aged populations. Research focussed on the eye and its various diseases. Lasers were found to
be used for therapeutic purposes, in surgery and in the diagnosis of diseases. Carbondioxide laser was most frequently used for medical applications. Though there
were quite a few references on the adverse effects of lasers, the therapeutic effects far outweighed them
Avanafil mediated dual inhibition of IKKβ and TNFR1 in an experimental paradigm of Alzheimer’s disease: in silico and in vivo approach
No full textIn Alzheimer's disease pathology, inhibitors of nuclear factor kappa-β kinase subunit β (IKKB) and Tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) signaling are linked to neuroinflammation-mediated cognitive decline. We explored the role of a phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor (PDE5I) with dual antagonistic action on IKKB and TNFR1 to inhibit nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and curb neuroinflammation. In the in silico approach, the FDA-approved Zinc 15 library was docked with IKKB and TNFR1. The top compound with dual antagonistic action on IKKB and TNFR1 was selected based on bonding and non-bonding interactions. Further, induced fit docking (IFD), molecular mechanics-generalized Born and surface area (MMGBSA), and molecular dynamic studies were carried out and evaluated. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration caused a neuroinflammation-mediated cognitive decline in mice. Two doses of avanafil were administered for 28 days while LPS was administered for 10 days. Morris water maze (MWM) along with the passive avoidance test (PAT) were carried out. Concurrently brain levels of inflammatory markers, oxidative parameters, amyloid beta (Aβ), IKKB and NF-kB levels were estimated. Avanafil produced good IKKB and TNFR1 binding ability. It interacted with crucial inhibitory amino acids of IKKB and TNFR1. MD analysis predicted good stability of avanafil with TNFR1 and IKKB. Avanafil 6 mg/kg could significantly improve performance in MWM, PAT and oxidative parameters and reduce Aβ levels and inflammatory markers. As compared to avanafil 3 mg/kg, 6 mg/kg dose was found to exert better efficacy against elevated Aβ , neuroinflammatory cytokines and oxidative markers while improving behavioural parameters.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.No Full Tex
Use of Kelvin probe force microscopy for identification of CVD grown graphene flakes on copper foil
No full textCervical Cancer Treatment Pathway in Botswana
No full textThe general metadata -- e.g., title, author, abstract, subject headings, etc. -- is publicly available, but access to the submitted files is restricted to UT Southwestern campus access and/or authorized UT Southwestern users.BACKGROUND: The incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in Botswana are among the highest in the world. Despite availability of chemoradiation and government funding for cancer treatment, many patients referred for chemoradiation in Botswana do not receive treatment.
OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine the proportion of cervical cancer patients referred for chemoradiation who do not receive cancer treatment and identify factors associated with receipt or non-receipt of treatment. Time between key steps in the care cascade was quantified to identify points that contribute to delays in care. This study also examined the impact of Princess Marina Hospital's multidisciplinary gynecologic oncology (PMH MDT) clinic on treatment receipt.
METHODS: 230 patients with biopsy-proven cervical cancer were enrolled from January 2015 to July 2018 at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, Botswana and followed until November 2019. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, treatment characteristics, and time between steps in the care cascade were compared between treated and untreated patients using Wilcoxon rank sum tests, chi-squared tests, student's t tests, and univariate binomial logistic regression.
RESULTS: 43 (18.7%) patients did not receive cancer treatment. Higher FIGO stage at initial presentation (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.31-0.83, p 0.05).
CONCLUSION: The MDT model is an evidence-based strategy to improve care coordination and reduce treatment disparities, thus improving outcomes for cancer patients. While there are still gaps in Botswana's cervical cancer care cascade, the PMH MDT clinic has led to significant improvements in cancer care among this population. The PMH MDT clinic provides strong evidence that MDT clinics can and should be established in under-resourced settings
Comparison of dry sliding wear and friction behavior of Al6061/SiC PMMC with Al6061 alloy
No full textAuthor Profiling Using Semantic and Syntactic Features : Notebook for PAN at CLEF 2019
No full textIn this paper we present an approach for the PAN 2019 Author Profiling challenge. The task here is to detect Twitter bots and also to classify the gender of human Twitter users as male or female, based on a hundred select tweets from their profile. Focusing on feature engineering, we explore the semantic categories present in tweets. We combine these semantic features with part of speech tags and other stylistic features – e.g. character floodings and the use of capital letters – for our eventual feature set. We have experimented with different machine learning techniques, including ensemble techniques, and found AdaBoost to be the most successful (attaining an F1-score of 0.99 on the development set). Using this technique, we achieved an accuracy score of 89.17% for English language tweets in the bot detection subtask</p
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