No description available.

As compared to pediatric and older adult cancer patients, young adults are the only oncology group that has not demonstrated an increase in survival rates. Low treatment adherence rates have been one explanation for this discrepancy, although this hypothesis has not been explored specifically. Guided by the biopsychosocial model of health and wellness, this study compared the treatment adherence rates of 46 young adult cancer patients (ages 18-39 years) to 46 older adult cancer patients (ages 40 years and older). Adherence was measured by a dichotomized variable, as yes/no, adhering to radiation treatment and follow-up appointments recommended by the physician, 95% of the time. Additionally, gender and race were explored in relationship to adherence to radiation treatment and follow-up appointments. Demographic data were first extracted from the Cancer Registry of a Midwestern Hospital. Then radiation appointments and follow-up appointments were examined for each patient, in paper and/or computerized charts, to determine adherence rates. McNemar's test was used to compare young adults and older adult oncology patients' adherence rates, and Chi-square analysis was used to explore gender and race in relationship to adherence. Results indicated a lower adherence rate to follow-up appointments for younger adults as compared to older adults, with older adults adhering 3 -½ times more than younger adults. Gender was also related to follow-up appointment adherence, with males adhering better than females. This study contributes to positive social change by increasing the knowledge base of healthcare providers on adherence rates of young adult patients and reducing the dollars spent on treatment for re occurrences.

No description available.

Background. Right cerebellar-left frontal (RC-LF) white matter integrity (WMI) has been associated with working memory. Right Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus II (SLF II) WMI has been associated with visual attention. These relationships have held true for neurotypical controls and brain tumor survivors. The current study examined the relationships between RC-LF WMI and processing speed, attention, and working memory. SLF II WMI and visual attention were included as a control tract and task to demonstrate a correlational double dissociation. This study also examined the relationship between the volume of brain regions within the RC-LF network and RC-LF WMI. Methods. Adult survivors of childhood brain tumors (n= 29, age: M=22 years (SD= 5), 45% female) were treated with neurosurgery, and combinations of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Age- and gender-matched controls (n=29) were also included. Tests of auditory attention span, working memory, visual attention, and processing speed served as cognitive measures. Participants completed a 3T MRI diffusion imaging scan. WMI (FA, RD) and volume served as neuroimaging measures. In the survivor group, partial correlations between WMI and cognitive scores included controlling for type of treatment. Results. A correlational double dissociation was found. RC-LF WMI was associated with auditory attention span (FA: r=.42, p=.03; RD: r=-.50, p=.01), and was not associated with visual attention (FA: r=-.11, p=.59; RD: r=-.11, p=.57). SLF II FA WMI was associated with visual attention (FA: r=.44, p=.02; RD: r=-.17, p=.40), and was not associated with auditory attention span (FA: r=.24, p=.22; RD: r=-.10, p=.62). The relationship between RC-LF WMI and auditory attention span robustly dissociated from working memory and visual attention. In the radiation group, thalamic-frontal segment of RC-LF WMI associated with the volumetric measures of each structure of the RC-LF pathway, whereas in the no radiation group cerebellar-rubral segment of RC-LF WMI associated with the volumetric measures. Conclusions. The current study advances the understanding of structural brain changes following cerebellar tumor resection and treatment because the results show that RC-LF WMI is associated with auditory attention span rather that working memory, provide evidence for a correlational double dissociation, and suggest distinct relationships between WMI and volume based on treatment.

Children who have received radiation therapy for the treatment of brain tumors have been shown to experience neurocognitive deficits which appear to increase over time. The purpose of this study was to examine the memory functioning of 22 children irradiated for brain tumor and 22 healthy children of the same age who had not received irradiation. Subjects were administered a brief form of the WISC-III, to obtain an IQ, and the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML), to evaluate visual and verbal memory. Results indicated that, although there were no significant differences between the IQ scores of healthy children and children who had been irradiated, children who have received radiation therapy for brain tumor evidence memory deficits which effect visual and verbal memory abilities. Among the children who had been irradiated, as time since treatment increased, visual memory and overall memory functioning appeared to decline. Findings also suggested that children who received total tumor resection may evidence greater memory deficits than those who received only a partial resection. Visual memory was more closely related to IQ in the children irradiated for brain tumor than in the healthy children. The overall importance of research with this population lies in refining the understanding of memory deficits and strengths in order to formulate more effective remediation compensation, strategies.

Radiation therapy accounts for treatment of over one million cancer patients each year in the United States alone, and its use will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. Recently, many important advancements have been developed that greatly improve the outcomes and effectiveness of this treatment technique, the most notable being Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). IMRT is a sophisticated treatment technique where the radiation dose is conformed to the tumor volume, thereby sparing nearby healthy tissue from excessive radiation dose. While IMRT is a valuable tool in the planning of radiation treatments, it is not without its difficulties. This research has created, developed, and tested an innovative approach to IMRT treatment planning, coined Direct Compensator Profile Optimization (DCPO), which is shown to eliminate many of the difficulties typically associated with IMRT planning and delivery using solid compensator based treatment. The major innovation of this technique is that it is a direct delivery parameter optimization approach which has adopted a parameterized surface representation using Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBs) to replace the conventional beamlet weight optimization approach. This new approach brings with it three key advantages: 1) a reduced number of parameters to optimize, reducing the difficulty of numerical optimization; 2) the ability to ensure complete equivalence of planned and actual manufactured compensators; and 3) direct inclusion of delivery device effects during planning with no performance penalties, eliminating the degrading fluence-to-delivery parameter conversion process. Detailed research into the affects of the DCPO approach on IMRT planning has been completed and a thorough analysis of the developments is provided herein. This research includes a complete description of the DCPO surface representation scheme, inverse planning process, as well as quantification of the manufacturing constraint control procedure. Results are presented which demonstrate the performance and innovation offered by this new approach and show that the resulting compensator shapes can be manufactured to nearly 100 percent of the designed shape.

No description available.

[Truncated abstract] Therapeutic Radiation has been used for the treatment of cancer and other diseases for nearly a century. Over the past 20 years, Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT) has been used to assist wound healing in the prevention and treatment of the more severe complications associated with the side effects of Therapeutic Radiation Treatment (TRT). The use of HBOT is based on the premise that increased oxygen tissue tension aids wound healing by increasing the hypoxic gradient and stimulating angiogenesis and fibroblast differentiation. As it takes up to 6 months for a hypoxic state to develop in treated tissue, following radiation treatment, current recommendations for HBOT state that it is not effective until after this time. During this 6 month period, immediately following TRT, many specialized tissues in or adjacent to the field of irradiation, such as salivary glands and bone, are damaged due to a progressive thickening of arteries and fibrosis, and these tissues are never replaced. Currently, HBOT is used to treat the complications of TRT, but it would be far better if they could be prevented . . . In summary, this experimental model has fulfilled its prime objective of demonstrating that HBOT is effective in reducing the long-term side effects of therapeutic radiation treatment in normal tissue, when given one week after the completion of the radiation treatment and statistically disproves the Null Hypothesis that there is no difference in the incidence of postoperative complications or morbidity of TRT when 20 intermittent daily HBOT are started one week after completion of TRT. This project provides an extensive description of the histological process and also proposes a hypothesis for the molecular events that may be taking place.

No description available.

Современные агропромышленные предприятия терпят значительные убытки, связанные с потерей от 10 до 30% продукции от микробиологического загрязнения. Производители сельскохозяйственной и пищевой продукции, стремящиеся к увеличению сроков хранения, а также биологической безопасности продукции, внедряют новые методы их обработки. На сегодняшний день широкую популярность в мире набирает методы радиационной обработки с применением различных видов ионизирующего излучения. Цель работы – провести оценку эффективности проекта радиационной обработки продукции агропромышленных предприятий. Научная новизна состоит в применение традиционных методов оценки эффективности к новому методу радиационной обработки продукции, внедряемого в технологические процессы агропромышленных комплексов Свердловской области. Практическая значимость заключается в комплексной оценке экономической эффективности проекта создания Центра радиационной обработки продукции агропромышленных предприятий с учетом различных уровней загрузки оборудования. / Modern agro-industrial enterprises suffer significant losses associated with the loss of 10 to 30% of products due to microbiological contamination. Manufacturers of agricultural and food products, seeking to increase the shelf life, as well as the biological safety of products, are introducing new methods of its processing. To date, methods of radiation treatment with the use of various types of ionizing radiation are gaining wide popularity in the world. The purpose of the work is to evaluate the effectiveness of the project of radiation treatment of agricultural products. The scientific novelty consists in the application of traditional methods of efficiency assessment to a new method of radiation treatment of products introduced into the technological processes of agro-industrial complexes of the Sverdlovsk region. The practical significance lies in a comprehensive assessment of the economic efficiency of the project to create a Center for radiation treatment of agricultural products, taking into account different levels of equipment loading.