Acute effects of oral mesna administration on the full amino acid profile and 3-methylhistidine: secondary results from the CYLOB dose-finding study.

Plasma total cysteine (tCys) is strongly associated with fat mass in humans. Mesna lowers plasma tCys in a dose-dependent manner, but it is not known whether it interferes with metabolism of other amino acids or protein. In this Phase-1 study, we show that a single dose of mesna administered at 400, 800, 1200 or 1600 mg to 6-7 individuals per dose only slightly affects amino acid profiles, with increases in plasma valine across dose levels. There were no effects of mesna on 3-methylhistidine, a marker of protein breakdown.

Use of Receiver Operating Curve Analysis and Machine Learning With an Independent Dose Calculation System Reduces the Number of Physical Dose Measurements Required for Patient-Specific Quality Assurance.

PURPOSE: Our purpose was to assess the use of machine learning methods and Mobius 3D (M3D) dose calculation software to reduce the number of physical ion chamber (IC) dose measurements required for patient-specific quality assurance during corona virus disease 2019. METHODS AND MATERIALS: In this study, 1464 inversely planned treatments using Pinnacle or Raystation treatment planning software (TPS) were delivered using Elekta Versa HD and Varian Truebeam and Truebeam STx linear accelerators between June 2018 and November 2019. For each plan, an independent dose calculation was performed using M3D, and an absolute dose measurement was taken using a Pinpoint IC inside the Mobius phantom. The point dose differences between the TPS and M3D calculation and between TPS and IC measurements were calculated. Agreement between the TPS and IC was used to define the ground truth plan failure. To reduce the on-site personnel during the pandemic, 2 methods of receiver operating characteristic analysis (n = 1464) and machine learning (n = 603) were used to identify patient plans that would require physical dose measurements. RESULTS: In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, a predelivery M3D difference threshold of 3% identified plans that failed an IC measurement at a 4% threshold with 100% sensitivity and 76.3% specificity. This indicates that fewer than 25% of plans required a physical dose measurement. A threshold of 1% on a machine learning model was able to identify plans that failed an IC measurement at a 3% threshold with 100% sensitivity and 54.3% specificity, leading to fewer than 50% of plans that required a physical dose measurement. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to identify plans that are more likely to fail IC patient-specific quality assurance measurements before delivery. This possibly allows for a reduction of physical measurements taken, freeing up significant clinical resources and reducing the required amount of on-site personnel while maintaining patient safety.

Continuous-wave Pr³âº:BaY2F8 and Pr³âº:LiYF4 lasers in the cyan-blue spectral region.

We report on the first, to the best of our knowledge, continuous-wave quasi three-level lasers emitting in the cyan-blue spectral range in praseodymium-doped crystalline materials. Applying Pr(3+):BaY2F8 as an active medium, up to 201 mW of output power at 495 nm could be obtained with a slope efficiency of 27% under pumping with an optically pumped semiconductor laser (2ω-OPSL) at 480 nm. In the same pumping scheme using Pr(3+):LiYF4, output powers up to 70 mW were realized at 491 and 500 nm, respectively. With Pr(3+):BaY2F8, diode-pumped laser operation with up to 11% slope efficiency and 44 mW output power was also achieved. In the latter case, detailed investigations on the temperature dependency of the laser output were conducted. Moreover, comparative experiments were carried out for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, with green-emitting Pr(3+):BaY2F8 lasers at 524 and 553 nm both under diode and 2ω-OPSL excitation.

[Clinical efficacy and safety of emergent percutaneous coronary intervention for vein-grafts in the patients with acute myocardial infarction: comparison between age groups].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and the safety of emergent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the saphenous vein bypass graft (SVBG) of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and compare the results between aged -patients with non-aged patients. METHODS: Three hundred and nine consecutive AMI patients with culprit SVBG vessels, were analysed, including aged patients 213 cases(>or=70 years old), non-aged patients 96 cases(<70 years old), underwent the emergent primary PCI after confirmed below TIMI III perfusion(TIMI 0-TIMI II) in coronary angiographies. The immediate results and in-hospital outcomes were compared between two groups. RESULTS: Procedural successful rate, re-occlusion rate, and emergency re-CABG had no significant differences between two groups. The rate of slow-flow/no-reflow and in-hospital mortality rate were significantly higher in elderly group (19.7% vs 10.4%, 9.4% vs 4.2%, both P<0.05), with no difference in the rate of the using of distal protection devices between two groups. The comparison of the rate of direct stenting in slow-flow/no-reflow subgroup with normal-flow subgroup, had not showed statistic difference (73.5% vs 67.3%, P>0.05). There was no statistic difference of heavy hemorrhage between two different age groups. CONCLUSION: The primary PCI for the elderly AMI patients with infarction-related SVBG vessels, has higher risks in slow-flow/no-reflow and the mortality, even with using the distal protection devises and direct stents implantation.