Comparison of Prognostic Indices in NSCLC Patients with Brain Metastases after Radiosurgery.

Prognostic indices are commonly used in the context of brain metastases radiotherapy to guide patient decision-making and clinical trial stratification. This study is to choose an appropriate prognostic index (PI) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain metastases (BM) who underwent radiosurgery. A total of 103 patients with BM from NSCLC receiving radiosurgery were analyzed retrospectively. There are six prognostic factors were analyzed, including age, primary tumor control, extracranial metastasis, KPS score, number of lesions, max lesion volume; and four prognostic indices were compared, include Recursive Partitioning Analysis (RPA),Graded Prognostic Assessment (GPA), Score Index for Radiosurgery (SIR), Basic Score for Brain Metastases (BSBM). Survival curves were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with a log-rank test stratified according to the PIs. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox regression analysis. The PI's predictive capacity was compared in terms of Akaike information criterion (AIC), Log-rank × 2, Concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve. The median survival time was 8 months, and the 6-months and 12-months survival rate were 61% and 26% respectively. All four prognostic indices were correlated with prognosis (P<0.005).The AIC for BSBM (686.317) was the minimum in the four PIs(range,686.317-739.113).The Log-rank × 2 value for BSBM (77.62) was the maximum in the four PIs (range,23.32-77.62).The C-index for BSBM (0.758)was superior than the other PIs predictive capacity (range,0.611-0.758). The calibration curve showed that the BSBM was able to predict 6-months and 12-months overall survival accurately. In conclusion, the BSBM may be the most accurate prognostic index for patients with BM from NSCLC who underwent radiosurgery.

Effects of nutritional intervention in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy: A prospective randomized clinical trial.

Head and neck malignant tumors have numerous locations of the disease. After patients receive radiotherapy, their nutritional status is very poor, thus the curative effect is unsatisfactory. The aims of the present study were to investigate and analyze the nutritional status of patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy (RT) in order to provide positive nutrition intervention for assisting the radiotherapy effect. A total of 40 patients with head and neck cancer were selected using a method of subjective global assessment (SGA) to assess nutritional status, including calorie intake and energy expenditure. In a randomized, controlled study, 20 patients received intensive dietary counseling and nutritional therapy (G1) and 20 received regular dietary as controls (G0) preradiotherapy and postradiotherapy. The primary endpoint was calorie intake and energy expenditure. The secondary endpoint was SGA rating with nutritional therapy. At the end of RT, energy intake showed a net increase in G1 (1,691±301 kcal) compared with that in G0 (1,066±312 kcal) (P<0.05); energy expenditure increased in G1 (1,673±279 kcal) compared with G0 (1,490±298 kcal) (P<0.05). The prevalence of severe malnutrition following radiotherapy was significantly different between the two study groups (10 patients in G0 and 4 patients in G1; P<0.05). The number of the normal malnutrition patients postRT in G0 decreased from 4 to 2 and conversely, in G1 it increased from 3 to 6 (P<0.05). In conclusion, patients with head and neck cancer were most malnutritioned, which impacted on clinical outcome. Timely nutritional intervention can effectively prevent weight loss and muscle wasting. Additionally, it may improve quality of life by decreasing the frequency of severe malnutrition.

[Carbon cycle in ten kinds of forest ecosystem in Guangzhou City].

Based on an extensive collection of information and experimental data, this paper studied the carbon cycle in ten kinds of forest ecosystem in Guangzhou, China, aimed to explore the carbon cycling patterns in, southern subtropical forest ecosystems. For the test ecosystems, their carbon density ranged from 108.35 to 151.85 t C x hm(-2), with 10. 85-48.86 t C x hm(-2) in tree layer and 87.74-99.01 t C x hm(-2) in soil layer (0-60 cm), being lower than the national average. There were 4. 41-9. 15 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1) flowed from atmosphere to vegetation stratum, 0. 74-2.06 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1) from vegetation stratum to soil, and 3.94-5.42 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1) from soil to atmosphere, i.e., the forest systems absorbed 0.47-4.97 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1) from atmosphere. The net ecosystem production (NEP) varied with forest stand, being higher for broadleaved forest than coniferous forest, mixed forest than pure forest, and natural secondary forest than artificial forest.

[CO2 exchanges between mangrove- and shoal wetland ecosystems and atmosphere in Guangzhou].

Based on the investigation of biomass and the measurement of CO2 and CH4 fluxes, the CO2 exchanges between mangrove- and shoal wetland ecosystems and atmosphere in Guangzhou were studied, and the CO2 absorption capability of the wetlands vegetation net productivity as well as the carbon sink function of the wetlands under different waterlogged conditions (perennial, intermittent, and no water-logging) was analyzed. As for mangrove wetland ecosystem, its vegetation net productivity absorbed 33.74 t x hm(-2) x a(-1) of CO2, and soil emitted 12.26 t x hm(-2) x a(-1) of CO2 (including the greenhouse effect amount of CH4 converted into that of CO2,) illustrating that mangrove wetland had a 21.48 t x hm(-2) x a(-1) net absorption of CO2, being a strong carbon sink. For shoal wetland ecosystem, its vegetation net productivity absorbed 8.54 t x hm(-2) x a(-1) of CO2, and soil emitted 5.88 t x hm(-2) x a(-1) of CO2 and 0.19 t x hm(-2) x a(-1) of CH4. If converting into carbon, the wetland absorbed 2.33 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1), and soil emitted 1.74 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1) (including the carbon in CH4), illustrating that shoal wetland fixed 0.59 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1), being a weak carbon sink. If the greenhouse effect amount of CH4 was converted into that of CO2, the soil emitted 9.78 t x hm(-2) x a(-1) of CO2, which was 1.24 t x hm(-2) x a(-1) more than the absorption. As a result, shoal wetland was a weak carbon source. Between the two test greenhouse gases, CH4 was the main one emitted under perennial water-logging, while CO2 was that under no water-logging. Moreover, the wetland under perennial water-logging had the strongest carbon sink function, while that under no water-logging was in adverse.