Tracheal adenocarcinoma treated with adjuvant radiation: a case report and literature review.

Primary adenocarcinoma of the trachea is extremely rare and a standard treatment does not exist due to nonavailability of evidence-based randomized control studies. This paper reports the case of a 60-year-old male, who presented with cough and occasional respiratory distress. Bronchoscopic examination and a computed tomography scan revealed a soft tissue mass in the trachea arising from the posterior tracheal wall. Cytological examination and immunochemistry confirmed primary adenocarcinoma of the trachea. Excision of the tumor followed by three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy was performed, and a dose of 56 Gy was delivered to the primary site. Two and a half years after treatment, the patient has no clinical or radiological evidence of the disease, and no late complication has occurred.

Dosimetric comparison between the microSelectron HDR (192)Ir v2 source and the BEBIG (60)Co source for HDR brachytherapy using the EGSnrc Monte Carlo transport code.

Manufacturing of miniaturized high activity (192)Ir sources have been made a market preference in modern brachytherapy. The smaller dimensions of the sources are flexible for smaller diameter of the applicators and it is also suitable for interstitial implants. Presently, miniaturized (60)Co HDR sources have been made available with identical dimensions to those of (192)Ir sources. (60)Co sources have an advantage of longer half life while comparing with (192)Ir source. High dose rate brachytherapy sources with longer half life are logically pragmatic solution for developing country in economic point of view. This study is aimed to compare the TG-43U1 dosimetric parameters for new BEBIG (60)Co HDR and new microSelectron (192)Ir HDR sources. Dosimetric parameters are calculated using EGSnrc-based Monte Carlo simulation code accordance with the AAPM TG-43 formalism for microSlectron HDR (192)Ir v2 and new BEBIG (60)Co HDR sources. Air-kerma strength per unit source activity, calculated in dry air are 9.698×10(-8) ± 0.55% U Bq(-1) and 3.039×10(-7) ± 0.41% U Bq(-1) for the above mentioned two sources, respectively. The calculated dose rate constants per unit air-kerma strength in water medium are 1.116±0.12% cGy h(-1)U(-1) and 1.097±0.12% cGy h(-1)U(-1), respectively, for the two sources. The values of radial dose function for distances up to 1 cm and more than 22 cm for BEBIG (60)Co HDR source are higher than that of other source. The anisotropic values are sharply increased to the longitudinal sides of the BEBIG (60)Co source and the rise is comparatively sharper than that of the other source. Tissue dependence of the absorbed dose has been investigated with vacuum phantom for breast, compact bone, blood, lung, thyroid, soft tissue, testis, and muscle. No significant variation is noted at 5 cm of radial distance in this regard while comparing the two sources except for lung tissues. The true dose rates are calculated with considering photon as well as electron transport using appropriate cut-off energy. No significant advantages or disadvantages are found in dosimetric aspect comparing with two sources.

Effect of starch 1500 as a binder and disintegrant in lamivudine tablets prepared by high shear wet granulation.

High shear wet granulation is a preferred manufacturing method of tablets. It allowed for rapid production of compressible granulations. The resultant granulation characteristics depend on a combination of formulation properties and processing parameters. Fully pregelatinized starches are currently being used as binders in wet granulated formulations. But due to the gelatinization, much of the disintegration properties are lost. Partially pregelatinized starches (starch 1,500) have a mixture of properties of both native and fully gelatinized starches; made them useful as both a binder and a disintegrant in wet granulated formulations. Starch 1,500 performed as an excellent binder producing a granulation that was compressible and produced lamivudine tablets of improved hardness and friability compared with those prepared with povidone. The formulation of lamivudine tablets with starch 1,500 exceeded the disintegration and dissolution performance of the povidone formulation that utilized a super disintegrant. High shear wet granulation is also well suited for the use of partially pregelatinized starches.

Genetic divergence in the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus), a widely distributed invasive species.

The combination of founder events, random drift and new selective forces experienced by introduced species typically lowers genetic variation and induces differentiation from the ancestral population. Here, we investigate microsatellite differentiation between introduced and native populations of the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus). Many expectations based on introduction history, such as loss of alleles and relationships among populations, are confirmed. Nevertheless, when applying population assignment methods to our data, we observe a few specimens that are incorrectly assigned and/or appear to have a mixed ancestry, despite estimates of substantial population differentiation. Thus, we suggest that population assignments of individuals should be viewed as tentative and that there should be agreement among different algorithms before assignments are applied in conservation or management. Further, we find no congruence between previously reported morphological differentiation and the sorting of microsatellite variation. Some introduced populations have retained much genetic variation while others have not, irrespective of morphology. Finally, we find alleles from the sympatric grey mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii) in one small Indian mongoose within the native range, suggesting an alternative explanation for morphological differentiation involving a shift in female preferences in allopatry.