Daily online bony correction is required for prostate patients without fiducial markers or soft-tissue imaging.

AIM: To compare online position verification strategies with offline correction protocols for patients undergoing definitive prostate radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed 50 patients with implanted fiducial markers undergoing curative prostate radiation treatment, all of whom underwent daily kilovoltage imaging using an on-board imager. For each treatment, patients were set-up initially with skin tattoos and in-room lasers. Orthogonal on-board imager images were acquired and the couch shift to match both bony anatomy and the fiducial markers recorded. The set-up error using skin tattoos and offline bone correction was compared with online bone correction. The fiducial markers were used as the reference. RESULTS: Data from 1923 fractions were analysed. The systematic error was ≤1 mm for all protocols. The average random error was 2-3mm for online bony correction and 3-5mm for skin tattoos or offline-bone. Online-bone showed a significant improvement compared with offline-bone in the number of patients with >5mm set-up errors for >10% (P<0.001) and >20% (P<0.003) of their fractions. CONCLUSIONS: Online correction to bony anatomy reduces both systematic and random set-up error in patients undergoing prostate radiotherapy, and is superior to offline correction methods for those patients not suitable for fiducial markers or daily soft-tissue imaging.

AN ARRAY OF MONOLITHIC FBAR-CMOS OSCILLATORS FOR MASS-SENSING APPLICATIONS.

We present a monolithic, solidly-mounted CMOS-FBAR oscillator array for mass sensing applications. Thin-film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) are an effective platform for sensitive biological and chemical detection, where their high operating frequencies make them many times more sensitive than a quartz crystal microbalance. By monolithic integration with CMOS drive circuitry, we aim to overcome the spatial limitations of externally-coupled resonators to build dense sensor arrays without specialized fabrication techniques. The sensors in this work are constructed in a 6 × 4 array atop a 0.18µm CMOS active substrate, and mass sensitivity comparable to off-chip FBAR sensors is demonstrated.

An examination of the services provided by Psychiatric Consultation Liaison Nurses in a general hospital.

The political, professional and economic context in which mental health care is delivered has witnessed significant changes in recent times. The movement of psychiatric patients from institutions to community settings has seen the emphasis of the loci of care delivery shifting with increasing numbers presenting to general hospitals. The speciality of the Psychiatric Consultation Liaison Nurse (PCLN) has emerged as a bridge between mental health and general hospital services. A descriptive, non-experimental research approach was employed to establish patient profiles and to provide an overview of the depth of service provision. This design was selected as the most appropriate because of the limited information on the PCLN in an Irish setting and secondly, as the study was limited to one rural geographical location. A questionnaire was utilized to collate the details of patients who had received a mental health assessment. The findings presented here are the profiles of patients assessed by the PCLN during the 3-month study period. The results add further credence to the existing evaluative studies in presenting the characteristics of patients within the Irish context and further contribute to the unique body of evidence that defines the mental health nurse in an advancing role.

Import, processing, and assembly of the alpha- and beta-subunits of chloroplast pyruvate dehydrogenase.

Sequence comparisons were used to identify cDNAs potentially encoding the alpha- and beta-subunits of chloroplast pyruvate dehydrogenase. Coupled in-vitro transcription plus translation was used to synthesize radiolabeled pyruvate dehydrogenase alpha- and beta-subunit precursor proteins. When the precursors were incubated with intact pea (Pisum sativum L.) seedling chloroplasts in the presence of ATP, they were imported and proteolytically processed. In contrast, there was no import or processing of the precursors by isolated, intact pea seedling mitochondria. Monospecific antibodies to the recombinant pyruvate dehydrogenase alpha-subunit were additionally able to co-precipitate radiolabeled pyruvate dehydrogenase beta-subunit, indicating association between subunits after import and processing. Furthermore, size-exclusion chromatography was used to identify an alphabeta heterodimer that is an intermediate in the assembly of the native alpha2beta2 heterotetrameric enzyme.

Cloning and molecular analyses of the Arabidopsis thaliana plastid pyruvate dehydrogenase subunits.

Herein we report the first molecular description of the pyruvate dehydrogenase component of the higher plant plastid pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. The full-length cDNAs for the E1 alpha (1530 bp) and E1 beta (1441 bp) subunits of the Arabidopsis thaliana plastid pyruvate dehydrogenase contain open reading frames that encode polypeptides of 428 and 406 amino acids, respectively, with calculated molecular weight values of 47,120 and 44,208. The deduced amino acid sequences for Arabidopsis plastid E1 alpha and E1 beta have 61% and 68% identity to the odpA and odpB genes of the red alga Porphyra purpurea, respectively, but only 31% and 32% identity to the plant mitochondrial counterparts. Results of Southern analyses suggest that each subunit is encoded by a single gene. Northern blot analyses indicate expression of mRNAs of the appropriate size in Arabidopsis leaves.