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Abstract A new type of cold/ultracold neutron detector that can realize a spatial resolution of less than 100 nm was developed using nuclear emulsion. The detector consists of a fine-grained nuclear emulsion coating and a 50-nm thick $$^{10}\hbox {B}_4 \hbox {C}$$ 10B4C layer for the neutron conversion. The detector was exposed to cold and ultracold neutrons (UCNs) at the J-PARC. Detection efficiencies were measured as (0.163 ± 0.015 (stat) ± 0.013 (sys))% and (10.3 ± 1.3 (stat) ± 1.1 (sys))% for cold and ultracold neutrons consistently with the $$^{10}$$ 10 B content in the converter. Positions of individual neutrons can be determined by observing secondary particle tracks recorded in the nuclear emulsion. The spatial resolution of incident neutrons were found to be in the range of 11–99 nm in the angle region of tan$$\theta \le 1.9$$ θ≤1.9 , where $$\theta $$ θ is the angle between a recorded track and the normal direction of the converter layer. The achieved spatial resolution corresponds to the improvement of one or two orders of magnitude compared with conventional techniques and it is comparable with the wavelength of UCNs.

A correction for the beam divergence effect in a neutron resonance spin echo (NRSE) spectrometer will be discussed. The new type of device called 'coupling coils' is proposed to change the spin quantization axis for the correction. The feasibility of correction for the vertical divergence has been demonstrated by numerical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have installed a MIEZE (modulated intensity by zero effort) spectrometer in the C3-1-2-2(MINE1) port at JRR-3M. In the MIEZE spectrometer, a sample is placed after the analyzer. Thus the contrast of the MIEZE signal can be observed without reduction even in the case of magnetic scattering where the signal for NSE (neutron spin echo) and NRSE (neutron resonance spin echo) instruments is less than half. The MIEZE signal is sensitive to the dispersion of neutron trajectories from the sample to the detector. In other words, the MIEZE signal is reduced only due to the dispersion even without in- and quasi-elastic scattering. We studied the correlation between experimental configuration and its resolution function using the Monte Carlo simulation. We prepared a magnetite ferrofluid sample with a typical particle diameter of 84 Å, and examined the simulation model by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutron imaging is a nondestructive and noninvasive inspection technique with a wide range of potential applications. However, the fundamentals of this technique still need to be improved, one of which involves achieving micrometer scale or even better resolution, which is a challenging task. Recently, a high-resolution neutron imaging device based on fine-grained nuclear emulsions was developed. Although these detectors demonstrate exceptionally high resolutions, they have several limitations. Furthermore, these detectors require an additional chemical development process and are thus not reusable. To overcome these limitations, we investigated whether neutron imaging devices based on fluorescent nuclear track detectors were suitable for high-resolution neutron imaging. Fluorescent nuclear track detectors are reusable solid-state detectors that do not require additional chemical processing. A novel technique combining neutron imaging based on fluorescent nuclear track detectors with a neutron converter layer formed using [Formula: see text]B[Formula: see text]C was developed with unprecedented resolution. The neutron imaging of a gadolinium-based grating with a periodic structure of 9 [Formula: see text]m was performed using the proposed fluorescent nuclear track detector-based neutron imaging device, and the grating structure was successfully resolved. The measured resolution was 0.887 ± 0.009 [Formula: see text]m, which is the 1σ 10-90% edge response obtained using optical images of the fluorescent nuclear track detectors., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Although the energy stored in the lean tissue (LT) and adipose tissue (AT) is well known, the energy required to synthesise these tissues is obscure. Theoretically, the energy at the point at which ΔLT/Δ body weight (BW) reaches 100 % on a regression line, which indicates the relationship between ΔLT/ΔBW and the energy required for BW gain, is considered to be the energy expended to synthesise LT. Therefore, we investigated this relationship in rats. Rats were fed diets with different ratios of protein, fat and carbohydrates because their ΔLT/ΔBW values were expected to be different. Six-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats had ad libitum access to normal (N, n 6), high-fat (HF, n 7) or high-protein (HP, n 8) diets for 4 weeks. The ΔLT/ΔBW was 0·77 in the N, 0·70 in the HF and 0·87 in the HP groups, respectively. The average energy required to gain BW was 8·8 kJ/g in the N group, 7·0 kJ/g in the HF group and 11·3 kJ/g in the HP group. We observed a positive correlation between ΔLT/ΔBW and energy required for BW gain. The regression line demonstrated that the energy expended to synthesise LT was 13·9 kJ/g and AT was -7·9 kJ/g. Therefore, combined with the energy stored in LT, the energy required to accumulate LT is approximately 19 kJ/g, whereas the energy to accumulate AT could not be elucidated.

Producing a polarized lanthanum (La) target with high polarization and long relaxation time is crucial for realizing time-reversal violation experiments using polarized neutron beams. We use a LaAlO3 crystal doped with a small amount of Nd3+ ions for the polarized lanthanum target. Optimizing the amount of Nd3+ ions is considerably important because the achievable polarization and relaxation time strongly depend on this amount. We established a fundamental method to grow single crystals of Nd3+:LaAlO3 using an optical floating zone method that employs halogen lamps and evaluated the crystals with the dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) method for polarizing nuclear spins. Two crystal samples were grown by ourselves and evaluated with the DNP at 1.3 K and 2.3 T for the first time, except for the target materials of protons. The enhancement of nuclear magnetic resonance signals for 139La and 27Al was successfully observed, and the enhancement factors were eventually 3.5 ± 0.3 and 13 ± 3 for the samples with Nd3+ ions of 0.05 and 0.01 mol. %, respectively. These enhancement factors correspond to absolute vector polarizations of 0.27% ± 0.02% (Nd3+ 0.05 mol. %) and 1.4% ± 0.3% (Nd3+ 0.01 mol. %). Although the obtained polarizations are still low, they are acceptable as a first step. The combination scheme of the crystal growth and the evaluation of the crystals is found to be effectively applicable for optimizing the amount of Nd3+ ions for improving the performance of the polarized target., (© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

This study entailed the successful deployment of a novel neutron interferometer that utilizes multilayer mirrors. The apparatus facilitates a precise evaluation of the wavelength dependence of interference fringes utilizing a pulsed neutron source. Our interferometer achieved an impressive precision of 0.02 rad within a 20-min recording time. Compared to systems using silicon crystals, the measurement sensitivity was maintained even when using a simplified disturbance suppressor. By segregating beam paths entirely, we achieved successful measurements of neutron-nuclear scattering lengths across various samples. The values measured for Si, Al, and Ti were in agreement with those found in the literature, while V showed a disparity of 45%. This discrepancy may be attributable to impurities encountered in previous investigations. The accuracy of measurements can be enhanced further by mitigating systematic uncertainties that are associated with neutron wavelength, sample impurity, and thickness. This novel neutron interferometer enables us to measure fundamental parameters, such as the neutron-nuclear scattering length of materials, with a precision that surpasses that of conventional interferometers.

Although the energy stored in lean tissue (LT) and adipose tissue (AT) is well known, the energy required to synthesize these tissues is less clear. While elucidating the energy required for AT synthesis may not be so important, the elucidation of the energy required for LT synthesis is important for individuals who aim to increase their skeletal muscle. Theoretically the energy at the point at which ΔLT/Δbody weight (BW) reaches 100% on a regression curve, which indicates the relationship between ΔLT/ΔBW and the energy used to accumulate body tissue, is considered to be the energy expended to synthesize LT. We therefore investigated the relationship using rats. Rats of different ages, and rats in exercised or sedentary states were used because their ΔLT/ΔBW was expected to be different. ΔLT/ΔBW was higher in the 4-wk-old group than in the 8-wk-old group and higher in the exercise group than in the sedentary group. We found a positive correlation between ΔLT/ΔBW and the energy expended to synthesize tissues that accumulated in the body. This energy was lower in the 8-wk-old group, which had a lower ΔLT/ΔBW in comparison to the 4-wk-old group, but was not affected by exercise. The regression curve revealed that the energy expended to synthesize LT was 2.9 kcal/g, while that expended to synthesize AT was 1.1 kcal/g. Therefore, combined with the energy accumulated to the tissues, the energy required to accumulate LT is approximately 4.0 kcal/g, while that required to accumulate AT is approximately 8.5 kcal/g.

We present a 76-year-old female with a 6-year history of decreased vision in the right eye and right-sided facial neuralgia. She had a T1 isointense and T2 isointense enhancing lesion in the right orbit and the middle cranial fossa on MRI examination. Granulomatous disease or meningioma was suspected, however, after removal, the tumor was identified by pathology as adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). The tumor has no radiological and clinical lacrimal grand involvement. ACC shows a slow and indolent growth pattern but is associated with poor long-term outcomes, mainly due to perineural invasion, local control failure, and distant metastasis. This case highlights the importance of a pathologic diagnosis and early intervention in similar presentations., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of University of Washington.)

Muonic helium atom hyperfine structure (HFS) measurements are a sensitive tool to test the three-body atomic system and bound-state quantum electrodynamics theory, and determine fundamental constants of the negative muon magnetic moment and mass. The world's most intense pulsed negative muon beam at the Muon Science Facility of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex allows improvement of previous measurements and testing further CPT invariance by comparing the magnetic moments and masses of positive and negative muons (second-generation leptons). We report new ground-state HFS measurements of muonic helium-4 atoms at a near-zero magnetic field, performed for the first time using a small admixture of CH_{4} as an electron donor to form neutral muonic helium atoms efficiently. Our analysis gives Δν=4464.980(20)  MHz (4.5 ppm), which is more precise than both previous measurements at weak and high fields. The muonium ground-state HFS was also measured under the same conditions to investigate the isotopic effect on the frequency shift due to the gas density dependence in He with CH_{4} admixture and compared with previous studies. Muonium and muonic helium can be regarded as light and heavy hydrogen isotopes with an isotopic mass ratio of 36. No isotopic effect was observed within the current experimental precision.

In many cases, athletes compensate for nutrient deficiencies due to a reduced dietary intake by taking supplements or other means. However, in what ways nutrients are utilized by the body when it is deficient in energy and yet receives adequate amounts of the required nutrients are unclear. We therefore examined the effect of the balance between available energy and iron intake on the iron nutritional status of athletes. The experiment was conducted in two parts. Four-week-old male rats were divided into two groups based on energy and iron sufficiency: Experiment 1 was energy-sufficient and iron-sufficient (ES-FeS) and energy-sufficient and iron-deficient (ES-FeD). Experiment 2 was energy-deficient and iron-sufficient (ED-FeS) and energy-deficient and iron-deficient (ED-FeD) groups. All rats were made to perform climbing exercises 3 days a week at 5 P.M. The results showed that a significantly higher hematocrit, hemoglobin, plasma iron concentration, and TfS were found in the iron-sufficient group than in the iron-deficient group, TIBC was significantly lower in the iron-sufficient group than in the iron-deficient group, and TfS was significantly higher in the iron-sufficient group than in the iron-deficient group, irrespective of energy intake. It was suggested that restricting both iron and energy intake may significantly decrease the amount of iron in the liver and accelerate the metabolic turnover of red blood cells, while restricting iron intake but providing adequate energy intake suggested that resistance exercise-induced tissue iron repartitioning was not altered by iron sufficiency or deficiency., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Maximum decrease of blood pressure and number of minutes of hypotension were independently associated with umbilical arterial pH. However, the impact of hypotension considering the duration of it on umbilical arterial pH is unknown., Methods: Pregnant women aged ≥ 20 years who delivered a baby at full-term via a cesarean delivery under a single-shot spinal anesthesia between January 2017 and March 2019 were included. The main outcome was to predict umbilical arterial pH, based on the value of the time integral of hypotension. Patient demographics, patient comorbidities, and intraoperative data, including the total dose of ephedrine and phenylephrine by fetal delivery and cumulative duration of maternal hypotension, were evaluated. Maternal hypotension was reflected as a decrease in systolic arterial pressure and mean arterial pressure to < 80% of baseline values. The systolic arterial pressure and mean arterial pressure were independently included in a multiple regression analysis along with all other explanatory factors to predict the umbilical arterial pH., Results: Of the 416 eligible patients, 381 were enrolled. When including the systolic arterial pressure or mean arterial pressure in the model, emergency cases, the total dose of ephedrine, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and systolic arterial pressure or mean arterial pressure values were found to be significant predictive factors of umbilical arterial pH., Conclusion: Our results suggest that an elevated time integral of maternal hypotension may have a negative impact on umbilical arterial pH. Therefore, to minimize the risk of fetal acidosis, maternal hypotension should be prevented with the consideration of vasopressors selection., (Copyright © 2021 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.)

Structure factors describe how incident radiation is scattered from materials such as silicon and germanium and characterize the physical interaction between the material and scattered particles. We used neutron Pendellösung interferometry to make precision measurements of the (220) and (400) neutron-silicon structure factors and achieved a factor-of-four improvement in the (111) structure factor uncertainty. These data provide measurements of the silicon Debye-Waller factor at room temperature and the mean square neutron charge radius r n 2 = − 0.1101 ± 0.0089 square femtometers. Combined with existing measurements of the Debye-Waller factor and charge radius, the measured structure factors also improve constraints on the strength of a Yukawa modification to gravity by an order of magnitude over the 20 picometer–to–10 nanometer length scale range.

Theoretical studies suggest that several mechanisms underlie human visual aesthetic experiences: perceptual processing, which has small variability among individuals (shared properties) and strong correlation with image statistics (e.g. color statistics); cognitive processing, which is idiosyncratic and has weak correlation with image statistics; and emotional processing, which determines the affective part of the aesthetic experience. Furthermore, several experimental studies have reported that the visual aesthetic experience can be largely explained by only a few latent factors. However, it is unclear whether the idiosyncrasy and sensitivity to the image statistics of the latent factors from empirical studies are consistent with the multi-stage processing hypothesis from theoretical studies. In the present study, using exploratory factor analysis, we derived three latent factors of visual aesthetic experiences from participants observing landscape paintings and photographs. Then we examined the difference in the idiosyncrasy of the factors and the relationship between the factors and color statistics. We found that there were significant correlations among the color statistics and Factors 1 and 3, which had a small variance of factor scores (low idiosyncrasy), and no or weak correlation among the color statistics and Factor 2, which had a large variance of factor scores (high idiosyncrasy). Our results provide experimental evidence for the perceptual and cognitive processing of visual aesthetic experiences., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Total skin electron beam therapy (TSEBT) is useful for primary cutaneous lymphoma. However, helical skin radiation therapy (HSRT) using tomotherapy may avoid the complexity and uncertainty of TSEBT., Methods and Materials: All patients with primary cutaneous lymphoma who underwent HSRT at our hospital between June 2015 and July 2019 were investigated, including 7 patients registered in a clinical trial approved by an institutional review board (ID UMIN000022142). HSRT was performed in 3 partitioned skin areas: head and neck, trunk and arms, and legs., Results: A total of 24 patients with 53 skin areas (including 8 patients with 24 skin areas who had undergone sequential total skin irradiation), with a median follow-up time of 13 months (range, 2-50), were investigated. Twenty patients (83.3%) had mycosis fungoides (MF). For 41 of 53 (77.4%) cases, a dose of 20 Gy in 10 fractions was used. The overall response rate in the treated fields of each HSRT in patients with MF was 100%, including 38 (80.9%) complete response, 4 (8.5%) good partial response, and 5 (10.6%) partial response. Eight patients with MF who underwent sequential total skin irradiation showed a 100% complete response. For patients with MF, the median survival time after a first round of HSRT was 22 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.6-30.4 months), the median response duration of each HSRT was 5 months (95% CI, 3.67-6.32 months), and the median time to in-field reirradiation for each HSRT was 15 months (95% CI, 9.76-20.24 months). Bone marrow suppression (grade ≥3) often occurred (94.1%) with HSRT on trunk and arm skin. An early patient died of HSRT-caused grade 5 leukopenia., Conclusions: HSRT targeting trunk and arm skin induced severe bone marrow suppression that led to a temporary palliative effect. TSEBT should still be considered standard treatment for primary cutaneous lymphoma covering the total body surface area., (Copyright © 2020 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A neutron detector using a fine-grained nuclear emulsion has a sub-micron spatial resolution and thus has potential to be applied as high-resolution neutron imaging. In this paper, we present two approaches to applying the emulsion detectors for neutron imaging. One is using a track analysis to derive the reaction points for high resolution. From an image obtained with a 9 μm pitch Gd grating with cold neutrons, periodic peak with a standard deviation of 1.3 μm was observed. The other is an approach without a track analysis for high-density irradiation. An internal structure of a crystal oscillator chip, with a scale of approximately 30 μm, was able to be observed after an image analysis.

Neck clipping of basilar trunk aneurysms, particularly those of a large size, is challenging because of its location. Here, we report a case of a basilar artery aneurysm successfully treated with neck clipping using rapid ventricular pacing(RVP). A 67-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for treatment of a large basilar artery aneurysm. Although coiling was considered, we performed neck clipping of this aneurysm because of the expected radical therapeutic effect. The patient was positioned in the right park-bench position, and right suboccipital craniotomy was performed. The aneurysm was mainly approached via the right supracerebellar route. RVP softened the aneurysm for easy dissection and insertion of multiple clips. The postoperative course was uneventful, and she was discharged 1 week later without neurological deficits. RVP should be considered for the treatment of complex aneurysms as adjunctive techniques.

For the purpose of future visualization of the flow field in superfluid helium-4, clusters of the triplet state excimer 4 He 2 * are generated along the micro-scale recoil tracks of the neutron-absorption reaction n + 3 He → 3 T + p. This reaction is induced by neutron irradiation of the 3 He fraction contained in natural isotopic abundance liquid helium with neutron beams either from the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (JPARC)/Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility or from the Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science. These 4 He 2 * clusters are expected to be ideal tracers of the normal-fluid component in superfluid helium with several advantageous properties. Evidence of the excimer generation is inferred by detection of laser induced fluorescence emitted from the 4 He 2 * clusters excited by a purpose-built short pulse gain-switched titanium:sapphire (Ti:sa) laser operating at a wavelength of 905 nm. The setup and performance characteristics of the laser system including the Ti:sa and two continuous wave re-pumping lasers are described. Detection at the fluorescence wavelength of 640 nm is performed by using optical bandpass filtered photomultiplier tubes (PMT). Electrical noise in the PMT acquisition traces could successfully be suppressed by post-processing with a simple algorithm. Despite other laser-related backgrounds, the excimer was clearly identified by its fluorescence decay characteristics. Production of the excimer was found to be proportional to the neutron flux, adjusted via insertion of different collimators into the neutron beam. These observations suggest that the apparatus we constructed does function in the expected manner and, therefore, has the potential for groundbreaking turbulence research with superfluid helium.

The construction is described of a monolithic thick-crystal perfect silicon neutron interferometer using an ultra-high-precision grinding technique and a combination of annealing and chemical etching that differs from the construction of prior neutron interferometers. The interferometer is the second to have been annealed after machining and the first to be annealed prior to chemical etching. Monitoring the interference signal at each post-fabrication step provides a measurement of subsurface damage and its alleviation. In this case, the strain caused by subsurface damage manifests itself as a spatially varying angular misalignment between the two relevant volumes of the crystal and is reduced from ∼10 -5  rad to ∼10 -9  rad by way of annealing and chemical etching.

Aim: To investigate the intrafraction movement of the esophagus using fiducial markers., Background: Studies on intrafraction esophageal motion using the fiducial markers are scarce., Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with clinical T1N0 esophageal cancer who had received fiducial markers at our hospital between July 2007 and December 2013. Real-Time Position Management System to track the patient's respiration was used, and each patient underwent three-dimensional computed tomography of the resting expiratory and inspiratory level. We used the center of the marker to calculate the distance between the expiratory and inspiratory breath-holds, which were measured with the radiotherapy treatment planning system in three directions: left-right (LR), superior-inferior (SI), and anterior-posterior (AP). The movements at each site were compared with the Kruskal-Wallis analysis and Wilcoxon rank sum test with a Bonferroni correction., Results: A total of 101 patients with 201 fiducial markers were included. The upper, middle and lower thoracic positions had 40, 77, and 84 markers, respectively. The mean absolute magnitudes of the shifts (standard deviation) were 0.18 (0.19) cm, 0.68 (0.46) cm, and 0.24 (0.24) cm in the LR, SI, and AP directions, respectively. From the cumulative frequency distribution, we assumed that 0.35 cm LR, 0.8 cm SI, and 0.3 cm AP in the upper; 0.5 cm LR, 1.55 cm SI, and 0.55 cm AP in the middle; and 0.75 cm LR, 1.9 cm SI, and 0.95 cm AP in the lower thoracic esophagus covered 95% of the cases., Conclusions: The internal margin based on the site of esophagus was estimated.

Background & Objective: Parietal ataxia has been mainly reported as a consequence of acute ischemic stroke, while degenerative parietal ataxia has not been reported., Methods: We investigated clinical characteristics, neuroimaging data, and genetic analysis of patients with cerebellar ataxia plus parietal atrophy., Results: We identified seven patients, including five patients from two families, with chronic progressive cerebellar ataxia due to degenerative parietal atrophy but not stroke. Age at onset of ataxia was 57.6 ± 6.9 years. All patients showed chronic progressive cerebellar ataxia with severity of ataxic gait > limb ataxia > dysarthria. Patients showed no cognitive dysfunction, muscle weakness, or parkinsonism, and only two patients showed mild sensory disturbances. The seven patients showed lateralized limb ataxia with greater contralateral parietal lobe atrophy by magnetic resonance imaging, and hypoperfusion by single photon emission computed tomography, without any abnormal cerebellar pathology (i.e., crossed cerebellar diaschisis). Pathogenic mutations in the microtubule-associated protein tau gene were not found using two single nucleotide polymorphisms., Conclusions: This is the first description showing unique clinical features of familial and sporadic chronic progressive degenerative parietal ataxia., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study was designed to retrospectively analyze outcomes of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy, with or without external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), in patients with vaginal recurrence of endometrial carcinoma, and to identify factors prognostic of patient outcomes., Material and Methods: The medical records of all patients who underwent HDR brachytherapy for initial recurrence in the vagina of endometrial cancer after definitive surgery between 1992 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent either intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT) or interstitial brachytherapy (ISBT) with or without EBRT. Late toxicity was graded using the EORTC (LENT/SOMA) scale, revised in 1995., Results: Thirty-seven patients were identified. The median follow-up time was 48 months (range: 6-225 months). Of these 37 patients, 23 underwent ICBT, 14 underwent ISBT, and 26 underwent EBRT. Tumor size at first examination of initial relapse was significantly larger in the ISBT than in the ICBT group. The 4-year respective overall survival (OS), local control (LC), and progression-free survival (PFS) rates in the entire cohort were 81.0%, 77.9%, and 56.8%, respectively. The interval between diagnosis of first recurrence and radiotherapy (< 3 months, ≥ 3 months) was a significant predictor of LC and PFS. OS and LC rates did not differ significantly in the ICBT and ISBT groups. Two patients experienced grade 2 rectal bleeding, and four experienced grade 2 hematuria. No grade 3 or higher late complications were observed., Conclusions: Salvage HDR brachytherapy is an optimal for treating vaginal recurrence of endometrial carcinoma with acceptable morbidity. Early radiotherapy, including brachytherapy, should be considered for women who experience vaginal recurrence of endometrial cancer., Competing Interests: Authors report no conflict of interest.

We propose a basic formula and demonstration for a high-resolution quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) by combining the time-of-flight (TOF) method with Modulation of Intensity by Zero Effort (MIEZE) type neutron spin echo spectroscopy. The MIEZE technique has the potential to develop a unique approach to study on slow dynamics of condensed matter; however, the energy resolution is limited owing to the hypersensitivity of the MIEZE signal contrast to the echo condition, which is strongly affected by the alignment of the instruments and the sample. The narrow allowance of the optimal alignment is a major obstacle to the wide use of this technique. Combining the TOF method with MIEZE (TOF-MIEZE), the hypersensitivity of MIEZE signals is significantly alleviated with a short pulsed beam. This robustness is very useful to optimize experimental alignments and enables accurate measurements of QENS. The experimental results demonstrate the characteristic of the TOF-MIEZE technique and are well described by the formula presented in this study.

Purpose: The kidney is a dose-limiting organ for upper abdominal radiotherapy. In this study, radiation-induced kidney injury represented by changes of creatinine clearance (Ccr) and renal parenchymal volume measured by computed tomography (CT) were evaluated by analysing dose-volume histograms (DVHs) in patients with primary gastric diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PGDLBCL) treated with chemoradiotherapy., Materials and Methods: Thirty-eight PGDLBCL patients (seventy-six kidneys) treated with chemoradiotherapy were included in this study. At least 4 years of follow-up was required for eligibility. Patients underwent (immuno-) chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy with approximately 40Gy to the whole stomach and perigastric lymph nodes. Ccr and CT were obtained at least annually. Changes of Ccr and renal parenchymal volume before and 4years after radiotherapy were compared using DVH parameters., Results: Mean Ccr decreased significantly from 82.7mL/min (range, 39-124mL/min) before radiotherapy to 70.4mL/min (range, 35-109mL/min) (p=0.01) 4years after radiotherapy. Mean reduction of bilateral renal parenchymal volume was 12% (range, -5-37%) in the same time period. Ccr and renal parenchymal volume tended to lower over time more than 4years after radiotherapy. Concerning DVH analysis, V20Gy⩾26.6% and D30%⩾19Gy had a significant risk of bilateral renal atrophy of ⩾14% and reduction of the Ccr⩾20mL/min., Conclusion: This study revealed that there was a definite relationship between DVH, renal atrophy and Ccr reduction. V20Gy<26.6% and D30%<19Gy appeared to be safe dose constraints for a Ccr reduction of <20mL/min 4years after radiotherapy., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The aim of this study was to report the clinical results of salvage high-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy (HDR-ISBT) for patients with cervical cancer with pelvic recurrence after hysterectomy., Patients and Methods: When there was no indication for total pelvic extenteration (TPE) and the tumor depth was more than 5 mm of invasion in the paracolpium, salvage HDR-ISBT was applied., Results: A total of 26 patients were included in this study. The median number of fractions and dose per fraction of HDR-ISBT were 5 (range=3-20 fractions) and 6 Gy (range=2.5-6 Gy), respectively. Three-year local control, progression-free survival, and overall survival were 51.1%, 34.4% and 57.1%, respectively. Combination of external-beam radiation therapy, clinical target volume D90 greater than 65 Gy, and dose per fraction greater than 5 Gy were associated with favorable local control., Conclusion: For patients with recurrent cervical cancer post hysterectomy who are not candidates for TPE, salvage HDR-ISBT is a possible curative treatment modality., (Copyright© 2016 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)

Background: The radiation field for patients with postoperative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is narrower in our institution than in Western countries to reduce late radiation related toxicities. This strategy is at a risk of loco-regional or distant metastasis. However, because patients are more closely checked than in Western countries by every 1 to 2 months intervals and it is supposed that regional recurrences are identified and salvage surgeries are performed more quickly. Therefore, it is considered that patient survival would not be compromised with this strategy. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of this strategy retrospectively., Methods: Patients who underwent neck dissection with close or positive margin, extra-capsular spread (ECS), multiple regional lymph node metastasis, pT4, with or without primary tumor resection were treated with postoperative radiation therapy. The volume of radiation field, especially the coverage of prophylactic regional lymph node area, was discussed among head and neck surgeons and radiation oncologists taking into account the clinical factors including patient's age, performance status, number of positive lymph nodes, size of metastatic lymph nodes, extension of primary tumor beyond the midline, and existence of ECS., Results: Seventy-two patients were identified who were treated with postoperative radiation therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma between November 2005 and December 2014. There were 20 patients with oropharynx, 19 with hypopharynx, 7 with larynx, 23 with oral cavity, and 3 with other sites. Thirty eight patients had their neck irradiated bilaterally and 34 unilaterally. Median follow-up period for patients without relapse was 20.7 months (5.1-100.7). Thirty two patients had disease relapse after treatment including 22 loco-regional recurrence and 14 distant metastases. Among 22 loco-regional recurrence, seven patients underwent salvage surgery and one of them was no relapse at the time of the analysis. Among patients without bilateral neck lymph node metastasis who were treated with unilateral neck irradiation, patients with oral cavity or recurrent disease had significantly lower DFS compared with those without (2-y DFS 41.7 % vs 88.2 %, p = 0.017)., Conclusions: In patients without bilateral neck lymph node involvement, the postoperative unilateral neck irradiation is a reasonable treatment strategy for patients with the exception of oral cavity or recurrent disease.