Al Geneina: Darfur. West Sudan Topographic Field Map Sheet 3

The present map sheet is one of six field maps of the Darfur Map Series Release II (1:250'000). The maps and the geodatabase were preparded by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne with funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The map is being released as a technical contribution to support the humanitarian, peace-keeping and reconstruction efforts in Darfur, Western Sudan.

Buram: Darfur: West Sudan Topographic Field Map Sheet 6

The present map sheet is one of six field maps of the Darfur Map Series Release II (1:250'000). The maps and the geodatabase were preparded by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne with funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The map is being released as a technical contribution to support the humanitarian, peace-keeping and reconstruction efforts in Darfur, Western Sudan.

Hajar Banda: Darfur: West Sudan Topographic Field Map Sheet 5

The present map sheet is one of six field maps of the Darfur Map Series Release II (1:250'000). The maps and the geodatabase were preparded by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne with funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The map is being released as a technical contribution to support the humanitarian, peace-keeping and reconstruction efforts in Darfur, Western Sudan.

Kulbus: Darfur: West Sudan Topographical Field Map Sheet 1

The present map sheet is one of six field maps of the Darfur Map Series Release II (1:250'000). The maps and the geodatabase were preparded by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne with funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The map is being released as a technical contribution to support the humanitarian, peace-keeping and reconstruction efforts in Darfur, Western Sudan.

Nyala: Darfur: West Sudan Topographic Field Map Sheet 4

The present map sheet is one of six field maps of the Darfur Map Series Release II (1:250'000). The maps and the geodatabase were preparded by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne with funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The map is being released as a technical contribution to support the humanitarian, peace-keeping and reconstruction efforts in Darfur, Western Sudan.

Abyei: Sudan Topographic Field Map

The present map was prepared at the request of the 'Intergovernmental Authority on Development' (IGAD) for the 'Abyei Boundaries Commission', whose work is in progress as part of the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed on January 9, 2005. The map and the geodatabase were prepared by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne, Switzerland, with funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Boundaries, transliteration, settlement locations and the North-South demarcation line of 1956 drawn on this map are not authoritative and should not be considered as such.

Identification of Sleep-Modulated Pathways Involved in Neuroprotection from Stroke.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Sleep deprivation (SDp) performed before stroke induces an ischemic tolerance state as observed in other forms of preconditioning. As the mechanisms underlying this effect are not well understood, we used DNA oligonucleotide microarray analysis to identify the genes and the gene-pathways underlying SDp preconditioning effects. DESIGN Gene expression was analyzed 3 days after stroke in 4 experimental groups: (i) SDp performed before focal cerebral ischemia (IS) induction; (ii) SDp performed before sham surgery; (iii) IS without SDp; and (iv) sham surgery without SDp. SDp was performed by gentle handling during the last 6 h of the light period, and ischemia was induced immediately after. SETTINGS Basic sleep research laboratory. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Stroke induced a massive alteration in gene expression both in sleep deprived and non-sleep deprived animals. However, compared to animals that underwent ischemia alone, SDp induced a general reduction in transcriptional changes with a reduction in the upregulation of genes involved in cell cycle regulation and immune response. Moreover, an upregulation of a new neuroendocrine pathway which included melanin concentrating hormone, glycoprotein hormones-α-polypeptide and hypocretin was observed exclusively in rats sleep deprived before stroke. CONCLUSION Our data indicate that sleep deprivation before stroke reprogrammed the signaling response to injury. The inhibition of cell cycle regulation and inflammation are neuroprotective mechanisms reported also for other forms of preconditioning treatment, whereas the implication of the neuroendocrine function is novel and has never been described before. These results therefore provide new insights into neuroprotective mechanisms involved in ischemic tolerance mechanisms.

Dose escalated intensity modulated radiotherapy in the treatment of cervical cancer.

PURPOSE Standard dose of external beam radiotherapy seems to be insufficient for satisfactory control of loco-regionally advanced cervical cancer. Aim of our study is to evaluate the outcome as well as early and chronic toxicities in patients with loco-regionally advanced cervical cancer, treated with dose escalated intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) combined with cisplatin chemotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-nine patients with cervical carcinoma FIGO stage IB2 - IVA were treated with curative intent between 2006 and 2010. The dose of 50.4 Gy was prescribed to the elective pelvic nodal volume. Primary tumors < 4 cm in diameter (n = 6; 15.4 %) received an external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) boost of 5.4 Gy, primary tumors > 4 cm in diameter (n = 33; 84.6 %) received an EBRT boost of 9 Gy. Patients with positive lymph nodes detected with (18)FDG-PET/CT (n = 22; 56.4 %) received a boost to a total dose of 59.4 - 64.8 Gy. The para-aortic region was included in the radiation volume in 8 (20.5 %) patients and in 5 (12.8 %) patients the para-aortic macroscopic lymph nodes received an EBRT boost. IMRT was followed with a 3D planned high dose rate intrauterine brachytherapy given to 36 (92.3 %) patients with a total dose ranging between 15-18 Gy in three fractions (single fraction: 4-6.5 Gy). Patients without contraindications (n = 31/79.5 %) received concomitantly a cisplatin-based chemotherapy (40 mg/kg) weekly. Toxicities were graded according to the common terminology criteria for adverse events (CTCAE v 4.0). RESULTS Mean overall survival for the entire cohort was 61.1 months (±3.5 months). Mean disease free survival was 47.2 months (±4.9 months) and loco-regional disease free survival was 55.2 months (±4.4 months). 65 % of patients developed radiotherapy associated acute toxicities grade 1, ca. 30 % developed toxicities grade 2 and just two (5.2 %) patients developed grade 3 toxicities, one acute diarrhea and one acute cystitis. 16 % of patients had chronic toxicities grade 1, 9 % grade 2 and one patient (2.6 %) toxicities grade 3 in the form of vaginal dryness. CONCLUSION Dose escalated IMRT appears to have a satisfactory outcome with regards to mean overall survival, disease free and loco-regional disease free survival, whereas the treatment-related toxicities remain reasonably low.

PDB-Explorer: a web-based interactive map of the protein data bank in shape space

Background The RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB) provides public access to experimentally determined 3D-structures of biological macromolecules (proteins, peptides and nucleic acids). While various tools are available to explore the PDB, options to access the global structural diversity of the entire PDB and to perceive relationships between PDB structures remain very limited. Methods A 136-dimensional atom pair 3D-fingerprint for proteins (3DP) counting categorized atom pairs at increasing through-space distances was designed to represent the molecular shape of PDB-entries. Nearest neighbor searches examples were reported exemplifying the ability of 3DP-similarity to identify closely related biomolecules from small peptides to enzyme and large multiprotein complexes such as virus particles. The principle component analysis was used to obtain the visualization of PDB in 3DP-space. Results The 3DP property space groups proteins and protein assemblies according to their 3D-shape similarity, yet shows exquisite ability to distinguish between closely related structures. An interactive website called PDB-Explorer is presented featuring a color-coded interactive map of PDB in 3DP-space. Each pixel of the map contains one or more PDB-entries which are directly visualized as ribbon diagrams when the pixel is selected. The PDB-Explorer website allows performing 3DP-nearest neighbor searches of any PDB-entry or of any structure uploaded as protein-type PDB file. All functionalities on the website are implemented in JavaScript in a platform-independent manner and draw data from a server that is updated daily with the latest PDB additions, ensuring complete and up-to-date coverage. The essentially instantaneous 3DP-similarity search with the PDB-Explorer provides results comparable to those of much slower 3D-alignment algorithms, and automatically clusters proteins from the same superfamilies in tight groups. Conclusion A chemical space classification of PDB based on molecular shape was obtained using a new atom-pair 3D-fingerprint for proteins and implemented in a web-based database exploration tool comprising an interactive color-coded map of the PDB chemical space and a nearest neighbor search tool. The PDB-Explorer website is freely available at www.​cheminfo.​org/​pdbexplorer and represents an unprecedented opportunity to interactively visualize and explore the structural diversity of the PDB.

Dose-painting intensity-modulated proton therapy for intermediate- and high-risk meningioma.

BACKGROUND Newly diagnosed WHO grade II-III or any WHO grade recurrent meningioma exhibit an aggressive behavior and thus are considered as high- or intermediate risk tumors. Given the unsatisfactory rates of disease control and survival after primary or adjuvant radiation therapy, optimization of treatment strategies is needed. We investigated the potential of dose-painting intensity-modulated proton beam-therapy (IMPT) for intermediate- and high-risk meningioma. MATERIAL AND METHODS Imaging data from five patients undergoing proton beam-therapy were used. The dose-painting target was defined using [68]Ga-[1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane tetraacetic acid]- d-Phe(1),Tyr(3)-octreotate ([68]Ga-DOTATATE)-positron emission tomography (PET) in target delineation. IMPT and photon intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment plans were generated for each patient using an in-house developed treatment planning system (TPS) supporting spot-scanning technology and a commercial TPS, respectively. Doses of 66 Gy (2.2 Gy/fraction) and 54 Gy (1.8 Gy/fraction) were prescribed to the PET-based planning target volume (PTVPET) and the union of PET- and anatomical imaging-based PTV, respectively, in 30 fractions, using simultaneous integrated boost. RESULTS Dose coverage of the PTVsPET was equally good or slightly better in IMPT plans: dose inhomogeneity was 10 ± 3% in the IMPT plans vs. 13 ± 1% in the IMRT plans (p = 0.33). The brain Dmean and brainstem D50 were small in the IMPT plans: 26.5 ± 1.5 Gy(RBE) and 0.002 ± 0.0 Gy(RBE), respectively, vs. 29.5 ± 1.5 Gy (p = 0.001) and 7.5 ± 11.1 Gy (p = 0.02) for the IMRT plans, respectively. The doses delivered to the optic structures were also decreased with IMPT. CONCLUSIONS Dose-painting IMPT is technically feasible using currently available planning tools and resulted in dose conformity of the dose-painted target comparable to IMRT with a significant reduction of radiation dose delivered to the brain, brainstem and optic apparatus. Dose escalation with IMPT may improve tumor control and decrease radiation-induced toxicity.