This study puts forward the histopathological evidence regarding the effectiveness of melatonin as a protectant against acute lung injury induced by radiation therapy through restrained inflammation, regrettably at the expense of promoted fibrosis. The effectiveness of melatonin as a protectant against acute lung injury induced by radiation therapy needs to be evaluated further for the unresolved concerns regarding the safety.

A new liquid crystalline oligomer OLC was synthesized from its monomer having Schiff-base type mesogenic group MLC via free radical polymerization. The chemical structures of all compounds were confirmed using UV, FTIR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR and MS spectroscopy. Schiff-base type thermotropic system based on side chain oligomer containing long aliphatic branching was studied to determine the change in mesophase behaviour of the Schiff-base type mesogenic groups. A combination of differantial scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarize optical microscopy (POM) demonstrated that the oligomer behaves similar to its monomer and both of them exhibit enantiotropic SmC and monotropic SmX mesophases. The oligomerization of the liquid crystal monomer gives rise to decreased transition temperatures whereas it has no influence on the type and stability of the mesophase formed. Namely, simply through oligomerization, we can greatly vary transition temperatures of the mesogenic groups.

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Background: This study evaluates the use of recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) grouping in an attempt to predict the survival probabilities in patients with brain metastases from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Seventy-two patients with brain metastases from NSCLC treated with radiation therapy were included in the study. Sixty-three patients were male and nine patients were female. Their median age was 57 years and their median Karnofsky performance status was 70. At the time of brain metastases, there was no evidence of the intrathoracic disease in 27 patients and the extrathoracic disease was limited to the intracranial disease in 42 patients. In accordance with RPA grouping, 12 patients were in Group 1, 24 patients were in Group 2, and 36 patients were in Group 3. Radiation therapy was delivered to the whole brain at a dose of 30 Gy in 10 fractions in most of the patients. Results: The median survival time was 7 months for Group 1, 5 months for Group 2 and 3 months for Group 3. The survival probability at 1 year was 50% for Group 1, 26% for Group 2 and 14% for Group 3. Conclusions: This study presents evidence supporting the use of RPA grouping in an attempt to predict the survival probabilities in patients with brain metastases from NSCLC.

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