The Process of Famine: Causes and Consequences in Sudan
In the Sudan, where 200,000 children can die from diseases like diarrhoea and measles in a ‘normal’ year, the toll jumped to somewhere between 350,000 and 700,000 [in 1984]; in the next twelve months one million more could die — out of a total child population of only 6 million. 
 
 
 
UNICEF estimates that over six million sub-Saharan infants and children are endangered by famine.
Drought and Famine Relationships in Sudan: Policy Implications
Sudan is one of the few countries where famine still persists. Why? What are the determinants of famine in Sudan? What is the role of drought, especially in the context of economic policy failure and war? Who is affected by famine? What needs to be done to mitigate and prevent famine? These are some of the questions addressed in Drought and Famine Relationships in Sudan: Policy Implications, Research Report 88, by Tesfaye Teklu, Joachim von Braun, and Elsayed Zaki. The research is particularly concerned with quantitatively tracing the drought-production-consumption-nutrition linkages under famine conditions at the household level in order to identify effective means of alleviating and preventing famine.... while famine is often strongly linked to drought, this research finds that even under the severe economic constraints of Sudan, suitable government planning and action can forestall that linkage.
A quality control model that uses PTV-rectal distances to predict the lowest achievable rectum dose, improves IMRT planning for patients with prostate cancer.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
To predict the lowest achievable rectum D35 for quality assurance of IMRT plans of prostate cancer patients.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
For each of 24 patients from a database of 47 previously treated patients, the anatomy was compared to the anatomies of the other 46 to predict the minimal achievable rectum D35. The 24 patients were then replanned to obtain maximally reduced rectum D35. Next, the newly derived plans were added to the database to replace the original clinical plans, and new predictions of the lowest achievable rectum D35 were made.


RESULTS
After replanning, the rectum D35 reduced by 9.3 Gy±6.1 (average±1 SD; p<0.001) compared to the original plan. The first predictions of the rectum D35 were 4.8 Gy±4.2 (average±1 SD; p<0.001) too high when evaluated with the new plans. After updating the database, the replanned and newly predicted rectum D35 agreed within 0.1 Gy±2.8 (average±1 SD; p=0.89). The doses to the bladder, anus and femoral heads did not increase compared to the original plans.


CONCLUSIONS
For individual prostate patients, the lowest achievable rectum D35 in IMRT planning can be accurately predicted from dose distributions of previously treated patients by quantitative comparison of patient anatomies. These predictions can be used to quantitatively assess the quality of IMRT plans.