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Sample records for curative external beam

  1. External Beam Radiotherapy for Carcinoma of the Extrahepatic Biliary System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chun, Ha Chung; Lee, Myung Za

    1996-01-01

    Purpose : To evaluate the effectiveness and tolerance of patients of external beam radiotherapy of carcinoma of the extrahepatic biliary system (EHBS) including gall bladder (GB) and extrahepatic bile ducts (EHBD) and to define the role of radiotherapy for these tumors. Methods and Materials : We retrospectively analyzed the records of 43 patients with carcinoma of the EHBS treated with external beam radiotherapy at our institution between April, 1986 and July, 1994. Twenty three patients had GB cancers and remaining 20 patients did EHBD cancers. Of those 23 GB cancers, 2 had Stage II, 12 did Stage III and 9 did Stage IV disease, respectively. Male to female ratio was 11 to 12. Fifteen patients underwent radical surgery with curative intent and 8 patients did biopsy and bypass surgery alone. Postoperatively 16 patients were irradiated with 4500 cGy or higher doses and 4 patients with 3180 to 4140 cGy. Follow up periods ranged from 8 to 34 months. Results : overall median survival time of patients with GB cancer was 11 months. Median survival time for patients with Stage III and IV disease were 14 months and 5 months, respectively. Corresponding two year survival rates were 36%(4/11) and 13%(1/8), respectively. Those who underwent surgery with curative intent showed significantly better survival at 12 months than those who underwent bypass surgery alone(67% vs 13%). None of the patients died of treatment related complications. Median survival time for entire group of 20 EHBD patients was 10 months. Median survivals of 10 Stage III and 7 Stage IV disease were 10 and 8 months, respectively. Two patients who underwent Whipple's procedure had 11 and 14 month survival and those treated with resection and drainage showed median survival of 10 month. Conclusion : Postoperative external beam radiotherapy for carcinoma of the extrahepatic billary system is well tolerated and might improve survival of patients. especially those with respectable lesions with microscopic or

  2. External beam radiotherapy alone in advanced esophageal cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ahn, Sung Ja; Chung, Woong Ki; Nah, Byung Sik; Nam, Taek Keun [College of Medicine, Chonnam National Univ., Kwangju (Korea, Republic of)

    1999-09-01

    We performed the retrospective analysis to find the outcome of external beam radiotherapy alone in advanced esophageal cancer patients. One hundred and six patients treated with external beam radiotherapy alone between July 1990 and December 1996 were analyzed retrospectively. We limited the site of the lesions to the thoracic esophagus and cell type to the squamous cell carcinoma. Follow-up was completed in 100 patients (94%) and ranged from 1 month to 92 months (median; 6 months). The median age was 62 years old and male to female ratio was 104:2. Fifty-three percent was the middle thorax lesion and curative radiotherapy was performed in 83%. Mean tumor dose delivered with curative aim was 58.6 Gy (55-70.8 Gy) and median duration of the radiation therapy was days. The median survival of all patients was 6 months and 1-year and 2-year overall survival rate was 27% and 12%, respectively. Improvement of dysphagia was obtained in most patients except for 7 patients who underwent feeding gastrostomy. The complete response rate immediately after radiation therapy was 32% (34/106). The median survival and 2-year survival rate of the complete responder was 14 months and 30% respectively, while those of the nonresponder was 4 months and 0% respectively (p=0.000). The median survival and 2-year survival rate of the patients who could tolerate regular diet was 9 months and 16% while those of the patients who could not tolerate regular diet was 3 months and 0%, respectively (p=0.004). The survival difference between the patients with 5 cm or less tumor length and those with more than 5 cm tumor length was marginally statistically significant (p=0.06). However, the survival difference according to the periesophageal invasion or mediastinal lymphadenopathy in the chest CT imaging study was not statistically significant in this study. In a multivariate analysis, the statistically significant covariates to the survival were complete response to radiotherapy, tumor, length, and

  3. ACR Appropriateness Criteria for external beam radiation therapy treatment planning for clinically localized prostate cancer, part II of II

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas G. Zaorsky, MD

    2017-07-01

    Conclusions: External beam radiation is a key component of the curative management of T1 and T2 prostate cancer. By combining the most recent medical literature, these Appropriateness Criteria can aid clinicians in determining the appropriate treatment delivery and personalized approaches for individual patients.

  4. The effect of combined external beam and high-dose intracavitary brachytherapy on dysphagia and survival in patients with advanced esophageal cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yorozu, Atsunori; Dokiya, Takushi; Ogita, Mikio; Kutsuki, Shoji

    1996-01-01

    During an 11-year period, a group of 130 patients with esophageal cancer of stages 2 to 4 were treated with external beam irradiation (40 to 60 Gy) followed by boost dose of 10 to 20 Gy of high-dose intracavitary brachytherapy. The overall 2-year survival rate was 15.4%. The significant prognostic factors were tumor size, response to external beam irradiation, pretreatment dysphagia score, and presence of distant metastases. The palliative effect was excellent; the dysphagia scores of 122 of 130 patients (93.8%) improved. The significant palliative factors were response to external beam irradiation and pretreatment dysphagia score. Tracheoesophageal fistulas developed after treatment in 13 of 130 patients (10%); 3 of the fistulas were probably related to radiotherapy. We conclude that intracavitary brachytherapy is useful in the treatment of cases of advanced cancer which show a good response to external beam irradiation and may be curative in patients with mild dysphagia. (author)

  5. A comparison of two methods for estimating the technical costs of external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayman, James A.; Lash, Kathy A.; Tao, May L.; Halman, Marc A.

    2000-01-01

    Purpose: To accurately assess the cost-effectiveness of treatment with external beam radiation, it is necessary to have accurate estimates of its cost. One of the most common methods for estimating technical costs has been to convert Medicare charges into costs using Medicare Cost-to-Charge Ratios (CCR). More recently, health care organizations have begun to invest in sophisticated cost-accounting systems (CAS) that are capable of providing procedure-specific cost estimates. The purpose of this study was to examine whether these competing approaches result in similar cost estimates for four typical courses of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Methods and Materials: Technical costs were estimated for the following treatment courses: 1) a palliative 'simple' course of 10 fractions using a single field without blocks; 2) a palliative 'complex' course of 10 fractions using two opposed fields with custom blocks; 3) a curative course of 30 fractions for breast cancer using tangent fields followed by an electron beam boost; and 4) a curative course of 35 fractions for prostate cancer using CT-planning and a 4-field technique. Costs were estimated using the CCR approach by multiplying the number of units of each procedure billed by its Medicare charge and CCR and then summing these costs. Procedure-specific cost estimates were obtained from a cost-accounting system, and overall costs were then estimated for the CAS approach by multiplying the number of units billed by the appropriate unit cost estimate and then summing these costs. All costs were estimated using data from 1997. The analysis was also repeated using data from another academic institution to estimate their costs using the CCR and CAS methods, as well as the appropriate relative value units (RVUs) and conversion factor from the 1997 Medicare Fee Schedule to estimate Medicare reimbursement for the four treatment courses. Results: The estimated technical costs for the CCR vs. CAS approaches for the four

  6. External Beam Radiation Therapy for Cancer

    Science.gov (United States)

    External beam radiation therapy is used to treat many types of cancer. it is a local treatment, where a machine aims radiation at your cancer. Learn more about different types of external beam radiation therapy, and what to expect if you're receiving treatment.

  7. Beam-beam effects under the influence of external noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohmi, K

    2014-01-01

    Fast external noise, which gives fluctuation into the beam orbit, is discussed in connection with beam-beam effects. Phase noise from crab cavities and detection devices (position monitor) and kicker noise from the bunch by bunch feedback system are the sources. Beam-beam collisions with fast orbit fluctuations with turn by turn or multi-turn correlations, cause emittance growth and luminosity degradation. We discuss the tolerance of the noise amplitude for LHC and HL-LHC

  8. CONTINOUS EXTRACTED BEAM IN THE AGS FAST EXTERNAL BEAM LINE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    GLENN, J.W.; TSOUPAS, N.; BROWN, K.A.; BIRYUKOV, V.M.

    2001-01-01

    A method to split off a few percent of the 6 x 10 13 AGS beam delivered to the Slow External Beam (SEB) lines and send it down the Fast External Beam line (FEB) has been developed. The mission is to feed a counter experiment off the FEB that directly measures the neutrino mass using the muon storage ring. The use of normal thin septum splitters would have an excessive loss overhead and been optically difficult. The AGS Slow Extraction uses a third integer resonance with sextuple strength so the resonance width is a few percent of the beam width. This results in a low density tail which will be clipped by a bent crystal and deflected into the FEB channel. This clipping off of the tail should reduce losses in the SEB transport line. Details of modeled orbits, particle distribution and extraction trajectories into and out off the crystal will be given

  9. Shear behavior of concrete beams externally prestressed with Parafil ropes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.H. Ghallab

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Although extensive work has been carried out investigating the use of external prestressing system for flexural strengthening, a few studies regarding the shear behavior of externally prestressed beams can be found. Five beams, four of them were externally strengthened using Parafil rope, were loaded up to failure to investigate the effect of shear span/depth ratio, external prestressing force and concrete strength on their shear behavior. Test results showed that the shear span to depth ratio has a significant effect on both the shear strength and failure mode of the strengthened beams and the presence of external prestressing force increased the ultimate load of the tested beams by about 75%. Equations proposed by different codes for both the conventional reinforced concrete beams and for ordinary prestressed beams were used to evaluate the obtained experimental results. In general, codes equations showed a high level of conservatism in predicting the shear strength of the beams. Also, using the full strength rather than half of the concrete shear strength in the Egyptian code PC-method improves the accuracy of the calculated ultimate shear strength.

  10. In vivo dosimetry in external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mijnheer, Ben; Beddar, Sam; Izewska, Joanna; Reft, Chester

    2013-01-01

    In vivo dosimetry (IVD) is in use in external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to detect major errors, to assess clinically relevant differences between planned and delivered dose, to record dose received by individual patients, and to fulfill legal requirements. After discussing briefly the main characteristics of the most commonly applied IVD systems, the clinical experience of IVD during EBRT will be summarized. Advancement of the traditional aspects of in vivo dosimetry as well as the development of currently available and newly emerging noninterventional technologies are required for large-scale implementation of IVD in EBRT. These new technologies include the development of electronic portal imaging devices for 2D and 3D patient dosimetry during advanced treatment techniques, such as IMRT and VMAT, and the use of IVD in proton and ion radiotherapy by measuring the decay of radiation-induced radionuclides. In the final analysis, we will show in this Vision 20/20 paper that in addition to regulatory compliance and reimbursement issues, the rationale for in vivo measurements is to provide an accurate and independent verification of the overall treatment procedure. It will enable the identification of potential errors in dose calculation, data transfer, dose delivery, patient setup, and changes in patient anatomy. It is the authors’ opinion that all treatments with curative intent should be verified through in vivo dose measurements in combination with pretreatment checks

  11. In vivo dosimetry in external beam radiotherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mijnheer, Ben [Department of Radiation Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam 1066 CX (Netherlands); Beddar, Sam [Department of Radiation Physics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030 (United States); Izewska, Joanna [Division of Human Health, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna 1400 (Austria); Reft, Chester [Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States)

    2013-07-15

    In vivo dosimetry (IVD) is in use in external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to detect major errors, to assess clinically relevant differences between planned and delivered dose, to record dose received by individual patients, and to fulfill legal requirements. After discussing briefly the main characteristics of the most commonly applied IVD systems, the clinical experience of IVD during EBRT will be summarized. Advancement of the traditional aspects of in vivo dosimetry as well as the development of currently available and newly emerging noninterventional technologies are required for large-scale implementation of IVD in EBRT. These new technologies include the development of electronic portal imaging devices for 2D and 3D patient dosimetry during advanced treatment techniques, such as IMRT and VMAT, and the use of IVD in proton and ion radiotherapy by measuring the decay of radiation-induced radionuclides. In the final analysis, we will show in this Vision 20/20 paper that in addition to regulatory compliance and reimbursement issues, the rationale for in vivo measurements is to provide an accurate and independent verification of the overall treatment procedure. It will enable the identification of potential errors in dose calculation, data transfer, dose delivery, patient setup, and changes in patient anatomy. It is the authors' opinion that all treatments with curative intent should be verified through in vivo dose measurements in combination with pretreatment checks.

  12. Beam intensity monitoring for the external proton beam at LAMPF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barrett, R.J.; Anderson, B.D.; Willard, H.B.; Anderson, A.N.; Jarmie, N.

    1975-07-01

    Three different intensity monitors were tested in the external proton beam at LAMPF, and together cover the entire range of beam currents available. A 800 kg Faraday cup was installed and used to measure the absolute intensity to better than 1 percent for beam currents up to several nanoamperes. A high gain ion chamber was used as part of the calibration procedure for the Faraday cup, and was found to be useful when monitoring very small beam intensities, being reliable down to the few picoampere level. A secondary emission monitor was also tested, calibrated, and found to be trustworthy only for beams of greater than 50 pA intensity. (auth)

  13. The curative role of radiotherapy in adenocarcinoma of the prostate in patients under 55 years of age: A rare cancer network retrospective study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen, Tan Dat; Poortmans, Philip M.P.; Hulst, Marleen van der; Studer, Gabriela; Pigois, Eva; Collen, Timothy D.; Belkacemi, Yazid; Beckendorf, Veronique; Miralbell, Raymond; Scandolaro, Luciano; Soete, Guy; Villa, Salvador; Gez, Eliahu; Thomas, Olivier; Krengli, Marco; Jovenin, Nicolas

    2005-01-01

    To determine whether radiation therapy could be an acceptable alternative to surgery in young patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate, we analysed the outcome of 39 patients aged under 55 with organ confined tumours who received external radiation therapy in a curative intent. Our results suggest that similar local control in younger and older patients can be expected from either external beam radiotherapy or radical prostatectomy

  14. Future of external beam irradiation as initial treatment of rectal cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Papillon, J.

    1987-06-01

    The authors' protocol consists of a split-course regimen with a short course of cobalt-60 arc rotation (3000 c/Gy in 12 days). After 2 months rest, the second stage treatment depends upon the pressure of residual disease and the tumour site. It consists of either radical surgery (82 cases) or conservative treatment by intracavitary irradiation in the event of a favourable initial response or in the case of poor risk patients (73 cases). In the radiotherapy-surgical group, the subsequent operative specimens were tumour free in 17% of cases and assigned to Dukes' A category in 32% of cases. Of 91 patients with T/sub 2/ or T/sub 3/ tumour involving the lower third of the rectum (followed up for more than 3 years) 72(84%) had no recurrence. Thirty-three of these patients (46%) underwent a colostomy while 39 (54%) has normal anal function. These results demonstrate the major place that a properly planned external beam irradiation can have in the curative management of cancers of the low rectum.

  15. Conventional external beam radiotherapy for central nervous system malignancies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halperin, E.C.; Burger, P.C.

    1985-01-01

    Fractionated external beam photon radiotherapy is an important component of the clinical management of malignant disease of the central nervous system. The practicing neurologist or neurosurgeon frequently relies on the consultative and treatment skills of a radiotherapist. This article provides a review for the nonradiotherapist of the place of conventional external beam radiotherapy in neuro-oncology. 23 references

  16. Development of an external Faraday cup for beam current measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Kye-Ryung; Jung, Myung-Hwan; Ra, Se-Jin; Lee, Seok-Ki

    2010-01-01

    In general, beam current measurements are very important for many kinds of experiments using highly energetic particle beams at accelerators, such as cyclotrons, linacs, etc. The Faraday cup is known to be one of the most popular beam current measurement tools. We developed an external Faraday cup to measure the beam current at a dedicated beam line for low-flux experiments installed at the MC-50 cyclotron of Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS). It was designed for external beam current measurements and is composed of a vacuum chamber, an entrance window, a collimator, a electrostatic suppressor ring, and a cup. The window is made of 75-um-thick Kapton film, and the diameter of the collimator is 10 mm or 20 mm. The ring and the cup has 5-cm inner diameters, and the thickness of the bottom of the cup is 2 cm, which is enough to absorb the total proton energy up to 45 MeV. Using this external Faraday cup, we measured the beam current from the cyclotron, and we compared measured flux to the results from film dosimetry using GAF films.

  17. Comparison of radioimmunotherapy and external beam radiotherapy in colon cancer xenografts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buras, R.R.; Wong, J.F.C.; Kuhn, J.A.; Beatty, B.G.; Williams, L.E.; Beatty, J.D.; Wanek, P.M.

    1993-01-01

    Radioimmunotherapy and external beam radiotherapy were compared in a nude mouse human colon cancer model. Radioimmunotherapy was delivered by intraperitoneal injection of 90 Y-labeled anticarcinoembryonic antigen monoclonal antibody (anti-CEA MAB). Single fraction external beam radiotherapy was delivered using a 60 Co teletherapy unit. Control groups received saline, unlabeled anit-CEA monoclonal antibody and labeled nonspecific monoclonal antibody. Tumor growth suppression was expressed as delay to reach 2g compared to saline controls. Unlabeled anti-CEA monoclonal antibody and labeled nonspecific monoclonal antibody had no effect. External beam radiotherapy of 300, 600, 1000 and 2000 cGy produced growth delays of 3, 12, 17, and 22 days, respectively. Radioimmunotherapy with 120 μCi, 175 μCi, and 225 μCi resulted in growth delays of 20, 34, and 36 days. Estimated absorbed tumor dose was 1750 cGy in the 120 μCi group. Similar comparisons were done with the more radioresistant WiDr human colon carcinoma cell line. External beam radiotherapy doses of 400, 800, 1200, and 1600 cGy resulted in growth delays of 6, 21, 36 and 48 days, respectively. Radioimmunotherapy of 120 μCi and 175 μCi resulted in growth delays of 9 and 19 days, respectively. The 120 μCi dose delivered an estimated absorbed tumor dose of 1080 cGy to WiDr tumors. In summary, for the radiosensitive LS174T line, radioimmunotherapy produced biologic effects that were comparable to a similar dose of single fraction external beam radiotherapy. For the more radioresistant WiDr tumor, radioimmunotherapy produced a biologic effect which was less than a similar dose of single fraction external beam radiotherapy. These studies suggest that a tumor's response to radioimmunotherapy relative to that of external beam radiotherapy is, in part, dependent on tumor radiosensitivity and repair capacity. 23 refs., 5 figs. 4 tabs

  18. Minimal requirements for quality controls in radiotherapy with external beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-01-01

    Physical dosimetric guidelines have been developed by the Italian National Institute of Health study group on quality assurance in radiotherapy to define protocols for quality controls in external beam radiotherapy. While the document does not determine strict rules or firm recommendations, it suggests minimal requirements for quality controls necessary to guarantee an adequate degree of accuracy in external beam radiotherapy [it

  19. Combined external beam and intraluminal radiotherapy for irresectable Klatskin tumors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schleicher, U.M. [Klinik fuer Strahlentherapie, Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany); Staatz, G. [Klinik fuer Radiologische Diagnostik, Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany); Alzen, G. [Klinik fuer Radiologische Diagnostik, Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany); Abt. Kinderradiologie, Giessen Univ. (Germany); Andreopoulos, D. [Klinik fuer Strahlentherapie, Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany); BOC Oncology Centre, Nikosia (Cyprus)

    2002-12-01

    Background: In most cases of proximal cholangiocarcinoma, curative surgery is not possible. Radiotherapy can be used for palliative treatment. We report our experience with combined external beam and intraluminal radiotherapy of advanced Klatskin's tumors. Patients and Methods: 30 patients were treated for extrahepatic proximal bile duct cancer. Our schedule consisted for external beam radiotherapy (median dose 30 Gy) and a high-dose-rate brachytherapy boost (median dose 40 Gy) delivered in four or five fractions, which could be applied completely in twelve of our patients. 15 patients in the brachytherapy and nine patients in the non-brachytherapy group received additional low-dose chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil. Results: The brachytherapy boost dose improved the effect of external beam radiotherapy by increasing survival from a median of 3.9 months in the non-brachytherapy group to 9.1 months in the brachytherapy group. The effect was obvious in patients receiving a brachytherapy dose above 30 Gy, and in those without jaundice at the beginning of radiotherapy (p<0.05). Conclusions: The poor prognosis in patients with advanced Klatskin's tumors may be improved by combination therapy, with the role of brachytherapy and chemotherapy still to be defined. Our results suggest that patients without jaundice should be offered brachytherapy, and that a full dose of more than 30 Gy should be applied. (orig.) [German] Hintergrund: Bei den meisten Patienten mit proximalen Cholangiokarzinomen ist eine kurative Operation nicht mehr moeglich. Im Rahmen der Palliativbehandlung kann die Strahlentherapie eingesetzt werden. Wir berichten ueber unsere Erfahrungen mit der Kombination aus perkutaner und intraluminaler Strahlentherapie fortgeschrittener Klatskin-Tumoren. Patienten und Methode: 30 Patienten wurden wegen extrahepatischer proximaler Gallengangskarzinome behandelt. Unser Therapieschema umfasste eine perkutane Strahlentherapie (mediane Dosis: 30 Gy) sowie einen

  20. Corrosion of 15th and early 16th century stained glass from the monastery of Batalha studied with external ion beam

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vilarigues, M., E-mail: mgv@fct.unl.pt [Dep. de Conservacao e Restauro and Centro do Vidro e da Ceramica para as Artes, FCT-UNL, Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica (Portugal); Redol, P. [Dep. de Conservacao e Restauro and Centro do Vidro e da Ceramica para as Artes, FCT-UNL, Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica (Portugal); Monastery of Batalha, P-2440 (Portugal); Machado, A. [Dep. de Conservacao e Restauro and Centro do Vidro e da Ceramica para as Artes, FCT-UNL, Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica (Portugal); Rodrigues, P.A.; Alves, L.C.; Silva, R.C. da [Dep. Fisica, LFI, ITN, E.N.10, 2686-953 Sacavem (Portugal)

    2011-02-15

    This paper reports the study of corrosion in two stained glass panels from the south aisle of Sta. Maria da Vitoria monastery, at Batalha (Portugal), one depicting the Last Supper (dated from 1508), and the other one showing a saint (c. 1450). These panels exhibit extensive corrosion with darkening phenomena that are an impediment to their correct visualization, a source of major concern both to conservators and curators. By using external micro-beam Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Particle Induced Gamma Emission (PIGE) spectrometry, the elemental compositions of large fragments were obtained, enabling the selection of representative corroded areas, from which elemental distribution maps were produced by scanning. Calcium and potassium rich structures were found - at the surface and inside cavities in the glass - that were identified as oxalates and carbonates, by Raman microscopy and micro-FTIR. The dark spots present in the glass surfaces were found to be Zn and Pb rich. These findings indicate that the corrosion observed was due not only to reactions with atmospheric water and CO{sub 2} but also with the oxalic acid secreted by micro-organisms. Furthermore, it did not result from reactions with atmospheric SO{sub 2} or acid rain. The information obtained is relevant for a better understanding of the corrosion processes and products formed on the surface of these panels and therefore for the proper planning of much needed adequate conservation-restoration actions and appropriate display conditions. - Research Highlights: {yields} Corrosion and darkening of stained glasses is of concern to conservators and curators. {yields} A multi-technique approach is of relevance to study stained glass corrosion. {yields} External beam PIXE-PIGE provide valuable insight on stained glass corrosion.

  1. External beam radiotherapy for unresectable pancreatic cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kagami, Yoshikazu; Nishio, Masamichi; Narimatsu, Naoto; Ogawa, Hajime; Betsuyaku, Takashi; Hirata, Kouji; Ikeda, Shigeyuki (Sapporo National Hospital (Japan). Hokkaido Cancer Center)

    1992-04-01

    Between 1980 to 1989, 24 patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer (10 with localized tumor alone and 14 with distant metastases) have been treated with external beam radiation at Sapporo National Hospital, Hokkaido Cancer Center. Response rate of pancreatic tumor treated with external beam radiation was 33.3% (7/21) with no complete response. Median survival time of the patients with localized tumor was 10 months and that of the patients with distant metastases was 3 months. Relief of pain occurred in 92.9% (12/13) of patients having pain due to pancreatic tumor and in 75% (3/4) of patients having pain due to bone metastases. Major complication was gastric ulcer which developed in 5 patients of 21 patients given stomach irradiation. We concluded that unresectable pancreatic cancer would be frequently indicated for radiotherapy. (author).

  2. Prestress Force Identification for Externally Prestressed Concrete Beam Based on Frequency Equation and Measured Frequencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luning Shi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A prestress force identification method for externally prestressed concrete uniform beam based on the frequency equation and the measured frequencies is developed. For the purpose of the prestress force identification accuracy, we first look for the appropriate method to solve the free vibration equation of externally prestressed concrete beam and then combine the measured frequencies with frequency equation to identify the prestress force. To obtain the exact solution of the free vibration equation of multispan externally prestressed concrete beam, an analytical model of externally prestressed concrete beam is set up based on the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory and the function relation between prestress variation and vibration displacement is built. The multispan externally prestressed concrete beam is taken as the multiple single-span beams which must meet the bending moment and rotation angle boundary conditions, the free vibration equation is solved using sublevel simultaneous method and the semi-analytical solution of the free vibration equation which considered the influence of prestress on section rigidity and beam length is obtained. Taking simply supported concrete beam and two-span concrete beam with external tendons as examples, frequency function curves are obtained with the measured frequencies into it and the prestress force can be identified using the abscissa of the crosspoint of frequency functions. Identification value of the prestress force is in good agreement with the test results. The method can accurately identify prestress force of externally prestressed concrete beam and trace the trend of effective prestress force.

  3. External radiotherapy for bone and lymph-node metastases from thyroid cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niunoya, Koichiro; Kusakabe, Kiyoko; Obara, Takao; Ito, Yukio; Fujimoto, Yoshihide

    2002-01-01

    The therapeutic effects of external beam radiation to bone or lymph-node metastatic lesions of thyroid cancer were evaluated in 11 patients. These 11 cases included four male and seven female patients ranging in age from 44 to 69 years (mean age 54 years), were treated by 4MV-Xray irradiation. Thyroid surgery had been performed in all patients. The thyroid tumors were classified histologically as papillary carcinoma in 3 patients and follicular carcinoma in 8. Following surgical total thyroidectomy, thyroid ablation and/or therapy with I-131 was performed in 8 patients with follicular carcinoma. Using a 4MV-Xray external beam, a total dose of 54 to 68 Gy (mean dose 62 Gy) was delivered to 28 metastatic lesions including 2 lymph nodes and 26 bones, although an 82-Gy total dose was used for one lymph node. All patients underwent follow-up for more than 8 years. Ten of the 11 patients died, 6 of thyroid cancer and 4 of other diseases. Two of them suffered anaplastic transformation of differentiated thyroid carcinoma and died. The survival term was 0.2 to 8.6 years (mean 4.9 years) after initial external radiotherapy. Local irradiation with a curative dose was able to control most of the lesions in the 11 patients (29 lesions with the exception of 2 cases showing anaplastic transformation). In some patients, pain relief was obtained although tumor size measured by CT did not reveal marked regression. External beam radiation therapy with a curative dose was thought to be beneficial for patients with metastatic lesions of thyroid cancer as slow-growing and having relatively long survival period of patients. (author)

  4. Leaflet manual of external beam radiation therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a review of the indications, evidences, and clinical trials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rim CH

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Chai Hong Rim, Won Sup Yoon Department of Radiation Oncology, Ansan Hospital, Korea University Medical College, Ansan, Republic of Korea Abstract: The use of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, which was rarely performed due to liver toxicity with a previous technique, has increased. Palliation of portal vein thrombosis, supplementation for insufficient transarterial chemoembolization, and provision of new curative opportunities using stereotactic body radiotherapy are the potential indications for use of EBRT. The mechanism of EBRT treatment, with its radiobiological and physical perspectives, differs from those of conventional medical treatment or surgery. Therefore, understanding the effects of EBRT may be unfamiliar to physicians other than radiation oncologists, especially in the field of HCC, where EBRT has recently begun to be applied. The first objective of this review was to concisely explain the indications for use of EBRT for HCC for all physicians treating HCC. Therefore, this review focuses on the therapeutic outcomes rather than the detailed biological and physical background. We also reviewed recent clinical trials that may extend the indications for use of EBRT. Finally, we reviewed the current clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of HCC and discuss the current recommendations and future perspectives. Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, liver neoplasm, external beam radiotherapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy, clinical trials, sorafenib, guidelines

  5. Proton external beam in the TANDAR Accelerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rey, R.; Schuff, J.A.; Perez de la Hoz, A.; Debray, M.E.; Hojman, D.; Kreiner, A.J.; Kesque, J.M.; Saint-Martin, G.; Oppezzo, O.; Bernaola, O.A.; Molinari, B.L.; Duran, H.A.; Policastro, L.; Palmieri, M.; Ibanez, J.; Stoliar, P.; Mazal, A.; Caraballo, M.E.; Burlon, A.; Cardona, M.A.; Vazquez, M.E.; Salfity, M.F.; Ozafran, M.J.; Naab, F.; Levinton, G.; Davidson, M.; Buhler, M.

    1998-01-01

    An external proton beam has been obtained in the TANDAR accelerator with radiological and biomedical purposes. The protons have excellent physical properties for their use in radiotherapy allowing a very good accuracy in the dose spatial distribution inside the tissue so in the side direction as in depth owing to the presence of Bragg curve. The advantage of the accuracy in the dose localization with proton therapy is good documented (M. Wagner, Med. Phys. 9, 749 (1982); M. Goitein and F. Chen, Med. Phys. 10, 831 (1983); M.R. Raju, Rad. Res. 145, 391 (1996)). It was obtained external proton beams with energies between 15-25 MeV, currents between 2-10 p A and a uniform transversal sections of 40 mm 2 approximately. It was realized dosimetric evaluations with CR39 and Makrofol foliation. The irradiations over biological material contained experiences In vivo with laboratory animals, cellular and bacterial crops. It was fixed the optimal conditions of position and immobilization of the Wistar rats breeding for the In vivo studies. It was chosen dilutions and sowing techniques adequate for the exposition at the cellular and bacterial crops beam. (Author)

  6. The curative management of synchronous rectal and prostate cancer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kavanagh, Dara O; Martin, Joseph; Small, Cormac; Joyce, Myles R; Faul, Clare M; Kelly, Paul J; O'Riordain, Michael; Gillham, Charles M; Armstrong, John G; Salib, Osama; McNamara, Deborah A; McVey, Gerard; O'Neill, Brian D P

    2016-01-01

    Objective: Neoadjuvant “long-course” chemoradiation is considered a standard of care in locally advanced rectal cancer. In addition to prostatectomy, external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy with or without androgen suppression (AS) are well established in prostate cancer management. A retrospective review of ten cases was completed to explore the feasibility and safety of applying these standards in patients with dual pathology. To our knowledge, this is the largest case series of synchronous rectal and prostate cancers treated with curative intent. Methods: Eligible patients had synchronous histologically proven locally advanced rectal cancer (defined as cT3-4Nx; cTxN1-2) and non-metastatic prostate cancer (pelvic nodal disease permissible). Curative treatment was delivered to both sites simultaneously. Follow-up was as per institutional guidelines. Acute and late toxicities were reviewed, and a literature search performed. Results: Pelvic external beam radiotherapy (RT) 45–50.4 Gy was delivered concurrent with 5-fluorouracil (5FU). Prostate total dose ranged from 70.0 to 79.2 Gy. No acute toxicities occurred, excluding AS-induced erectile dysfunction. Nine patients proceeded to surgery, and one was managed expectantly. Three relapsed with metastatic colorectal cancer, two with metastatic prostate cancer. Five patients have no evidence of recurrence, and four remain alive with metastatic disease. With a median follow-up of 2.2 years (range 1.2–6.3 years), two significant late toxicities occurred; G3 proctitis in a patient receiving palliative bevacizumab and a G3 anastomotic stricture precluding stoma reversal. Conclusion: Patients proceeding to synchronous radical treatment of both primary sites should receive 45–50.4 Gy pelvic RT with infusional 5FU. Prostate dose escalation should be given with due consideration to the potential impact of prostate cancer on patient survival, as increasing dose may result in significant late morbidity

  7. Development and Commissioning of an External Beam Facility in the Union College Ion Beam Analysis Laboratory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoskowitz, Joshua; Clark, Morgan; Labrake, Scott; Vineyard, Michael

    2015-10-01

    We have developed an external beam facility for the 1.1-MV tandem Pelletron accelerator in the Union College Ion Beam Analysis Laboratory. The beam is extracted from an aluminum pipe through a 1 / 4 ' ' diameter window with a 7.5- μm thick Kapton foil. This external beam facility allows us to perform ion beam analysis on samples that cannot be put under vacuum, including wet samples and samples too large to fit into the scattering chamber. We have commissioned the new facility by performing proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis of several samples of environmental interest. These include samples of artificial turf, running tracks, and a human tooth with an amalgam filling. A 1.7-MeV external proton beam was incident on the samples positioned 2 cm from the window. The resulting X-rays were measured using a silicon drift detector and were analyzed using GUPIX software to determine the concentrations of elements in the samples. The results on the human tooth indicate that while significant concentrations of Hg, Ag, and Sn are present in the amalgam filling, only trace amounts of Hg appear to have leached into the tooth. The artificial turf and running tracks show rather large concentrations of a broad range of elements and trace amounts of Pb in the turf infill.

  8. External-beam PIXE analysis of small sculptures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gyodi, I.; Demeter, I.; Hollos-Nagy, K.; Kovacs, I.; Szokefalvi-Nagy, Z.

    1999-01-01

    Non-destructive analysis of precious art objects is an important tool to solve provenance problems or to facilitate restoration. External beam PIXE analysis is one of the most powerful and popular methods used in this respect. The paper summarises the external beam PIXE set-up at the Accelerator Laboratory in Budapest, and two selected applications are described. Different parts of a small Cambodian metal sculpture probably made in the 11th century were analysed. It was observed that the sculpture was composed of an iron core and an outer bronze shell. This sculptural technique was well known in the Middle-East but no indication has been found about its use in the Far-East, yet. Before its restoration paint traces on a wooden relief of St. Jerome made by an unknown artist in about 1600 were analysed. Different white and red paints were distinguished at selected points and the presence of titanium on a certain part of the relief was attributed to a repainting in modern times

  9. Possibilities and conditions of applying PIXE analysis with external proton beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Potocek, V.

    1989-01-01

    The technical and methodological prerequisites are summed up for the use of the PIXE method with an external proton beam. The method is suitable for the preliminary analysis of unknown samples prior to the choice of the best suited analytical method, for the nondestructive analysis of rare samples such as unique works of art, of small amounts of materials which are difficult to access, etc., as well as for calibration and comparing analyses. As for the operators the application of the PIXE method with external proton beam assumes the availability of accelerator operating time, minimization of the length of exposure of the targets, optimization of parameters of the exciting beam and automation of the whole process. Attention is also devoted to technical provisions and organization of laboratory work. The design is described of an analytical unit using the PIXE method with external proton beam, and it is stated that the Van de Graaff accelerator at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Rez near Prague could be used for the purpose. (Z.M.). 6 refs

  10. Two-stream instability for a light ion beam-plasma system with external magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okada, T.; Tazawa, H.

    1992-12-01

    For inertial confinement fusion, a focused light ion beam (LIB) is required to propagate stably through a chamber to a target. We have pointed out that the applied external magnetic field is important for LIB propagation. To investigate the influence of the external magnetic field on the LIB propagation, we analysed the electrostatic dispersion relation of magnetized light ion beam-plasma system. The particle in-cell (PIC) simulation results are presented for a light ion beam-plasma system with external magnetic field. (author)

  11. External proton and Li beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schuff, Juan A.; Burlon, Alejandro A.; Debray, Mario E.; Kesque, Jose M.; Kreiner, Andres J.; Stoliar, Pablo A.; Naab, Fabian; Ozafran, Mabel J.; Vazquez, Monica E.; Perez de la Hoz, A.; Somacal, Hector; Valda, Alejandro; Canevas, S.; Ruffolo, M.; Tasat, D.R.; Muhlmann, M. C.

    2000-01-01

    In the frame of a feasibility study to introduce proton therapy in Argentina in a collaborative agreement between the Physics and Radiobiology Departments of the National Atomic Energy Commission or Argentina and the Centre de Protontherapie de Orsay, France, external proton and Li beams were produced at the TANDAR accelerator in Buenos Aires. The specific aim of this work was to start radiobiology studies on cell cultures and small laboratory animals. In particular we seek to determine here the relative biological effectiveness, RBE, for proton and Li beams as a function of energy for different tumor and normal cell lines. The 24 MeV proton beam was diffused using a 25 μm gold foil and extracted through a Kapton window to obtain a homogeneous field (constant to 95%) of about 7 cm in diameter. Measurements were carried out with quasi-monoenergetic beams (of 20.2 ± 0.07 MeV, 2.9 ± 0.10 MeV y 1.5 ± 0.1 MeV for protons and 21.4 ± 0.4 MeV for Lithium). Proton fluence and Bragg peaks were measured. The dose delivered in each case was monitored on-line with a calibrated transmission ionization chamber. Three cell lines PDV, PDVC 57 and V 79 (as a reference) were irradiated with γ-rays, proton and lithium beams with linear energy transfer (LET) from 2 to 100 keV/μm. RBE values in the range of 1.2-5.9 were obtained. In addition preliminary studies on chromosomal aberrations and viability of alveolar macrophages were carried out. (author)

  12. Californium-252 Brachytherapy Combined With External-Beam Radiotherapy for Cervical Cancer: Long-Term Treatment Results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lei Xin; Qian Chengyuan; Qing Yi; Zhao Kewei; Yang Zhengzhou; Dai Nan; Zhong Zhaoyang; Tang Cheng; Li Zheng; Gu Xianqing; Zhou Qian; Feng Yan; Xiong Yanli; Shan Jinlu; Wang Dong

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: To observe, by retrospective analysis, the curative effects and complications due to californium-252 ( 252 Cf) neutron intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT) combined with external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in the treatment of cervical cancer. Methods and Materials: From February 1999 to December 2007, 696 patients with cervical cancer (Stages IB to IIIB) were treated with 252 Cf-ICBT in combination of EBRT. Of all, 31 patients were at Stage IB, 104 at IIA, 363 at IIB, 64 at IIIA, and 134 at IIIB. Californium-252 ICBT was delivered at 7–12 Gy per insertion per week, with a total dose of 29–45 Gy to reference point A in three to five insertions. The whole pelvic cavity was treated with 8-MV X-ray external irradiation at 2 Gy per fraction, four times per week. After 16–38 Gy of external irradiation, the center of the whole pelvic field was blocked with a 4-cm-wide lead shield, with a total external irradiation dose of 44–56 Gy. The total treatment course was 5 to 6 weeks. Results: Overall survival rate at 3 and 5 years for all patients was 76.0% and 64.9%, respectively. Disease-free 3- and 5-year survival rates of patients were 71.2% and 58.4%, respectively. Late complications included vaginal contracture and adhesion, radiation proctitis, radiation cystitis, and inflammatory bowel, which accounted for 5.8%, 7.1%, 6.2%, and 4.9%, respectively. Univariate analysis results showed significant correlation of stage, age, histopathologic grade, and lymph node status with overall survival. Cox multiple regression analysis showed that the independent variables were stage, histopathologic grade, tumor size, and lymphatic metastasis in all patients. Conclusion: Results of this series suggest that the combined use of 252 Cf-ICBT with EBRT is an effective method for treatment of cervical cancer.

  13. Qrator: A web-based curation tool for glycan structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eavenson, Matthew; Kochut, Krys J; Miller, John A; Ranzinger, René; Tiemeyer, Michael; Aoki, Kazuhiro; York, William S

    2015-01-01

    Most currently available glycan structure databases use their own proprietary structure representation schema and contain numerous annotation errors. These cause problems when glycan databases are used for the annotation or mining of data generated in the laboratory. Due to the complexity of glycan structures, curating these databases is often a tedious and labor-intensive process. However, rigorously validating glycan structures can be made easier with a curation workflow that incorporates a structure-matching algorithm that compares candidate glycans to a canonical tree that embodies structural features consistent with established mechanisms for the biosynthesis of a particular class of glycans. To this end, we have implemented Qrator, a web-based application that uses a combination of external literature and database references, user annotations and canonical trees to assist and guide researchers in making informed decisions while curating glycans. Using this application, we have started the curation of large numbers of N-glycans, O-glycans and glycosphingolipids. Our curation workflow allows creating and extending canonical trees for these classes of glycans, which have subsequently been used to improve the curation workflow. PMID:25165068

  14. External beam radiotherapy in the management of ovarian carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reinfuss, Marian; Zbigniew, Kojs; Skolyszewski, Jan

    1993-01-01

    Between 1970 and 1983, 345 patients with ovarian cancer clinical stage I, II and III were irradiated postoperatively. Five-year NED survival was achieved in 41.7% of patients. The most important prognostic factors were histological grade and clinical stage of cancer. Postoperative external beam radiotherapy appeared to be highly efficient for the patients with microscopic residual disease, giving 70% 5-year survival, and moderately efficient for patients with small, i.e. ≤3 cm in diameter residual disease, giving 40% 5-year survival. The optimal technique of irradiation appeared to be the irradiation given to the entire abdominal cavity with additional irradiation coned down to the pelvis. External beam radiotherapy was ineffective in patients with gross residual disease, i.e. >3 cm in diameter, and useless as palliative treatment given to patients with inoperable cancer of the ovary. (author). tabs., figs

  15. Salvage external beam radiotherapy for clinical failure after cryosurgery for prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonough, Michael J.; Feldmeier, John J.; Parsai, Ishmael; Dobelbower, Ralph R.; Selman, Steven H.

    2001-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate the role of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) as salvage treatment of prostate cancer after cryosurgery failure. Methods and Materials: Between 1993 and 1998, 6 patients underwent EBRT with curative intent for local recurrence of prostate cancer after cryosurgery. All 6 patients had biopsy-proven recurrence and palpable disease on digital rectal examination at the time of EBRT. The median follow-up was 34 months (range 8-46). The median prostate-specific antigen level was 2.3 ng/mL (range 0.8-4.1). No patient had evidence of metastatic disease. Two patients received hormonal therapy before beginning EBRT. No patient received hormonal therapy after EBRT completion. The median elapsed time between cryosurgery and EBRT was 3 years (range 1.5-4). The median delivered dose was 66 Gy (range 62-70.2) using a 10-MeV photon beam. An in-house-developed three-dimensional treatment planning system was used to plan delivery of the prescribed dose with conformal radiotherapy techniques. Results: After EBRT, all patients had complete resolution of palpable disease. Four patients (66%) were disease free at the time of the last follow-up. Two patients developed biochemical failure as defined by the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology consensus definition. One of these patients had a prostate-specific antigen level of 97 ng/mL before cryosurgery. No patient developed distant metastasis during follow-up. Two patients (33%) developed proctitis; 1 case resolved with Rowasa suppositories and 1 required blood transfusion. Conclusions: Our preliminary results suggest that EBRT can render a significant number of patients biochemically free of disease and can cause complete resolution of clinically palpable disease after initial cryosurgery. The results also showed that EBRT can be given without excessive morbidity. EBRT should be considered as a treatment option in these potentially curable cases

  16. Dose-rate effects in external beam radiotherapy redux

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ling, C. Clifton; Gerweck, Leo E.; Zaider, Marco; Yorke, Ellen

    2010-01-01

    Recent developments in external beam radiotherapy, both in technical advances and in clinical approaches, have prompted renewed discussions on the potential influence of dose-rate on radio-response in certain treatment scenarios. We consider the multiple factors that influence the dose-rate effect, e.g. radical recombination, the kinetics of sublethal damage repair for tumors and normal tissues, the difference in α/β ratio for early and late reacting tissues, and perform a comprehensive literature review. Based on radiobiological considerations and the linear-quadratic (LQ) model we estimate the influence of overall treatment time on radio-response for specific clinical situations. As the influence of dose-rate applies to both the tumor and normal tissues, in oligo-fractionated treatment using large doses per fraction, the influence of delivery prolongation is likely important, with late reacting normal tissues being generally more sensitive to the dose-rate effect than tumors and early reacting tissues. In conventional fractionated treatment using 1.8-2 Gy per fraction and treatment times of 2-10 min, the influence of dose-rate is relatively small. Lastly, the dose-rate effect in external beam radiotherapy is governed by the overall beam-on-time, not by the average linac dose-rate, nor by the instantaneous dose-rate within individual linac pulses which could be as high as 3 x 10 6 MU/min.

  17. Bilateral Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment during External Beam Radiotherapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takako Hidaka

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Herein, we report a case of nontraumatic bilateral rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD during external beam radiotherapy for nonocular tumor, presented as an observational case study in conjunction with a review of the relevant literature. A 65-year-old male was referred to our hospital due to bilateral RRD. He underwent a biopsy for a tumor of the left frontal lobe 4 months prior to presentation, and the tumor had been diagnosed as primary central nerve system B-cell type lymphoma. He received chemotherapy and external beam radiotherapy for 1 month. There were no traumatic episodes. Bilateral retinal detachment occurred during a series of radiotherapies. Simultaneous nontraumatic bilateral retinal detachment is rare. The effects of radiotherapy on ocular functionality, particularly in cases involving retinal adhesion and vitreous contraction, may include RRD. Thus, it is necessary to closely monitor the eyes of patients undergoing radiotherapy, particularly those undergoing surgery for retinal detachment and those with a history of photocoagulation for retinal tears, a relevant family history, or risk factors known to be associated with RRD.

  18. External beam radiation for retinoblastoma: Results, patterns of failure, and a proposal for treatment guidelines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hernandez, J. Carlos; Brady, Luther W.; Shields, Jerry A.; Shields, Carol L.; Potter, Patrick de; Karlsson, Ulf L.; Markoe, Arnold M.; Amendola, Beatriz E.; Singh, Arun

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: To analyze treatment results and patterns of failure following external beam radiation for retinoblastoma and propose treatment guidelines according to specific clinical variables. Methods and Materials: We analyzed 27 patients (34 eyes) with retinoblastoma who received external beam radiation as initial treatment at Hahnemann University Hospital from October 1980 to December 1991 and have been followed for at least 1 year. Of the 34 eyes, 14 were Groups I-II (Reese-Ellsworth classification), 7 were Group III, and 13 were Groups IV-V. Doses ranged from 34.5-49.5 Gy (mean 44.3 Gy, median 45 Gy) in 1.5-2.0 Gy fractions generally delivered through anterior and lateral wedged pair fields. Results: At a mean follow up of 35.2 months (range 12-93 months), local tumor control was obtained in 44% (15 out of 34) of eyes with external beam radiation alone. Salvage therapy (plaque brachytherapy, cryotherapy, and/or photocoagulation) controlled an additional 10 eyes (29.5%), so that overall ocular survival has been 73.5%. Local tumor control with external beam radiotherapy alone was obtained in 78.5% (11 out of 14) of eyes in Groups I-II, but in only 20% (4 out of 20) of eyes in Groups III-V. A total of 67 existing tumors were identified prior to treatment in the 34 treated eyes and local control with external beam radiation alone was obtained in 87% (46 out of 53) of tumors measuring 15 mm or less and in 50% (7 out of 14) of tumors measuring more than 15 mm. When analyzing patterns of failure in the 19 eyes that relapsed, a total of 28 failure sites were identified and consisted of progression of vitreous seeds in seven instances (25% of failure sites) recurrences from previously existing tumors in 10 instances (36% of failure sites) and development of new tumors in previously uninvolved retina in 11 instances (39% of failure sites). Conclusions: 1) We find that external beam radiation to a dose of 45 Gy in fractions of 1.5 to 2.0 Gy provides adequate tumor control

  19. External Beam Radiotherapy in Metastatic Bone Pain from Solid ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Key Words: Bone, metastasis, radiotherapy, pain, control randomized ... described the efficacy of external beam radiotherapy in pain .... life of patients with multiple myeloma. Eur. J. ... Rades D, Jeremic B, Hoskin PJ: The Role of ... randomised multicenter trial on single fraction ... "The subjective experience of acute pain. An.

  20. Long-term results of curative intraluminal high dose rate brachytherapy for endobronchial carcinoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kawamura Hidemasa

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The treatment strategy of central lung tumors is not established. Intraluminal brachytherapy (ILBT is widely used for palliative treatment of endobronchial tumors, however, it is also a promising option for curative treatment with limited data. This study evaluates the results after ILBT for endobronchial carcinoma. Method Sixteen-endobronchial carcinoma of 13 patients treated with ILBT in curative intent for 2000 to 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. ILBT using high dose rate 192 iridium thin wire system was performed with 5 Gy/fraction at mucosal surface. The patient age ranged from 57 to 82 years old with median 75 years old. The 16 lesions consisted of 13 central endobronchial cancers including 7 roentgenographically occult lung cancers and 3 of tracheal cancers. Of them, 10 lesions were treated with ILBT of median 20 Gy combined with external beam radiation therapy of median 45 Gy and 6 lesions were treated with ILBT alone of median 25 Gy. Results Median follow-up time was 32.5 months. Two-year survival rate and local control rate were 92.3% and 86.2%, respectively. Local recurrences were observed in 2 lesions. Three patients died due to lung cancer (1 patient and intercurrent disease (2 patients. Complications greater than grade 2 were not observed except for one grade 3 dyspnea. Conclusions ILBT combined with or without EBRT might be a curative treatment option in inoperable endobronchial carcinoma patients with tolerable complication.

  1. The relationship between external beam radiotherapy dose and chronic urinary dysfunction - A methodological critique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosewall, Tara; Catton, Charles; Currie, Geoffrey; Bayley, Andrew; Chung, Peter; Wheat, Janelle; Milosevic, Michael

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: To perform a methodological critique of the literature evaluating the relationship between external beam radiotherapy dose/volume parameters and chronic urinary dysfunction to determine why consistent associations between dose and dysfunction have not been found. Methods and materials: The radiotherapy literature was reviewed using various electronic medical search engines with appropriate keywords and MeSH headings. Inclusion criteria comprised of; English language articles, published between 1999 and June 2009, incorporating megavoltage external beam photons in standard-sized daily fraction. A methodological critique was then performed, evaluating the factors affected in the quantification of radiotherapy dose and chronic urinary dysfunction. Results: Nine of 22 eligible studies successfully identified a clinically and statistically significant relationship between dose and dysfunction. Accurate estimations of external beam radiotherapy dose were compromised by the frequent use of dosimetric variables which are poor surrogates for the dose received by the lower urinary tract tissue and do not incorporate the effect of daily variations in isocentre and bladder position. The precise categorization of chronic urinary dysfunction was obscured by reliance on subjective and aggregated toxicity metrics which vary over time. Conclusions: A high-level evidence-base for the relationship between external beam radiotherapy dose and chronic urinary dysfunction does not currently exist. The quantification of the actual external beam dose delivered to the functionally important tissues using dose accumulation strategies and the use of objective measures of individual manifestations of urinary dysfunction will assist in the identification of robust relationships between dose and urinary dysfunction for application in widespread clinical practice.

  2. External beam pixe programs at the University of California, Davis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eldred, R.A.

    1983-01-01

    A PIXE system in which large or delicate samples are excited by a low-current external proton beam is described. This system has been used to analyze historical printed books and manuscripts, as well as a large variety of archeological artifacts. The steps used to protect the sample from unnecessary beam current are examined. A recent thorough study of the first volume of the Gutenberg 42-line Bible is described in some detail

  3. Implementation of a system for external audits beam radiation therapy in terms of reference no

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alonso Samper, Jose Luis; Dominguez, Lourdes; Alert Silva, Jose; Alfonso Laguardia, Rodolfo; Larrinaga Cortina, Eduardo; Garcia Yip, Fernando; Rodriguez Machado, Jorge; Morales Lopez, Jorge Luis; Silvestre Patallo, Ileana

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents our experience in implementing a external audit system for radiotherapy beam in no reference conditions with the use of CIRS and a summary of the measurements with him made.This paper presents our experience in implementing a external audit system for radiotherapy beam in no reference conditions with the use of CIRS and a summary of the measurements with him made. Centers were audited with external beam high-energy Co-60, 6 MV and 15 MV and were considered 4 treatment planning systems (TPS): AMEPLAN, Theraplan Plus, Precise Plan and MIRS to calculate doses prescribed in each test case. All measurements were acquired by the audit team using the anthropomorphic phantom CIRS, Semiflex chamber PTW 31010 and PTW electrometer STATES. The implementation and development of the external audits of beams radiotherapy in terms of 'no reference' has brought an improvement in both clinical aspects of treatment and the radiation safety and the quality control, has given us greater confidence and for this reason we believe has become essential. (Author)

  4. A method to combine three dimensional dose distributions for external beam and brachytherapy radiation treatments for gynecological neoplasms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narayana, V.; Sahijdak, W.M.; Orton, C.G.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: Radiation treatment of gynecological neoplasms, such as cervical carcinoma, usually combines external radiation therapy with one or more intracavitary brachytherapy applications. Although the dose from external beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy can be calculated and displayed in 3D individually, the dose distributions are not combined. At most, combined point doses are calculated for select points using various time-dose models. In this study, we present a methodology to combine external beam and brachytherapy treatments for gynecological neoplasms. Material and Methods: Three dimensional bio-effect treatment planning to obtain complication probability has been outlined. CT scans of the patient's pelvis with the gynecological applicator in place are used to outline normal tissue and tumor volumes. 3D external beam and brachytherapy treatment plans are developed separately and an external beam dose matrix and a brachytherapy dose matrix was calculated. The dose in each voxel was assumed to be homogeneous. The physical dose in each voxel of the dose matrix was then converted into extrapolated response dose (ERD) based on the linear quadratic model that accounts for the dose per fraction, number of fractions, dose rate, and complete or incomplete repair of sublethal damage (time between fractions). The net biological dose delivered was obtained by summing the ERD grids from external beam and brachytherapy since there was complete repair of sublethal damage between external beam and brachytherapy treatments. The normal tissue complication probability and tumor control probability were obtained using the biological dose matrix based on the critical element model. Results: The outlined method of combining external beam and brachytherapy treatments was implemented on gynecological treatments using an applicator for brachytherapy treatments. Conclusion: Implementation of the biological dose calculation that combine different modalities is extremely useful

  5. Prospective survey of erectile dysfunction after external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kikuchi, Eiji; Ando, Toshiyuki; Nagata, Hirohiko; Miyajima, Akira; Nakagawa, Ken; Oya, Mototsugu; Nakashima, Jun; Marumo, Ken

    2011-01-01

    We prospectively evaluated the effect of external beam radiotherapy on erectile function in patients with localized or locally advanced prostate cancer using the Japanese version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) survey. From 2000 to 2007, we identified 55 patients who underwent external beam radiotherapy at our institution for localized or locally advanced prostate cancer and could respond to the IIEF survey. The patients did not receive neo- and/or adjuvant hormone therapy and they were followed-up for at least 12 months after radiotherapy. Mean patient age was 69 years and the mean prostate specific antigen (PSA) level before radiotherapy was 24.9 ng/ml. First we evaluated the change of the erectile function domain score over time before and after radiotherapy. The population of severe erectile dysfunction (ED) increased while those with no or mild ED decreased after radiotherapy. The erectile function and intercourse satisfaction domain score of the IIEF declined significantly after radiotherapy, however, the orgasmic function, sexual desire, and overall satisfaction domain scores did not change after external beam radiation. Of the 34 patients who had erectile function at baseline, 10 patients could maintain erectile function 12 months after radiotherapy. Though there were no significant differences in clinical features between patients who could maintain erectile function and those who had worsening erectile function 12 months after radiotherapy, the sexual desire domain score before radiotherapy was significantly higher in patients who could maintain erectile function than their counterparts. Using the IIEF survey, external beam radiation was found to affect erectile function in patients with localized or locally advanced prostate cancer. (author)

  6. Intraoperative and external beam radiotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma; Intraoperative und perkutane Radiotherapie des Pankreaskarzinoms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eble, M.J. [Abt. Klinische Radiologie, Radiologische Universitaetsklinik Heidelberg (Germany); Maurer, U. [Klinikum der Stadt Mannheim (Germany). Inst. fuer Radiologie

    1996-05-01

    Therapeutic strategies in the treatment of pancreatic carcinoma are based on the high number of non-resectable cancers, the high relative radioresistance and the high distant metastases rate. Even in curatively resected carcinomas, a locally effective treatment modality is needed because of the risk of microscopical residual disease in the peripancreatic tissue. The efficacy of radiotherapy is dose dependent. Based on an analysis of published data a dose of more than 50 Gy is recommended, resulting in a high morbidity rate with external beam radiotherapy alone. The use of intraoperative radiotherapy allows locally restricted dose escalation without increased perioperative morbidity. In adjuvant and in primary treatment, local tumor control was improved (70-90%). With palliative intent, pain relief was obtained rapidly in over 60% of patients and led to improved patient performance. As a result of the high distant metastases rate, even in curatively resected carcinomas, the overall prognosis could not be significantly improved. Further dose escalation is limited by the increasing incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (20-30%). (orig.) [Deutsch] Therapiestrategien beim Pankreaskarzinom werden bestimmt durch den hohen Anteil primaer nicht resektabler Karzinome, der hohen relativen Strahlenresistenz und der hohen Fernmetastasierungsrate. Selbst kurativ resezierte Karzinome erfordern durch ihre hohe lokale Tumorzellpersistenz eine lokal effektive adjuvante Behandlungsmassnahme. Die Effektivitaet einer Radiotherapie ist dosisabhaengig. Aus der Analyse publizierter Daten wird eine Dosis von >50 Gy, welche bei der alleinigen perkutanen Bestrahlung mit einer hohen Morbiditaet verbunden ist, empfohlen. Mit der intraoperativen Radiotherapie ist eine lokal begrenzte Dosiseskalation ohne erhoehte perioperative Morbiditaet moeglich. Sowohl in der adjuvanten als auch in der primaeren Behandlung kann die lokale Tumorkontrolle deutlich verbessert werden (70-90%). Unter

  7. SU-E-T-403: Evaluation of the Beam Performance of a Varian TrueBeam Linear Accelerator Under External Device-Based Gated Delivery Conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kobulnicky, K; Pawlak, D; Purwar, A

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To examine the beam performance of a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator under external device-based gated delivery conditions. Methods: Six gating cycles were used to evaluate the gating performance of a standard production TrueBeam system that was not specially tuned in any way. The system was equipped with a factory installed external gating interface (EXGI). An in-house EXGI tester box was used to simulate the input gating signals. The gating cycles were selected based on long beam-on and short beam-off times, short beam-on and long beam-off times, or equal beam on and off times to check linac performance. The beam latencies were measured as the time difference between the logic high gating signal and the first or last target pulses with an oscilloscope. Tissue-Phantom Ratio, beam flatness, and dose distributions from 5 different plans were measured using the 6 different gating durations and the un-gated irradiation. A PTW 729 2-D array was used to compare 5 plans versus the un-gated delivery with a 1%/1mm gamma index passing criteria. Results: The beam latencies of the linac were based off of 20 samples for beam-on and beam-off, for each gating cycle. The average beam-on delays were measured to be between 57 and 66msec, with a maximum of 88 msec. The beam off latencies averaged between 19 and 26msec, with a maximum of 48 msec. TPR20,10 measurements showed beam energy stability within 0.5% of the un-gated delivery. Beam flatness was better than 2.5% for all gated cycles. All but two deliveries, the open field with 4 seconds on, 1 second off, and a five field IMRT plan with 0.5 seconds on, 2.5 seconds off, had >90% passing rate. Conclusion: TrueBeam demonstrates excellent beam stability with minimal beam latencies under external device-based gated operations. Dosimetric measurements show minimal variation in beam energy, flatness, and plan delivery. Authors are employees of Varian Medical Systems, Inc

  8. SU-E-T-403: Evaluation of the Beam Performance of a Varian TrueBeam Linear Accelerator Under External Device-Based Gated Delivery Conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kobulnicky, K; Pawlak, D; Purwar, A [Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (United States)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To examine the beam performance of a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator under external device-based gated delivery conditions. Methods: Six gating cycles were used to evaluate the gating performance of a standard production TrueBeam system that was not specially tuned in any way. The system was equipped with a factory installed external gating interface (EXGI). An in-house EXGI tester box was used to simulate the input gating signals. The gating cycles were selected based on long beam-on and short beam-off times, short beam-on and long beam-off times, or equal beam on and off times to check linac performance. The beam latencies were measured as the time difference between the logic high gating signal and the first or last target pulses with an oscilloscope. Tissue-Phantom Ratio, beam flatness, and dose distributions from 5 different plans were measured using the 6 different gating durations and the un-gated irradiation. A PTW 729 2-D array was used to compare 5 plans versus the un-gated delivery with a 1%/1mm gamma index passing criteria. Results: The beam latencies of the linac were based off of 20 samples for beam-on and beam-off, for each gating cycle. The average beam-on delays were measured to be between 57 and 66msec, with a maximum of 88 msec. The beam off latencies averaged between 19 and 26msec, with a maximum of 48 msec. TPR20,10 measurements showed beam energy stability within 0.5% of the un-gated delivery. Beam flatness was better than 2.5% for all gated cycles. All but two deliveries, the open field with 4 seconds on, 1 second off, and a five field IMRT plan with 0.5 seconds on, 2.5 seconds off, had >90% passing rate. Conclusion: TrueBeam demonstrates excellent beam stability with minimal beam latencies under external device-based gated operations. Dosimetric measurements show minimal variation in beam energy, flatness, and plan delivery. Authors are employees of Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

  9. Generating AN Optimum Treatment Plan for External Beam Radiation Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabus, Irwin

    1990-01-01

    The application of linear programming to the generation of an optimum external beam radiation treatment plan is investigated. MPSX, an IBM linear programming software package was used. All data originated from the CAT scan of an actual patient who was treated for a pancreatic malignant tumor before this study began. An examination of several alternatives for representing the cross section of the patient showed that it was sufficient to use a set of strategically placed points in the vital organs and tumor and a grid of points spaced about one half inch apart for the healthy tissue. Optimum treatment plans were generated from objective functions representing various treatment philosophies. The optimum plans were based on allowing for 216 external radiation beams which accounted for wedges of any size. A beam reduction scheme then reduced the number of beams in the optimum plan to a number of beams small enough for implementation. Regardless of the objective function, the linear programming treatment plan preserved about 95% of the patient's right kidney vs. 59% for the plan the hospital actually administered to the patient. The clinician, on the case, found most of the linear programming treatment plans to be superior to the hospital plan. An investigation was made, using parametric linear programming, concerning any possible benefits derived from generating treatment plans based on objective functions made up of convex combinations of two objective functions, however, this proved to have only limited value. This study also found, through dual variable analysis, that there was no benefit gained from relaxing some of the constraints on the healthy regions of the anatomy. This conclusion was supported by the clinician. Finally several schemes were found that, under certain conditions, can further reduce the number of beams in the final linear programming treatment plan.

  10. Leaflet manual of external beam radiation therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a review of the indications, evidences, and clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rim, Chai Hong; Yoon, Won Sup

    2018-01-01

    The use of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which was rarely performed due to liver toxicity with a previous technique, has increased. Palliation of portal vein thrombosis, supplementation for insufficient transarterial chemoembolization, and provision of new curative opportunities using stereotactic body radiotherapy are the potential indications for use of EBRT. The mechanism of EBRT treatment, with its radiobiological and physical perspectives, differs from those of conventional medical treatment or surgery. Therefore, understanding the effects of EBRT may be unfamiliar to physicians other than radiation oncologists, especially in the field of HCC, where EBRT has recently begun to be applied. The first objective of this review was to concisely explain the indications for use of EBRT for HCC for all physicians treating HCC. Therefore, this review focuses on the therapeutic outcomes rather than the detailed biological and physical background. We also reviewed recent clinical trials that may extend the indications for use of EBRT. Finally, we reviewed the current clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of HCC and discuss the current recommendations and future perspectives.

  11. Suppression of beam-excited electron waves by an externally applied RF signal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fukumasa, Osamu; Itatani, Ryohei

    1980-11-01

    Suppression of the beam-excited electron wave in a bounded system is investigated in connection with the beam distribution function. Wave suppression has two different processes depending on whether injected beams are reflected at the other end or not. In the absence of reflected beam electrons, deformation of the beam distribution function is observed in relation to the suppression of the electron wave. However, when beam electrons are reflected, the external wave suppresses the electron wave but distribution function shows no appreciable change. These experimental results show that nonlinear behaviors of beam electrons, namely behaviors of reflected beams, are quite important for wave suppression. By using the method of partial simulation, interaction between two waves in the bounded system including nonlinear motions of beam electrons is studied numerically. Qualitative agreement between experimental and numerical results is obtained. (author)

  12. An assessment of effective dose to staff in external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rawlings, D.J.; Nicholson, L.

    1997-01-01

    Radiation safety in external beam radiotherapy is governed by national legislation. Annual doses recorded by radiographers and others associated with external beam radiotherapy are typically much lower than the relevant dose limit. However, it is possible that larger doses might be received as a result of an accidental irradiation. In the event of a significant exposure resulting in a dose at or near a relevant dose limit, an accurate conversion has to be made from the dose meter reading to the limiting quantity. A method was devised to demonstrate ratios of effective dose to personal dose equivalent which might be anticipated in the even of an individual other than the patient being irradiated within a radiotherapy treatment room consisting of a linear accelerator. The variation of ratios obtained under different conditions is discussed. (author)

  13. Curating NASA's Past, Present, and Future Astromaterial Sample Collections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeigler, R. A.; Allton, J. H.; Evans, C. A.; Fries, M. D.; McCubbin, F. M.; Nakamura-Messenger, K.; Righter, K.; Zolensky, M.; Stansbery, E. K.

    2016-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA Johnson Space Center (hereafter JSC curation) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. JSC presently curates 9 different astromaterials collections in seven different clean-room suites: (1) Apollo Samples (ISO (International Standards Organization) class 6 + 7); (2) Antarctic Meteorites (ISO 6 + 7); (3) Cosmic Dust Particles (ISO 5); (4) Microparticle Impact Collection (ISO 7; formerly called Space-Exposed Hardware); (5) Genesis Solar Wind Atoms (ISO 4); (6) Stardust Comet Particles (ISO 5); (7) Stardust Interstellar Particles (ISO 5); (8) Hayabusa Asteroid Particles (ISO 5); (9) OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Coupons and Witness Plates (ISO 7). Additional cleanrooms are currently being planned to house samples from two new collections, Hayabusa 2 (2021) and OSIRIS-REx (2023). In addition to the labs that house the samples, we maintain a wide variety of infra-structure facilities required to support the clean rooms: HEPA-filtered air-handling systems, ultrapure dry gaseous nitrogen systems, an ultrapure water system, and cleaning facilities to provide clean tools and equipment for the labs. We also have sample preparation facilities for making thin sections, microtome sections, and even focused ion-beam sections. We routinely monitor the cleanliness of our clean rooms and infrastructure systems, including measurements of inorganic or organic contamination, weekly airborne particle counts, compositional and isotopic monitoring of liquid N2 deliveries, and daily UPW system monitoring. In addition to the physical maintenance of the samples, we track within our databases the current and ever changing characteristics (weight, location, etc.) of more than 250,000 individually numbered samples across our various collections, as well as more than 100,000 images, and countless "analog" records that record the sample processing records of each individual sample. JSC Curation is co-located with JSC

  14. Guide for External Beam Radiotherapy. Procedures 2007

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ardiet, Jean-Michel; Bourhis, Jean; Eschwege, Francois; Gerard, Jean-Pierre; Martin, Philippe; Mazeron, Jean-Jacques; Barillot, Isabelle; Bey, Pierre; Cosset, Jean-Marc; Thomas, Olivier; Bolla, Michel; Bourguignon, Michel; Godet, Jean-Luc; Krembel, David; Valero, Marc; Bara, Christine; Beauvais-March, Helene; Derreumaux, Sylvie; Vidal, Jean-Pierre; Drouard, Jean; Sarrazin, Thierry; Lindecker-Cournil, Valerie; Robin, Sun Hee Lee; Thevenet, Nicolas; Depenweiller, Christian; Le Tallec, Philippe; Ortholan, Cecile; Aimone, Nicole; Baldeschi, Carine; Cantelli, Andree; Estivalet, Stephane; Le Prince, Cyrille; QUERO, Laurent; Costa, Andre; Gerard, Jean-Pierre; Ardiet, Jean-Michel; Bensadoun, Rene-Jean; Bourhis, Jean; Calais, Gilles; Lartigau, Eric; Ginot, Aurelie; Girard, Nicolas; Mornex, Francoise; Bolla, Michel; Chauvet, Bruno; Maingon, Philippe; Martin, Etienne; Azria, David; Gerard, Jean-Pierre; Grehange, Gilles; Hennequin, Christophe; Peiffert, Didier; Toledano, Alain; Belkacemi, Yazid; Courdi, Adel; Belliere, Aurelie; Peignaux, Karine; Mahe, Marc; Bondiau, Pierre-Yves; Kantor, Guy; Lepechoux, Cecile; Carrie, Christian; Claude, Line

    2007-01-01

    In order to optimize quality and security in the delivery of radiation treatment, the French SFRO (Societe francaise de radiotherapie oncologique) is publishing a Guide for Radiotherapy. This guide is realized according to the HAS (Haute Autorite de sante) methodology of 'structured experts consensus'. This document is made of two parts: a general description of external beam radiation therapy and chapters describing the technical procedures of the main tumors to be irradiated (24). For each procedure, a special attention is given to dose constraints in the organs at risk. This guide will be regularly updated

  15. The target volume concept at the recording of external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quast, U.; Glaeser, L.

    1981-01-01

    With the aim of complete, exact and reproducible manual recording and documentation of external beam radiotherapy a concept is proposed providing treatment planning and recording related to space and time for target volumes of different order corresponding to Ist, IInd or IIIrd part of treatment course, regarding all dose limiting organs at risk. The record consists of the dosage plan for medical treatment planning, the treatment plan for physical dose distribution planning and the treatment record of absorbed doses delivered as well as a checklist for patient and machine set-up, and labels for intended actions during treatment development. A clear arrangement of the record form in logical order was found, demanding exact specification of target(s) and beam(s) and their relation in space and time; asking for verbal and graphical description of target volumes, organs at risk, patient positioning, beam portals and dose reference points in terms of patients' anatomy; emphasizing the most important medical data by marked areas and leaving enough empty space for additional data, remarks or comments. During several years of clinical use these record forms proved to be suitable for all cases of external beam therapy, for complex situations of target volumes and treatment-scheduling, for all treatment techniques and radiation qualities and for all ways of physical treatment planning. They can be extended to automatic treatment verification, monitoring and recording as well as to the application of in-vivo-measurements of absorbed doses. (orig.) [de

  16. Elemental analysis with external-beam PIXE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, E. K.; Wang, C. W.; Teng, P. K.; Huang, Y. M.; Chen, C. Y.

    1992-05-01

    A beamline system and experimental setup has been established for elemental analysis using PIXE with an external beam. Experiments for the study of the elemental composition of ancient Chinese potsherds (the Min and Ching ages) were performed. Continuum X-ray spectra from the samples bombarded by 3 MeV protons have been measured with a Si(Li) detector. From the analysis of PIXE data, the concentration of the main elements (Al, Si, K, and Ca) and of more than ten trace elements in the matrices and glazed surfaces were determined. Results for two different potsherds are presented, and those obtained from the glaze colorants are compared with the results of measurements on a Ching blue-and-white porcelain vase.

  17. 3D FE Analysis of RC Beams Externally Strengthened with SRG/SRP Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Bencardino

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to evaluate, through a nonlinear Finite Element (FE analysis, the structural behavior of Reinforced Concrete (RC beams externally strengthened by using Steel Reinforced Grout (SRG and Steel Reinforced Polymer (SRP systems. The parameters taken into account were the external strengthening configuration, with or without U-wrap end anchorages, as well as the strengthening materials. The numerical simulations were carried out by using a three-dimensional (3D FE model. The linear and nonlinear behavior of all materials was modeled by appropriate constitutive laws and the connection between concrete substrate and external reinforcing layer was simulated by means of cohesive surfaces with appropriate bond-slip laws. In order to overcome convergence difficulties, to simulate the quasi-static response of the strengthened RC beams, a dynamic approach was adopted. The numerical results in terms of load-displacement curves, failure modes, and load and strain values at critical stages were validated against some experimental data. As a result, the proposed 3D FE model can be used to predict the structural behavior up to ultimate stage of similar strengthened beams without carrying out experimental tests.

  18. MO-A-BRB-03: Integration Issues in Electronic Charting for External Beam Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sutlief, S.

    2015-01-01

    The process of converting to an electronic chart for radiation therapy can be daunting. It requires a dedicated committee to first research and choose appropriate software, to review the entire documentation policy and flow of the clinic, to convert this system to electronic form or if necessary, redesign the system to more easily conform to the electronic process. Those making the conversion and those who already use electronic charting would benefit from the shared experience of those who have been through the process in the past. Therefore TG262 was convened to provide guidance on electronic charting for external beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy. This course will present the results of an internal survey of task group members on EMR practices in External Beam Radiation Therapy as well as discuss important issues in EMR development and structure for both EBRT and brachytherapy. Learning Objectives: Be familiarized with common practices and pitfalls in development and maintenance of an electronic chart in Radiation Oncology Be familiarized with important issues related to electronic charting in External Beam Radiation Therapy Be familiarized with important issues related to electronic charting in Brachytherapy

  19. In-vivo dosimetric study of carcinoma of uterine cervix with FBX solution in external beam therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Srinivas, Challapalli; Shenoy, K. Kamalaksh; Dinesh, M.; Savitha, K.S.; Kasturi, Dinesh Pai; Supe, S.S.; Nagesha, Y.N.

    1999-01-01

    To ensure accurate dose delivery to target site in external beam therapy and brachytherapy, various authors have conducted tests to assess the process of manual dose calculations. In vivo dosimetric measurement is one of these methods to verify these calculations. In this study, an attempt has been made to compare the manually calculated dose to dose estimated using a chemical dosimeter (FBX) solution (in-vivo method, using polypropylene vials), on 12 patients of carcinoma of uterine cervix in external beam therapy. Dose measured by FBX vial varies in the range of ± 2 to 6.75%, as compared with manual calculations. These variations seen may be attributed to the location of the vial position in the vagina, with reference to the beam axis (may not be horizontal), off axis position, manual calculation variations and reproducibility of the FBX system etc. FBX dosimetry offers itself as an in-vivo method to estimate the dose delivered to the target site in external beam therapy. (author)

  20. Evaluation of GafChromic EBT prototype B for external beam dose verification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Todorovic, M.; Fischer, M.; Cremers, F.; Thom, E.; Schmidt, R.

    2006-01-01

    The capability of the new GafChromic EBT prototype B for external beam dose verification is investigated in this paper. First the general characteristics of this film (dose response, postirradiation coloration, influence of calibration field size) were derived using a flat-bed scanner. In the dose range from 0.1 to 8 Gy, the sensitivity of the EBT prototype B film is ten times higher than the response of the GafChromic HS, which so far was the GafChromic film with the highest sensitivity. Compared with the Kodak EDR2 film, the response of the EBT is higher by a factor of 3 in the dose range from 0.1 to 8 Gy. The GafChromic EBT almost does not show a temporal growth of the optical density and there is no influence of the chosen calibration field size on the dose response curve obtained from this data. A MatLab program was written to evaluate the two-dimensional dose distributions from treatment planning systems and GafChromic EBT film measurements. Verification of external beam therapy (SRT, IMRT) using the above-mentioned approach resulted in very small differences between the planned and the applied dose. The GafChromic EBT prototype B together with the flat-bed scanner and MatLab is a successful approach for making the advantages of the GafChromic films applicable for verification of external beam therapy

  1. A TCP model for external beam treatment of intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Walsh, Seán

    2013-03-01

    Biological models offer the ability to predict clinical outcomes. The authors describe a model to predict the clinical response of intermediate-risk prostate cancer to external beam radiotherapy for a variety of fractionation regimes.

  2. Influence of boost technique (external beam radiotherapy or brachytherapy) on the outcome of patients with carcinoma of the base of the tongue

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Regueiro, C.A.; Millan, I.; Torre, A. de la; Valcarcel, F.J.; Magallon, R.; Fernandez, E.; Aragon, G.

    1995-01-01

    We reviewed 90 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the base of the tongue. Fifty-three patients were treated with external beam radiotherapy alone (3 T1, 11 T2, 21 T3, and 18 T4 tumors) and thirty-seven patients were treated with external beam radiotherapy plus brachytherapy boost (4 T1, 15 T2, 11 T3, and 7 T4 tumors). For patients with T1, T2 and T3 primaries, the actuarial 3-year local relapse-free survival was 42% following external beam radiotherapy alone and 67% following external beam radiotherapy plus brachytherapy (p<0.05). The actuarial 3-year cause specific survival for these T-stages was 37% for patients treated with external beam radiotherapy alone and 53% for patients treated with external beam radiotherapy plus brachytherapy (p=0.1). In the Cox multivariate analyses restricted patients with T1, T2 and T3 staged tumors, treatment modality was the only predictor for local control but no influence on specific survival was found. The trend towards significant differences in specific survival found in the univariate comparison of both treatment modalities was probably due to the significantly higher number of N-positive patients treated with external beam radiotherapy alone. When all stages were included in the Cox analysis, low hemoglobin level, invasion of deep muscle, number of palpable nodes, and history of weight loss significantly influenced the outcome. Soft tissue necrosis occurred more frequently in patients treated with external beam radiotherapy plus brachytherapy (33% vs. 10%, p=0.52). (orig.)

  3. Target volume delineation in external beam partial breast irradiation: less inter-observer variation with preoperative- compared to postoperative delineation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leij, F. van der; Elkhuizen, P.H.M.; Janssen, T.M.; Poortmans, P.M.P.; Sangen, M. van der; Scholten, A.N.; Vliet-Vroegindeweij, C. van; Boersma, L.J.

    2014-01-01

    The challenge of adequate target volume definition in external beam partial breast irradiation (PBI) could be overcome with preoperative irradiation, due to less inter-observer variation. We compared the target volume delineation for external beam PBI on preoperative versus postoperative CT scans of

  4. External radiation therapy in early stage prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandler, Howard M.

    1996-01-01

    Optimal therapy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate is controversial. Numerous options are available, however, comparison of results is difficult in view of the insufficiency of phase III randomized trials comparing alternative treatment strategies. These options include such strategies as no curative therapy (so-called watchful waiting), radiotherapy (external and/or internal), cryotherapy, or radical prostatectomy. Clearly, a broad spectrum of clinical approaches. When reported experiences involving radiation therapy and radical prostatectomy are compared, surgical patients tend to be younger, of earlier stage, of higher performance status, and have lower pre-therapy PSA. These prognostic factors influence the probability of disease control, and since patient selection can have a profound impact on results reporting, these issues need to be carefully controlled. A review of patients who are potentially candidates for surgery at the University of Michigan treated with conformal therapy external beam treatment, indicates that these relatively early patients are doing well. These issues will be elaborated upon further during the presentation

  5. Flexural Behavior of RC Members Using Externally Bonded Aluminum-Glass Fiber Composite Beams

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ki-Nam Hong

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This study concerns improvement of flexural stiffness/strength of concrete members reinforced with externally bonded, aluminum-glass fiber composite (AGC beams. An experimental program, consisting of seven reinforced concrete slabs and seven reinforced concrete beams strengthened in flexure with AGC beams, was initiated under four-point bending in order to evaluate three parameters: the cross-sectional shape of the AGC beam, the glass fiber fabric array, and the installation of fasteners. The load-deflection response, strain distribution along the longitudinal axis of the beam, and associated failure modes of the tested specimens were recorded. It was observed that the AGC beam led to an increase of the initial cracking load, yielding load of the tension steels and peak load. On the other hand, the ductility of some specimens strengthened was reduced by more than 50%. The A-type AGC beam was more efficient in slab specimens than in beam specimens and the B-type was more suitable for beam specimens than for slabs.

  6. External beam monitoring of the Cyclone 30 cyclotron of IPEN-CNEN-SP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuda, Hylton

    2002-01-01

    Due to the increasing demand for cyclotron radioisotopes and the high cost of equipment and materials involved in the process, it becomes evident the importance of external beam monitoring of the cyclotron. In this way, the beam of the Cyclone 30 cyclotron of IPEN-CNEN/S P was characterized throughout the evaluation of its current intensity, profile (position, focus and geometry), alignment and homogeneity, by measuring currents, temperatures and pressures of irradiation systems. For this purpose, techniques and conventional devices, thermocouples and pressure sensors associated to electronic of instrumentation, and technology and flexibility of micro controllers allowed observing the beam behavior during irradiations in real time. The ion beam energy was also evaluated using activation analysis technique of monitor reactions in nat Cu. The beam monitoring systems have been contributing to prevent material damages and they have already been used in routine irradiations, bringing important advantages in the process of beam optimization of the Cyclone 30. (author)

  7. Elemental analysis of artefacts - establishing external beam PIXE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alves, A.; Johnston, P.; Short, R.; Bubb, I.

    1999-01-01

    The development of an external PIXE facility on the 1 MV Tandetron accelerator at RMIT has led to a wide range of research possibilities. A proton beam, generated inside a vacuum is brought into air via an Au coated Kapton foil exit window (thickness 8μm, diameter 0.35mm). Monitoring of the beam intensity is achieved by detecting backscattered protons from the inside Au coating on the window. Artefacts, which may be too large to be placed inside the vacuum, are positioned in the beamline opposite the exit window. An optical system consisting of a CCD camera, alignment laser and two mirrors allows viewing of a region of the target 10mm x 10mm. This technique provides quantitative analysis of elements in the pigments used in paintings and on ceramics, which is a valuable tool in art conservation and authentication. Application of the technique to a ceramic sample from the historic house 'Viewbank' is described

  8. Radiotherapy in poor risk patients with stage I cancer of the endometrium: results of not giving external beam radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeCruze, B; Guthrie, D

    1999-01-01

    Poor prognosis (poorly differentiated and/or deep myometrial invasion) Stage I endometrial cancer can have a relapse rate as high as 50%. Traditionally, most clinical oncologists treat these patients with external beam radiotherapy after surgery but there is no evidence to show that this improves survival. The retrospective study looks at the results of not giving external beam radiotherapy in 25 consecutive patients and compares the results with a group of 13 consecutive patients who did have such treatment. The two groups were comparable with regard to age, degree of differentiation and degree of invasion. Survival was comparable in the two groups. There is no evidence of any obvious decrease in survival from withholding external beam radiotherapy, but this was not a prospective randomized controlled trial. This study illustrates that it is essential that the Medical Research Council ASTEC trial should be supported because this will determine the true place of external beam radiotherapy in such patients.

  9. Development of an external beam nuclear microprobe on the Aglae facility of the Louvre museum

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Calligaro, T.; Dran, J.-C. E-mail: dran@culture.fr; Ioannidou, E.; Moignard, B.; Pichon, L.; Salomon, J

    2000-03-01

    The external beam line of our facility has been recently equipped with the focusing system previously mounted on a classical nuclear microprobe. When using a 0.1 {mu}m thick Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} foil for the exit window and flowing helium on the sample under analysis, a beam spot as small as 10 {mu}m is attainable at a distance of 3 mm from the window. Elemental micromapping is performed by mechanical scanning. An electronic device has been designed which allows XY scanning by moving the sample under the beam by steps down to 0.1 {mu}m. Beam monitoring is carried out by means of the weak X-ray signal emitted by the exit foil and detected by a specially designed Si(Li) detector cooled by Peltier effect. The characteristics of external beams of protons and alpha particles are evaluated by means of resonance scanning and elemental mapping of a grid. An example of application is presented, dealing with elemental micro-mapping of inclusions in gemstones.

  10. Target volume delineation in external beam partial breast irradiation: Less inter-observer variation with preoperative- compared to postoperative delineation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leij, Femke van der; Elkhuizen, Paula H.M.; Janssen, Tomas M.; Poortmans, Philip; Sangen, Maurice van der; Scholten, Astrid N.; Vliet-Vroegindeweij, Corine van; Boersma, Liesbeth J.

    2014-01-01

    The challenge of adequate target volume definition in external beam partial breast irradiation (PBI) could be overcome with preoperative irradiation, due to less inter-observer variation. We compared the target volume delineation for external beam PBI on preoperative versus postoperative CT scans of twenty-four breast cancer patients

  11. Distortion of optical feedback signals in microchip Nd:YAG lasers subjected to external multi-beam interference feedback

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yi-Dong, Tan; Shu-Lian, Zhang; Zhou, Ren; Cheng, Ren; Yi-Nan, Zhang

    2010-01-01

    This paper proposes a theoretical analysis for the characteristics of an external cavity Nd:YAG laser with feedback of multiple-beam interference, which is induced by the multi-reentrance of the light from the external Fabry–Perot cavity. The theoretical model considers the multiple beam interference of the external Fabry–Perot cavity. It is found that the optical feedback signals are distorted to pulse waveforms instead of the sinusoidal ones in conventional feedback. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis. The obtained theoretical and experimental results can advance the development of a laser feedback interferometer

  12. 125I implants as an adjuvant to surgery and external beam radiotherapy in the management of locally advanced head and neck cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martinez, A.; Goffinet, D.R.; Fee, W.; Goode, R.; Cox, R.S.

    1983-01-01

    125 I seeds either individually placed or inserted into absorbable Vicryl suture carriers were utilized in conjunction with surgery and external beam radiotherapy in an attempt to increase local control rates in patients with advanced oropharyngeal and laryngopharyngeal cancers (T3-T4, N2-N3), massive cervical lymphadenopathy (N3) and an unknown primary site and locally recurrent head and neck cancers. Forty-eight patients were treated with 55 implants. The carotid artery was implanted in 15 patients, while seven patients had seeds inserted into the base of the skull region, and another three patients had implants near cranial nerves. Eighteen of the 48 patients were treated for cure. The actuarial survival at five years in this subgroup was 50%. The overall local control in the head and neck area was 58%. In this group no patients to date have had a local failure in the implanted volume. Seventeen patients with comparable stage of disease treated prior to 1974 with curative intent without 125 I implants were analyzed retrospectively for comparison with the implanted patients. The actuarial survival of these patients was 18% and the overall head and neck control was 21%. These differences are statistically significant at a P value of 0.01 and 0.007, respectively. Seventeen patients received implants for local recurrence. The local control in the head and neck area was 50%; however, the 2.5 year actuarial survival was only 17%. The complication rate was 11% (six of 55 implants). The improved survival, the high local control, and the minimal complication rates in this series makes the intraoperative implantation of 125 I seeds and effective adjunctive treatment to surgery and external beam irradiation

  13. Flexural behaviour of RCC beams with externally bonded FRP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vignesh, S. Arun; Sumathi, A.; Saravana Raja Mohan, K.

    2017-07-01

    The increasing use of carbon and glass fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets for strengthening existing reinforced concrete beams has generated considerable interest in understanding the behavior of the FRP sheets when subjected to bending. The study on flexure includes various parameters like percentage of increase in strength of the member due to the externally bonded Fiber reinforced polymer, examining the crack patterns, reasons of debonding of the fibre from the structure, scaling, convenience of using the fibres, cost effectiveness etc. The present work aims to study experimentally about the reasons behind the failure due to flexure of an EB-FRP concrete beam by studying the various parameters. Deflection control may become as important as flexural strength for the design of FRPreinforced concrete structures. A numerical model is created using FEM software and the results are compared with that of the experiment.

  14. Effect of external magnetic field on critical current for the onset of virtual cathode oscillations in relativistic electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hramov, Alexander; Koronovskii, Alexey; Morozov, Mikhail; Mushtakov, Alexander

    2008-01-01

    In this Letter we research the space charge limiting current value at which the oscillating virtual cathode is formed in the relativistic electron beam as a function of the external magnetic field guiding the beam electrons. It is shown that the space charge limiting (critical) current decreases with growth of the external magnetic field, and that there is an optimal induction value of the magnetic field at which the critical current for the onset of virtual cathode oscillations in the electron beam is minimum. For the strong external magnetic field the space charge limiting current corresponds to the analytical relation derived under the assumption that the motion of the electron beam is one-dimensional [D.J. Sullivan, J.E. Walsh, E. Coutsias, in: V.L. Granatstein, I. Alexeff (Eds.), Virtual Cathode Oscillator (Vircator) Theory, in: High Power Microwave Sources, vol. 13, Artech House Microwave Library, 1987, Chapter 13]. Such behavior is explained by the characteristic features of the dynamics of electron space charge in the longitudinal and radial directions in the drift space at the different external magnetic fields

  15. Unified model to predict flexural shear behavior of externally bonded RC beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colotti, V.; Spadea, G.; Swamy, R.N.

    2006-01-01

    Structural strengthening with externally bonded reinforcement is now recognized as a cost-effective, structurally sound and practically efficient method of rehabilitating deteriorating and damaged reinforced concrete beams. There is now an urgent need to develop a sound engineering basis which can predict the failure loads of all such strengthened beams in a reliable and consistent manner. Existing models to predict the behavior at ultimate of strengthened beams suffer from many limitations and weaknesses. This paper presents a unified global model, based on the Strut-and-Tie approach, to predict the failure loads of reinforced concrete beams strengthened for flexure and/or shear. This structural model is based on rational engineering principles, considers all the possible failure modes, and incorporates the load transfer mechanism bond to reflect the debonding phenomena which has a dominant influence on the failure process of plated beams. The model is validated against about 200 strengthened beam test reported in the literature and failing in flexure and/or shear, involving a large number of structural variables and steel, carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymer laminates as reinforcing medium. (author)

  16. External post-operational checks for the LHC beam dumping system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Magnin, N.; Baggiolini, V.; Carlier, E.; Goddard, B.; Gorbonosov, R.; Khasbulatov, D.; Uythoven, J.; Zerlauth, M.

    2012-01-01

    The LHC Beam Dumping System (LBDS) is a critical part of the LHC machine protection system. After every LHC beam dump action the various signals and transient data recordings of the beam dumping control systems and beam instrumentation measurements are automatically analysed by the external Post-Operational Checks (XPOC) system to verify the correct execution of the dump action and the integrity of the related equipment. This software system complements the LHC machine protection hardware, and has to ascertain that the beam dumping system is 'as good as new' before the start of the next operational cycle. This is the only way by which the stringent reliability requirements can be met. The XPOC system has been developed within the framework of the LHC 'Post-Mortem' system, allowing highly dependable data acquisition, data archiving, live analysis of acquired data and replay of previously recorded events. It is composed of various analysis modules, each one dedicated to the analysis of measurements coming from specific equipment. This paper describes the global architecture of the XPOC system and gives examples of the analyses performed by some of the most important analysis modules. It explains the integration of the XPOC into the LHC control infrastructure along with its integration into the decision chain to allow proceeding with beam operation. Finally, it discusses the operational experience with the XPOC system acquired during the first years of LHC operation, and illustrates examples of internal system faults or abnormal beam dump executions which it has detected. (authors)

  17. T2-weighted endorectal magnetic resonance imaging of prostate cancer after external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Westphalen, Antonio C.; Kurhanewicz, John; Cunha, Rui M.G.; Hsu, I-Chow; Kornak, John; Zhao, Shoujun; Coakley, Fergus V.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: To retrospectively determine the accuracy of T2-weighted endorectal MR imaging in the detection of prostate cancer after external beam radiation therapy and to investigate the relationship between imaging accuracy and time since therapy. Materials and Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained and the study was HIPPA compliant. We identified 59 patients who underwent 1.5 Tesla endorectal MR imaging of the prostate between 1999 and 2006 after definitive external beam radiation therapy for biopsy-proven prostate cancer. Two readers recorded the presence or absence of tumor on T2-weighted images. Logistic regression and Fisher's exact tests for 2x2 tables were used to determine the accuracy of imaging and investigate if accuracy differed between those imaged within 3 years of therapy (n = 25) and those imaged more than 3 years after therapy (n = 34). Transrectal biopsy was used as the standard of reference for the presence or absence of recurrent cancer. Results: Thirty-four of 59 patients (58%) had recurrent prostate cancer detected on biopsy. The overall accuracy of T2-weighted MR imaging in the detection cancer after external beam radiation therapy was 63% (37/59) for reader 1 and 71% for reader 2 (42/59). For both readers, logistic regression showed no difference in accuracy between those imaged within 3 years of therapy and those imaged more than 3 years after therapy (p = 0.86 for reader 1 and 0.44 for reader 2). Conclusion: T2-weighted endorectal MR imaging has low accuracy in the detection of prostate cancer after external beam radiation therapy, irrespective of the time since therapy. (author)

  18. Shear Strengthening of RC Deep Beam Using Externally Bonded GFRP Fabrics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumari, A.; Patel, S. S.; Nayak, A. N.

    2018-06-01

    This work presents the experimental investigation of RC deep beams wrapped with externally bonded Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) fabrics in order to study the Load versus deflection behavior, cracking pattern, failure modes and ultimate shear strength. A total number of five deep beams have been casted, which is designed with conventional steel reinforcement as per IS: 456 (Indian standard plain and reinforced concrete—code for practice, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, 2000). The spans to depth ratio for all RC deep beams have been kept less than 2 as per the above specification. Out of five RC deep beams, one without retrofitting serves as a reference beam and the rest four have been wrapped with GFRP fabrics in multiple layers and tested with two point loading condition. The first cracking load, ultimate load and the shear contribution of GFRP to the deep beams have been observed. A critical discussion is made with respect to the enhancement of the strength, behaviour and performance of retrofitted deep beams in comparison to the deep beam without GFRP in order to explore the potential use of GFRP for strengthening the RC deep beams. Test results have demonstrated that the deep beams retrofitted with GFRP shows a slower development of the diagonal cracks and improves shear carrying capacity of the RC deep beam. A comparative study of the experimental results with the theoretical ones predicted by various researchers available in the literatures has also been presented. It is observed that the ultimate load of the beams retrofitted with GFRP fabrics increases with increase of number of GFRP layers up to a specific number of layers, i.e. 3 layers, beyond which it decreases.

  19. Propagation characteristics of a focused laser beam in a strontium barium niobate photorefractive crystal under reverse external electric field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Q L; Liang, B L; Wang, Y; Deng, G Y; Jiang, Y H; Zhang, S H; Fu, G S; Simmonds, P J

    2014-10-01

    The propagation characteristics of a focused laser beam in a SBN:75 photorefractive crystal strongly depend on the signal-to-background intensity ratio (R=Is/Ib) under reverse external electric field. In the range 20>R>0.05, the laser beam shows enhanced self-defocusing behavior with increasing external electric field, while it shows self-focusing in the range 0.03>R>0.01. Spatial solitons are observed under a suitable reverse external electric field for R=0.025. A theoretical model is proposed to explain the experimental observations, which suggest a new type of soliton formation due to "enhancement" not "screening" of the external electrical field.

  20. Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Beam in Shear Zone by Compensation the Stirrups with Equivalent External Steel Plates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khamail Abdul-Mahdi Mosheer

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available An experimental study on reinforced concrete beams strengthened with external steel plates instead of shear stirrups has been held in this paper. Eight samples of the same dimensions and properties were used. Two of them were tested up to failure and specified as references beams; one with shear reinforcement and the other without shear reinforcement. Another samples without shear reinforcement were tested until the first shear crack occurs, then the samples strengthened on both sides with external steel plates as equivalent area of removed stirrups. The strengthened beams were divided into three groups according to the thickness of plates (1, 1.5, 2 mm, each group involved two beams; one bonded using epoxy and the other bonded using epoxy with anchored bolts. Finally, the strengthened beams tested when using anchored bolts with epoxy glue to bond plates. Where the increasing in maximum load is higher than that in reference beam with no internal stirrups reach to (75.46 –106.13% and has a good agreement with the control beam with shear reinforcement reach to (76.06 – 89.36% of ultimate load.

  1. Data Curation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mallon, Melissa, Ed.

    2012-01-01

    In their Top Trends of 2012, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) named data curation as one of the issues to watch in academic libraries in the near future (ACRL, 2012, p. 312). Data curation can be summarized as "the active and ongoing management of data through its life cycle of interest and usefulness to scholarship,…

  2. PIXE/PIGE characterisation of emeralds using an external micro-beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calligaro, T.; Dran, J.-C.; Poirot, J.-P.; Querre, G.; Salomon, J.; Zwaan, J.C.

    2000-01-01

    A large collection of emeralds of various occurrences has been analysed by PIXE/PIGE in view to establish a compositional database. Major elements (Be, Si, Al) and trace elements (Li, F, Na, Mg, Ca, Rb, Cs and transition metals) are determined using an external 3 MeV proton micro-beam. Elemental micro-mapping permits to select the useful provenance tracers. This database was applied to infer the origin of several ancient emeralds set on historical jewels

  3. SU-E-J-181: Effect of Prostate Motion On Combined Brachytherapy and External Beam Dose Based On Daily Motion of the Prostate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Narayana, V; McLaughlin, P [Providence Cancer Center, Southfield, MI (United States); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Ealbaj, J [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: In this study, the adequacy of target expansions on the combined external beam and implant dose was examined based on the measured daily motion of the prostate. Methods: Thirty patients received an I–125 prostate implant prescribed to dose of 90Gy. This was followed by external beam to deliver a dose of 90Gyeq (external beam equivalent) to the prostate over 25 to 30 fractions. An ideal IMRT plan was developed by optimizing the external beam dose based on the delivered implant dose. The implant dose was converted to an equivalent external beam dose using the linear quadratic model. Patients were set up on the treatment table by daily orthogonal imaging and aligning the marker seeds in the prostate. Orthogonal images were obtained at the end of treatment to assess prostate intrafraction motion. Based on the observed motion of the markers between the initial and final images, 5 individual plans showing the actual dose delivered to the patient were calculated. A final true dose distribution was established based on summing the implant dose and the 5 external beam plans. Dose to the prostate, seminal vesicles, lymphnodes and normal tissues, rectal wall, urethra and lower sphincter were calculated and compared to ideal. On 18 patients who were sexually active, dose to the corpus cavernosum and internal pudendal artery was also calculated. Results: The average prostate motion in 3 orthogonal directions was less than 1 mm with a standard deviation of less than +2 mm. Dose and volume parameters showed that there was no decrease in dose to the targets and a marginal decrease in dose to in normal tissues. Conclusion: Dose delivered by seed implant moves with the prostate, decreasing the impact of intrafractions dose movement on actual dose delivered. Combined brachytherapy and external beam dose delivered to the prostate was not sensitive to prostate motion.

  4. Annotation of phenotypic diversity: decoupling data curation and ontology curation using Phenex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balhoff, James P; Dahdul, Wasila M; Dececchi, T Alexander; Lapp, Hilmar; Mabee, Paula M; Vision, Todd J

    2014-01-01

    Phenex (http://phenex.phenoscape.org/) is a desktop application for semantically annotating the phenotypic character matrix datasets common in evolutionary biology. Since its initial publication, we have added new features that address several major bottlenecks in the efficiency of the phenotype curation process: allowing curators during the data curation phase to provisionally request terms that are not yet available from a relevant ontology; supporting quality control against annotation guidelines to reduce later manual review and revision; and enabling the sharing of files for collaboration among curators. We decoupled data annotation from ontology development by creating an Ontology Request Broker (ORB) within Phenex. Curators can use the ORB to request a provisional term for use in data annotation; the provisional term can be automatically replaced with a permanent identifier once the term is added to an ontology. We added a set of annotation consistency checks to prevent common curation errors, reducing the need for later correction. We facilitated collaborative editing by improving the reliability of Phenex when used with online folder sharing services, via file change monitoring and continual autosave. With the addition of these new features, and in particular the Ontology Request Broker, Phenex users have been able to focus more effectively on data annotation. Phenoscape curators using Phenex have reported a smoother annotation workflow, with much reduced interruptions from ontology maintenance and file management issues.

  5. FIGO IIIB squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix: an analysis of prognostic factors emphasizing the balance between external beam and intracavitary radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Logsdon, Mark D.; Eifel, Patricia J.

    1999-01-01

    Purpose: To define patient, tumor, and treatment factors that influence the outcome of patients with FIGO Stage IIIB squamous cell carcinoma of the intact uterine cervix. Methods and Materials: The records of 1,096 patients treated with radiation therapy between 1960 and 1993 for FIGO Stage IIIB squamous cell carcinoma of the intact uterine cervix were reviewed retrospectively. Of these, 983 (90%) were treated with curative intent and 113 were treated only to achieve palliation of symptoms. Of 907 patients who completed the intended curative treatment, 641 (71%) were treated with a combination of external beam irradiation (EBRT) and intracavitary irradiation (ICRT) and 266 (29%) were treated with EBRT only. The median duration of treatment for these 907 patients was 51 days. Between 1966 and 1980, only 52% of patients who completed treatment with curative intent received ICRT, compared with 92% of patients treated during 1981-1993, an increase that reflects an evolution in the philosophy of treatment for advanced tumors. In general, the intensity of ICRT correlated inversely with the dose of EBRT to the central pelvis. Median follow-up of surviving patients was 134 months. Results: For 983 patients treated with initial curative intent, disease-specific survival (DSS) was significantly worse for those who were 52 Gy of EBRT to the central pelvis had DSS rates of 27-34%, compared with 53% for patients treated with lower doses of EBRT to the central pelvis and more intensive ICRT (p 52 Gy of EBRT to the central pelvis (57-68%), compared with those who had 48-52 Gy (28%) and those who had ≤ 47 Gy of EBRT to the central pelvis (15%) (p < 0.0001). Outcome was also compared for four time periods during which different treatment policies were in place for patients with Stage IIIB disease. The highest DSS (51%) and lowest actuarial complication rate (17%) were achieved during the most recent period (1981-1993) when modest doses of EBRT were combined with relatively

  6. Interfacial stresses in damaged RC beams strengthened with externally bonded CFRP plate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benrahou, K.H.; Adda bedia, E.A.; Benyoucef, S.; Tounsi, A.; Benguediab, M.

    2006-01-01

    A theoretical method to predict the interfacial stresses in the adhesive layer of damaged reinforced concrete beams strengthened with externally bonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) plate is presented. The adopted model is developed including the adherend shear deformations by assuming a linear shear stress through the depth of the RC beam [A. Tounsi, Int. J. Solids Struct., in press], while all existing solutions neglect this effect [e.g. S. Benyoucef, A. Tounsi, S.A. Meftah, E.A. Adda Bedia, Compos. Interfaces, in press; S.T. Smith, J.G. Teng, Eng. Struct. 23 (7) (2001) 857-871; T.M. Roberts, Struct. Eng. 67 (12) (1989) 229-233; A. Tounsi, S. Benyoucef, Int. J. Adhes. Adhes., in press; T. Stratford, J. Cadei, Construct. Building Mater. 20 (2006) 34-35]. In addition, in the present study the anisotropic damage model is adopted to describe the damage of the RC beams. It is shown that the damage has a significant effect on the interfacial stresses in FRP-damaged RC beam

  7. Stability of aerosol droplets in Bessel beam optical traps under constant and pulsed external forces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    David, Grégory; Esat, Kıvanç; Hartweg, Sebastian; Cremer, Johannes; Chasovskikh, Egor; Signorell, Ruth

    2015-01-01

    We report on the dynamics of aerosol droplets in optical traps under the influence of additional constant and pulsed external forces. Experimental results are compared with simulations of the three-dimensional droplet dynamics for two types of optical traps, the counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) trap and the quadruple Bessel beam (QBB) trap. Under the influence of a constant gas flow (constant external force), the QBB trap is found to be more stable compared with the CPBB trap. By contrast, under pulsed laser excitation with laser pulse durations of nanoseconds (pulsed external force), the type of trap is of minor importance for the droplet stability. It typically needs pulsed laser forces that are several orders of magnitude higher than the optical forces to induce escape of the droplet from the trap. If the droplet strongly absorbs the pulsed laser light, these escape forces can be strongly reduced. The lower stability of absorbing droplets is a result of secondary thermal processes that cause droplet escape

  8. Stability of aerosol droplets in Bessel beam optical traps under constant and pulsed external forces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    David, Grégory; Esat, Kıvanç; Hartweg, Sebastian; Cremer, Johannes; Chasovskikh, Egor; Signorell, Ruth, E-mail: rsignorell@ethz.ch [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, CH-8093 Zürich (Switzerland)

    2015-04-21

    We report on the dynamics of aerosol droplets in optical traps under the influence of additional constant and pulsed external forces. Experimental results are compared with simulations of the three-dimensional droplet dynamics for two types of optical traps, the counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) trap and the quadruple Bessel beam (QBB) trap. Under the influence of a constant gas flow (constant external force), the QBB trap is found to be more stable compared with the CPBB trap. By contrast, under pulsed laser excitation with laser pulse durations of nanoseconds (pulsed external force), the type of trap is of minor importance for the droplet stability. It typically needs pulsed laser forces that are several orders of magnitude higher than the optical forces to induce escape of the droplet from the trap. If the droplet strongly absorbs the pulsed laser light, these escape forces can be strongly reduced. The lower stability of absorbing droplets is a result of secondary thermal processes that cause droplet escape.

  9. Stability of aerosol droplets in Bessel beam optical traps under constant and pulsed external forces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, Grégory; Esat, Kıvanç; Hartweg, Sebastian; Cremer, Johannes; Chasovskikh, Egor; Signorell, Ruth

    2015-04-21

    We report on the dynamics of aerosol droplets in optical traps under the influence of additional constant and pulsed external forces. Experimental results are compared with simulations of the three-dimensional droplet dynamics for two types of optical traps, the counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) trap and the quadruple Bessel beam (QBB) trap. Under the influence of a constant gas flow (constant external force), the QBB trap is found to be more stable compared with the CPBB trap. By contrast, under pulsed laser excitation with laser pulse durations of nanoseconds (pulsed external force), the type of trap is of minor importance for the droplet stability. It typically needs pulsed laser forces that are several orders of magnitude higher than the optical forces to induce escape of the droplet from the trap. If the droplet strongly absorbs the pulsed laser light, these escape forces can be strongly reduced. The lower stability of absorbing droplets is a result of secondary thermal processes that cause droplet escape.

  10. Stability of aerosol droplets in Bessel beam optical traps under constant and pulsed external forces

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, Grégory; Esat, Kıvanç; Hartweg, Sebastian; Cremer, Johannes; Chasovskikh, Egor; Signorell, Ruth

    2015-04-01

    We report on the dynamics of aerosol droplets in optical traps under the influence of additional constant and pulsed external forces. Experimental results are compared with simulations of the three-dimensional droplet dynamics for two types of optical traps, the counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) trap and the quadruple Bessel beam (QBB) trap. Under the influence of a constant gas flow (constant external force), the QBB trap is found to be more stable compared with the CPBB trap. By contrast, under pulsed laser excitation with laser pulse durations of nanoseconds (pulsed external force), the type of trap is of minor importance for the droplet stability. It typically needs pulsed laser forces that are several orders of magnitude higher than the optical forces to induce escape of the droplet from the trap. If the droplet strongly absorbs the pulsed laser light, these escape forces can be strongly reduced. The lower stability of absorbing droplets is a result of secondary thermal processes that cause droplet escape.

  11. Nonlinear Analysis of External Prestressed Reinforced Concrete Beams with BFRP and CFRP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haleem K. Hussain

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The traditional strengthening methods for concrete structure (girders, beams, columns…. consuming time and could be an economical, a new modern repair methods using the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP and Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer (BFRP as a laminate strips or bars,and considered a competitive solution that will increase the life-cycle of repaired structures. This study investigated the strengthen reinforced concrete girder. Nonlinear analysis have been adopted to the models using FEM analysis (ANSYS to simulate the theoretical results compared with experimental results.Using finite element packages, more efficient and better analyses can be made to fully understand the response of individual structural components and their contribution to a structure as a whole.Three type of material are used in this study as an external prestressed wire (steel, CFRP and BFRP. The prestressed beam is modeled as simply supported beam with two concentrated point load. The results showed that all tested strengthening beam increased the load carryingcapacity of the beams depend on prestressing force. Obtained Result was compared for different type of beam.This study also was enlarged to include using CFRP and BFRPbarwhich are light weight and moredurable, lead to ease of handling and maintenance. The research conducted analytical work to evaluate the effectiveness of concrete beams reinforced normally by the use of CFRP and BFRP bars. The results showed a significant gain in the beam’s ultimate capacities using CFRP bars comparing with beam reinforced with BFRP bar and reference beam

  12. Textpresso Central: a customizable platform for searching, text mining, viewing, and curating biomedical literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, H-M; Van Auken, K M; Li, Y; Sternberg, P W

    2018-03-09

    The biomedical literature continues to grow at a rapid pace, making the challenge of knowledge retrieval and extraction ever greater. Tools that provide a means to search and mine the full text of literature thus represent an important way by which the efficiency of these processes can be improved. We describe the next generation of the Textpresso information retrieval system, Textpresso Central (TPC). TPC builds on the strengths of the original system by expanding the full text corpus to include the PubMed Central Open Access Subset (PMC OA), as well as the WormBase C. elegans bibliography. In addition, TPC allows users to create a customized corpus by uploading and processing documents of their choosing. TPC is UIMA compliant, to facilitate compatibility with external processing modules, and takes advantage of Lucene indexing and search technology for efficient handling of millions of full text documents. Like Textpresso, TPC searches can be performed using keywords and/or categories (semantically related groups of terms), but to provide better context for interpreting and validating queries, search results may now be viewed as highlighted passages in the context of full text. To facilitate biocuration efforts, TPC also allows users to select text spans from the full text and annotate them, create customized curation forms for any data type, and send resulting annotations to external curation databases. As an example of such a curation form, we describe integration of TPC with the Noctua curation tool developed by the Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium. Textpresso Central is an online literature search and curation platform that enables biocurators and biomedical researchers to search and mine the full text of literature by integrating keyword and category searches with viewing search results in the context of the full text. It also allows users to create customized curation interfaces, use those interfaces to make annotations linked to supporting evidence statements

  13. Wavelength beam combining of a 980-nm tapered diode laser bar in an external cavity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vijayakumar, Deepak; Jensen, Ole Bjarlin; Thestrup Nielsen, Birgitte

    2010-01-01

    solution for preserving the beam quality of the bar in the range of that of a single emitter and at the same time, enabling the power scaling. We report spectral beam combining applied to a 12 emitter tapered laser bar at 980 nm. The external cavity has been designed for a wavelength separation of 4.0 nm......High power diode lasers are used in a large number of applications. A limiting factor for more widespread use of broad area lasers is the poor beam quality. Gain guided tapered diode lasers are ideal candidates for industrial applications that demands watt level output power with good beam quality...

  14. The DCC Curation Lifecycle Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Higgins

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available Lifecycle management of digital materials is necessary to ensure their continuity. The DCC Curation Lifecycle Model has been developed as a generic, curation-specific, tool which can be used, in conjunction with relevant standards, to plan curation and preservation activities to different levels of granularity. The DCC will use the model: as a training tool for data creators, data curators and data users; to organise and plan their resources; and to help organisations identify risks to their digital assets and plan management strategies for their successful curation.

  15. Charge collection in an external proton beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wookey, C.W.; Somswasdi, B.; Rouse, J.L.

    1982-01-01

    Results from the measurement of the stability of charge collected from the target and exit foil, or as alternatives, the γ-ray or backscattered proton counts from the exit foil and the Ar X-ray counts from the air path in an external proton beam are presented. These results show that comparative analysis of material mounted in air is reliable, using either the collected charge or the γ-ray counts as the normalizing factor, if there are no earthed objects in close geometry. The backscattered proton counts can also be used, but not the Ar X-ray counts, unless the current is stabilized. The electrical or thermal conductivity of the target and the target to exit foil separation do not affect the proportionality of the collected charge and the γ-ray counts to the charge incident on the target

  16. A phase I/II study of external beam radiation, brachytherapy and concurrent chemotherapy in localized cancer of the esophagus (RTOG 9207)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaspar, L.E.; Qian, C.; Kocha, W.I.; Coia, L.R.; Herskovic, A.; Graham, M.

    1996-01-01

    Introduction: A multi-institutional, prospective study was designed to determine the feasibility and toxicity of chemotherapy, external beam irradiation and esophageal brachytherapy (EB) in a potentially curable group of patients with adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Methods: Planned treatment was 50 Gy external beam radiation (25 fractions/5 wks) followed 2 weeks later by EB (either HDR 5 Gy wks 8,9 and 10 for a total of 15 Gy or LDR 20 Gy wk 8). The protocol was later revised to delete the LDR alternative due to poor accrual and decrease the HDR dose to 10 Gy, ie 5 Gy wks 8 and 9. Chemotherapy was given wks 1,5,8 and 11 with DDP 75 mg/m2 and 5-FU 1000 mg/m2/24 hrs, 96 hour infusion. Data is available on 50 patients (46 squamous, 3 adenocarcinoma) treated on the HDR alternative (EB dose 15 Gy and 10 Gy in 40 and 10 patients, respectively. Results: Thirty-five patients (70%) were able to complete external beam, EB and at least 2 courses of chemotherapy. Estimated survival rate at 12 months is 48%. Life-threatening toxicity or death occurred in 13 (26%) and 4 (8%) patients, respectively. Treatment-related esophageal fistulas occurred in 6 patients (12%) at 0.5 to 6.2 months from the first day of brachytherapy, leading to death in 3. So far all treatment-related fistulas occurred in the 15 Gy EB group. Conclusions: Survival following this combination of chemotherapy, external beam radiation and EB does not appear to be different from survival seen following chemotherapy and external beam radiation only. Based on the high incidence of fistulas, we urge extreme caution in employing EB as a boost following concurrent chemotherapy and external beam radiation with the schema utilized in this prospective study

  17. Influence of external beam technique and brachytherapy quality assurance on the side effects in the combined external beam- and brachytherapy treatment of local advanced prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kovacs, G.; Galalae, R.; Wirth, B.; Bertermann, H.; Wilhelm, R.; Kohr, P.; Kimmig, B.

    1996-01-01

    Transrectal ultrasound(TRUS) guided HDR implantation of the prostate has been established at the Kiel University by Bertermann and Brix in 1986 and there are to date 179 (T1b-T3 No Mo) patients treated in a combined modality. The dose for the implant was 2x 15 Gy on the capsule of the prostate in 14-20 days. For local and regional lymph nodes 20 Gy external beam therapy (AP-PA pelvic portals), 20 Gy with an individual transmission block (100% for subclinical disease, 70% and 50% according to the implant dosimetry for the prostate) and 10 Gy small volume irradiation for the prostate was applied, conventional fractioned. Total dose after the therapy 70 Gy for the prostate and 50 Gy for the subclinical disease in 6-7 weeks. As a quality control method we use since 1991 in vivo dosimetry on the medial rectum wall as well as in the prostatic part of the urethra. Regular follow-up 3-118 months after therapy (median 55) with PSA, digital rectal examination, control TRUS with volumetry (after one year with biopsy) and bone scan. There were no major early side effects within the first three months. Proctitis till 1991 with a duration up to 12 months 49%, prolonging more than one year in 23 %, (total proctitis 72.6%). Dysuria in up to 12 months 30 %, long lasting 30% (total number of dysuria 60 %). Erectile dysfunction in 56 %. Because of the number of the side effects 1991 we changed the external beam technique: instead of the biaxial arch therapy the AP-PA portals, and reduced irradiated volume (from 6480 cm 3 to 5040 cm 3 ). We introduced instead of the small volume arch therapy for 10 Gy external boost the box-technique with shielding the back part of the rectum and the upper part of the bladder resulting additional volume reduction. Through the 15 Gy HDR brachytherapy dose on the prostate capsule there are up to 8 Gy on the medial rectal wall, measured by in vivo dosimetry. This dose could not be responsible for the high number of side effects (see gynecological

  18. METHODS OF CONTENTS CURATOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Kukharenko

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Content curated - a new activity (started in 2008 qualified network users with process large amounts of information to represent her social network users. To prepare content curators developed 7 weeks distance course, which examines the functions, methods and tools curator. Courses showed a significant relationship success learning on the availability of advanced personal learning environment and the ability to process and analyze information.

  19. External beam radiotherapy for rectal adenocarcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, R.E.; Kerr, G.R.; Arnott, S.J.

    1987-01-01

    A series of 243 patients with adenocarcinoma of the rectum treated with radiotherapy is presented. Radiotherapy was combined with 5-fluorouracil, or given alone. Seventy-four patients were treated with radical external beam radiotherapy for recurrent or inoperable rectal adenocarcinoma. One hundred and forty-five patients with advanced pelvic tumours or metastases were treated with palliative pelvic radiotherapy. Twenty-four patients with small-volume residual pelvic tumour or who were felt to be at high risk of pelvic recurrence following radical resection received postoperative radiotherapy. Complete tumour regression was seen in 38% of radically treated patients, and 24% of palliatively treated patients. Partial regression was observed in 56% of radically treated patients, and 58% of palliatively treated patients. Long-term local tumour control was more commonly observed for small tumours (< 5 cm diameter). Fifty-eight % of patients treated with postoperative radiotherapy remained free of local recurrence. Survival was significantly better with small tumours. The addition of 5FU did not appear to improve survival or tumour control. (author)

  20. Improving external beam radiotherapy by combination with internal irradiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietrich, A; Koi, L; Zöphel, K; Sihver, W; Kotzerke, J; Baumann, M; Krause, M

    2015-07-01

    The efficacy of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is dose dependent, but the dose that can be applied to solid tumour lesions is limited by the sensitivity of the surrounding tissue. The combination of EBRT with systemically applied radioimmunotherapy (RIT) is a promising approach to increase efficacy of radiotherapy. Toxicities of both treatment modalities of this combination of internal and external radiotherapy (CIERT) are not additive, as different organs at risk are in target. However, advantages of both single treatments are combined, for example, precise high dose delivery to the bulk tumour via standard EBRT, which can be increased by addition of RIT, and potential targeting of micrometastases by RIT. Eventually, theragnostic radionuclide pairs can be used to predict uptake of the radiotherapeutic drug prior to and during therapy and find individual patients who may benefit from this treatment. This review aims to highlight the outcome of pre-clinical studies on CIERT and resultant questions for translation into the clinic. Few clinical data are available until now and reasons as well as challenges for clinical implementation are discussed.

  1. An Apparatus For Student Projects Using External-Beam PIXE And PIGE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Correll, Francis D.; Edsall, Douglas W.; DePooter, Katherine A.; Maskell, Nicholas D.; Vanhoy, Jeffrey R.

    2011-01-01

    We recently installed a simple endstation at the Naval Academy Tandem Accelerator Laboratory to support student projects using external-beam PIXE and PIGE. It consists of a short, graphite-lined beamline extension with a thin window, an interlocked box that surrounds the target, detectors for x- and gamma rays, provision for flooding the target with helium gas, easily changed x-ray absorbers, and a compact video camera for monitoring the position of the beam spot. We used this system to measure the elemental composition of colonial-era architectural materials, principally bricks and mortar, from James Madison's Montpelier, the reconstructed Virginia estate of the fourth President of the United States. We describe the design and construction of the system, relate some of our experiences using it, and present some preliminary data from our investigations.

  2. Cervix Regression and Motion During the Course of External Beam Chemoradiation for Cervical Cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beadle, Beth M.; Jhingran, Anuja; Salehpour, Mohammad; Sam, Marianne; Iyer, Revathy B.; Eifel, Patricia J.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the magnitude of cervix regression and motion during external beam chemoradiation for cervical cancer. Methods and Materials: Sixteen patients with cervical cancer underwent computed tomography scanning before, weekly during, and after conventional chemoradiation. Cervix volumes were calculated to determine the extent of cervix regression. Changes in the center of mass and perimeter of the cervix between scans were used to determine the magnitude of cervix motion. Maximum cervix position changes were calculated for each patient, and mean maximum changes were calculated for the group. Results: Mean cervical volumes before and after 45 Gy of external beam irradiation were 97.0 and 31.9 cc, respectively; mean volume reduction was 62.3%. Mean maximum changes in the center of mass of the cervix were 2.1, 1.6, and 0.82 cm in the superior-inferior, anterior-posterior, and right-left lateral dimensions, respectively. Mean maximum changes in the perimeter of the cervix were 2.3 and 1.3 cm in the superior and inferior, 1.7 and 1.8 cm in the anterior and posterior, and 0.76 and 0.94 cm in the right and left lateral directions, respectively. Conclusions: Cervix regression and internal organ motion contribute to marked interfraction variations in the intrapelvic position of the cervical target in patients receiving chemoradiation for cervical cancer. Failure to take these variations into account during the application of highly conformal external beam radiation techniques poses a theoretical risk of underdosing the target or overdosing adjacent critical structures

  3. Impact of cradle immobilization on setup reproducibility during external beam radiation therapy for lung cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bentel, Gunilla C.; Marks, Lawrence B.; Krishnamurthy, Rupa

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: To compare the setup accuracy during fractionated radiation therapy for two patient groups with lung cancer treated with and without an immobilization cradle. Methods: Three hundred ninety-seven port films from 30 patients immobilized in the Alpha Cradle TM1 were compared with 329 port films from 30 patients who were not immobilized with the cradle. All patients were treated with curative intent for nonmetastatic lung cancer. The frequency of physician-requested isocenter shifts were compared in the two groups using a two-tailed chi-square test. Initial port films taken on the first day of treatment, routine films taken usually weekly during radiation therapy, and requested films taken after a requested shift were considered separately. The immobilization device consisted of a custom-made foam cradle that extended from above the head to the knees. Patients were generally treated with their arms above their heads, and treatment setup marks in the immobilized patients were placed on both the patients' skin and the immobilization cradle. For the noncradle patients, setup marks were placed only on the patients' skin. Results: For the routine films, the frequency of physician-requested isocenter shifts was lower in immobilized patients than in the nonimmobilized group (p = 0.139). Most of this reduction was seen on oblique fields (p = 0.038). No benefits were seen among initial or requested films. The two groups were well balanced with regard to stage, age, field size, and total dose. Conclusions: The use of aggressive immobilization improves the setup reproducibility in patients receiving external beam radiation therapy for lung cancer, especially during treatment with oblique fields. This improvement in treatment accuracy might improve the therapeutic ratio

  4. Performance of Retrofitted Self-Compacting Concrete-Filled Steel Tube Beams Using External Steel Plates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed A. M. AL-Shaar

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Self-compacting concrete-filled steel tube (SCCFST beams, similar to other structural members, necessitate retrofitting for many causes. However, research on SCCFST beams externally retrofitted by bolted steel plates has seldom been explored in the literature. This paper aims at experimentally investigating the retrofitting performance of square self-compacting concrete-filled steel tube (SCCFST beams using bolted steel plates with three different retrofitting schemes including varied configurations and two different steel plate lengths under flexure. A total of 18 specimens which consist of 12 retrofitted SCCFST beams, three unretrofitted (control SCCFST beams, and three hollow steel tubes were used. The flexural behaviour of the retrofitted SCCFST beams was examined regarding flexural strength, failure modes, and moment versus deflection curves, energy absorption, and ductility. Experimental results revealed that the implemented retrofitting schemes efficiently improve the moment carrying capacity and stiffness of the retrofitted SCCFST beams compared to the control beams. The increment in flexural strength ranged from 1% to 46%. Furthermore, the adopted retrofitting schemes were able to restore the energy absorption and ductility of the damaged beams in the range of 35% to 75% of the original beam ductility. Furthermore, a theoretical model was suggested to predict the moment capacity of the retrofitted SCCFST beams. The theoretical model results were in good agreement with the test results.

  5. Pilot Quality Control Program for Audit RT External Beams at Mexican Hospitals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarez R, J T; Tovar M, V M

    2008-01-01

    A pilot quality control program for audit 18 radiotherapy RT external beams at 13 Mexican hospitals is described--for eleven 60 Co beams and seven photon beams of 6, 10 and 15 MV from accelerators. This program contains five parts: a) Preparation of the TLD-100 powder: washing, drying and annealing (one hour 400 deg. C plus 24 hrs 80 deg. C). b) Sending two IAEA type capsules to the hospitals for irradiation at the hospital to a nominal D W = 2 Gy·c) Preparation at the SSDL of ten calibration curves CC in the range of 0.5 Gy to 6 Gy in terms of absorbed dose to water D W for 60 Co with traceability to primary laboratory NRC (Canada), according to a window irradiation: 26/10/2007-7/12/2007. d) Reading all capsules that match their hospital time irradiation and the SSDL window irradiation. f) Evaluation of the Dw imparted by the hospitals

  6. Pilot Quality Control Program for Audit RT External Beams at Mexican Hospitals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Álvarez R., J. T.; Tovar M., V. M.

    2008-08-01

    A pilot quality control program for audit 18 radiotherapy RT external beams at 13 Mexican hospitals is described—for eleven 60 Co beams and seven photon beams of 6, 10 and 15 MV from accelerators. This program contains five parts: a) Preparation of the TLD-100 powder: washing, drying and annealing (one hour 400 °C plus 24 hrs 80 °C). b) Sending two IAEA type capsules to the hospitals for irradiation at the hospital to a nominal DW = 2 Gy ṡ c ) Preparation at the SSDL of ten calibration curves CC in the range of 0.5 Gy to 6 Gy in terms of absorbed dose to water DW for 60 Co with traceability to primary laboratory NRC (Canada), according to a window irradiation: 26/10/2007-7/12/2007. d) Reading all capsules that match their hospital time irradiation and the SSDL window irradiation. f) Evaluation of the Dw imparted by the hospitals.

  7. ERDA with an external helium ion micro-beam: Advantages and potential applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calligaro, T.; Castaing, J.; Dran, J.-C.; Moignard, B.; Pivin, J.-C.; Prasad, G.V.R.; Salomon, J.; Walter, P.

    2001-01-01

    Preliminary ERDA experiments at atmospheric pressure have been performed with our external microprobe set-up currently used for the analysis of museum objects by PIXE, RBS and NRA. The objective was to check the feasibility of hydrogen (and deuterium) profiling with an external beam of 3-MeV helium ions. The standard scattering geometry (incident beam at 15 deg. with respect to sample surface and emerging protons or deuterons at 15 deg. in the forward direction) was kept, but the thin foil absorber was replaced by helium gas filling the space between the beam spot and the detector over a distance of about 84 mm. Several standards prepared by ion implantation, with well known H or D depth profiles, were first analysed, which indicated that the analytical capability was as good as under vacuum. A striking feature is the much lower surface peak than under vacuum, a fact that enhances the sensitivity for H analysis near the surface. The same type of measurement was then performed on different materials to show the usefulness of the technique. As a first example, we have checked that the incorporation of H or D into sapphire crystals during mechanical polishing is below the detection limit. Another example is the measurement of the H content in emeralds which can be used as an additional compositional criterion for determining the provenance of emeralds set in museum jewels. The advantages and limitations of our set-up are discussed and several possible applications in the field of cultural heritage are described

  8. Controversies in external beam and high dose rate brachytherapy of oesophageal cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sur, R.K.; Levin, V.C.; Malas, Simon; Donde, Bernard

    1994-01-01

    Various controversies in the treatment of oesophageal carcinoma with external beam radiotherapy and high dose rate intracavitary irradiation have been reviewed. Conflicting results from different parts of the world has made it difficult to optimize the radiation dose that may give the best results. More studies and longer follow-up are needed before a definite conclusion can be made on the optimization of dose. (author). 18 refs., 2 tabs

  9. Analysis of the clinical benefit of intraoperative radiotherapy in patients undergoing macroscopically curative resection for pancreatic cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kokubo, Masaki; Nishimura, Yasumasa; Shibamoto, Yuta; Sasai, Keisuke; Kanamori, Shuichi; Hosotani, Ryo; Imamura, Masayuki; Hiraoka, Masahiro

    2000-01-01

    Purpose: To determine the survival of pancreatic cancer patients treated with intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) and/or external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) following macroscopically curative resection. Methods and Materials: One hundred and thirty-eight patients with pancreatic cancer who had undergone potentially curative total or regional pancreatectomy between 1980 and 1997 were retrospectively analyzed. Among the 138 patients, 98 had a pathologically negative surgical margin and the remaining 40 patients had a positive surgical margin. The usual EBRT dose was 45-55 Gy with a daily fraction of 1.5-2.0 Gy. The median IORT dose was 25 Gy in a single fraction. Results: The 2-year cause-specific survival rate of patients with pathologically negative surgical margins was 19%, and that of patients with positive margins was 4% (p < 0.005). Although the median survival time (MST) of patients with negative margins treated with IORT and EBRT was significantly longer than that of those treated with operation alone (17 vs. 11 months), no significant difference in survival curves was observed. In patients with positive surgical margins in peripancreatic soft tissue, the difference between the survival curve of patients treated with surgery alone and that of those treated with surgery and radiation therapy was borderline significant (p < 0.10). Patients receiving intraarterial or intraportal infusion chemotherapy had significantly improved survival rates compared with those who did not receive it (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Although the MST was longer in patients with negative margins receiving IORT and EBRT than in those receiving no radiation, improved long-term survival by IORT and/or EBRT was not suggested. In patients with positive margins, our results obtained by IORT/EBRT were encouraging. Randomized studies with much higher patient numbers are necessary to define the role of IORT in curatively resected pancreatic cancer

  10. Numerical simulation on the energy spectrum of the electron beam generated by low-impedance diode and the influence of external magnetic field on diode impedance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Guozhi

    2003-01-01

    The energy spectrum of the electron beam generated by low-impedance diode and the influence of external magnetic field on the impedance of diode are studied numerically in this paper. The results show that the beam generated by the diode has an energy spread, even with constant applied voltage. Additionally, external magnetic field has great but reverse influence on the impedance of low-impedance diode, which is, according to the author's analysis, the result of the change of the electron's track due to external magnetic field. If the beam current is less than the critical one for self-pinch, the impedance will be constant with the variation of external magnetic field

  11. Evaluation of surface and shallow depth dose reductions using a Superflab bolus during conventional and advanced external beam radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Jihyung; Xie, Yibo; Zhang, Rui

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate a methodology to reduce scatter and leakage radiations to patients' surface and shallow depths during conventional and advanced external beam radiotherapy. Superflab boluses of different thicknesses were placed on top of a stack of solid water phantoms, and the bolus effect on surface and shallow depth doses for both open and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) beams was evaluated using thermoluminescent dosimeters and ion chamber measurements. Contralateral breast dose reduction caused by the bolus was evaluated by delivering clinical postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) plans to an anthropomorphic phantom. For the solid water phantom measurements, surface dose reduction caused by the Superflab bolus was achieved only in out-of-field area and on the incident side of the beam, and the dose reduction increased with bolus thickness. The dose reduction caused by the bolus was more significant at closer distances from the beam. Most of the dose reductions occurred in the first 2-cm depth and stopped at 4-cm depth. For clinical PMRT treatment plans, surface dose reductions using a 1-cm Superflab bolus were up to 31% and 62% for volumetric-modulated arc therapy and 4-field IMRT, respectively, but there was no dose reduction for Tomotherapy. A Superflab bolus can be used to reduce surface and shallow depth doses during external beam radiotherapy when it is placed out of the beam and on the incident side of the beam. Although we only validated this dose reduction strategy for PMRT treatments, it is applicable to any external beam radiotherapy and can potentially reduce patients' risk of developing radiation-induced side effects. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

  12. External beam PIXE analysis of painting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pascholati, Paulo R.; Rizzutto, Marcia A.; Barbosa, Marcel D.L.; Albuquerque, Cindy

    2005-01-01

    The preservation and conservation of mankind cultural heritage has become an important issue worldwide. Non-destructive analytical techniques are suitable, for example, to analyze precious and unique objects of art and archaeology. Among those techniques Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) has good advantage to identify elemental composition present in these kinds of objects. The Laboratorio de Analise de Materiais por Feixes Ionicos-LAMFI of the Institute of Physics of the University of Sao Paulo has been installed an external beam facility for PIXE analysis. This new setup is being used for the analysis of archaeological pottery artifacts, paintings and biological tissues (teeth and bones), which are not compatible with the high vacuum of the regular PIXE target chamber. In addition most art and archaeological objects are too large for the evacuated analysis chamber. Applications of this facility will be presented in the analysis of one painting of the beginning of the last century. The chemical elements identified in the painting were Ca, Ti, Cr, Cu, Fe, Zn, Pb and Ba. The PIXE measurements were done non-destructively and no visible damage was observed on the irradiated object. (author)

  13. Trace element fingerprinting of jewellery rubies by external beam PIXE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calligaro, T.; Poirot, J.-P.; Querre, G.

    1999-01-01

    External beam PIXE analysis allows the non-destructive in situ characterisation of gemstones mounted on jewellery pieces. This technique was used for the determination of the geographical origin of 64 rubies set on a high-valued necklace. The trace element content of these gemstones was measured and compared to that of a set of rubies of known sources. Multivariate statistical processing of the results allowed us to infer the provenance of rubies: one comes from Thailand/Cambodia deposit while the remaining are attributed to Burma. This highlights the complementary capabilities of PIXE and conventional geological observations

  14. Trace element fingerprinting of jewellery rubies by external beam PIXE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Calligaro, T. E-mail: calli@culture.nl; Poirot, J.-P.; Querre, G

    1999-04-02

    External beam PIXE analysis allows the non-destructive in situ characterisation of gemstones mounted on jewellery pieces. This technique was used for the determination of the geographical origin of 64 rubies set on a high-valued necklace. The trace element content of these gemstones was measured and compared to that of a set of rubies of known sources. Multivariate statistical processing of the results allowed us to infer the provenance of rubies: one comes from Thailand/Cambodia deposit while the remaining are attributed to Burma. This highlights the complementary capabilities of PIXE and conventional geological observations.

  15. Proton external beam in the TANDAR Accelerator; Haz externo de protones en el acelerador TANDAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rey, R; Schuff, J A; Perez de la Hoz, A.; Debray, M E; Hojman, D; Kreiner, A J; Kesque, J M; Saint-Martin, G; Oppezzo, O; Bernaola, O A; Molinari, B L; Duran, H A; Policastro, L; Palmieri, M; Ibanez, J; Stoliar, P; Mazal, A; Caraballo, M E; Burlon, A; Cardona, M A; Vazquez, M E; Salfity, M F; Ozafran, M J; Naab, F; Levinton, G; Davidson, M; Buhler, M [Departamento de Fisica, Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Av. Gral. Paz 1499, C.P. 1650 San Martin, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

    1999-12-31

    An external proton beam has been obtained in the TANDAR accelerator with radiological and biomedical purposes. The protons have excellent physical properties for their use in radiotherapy allowing a very good accuracy in the dose spatial distribution inside the tissue so in the side direction as in depth owing to the presence of Bragg curve. The advantage of the accuracy in the dose localization with proton therapy is good documented (M. Wagner, Med. Phys. 9, 749 (1982); M. Goitein and F. Chen, Med. Phys. 10, 831 (1983); M.R. Raju, Rad. Res. 145, 391 (1996)). It was obtained external proton beams with energies between 15-25 MeV, currents between 2-10 p A and a uniform transversal sections of 40 mm{sup 2} approximately. It was realized dosimetric evaluations with CR39 and Makrofol foliation. The irradiations over biological material contained experiences In vivo with laboratory animals, cellular and bacterial crops. It was fixed the optimal conditions of position and immobilization of the Wistar rats breeding for the In vivo studies. It was chosen dilutions and sowing techniques adequate for the exposition at the cellular and bacterial crops beam. (Author)

  16. Proton external beam in the TANDAR Accelerator; Haz externo de protones en el acelerador TANDAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rey, R.; Schuff, J.A.; Perez de la Hoz, A.; Debray, M.E.; Hojman, D.; Kreiner, A.J.; Kesque, J.M.; Saint-Martin, G.; Oppezzo, O.; Bernaola, O.A.; Molinari, B.L.; Duran, H.A.; Policastro, L.; Palmieri, M.; Ibanez, J.; Stoliar, P.; Mazal, A.; Caraballo, M.E.; Burlon, A.; Cardona, M.A.; Vazquez, M.E.; Salfity, M.F.; Ozafran, M.J.; Naab, F.; Levinton, G.; Davidson, M.; Buhler, M. [Departamento de Fisica, Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Av. Gral. Paz 1499, C.P. 1650 San Martin, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

    1998-12-31

    An external proton beam has been obtained in the TANDAR accelerator with radiological and biomedical purposes. The protons have excellent physical properties for their use in radiotherapy allowing a very good accuracy in the dose spatial distribution inside the tissue so in the side direction as in depth owing to the presence of Bragg curve. The advantage of the accuracy in the dose localization with proton therapy is good documented (M. Wagner, Med. Phys. 9, 749 (1982); M. Goitein and F. Chen, Med. Phys. 10, 831 (1983); M.R. Raju, Rad. Res. 145, 391 (1996)). It was obtained external proton beams with energies between 15-25 MeV, currents between 2-10 p A and a uniform transversal sections of 40 mm{sup 2} approximately. It was realized dosimetric evaluations with CR39 and Makrofol foliation. The irradiations over biological material contained experiences In vivo with laboratory animals, cellular and bacterial crops. It was fixed the optimal conditions of position and immobilization of the Wistar rats breeding for the In vivo studies. It was chosen dilutions and sowing techniques adequate for the exposition at the cellular and bacterial crops beam. (Author)

  17. MO-A-BRB-01: Review of TG-262 Internal Survey of Practices in EMR for External Beam Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mechalakos, J.

    2015-01-01

    The process of converting to an electronic chart for radiation therapy can be daunting. It requires a dedicated committee to first research and choose appropriate software, to review the entire documentation policy and flow of the clinic, to convert this system to electronic form or if necessary, redesign the system to more easily conform to the electronic process. Those making the conversion and those who already use electronic charting would benefit from the shared experience of those who have been through the process in the past. Therefore TG262 was convened to provide guidance on electronic charting for external beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy. This course will present the results of an internal survey of task group members on EMR practices in External Beam Radiation Therapy as well as discuss important issues in EMR development and structure for both EBRT and brachytherapy. Learning Objectives: Be familiarized with common practices and pitfalls in development and maintenance of an electronic chart in Radiation Oncology Be familiarized with important issues related to electronic charting in External Beam Radiation Therapy Be familiarized with important issues related to electronic charting in Brachytherapy

  18. External proton and Li beams; Haces externos de protones y litios

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schuff, Juan A; Burlon, Alejandro A; Debray, Mario E; Kesque, Jose M; Kreiner, Andres J; Stoliar, Pablo A; Naab, Fabian; Ozafran, Mabel J; Vazquez, Monica E [Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, General San Martin (Argentina). Dept. de Fisica; Policastro, Lucia L; Duran, Hebe; Molinari, Beatriz L; O' Connor, Silvia E; Saint-Martin, Maria L.G.; Palmieri, Monica; Bernaola, Omar A; Opezzo, Oscar J [Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, General San Martin (Argentina). Dept. de Radiobiologia; Mazal, A; Favaudon, F; Henry, Y [Institut Curie, 75 - Paris (France); Perez de la Hoz, A.; Somacal, Hector; Valda, Alejandro; Canevas, S; Ruffolo, M; Tasat, D R [Universidad Nacional de General San Martin, Villa Ballester (Argentina). Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnologia; Davidson, Miguel; Davidson, Jorge [Buenos Aires Univ. (Argentina). Dept. de Fisica; Delacroix, S; Nauraye, C; Brune, E; Gautier, C; Habrand, J L [Centre de Protontherapie, 91 - Orsay (France); Muhlmann, M C [Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires (Argentina)

    2000-07-01

    In the frame of a feasibility study to introduce proton therapy in Argentina in a collaborative agreement between the Physics and Radiobiology Departments of the National Atomic Energy Commission or Argentina and the Centre de Protontherapie de Orsay, France, external proton and Li beams were produced at the TANDAR accelerator in Buenos Aires. The specific aim of this work was to start radiobiology studies on cell cultures and small laboratory animals. In particular we seek to determine here the relative biological effectiveness, RBE, for proton and Li beams as a function of energy for different tumor and normal cell lines. The 24 MeV proton beam was diffused using a 25 {mu}m gold foil and extracted through a Kapton window to obtain a homogeneous field (constant to 95%) of about 7 cm in diameter. Measurements were carried out with quasi-monoenergetic beams (of 20.2 {+-} 0.07 MeV, 2.9 {+-} 0.10 MeV y 1.5 {+-} 0.1 MeV for protons and 21.4 {+-} 0.4 MeV for Lithium). Proton fluence and Bragg peaks were measured. The dose delivered in each case was monitored on-line with a calibrated transmission ionization chamber. Three cell lines PDV, PDVC 57 and V 79 (as a reference) were irradiated with {gamma}-rays, proton and lithium beams with linear energy transfer (LET) from 2 to 100 keV/{mu}m. RBE values in the range of 1.2-5.9 were obtained. In addition preliminary studies on chromosomal aberrations and viability of alveolar macrophages were carried out. (author)

  19. External Beam Boost for Cancer of the Cervix Uteri When Intracavitary Therapy Cannot Be Performed

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barraclough, Lisa Helen; Swindell, Ric; Livsey, Jacqueline E.; Hunter, Robin D.; Davidson, Susan E.

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: To assess the outcome of patients treated with radical radiotherapy for cervical cancer who received an external beam boost, in place of intracavitary brachytherapy (ICT), after irradiation to the whole pelvis. Methods and Materials: Case notes were reviewed for all patients treated in this way in a single center between 1996 and 2004. Patient and tumor details, the reasons why ICT was not possible, and treatment outcome were documented. Results: Forty-four patients were identified. The mean age was 56.4 years (range, 26-88 years). Clinical International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics or radiologic stage for Stages I, II, III, and IV, respectively, was 16%, 48%, 27%, and 7%. A total radiation dose of 54-70 Gy was given (75% received ≥60 Gy). Reasons for ICT not being performed were technical limitations in 73%, comorbidity or isolation limitations in 23%, and patient choice in 4%. The median follow-up was 2.3 years. Recurrent disease was seen in 48%, with a median time to recurrence of 2.3 years. Central recurrence was seen in 16 of the 21 patients with recurrent disease. The 5-year overall survival rate was 49.3%. The 3-year cancer-specific survival rate by stage was 100%, 70%, and 42% for Stages I, II, and III, respectively. Late Grades 1 and 2 bowel, bladder, and vaginal toxicity were seen in 41%. Late Grade 3 toxicity was seen in 2%. Conclusion: An external beam boost is a reasonable option after external beam radiotherapy to the pelvis when it is not possible to perform ICT

  20. Monitoring external beam radiotherapy using real-time beam visualization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jenkins, Cesare H. [Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States); Naczynski, Dominik J.; Yu, Shu-Jung S.; Xing, Lei, E-mail: lei@stanford.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305 (United States)

    2015-01-15

    Purpose: To characterize the performance of a novel radiation therapy monitoring technique that utilizes a flexible scintillating film, common optical detectors, and image processing algorithms for real-time beam visualization (RT-BV). Methods: Scintillating films were formed by mixing Gd{sub 2}O{sub 2}S:Tb (GOS) with silicone and casting the mixture at room temperature. The films were placed in the path of therapeutic beams generated by medical linear accelerators (LINAC). The emitted light was subsequently captured using a CMOS digital camera. Image processing algorithms were used to extract the intensity, shape, and location of the radiation field at various beam energies, dose rates, and collimator locations. The measurement results were compared with known collimator settings to validate the performance of the imaging system. Results: The RT-BV system achieved a sufficient contrast-to-noise ratio to enable real-time monitoring of the LINAC beam at 20 fps with normal ambient lighting in the LINAC room. The RT-BV system successfully identified collimator movements with sub-millimeter resolution. Conclusions: The RT-BV system is capable of localizing radiation therapy beams with sub-millimeter precision and tracking beam movement at video-rate exposure.

  1. Olfactory neural tumours - the role of external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Slevin, N.J.; Irwin, C.J.R.; Banerjee, S.S.; Path, F.R.C.; Gupta, N.K.; Farrington, W.T.

    1996-01-01

    Olfactory neuroblastoma is an uncommon tumour arising in the nasal cavity or paranasal sinuses. We report the management of nine cases treated with external beam radiotherapy subsequent to surgery, either attempted definitive removal or biopsy only. Recent refinements in pathological evaluation of these tumours are discussed. Seven cases were deemed classical olfactory neuroblastoma whilst two were classified as neuroendocrine carcinoma. The clinical features, radiotherapy technique and variable natural history are presented. Seven of eight patients treated radically were controlled locally, with a minimum follow-up of two years. Three patients developed cervical lymph node disease and three patients died of systemic metastatic disease. Suggestions are made as to which patients should have en-bloc resection rather than definitive radiotherapy. (author)

  2. Pain flare following external beam radiotherapy and meaningful change in pain scores in the treatment of bone metastases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chow, Edward; Ling, Alison; Davis, Lori; Panzarella, Tony; Danjoux, Cyril

    2005-01-01

    Background and purpose: To examine the incidence of pain flare following external beam radiotherapy and to determine what constitutes a meaningful change in pain scores in the treatment of bone metastases. Patients and methods: Patients with bone metastases treated with external beam radiotherapy were asked to score their pain on a scale of 0-10 before the treatment (baseline), daily during the treatment and for 10 days after completion of external beam radiation. Pain flare was defined as a two-point increase from baseline pain in the pain scale of 0-10 with no decrease in analgesic intake or a 25% increase in analgesic intake employing daily oral morphine equivalent with no decrease in pain score. To distinguish pain flare from progression of pain, we required the pain score and analgesic intake to return back to baseline levels after the increase/flare. They were also asked to indicate if their pain changed during that time compared to pre-treatment level. The change in pain score was compared with patient perception. Results: Eighty-eight patients were evaluated in this study. There were 49 male and 39 female patients with the median age of 70 years. Twelve of 88 patients (14%) had pain flare on day 1. The overall incidence of pain flare during the study period ranged from 2 to 16%. A total of 797 pain scorings were obtained. Patients perceived an improvement in pain when their self-reported pain score decreased by at least two points. Conclusions: Our study confirms the occurrence of pain flare following the external beam radiotherapy in the treatment of bone metastases. Further studies are required to predict who are at risk for flare. Appropriate measures can be taken to alleviate the pain flare. The finding in the meaningful change in pain scores supports the investigator-defined partial response used in some clinical trials

  3. Neural Stem Cell-Preserving External-Beam Radiotherapy of Central Nervous System Malignancies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barani, Igor J.; Cuttino, Laurie W.; Benedict, Stanley H.; Todor, Dorin; Bump, Edward A.; Wu Yan; Chung, Theodore D.; Broaddus, William C.; Lin, Peck-Sun

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: Recent discoveries have implicated neural stem cells (NSC) as the source of plasticity and repair in the mature mammalian brain. Treatment-induced NSC dysfunction may lead to observed toxicity. This study evaluates the feasibility of NSC-preserving external beam radiotherapy. Methods and Materials: A single computed tomography (CT) dataset depicting a right periventricular lesion was used in this study as this location reflects the most problematic geometric arrangement with respect to NSC preservation. Conventional and NSC preserving radiotherapy (RT) plans were generated for the same lesion using two clinical scenarios: cerebral metastatic disease and primary high-grade glioma. Disease-specific target volumes were used. Metastatic disease was conventionally treated with whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) to 3,750 cGy (15 fractions) followed by a single stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) boost of 1,800 cGy to gross disease only. High-grade glioma was treated with conventional opposed lateral and anterior superior oblique beams to 4,600 cGy (23 fractions) followed by a 1,400 cGy (7 fractions) boost. NSC preservation was achieved in both scenarios with inverse-planned intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Results: Cumulative dose reductions of 65% (metastatic disease) and 25% (high-grade glioma) to the total volume of the intracranial NSC compartments were achieved with NSC-preserving IMRT plans. The reduction of entry and exit dose to NSC niches located contralateral to the target contributed most to NSC preservation. Conclusions: Neural stem cells preservation with current external beam radiotherapy techniques is achievable in context of both metastatic brain disease and high-grade glioma, even when the target is located adjacent to a stem cell compartment. Further investigation with clinical trials is warranted to evaluate whether NSC preservation will result in reduced toxicity

  4. Constructing Data Curation Profiles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Witt

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a brief literature review and then introduces the methods, design, and construction of the Data Curation Profile, an instrument that can be used to provide detailed information on particular data forms that might be curated by an academic library. These data forms are presented in the context of the related sub-disciplinary research area, and they provide the flow of the research process from which these data are generated. The profiles also represent the needs for data curation from the perspective of the data producers, using their own language. As such, they support the exploration of data curation across different research domains in real and practical terms. With the sponsorship of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, investigators from Purdue University and the University of Illinois interviewed 19 faculty subjects to identify needs for discovery, access, preservation, and reuse of their research data. For each subject, a profile was constructed that includes information about his or her general research, data forms and stages, value of data, data ingest, intellectual property, organization and description of data, tools, interoperability, impact and prestige, data management, and preservation. Each profile also presents a specific dataset supplied by the subject to serve as a concrete example. The Data Curation Profiles are being published to a public wiki for questions and discussion, and a blank template will be disseminated with guidelines for others to create and share their own profiles. This study was conducted primarily from the viewpoint of librarians interacting with faculty researchers; however, it is expected that these findings will complement a wide variety of data curation research and practice outside of librarianship and the university environment.

  5. Radiobiological comparison of external beam irradiation and radioimmunotherapy in renal cell carcinoma xenografts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wessels, B.W.; Vessella, R.L.; Palme, D.F. II; Berkopec, J.M.; Smith, G.K.; Bradley, E.W.

    1989-01-01

    Growth delay was measured in TK-82 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) xenografts implanted in nude mice receiving single fraction external beam irradiation (SF-XRT), multifraction external beam irradiation (MF-XRT), or radioimmunotherapy (RIT). Thermoluminescent dosimeter(s) (TLD) and autoradiography were used to ascertain the average absorbed dose delivered and the degree of heterogeneous uptake of radiolabeled antibody for the RIT irradiations. For intravenous administered activities of 100, 200, 400, and 600 microCi of I-131 labeled A6H antibody, volume doubling times (VDT) and TLD absorbed dose measurements for each administered activity were 7 days (341 cGy), 38 days (383 cGy), 85 days (886 cGy) and no regrowth (1034 cGy), respectively. For SF-XRT irradiations of 500, 1000, and 1500 cGy, VDT times were 11, 62, and 103 days, respectively. MF-XRT of 4 X 250 cGy over a 2-week period yielded a VDT of 25 days. Marked peripheral activity deposition was noted on most autoradiographs from multiple tumor samples. These data suggest that an equivalent to superior tumor growth delay is obtained for absorbed doses delivered by exponentially decaying low dose rate radioimmunotherapy RIT compared to similar doses of acute dose rate XRT as quantitated by the TLD method

  6. Elemental analysis of ancient Chinese bronze artifacts with external-beam PIXE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, E.K.; Yu, Y.C.; Wang, C.W.; Shen, C.T.; Huang, Y.M.; Wu, S.C.; Hsieh, C.H.

    1992-01-01

    External-beam PIXE has been applied for the determination of the elemental composition of ancient Chinese bronze artifacts. Characteristic x-ray spectra from the samples bombarded with protons of 3 MeV have been measured with a HPGe detector. At each sample three spots were irradiated per run. Results of measurements on three fragments of bronze drinking vessels and helmet of Chinese ancient Chou and Shang dynasties (17th-8th century B.C.) are presented. To check the analytical method, we have also made measurements on the elemental composition of some modern coins. The results are discussed. (author)

  7. Elemental analysis of ancient Chinese bronze artifacts with external-beam PIXE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, E.K.; Yu, Y.C.; Wang, C.W.; Shen, C.T.; Huang, Y.M.; Wu, S.C.; Hsieh, C.H. [Academia Sinica, Taipei, TW (China). Inst. of Physics

    1992-12-31

    External-beam PIXE has been applied for the determination of the elemental composition of ancient Chinese bronze artifacts. Characteristic x-ray spectra from the samples bombarded with protons of 3 MeV have been measured with a HPGe detector. At each sample three spots were irradiated per run. Results of measurements on three fragments of bronze drinking vessels and helmet of Chinese ancient Chou and Shang dynasties (17th-8th century B.C.) are presented. To check the analytical method, we have also made measurements on the elemental composition of some modern coins. The results are discussed. (author).

  8. Parallel processing of dose calculation for external photon beam therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunieda, Etsuo; Ando, Yutaka; Tsukamoto, Nobuhiro; Ito, Hisao; Kubo, Atsushi

    1994-01-01

    We implemented external photon beam dose calculation programs into a parallel processor system consisting of Transputers, 32-bit processors especially suitable for multi-processor configuration. Two network conformations, binary-tree and pipeline, were evaluated for rectangular and irregular field dose calculation algorithms. Although computation speed increased in proportion to the number of CPU, substantial overhead caused by inter-processor communication occurred when a smaller computation load was delivered to each processor. On the other hand, for irregular field calculation, which requires more computation capability for each calculation point, the communication overhead was still less even when more than 50 processors were involved. Real-time responses could be expected for more complex algorithms by increasing the number of processors. (author)

  9. In-vivo (entrance) dose measurements in external beam radiotherapy with aqueous FBX dosimetry system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semwal, M.K.; Thakur, P.K.; Bansal, A.K.; Vidyasagar, P.B.

    2005-01-01

    FBX aqueous chemical dosimetry system has been found useful in radiotherapy owing to its low dose measuring capability. In the present work, entrance dose measurements in external beam radiotherapy on a telecobalt machine were carried out with the system on 100 patients. Treatments involving simple beam arrangement of open parallel-opposed beams in cranial and pelvic irradiations were selected for this study. In place of a spectrophotometer, a simple and inexpensive colorimeter was used for absorbance measurements. The purpose was to assess the efficacy of the FBX system for in-vivo dose measurements. The results obtained show that the average discrepancy between the measured and expected dose for both categories of patients was 0.2% (standard deviation 3.2%) with a maximum of +1 0.3%. There were 5.5% cases showing more than ± 5% discrepancy. Comparison of the results obtained with published work on entrance dose measurements, with diode detectors, shows that the inexpensive FBX system can be used for in-vivo (entrance) dose measurements for simple beam arrangements in radiotherapy and can thus serve as a useful QA tool. (author)

  10. A comparison of protocols for external beam radiotherapy beam calibrations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saeed Al-Ahbabi, Salma; Bradley, D.A.; Beyomi, M.; Alkatib, Z.; Adhaheri, S.; Darmaki, M.; Nisbet, A.

    2012-01-01

    A number of codes of practice (CoP) for electron and photon radiotherapy beam dosimetry are currently in use. Comparison is made of the more widely used of these, specifically those of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA TRS-398), the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM TG-51) and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM 2003). All are based on calibration of ionization chambers in terms of absorbed dose to water, each seeking to reduce uncertainty in delivered dose, providing an even stronger system of primary standards than previous air-kerma based approaches. They also provide a firm, traceable and straight-forward formalism. Included in making dose assessments for the three CoP are calibration coefficients for a range of beam quality indices. Measurements have been performed using clinical photon and electron beams, the absorbed dose to water being obtained following the recommendations given by each code. Electron beam comparisons have been carried out using measurements for electron beams of nominal energies 6, 9, 12, 16 and 20 MeV. Comparisons were also carried out for photon beams of nominal energies 6 and 18 MV. For photon beams use was made of NE2571 cylindrical graphite walled ionization chambers, cross-calibrated against an NE2611 Secondary Standard; for electron beams, PTW Markus and NACP-02 plane-parallel chambers were used. Irradiations were made using Varian 600C/2100C linacs, supported by water tanks and Virtual Water™ phantoms. The absorbed doses for photon and electron beams obtained following these CoP are all in good agreement, with deviations of less than 2%. A number of studies have been carried out by different groups in different countries to examine the consistency of dosimetry codes of practice or protocols. The aim of these studies is to confirm that the goal of those codes is met, namely uniformity in establishment of dosimetry of all radiation beam types used in cancer therapy in the world

  11. Prostate biopsy after definitive treatment by interstitial iodine 125 implant or external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schellhammer, P.F.; el-Mahdi, A.M.; Higgins, E.M.; Schultheiss, T.E.; Ladaga, L.E.; Babb, T.J.

    1987-01-01

    The response to definitive radiation therapy of localized carcinoma of the prostate by iodine 125 implantation or external beam radiotherapy was monitored by examining specimens from biopsies performed after treatment. We analyzed 126 biopsy specimens obtained 18 months or more after treatment: 71 were obtained from 109 patients treated by iodine 125 and 55 from 197 patients treated by external beam radiotherapy. Thereafter, the disease status of these patients was examined at minimum 3-year intervals. No significant statistical difference was found between the negative specimen rates of the 2 treatment modalities: 46 of 71 (65 per cent) after iodine 125 implantation and 39 of 55 (71 per cent) after external beam radiotherapy were negative. To analyze the predictive value of biopsy results 103 patients whose prostatic examination results were normal at biopsy or who showed regression of tumor size and tumor induration after radiation were evaluated. The biopsy results from all patients were combined for analysis. Of 77 patients with negative biopsy specimens 16 (21 per cent) have had recurrent disease, compared to 17 of 26 (65 per cent) with positive biopsy specimens (p equals 0.00005). Of the 77 patients with negative biopsy specimens 7 (9 per cent) had local disease recurrence, compared to 12 of 26 (46 per cent) with a positive biopsy specimen (p equals 0.0001). The value of a positive specimen to predict failure remained significant with patients stratified by pre-treatment clinical stage and grade of the disease. Our results show that patients with positive specimens from the prostate who had been judged clinically by rectal examination to have responded to radiation therapy had a significantly increased incidence of local and distant failure compared to patients who had negative biopsy specimens

  12. Evaluation of the Induced Activity in Air by the External Proton Beam in the Target Room of the Proton Accelerator Facility of Proton Engineering Frontier Project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Cheol Woo; Lee, Young Ouk; Cho, Young Sik; Ahn, So Hyun

    2007-01-01

    One of the radiological concerns is the worker's exposure level and the concentration of the radionuclides in the air after shutdown, for the safety analysis on the proton accelerator facility. Although, the primary radiation source is the protons accelerated up to design value, all of the radio-nuclide is produced from the secondary neutron and photon induced reaction in air. Because, the protons don't penetrate the acceleration equipment like the DTL tank wall or BTL wall, secondary neutrons or photons are only in the air in the accelerator tunnel building because of the short range of the proton in the materials. But, for the case of the target rooms, external proton beams are occasionally used in the various experiments. When these external proton beams travel through air from the end of the beam transport line to the target, they interact directly with air and produce activation products from the proton induced reaction. The external proton beam will be used in the target rooms in the accelerator facility of the Proton Accelerator Frontier Project (PEFP). In this study, interaction characteristics of the external proton beam with air and induced activity in air from the direct interaction of the proton beam were evaluated

  13. Radiation optic neuropathy after external beam radiation therapy for acromegaly: report of two cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergh, Alfons C.M. van den; Hoving, Marjanke A.; Links, Thera P.; Dullaart, Robin P.F.; Ranchor, Adelita V.; Weeme, Cees A. ter; Canrinus, Alof A.; Szabo, Ben G.; Pott, Jan-Willem R.

    2003-01-01

    For diagnosing radiation optic neuropathy (RON) ophthalmological and imaging data were evaluated from 63 acromegalic patients, irradiated between 1967 and 1998. Two patients developed RON: one patient in one optic nerve 10 years and another patient in both optic nerves 5 months after radiation therapy. RON is a rare complication after external beam radiation therapy for acromegaly, which can occur after a considerable latency period

  14. External cervical resorption: an analysis using cone beam and microfocus computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunst, V; Mavridou, A; Huybrechts, B; Van Gorp, G; Bergmans, L; Lambrechts, P

    2013-09-01

    To provide a three-dimensional representation of external cervical resorption (ECR) with microscopy, stereo microscopy, cone beam computed tomography (CT), microfocus CT and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). External cervical resorption is an aggressive form of root resorption, leading to a loss of dental hard tissues. This is due to clastic action, activated by a damage of the covering cementum and stimulated probably by infection. Clinically, it is a challenging situation as it is characterized by a late symptomatology. This is due to the pericanalar protection from a resorption-resistant sheet, composed of pre-dentine and surrounding dentine. The clastic activity is often associated with an attempt to repair, seen by the formation of osteoid tissue. Cone beam CT is extremely useful in the diagnoses and treatment planning of ECR. SEM analyses provide a better insight into the activity of osteoclasts. The root canal is surrounded by a layer of dentine that is resistant to resorption. © 2013 International Endodontic Journal. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Curation Micro-Services: A Pipeline Metaphor for Repositories

    OpenAIRE

    Abrams, Stephen; Cruse, Patricia; Kunze, John; Minor, David

    2010-01-01

    The effective long-term curation of digital content requires expert analysis, policy setting, and decision making, and a robust technical infrastructure that can effect and enforce curation policies and implement appropriate curation activities. Since the number, size, and diversity of content under curation management will undoubtedly continue to grow over time, and the state of curation understanding and best practices relative to that content will undergo a similar constant evolution, one ...

  16. Muscle invasive bladder cancer treated by transurethral resection, followed by external beam radiation and interstitial iridium-192

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. Wijnmaalen (Arendjan); P.A. Helle (Peter); P.C.M. Koper (Peter); P.P. Jansen (Peter); P. Hanssens (Patrick); C.G.G. Boeken Kruger (Cornelis); W.L.J. van Putten (Wim)

    1997-01-01

    textabstractPurpose: To evaluate the results of transurethral resection (TUR), external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), and interstitial radiation (IRT) with iridium-192, using the afterloading technique in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer. Methods and Materials: From May 1989 until September

  17. Experimental assessment of out-of-field dose components in high energy electron beams used in external beam radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alabdoaburas, Mohamad M; Mege, Jean-Pierre; Chavaudra, Jean; Bezin, Jérémi Vũ; Veres, Atilla; de Vathaire, Florent; Lefkopoulos, Dimitri; Diallo, Ibrahima

    2015-11-08

    The purpose of this work was to experimentally investigate the out-of-field dose in a water phantom, with several high energy electron beams used in external beam radiotherapy (RT). The study was carried out for 6, 9, 12, and 18 MeV electron beams, on three different linear accelerators, each equipped with a specific applicator. Measurements were performed in a water phantom, at different depths, for different applicator sizes, and off-axis distances up to 70 cm from beam central axis (CAX). Thermoluminescent powder dosimeters (TLD-700) were used. For given cases, TLD measurements were compared to EBT3 films and parallel-plane ionization chamber measurements. Also, out-of-field doses at 10 cm depth, with and without applicator, were evaluated. With the Siemens applicators, a peak dose appears at about 12-15 cm out of the field edge, at 1 cm depth, for all field sizes and energies. For the Siemens Primus, with a 10 × 10 cm(²) applicator, this peak reaches 2.3%, 1%, 0.9% and 1.3% of the maximum central axis dose (Dmax) for 6, 9, 12 and 18 MeV electron beams, respectively. For the Siemens Oncor, with a 10 × 10 cm(²) applicator, this peak dose reaches 0.8%, 1%, 1.4%, and 1.6% of Dmax for 6, 9, 12, and 14 MeV, respectively, and these values increase with applicator size. For the Varian 2300C/D, the doses at 12.5 cm out of the field edge are 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.5%, and 1.1% of Dmax for 6, 9, 12, and 18 MeV, respectively, and increase with applicator size. No peak dose is evidenced for the Varian applicator for these energies. In summary, the out-of-field dose from electron beams increases with the beam energy and the applicator size, and decreases with the distance from the beam central axis and the depth in water. It also considerably depends on the applicator types. Our results can be of interest for the dose estimations delivered in healthy tissues outside the treatment field for the RT patient, as well as in studies exploring RT long-term effects.

  18. High dose rate interstitial brachytherapy with external beam irradiation for localized prostate cancer. Preliminary results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hiratsuka, Junichi; Jo, Yoshimasa; Yoden, Eisaku; Tanaka, Hiroyoshi; Imajo, Yoshinari [Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama (Japan); Nagase, Naomi; Narihiro, Naomasa; Kubota, Juichi

    2000-12-01

    This study was undertaken to assess the biochemical and pathological results of combined external beam radiotherapy and high dose rate Ir-192 brachytherapy (HDR-Ir192) for clinically localized prostate cancer. Between October 1997 and August 1999, 39 evaluable patients with adenocarcinoma of prostate diagnosed by biopsy were treated with interstitial and external beam irradiation. Patients ranged in age from 58-82 years, with a mean of 69.7 years. T1c, T2 and T3 tumors, according to the UICC classification system (1997), were found in 7, 21 and 11 cases respectively. The mean initial pre-treatment PSA was 35.9 ng/ml (median 13.2), with 77% of the patients having had a pre-treatment PSA greater than 10 ng/ml. Of all patients, 17 had received pre-treatment hormonal therapy. Hormonal pretreatment was stopped at the beginning of radiotherapy in all cases. External beam four-field box irradiation was given to the small pelvis to a dose of 45 Gy/25 fractions. Three HDR-Ir192 treatments were given over a 30-h period, with 5.5 Gy per fraction at the circumference of the prostate gland over the course of this study. Biochemical failure was defined as a PSA level >1.5 ng/ml and rising on three consecutive values. If serial post-treatment PSA levels showed a continuous downward trend, failure was not scored. The patient with clinical evidence of progression was classified as a clinical failure. The median follow-up at the time of evaluation was 19.6 months. A post-treatment PSA level {<=}1.0 ng/ml was seen in 26 (67%) patients, and values from >1.0 to {<=}2.0 ng/ml were seen in 10 (26%) patients. Biochemical failure was not seen in 38 patients except for one patient who developed a distant bone metastasis with negative prostatic biopsy 15 months after treatment. Biochemical control rate was 100% (38/38) except for the patient with bone metastasis classified as clinical failure. Negative biopsies 18 months after treatment were found in 93% (14/15) of patients. Only one patient

  19. Tumor bed delineation for external beam accelerated partial breast irradiation: A systematic review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, T. Jonathan; Tao, Randa; Elkhuizen, Paula H.M.; Vliet-Vroegindeweij, Corine van; Li, Guang; Powell, Simon N.

    2013-01-01

    In recent years, accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) has been considered an alternative to whole breast irradiation for patients undergoing breast-conserving therapy. APBI delivers higher doses of radiation in fewer fractions to the post-lumpectomy tumor bed with a 1–2 cm margin, targeting the area at the highest risk of local recurrence while sparing normal breast tissue. However, there are inherent challenges in defining accurate target volumes for APBI. Studies have shown that significant interobserver variation exists among radiation oncologists defining the lumpectomy cavity, which raises the question of how to improve the accuracy and consistency in the delineation of tumor bed volumes. The combination of standardized guidelines and surgical clips significantly improves an observer’s ability in delineation, and it is the standard in multiple ongoing external-beam APBI trials. However, questions about the accuracy of the clips to mark the lumpectomy cavity remain, as clips only define a few points at the margin of the cavity. This paper reviews the techniques that have been developed so far to improve target delineation in APBI delivered by conformal external beam radiation therapy, including the use of standardized guidelines, surgical clips or fiducial markers, pre-operative computed tomography imaging, and additional imaging modalities, including magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound imaging, and positron emission tomography/computed tomography. Alternatives to post-operative APBI, future directions, and clinical recommendations were also discussed

  20. Agile Data Curation Case Studies Leading to the Identification and Development of Data Curation Design Patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benedict, K. K.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Young, J. W.; Gordon, L. C.; Hughes, S.; Santhana Vannan, S. K.

    2017-12-01

    The planning for and development of efficient workflows for the creation, reuse, sharing, documentation, publication and preservation of research data is a general challenge that research teams of all sizes face. In response to: requirements from funding agencies for full-lifecycle data management plans that will result in well documented, preserved, and shared research data products increasing requirements from publishers for shared data in conjunction with submitted papers interdisciplinary research team's needs for efficient data sharing within projects, and increasing reuse of research data for replication and new, unanticipated research, policy development, and public use alternative strategies to traditional data life cycle approaches must be developed and shared that enable research teams to meet these requirements while meeting the core science objectives of their projects within the available resources. In support of achieving these goals, the concept of Agile Data Curation has been developed in which there have been parallel activities in support of 1) identifying a set of shared values and principles that underlie the objectives of agile data curation, 2) soliciting case studies from the Earth science and other research communities that illustrate aspects of what the contributors consider agile data curation methods and practices, and 3) identifying or developing design patterns that are high-level abstractions from successful data curation practice that are related to common data curation problems for which common solution strategies may be employed. This paper provides a collection of case studies that have been contributed by the Earth science community, and an initial analysis of those case studies to map them to emerging shared data curation problems and their potential solutions. Following the initial analysis of these problems and potential solutions, existing design patterns from software engineering and related disciplines are identified as a

  1. Comparison of treatment using teletherapy (external beam radiation) alone versus teletherapy combined with brachytherapy for advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samea, Renato; Lourenco, Laercio Gomes

    2011-01-01

    Background - Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus is still a difficult tumor to treat with very poor prognosis. Aim - To compare the response to teletherapy treatment (external beam radiotherapy) alone versus teletherapy combined with brachytherapy for patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Methods - Were studied 49 patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus on clinical stage III (TNM-1999). They were separated into two groups. The first, underwent radiation therapy alone with linear accelerator of particles, average dose of 6000 cGy and the second to external beam radiation therapy at a dose of 5040 cGy combined with brachytherapy with Iridium 192 at a dose of 1500 cGy. Brachytherapy started one to two weeks after the end of teletherapy, and it was divided into three weekly applications of 500 cGy. Age, gender, race, habits (smoking and drinking), body mass index (BMI), complications with treatment benefits (pain relief and food satisfaction) and survival were analyzed. Results - The quality of life (food satisfaction, and pain palliation of dysphagia) were better in the group treated with external beam radiation therapy combined with brachytherapy. Survival was higher in the brachytherapy combined with external beam radiation therapy alone. Conclusion - Although the cure rate of squamous cell cancer of the esophagus is almost nil when treated with irradiation alone, this therapy is a form of palliative treatment for most patients in whom surgical contraindication exists. (author)

  2. Comparison of treatment using teletherapy (external beam radiation) alone versus teletherapy combined with brachytherapy for advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Samea, Renato; Lourenco, Laercio Gomes, E-mail: renatosamea@globo.com [Department of Surgical Oncology of Dr. Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho Hospital, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    2011-10-15

    Background - Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus is still a difficult tumor to treat with very poor prognosis. Aim - To compare the response to teletherapy treatment (external beam radiotherapy) alone versus teletherapy combined with brachytherapy for patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Methods - Were studied 49 patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus on clinical stage III (TNM-1999). They were separated into two groups. The first, underwent radiation therapy alone with linear accelerator of particles, average dose of 6000 cGy and the second to external beam radiation therapy at a dose of 5040 cGy combined with brachytherapy with Iridium 192 at a dose of 1500 cGy. Brachytherapy started one to two weeks after the end of teletherapy, and it was divided into three weekly applications of 500 cGy. Age, gender, race, habits (smoking and drinking), body mass index (BMI), complications with treatment benefits (pain relief and food satisfaction) and survival were analyzed. Results - The quality of life (food satisfaction, and pain palliation of dysphagia) were better in the group treated with external beam radiation therapy combined with brachytherapy. Survival was higher in the brachytherapy combined with external beam radiation therapy alone. Conclusion - Although the cure rate of squamous cell cancer of the esophagus is almost nil when treated with irradiation alone, this therapy is a form of palliative treatment for most patients in whom surgical contraindication exists. (author)

  3. Parametric oesophageal multiple swallow scintigraphy for validation of dysphageal symptoms during external beam irradiation of mediastinal tumours

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brandt-Mainz, K.; Eising, E.G.; Bockisch, A. [Essen Univ. (Gesamthochschule) (Germany). Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Nuklearmedizin; Mallek, D. von; Poettgen, C.; Stuschke, M.; Sack, H. [Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Strahlentherapie, Universitaetsklinikum Essen (Germany)

    2001-03-01

    The aim of the study was to evaluate dysphageal symptoms and to measure the effect of local analgesic treatment using parametric oesophageal multiple swallow scintigraphy (PES) during external beam irradiation of the mediastinal region. Fifteen patients (most with lung cancer) with dysphagia grade II underwent PES during external beam radiotherapy of the mediastinum before and after application of local analgesics. Dynamic parametric condensed images were recorded. The intensity of clinical symptoms was correlated with the emptying rate at 10 s (ER-10 s) and the mean transit time (MTT). Visual analysis of the images was performed and the results were correlated with the fields of irradiation portals. Of the 15 patients, 12 showed a correlation between irradiation portals and the region of oesophageal motility disorder. Concordant results of clinical symptoms and PES data were found. In nine patients with a decrease in dysphagia following local analgesia, an increase in mean ER-10 s and a decrease in MTT were observed. In three patients with deterioration in clinical symptoms after analgesic treatment, a similar decrease in mean ER-10 s was found, though MTT remained constant. In three patients with normal values, motility disorders were detected in the dynamic study. In conclusion, PES was found to be a sensitive tool for the validation of dysphageal symptoms in patients during external beam irradiation of mediastinal tumours and for the evaluation and quantification of the efficacy of local analgesic treatment. Additional visual analysis of the dynamic study is helpful in diagnosing minimal disorders. (orig.)

  4. Parametric oesophageal multiple swallow scintigraphy for validation of dysphageal symptoms during external beam irradiation of mediastinal tumours

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brandt-Mainz, K.; Eising, E.G.; Bockisch, A.

    2001-01-01

    The aim of the study was to evaluate dysphageal symptoms and to measure the effect of local analgesic treatment using parametric oesophageal multiple swallow scintigraphy (PES) during external beam irradiation of the mediastinal region. Fifteen patients (most with lung cancer) with dysphagia grade II underwent PES during external beam radiotherapy of the mediastinum before and after application of local analgesics. Dynamic parametric condensed images were recorded. The intensity of clinical symptoms was correlated with the emptying rate at 10 s (ER-10 s) and the mean transit time (MTT). Visual analysis of the images was performed and the results were correlated with the fields of irradiation portals. Of the 15 patients, 12 showed a correlation between irradiation portals and the region of oesophageal motility disorder. Concordant results of clinical symptoms and PES data were found. In nine patients with a decrease in dysphagia following local analgesia, an increase in mean ER-10 s and a decrease in MTT were observed. In three patients with deterioration in clinical symptoms after analgesic treatment, a similar decrease in mean ER-10 s was found, though MTT remained constant. In three patients with normal values, motility disorders were detected in the dynamic study. In conclusion, PES was found to be a sensitive tool for the validation of dysphageal symptoms in patients during external beam irradiation of mediastinal tumours and for the evaluation and quantification of the efficacy of local analgesic treatment. Additional visual analysis of the dynamic study is helpful in diagnosing minimal disorders. (orig.)

  5. Minimal requirements for quality controls in radiotherapy with external beams; Controlli di qualita' essenziali in radioterapia con fasci esterni

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-07-01

    Physical dosimetric guidelines have been developed by the Italian National Institute of Health study group on quality assurance in radiotherapy to define protocols for quality controls in external beam radiotherapy. While the document does not determine strict rules or firm recommendations, it suggests minimal requirements for quality controls necessary to guarantee an adequate degree of accuracy in external beam radiotherapy. [Italian] Il gruppo di studio Assicurazione di qualita' in radioterapia dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanita' presenta le linee guida per la stesura dei protocolli di controllo di qualita' essenziali necessari a garantire un adeguato livello di accuratezza del trattamento radiante e rappresenta pertanto una parte essenziale del contributo fisico-dosimetrico globale di assicurazione di qualita' in radioterapia con fasci esterni.

  6. Curating NASA's Past, Present, and Future Extraterrestrial Sample Collections

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCubbin, F. M.; Allton, J. H.; Evans, C. A.; Fries, M. D.; Nakamura-Messenger, K.; Righter, K.; Zeigler, R. A.; Zolensky, M.; Stansbery, E. K.

    2016-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E "Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials", JSC is charged with "...curation of all extra-terrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions." The Directive goes on to define Curation as including "...documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach." Here we describe some of the past, present, and future activities of the NASA Curation Office.

  7. External-beam radiation therapy after surgical resection and intraoperative electron-beam radiation therapy for oligorecurrent gynecological cancer. Long-term outcome

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sole, C.V.; Calvo, F.A.; Lozano, M.A.; Gonzalez-Sansegundo, C.; Gonzalez-Bayon, L.; Alvarez, A.; Lizarraga, S.; Garcia-Sabrido, J.L.

    2014-01-01

    The goal of the present study was to analyze prognostic factors in patients treated with external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT), surgical resection and intraoperative electron-beam radiotherapy (IOERT) for oligorecurrent gynecological cancer (ORGC). From January 1995 to December 2012, 61 patients with ORGC [uterine cervix (52 %), endometrial (30 %), ovarian (15 %), vagina (3 %)] underwent IOERT (12.5 Gy, range 10-15 Gy), and surgical resection to the pelvic (57 %) and paraaortic (43 %) recurrence tumor bed. In addition, 29 patients (48 %) also received EBRT (range 30.6-50.4 Gy). Survival outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and risk factors were identified by univariate and multivariate analyses. Median follow-up time for the entire cohort of patients was 42 months (range 2-169 months). The 10-year rates for overall survival (OS) and locoregional control (LRC) were 17 and 65 %, respectively. On multivariate analysis, no tumor fragmentation (HR 0.22; p = 0.03), time interval from primary tumor diagnosis to locoregional recurrence (LRR) < 24 months (HR 4.02; p = 0.02) and no EBRT at the time of pelvic recurrence (HR 3.95; p = 0.02) retained significance with regard to LRR. Time interval from primary tumor to LRR < 24 months (HR 2.32; p = 0.02) and no EBRT at the time of pelvic recurrence (HR 3.77; p = 0.04) showed a significant association with OS after adjustment for other covariates. External-beam radiation therapy at the time of pelvic recurrence, time interval for relapse ≥24 months and not multi-involved fragmented resection specimens are associated with improved LRC in patients with ORGC. As suggested from the present analysis a significant group of ORGC patients could potentially benefit from multimodality rescue treatment. (orig.)

  8. External-beam radiation therapy after surgical resection and intraoperative electron-beam radiation therapy for oligorecurrent gynecological cancer. Long-term outcome

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sole, C.V. [Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Department of Oncology, Madrid (Spain); Complutense University, School of Medicine, Madrid (Spain); Instituto de Radiomedicina, Service of Radiation Oncology, Santiago (Chile); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Institute of Research Investigation, Madrid (Spain); Calvo, F.A. [Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Department of Oncology, Madrid (Spain); Complutense University, School of Medicine, Madrid (Spain); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Institute of Research Investigation, Madrid (Spain); Lozano, M.A.; Gonzalez-Sansegundo, C. [Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Department of Oncology, Madrid (Spain); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Service of Radiation Oncology, Madrid (Spain); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Institute of Research Investigation, Madrid (Spain); Gonzalez-Bayon, L. [Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Service of General Surgery, Madrid (Spain); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Institute of Research Investigation, Madrid (Spain); Alvarez, A. [Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Service of Radiation Oncology, Madrid (Spain); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Institute of Research Investigation, Madrid (Spain); Lizarraga, S. [Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Department of Gynecology, Madrid (Spain); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Institute of Research Investigation, Madrid (Spain); Garcia-Sabrido, J.L. [Complutense University, School of Medicine, Madrid (Spain); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Service of General Surgery, Madrid (Spain); Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, Department of Gynecology, Madrid (Spain)

    2014-02-15

    The goal of the present study was to analyze prognostic factors in patients treated with external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT), surgical resection and intraoperative electron-beam radiotherapy (IOERT) for oligorecurrent gynecological cancer (ORGC). From January 1995 to December 2012, 61 patients with ORGC [uterine cervix (52 %), endometrial (30 %), ovarian (15 %), vagina (3 %)] underwent IOERT (12.5 Gy, range 10-15 Gy), and surgical resection to the pelvic (57 %) and paraaortic (43 %) recurrence tumor bed. In addition, 29 patients (48 %) also received EBRT (range 30.6-50.4 Gy). Survival outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and risk factors were identified by univariate and multivariate analyses. Median follow-up time for the entire cohort of patients was 42 months (range 2-169 months). The 10-year rates for overall survival (OS) and locoregional control (LRC) were 17 and 65 %, respectively. On multivariate analysis, no tumor fragmentation (HR 0.22; p = 0.03), time interval from primary tumor diagnosis to locoregional recurrence (LRR) < 24 months (HR 4.02; p = 0.02) and no EBRT at the time of pelvic recurrence (HR 3.95; p = 0.02) retained significance with regard to LRR. Time interval from primary tumor to LRR < 24 months (HR 2.32; p = 0.02) and no EBRT at the time of pelvic recurrence (HR 3.77; p = 0.04) showed a significant association with OS after adjustment for other covariates. External-beam radiation therapy at the time of pelvic recurrence, time interval for relapse ≥24 months and not multi-involved fragmented resection specimens are associated with improved LRC in patients with ORGC. As suggested from the present analysis a significant group of ORGC patients could potentially benefit from multimodality rescue treatment. (orig.)

  9. Adjuvant external beam radiotherapy in the treatment of endometrial cancer (MRC ASTEC and NCIC CTG EN.5 randomised trials): pooled trial results, systematic review, and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blake, P; Swart, Ann Marie; Orton, J; Kitchener, H; Whelan, T; Lukka, H; Eisenhauer, E; Bacon, M; Tu, D; Parmar, M K B; Amos, C; Murray, C; Qian, W

    2009-01-10

    Early endometrial cancer with low-risk pathological features can be successfully treated by surgery alone. External beam radiotherapy added to surgery has been investigated in several small trials, which have mainly included women at intermediate risk of recurrence. In these trials, postoperative radiotherapy has been shown to reduce the risk of isolated local recurrence but there is no evidence that it improves recurrence-free or overall survival. We report the findings from the ASTEC and EN.5 trials, which investigated adjuvant external beam radiotherapy in women with early-stage disease and pathological features suggestive of intermediate or high risk of recurrence and death from endometrial cancer. Between July, 1996, and March, 2005, 905 (789 ASTEC, 116 EN.5) women with intermediate-risk or high-risk early-stage disease from 112 centres in seven countries (UK, Canada, Poland, Norway, New Zealand, Australia, USA) were randomly assigned after surgery to observation (453) or to external beam radiotherapy (452). A target dose of 40-46 Gy in 20-25 daily fractions to the pelvis, treating five times a week, was specified. Primary outcome measure was overall survival, and all analyses were by intention to treat. These trials were registered ISRCTN 16571884 (ASTEC) and NCT 00002807 (EN.5). After a median follow-up of 58 months, 135 women (68 observation, 67 external beam radiotherapy) had died. There was no evidence that overall survival with external beam radiotherapy was better than observation, hazard ratio 1.05 (95% CI 0.75-1.48; p=0.77). 5-year overall survival was 84% in both groups. Combining data from ASTEC and EN.5 in a meta-analysis of trials confirmed that there was no benefit in terms of overall survival (hazard ratio 1.04; 95% CI 0.84-1.29) and can reliably exclude an absolute benefit of external beam radiotherapy at 5 years of more than 3%. With brachytherapy used in 53% of women in ASTEC/EN.5, the local recurrence rate in the observation group at 5 years

  10. On Interactions of Oscillation Modes for a Weakly Non-Linear Undamped Elastic Beam with AN External Force

    Science.gov (United States)

    BOERTJENS, G. J.; VAN HORSSEN, W. T.

    2000-08-01

    In this paper an initial-boundary value problem for the vertical displacement of a weakly non-linear elastic beam with an harmonic excitation in the horizontal direction at the ends of the beam is studied. The initial-boundary value problem can be regarded as a simple model describing oscillations of flexible structures like suspension bridges or iced overhead transmission lines. Using a two-time-scales perturbation method an approximation of the solution of the initial-boundary value problem is constructed. Interactions between different oscillation modes of the beam are studied. It is shown that for certain external excitations, depending on the phase of an oscillation mode, the amplitude of specific oscillation modes changes.

  11. External beam milli-PIXE as analytical tool for Neolithic obsidian provenance studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Constantinescu, B.; Cristea-Stan, D. [National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering Horia Hulubei, Bucharest-Magurele (Romania); Kovács, I.; Szõkefalvi-Nagy, Z. [Wigner Research Centre for Phyics, Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Budapest (Hungary)

    2013-07-01

    Full text: Obsidian is the most important archaeological material used for tools and weapons before metals appearance. Its geological sources are limited and concentrated in few geographical zones: Armenia, Eastern Anatolia, Italian Lipari and Sardinia islands, Greek Melos and Yali islands, Hungarian and Slovak Tokaj Mountains. Due to this fact, in Mesolithic and Neolithic periods obsidian was the first archaeological material intensively traded even at long distances. To determine the geological provenance of obsidian and to identify the prehistoric long-range trade routes and possible population migrations elemental concentration ratios can help a 101, since each geological source has its 'fingerprints'. In this work external milli-PIXE technique was applied for elemental concentration ratio determinations in some Neolithic tools found in Transylvania and in the lron Gales region near Danube, and on few relevant geological samples (Slovak Tokaj Mountains, Lipari,Armenia). In Transylvania (the North-Western part of Romania, a region surrounded by Carpathian Mountains), Neolithic obsidian tools were discovered mainly in three regions: North-West - Oradea (near the border with Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine), Centre -Cluj and Southwest- Banat (near the border with Serbia). A special case is lron Gales - Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites, directly related to the appearance of agriculture replacing the Mesolithic economy based on hunting and fishing. Three long-distance trade routes could be considered: from Caucasus Mountains via North of the Black Sea, from Greek islands or Asia Minor via ex-Yugoslavia area or via Greece-Bulgaria or from Central Europe- Tokaj Mountains in the case of obsidian. As provenance 'fingerprints', we focused on Ti to Mn, and Rb-Sr-Y-Zr ratios. The measurements were performed at the external milli-PIXE beam-line of the 5MV VdG accelerator of the Wigner RCP. Proton energy of 3MeV and beam currents in the range of 1 ±1 D

  12. External beam milli-PIXE as analytical tool for Neolithic obsidian provenance studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Constantinescu, B.; Cristea-Stan, D.; Kovács, I.; Szõkefalvi-Nagy, Z.

    2013-01-01

    Full text: Obsidian is the most important archaeological material used for tools and weapons before metals appearance. Its geological sources are limited and concentrated in few geographical zones: Armenia, Eastern Anatolia, Italian Lipari and Sardinia islands, Greek Melos and Yali islands, Hungarian and Slovak Tokaj Mountains. Due to this fact, in Mesolithic and Neolithic periods obsidian was the first archaeological material intensively traded even at long distances. To determine the geological provenance of obsidian and to identify the prehistoric long-range trade routes and possible population migrations elemental concentration ratios can help a 101, since each geological source has its 'fingerprints'. In this work external milli-PIXE technique was applied for elemental concentration ratio determinations in some Neolithic tools found in Transylvania and in the lron Gales region near Danube, and on few relevant geological samples (Slovak Tokaj Mountains, Lipari,Armenia). In Transylvania (the North-Western part of Romania, a region surrounded by Carpathian Mountains), Neolithic obsidian tools were discovered mainly in three regions: North-West - Oradea (near the border with Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine), Centre -Cluj and Southwest- Banat (near the border with Serbia). A special case is lron Gales - Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites, directly related to the appearance of agriculture replacing the Mesolithic economy based on hunting and fishing. Three long-distance trade routes could be considered: from Caucasus Mountains via North of the Black Sea, from Greek islands or Asia Minor via ex-Yugoslavia area or via Greece-Bulgaria or from Central Europe- Tokaj Mountains in the case of obsidian. As provenance 'fingerprints', we focused on Ti to Mn, and Rb-Sr-Y-Zr ratios. The measurements were performed at the external milli-PIXE beam-line of the 5MV VdG accelerator of the Wigner RCP. Proton energy of 3MeV and beam currents in the range of 1 ±1 D

  13. A practical method to calculate head scatter factors in wedged rectangular and irregular MLC shaped beams for external and internal wedges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Georg, Dietmar; Olofsson, Joergen; Kuenzler, Thomas; Aiginger, Hannes; Karlsson, Mikael

    2004-01-01

    Factor based methods for absorbed dose or monitor unit calculations are often based on separate data sets for open and wedged beams. The determination of basic beam parameters can be rather time consuming, unless equivalent square methods are applied. When considering irregular wedged beams shaped with a multileaf collimator, parametrization methods for dosimetric quantities, e.g. output ratios or wedge factors as a function of field size and shape, become even more important. A practical method is presented to derive wedged output ratios in air (S c,w ) for any rectangular field and for any irregular MLC shaped beam. This method was based on open field output ratios in air (S c ) for a field with the same collimator setting, and a relation f w between S c,w and S c . The relation f w can be determined from measured output ratios in air for a few open and wedged fields including the maximum wedged field size. The function f w and its parametrization were dependent on wedge angle and treatment head design, i.e. they were different for internal and external wedges. The proposed method was tested for rectangular wedged fields on three accelerators with internal wedges (GE, Elekta, BBC) and two accelerators with external wedges (Varian). For symmetric regular beams the average deviation between calculated and measured S c,w /S c ratios was 0.3% for external wedges and about 0.6% for internal wedges. Maximum deviations of 1.8% were obtained for elongated rectangular fields on the GE and ELEKTA linacs with an internal wedge. The same accuracy was achieved for irregular MLC shaped wedged beams on the accelerators with MLC and internal wedges (GE and Elekta), with an average deviation <1% for the fields tested. The proposed method to determine output ratios in air for wedged beams from output ratios of open beams, combined with equivalent square approaches, can be easily integrated in empirical or semi-empirical methods for monitor unit calculations

  14. Optimum location of external markers using feature selection algorithms for real-time tumor tracking in external-beam radiotherapy: a virtual phantom study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nankali, Saber; Torshabi, Ahmad Esmaili; Miandoab, Payam Samadi; Baghizadeh, Amin

    2016-01-08

    In external-beam radiotherapy, using external markers is one of the most reliable tools to predict tumor position, in clinical applications. The main challenge in this approach is tumor motion tracking with highest accuracy that depends heavily on external markers location, and this issue is the objective of this study. Four commercially available feature selection algorithms entitled 1) Correlation-based Feature Selection, 2) Classifier, 3) Principal Components, and 4) Relief were proposed to find optimum location of external markers in combination with two "Genetic" and "Ranker" searching procedures. The performance of these algorithms has been evaluated using four-dimensional extended cardiac-torso anthropomorphic phantom. Six tumors in lung, three tumors in liver, and 49 points on the thorax surface were taken into account to simulate internal and external motions, respectively. The root mean square error of an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) as prediction model was considered as metric for quantitatively evaluating the performance of proposed feature selection algorithms. To do this, the thorax surface region was divided into nine smaller segments and predefined tumors motion was predicted by ANFIS using external motion data of given markers at each small segment, separately. Our comparative results showed that all feature selection algorithms can reasonably select specific external markers from those segments where the root mean square error of the ANFIS model is minimum. Moreover, the performance accuracy of proposed feature selection algorithms was compared, separately. For this, each tumor motion was predicted using motion data of those external markers selected by each feature selection algorithm. Duncan statistical test, followed by F-test, on final results reflected that all proposed feature selection algorithms have the same performance accuracy for lung tumors. But for liver tumors, a correlation-based feature selection algorithm, in

  15. Treatment of Head and Neck Paragangliomas With External Beam Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dupin, Charles; Lang, Philippe; Dessard-Diana, Bernadette; Simon, Jean-Marc; Cuenca, Xavier; Mazeron, Jean-Jacques; Feuvret, Loïc

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To retrospectively assess the outcomes of radiation therapy in patients with head and neck paragangliomas. Methods and Materials: From 1990 to 2009, 66 patients with 81 head and neck paragangliomas were treated by conventional external beam radiation therapy in 25 fractions at a median dose of 45 Gy (range, 41.4-68 Gy). One case was malignant. The median gross target volume and planning target volume were 30 cm 3 (range, 0.9-243 cm 3 ) and 116 cm 3 (range, 24-731 cm 3 ), respectively. Median age was 57.4 years (range, 15-84 years). Eleven patients had multicentric lesions, and 8 had family histories of paraganglioma. Paragangliomas were located in the temporal bone, the carotid body, and the glomus vagal in 51, 18, and 10 patients, respectively. Forty-six patients had exclusive radiation therapy, and 20 had salvage radiation therapy. The median follow-up was 4.1 years (range, 0.1-21.2 years). Results: One patient had a recurrence of temporal bone paraganglioma 8 years after treatment. The actuarial local control rates were 100% at 5 years and 98.7% at 10 years. Patients with multifocal tumors and family histories were significantly younger (42 years vs 58 years [P=.002] and 37 years vs 58 years [P=.0003], respectively). The association between family predisposition and multifocality was significant (P<.001). Two patients had cause-specific death within the 6 months after irradiation. During radiation therapy, 9 patients required hospitalization for weight loss, nausea, mucositis, or ophthalmic zoster. Two late vascular complications occurred (middle cerebral artery and carotid stenosis), and 2 late radiation-related meningiomas appeared 15 and 18 years after treatment. Conclusion: Conventional external beam radiation therapy is an effective and safe treatment option that achieves excellent local control; it should be considered as a first-line treatment of choice for head and neck paragangliomas

  16. Quasi-plane-hypothesis of strain coordination for RC beams seismically strengthened with externally-bonded or near-surface mounted fiber reinforced plastic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Zhenhua; Zeng, Xiantao; Liu, Hanlong; Zhou, Fengjun

    2013-03-01

    The application of fiber reinforced plastic (FRP), including carbon FRP and glass FRP, for structural repair and strengthening has grown due to their numerous advantages over conventional materials such as externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) and near-surface mounted (NSM) strengthening techniques. This paper summarizes the results from 21 reinforced concrete beams strengthened with different methods, including externally-bonded and near-surface mounted FRP, to study the strain coordination of the FRP and steel rebar of the RC beam. Since there is relative slipping between the RC beam and the FRP, the strain of the FRP and steel rebar of the RC beam satisfy the quasi-plane-hypothesis; that is, the strain of the longitudinal fiber that parallels the neutral axis of the plated beam within the scope of the effective height ( h 0) of the cross section is in direct proportion to the distance from the fiber to the neutral axis. The strain of the FRP and steel rebar satisfies the equation: ɛ FRP= βɛ steel, and the value of β is equal to 1.1-1.3 according to the test results.

  17. A case of the hepatic hilar bile duct cancer with external radiation. Efficacy and severe side effect of external radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andoh, Hideaki; Yasui, Ouki; Ise, Norihito

    2003-01-01

    Hepatic hilar bile duct cancer was difficult to cure by surgical treatment and its prognosis was very poor. We present the case of non-curative resection of hepatic hilar bile duct cancer, controlled with external radiation. 72 years-old-female, she complained jaundice and diagnosed hepatic hilar bile duct cancer with abdominal ultrasonography. Hepatic hilar resection was performed but curative resection could not be done, because cancer was diffusely spreaded to the hepatic and duodenal ends of the bile duct. After surgery, external radiation (1.8 Gy/day; total 50.4 Gy) was performed. Three months after operation, sometimes, cholangitis was occurred but we could not detect the intrahepatic bile duct dilatation and improved with antibiotics. After seven months, she was dead for sepsis, liver abscess and biliary cirrhosis. From autopsy findings, severe hepatic hilar fibrosis around the irradiation area, stenosis of the hepatico-jejunostomy and portal vein were existed but could not detect the remnant cancer cells. External radiation was sometimes effective, especially for this case. But we should consider the side effect of fibrosis and preventive treatments such as biliary stenting or early biliary drainage. (author)

  18. A case of the hepatic hilar bile duct cancer with external radiation. Efficacy and severe side effect of external radiation therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andoh, Hideaki; Yasui, Ouki; Ise, Norihito [Akita Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine

    2003-04-01

    Hepatic hilar bile duct cancer was difficult to cure by surgical treatment and its prognosis was very poor. We present the case of non-curative resection of hepatic hilar bile duct cancer, controlled with external radiation. 72 years-old-female, she complained jaundice and diagnosed hepatic hilar bile duct cancer with abdominal ultrasonography. Hepatic hilar resection was performed but curative resection could not be done, because cancer was diffusely spreaded to the hepatic and duodenal ends of the bile duct. After surgery, external radiation (1.8 Gy/day; total 50.4 Gy) was performed. Three months after operation, sometimes, cholangitis was occurred but we could not detect the intrahepatic bile duct dilatation and improved with antibiotics. After seven months, she was dead for sepsis, liver abscess and biliary cirrhosis. From autopsy findings, severe hepatic hilar fibrosis around the irradiation area, stenosis of the hepatico-jejunostomy and portal vein were existed but could not detect the remnant cancer cells. External radiation was sometimes effective, especially for this case. But we should consider the side effect of fibrosis and preventive treatments such as biliary stenting or early biliary drainage. (author)

  19. External Beam Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer Patients on Anticoagulation Therapy: How Significant is the Bleeding Toxicity?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choe, Kevin S.; Jani, Ashesh B.; Liauw, Stanley L.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: To characterize the bleeding toxicity associated with external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer patients receiving anticoagulation (AC) therapy. Methods and Materials: The study cohort consisted of 568 patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate who were treated with definitive external beam radiotherapy. Of these men, 79 were receiving AC therapy with either warfarin or clopidogrel. All patients were treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy or intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Bleeding complications were recorded during treatment and subsequent follow-up visits. Results: With a median follow-up of 48 months, the 4-year actuarial risk of Grade 3 or worse bleeding toxicity was 15.5% for those receiving AC therapy compared with 3.6% among those not receiving AC (p < .0001). On multivariate analysis, AC therapy was the only significant factor associated with Grade 3 or worse bleeding (p < .0001). For patients taking AC therapy, the crude rate of bleeding was 39.2%. Multivariate analysis within the AC group demonstrated that a higher radiotherapy dose (p = .0408), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (p = 0.0136), and previous transurethral resection of the prostate (p = .0001) were associated with Grade 2 or worse bleeding toxicity. Androgen deprivation therapy was protective against bleeding, with borderline significance (p = 0.0599). Dose-volume histogram analysis revealed that Grade 3 or worse bleeding was minimized if the percentage of the rectum receiving ≥70 Gy was <10% or the rectum receiving ≥50 Gy was <50%. Conclusion: Patients taking AC therapy have a substantial risk of bleeding toxicity from external beam radiotherapy. In this setting, dose escalation or intensity-modulated radiotherapy should be used judiciously. With adherence to strict dose-volume histogram criteria and minimizing hotspots, the risk of severe bleeding might be reduced.

  20. Research Problems in Data Curation: Outcomes from the Data Curation Education in Research Centers Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmer, C. L.; Mayernik, M. S.; Weber, N.; Baker, K. S.; Kelly, K.; Marlino, M. R.; Thompson, C. A.

    2013-12-01

    The need for data curation is being recognized in numerous institutional settings as national research funding agencies extend data archiving mandates to cover more types of research grants. Data curation, however, is not only a practical challenge. It presents many conceptual and theoretical challenges that must be investigated to design appropriate technical systems, social practices and institutions, policies, and services. This presentation reports on outcomes from an investigation of research problems in data curation conducted as part of the Data Curation Education in Research Centers (DCERC) program. DCERC is developing a new model for educating data professionals to contribute to scientific research. The program is organized around foundational courses and field experiences in research and data centers for both master's and doctoral students. The initiative is led by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in collaboration with the School of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee, and library and data professionals at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). At the doctoral level DCERC is educating future faculty and researchers in data curation and establishing a research agenda to advance the field. The doctoral seminar, Research Problems in Data Curation, was developed and taught in 2012 by the DCERC principal investigator and two doctoral fellows at the University of Illinois. It was designed to define the problem space of data curation, examine relevant concepts and theories related to both technical and social perspectives, and articulate research questions that are either unexplored or under theorized in the current literature. There was a particular emphasis on the Earth and environmental sciences, with guest speakers brought in from NCAR, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Through the assignments, students

  1. Can we replace curation with information extraction software?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karp, Peter D

    2016-01-01

    Can we use programs for automated or semi-automated information extraction from scientific texts as practical alternatives to professional curation? I show that error rates of current information extraction programs are too high to replace professional curation today. Furthermore, current IEP programs extract single narrow slivers of information, such as individual protein interactions; they cannot extract the large breadth of information extracted by professional curators for databases such as EcoCyc. They also cannot arbitrate among conflicting statements in the literature as curators can. Therefore, funding agencies should not hobble the curation efforts of existing databases on the assumption that a problem that has stymied Artificial Intelligence researchers for more than 60 years will be solved tomorrow. Semi-automated extraction techniques appear to have significantly more potential based on a review of recent tools that enhance curator productivity. But a full cost-benefit analysis for these tools is lacking. Without such analysis it is possible to expend significant effort developing information-extraction tools that automate small parts of the overall curation workflow without achieving a significant decrease in curation costs.Database URL. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

  2. Research of transportation efficiency of low-energy high- current electron beam in plasma channel in external magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vagin, E S; Grigoriev, V P

    2015-01-01

    Effective high current (5-20 kA) and low energy (tens of keV) electrons beam transportation is possible only with almost complete charging neutralization. It is also necessary to use quite high current neutralization for elimination beam self-pinching effect. The research is based on the self-consistent mathematical model that takes into account beam and plasma particles dynamic, current and charge neutralization of electron beam and examines the transportation of electron beam into a chamber with low-pressure plasma in magnetic field. A numerical study was conducted using particle in cell (PIC) method. The study was performed with various system parameters: rise time and magnitude of the beam current, gas pressure and plasma density and geometry of the system. Regularities of local virtual cathode field generated by the beam in the plasma channel, as well as ranges of parameters that let transportation beam with minimal losses, depending on the external magnetic field were determined through a series of numerical studies. In addition, the assessment of the impact of the plasma ion mobility during the transition period and during steady beam was performed. (paper)

  3. Radiation dose to laterally transposed ovaries during external beam radiotherapy for cervical cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mazonakis, Michael; Damilakis, John; Varveris, Haris; Gourtsoyiannis, Nicholas

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to estimate the radiation dose to laterally transposed ovaries from external beam radiotherapy for cervical cancer. Dose measurements were performed in a modified humanoid phantom using a 6 MV photon beam. The dependence of the ovarian dose upon the field size, the distance from the primary irradiation field and the presence of wedges or gonadal shielding was determined. For a tumor dose of 45 Gy, ovarian dose was 0.88-8.51 Gy depending on the field size employed and the location of the transposed ovary in respect to the treatment field. Positioning of 7 cm thick shielding reduced the dose to ovary by less than 19%. The use of wedges increased the ovarian dose by a factor up to 1.5. Accurate radiographic localization of the ovaries allows the use of the presented dosimetric results to obtain a reasonable prediction of the ovarian dose

  4. Curating research data a handbook of current practice

    CERN Document Server

    Johnston, Lisa R

    2017-01-01

    Curating Research Data, Volume Two: A Handbook of Current Practice guides you across the data lifecycle through the practical strategies and techniques for curating research data in a digital repository setting. The data curation steps for receiving, appraising, selecting, ingesting, transforming, describing, contextualizing, disseminating, and preserving digital research data are each explored, and then supplemented with detailed case studies written by more than forty international practitioners from national, disciplinary, and institutional data repositories. The steps in this volume detail the sequential actions that you might take to curate a data set from receiving the data (Step 1) to eventual reuse (Step 8). Data curators, archivists, research data management specialists, subject librarians, institutional repository managers, and digital library staff will benefit from these current and practical approaches to data curation.

  5. Digital curation: a proposal of a semi-automatic digital object selection-based model for digital curation in Big Data environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moisés Lima Dutra

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: This work presents a new approach for Digital Curations from a Big Data perspective. Objective: The objective is to propose techniques to digital curations for selecting and evaluating digital objects that take into account volume, velocity, variety, reality, and the value of the data collected from multiple knowledge domains. Methodology: This is an exploratory research of applied nature, which addresses the research problem in a qualitative way. Heuristics allow this semi-automatic process to be done either by human curators or by software agents. Results: As a result, it was proposed a model for searching, processing, evaluating and selecting digital objects to be processed by digital curations. Conclusions: It is possible to use Big Data environments as a source of information resources for Digital Curation; besides, Big Data techniques and tools can support the search and selection process of information resources by Digital Curations.

  6. Anticipated Intraoperative Electron Beam Boost, External Beam Radiation Therapy, and Limb-Sparing Surgical Resection for Patients with Pediatric Soft-Tissue Sarcomas of the Extremity: A Multicentric Pooled Analysis of Long-Term Outcomes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sole, Claudio V., E-mail: cvsole@uc.cl [Department of Oncology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid (Spain); School of Medicine, Complutense University, Madrid (Spain); Service of Radiation Oncology, Instituto de Radiomedicina, Santiago (Chile); Calvo, Felipe A. [Department of Oncology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid (Spain); School of Medicine, Complutense University, Madrid (Spain); Polo, Alfredo [Service of Radiation Oncology, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Madrid (Spain); Cambeiro, Mauricio [Service of Radiation Oncology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona (Spain); Alvarez, Ana; Gonzalez, Carmen [Service of Radiation Oncology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid (Spain); Gonzalez, Jose [Service of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid (Spain); San Julian, Mikel [Service of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona (Spain); Martinez-Monge, Rafael [Service of Radiation Oncology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona (Spain)

    2014-09-01

    Purpose: To perform a joint analysis of data from 3 contributing centers within the intraoperative electron-beam radiation therapy (IOERT)-Spanish program, to determine the potential of IOERT as an anticipated boost before external beam radiation therapy in the multidisciplinary treatment of pediatric extremity soft-tissue sarcomas. Methods and Materials: From June 1993 to May 2013, 62 patients (aged <21 years) with a histologic diagnosis of primary extremity soft-tissue sarcoma with absence of distant metastases, undergoing limb-sparing grossly resected surgery, external beam radiation therapy (median dose 40 Gy) and IOERT (median dose 10 Gy) were considered eligible for this analysis. Results: After a median follow-up of 66 months (range, 4-235 months), 10-year local control, disease-free survival, and overall survival was 85%, 76%, and 81%, respectively. In multivariate analysis after adjustment for other covariates, tumor size >5 cm (P=.04) and R1 margin status (P=.04) remained significantly associated with local relapse. In regard to overall survival only margin status (P=.04) retained association on multivariate analysis. Ten patients (16%) reported severe chronic toxicity events (all grade 3). Conclusions: An anticipated IOERT boost allowed for external beam radiation therapy dose reduction, with high local control and acceptably low toxicity rates. The combined radiosurgical approach needs to be tested in a prospective trial to confirm these results.

  7. Anticipated Intraoperative Electron Beam Boost, External Beam Radiation Therapy, and Limb-Sparing Surgical Resection for Patients with Pediatric Soft-Tissue Sarcomas of the Extremity: A Multicentric Pooled Analysis of Long-Term Outcomes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sole, Claudio V.; Calvo, Felipe A.; Polo, Alfredo; Cambeiro, Mauricio; Alvarez, Ana; Gonzalez, Carmen; Gonzalez, Jose; San Julian, Mikel; Martinez-Monge, Rafael

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To perform a joint analysis of data from 3 contributing centers within the intraoperative electron-beam radiation therapy (IOERT)-Spanish program, to determine the potential of IOERT as an anticipated boost before external beam radiation therapy in the multidisciplinary treatment of pediatric extremity soft-tissue sarcomas. Methods and Materials: From June 1993 to May 2013, 62 patients (aged <21 years) with a histologic diagnosis of primary extremity soft-tissue sarcoma with absence of distant metastases, undergoing limb-sparing grossly resected surgery, external beam radiation therapy (median dose 40 Gy) and IOERT (median dose 10 Gy) were considered eligible for this analysis. Results: After a median follow-up of 66 months (range, 4-235 months), 10-year local control, disease-free survival, and overall survival was 85%, 76%, and 81%, respectively. In multivariate analysis after adjustment for other covariates, tumor size >5 cm (P=.04) and R1 margin status (P=.04) remained significantly associated with local relapse. In regard to overall survival only margin status (P=.04) retained association on multivariate analysis. Ten patients (16%) reported severe chronic toxicity events (all grade 3). Conclusions: An anticipated IOERT boost allowed for external beam radiation therapy dose reduction, with high local control and acceptably low toxicity rates. The combined radiosurgical approach needs to be tested in a prospective trial to confirm these results

  8. Interstitial gold and external beam irradiation for prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boileau, M.A.; Dowling, R.A.; Gonzales, M.; Handel, P.H.; Benson, G.S.; Corriere, J.N. Jr.

    1988-01-01

    We treated 65 patients with prostatic cancer confined clinically to the prostate or periprostatic area during an 8-year period. Seven patients had stage A2, 38 stage B and 20 stage C disease. All 65 patients underwent staging pelvic lymphadenectomy and implantation of gold grains into the prostate (mean dose 3,167 rad). A total of 64 patients then completed a course of external beam irradiation to a mean total tumor dose of 6,965 rad. Complications of therapy were mild and limited (less than 3 months in duration) in most patients, and they included radiation cystitis (32 per cent), diarrhea (31 per cent), extremity lymphedema (7.7 per cent) and wound infection (3 per cent). Two patients suffered urinary incontinence after therapy and 2 (3 per cent) had diarrhea more than 3 months in duration. The actuarial 5-year survival rate for all patients was 87 per cent and the 5-year survival free of disease was 72 per cent

  9. Dosimetric comparison between intensity modulated brachytherapy versus external beam intensity modulated radiotherapy for cervix cancer: a treatment planning study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subramani, V.; Sharma, D.N.; Jothy Basu, K.S.; Rath, G.K.; Gopishankar, N.

    2008-01-01

    To evaluate the dosimetric superiority of intensity modulated brachytherapy (IMBT) based on inverse planning optimization technique with classical brachytherapy optimization and also with external beam intensity modulated radiotherapy planning technique in patients of cervical carcinoma

  10. Internal hemipelvectomy with intraoperative and external beam radiotherapy in the limb-sparing treatment of a pelvic girdle chondrosarcoma

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoekstra, HJ; Szabo, BG

    The case of a patient with an extensive pelvic girdle chondrosarcoma treated with internal hemipelvectomy and intraoperative radiotherapy, followed by adjuvant high-dose external beam radiotherapy, with a successful attempt in achieving long-term local tumor control and limb-sparing treatment is

  11. Phase-space database for external beam radiotherapy. Summary report of a consultants' meeting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Capote, R.; Jeraj, R.; Ma, C.M.; Rogers, D.W.O.; Sanchez-Doblado, F.; Sempau, J.; Seuntjens, J.; Siebers, J.V.

    2006-01-01

    A summary is given of a Consultants' Meeting assembled to discuss and recommend actions and activities to prepare a Phase-space Database for External Beam Radiotherapy. The new database should serve to disseminate phase-space data of those accelerators and 60 Co units used in radiotherapy through the compilation of existing data that have been properly validated. Both the technical discussions and the resulting work plan are described, along with the detailed recommendations for implementation. The meeting was jointly organized by NAPC-Nuclear Data Section and NAHU-Dosimetry and Medical Radiation Physics Section. (author)

  12. Development of a multi-detector and a systematic imaging system on the AGLAE external beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pichon, L.; Moignard, B.; Lemasson, Q.; Pacheco, C.; Walter, P.

    2014-01-01

    The New AGLAE external beamline provides analytical data for the understanding of the structure of archaeological and artistic objects, their composition, properties, and changes over time. One of the objectives of this project is to design and set up a new non-invasive acquisition system increasing the quality of the X-ray spectra and reducing the beam current on sensitive materials from work of art. To that end, the surface and the number of PIXE detectors have been increased to implement a cluster of SDD detectors. This can also provide the possibility to accomplish large and/or fast maps on artifacts with a scanning of the beam on the sample. During the mapping, a multi-parameter system saves each event from X-ray, gamma and particle detectors, simultaneously with the X and Y positions of the beam on the sample. To process the data, different softwares have been developed or updated. A first example on a decorated medieval shard highlights the perspectives of the technique

  13. Development of a multi-detector and a systematic imaging system on the AGLAE external beam

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pichon, L., E-mail: laurent.pichon@culture.gouv.fr [Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France, C2RMF, Palais du Louvre – Porte des Lions, 14 Quai François Mitterrand, 75001 Paris (France); Fédération de recherche NewAGLAE, FR3506 CNRS/Ministère de la Culture/UPMC, Palais du Louvre, 75001 Paris (France); Moignard, B.; Lemasson, Q.; Pacheco, C. [Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France, C2RMF, Palais du Louvre – Porte des Lions, 14 Quai François Mitterrand, 75001 Paris (France); Fédération de recherche NewAGLAE, FR3506 CNRS/Ministère de la Culture/UPMC, Palais du Louvre, 75001 Paris (France); Walter, P. [Fédération de recherche NewAGLAE, FR3506 CNRS/Ministère de la Culture/UPMC, Palais du Louvre, 75001 Paris (France); UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS-UMR 8220, Laboratoire d’archéologie moléculaire et structurale, LAMS, F-75005 Paris (France)

    2014-01-01

    The New AGLAE external beamline provides analytical data for the understanding of the structure of archaeological and artistic objects, their composition, properties, and changes over time. One of the objectives of this project is to design and set up a new non-invasive acquisition system increasing the quality of the X-ray spectra and reducing the beam current on sensitive materials from work of art. To that end, the surface and the number of PIXE detectors have been increased to implement a cluster of SDD detectors. This can also provide the possibility to accomplish large and/or fast maps on artifacts with a scanning of the beam on the sample. During the mapping, a multi-parameter system saves each event from X-ray, gamma and particle detectors, simultaneously with the X and Y positions of the beam on the sample. To process the data, different softwares have been developed or updated. A first example on a decorated medieval shard highlights the perspectives of the technique.

  14. On finding the analytic dependencies of the external field potential on the control function when optimizing the beam dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ovsyannikov, A. D.; Kozynchenko, S. A.; Kozynchenko, V. A.

    2017-12-01

    When developing a particle accelerator for generating the high-precision beams, the injection system design is of importance, because it largely determines the output characteristics of the beam. At the present paper we consider the injection systems consisting of electrodes with given potentials. The design of such systems requires carrying out simulation of beam dynamics in the electrostatic fields. For external field simulation we use the new approach, proposed by A.D. Ovsyannikov, which is based on analytical approximations, or finite difference method, taking into account the real geometry of the injection system. The software designed for solving the problems of beam dynamics simulation and optimization in the injection system for non-relativistic beams has been developed. Both beam dynamics and electric field simulations in the injection system which use analytical approach and finite difference method have been made and the results presented in this paper.

  15. The external beam facility used to characterize corrosion products in metallic statuettes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rizzutto, M.A.; Tabacniks, M.H.; Added, N.; Barbosa, M.D.L.; Curado, J.F.; Santos, W.A.; Lima, S.C.; Melo, H.G.; Neiva, A.C.

    2005-01-01

    To open new possibilities in nuclear applied physics research, mainly for the analysis of art objects in air, an external beam facility was installed at LAMFI (Laboratorio de Analise de Materiais por Feixes Ionicos) of University of Sao Paulo. PIXE measurements were made using an XR-100CR (Si-PIN) X-ray detector pointed to the sample mounted after an approximate 11 mm air path, hence with effective beam energy of 0.9 MeV. This setup was used to characterize the corrosion products of two ethnological metallic statuettes from the African collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Etnology. PIXE analysis of the corrosion free base of one statuette showed that Cu and Zn are the main components of the alloy, while Pb is present in smaller amount. The analysis of some corrosion products showed a Zn:Cu relationship higher than that of the base, evidencing selective corrosion. The main components of the other statuette were Cu and Pb, while S and Zn were found in smaller amounts

  16. Minimal requirements for quality controls in radiotherapy with external beams; Controlli di qualita' essenziali in radioterapia con fasci esterni

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-07-01

    Physical dosimetric guidelines have been developed by the Italian National Institute of Health study group on quality assurance in radiotherapy to define protocols for quality controls in external beam radiotherapy. While the document does not determine strict rules or firm recommendations, it suggests minimal requirements for quality controls necessary to guarantee an adequate degree of accuracy in external beam radiotherapy. [Italian] Il gruppo di studio Assicurazione di qualita' in radioterapia dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanita' presenta le linee guida per la stesura dei protocolli di controllo di qualita' essenziali necessari a garantire un adeguato livello di accuratezza del trattamento radiante e rappresenta pertanto una parte essenziale del contributo fisico-dosimetrico globale di assicurazione di qualita' in radioterapia con fasci esterni.

  17. Serum testosterone levels after external beam radiation for clinically localized prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zagars, Gunar K.; Pollack, Alan

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: To determine whether serum total testosterone levels change after external beam radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Eighty-five men with clinically localized prostate cancer (T1-T3, N0/NX, M0) who underwent external beam radiation therapy without androgen ablation had pretreatment and 3-month posttreatment total serum testosterone levels determined by radioimmunoassay. Scattered doses to the testicles were measured with thermoluminescent dosimetry in 10 men. Results: Pretreatment serum testosterone levels ranged from 185 to 783 ng/dl, with a mean of 400 ng/dl and a median of 390 ng/dl. The coefficient of variation was 30%. Postradiation 3-month testosterone levels ranged from 163 ng/dl to 796 ng/dl, with mean and median values of 356 ng/dl and 327 ng/ml, respectively. The coefficient of variation was 34%. The 3-month value was significantly lower than the pretreatment value (Wilcoxon paired p = 0.0001). The mean absolute fall was 94 ng/dl and the mean percentage fall was 9%. Although the fall in testosterone level was statistically significant, the difference was very small quantitatively. In contrast, serum prostate-specific antigen levels fell dramatically by 3 months after radiation. Testicular scattered doses ranged from 1.84 to 2.42 Gy, with a mean of 2.07 Gy for a prostatic tumor dose of 68 Gy. Conclusions: Although significant, the fall in serum testosterone level after radiation for localized prostate cancer was small and likely of no pathophysiologic consequence. It is unlikely that scattered testicular radiation plays any significant role in the genesis of this change in testosterone level, which most likely occurs as a nonspecific stress response

  18. Investigating Astromaterials Curation Applications for Dexterous Robotic Arms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snead, C. J.; Jang, J. H.; Cowden, T. R.; McCubbin, F. M.

    2018-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation office at NASA Johnson Space Center is currently investigating tools and methods that will enable the curation of future astromaterials collections. Size and temperature constraints for astromaterials to be collected by current and future proposed missions will require the development of new robotic sample and tool handling capabilities. NASA Curation has investigated the application of robot arms in the past, and robotic 3-axis micromanipulators are currently in use for small particle curation in the Stardust and Cosmic Dust laboratories. While 3-axis micromanipulators have been extremely successful for activities involving the transfer of isolated particles in the 5-20 micron range (e.g. from microscope slide to epoxy bullet tip, beryllium SEM disk), their limited ranges of motion and lack of yaw, pitch, and roll degrees of freedom restrict their utility in other applications. For instance, curators removing particles from cosmic dust collectors by hand often employ scooping and rotating motions to successfully free trapped particles from the silicone oil coatings. Similar scooping and rotating motions are also employed when isolating a specific particle of interest from an aliquot of crushed meteorite. While cosmic dust curators have been remarkably successful with these kinds of particle manipulations using handheld tools, operator fatigue limits the number of particles that can be removed during a given extraction session. The challenges for curation of small particles will be exacerbated by mission requirements that samples be processed in N2 sample cabinets (i.e. gloveboxes). We have been investigating the use of compact robot arms to facilitate sample handling within gloveboxes. Six-axis robot arms potentially have applications beyond small particle manipulation. For instance, future sample return missions may involve biologically sensitive astromaterials that can be easily compromised by physical interaction with

  19. SU-E-T-571: Newly Emerging Integrated Transmission Detector Systems Provide Online Quality Assurance of External Beam Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoffman, D; Chung, E; Hess, C; Stern, R; Benedict, S

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: Two newly emerging transmission detectors positioned upstream from the patient have been evaluated for online quality assurance of external beam radiotherapy. The prototype for the Integral Quality Monitor (IQM), developed by iRT Systems GmbH (Koblenz, Germany) is a large-area ion chamber mounted on the linac accessory tray to monitor photon fluence, energy, beam shape, and gantry position during treatment. The ion chamber utilizes a thickness gradient which records variable response dependent on beam position. The prototype of Delta4 Discover™, developed by ScandiDos (Uppsala, Sweden) is a linac accessory tray mounted 4040 diode array that measures photon fluence during patient treatment. Both systems are employable for patient specific QA prior to treatment delivery. Methods: Our institution evaluated the reproducibility of measurements using various beam types, including VMAT treatment plans with both the IQM ion chamber and the Delta4 Discover diode array. Additionally, the IQM’s effect on photon fluence, dose response, simulated beam error detection, and the accuracy of the integrated barometer, thermometer, and inclinometer were characterized. The evaluated photon beam errors are based on the annual tolerances specified in AAPM TG-142. Results: Repeated VMAT treatments were measured with 0.16% reproducibility by the IQM and 0.55% reproducibility by the Delta4 Discover. The IQM attenuated 6, 10, and 15 MV photon beams by 5.43±0.02%, 4.60±0.02%, and 4.21±0.03% respectively. Photon beam profiles were affected <1.5% in the non-penumbra regions. The IQM’s ion chamber’s dose response was linear and the thermometer, barometer, and inclinometer agreed with other calibrated devices. The device detected variations in monitor units delivered (1%), field position (3mm), single MLC leaf positions (13mm), and photon energy. Conclusion: We have characterized two new transmissions detector systems designed to provide in-vivo like measurements upstream

  20. SU-E-T-571: Newly Emerging Integrated Transmission Detector Systems Provide Online Quality Assurance of External Beam Radiation Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoffman, D; Chung, E; Hess, C; Stern, R; Benedict, S [UC Davis Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA (United States)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: Two newly emerging transmission detectors positioned upstream from the patient have been evaluated for online quality assurance of external beam radiotherapy. The prototype for the Integral Quality Monitor (IQM), developed by iRT Systems GmbH (Koblenz, Germany) is a large-area ion chamber mounted on the linac accessory tray to monitor photon fluence, energy, beam shape, and gantry position during treatment. The ion chamber utilizes a thickness gradient which records variable response dependent on beam position. The prototype of Delta4 Discover™, developed by ScandiDos (Uppsala, Sweden) is a linac accessory tray mounted 4040 diode array that measures photon fluence during patient treatment. Both systems are employable for patient specific QA prior to treatment delivery. Methods: Our institution evaluated the reproducibility of measurements using various beam types, including VMAT treatment plans with both the IQM ion chamber and the Delta4 Discover diode array. Additionally, the IQM’s effect on photon fluence, dose response, simulated beam error detection, and the accuracy of the integrated barometer, thermometer, and inclinometer were characterized. The evaluated photon beam errors are based on the annual tolerances specified in AAPM TG-142. Results: Repeated VMAT treatments were measured with 0.16% reproducibility by the IQM and 0.55% reproducibility by the Delta4 Discover. The IQM attenuated 6, 10, and 15 MV photon beams by 5.43±0.02%, 4.60±0.02%, and 4.21±0.03% respectively. Photon beam profiles were affected <1.5% in the non-penumbra regions. The IQM’s ion chamber’s dose response was linear and the thermometer, barometer, and inclinometer agreed with other calibrated devices. The device detected variations in monitor units delivered (1%), field position (3mm), single MLC leaf positions (13mm), and photon energy. Conclusion: We have characterized two new transmissions detector systems designed to provide in-vivo like measurements upstream

  1. Measurement and properties of the dose-area product ratio in external small-beam radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niemelä, Jarkko; Partanen, Mari; Ojala, Jarkko; Sipilä, Petri; Björkqvist, Mikko; Kapanen, Mika; Keyriläinen, Jani

    2017-06-21

    In small-beam radiation therapy (RT) the measurement of the beam quality parameter, i.e. the tissue-phantom ratio or TPR 20,10 , using a conventional point detector is a challenge. To obtain reliable results, one has to consider potential sources of error, including volume averaging and adjustment of the point detector into the narrow beam. To overcome these challenges, a different type of beam quality parameter in small beams was studied, namely the dose-area product ratio, or DAPR 20,10 . With this method, the measurement of a dose-area product (DAP) using a large-area plane-parallel chamber (LAC) eliminates the uncertainties in detector positioning and volume averaging that are present when using a point detector. In this study, the properties of the DAPR 20,10 of a cone-collimated 6 MV photon beam were investigated using Monte Carlo (MC) calculations and the obtained values were compared to measurements obtained using two LAC detectors, PTW Type 34073 and PTW Type 34070. In addition, the possibility of determining the DAP using EBT3 film and a Razor diode detector was studied. The determination of the DAPR 20,10 value was found to be feasible in external small-beam radiotherapy using cone-collimated beams with diameters from 4-40 mm, based on the results of the two LACs, the MC calculations and the Razor diode. The measurements indicated a constant DAPR 20,10 value for fields 20-40 mm in diameter, with a maximum relative change of 0.6%, but an increase of 7.0% for fields from 20-4 mm in diameter for the PTW Type 34070 chamber. Simulations and measurements showed an increase of DAPR 20,10 with increasing LAC size or dose integral area for the studied 4-40 mm cone-collimated 6 MV photon beams. This has the consequence that there should be a reference to the size of the used LAC active area or the DAP integration area with the reported DAPR 20,10 value.

  2. Measurement and properties of the dose-area product ratio in external small-beam radiotherapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niemelä, Jarkko; Partanen, Mari; Ojala, Jarkko; Sipilä, Petri; Björkqvist, Mikko; Kapanen, Mika; Keyriläinen, Jani

    2017-06-01

    In small-beam radiation therapy (RT) the measurement of the beam quality parameter, i.e. the tissue-phantom ratio or TPR20,10, using a conventional point detector is a challenge. To obtain reliable results, one has to consider potential sources of error, including volume averaging and adjustment of the point detector into the narrow beam. To overcome these challenges, a different type of beam quality parameter in small beams was studied, namely the dose-area product ratio, or DAPR20,10. With this method, the measurement of a dose-area product (DAP) using a large-area plane-parallel chamber (LAC) eliminates the uncertainties in detector positioning and volume averaging that are present when using a point detector. In this study, the properties of the DAPR20,10 of a cone-collimated 6 MV photon beam were investigated using Monte Carlo (MC) calculations and the obtained values were compared to measurements obtained using two LAC detectors, PTW Type 34073 and PTW Type 34070. In addition, the possibility of determining the DAP using EBT3 film and a Razor diode detector was studied. The determination of the DAPR20,10 value was found to be feasible in external small-beam radiotherapy using cone-collimated beams with diameters from 4-40 mm, based on the results of the two LACs, the MC calculations and the Razor diode. The measurements indicated a constant DAPR20,10 value for fields 20-40 mm in diameter, with a maximum relative change of 0.6%, but an increase of 7.0% for fields from 20-4 mm in diameter for the PTW Type 34070 chamber. Simulations and measurements showed an increase of DAPR20,10 with increasing LAC size or dose integral area for the studied 4-40 mm cone-collimated 6 MV photon beams. This has the consequence that there should be a reference to the size of the used LAC active area or the DAP integration area with the reported DAPR20,10 value.

  3. Preparation Of Thermoluminescence Dosimeters For External Radiotherapy Beam Audit In Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norhayati Abdullah; Siti Sara Deraman; Taiman Kadni; Mohd Taufik Dollah; Norhayati Salleh

    2014-01-01

    The external beam audit is a part of the Quality Assurance Programme (QAP) in radiotherapy that should be carried out to check the accuracy of dose delivered by the radiotherapy treatment units are within the tolerance limit of A ± 5 % as recommended by the International Commission of Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) Report No. 24. In this work, thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) in powder form were chosen to be used in the dose quality audit for the radiotherapy treatment units in Malaysia. As a preparation, the characterizations of a new batch of TLD-100 powders were studied. The studies include checks for the response of TLD-100 before and after pre-annealing process, reproducibility and linearity of TL signal. Results show that the response of TLD-100 powder after pre-annealing increases by 65 % compared with before pre-annealing process. These TLD-100 powders also provide reliable and consistent readings for the absorbed dose to water within the range of 150 cGy to 250 cGy with the maximum standard uncertainty of 0.554 μC. Finally, the calibration curves for 6 MV and 10 MV photon beams were established. These curves will be used in determining the absorbed dose to water (Dw) from user's irradiated TLDs. The expanded uncertainty (coverage factor k=2) of Dw determination was estimated to be 4.1 %. As a conclusion, these TLD-100 powders are ready to be used as a transfer detector for evaluating the accuracy of user's delivery dose in the radiotherapy beam audit program in Malaysia. (author)

  4. Biochemical failure after radical external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nomoto, Satoshi; Imada, Hajime; Kato, Fumio; Yahara, Katsuya; Morioka, Tomoaki; Ohguri, Takayuki; Nakano, Keita; Korogi, Yukunori

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate biochemical failures after radical external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer. A total of 143 patients with prostate cancer (5 cases in stage A2, 95 in stage B and 43 in stage C; 18 in low risk group, 37 in intermediate risk group, 67 in high risk group and 21 in unknown group) were included in this study. Patients of stage A2 and B underwent external irradiation of 46 Gy to the prostate gland and seminal vesicle and additional 20 Gy to the prostate gland, while patients of stage C underwent external irradiation of 66 Gy to the prostate gland and seminal vesicle including 46 Gy to the pelvis. Neoadjuvant hormonal therapy was done in 66 cases, and long-term hormonal therapy in 75 cases; two cases were treated with radiation therapy alone. The 3-year relapse free survival rates by stage A2, B and C were 100%, 96.7% and 88.1%, respectively. The 3-year relapse free survival rates by low, intermediate and high risk groups were 100%, 92.3% and 89.7%, respectively. Biochemical failure was noted in nine cases during the average observation term of 32.2 months; in this group the median of prostate specific antigen (PSA) value was 2.6 ng/ml, the doubling time was 8.6 months, and the term of biochemical failure was 33.2 months. Six of eight cases with biochemical failure were the neoadjuvant hormonal therapy group, but biochemical no evidence of disease (bNED) curve showed no significant difference between neoadjuvant and long-term hormonal groups. It is supposed that unnecessary hormonal therapies were performed based on the nonspecific diagnosis of biochemical failure after radical radiotherapy in our group of patients. A precise criterion of biochemical failure after radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer is necessary. (author)

  5. Self-Rerouting and Curative Interconnect Technology (SERCUIT)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-12-01

    SPECIAL REPORT RDMR-CS-17-01 SELF-REROUTING AND CURATIVE INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGY (SERCUIT) Shiv Joshi Concepts to Systems, Inc...Final 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Self-Rerouting and Curative Interconnect Technology (SERCUIT) 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Shiv Joshi...concepts2systems.com (p) 434-207-5189 x (f) Click to view full size Title Contract Number SELF-REROUTING AND CURATIVE INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGY (SERCUIT) W911W6-17-C-0029

  6. Prognostic Utility of Cell Cycle Progression Score in Men With Prostate Cancer After Primary External Beam Radiation Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Freedland, Stephen J., E-mail: steve.freedland@duke.edu [Department of Surgery, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Department of Surgery (Urology), Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Department of Pathology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Gerber, Leah [Department of Surgery, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Department of Surgery (Urology), Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Department of Pathology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Reid, Julia; Welbourn, William; Tikishvili, Eliso; Park, Jimmy; Younus, Adib; Gutin, Alexander; Sangale, Zaina; Lanchbury, Jerry S. [Myriad Genetics, Inc, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States); Salama, Joseph K. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Stone, Steven [Myriad Genetics, Inc, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States)

    2013-08-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic utility of the cell cycle progression (CCP) score, a RNA signature based on the average expression level of 31 CCP genes, for predicting biochemical recurrence (BCR) in men with prostate cancer treated with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) as their primary curative therapy. Methods and Materials: The CCP score was derived retrospectively from diagnostic biopsy specimens of men diagnosed with prostate cancer from 1991 to 2006 (n=141). All patients were treated with definitive EBRT; approximately half of the cohort was African American. Outcome was time from EBRT to BCR using the Phoenix definition. Median follow-up for patients without BCR was 4.8 years. Association with outcome was evaluated by Cox proportional hazards survival analysis and likelihood ratio tests. Results: Of 141 patients, 19 (13%) had BCR. The median CCP score for patient samples was 0.12. In univariable analysis, CCP score significantly predicted BCR (P=.0017). The hazard ratio for BCR was 2.55 for 1-unit increase in CCP score (equivalent to a doubling of gene expression). In a multivariable analysis that included Gleason score, prostate-specific antigen, percent positive cores, and androgen deprivation therapy, the hazard ratio for CCP changed only marginally and remained significant (P=.034), indicating that CCP provides prognostic information that is not provided by standard clinical parameters. With 10-year censoring, the CCP score was associated with prostate cancer-specific mortality (P=.013). There was no evidence for interaction between CCP and any clinical variable, including ethnicity. Conclusions: Among men treated with EBRT, the CCP score significantly predicted outcome and provided greater prognostic information than was available with clinical parameters. If validated in a larger cohort, CCP score could identify high-risk men undergoing EBRT who may need more aggressive therapy.

  7. Prognostic Utility of Cell Cycle Progression Score in Men With Prostate Cancer After Primary External Beam Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freedland, Stephen J.; Gerber, Leah; Reid, Julia; Welbourn, William; Tikishvili, Eliso; Park, Jimmy; Younus, Adib; Gutin, Alexander; Sangale, Zaina; Lanchbury, Jerry S.; Salama, Joseph K.; Stone, Steven

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic utility of the cell cycle progression (CCP) score, a RNA signature based on the average expression level of 31 CCP genes, for predicting biochemical recurrence (BCR) in men with prostate cancer treated with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) as their primary curative therapy. Methods and Materials: The CCP score was derived retrospectively from diagnostic biopsy specimens of men diagnosed with prostate cancer from 1991 to 2006 (n=141). All patients were treated with definitive EBRT; approximately half of the cohort was African American. Outcome was time from EBRT to BCR using the Phoenix definition. Median follow-up for patients without BCR was 4.8 years. Association with outcome was evaluated by Cox proportional hazards survival analysis and likelihood ratio tests. Results: Of 141 patients, 19 (13%) had BCR. The median CCP score for patient samples was 0.12. In univariable analysis, CCP score significantly predicted BCR (P=.0017). The hazard ratio for BCR was 2.55 for 1-unit increase in CCP score (equivalent to a doubling of gene expression). In a multivariable analysis that included Gleason score, prostate-specific antigen, percent positive cores, and androgen deprivation therapy, the hazard ratio for CCP changed only marginally and remained significant (P=.034), indicating that CCP provides prognostic information that is not provided by standard clinical parameters. With 10-year censoring, the CCP score was associated with prostate cancer-specific mortality (P=.013). There was no evidence for interaction between CCP and any clinical variable, including ethnicity. Conclusions: Among men treated with EBRT, the CCP score significantly predicted outcome and provided greater prognostic information than was available with clinical parameters. If validated in a larger cohort, CCP score could identify high-risk men undergoing EBRT who may need more aggressive therapy

  8. A new external microbeam system in Fudan University

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, Y.; Shen, H.; Li, Y.Q.; Li, X.Y.; Yang, M.J.; Mi, Y.

    2013-01-01

    A cost-effective and removable external beam system is set up based on the Oxford Microbeam system in Fudan University. In our external beam system, 7.5-μm-thick Kapton film is used as exit window with a diameter of 3.5 mm. The spatial resolution is about 18 μm full width at half maximum (FWHM) on a copper grid. As an example, calcium distribution in otolith is present by the external micro-PIXE. In addition, little change can be done to the external system mentioned above for radiobiology experiments. The exit window can be changed from the focal plane to the observation window of vacuum chamber. By calculation, the beam spot size can reach less than 30 μm. Since the Oxford type octagonal target chamber is popular among the nuclear microprobe facilities, this method can be provided to easily replace the in-vacuum system with the external system, extending the in-vacuum analysis to external beam analysis

  9. A new external microbeam system in Fudan University

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zheng, Y.; Shen, H., E-mail: haoshen@fudan.edu.cn; Li, Y.Q.; Li, X.Y.; Yang, M.J.; Mi, Y.

    2013-07-01

    A cost-effective and removable external beam system is set up based on the Oxford Microbeam system in Fudan University. In our external beam system, 7.5-μm-thick Kapton film is used as exit window with a diameter of 3.5 mm. The spatial resolution is about 18 μm full width at half maximum (FWHM) on a copper grid. As an example, calcium distribution in otolith is present by the external micro-PIXE. In addition, little change can be done to the external system mentioned above for radiobiology experiments. The exit window can be changed from the focal plane to the observation window of vacuum chamber. By calculation, the beam spot size can reach less than 30 μm. Since the Oxford type octagonal target chamber is popular among the nuclear microprobe facilities, this method can be provided to easily replace the in-vacuum system with the external system, extending the in-vacuum analysis to external beam analysis.

  10. A new external microbeam system in Fudan University

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zheng, Y. [Applied Ion Beam Physics Laboratory, Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Shen, H., E-mail: haoshen@fudan.edu.cn [Applied Ion Beam Physics Laboratory, Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Li, Y.Q.; Li, X.Y.; Yang, M.J.; Mi, Y. [Applied Ion Beam Physics Laboratory, Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China)

    2013-02-01

    A cost-effective and removable external beam system is set up based on the Oxford Microbeam system in Fudan University. In our external beam system, 7.5-μm-thick Kapton film is used as exit window with a diameter of 3.5 mm. The spatial resolution is about 18 μm full width at half maximum (FWHM) on a copper grid. As an example, calcium distribution in otolith is present by the external micro-PIXE. In addition, little change can be done to the external system mentioned above for radiobiology experiments. The exit window can be changed from the focal plane to the observation window of vacuum chamber. By calculation, the beam spot size can reach less than 30 μm. Since the Oxford type octagonal target chamber is popular among the nuclear microprobe facilities, this method can be provided to easily replace the in-vacuum system with the external system, extending the in-vacuum analysis to external beam analysis.

  11. External Beam Radiation in Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salem Billan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The treatment of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC is surgery followed in some cases by adjuvant treatment, mostly with radioactive iodine (RAI. External beam radiotherapy (EBRT is less common and not a well-established treatment modality in DTC. The risk of recurrence depends on three major prognostic factors: extra-thyroid extension, patient’s age, and tumor with reduced iodine uptake. Increased risk for recurrence is a major factor in the decision whether to treat the patient with EBRT. Data about the use of EBRT in DTC are limited to small retrospective studies. Most series have demonstrated an increase in loco-regional control. The risk/benefit from giving EBRT requires careful patient selection. Different scoring systems have been proposed by different investigators and centers. The authors encourage clinicians treating DTC to become familiarized with those scoring systems and to use them in the management of different cases. The irradiated volume should include areas of risk for microscopic disease. Determining those areas in each case can be difficult and requires detailed knowledge of the surgery and pathological results, and also understanding of the disease-spreading pattern. Treatment with EBRT in DTC can be beneficial, and data support the use of EBRT in high-risk patients. Randomized controlled trials are needed for better confirmation of the role of EBRT.

  12. Adjuvant external beam radiation therapy with concurrent chemotherapy in the management of gallbladder carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kresl, John J.; Schild, Steven E.; Henning, George T.; Gunderson, Leonard L.; Donohue, John; Pitot, Henry; Haddock, Michael G.; Nagorney, David

    2002-01-01

    Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate the outcome of patients with gallbladder cancer who received postoperative concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Methods and Materials: Curative resection followed by adjuvant combined modality therapy with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and chemotherapy was attempted in 21 consecutive gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) patients at the Mayo Clinic from 1985 through 1997. All patients received concurrent 5-fluorouracil during EBRT. EBRT fields encompassed the tumor bed and regional lymph nodes (median dose of 54 Gy in 1.8-2.0-Gy fractions). One patient received 15 Gy intraoperatively after EBRT. A retrospective analysis was performed for the end points of local control, distant failure, and overall survival. Results: After maximal resection, 12 patients had no residual disease on pathologic evaluation, 5 had microscopic residual disease, and 4 had gross residual disease. One patient had Stage I disease, and 20 had Stage III-IV disease. With median follow-up of 5 years (range: 2.6-11.5 years), 5-year survival for the entire cohort was 33%. The 5-year survival rate of patients with Stage I-III disease was 65% vs. 0% for those with Stage IV disease (p 54 Gy (microscopic residual, 3 patients; gross residual, 1 patient; negative but narrow margins, 2 patients) vs. 65% for the 15 who received a lower dose (3, gross residual; 2, microresidual; 10, negative margins). Conclusion: Patients with completely resected (negative margins) GBC followed by adjuvant EBRT plus 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy had a relatively favorable prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of 64%. These results seem to be superior to historical surgical controls from the Mayo Clinic and other institutions, which report 5-year survival rates of approximately 33% with complete resection alone. Both tumor stage and extent of resection seemed to influence survival and local control. More aggressive measures using current cancer therapies and integration

  13. Coupled PIXE and RBS using a 6MeV 4He2+ external beam: A new experimental device for particle detection and dose monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mathis, F.; Moignard, B.; Pichon, L.; Dubreuil, O.; Salomon, J.

    2005-01-01

    AGLAE (Accelerateur Grand Louvre d'Analyses Elementaire), the IBA facility of the 'Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France' (C2RMF) has been equipped for several years with an external micro-beam line, in order to perform ion beam analysis on materials relevant to cultural heritage. This beam line is undergoing constant improvement. Recently, a new extraction nozzle for the external beam of the accelerator has been designed in order to obtain simultaneously from the same spot: - detection of the X-ray emission by two detectors, for low and high energies; - detection of the backscattered particles for a backscattering angle between 170 and 175 deg., thanks to an annular surface barrier detector included in the nozzle; - particle current monitoring by intermittent beam deflection on a reference material included in the system. This technical development has been induced by the study of artificial patinas on archaeological copper-alloy objects and the attempt to characterize them with a 6MeV 4 He 2+ beam, an unusual beam for this type of investigation. A detailed description of the new device and some results on an application of the use of high-energy alpha beam in PIXE and RBS made on a Roman strigil are presented here

  14. Nonlinear dynamics and chaotization of oscillations of a virtual cathode in an annular electron beam in a uniform external magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurkin, S. A.; Koronovski, A. A.; Hramov, A. E.

    2009-01-01

    Results are presented from a numerical study of the effect of an external magnetic field on the conditions and mechanisms for the formation of a virtual cathode in a relativistic electron beam. Characteristic features of the nonlinear dynamics of an electron beam with a virtual cathode are considered when the external magnetic field is varied. Various mechanisms are investigated by which the virtual cathode oscillations become chaotic and their spectrum becomes a multifrequency spectrum, thereby complicating the dynamics of the vircator system. A general mechanism for chaotization of the oscillations of a virtual cathode in a vircator system is revealed: the electron structures that form in an electron beam interact by means of a common space charge field to give rise to additional internal feedback. That the oscillations of a virtual cathode change from the chaotic to the periodic regime is due to the suppression of the mechanism for forming secondary electron structures.

  15. Alfred Drury: The Artist as Curator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ben Thomas

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a series of reflections on the experience of curating the exhibition ‘Alfred Drury and the New Sculpture’ in 2013. In particular, it charts the evolution of the design of the exhibition, notably its central tableau based on a photograph of the sculptor Alfred Drury’s studio in 1900. This photograph records a display of Drury’s works for visiting Australian patrons, and could be said to record evidence of the artist curating his own work. The legitimacy of deriving a curatorial approach from this photographic evidence is discussed, along with the broader problem of ‘historicizing’ approaches to curating.

  16. External beam radiation therapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medini, Eitan; Medini, Allen; Gapany, Markus; Levitt, Seymour H.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: External beam radiation therapy for carcinoma of the soft palate aims to achieve loco-regional control with normal speech, nasal function, swallowing mechanism, and minimal side effects such as nasal speech and regurgitation of food into the nasopharynx. In this report we present our results of radiotherapy in the treatment of 24 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate. Methods and Materials: A total of 24 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate were treated at the Veterans Administration Medical Center Minneapolis, MN, between February 1977 and May 1992. Of the 24 patients 2 had T1, 19 T2, 1 T3, and 2 had T4 lesions. Nineteen patients did not have clinical nodal disease, stage (N0), 1 had N1, 2 N2, and 2 N3 disease (Table 1). All the patients were treated by 4 MeV linear accelerator. A 1.75 Gy median dose was administered per fraction to a total of 70 Gy median dose. Bilateral opposed compensated shrinking fields technique was used. Results: The 3-year disease free survival rate after external beam radiation therapy was 100% (1 out of 1), 64.7% (11 out of 17), 100% (1 out of 1), and 0%, for patients with T1, T2, T3, and T4 disease, respectively. Salvage surgery for recurrent disease was successful in 57.1% (4 out of 7 patients). The ultimate 3-year disease free survival rate for the entire group, including surgical salvage, was 81% (17 out of 21). Conclusion: Radiation therapy alone in our institution resulted in tumor control and survival rates compare favorably to previously published reports in the literature. Surgery can be reserved as salvage procedure

  17. Advanced Curation Activities at NASA: Preparation for Upcoming Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fries, M. D.; Evans, C. A.; McCubbin, F. M.; Harrington, A. D.; Regberg, A. B.; Snead, C. J.; Zeigler, R. A.

    2017-07-01

    NASA Curation cares for NASA's astromaterials and performs advanced curation so as to improve current practices and prepare for future collections. Cold curation, microbial monitoring, contamination control/knowledge and other aspects are reviewed.

  18. Treatment of Head and Neck Paragangliomas With External Beam Radiation Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dupin, Charles, E-mail: c.dupin@bordeaux.unicancer.fr [Department of Radiotherapy, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Institut Bergonié, Bordeaux (France); Lang, Philippe [Department of Radiotherapy, Pitié Salpétrière, Paris (France); Dessard-Diana, Bernadette [Department of Radiotherapy, Hopital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris (France); Simon, Jean-Marc; Cuenca, Xavier; Mazeron, Jean-Jacques; Feuvret, Loïc [Department of Radiotherapy, Pitié Salpétrière, Paris (France)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To retrospectively assess the outcomes of radiation therapy in patients with head and neck paragangliomas. Methods and Materials: From 1990 to 2009, 66 patients with 81 head and neck paragangliomas were treated by conventional external beam radiation therapy in 25 fractions at a median dose of 45 Gy (range, 41.4-68 Gy). One case was malignant. The median gross target volume and planning target volume were 30 cm{sup 3} (range, 0.9-243 cm{sup 3}) and 116 cm{sup 3} (range, 24-731 cm{sup 3}), respectively. Median age was 57.4 years (range, 15-84 years). Eleven patients had multicentric lesions, and 8 had family histories of paraganglioma. Paragangliomas were located in the temporal bone, the carotid body, and the glomus vagal in 51, 18, and 10 patients, respectively. Forty-six patients had exclusive radiation therapy, and 20 had salvage radiation therapy. The median follow-up was 4.1 years (range, 0.1-21.2 years). Results: One patient had a recurrence of temporal bone paraganglioma 8 years after treatment. The actuarial local control rates were 100% at 5 years and 98.7% at 10 years. Patients with multifocal tumors and family histories were significantly younger (42 years vs 58 years [P=.002] and 37 years vs 58 years [P=.0003], respectively). The association between family predisposition and multifocality was significant (P<.001). Two patients had cause-specific death within the 6 months after irradiation. During radiation therapy, 9 patients required hospitalization for weight loss, nausea, mucositis, or ophthalmic zoster. Two late vascular complications occurred (middle cerebral artery and carotid stenosis), and 2 late radiation-related meningiomas appeared 15 and 18 years after treatment. Conclusion: Conventional external beam radiation therapy is an effective and safe treatment option that achieves excellent local control; it should be considered as a first-line treatment of choice for head and neck paragangliomas.

  19. Ocular complications after external-beam irradiation - a literature overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ziolkowska, E.; Zarzycka, M.; Wisniewski, T.; Meller, A.

    2009-01-01

    Radiotherapy is one of the treatment methods applied to patients suffering from head and neck cancer. The efficiency of this method is comparable to surgery, yet it allows one to save the organ and avoid its permanent deformation. In the case of radiation not only the tumour is influenced but the surrounding, normal structures as well. Radiation causes deformation of normal structures as early or side effects. The aim of this study is to present plausible ocular complications after external beam irradiation of head and neck cancer, such as radiation- induced cataract, radiation retinopathy, dry-eye syndrome or radiation neuropathy. By the use of basic principles of radiotherapy planning we can avoid or minimize possible ocular complications occurring after irradiation. The treatment of ocular complications is difficult and very often does not give the expected outcome. Therefore, in such cases in order to restore vision surgery is required. This study shows that radiotherapy can be helpful but can increase the risk of occurrence of some ocular complications. (authors)

  20. Phase I study of twice-weekly gemcitabine and concomitant external-beam radiotherapy in patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pipas, J. Marc; Mitchell, Sandra E.; Barth, Richard J.; Vera-Gimon, Raul; Rathmann, Joerg; Meyer, Louise P.; Wagman, Richard S.; Lewis, Lionel D.; McDonnell, Carol; Colacchio, Thomas A.; Perez, Raymond P.

    2001-01-01

    Purpose: To determine the maximum tolerated dose and dose-limiting toxicity associated with twice-weekly gemcitabine and concomitant external-beam radiotherapy in patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Methods and Materials: Twenty-one patients with biopsy-proven adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were treated with external-beam radiotherapy to a dose of 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions, concurrent with gemcitabine, infused over 30 min before irradiation on a Monday and Thursday schedule. The dose of gemcitabine was escalated in 5 cohorts of 3-6 patients each. Initial gemcitabine dose was 10 mg/m 2 , with dose escalation until dose-limiting toxicity was observed. Results: The maximum tolerated dose of gemcitabine was 50 mg/m 2 , when given in a twice-weekly schedule with radiation. Dose-limiting toxicity was seen in 2 patients at 60 mg/m 2 , and consisted of severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding approximately 1 month after completion of treatment. Six patients had radiographic evidence of response to treatment, and 5 of these underwent complete surgical resection. Three patients who underwent complete resection had been deemed to have unresectable tumors before enrollment on trial. Four patients are alive, including 2 without evidence of disease more than 1 year after resection. Conclusion: The combination of external-beam radiation and twice-weekly gemcitabine at a dose of 50 mg/m 2 is well tolerated and shows promising activity for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Our data suggest a higher maximum tolerated dose and different dose-limiting toxicity than previously reported. Further investigation of this regimen is warranted

  1. The Quality of Curative-intent Radiotherapy for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer in the UK.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAleese, J; Baluch, S; Drinkwater, K

    2015-09-01

    Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the UK. The quality of curative-intent radiotherapy is associated with better outcomes. National quality standards from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on patient work-up and treatment selection were used, with guidance from the Royal College of Radiologists on the technical delivery of radiotherapy, to assess the quality of curative-intent non-small cell lung cancer radiotherapy and to describe current UK practice. Radiotherapy departments completed one questionnaire for each patient started on curative-intent radiotherapy for 8 weeks in 2013. Eighty-two per cent of centres returned a total of 317 proformas. Patient selection with positron emission tomography/computed tomography, performance status and Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) was usually undertaken. Fifty-six per cent had pathological confirmation of mediastinal lymph nodes and 22% staging brain scans; 20% were treated with concurrent chemoradiation, 12% with Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) and 8% with Continuous Hyperfractionated Accelerated Radiotherapy (CHART). Sixty-three per cent of patients received 55 Gy/20 fractions. Although respiratory compensation was routinely undertaken, only 33% used four-dimensional computed tomography. Seventy per cent of patients were verified with cone beam computed tomography. There was consistency of practice in dosimetric constraints for organs at risk and follow-up. This audit has described current UK practice. The latest recommendations for patient selection with pathological confirmation of mediastinal lymph nodes, brain staging and respiratory function testing are not universally followed. Although there is evidence of increasing use of newer techniques such as four-dimensional computed tomography and cone beam image-guided radiotherapy, there is still variability in access. Efforts should be made to improve access to modern technologies and quality

  2. The curation of genetic variants: difficulties and possible solutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandey, Kapil Raj; Maden, Narendra; Poudel, Barsha; Pradhananga, Sailendra; Sharma, Amit Kumar

    2012-12-01

    The curation of genetic variants from biomedical articles is required for various clinical and research purposes. Nowadays, establishment of variant databases that include overall information about variants is becoming quite popular. These databases have immense utility, serving as a user-friendly information storehouse of variants for information seekers. While manual curation is the gold standard method for curation of variants, it can turn out to be time-consuming on a large scale thus necessitating the need for automation. Curation of variants described in biomedical literature may not be straightforward mainly due to various nomenclature and expression issues. Though current trends in paper writing on variants is inclined to the standard nomenclature such that variants can easily be retrieved, we have a massive store of variants in the literature that are present as non-standard names and the online search engines that are predominantly used may not be capable of finding them. For effective curation of variants, knowledge about the overall process of curation, nature and types of difficulties in curation, and ways to tackle the difficulties during the task are crucial. Only by effective curation, can variants be correctly interpreted. This paper presents the process and difficulties of curation of genetic variants with possible solutions and suggestions from our work experience in the field including literature support. The paper also highlights aspects of interpretation of genetic variants and the importance of writing papers on variants following standard and retrievable methods. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  3. DataShare: Empowering Researcher Data Curation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen Abrams

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Researchers are increasingly being asked to ensure that all products of research activity – not just traditional publications – are preserved and made widely available for study and reuse as a precondition for publication or grant funding, or to conform to disciplinary best practices. In order to conform to these requirements, scholars need effective, easy-to-use tools and services for the long-term curation of their research data. The DataShare service, developed at the University of California, is being used by researchers to: (1 prepare for curation by reviewing best practice recommendations for the acquisition or creation of digital research data; (2 select datasets using intuitive file browsing and drag-and-drop interfaces; (3 describe their data for enhanced discoverability in terms of the DataCite metadata schema; (4 preserve their data by uploading to a public access collection in the UC3 Merritt curation repository; (5 cite their data in terms of persistent and globally-resolvable DOI identifiers; (6 expose their data through registration with well-known abstracting and indexing services and major internet search engines; (7 control the dissemination of their data through enforceable data use agreements; and (8 discover and retrieve datasets of interest through a faceted search and browse environment. Since the widespread adoption of effective data management practices is highly dependent on ease of use and integration into existing individual, institutional, and disciplinary workflows, the emphasis throughout the design and implementation of DataShare is to provide the highest level of curation service with the lowest possible technical barriers to entry by individual researchers. By enabling intuitive, self-service access to data curation functions, DataShare helps to contribute to more widespread adoption of good data curation practices that are critical to open scientific inquiry, discourse, and advancement.

  4. Metasurface external cavity laser

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Luyao, E-mail: luyaoxu.ee@ucla.edu; Curwen, Christopher A.; Williams, Benjamin S. [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); Hon, Philip W. C.; Itoh, Tatsuo [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); Chen, Qi-Sheng [Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, California 90278 (United States)

    2015-11-30

    A vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting-laser is demonstrated in the terahertz range, which is based upon an amplifying metasurface reflector composed of a sub-wavelength array of antenna-coupled quantum-cascade sub-cavities. Lasing is possible when the metasurface reflector is placed into a low-loss external cavity such that the external cavity—not the sub-cavities—determines the beam properties. A near-Gaussian beam of 4.3° × 5.1° divergence is observed and an output power level >5 mW is achieved. The polarized response of the metasurface allows the use of a wire-grid polarizer as an output coupler that is continuously tunable.

  5. Curating research data practical strategies for your digital repository

    CERN Document Server

    Johnston, Lisa R

    2017-01-01

    Volume One of Curating Research Data explores the variety of reasons, motivations, and drivers for why data curation services are needed in the context of academic and disciplinary data repository efforts. Twelve chapters, divided into three parts, take an in-depth look at the complex practice of data curation as it emerges around us. Part I sets the stage for data curation by describing current policies, data sharing cultures, and collaborative efforts currently underway that impact potential services. Part II brings several key issues, such as cost recovery and marketing strategy, into focus for practitioners when considering how to put data curation services in action. Finally, Part III describes the full lifecycle of data by examining the ethical and practical reuse issues that data curation practitioners must consider as we strive to prepare data for the future.

  6. CCDB: a curated database of genes involved in cervix cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agarwal, Subhash M; Raghav, Dhwani; Singh, Harinder; Raghava, G P S

    2011-01-01

    The Cervical Cancer gene DataBase (CCDB, http://crdd.osdd.net/raghava/ccdb) is a manually curated catalog of experimentally validated genes that are thought, or are known to be involved in the different stages of cervical carcinogenesis. In spite of the large women population that is presently affected from this malignancy still at present, no database exists that catalogs information on genes associated with cervical cancer. Therefore, we have compiled 537 genes in CCDB that are linked with cervical cancer causation processes such as methylation, gene amplification, mutation, polymorphism and change in expression level, as evident from published literature. Each record contains details related to gene like architecture (exon-intron structure), location, function, sequences (mRNA/CDS/protein), ontology, interacting partners, homology to other eukaryotic genomes, structure and links to other public databases, thus augmenting CCDB with external data. Also, manually curated literature references have been provided to support the inclusion of the gene in the database and establish its association with cervix cancer. In addition, CCDB provides information on microRNA altered in cervical cancer as well as search facility for querying, several browse options and an online tool for sequence similarity search, thereby providing researchers with easy access to the latest information on genes involved in cervix cancer.

  7. A comparison in cosmetic outcome between per-operative interstitial breast implants and delayed interstitial breast implants after external beam radiotherapy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pieters, Bradley R.; Hart, Augustinus A. M.; Russell, Nicola S.; Jansen, Edwin P. M.; Peterse, Johannes L.; Borger, Jacques; Rutgers, Emiel J. Th

    2003-01-01

    Background and purpose: Interstitial implants for brachytherapy boost in the breast conserving therapy of breast cancer can be performed in two ways; implants during the tumor excision (per-operative implants) or after the external beam therapy (delayed interstitial implants). Differences in

  8. Comprehensive MRI simulation methodology using a dedicated MRI scanner in radiation oncology for external beam radiation treatment planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paulson, Eric S.; Erickson, Beth; Schultz, Chris; Allen Li, X.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in radiation oncology is expanding rapidly, and more clinics are integrating MRI into their radiation therapy workflows. However, radiation therapy presents a new set of challenges and places additional constraints on MRI compared to diagnostic radiology that, if not properly addressed, can undermine the advantages MRI offers for radiation treatment planning (RTP). The authors introduce here strategies to manage several challenges of using MRI for virtual simulation in external beam RTP. Methods: A total of 810 clinical MRI simulation exams were performed using a dedicated MRI scanner for external beam RTP of brain, breast, cervix, head and neck, liver, pancreas, prostate, and sarcoma cancers. Patients were imaged in treatment position using MRI-optimal immobilization devices. Radiofrequency (RF) coil configurations and scan protocols were optimized based on RTP constraints. Off-resonance and gradient nonlinearity-induced geometric distortions were minimized or corrected prior to using images for RTP. A multidisciplinary MRI simulation guide, along with window width and level presets, was created to standardize use of MR images during RTP. A quality assurance program was implemented to maintain accuracy and repeatability of MRI simulation exams. Results: The combination of a large bore scanner, high field strength, and circumferentially wrapped, flexible phased array RF receive coils permitted acquisition of thin slice images with high contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and image intensity uniformity, while simultaneously accommodating patient setup and immobilization devices. Postprocessing corrections and alternative acquisition methods were required to reduce or correct off-resonance and gradient nonlinearity induced geometric distortions. Conclusions: The methodology described herein contains practical strategies the authors have implemented through lessons learned performing clinical MRI simulation exams. In

  9. Comprehensive MRI simulation methodology using a dedicated MRI scanner in radiation oncology for external beam radiation treatment planning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paulson, Eric S., E-mail: epaulson@mcw.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 and Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 (United States); Erickson, Beth; Schultz, Chris; Allen Li, X. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 (United States)

    2015-01-15

    Purpose: The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in radiation oncology is expanding rapidly, and more clinics are integrating MRI into their radiation therapy workflows. However, radiation therapy presents a new set of challenges and places additional constraints on MRI compared to diagnostic radiology that, if not properly addressed, can undermine the advantages MRI offers for radiation treatment planning (RTP). The authors introduce here strategies to manage several challenges of using MRI for virtual simulation in external beam RTP. Methods: A total of 810 clinical MRI simulation exams were performed using a dedicated MRI scanner for external beam RTP of brain, breast, cervix, head and neck, liver, pancreas, prostate, and sarcoma cancers. Patients were imaged in treatment position using MRI-optimal immobilization devices. Radiofrequency (RF) coil configurations and scan protocols were optimized based on RTP constraints. Off-resonance and gradient nonlinearity-induced geometric distortions were minimized or corrected prior to using images for RTP. A multidisciplinary MRI simulation guide, along with window width and level presets, was created to standardize use of MR images during RTP. A quality assurance program was implemented to maintain accuracy and repeatability of MRI simulation exams. Results: The combination of a large bore scanner, high field strength, and circumferentially wrapped, flexible phased array RF receive coils permitted acquisition of thin slice images with high contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and image intensity uniformity, while simultaneously accommodating patient setup and immobilization devices. Postprocessing corrections and alternative acquisition methods were required to reduce or correct off-resonance and gradient nonlinearity induced geometric distortions. Conclusions: The methodology described herein contains practical strategies the authors have implemented through lessons learned performing clinical MRI simulation exams. In

  10. Analyses of inks and papers in historical documents through external beam PIXE techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cahill, T.A.; Kusko, B.; California Univ., Davis; Schwab, R.N.

    1981-01-01

    PIXE analyses of documents can be carried out to high senstitivty in an external beam configuration designed to protect historical materials from damage. Test runs have shown that a properbly designed system with high solid angle can operate at less than 1% of the flux necessary to cause any discoloration whatsoever on papers of the 17th and 18th centuries. The composition of these papers is suprisingly complex, yet retains distinct association with the historical period, paper source, and even the individual sheets of paper that are folded and cut to make groups of pages. Early studies are planned on historical forgeries. (orig.)

  11. Neoadjuvant hormonal therapy and external-beam radiotherapy versus external-beam irradiation alone for prostate cancer. A quality-of-life analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pinkawa, Michael; Piroth, Marc D.; Asadpour, Branka; Gagel, Bernd; Fischedick, Karin; Siluschek, Jaroslav; Kehl, Mareike; Krenkel, Barbara; Eble, Michael J. [RWTH Aachen (Germany). Dept. of Radiotherapy

    2009-02-15

    To evaluate the impact of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT) on quality of life after external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer. A group of 170 patients (85 with and 85 without NHT) has been surveyed prospectively before EBRT (70.2-72 Gy), at the last day of EBRT, a median time of 2 months and 15 months after EBRT using a validated questionnaire (Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite). Pairs with and without NHT (median treatment time of 3.5 months before EBRT) were matched according to the respective planning target volume and prostate volume. Before EBRT, significantly lower urinary function/bother, sexual function and hormonal function/bother scores were found for patients with NHT. More than 1 year after EBRT, only sexual function scores remained lower. In a multivariate analysis, NHT and adjuvant hormonal therapy (HT) versus NHT only (hazard ratio 14; 95% confidence interval 2.7-183; p = 0.02) and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists versus antiandrogens (hazard ratio 3.6; 95% confidence interval 1.1-12; p = 0.04) proved to be independent risk factors for long-term erectile dysfunction (no or very poor ability to have an erection). With the exception of sexual function (additional adjuvant HT and application of LHRH analog independently adverse), short-term NHT was not found to decrease quality of life after EBRT for prostate cancer. (orig.)

  12. Definitive chemoradiation for locoregional recurrences of esophageal cancer after primary curative treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeene, P M; Versteijne, E; van Berge Henegouwen, M I; Bergmann, J J G H M; Geijsen, E D; Muller, K; van Laarhoven, H W M; Hulshof, M C C M

    2017-02-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of salvage definitive chemoradiation (dCRT) for a locoregional recurrence after any prior curative treatment outside previously irradiated areas. Thirty-nine patients treated between January 2005 and December 2014 were reviewed for locoregional recurrent esophageal cancer outside previously irradiated areas. All patients received salvage treatment with external beam radiotherapy (50.4 Gy in 28 fractions) combined with weekly concurrent paclitaxel and carboplatin. The median follow-up period was 15 months (range 1.7-120). The median overall survival (OS) for all patients after salvage dCRT was 22 months (95% CI 6.2-37.6). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS was 72%, 31%, and 28%, respectively. Median survival after salvage dCRT for a regional lymph node recurrence was 33 months (95% CI 5.8-60.3) versus 14 months (95% CI 6.8-21.6) for a recurrence at the anastomosis (P = 0.022, logrank). Median OS was 35 months for the squamous cell carcinoma group and 19 months for the adenocarcinoma group (P = 0.67). Sixteen of 39 patients developed a locoregional recurrence after salvaged dCRT. The median locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) was 24 months. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year LRFS was 79%, 36%, and 36%, respectively. Median disease-free survival (DFS) was 15 months. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year DFS was 66%, 27%, and 27%, respectively. Of 16 patients, 8 (50%) with a primary failure at the site of the anastomosis developed a local recurrence after salvaged dCRT compared to 7 of 22 patients (32%) with a primary recurrence in a lymph node. Definitive chemoradiation is a feasible and effective treatment for locoregional recurrent esophageal cancer outside a previously irradiated area, and should be given with a curative intent. This holds true for recurrence of both squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Lymph node recurrences have a markedly better prognosis than recurrences at the site of the anastomosis. © 2016

  13. External beam irradiation inhibits neointimal hyperplasia after injury-induced arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaefer, U.; Micke, O.; Dorszewski, A.; Breithardt, G.; Willich, N.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose/Objective: Restenosis after catheter-based revascularization has been demonstrated to be primarily caused by smooth muscle cell proliferation. This study examines the effects of external beam irradiation on neointimal proliferation after external injury to the central artery of the rabbit ear. Materials and Methods: 30 male New Zealand White rabbits were used in this study. Crush lesions were performed on each ear under general anesthesia and bilateral auricular nerve blockade. A single dose of 12 Gy (n=10), 16 Gy (n=10), or 20 Gy (n=10) gamma radiation was delivered to the left or right central artery of the ear 24 hours after injury; the contralateral central artery served as control. All rabbits were sacrificed after twenty-one days and the central arteries of the ear were fixed for morphometric measurements. Results: Mean (± SD) neointimal area was 0.062 ± 0.005 mm 2 (12 Gy), 0.022 ± 0.005 mm 2 (16 Gy) and 0.028 ± 0.006 mm 2 in irradiated arteries compared with 0.081 ± 0.009 mm 2 in the control group. Mean (± SD) luminal area was 0.049 ± 0.004 mm 2 (12 Gy), 0.059 ± 0.002 mm 2 (16 Gy) and 0.072 ± 0.006 mm 2 (24 Gy) in irradiated arteries compared with 0.043 ± 0.008 mm 2 in the control group. The difference in neointimal and luminal area between control and irradiated arteries was significant (p<0.05) only for the 16 and 20 Gy group compared to control. Conclusion: We conclude that in this model, external beam X-ray irradiation was successful in reducing neointimal proliferation after injury of the central artery of the rabbit ear. Marked reductions in neointimal proliferation were demonstrated in vessels subjected to 16 and 20 Gy radiation, a less prominent effect was noted for 12 Gy. Whether this approach can be used successfully to inhibit restenosis in the clinical setting requires further investigation

  14. Chaotic dynamics of flexible beams driven by external white noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awrejcewicz, J.; Krysko, A. V.; Papkova, I. V.; Zakharov, V. M.; Erofeev, N. P.; Krylova, E. Yu.; Mrozowski, J.; Krysko, V. A.

    2016-10-01

    Mathematical models of continuous structural members (beams, plates and shells) subjected to an external additive white noise are studied. The structural members are considered as systems with infinite number of degrees of freedom. We show that in mechanical structural systems external noise can not only lead to quantitative changes in the system dynamics (that is obvious), but also cause the qualitative, and sometimes surprising changes in the vibration regimes. Furthermore, we show that scenarios of the transition from regular to chaotic regimes quantified by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) can lead to erroneous conclusions, and a support of the wavelet analysis is needed. We have detected and illustrated the modifications of classical three scenarios of transition from regular vibrations to deterministic chaos. The carried out numerical experiment shows that the white noise lowers the threshold for transition into spatio-temporal chaotic dynamics. A transition into chaos via the proposed modified scenarios developed in this work is sensitive to small noise and significantly reduces occurrence of periodic vibrations. Increase of noise intensity yields decrease of the duration of the laminar signal range, i.e., time between two successive turbulent bursts decreases. Scenario of transition into chaos of the studied mechanical structures essentially depends on the control parameters, and it can be different in different zones of the constructed charts (control parameter planes). Furthermore, we found an interesting phenomenon, when increase of the noise intensity yields surprisingly the vibrational characteristics with a lack of noisy effect (chaos is destroyed by noise and windows of periodicity appear).

  15. A new mapping acquisition and processing system for simultaneous PIXE-RBS analysis with external beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pichon, L.; Beck, L.; Walter, Ph.; Moignard, B.; Guillou, T.

    2010-01-01

    The combination of ion beam analysis techniques is particularly fruitful for the study of cultural heritage objects. For several years, the AGLAE facility of the Louvre laboratory has been implementing these techniques with an external beam. The recent set-up permits to carry out PIXE, PIGE and RBS simultaneously on the same analyzed spot with a particle beam of approximately 20 μm diameter. A new mapping system has been developed in order to provide elemental concentration maps from the PIXE and RBS spectra. This system combines the Genie2000 spectroscopy software with a homemade software that creates maps by handling acquisition with the object position. Each pixel of each PIXE and RBS maps contains the spectrum normalised by the dose. After analysing each pixel of the PIXE maps (low and high energy X-ray spectra) with the Gupixwin peak-fitting software, quantitative elemental concentrations are obtained for the major and trace elements. This paper presents the quantitative elemental maps extracted from the PIXE spectra and the development of RBS data processing for light element distribution and thin layer characterization. Examples on rock painting and lustrous ceramics will be presented.

  16. Multicenter study differentiated thyroid carcinoma (MSDS). Diminished acceptance of adjuvant external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biermann, M.; Pixberg, M.K.; Schober, O.; Schuck, A.; Willich, N.; Heinecke, A.; Koepke, W.; Schmid, K.W.; Dralle, H.

    2003-01-01

    Aim: The Multicenter Study Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma (MSDS) is an ongoing study in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on the clinical benefit of adjuvant external beam radiotherapy (RTx) for locally invasive differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) in TNM stages pT4 pNO/1/xMO/x (5th ed. 1997). Methods: MSDS was designed as a prospective randomized trial. Patients receive thyroidectomy, radioiodine therapy (RIT) to ablate the thyroid remnant, and TSH-suppressive L-thyroxine therapy with or without RTx after documented elimination of cervical iodine-131 uptake (http://msds-studie.uni-muenster.de). Results: 311 patients were enrolled between January 2000 and March 2003. 279 patients met the trial's inclusion criteria. 45 consented to randomization, of whom 17 were randomized into treatment arm A (RTx) and 18 into arm B (no RTx). Advised by the trial's independent Data Monitoring and Safety Committee, the MSDS steering committee decided to terminate randomization in April 2003 and continue MSDS as a prospective cohort study. 23 of the 234 patients in the observation arm of the trial were prescribed RTx by their physicians. Thus, 14% of the trial cohort were randomized or assigned to receive RTx (intention-to-treat analysis). In contrast, at least 44% of all patients with pT4 papillary DTC in Germany in the nationwide PCES study underwent RTx in 1996 (p 2 -test). Conclusions: Acceptance of external beam RTx as a treatment modality for DTC has receded to a degree that accrual of a sufficient number of patients for a randomized trial has been impossible. Observation of the trial cohort is continued in order to assess clinical event rates with and without RTx and chronic RTx toxicity. (orig.) [de

  17. External and intraoperative radiotherapy for resectable and unresectable pancreatic cancer: analysis of survival rates and complications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishimura, Yasumasa; Hosotani, Ryo; Shibamoto, Yuta; Kokubo, Masaki; Kanamori, Shuichi; Sasai, Keisuke; Hiraoka, Masahiro; Ohshio, Gakuji; Imamura, Masayuki; Takahashi, Masaji; Abe, Mitsuyuki

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: Clinical results of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) and/or external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for both resectable and unresectable pancreatic cancer were analyzed. Methods and Materials: Between 1980 and 1995, 332 patients with pancreatic cancer were treated with surgery and/or radiation therapy (RT). Of the 332 patients, 157 patients were treated with surgical resection of pancreatic tumor, and the remaining 175 patients had unresectable pancreatic tumors. Among the 157 patients with resected pancreatic cancer, 62 patients were not treated with RT, while 40 patients were treated with EBRT alone (mean RT dose; 46.3 Gy) and 55 patients with IORT (25.2 Gy) ± EBRT (44.0 Gy). On the other hand, among the 175 patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer, 58 patients were not treated with RT, 46 patients were treated with EBRT alone (39.2 Gy), and the remaining 71 patients with IORT (29.3 Gy) ± EBRT (41.2 Gy). Results: For 87 patients with curative resection, the median survival times (MSTs) of the no-RT, the EBRT, and the IORT ± EBRT groups were 10.4, 13.0, and 15.5 months, respectively, without significant difference. For 70 patients with non curative resection, the MSTs of the no-RT, the EBRT, and the IORT ± EBRT groups were 5.3, 8.7, and 6.5 months, respectively. When the EBRT and the IORT ± EBRT groups were combined, the survival rate was significantly higher than that of the no RT group for non curatively resected pancreatic cancers (log rank test; p = 0.028). The 2-year survival probability of the IORT ± EBRT group (16%) was higher than that of the EBRT group (0%). For unresectable pancreatic cancer, the MSTs of 52 patients without distant metastases were 6.7 months for palliative surgery alone, 7.6 months for EBRT alone, and 8.2 months for IORT ± EBRT. The survival curve of the IORT ± EBRT group was significantly better than that of the no-RT group (p 2 years) were obtained by IORT ± EBRT for non curatively resected and unresectable pancreatic

  18. The international protocol for the dosimetry of external radiotherapy beams based on standards of absorbed dose to water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andreo, P.

    2001-01-01

    An International Code of Practice (CoP, or dosimetry protocol) for external beam radiotherapy dosimetry based on standards of absorbed dose to water has been published by the IAEA on behalf of IAEA, WHO, PAHO and ESTRO. The CoP provides a systematic and internationally unified approach for the determination of the absorbed dose to water in reference conditions with radiotherapy beams. The development of absorbed-dose-to-water standards for high-energy photons and electrons offers the possibility of reducing the uncertainty in the dosimetry of radiotherapy beams. Many laboratories already provide calibrations at the radiation quality of 60Co gamma-rays and some have extended calibrations to high-energy photon and electron beams. The dosimetry of kilovoltage x-rays, as well as that of proton and ion beams can also be based on these standards. Thus, a coherent dosimetry system based on the same formalism is achieved for practically all radiotherapy beams. The practical use of the CoP as simple. The document is formed by a set of different CoPs for each radiation type, which include detailed procedures and worksheets. All CoPs are based on ND,w chamber calibrations at a reference beam quality Qo, together with radiation beam quality correction factors kQ preferably measured directly for the user's chamber in a standards laboratory. Calculated values of kQ are provided together with their uncertainty estimates. Beam quality specifiers are 60Co, TPR20,10 (high-energy photons), R50 (electrons), HVL and kV (x-rays) and Rres (protons and ions) [es

  19. Curating Gothic Nightmares

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heather Tilley

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available This review takes the occasion of a workshop given by Martin Myrone, curator of Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake, and the Romantic Imagination (Tate Britain, 2006 as a starting point to reflect on the practice of curating, and its relation to questions of the verbal and the visual in contemporary art historical practice. The exhibition prompted an engagement with questions of the genre of Gothic, through a dramatic display of the differences between ‘the Gothic' in literature and ‘the Gothic' in the visual arts within eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century culture. I also address the various ways in which 'the Gothic' was interpreted and reinscribed by visitors, especially those who dressed up for the exhibition. Finally, I consider some of the show's ‘marginalia' (specifically the catalogue, exploring the ways in which these extra events and texts shaped, and continue to shape, the cultural effect of the exhibition.

  20. High Power Diode Lasers with External Feedback: Overview and Prospects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chi, Mingjun; Petersen, Paul Michael

    2012-01-01

    In summary, different external-cavity feedback techniques to improve the spatial beam quality and narrow the linewidth of the output beam from both BALs and TDLs are presented. Broad-area diode laser system with external-cavity feedback around 800 nm can produce several Watts of output power...... with a good beam quality. Tapered diode laser systems with external-cavity feedback around 800 and 1060 nm can deliver more than 2 W output power with diffraction-limited beam quality and can be operated in single-longitudinal mode. These high-brightness, narrow linewidth, and tunable external-cavity diode...... lasers emerge as the next generation of compact lasers that have the potential of replacing conventional high power laser systems in many existing applications....

  1. Data Curation in the World Data System: Proposed Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P Laughton

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The value of data in society is increasing rapidly. Organisations that work with data should have standard practices in place to ensure successful curation of data. The World Data System (WDS consists of a number of data centres responsible for curating research data sets for the scientific community. The WDS has no formal data curation framework or model in place to act as a guideline for member data centres. The objective of this research was to develop a framework for the curation of data in the WDS. A multiple-case case study was conducted. Interviews were used to gather qualitative data and analysis of the data, which led to the development of this framework. The proposed framework is largely based on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS functional model and caters for the curation of both analogue and digital data.

  2. Trace elements in human, cattle and swine teeth, measured by external beam PIXE-PIGE setup

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tabacniks, M.H.; Rizzutto, M.A.; Added, N.; Liguori Neto, R.; Acquadro, J.C.; Vilela, M.; Oliveira, T.R.C.F.; Markarian, R.A.; Mori, M.

    2001-01-01

    The use of animal teeth to replace human teeth in dentistry school classes and to test chemicals and fillings, motivated for a better characterization of the elementary composition of their enamel, since some of the chemical properties, adhesion and chemical compatibility may depend on these parameters. Cattle, swine and human teeth were collected by dentists of the University of Sao Paulo. These teeth came primarily from Sao Paulo region and were analyzed for trace elements at the Open Nuclear Physics Laboratory, using a high energy external proton beam, PIXE-PIGE setup

  3. Characterization of the dose perturbation in tissue by stents as a function of external beam energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schell, M.C.; Rosenzweig, D.P.; Weaver, K.A.; Rubin, P.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: External beam irradiation of coronary arteries was shown to be detrimental in an animal model for the prevention of neointimal hyperplasia in the presence of stents when orthovoltage x-ray beams are used. This present study investigated the effect of beam energy on the dose distribution in the wall of the artery as a function of energy in the presence of stents in order to ascertain the effect on the dose due to beam energy. Materials and Methods: 250 kVp x-rays and 6-MV x rays were used to irradiate a stent placed in an homogeneous phantom. Radiochromic film densitometry and Monte Carlo calculations were used to measure and to simulate the dose distribution in the proximity of the stent. Result: External beam irradiation was reported to not only fail to prevent neointimal hyperplasia, but actually accentuate the neointimal response to a prompt mechanical injury in the artery. The photoelectric effect, which dominates low-energy x-ray interactions, produces recoil electrons in the stent which enhance the dose surrounding intima. The photoelectrons generated in nickel and iron have an extremely short range in normal tissue, approximately 0.1 mm. Initial estimates of orthovoltage x-ray interactions with the stent indicate a dose enhancement in the orthovoltage range by a factor of 2 to 3 due to the rise in the photoelectric cross section in this energy range depending on the elemental composition of the stent. Film densitometry verifies this dose enhancement. The Monte Carlo calculations yield a dose enhancement and the dose fall off with distance from the stent when irradiated with orthovoltage x-rays. Conversely when the tissue and stent are irradiated with megavoltage x-rays, the dose enhancement in this region is a factor of 1.15 in close proximity to the stent and 1.0 at distances greater than 0.1 mm. 6-MV photon interactions in tissue and iron are predominantly through Compton scattering. The Compton effect is dependent on the electron density in the

  4. Complete response in a patient with gynecological hidradenocarcinoma treated with exclusive external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giannelli, Flavio; Chiola, Ilaria; Belgioia, Liliana; Garelli, Stefania; Pastorino, Alice; Marcenaro, Michela; Mammoliti, Serafina; Costantini, Sergio; Bizzarri, Nicolò; Vellone, Valerio; Barra, Salvina; Corvò, Renzo

    2017-12-01

    Hidradenocarcinoma (HC) is a very rare disease. This case report illustrates a successful treatment of a 60-year-old woman with vulvo-vaginal localization of hidradenocarcinoma treated with external beam radiotherapy delivered by helical tomotherapy with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB), followed by brachytherapy. External beam radiotherapy dose prescription was 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions, five fractions per week to whole pelvis (planning target volume 1 - PTV1), 60.2 Gy in 28 fractions to SIB1 (fundus of uterus and right inguinal node), and 58.8 Gy in 28 fractions to SIB2 (lower/middle third of vagina, paraurethral region and right inguinal lymph nodes). Brachytherapy dose prescription was 28 Gy in 4 fractions for cervix, fundus of uterus and upper third of vagina (HR-CTV1), and 22 Gy in 4 fractions to middle third of vagina and paraurethral region (HR-CTV2). D 90 for whole treatment was 91.9 Gy and 86.0 Gy for HR-CTV1 and HR-CTV2, respectively. Patient remained 12-months disease-free without treatment related side effects.

  5. Complete response in a patient with gynecological hidradenocarcinoma treated with exclusive external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy: a case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flavio Giannelli

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Hidradenocarcinoma (HC is a very rare disease. This case report illustrates a successful treatment of a 60-year-old woman with vulvo-vaginal localization of hidradenocarcinoma treated with external beam radiotherapy delivered by helical tomotherapy with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB, followed by brachytherapy. External beam radiotherapy dose prescription was 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions, five fractions per week to whole pelvis (planning target volume 1 – PTV1, 60.2 Gy in 28 fractions to SIB1 (fundus of uterus and right inguinal node, and 58.8 Gy in 28 fractions to SIB2 (lower/middle third of vagina, paraurethral region and right inguinal lymph nodes. Brachytherapy dose prescription was 28 Gy in 4 fractions for cervix, fundus of uterus and upper third of vagina (HR-CTV1, and 22 Gy in 4 fractions to middle third of vagina and paraurethral region (HR-CTV2. D90 for whole treatment was 91.9 Gy and 86.0 Gy for HR-CTV1 and HR-CTV2, respectively. Patient remained 12-months disease-free without treatment related side effects.

  6. The curation paradigm and application tool used for manual curation of the scientific literature at the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Allan Peter; Wiegers, Thomas C.; Murphy, Cynthia G.; Mattingly, Carolyn J.

    2011-01-01

    The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) is a public resource that promotes understanding about the effects of environmental chemicals on human health. CTD biocurators read the scientific literature and convert free-text information into a structured format using official nomenclature, integrating third party controlled vocabularies for chemicals, genes, diseases and organisms, and a novel controlled vocabulary for molecular interactions. Manual curation produces a robust, richly annotated dataset of highly accurate and detailed information. Currently, CTD describes over 349 000 molecular interactions between 6800 chemicals, 20 900 genes (for 330 organisms) and 4300 diseases that have been manually curated from over 25 400 peer-reviewed articles. This manually curated data are further integrated with other third party data (e.g. Gene Ontology, KEGG and Reactome annotations) to generate a wealth of toxicogenomic relationships. Here, we describe our approach to manual curation that uses a powerful and efficient paradigm involving mnemonic codes. This strategy allows biocurators to quickly capture detailed information from articles by generating simple statements using codes to represent the relationships between data types. The paradigm is versatile, expandable, and able to accommodate new data challenges that arise. We have incorporated this strategy into a web-based curation tool to further increase efficiency and productivity, implement quality control in real-time and accommodate biocurators working remotely. Database URL: http://ctd.mdibl.org PMID:21933848

  7. Mechanical Behavior of Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Beams Bonded with External Carbon Fiber Sheets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gribniak, Viktor; Tamulenas, Vytautas; Ng, Pui-Lam; Arnautov, Aleksandr K; Gudonis, Eugenijus; Misiunaite, Ieva

    2017-06-17

    This study investigates the mechanical behavior of steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams internally reinforced with steel bars and externally bonded with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets fixed by adhesive and hybrid jointing techniques. In particular, attention is paid to the load resistance and failure modes of composite beams. The steel fibers were used to avoiding the rip-off failure of the concrete cover. The CFRP sheets were fixed to the concrete surface by epoxy adhesive as well as combined with various configurations of small-diameter steel pins for mechanical fastening to form a hybrid connection. Such hybrid jointing techniques were found to be particularly advantageous in avoiding brittle debonding failure, by promoting progressive failure within the hybrid joints. The use of CFRP sheets was also effective in suppressing the localization of the discrete cracks. The development of the crack pattern was monitored using the digital image correlation method. As revealed from the image analyses, with an appropriate layout of the steel pins, brittle failure of the concrete-carbon fiber interface could be effectively prevented. Inverse analysis of the moment-curvature diagrams was conducted, and it was found that a simplified tension-stiffening model with a constant residual stress level at 90% of the strength of the SFRC is adequate for numerically simulating the deformation behavior of beams up to the debonding of the CFRP sheets.

  8. Clinical meaning of radiodermatitis considering the surface dose of supervoltage electron beam

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hiraki, T [Kanazawa Univ. (Japan). School of Paramedicine; Rikimaru, S; Kakishita, M; Kuranishi, M

    1975-12-01

    In our experience using supervoltage betatron electron beam, the skin surface dose of the electron decreased when the energy became either greater or less than 18 MeV. When we considered 18 MeV to be a 100% dose, the dose with 4 MeV, which was the least amount, corresponded to 81% of the dose. The skin surface dose of 10 MeV betatron electrons or more became greater than the 90% standard tumor dose. An external irradiation of more than 10 MeV should not be applied to neoplasms of which the curative ratio is less than 1.0. Therefore another methods such as intraoperative irradiation, should be used. The surface skin dose about 4 to 6 MeV betatron postoperative irradiation, particularly after resection of breast cancer, was less than the skin dose with 10 MeV. Close care should be taken to prevent hot lesions which are caused by duplication of irradiation fields. It should be kept in mind that the late effects of hot lesions caused by electron beam irradiation with an energy of 10 MeV or more are serious.

  9. A consensus-based guideline defining clinical target volume for primary disease in external beam radiotherapy for intact uterine cervical cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toita, Takafumi; Ohno, Tatsuya; Kaneyasu, Yuko

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this study was to develop a consensus-based guideline to define clinical target volume for primary disease (clinical target volume primary) in external beam radiotherapy for intact uterine cervical cancer. The working subgroup of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) Radiation Therapy Study Group began developing a guideline for primary clinical target volume in November 2009. The group consisted of 10 radiation oncologists and 2 gynecologic oncologists. The process started with comparing the contouring on computed tomographic images of actual cervical cancer cases among the members. This was followed by a comprehensive literature review that included primary research articles and textbooks as well as information on surgical procedures. Extensive discussion occurred in face-to-face meetings (three occasions) and frequent e-mail communications until a consensus was reached. The working subgroup reached a consensus on the definition for the clinical target volume primary. The clinical target volume primary consists of the gross tumor volume, uterine cervix, uterine corpus, parametrium, vagina and ovaries. Definitions for these component structures were determined. Anatomical boundaries in all directions were defined for the parametrium. Examples delineating these boundaries were prepared for the posterior border of the parametrium for various clinical situations (id est (i.e.) central tumor bulk, degree of parametrial involvement). A consensus-based guideline defining the clinical target volume primary was developed for external beam radiotherapy for intact uterine cervical cancer. This guideline will serve as a template for radiotherapy protocols in future clinical trials. It may also be used in actual clinical practice in the setting of highly precise external beam radiotherapy, including intensity-modulated radiotherapy. (author)

  10. Curating NASA's Future Extraterrestrial Sample Collections: How Do We Achieve Maximum Proficiency?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCubbin, Francis; Evans, Cynthia; Zeigler, Ryan; Allton, Judith; Fries, Marc; Righter, Kevin; Zolensky, Michael

    2016-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E "Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials", JSC is charged with "The curation of all extraterrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions." The Directive goes on to define Curation as including "... documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach." Here we describe some of the ongoing efforts to ensure that the future activities of the NASA Curation Office are working towards a state of maximum proficiency.

  11. Opening Data in the Long Tail for Community Discovery, Curation and Action Using Active and Social Curation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedstrom, M. L.; Kumar, P.; Myers, J.; Plale, B. A.

    2012-12-01

    In data science, the most common sequence of steps for data curation are to 1) curate data, 2) enable data discovery, and 3) provide for data reuse. The Sustainable Environments - Actionable Data (SEAD) project, funded through NSF's DataNet program, is creating an environment for sustainability scientists to discover data first, reuse data next, and curate data though an on-going process that we call Active and Social Curation. For active curation we are developing tools and services that support data discovery, data management, and data enhancement for the community while the data is still being used actively for research. We are creating an Active Content Repository, using drop box, semantic web technologies, and a Flickr-like interface for researchers to "drop" data into a repository where it will be replicated and minimally discoverable. For social curation, we are deploying a social networking tool, VIVO, which will allow researchers to discover data-publications-people (e.g. expertise) through a route that can start at any of those entry points. The other dimension of social curation is developing mechanisms to open data for community input, for example, using ranking and commenting mechanisms for data sets and a community-sourcing capability to add tags, clean up and validate data sets. SEAD's strategies and services are aimed at the sustainability science community, which faces numerous challenges including discovery of useful data, cleaning noisy observational data, synthesizing data of different types, defining appropriate models, managing and preserving their research data, and conveying holistic results to colleagues, students, decision makers, and the public. Sustainability researchers make significant use of centrally managed data from satellites and national sensor networks, national scientific and statistical agencies, and data archives. At the same time, locally collected data and custom derived data products that combine observations and

  12. Meeting Curation Challenges in a Neuroimaging Group

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angus Whyte

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available The SCARP project is a series of short studies with two aims; firstly to discover more about disciplinary approaches and attitudes to digital curation through ‘immersion’ in selected cases; secondly to apply known good practice, and where possible, identify new lessons from practice in the selected discipline areas. The study summarised here is of the Neuroimaging Group in the University of Edinburgh’s Division of Psychiatry, which plays a leading role in eScience collaborations to improve the infrastructure for neuroimaging data integration and reuse. The Group also aims to address growing data storage and curation needs, given the capabilities afforded by new infrastructure. The study briefly reviews the policy context and current challenges to data integration and sharing in the neuroimaging field. It then describes how curation and preservation risks and opportunities for change were identified throughout the curation lifecycle; and their context appreciated through field study in the research site. The results are consistent with studies of neuroimaging eInfrastructure that emphasise the role of local data sharing and reuse practices. These sustain mutual awareness of datasets and experimental protocols through sharing peer to peer, and among senior researchers and students, enabling continuity in research and flexibility in project work. This “human infrastructure” is taken into account in considering next steps for curation and preservation of the Group’s datasets and a phased approach to supporting data documentation.

  13. A digital fluoroscopic imaging system for verification during external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takai, Michikatsu

    1990-01-01

    A digital fluoroscopic (DF) imaging system has been constructed to obtain portal images for verification during external beam radiotherapy. The imaging device consists of a fluorescent screen viewed by a highly sensitive video camera through a mirror. The video signal is digitized and processed by an image processor which is linked on-line with a host microcomputer. The image quality of the DF system was compared with that of film for portal images of the Burger phantom and the Alderson anthropomorphic phantom using 10 MV X-rays. Contrast resolution of the DF image integrated for 8.5 sec. was superior to the film resolution, while spatial resolution was slightly inferior. The DF image of the Alderson phantom processed by the adaptive histogram equalization was better in showing anatomical landmarks than the film portal image. The DF image integrated for 1 sec. which is used for movie mode can show patient movement during treatment. (author)

  14. Research Data Curation Pilots: Lessons Learned

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Minor

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In the spring of 2011, the UC San Diego Research Cyberinfrastructure (RCI Implementation Team invited researchers and research teams to participate in a research curation and data management pilot program. This invitation took the form of a campus-wide solicitation. More than two dozen applications were received and, after due deliberation, the RCI Oversight Committee selected five curation-intensive projects. These projects were chosen based on a number of criteria, including how they represented campus research, varieties of topics, researcher engagement, and the various services required. The pilot process began in September 2011, and will be completed in early 2014. Extensive lessons learned from the pilots are being compiled and are being used in the on-going design and implementation of the permanent Research Data Curation Program in the UC San Diego Library. In this paper, we present specific implementation details of these various services, as well as lessons learned. The program focused on many aspects of contemporary scholarship, including data creation and storage, description and metadata creation, citation and publication, and long term preservation and access. Based on the lessons learned in our processes, the Research Data Curation Program will provide a suite of services from which campus users can pick and choose, as necessary. The program will provide support for the data management requirements from national funding agencies.

  15. External beam radiotherapy for subretinal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration: is this treatment efficient?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Staar, Susanne; Krott, Ralf; Mueller, Rolf-Peter; Bartz-Schmidt, Karl U.; Heimann, Klaus

    1999-01-01

    Purpose: Control of the natural course of sub retinal neovascularization (SRNV) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is difficult. Only a subset of patients is suitable for laser coagulation. This prospective study aimed to determine the efficacy and individual benefit of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Methods and Materials: The prospective trial included 287 patients with subfoveal neovascularization due to AMD which was verified by fluorescein angiography. Patients have been treated between January 1996 and October 1997. All patients received a total dose of 16 Gy in 2-Gy daily fractions with 5-6 MeV photons based on computerized treatment planning in individual head mask fixation. This first analysis is based on 73 patients (50 women, 23 men, median age 74.3 years), with a median follow-up of 13.3 months and a minimum follow-up of 11 months. Results: All patients completed therapy and tolerability was good. First clinical control with second angiography was performed 6 weeks after irradiation, then in 3-month intervals. Eighteen patients with SRNV refusing radiotherapy served as a control group and were matched with 18 irradiated patients. After 7 months median visual acuity (VA) was 20/160 for the irradiated and 20/400 for the untreated patients. One year after radiotherapy final median VA was 20/400 in both groups. Conclusion: These results suggest that 16 Gy of conventionally fractionated external beam irradiation slows down the visual loss in exudative AMD for only a few months. Patients' reading vision could not be saved for a long-term run

  16. An examination of human factors in external beam radiation therapy: Findings and implications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henriksen, K.; Kaye, R.D.; Jones, R.E. Jr.; Morisseau, D.S.; Persensky, J.J.

    1994-01-01

    To better understand the contributing factors to human error in external beam radiation therapy, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has undertaken a series of human factors evaluations. A team of human factors specialists, assisted by a panel of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and radiation technologists, conducted visits to 24 radiation oncology departments at community hospitals, university centers, and free-standing clinics. A function and task analysis was initially performed to guide subsequent evaluations in the areas of human-system interfaces, procedures, training and qualifications, and organizational policies and practices. Representative findings and implications for improvement are discussed within the context of a dynamic model which holds that misadministration likely results from the unanticipated interaction of several necessary but singly insufficient conditions

  17. An Emergent Micro-Services Approach to Digital Curation Infrastructure

    OpenAIRE

    Abrams, Stephen; Kunze, John; Loy, David

    2010-01-01

    In order better to meet the needs of its diverse University of California (UC) constituencies, the California Digital Library UC Curation Center is re-envisioning its approach to digital curation infrastructure by devolving function into a set of granular, independent, but interoperable micro-services. Since each of these services is small and self-contained, they are more easily developed, deployed, maintained, and enhanced; at the same time, complex curation function can emerge from the str...

  18. The clinical meaning of radiodermatitis considering the surface dose of supervoltage electron beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hiraki, Tatsunosuke; Rikimaru, Shigeho; Kakishita, Masao; Kuranishi, Makoto.

    1975-01-01

    In our experience using supervoltage betatron electron beam, the skin surface dose of the electron decreased when the energy became either greater of less than 18 MeV. When we considered 18 MeV to be a 100% dose, the dose with 4 MeV, which was the least amount, corresponded to 81% of the dose. The skin surface dose of 10 MeV betatron electrons or more became greater than the 90% standard tumor dose. An external irradiation of more than 10 MeV should not be applied to neoplasms of which the curative ratio is less than 1.0. Therefore another methods such as intraoperative irradiation, should be used. The surface skin dose about 4-6 MeV betatron postoperative irradiation, particularly after resection of breast cancer, was less than the skin dose with 10 MeV. Close care should be taken to prevent hot lesions which are caused by duplication of irradiation fields. It should be kept in mind that the late effects of hot lesions caused by electron beam irradiation with an energy of 10 MeV or more are serious. (Kashu, E.)

  19. Prospective evaluation of a 12-week walking exercise program and its effect on fatigue in prostate cancer patients undergoing radical external beam radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Truong, Pauline T; Gaul, Catherine A; McDonald, Rachel E; Petersen, Ross B; Jones, Stuart O; Alexander, Abraham S; Lim, Jan T W; Ludgate, Charles

    2011-08-01

    To evaluate tolerability and compliance to a walking exercise program and its effect on fatigue during and after radical external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer. A total of 50 subjects with prostate cancer undergoing EBRT over 6 to 8 weeks were prospectively accrued to an exercise intervention group, matched for age and clinical characteristics to 30 subjects in a historical control group who underwent EBRT with no specific exercise intervention. Starting 1 week before EBRT, exercise participants performed moderate-intensity walking targeting 60% to 70% age-predicted maximum heart rate, at least 20 min/d, 3 d/wk over 12 weeks. The Brief Fatigue Inventory was administered at baseline, mid-EBRT (week 3-4), end-EBRT (week 6-8), and 6 months post-EBRT. Of 50, 42 (84%) of exercise participants completed the walking program. There were no cardiovascular complications, musculoskeletal injuries, or other adverse events. A total of 89% subjects reported "Good-Excellent" satisfaction during and up to 6 months post-EBRT. Fatigue in control subjects escalated from baseline to end-EBRT, remaining high at 6 months post-EBRT (P[r] = 0.03). In contrast, mean total fatigue scores in exercise subjects were stable from baseline up to 6 months post-EBRT (P = 0.52). Trends for higher fatigue interference with quality of life were observed in the control group as compared with the exercise group. Moderate-intensity walking exercise during radical EBRT is safe and feasible. The high convenience and satisfaction ratings, in conjunction with the observed fatigue trends, indicate that this activity has the potential to attenuate fatigue and improve quality of life for patients with localized prostate cancer undergoing curative therapy.

  20. Effect of beam arrangement on oral cavity dose in external beam radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Vincent W.C.; Yang Zhining; Zhang Wuzhe; Wu Lili; Lin Zhixiong

    2012-01-01

    This study compared the oral cavity dose between the routine 7-beam intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) beam arrangement and 2 other 7-beam IMRT with the conventional radiotherapy beam arrangements in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Ten NPC patients treated by the 7-beam routine IMRT technique (IMRT-7R) between April 2009 and June 2009 were recruited. Using the same computed tomography data, target information, and dose constraints for all the contoured structures, 2 IMRT plans with alternative beam arrangements (IMRT-7M and IMRT-7P) by avoiding the anterior facial beam and 1 conventional radiotherapy plan (CONRT) were computed using the Pinnacle treatment planning system. Dose-volume histograms were generated for the planning target volumes (PTVs) and oral cavity from which the dose parameters and the conformity index of the PTV were recorded for dosimetric comparisons among the plans with different beam arrangements. The dose distributions to the PTVs were similar among the 3 IMRT beam arrangements, whereas the differences were significant between IMRT-7R and CONRT plans. For the oral cavity dose, the 3 IMRT beam arrangements did not show significant difference. Compared with IMRT-7R, CONRT plan showed a significantly lower mean dose, V30 and V-40, whereas the V-60 was significantly higher. The 2 suggested alternative beam arrangements did not significantly reduce the oral cavity dose. The impact of varying the beam angles in IMRT of NPC did not give noticeable effect on the target and oral cavity. Compared with IMRT, the 2-D conventional radiotherapy irradiated a greater high-dose volume in the oral cavity.

  1. Urinary incontinence in prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Mitchell; Pickles, Tom; Berthelet, Eric; Agranovich, Alexander; Kwan, Winkle; Tyldesley, Scott; McKenzie, Michael; Keyes, Mira; Morris, James; Pai, Howard

    2005-01-01

    Background and purpose: To describe the incidence of urinary incontinence among prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiotherapy (RT) and to investigate associated risk factors. Patients and methods: One thousand and hundred ninety-two patients with ≥24 months follow-up were the subjects of this series. All patients received between 50 and 72 Gy in 20-37 fractions (median 66 Gy/33). Post-RT urinary incontinence was scored by direct patient interviewing according to the modified RTOG/SOMA scale: Grade 1-occasional use of incontinence pads, Grade 2-intermittent use of incontinence pads, Grade 3-persistent use of incontinence pads, and Grade 4-permanent catheter. Risk-factors investigated were: age, diabetes, TURP prior to RT, elapsed time from TURP to RT, clinical stage, RT dose and presence of Grade ≥2 acute GU and GI toxicity. Non-parametric, actuarial univariate (Kaplan-Meier) and multivariate tests (MVA, Cox regression) were performed. Results: Median follow-up for the group is 52 months (24-109). Thirty-four patients (2.9%) had incontinence prior to RT, which was more common in TURP patients (7.8% vs 1.6% P<0.001). These are excluded from further analysis. Fifty-seven patients (4.9%) developed Grade 1 incontinence, 7 (0.6%) Grade 2, and 7 (0.6%) Grade 3. There was no Grade 4 incontinence. Actuarial rates for Grade ≥1 and ≥2 incontinence at 5 years are 7 and 1.7%, respectively. Risk factors on MVA associated with the development of Grade 1 or worse incontinence are pre-RT TURP (5-year rates 10% vs 6%, P=0.026), presence of Grade ≥2 acute GU toxicity (5-year rates 11% vs 5%, P=0.002). Age, diabetes, clinical stage, elapsed time from TURP to RT, RT dose or fraction size, acute GI toxicity were not significant. Patients who underwent post-RT TURP or dilatation for obstructive symptoms (4.3%), were more likely to develop Grade 2-3 incontinence (5-year rate 8 vs 1.5%, P=0.0015). Conclusions: Grade 2 or greater urinary incontinence is rare

  2. The role of endobroncial irradiation as a curative therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuwa, Nobukazu; Ito, Yoshiyuki; Kato, Eriko; Kamata, Minoru; Morita, Kozo; Kikuchi, Yuzo.

    1997-01-01

    Endobronchial irradiation for lung cancer has primarily been used in cases of local progression or recurrence. Although its use for palliation of symptoms has been well evaluated, its role in treatment for cure is still unknown. We would like to report on the role of endobronchial irradiation as a curative therapy based on our clinical experience (long time survivors). Forty-one patients treated with endobronchial irradiation using low dose rate 192Iridium between February 1987 and December 1993 were made available for study. Of these, 17 were chest X-P negative cancer, 13 were post operative recurrent cancer, 7 were advanced cancer and 4 were tracheal cancer, respectively. The dose of endobronchial irradiation using an applicator with spacer was 5 to 7 Gy per session, administered either once or twice a week. External irradiation was administered except one case. Local recurrence was observed in two cases of chest X-P negative cancer, three cases of post operative cancer and five cases of advanced cancer. More than three years survivors were observed in 6 cases of chest X-P negative cancer, 5 cases of post operative cancer and one case of tracheal cancer. Complications due to endobronchial irradiation were seen in 2 cases, one case was pulmonary hemorrage and the other was shallow ulceration of the bronchus. It was shown that chest X-P negative lung cancer and part of post operative recurrent cancer could be cured by endobronchial irradiation. This technique is considered to be useful for not only palliative therapy but curative therapy as well. (author)

  3. A Phase II study of external-beam radiotherapy and endovascular brachytherapy with PTA and stenting for femoropopliteal artery restenosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narayan, Kailash; Denton, Michael; Das, Ram; Bernshaw, David; Rolfo, Aldo; Dyk, Sylvia van; Mirakian, Alex

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: To assess the safety and seek evidence of efficacy of combined external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and endovascular brachytherapy in the treatment of stenotic vascular lesions. Methods and Materials: Seventeen patients with high risk for restenosis of femoropopliteal arteries were enrolled in this study from February 2000 to August 2002. The external beam radiotherapy regimen consisted of 10 Gy in 5 fractions of 2 Gy, starting on Day 0. This was followed on Day 6 by angiography, stent placement, and intraluminal brachytherapy to a dose of 10 Gy at 1.2 mm from stent surface. The EBRT was continued from the same day to another 10 Gy in 2 Gy daily fractions for 5 days. Results: The follow up ranged from 33 months to 60 months. At the time of analysis 15 of 17 patients were alive with patent stents. Of these, 10 were symptom-free. Two patients died of unrelated causes. Conclusions: The combination of EBRT and endovascular brachytherapy provided adequate dose distribution without any geographical miss or 'candy wrapper' restenosis. No incidence of aneurysmal dilation of radiated vascular segment was observed. The treatment was feasible, well tolerated, and achieved 88% stenosis free survival

  4. WeCurate: Designing for synchronised browsing and social negotiation

    OpenAIRE

    Hazelden, Katina; Yee-King, Matthew; d'Inverno, Mark; Confalonieri, Roberto; De Jonge, Dave; Amgoud, Leila; Osman, Nardine; Prade, Henri; Sierra, Carles

    2012-01-01

    WeCurate is a shared image browser for collaboratively curating a virtual exhibition from a cultural image archive. This paper is concerned with the evaluation and iteration of a prototype UI (User Interface) design to enable this community image browsing. In WeCurate, several remote users work together with autonomic agents to browse the archive and to select, through negotiation and voting, a set of images which are of the greatest interest to the group. The UI allows users to synchronize v...

  5. Improving the Acquisition and Management of Sample Curation Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todd, Nancy S.; Evans, Cindy A.; Labasse, Dan

    2011-01-01

    This paper discusses the current sample documentation processes used during and after a mission, examines the challenges and special considerations needed for designing effective sample curation data systems, and looks at the results of a simulated sample result mission and the lessons learned from this simulation. In addition, it introduces a new data architecture for an integrated sample Curation data system being implemented at the NASA Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation department and discusses how it improves on existing data management systems.

  6. Inactivation of human osteosarcoma cells in vitro by 211At-TP-3 monoclonal antibody: Comparison with astatine-211 and external-beam X rays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larsen, R.H.; Bruland, O.S.; Hoff, P.; Alstad, J.; Lindmo, T.; Rofstad, E.K.

    1994-01-01

    The potential usefulness of α-particle radioimmunotherapy in the treatment of osteosarcoma was studied in vitro by using the monoclonal antibody TP-3 and cells of three human osteosarcoma cell lines (OHS, SAOS and KPDX) differing in antigen expression. Cell survival curves were established after treatment with (a) 211 At-TP-3 of different specific activities, (b) 211 At-labeled bovine serum albumin (BSA), (c) free 211 At and (d) external-beam X rays. The three osteosarcoma cell lines showed similar survival curves, whether treated with external-beam X rays, 211 At-BSA or free 211 At. The D o 's were lower for free 211 At than for 211 At-BSA. The survival curves for 211 At-TP-3 treatment, on the other hand, differed significantly among the cell lines, suggesting that sensitivity to 211 At-TP-3 treatment was governed by cellular properties other than sensitivity to external-beam X rays. The cellular property most important for sensitivity to 211 At-TP-3 treatment was the antigen expression. Cell inactivation after 211 At-TP-3 treatment increased substantially with increasing specific activity of the 211 At-TP-3. At high specific activities, the cytotoxic effect of 211 At-TP-3 was significantly higher than that of 211 At-BSA. In conclusion, 211 At-TP-3 has the potential to give clinically favorable therapeutic ratios in the treatment of osteosarcoma. 39 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs

  7. Bevalac external beamline optics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalnins, J.G.; Krebs, G.F.; Tekawa, M.M.; Alonso, J.R.

    1987-04-01

    This handbook is intended as an aid for tuning the external particle beam (EPB) lines at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory's Bevalac. The information contained within will be useful to the Bevalac's Main Control Room and experimenters alike. First, some general information is given concerning the EPB lines and beam optics. Next, each beam line is described in detail: schematics of the beam line components are shown, all the variables required to run a beam transport program are presented, beam envelopes are given with wire chamber pictures and magnet currents, focal points and magnifications. Some preliminary scaling factors are then presented which should aid in choosing a given EPB magnet's current for a given central Bevalac field. Finally, some tuning hints are suggested

  8. Scaling drug indication curation through crowdsourcing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khare, Ritu; Burger, John D; Aberdeen, John S; Tresner-Kirsch, David W; Corrales, Theodore J; Hirchman, Lynette; Lu, Zhiyong

    2015-01-01

    Motivated by the high cost of human curation of biological databases, there is an increasing interest in using computational approaches to assist human curators and accelerate the manual curation process. Towards the goal of cataloging drug indications from FDA drug labels, we recently developed LabeledIn, a human-curated drug indication resource for 250 clinical drugs. Its development required over 40 h of human effort across 20 weeks, despite using well-defined annotation guidelines. In this study, we aim to investigate the feasibility of scaling drug indication annotation through a crowdsourcing technique where an unknown network of workers can be recruited through the technical environment of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). To translate the expert-curation task of cataloging indications into human intelligence tasks (HITs) suitable for the average workers on MTurk, we first simplify the complex task such that each HIT only involves a worker making a binary judgment of whether a highlighted disease, in context of a given drug label, is an indication. In addition, this study is novel in the crowdsourcing interface design where the annotation guidelines are encoded into user options. For evaluation, we assess the ability of our proposed method to achieve high-quality annotations in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner. We posted over 3000 HITs drawn from 706 drug labels on MTurk. Within 8 h of posting, we collected 18 775 judgments from 74 workers, and achieved an aggregated accuracy of 96% on 450 control HITs (where gold-standard answers are known), at a cost of $1.75 per drug label. On the basis of these results, we conclude that our crowdsourcing approach not only results in significant cost and time saving, but also leads to accuracy comparable to that of domain experts. Published by Oxford University Press 2015. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

  9. Finite Element Simulation of GFRP Reinforced Concrete Beam Externally Strengthened With CFRP Plates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salleh Norhafizah

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The construction technology now has become more and more advanced allowing the development of new technologies or material to replace the previous one and also solved some of the troubles confronted by construction experts. The Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP composite is an alternative to replace the current usage of steel as it is rust proof and stronger in terms of stiffness compared to steel. Furthermore, GFRP bars have a high strength-to-weight ratio, making them attractive as reinforcement for concrete structures. However, the tensile behavior of GFRP bars is characterized by a linear elastic stress–strain relationship up to failure and, therefore, concrete elements reinforced with GFRP reinforcement exhibit brittle failure without warning. Design codes encourage over-reinforced GFRP design since it is more progressive and leads to a less catastrophic failure with a higher degree of deformability. Moreover, because of GFRP low modulus of elasticity, GFRP reinforced concrete members exhibit larger deflections and wider cracks width than steel reinforced concrete. This aims of this paper is to developed 2D Finite Element (FE models that can accurately simulate the respond on an improvement in the deflection of GFRP reinforced concrete beam externally strengthened with CFRP plates on the tension part of beam. The prediction of flexural response according to RCCSA software was also discussed. It was observed that the predicted FE results are given similar result with the experimental measured test data. Base on this good agreement, a parametric study was the performed using the validation FE model to investigate the effect of flexural reinforcement ratio and arrangement of the beams strengthened with different regions of CFRP plates.

  10. Screen Practice in Curating

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Toft, Tanya Søndergaard

    2014-01-01

    During the past one and a half decade, a curatorial orientation towards "screen practice" has expanded the moving image and digital art into the public domain, exploring alternative artistic uses of the screen. The emergence of urban LED screens in the late 1990s provided a new venue that allowed...... for digital art to expand into public space. It also offered a political point of departure, inviting for confrontation with the Spectacle and with the politics and ideology of the screen as a mass communication medium that instrumentalized spectator positions. In this article I propose that screen practice...... to the dispositif of screen practice in curating, resulting in a medium-based curatorial discourse. With reference to the nomadic exhibition project Nordic Outbreak that I co-curated with Nina Colosi in 2013 and 2014, I suggest that the topos of the defined visual display area, frequently still known as "the screen...

  11. High intensity beam dump for the Tevatron beam abort system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kidd, J.; Mokhov, N.; Murphy, T.; Palmer, M.; Toohig, T.; Turkot, F.; VanGinneken, A.

    1981-01-01

    The beam abort system proposed for the Fermilab Tevatron Accelerator will extract the proton beam from the ring in a single turn (approximately 20/mu/s) and direct it to an external beam dump. It is the function of the beam dump to absorb the unwanted beam and limit the escaping radiation to levels that are acceptable to the surrounding populace and apparatus. A beam dump that is expected to meet these requirements has been designed and constructed. Detailed design of the dump, including considerations leading to the choice of materials, are given. 6 refs

  12. TU-D-201-03: Results of a Survey On the Implementation of the TG-51 Protocol and Associated Addendum On Reference Dosimetry of External Beams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, G [University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Muir, B [National Research Council, Ottawa, AB (Canada); Culberson, W [University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI (United States); Davis, S [McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC (Canada); Huang, Y [Henry Ford Health System, West Bloomfield, MI (United States); Lee, S [University of Maryland School of Medicine, Columbia, MD (United States); Lowenstein, J [UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Sarfehnia, A [Sunnybrook Health Science Center, Toronto, ON (Canada); Tolani, N [Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Sugarland (United States); Siebers, J [University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: The working group on the review and extension of the TG-51 protocol (WGTG51) collected data from American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) members with respect to their current TG-51 and associated addendum usage in the interest of considering future protocol addenda and guidance on reference dosimetry best practices. This study reports an overview of this survey on dosimetry of external beams. Methods: Fourteen survey questions were developed by WGTG51 and released in November 2015. The questions collected information on reference dosimetry, beam quality specification, and ancillary calibration equipment. Results: Of the 190 submissions completed worldwide (U.S. 70%), 83% were AAPM members. Of the respondents, 33.5% implemented the TG-51 addendum, with the maximum calibration difference for any photon beam, with respect to the original TG-51 protocol, being <1% for 97.4% of responses. One major finding is that 81.8% of respondents used the same cylindrical ionization chamber for photon and electron dosimetry, implying that many clinics are foregoing the use of parallel-plate chambers. Other evidence suggests equivalent dosimetric results can be obtained with both cylindrical and parallel-plate chambers in electron beams. This, combined with users comfort with cylindrical chambers for electrons will likely impact recommendations put forward in an upcoming electron beam addendum to the TG-51 protocol. Data collected on ancillary equipment showed 58.2% (45.0%) of the thermometers (barometers) in use for beam calibration had NIST traceable calibration certificates, but 48.4% (42.7%) were never recalibrated. Conclusion: This survey provides a snapshot of TG-51 external beam reference dosimetry practice in radiotherapy centers. Findings demonstrate the rapid take-up of the TG-51 photon beam addendum and raise issues for the WGTG51 to focus on going forward, including guidelines on ancillary equipment and the choice of chamber for electron beam

  13. Noninvasive referencing of intraocular tumors for external beam radiation therapy using optical coherence tomography: A proof of concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rüegsegger, Michael B.; Steiner, Patrick; Kowal, Jens H.; Geiser, Dominik; Pica, Alessia; Aebersold, Daniel M.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: External beam radiation therapy is currently considered the most common treatment modality for intraocular tumors. Localization of the tumor and efficient compensation of tumor misalignment with respect to the radiation beam are crucial. According to the state of the art procedure, localization of the target volume is indirectly performed by the invasive surgical implantation of radiopaque clips or is limited to positioning the head using stereoscopic radiographies. This work represents a proof-of-concept for direct and noninvasive tumor referencing based on anterior eye topography acquired using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: A prototype of a head-mounted device has been developed for automatic monitoring of tumor position and orientation in the isocentric reference frame for LINAC based treatment of intraocular tumors. Noninvasive tumor referencing is performed with six degrees of freedom based on anterior eye topography acquired using OCT and registration of a statistical eye model. The proposed prototype was tested based on enucleated pig eyes and registration accuracy was measured by comparison of the resulting transformation with tilt and torsion angles manually induced using a custom-made test bench. Results: Validation based on 12 enucleated pig eyes revealed an overall average registration error of 0.26 ± 0.08° in 87 ± 0.7 ms for tilting and 0.52 ± 0.03° in 94 ± 1.4 ms for torsion. Furthermore, dependency of sampling density on mean registration error was quantitatively assessed. Conclusions: The tumor referencing method presented in combination with the statistical eye model introduced in the past has the potential to enable noninvasive treatment and may improve quality, efficacy, and flexibility of external beam radiotherapy of intraocular tumors

  14. Beam-centric algorithm for pretreatment patient position correction in external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bose, Supratik; Shukla, Himanshu; Maltz, Jonathan

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: In current image guided pretreatment patient position adjustment methods, image registration is used to determine alignment parameters. Since most positioning hardware lacks the full six degrees of freedom (DOF), accuracy is compromised. The authors show that such compromises are often unnecessary when one models the planned treatment beams as part of the adjustment calculation process. The authors present a flexible algorithm for determining optimal realizable adjustments for both step-and-shoot and arc delivery methods. Methods: The beam shape model is based on the polygonal intersection of each beam segment with the plane in pretreatment image volume that passes through machine isocenter perpendicular to the central axis of the beam. Under a virtual six-DOF correction, ideal positions of these polygon vertices are computed. The proposed method determines the couch, gantry, and collimator adjustments that minimize the total mismatch of all vertices over all segments with respect to their ideal positions. Using this geometric error metric as a function of the number of available DOF, the user may select the most desirable correction regime. Results: For a simulated treatment plan consisting of three equally weighted coplanar fixed beams, the authors achieve a 7% residual geometric error (with respect to the ideal correction, considered 0% error) by applying gantry rotation as well as translation and isocentric rotation of the couch. For a clinical head-and-neck intensity modulated radiotherapy plan with seven beams and five segments per beam, the corresponding error is 6%. Correction involving only couch translation (typical clinical practice) leads to a much larger 18% mismatch. Clinically significant consequences of more accurate adjustment are apparent in the dose volume histograms of target and critical structures. Conclusions: The algorithm achieves improvements in delivery accuracy using standard delivery hardware without significantly increasing

  15. Controlling laser ablation plasma with external electrodes. Application to sheath dynamics study and beam physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Isono, Fumika; Nakajima, Mitsuo; Hasegawa, Jun; Kawamura, Tohru; Horioka, Kazuhiko

    2013-01-01

    The potential of laser ablation plasma was controlled successfully by using external ring electrodes. We found that an electron sheath is formed at the plasma boundary, which plays an important role in the potential formation. When the positively biased plasma reaches a grounded grid, electrons in the plasma are turned away and ions are accelerated, which leads to the formation of a virtual anode between the grid and an ion probe. We think that this device which can raise the plasma potential up to order of kV can be applied to the study of sheath dynamics and to a new type of ion beam extraction. (author)

  16. Data Curation Network: How Do We Compare? A Snapshot of Six Academic Library Institutions’ Data Repository and Curation Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa R. Johnston

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Many academic and research institutions are exploring opportunities to better support researchers in sharing their data. As partners in the Data Curation Network project, our six institutions developed a comparison of the current levels of support provided for researchers to meet their data sharing goals through library-based data repository and curation services. Methods: Each institutional lead provided a written summary of their services based on a previously developed structure, followed by group discussion and refinement of descriptions. Service areas assessed include the repository services for data, technologies used, policies, and staffing in place. Conclusions: Through this process we aim to better define the current levels of support offered by our institutions as a first step toward meeting our project's overarching goal to develop a shared staffing model for data curation across multiple institutions.

  17. Digital curation theory and practice

    CERN Document Server

    Hedges, Mark

    2016-01-01

    Digital curation is a multi-skilled profession with a key role to play not only in domains traditionally associated with the management of information, such as libraries and archives, but in a broad range of market sectors. Digital information is a defining feature of our age. As individuals we increasingly communicate and record our lives and memories in digital form, whether consciously or as a by-product of broader social, cultural and business activities. Throughout government and industry, there is a pressing need to manage complex information assets and to exploit their social, cultural and commercial value. This book addresses the key strategic, technical and practical issues around digital curation, curatorial practice, and locating the discussions within an appropriate theoretical context.

  18. Peripheral photon and neutron doses from prostate cancer external beam irradiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bezak, Eva; Takam, Rundgham; Marcu, Loredana G

    2015-12-01

    Peripheral photon and neutron doses from external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) are associated with increased risk of carcinogenesis in the out-of-field organs; thus, dose estimations of secondary radiation are imperative. Peripheral photon and neutron doses from EBRT of prostate carcinoma were measured in Rando phantom. (6)LiF:Mg,Cu,P and (7)LiF:Mg,Cu,P glass-rod thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLDs) were inserted in slices of a Rando phantom followed by exposure to 80 Gy with 18-MV photon four-field 3D-CRT technique. The TLDs were calibrated using 6- and 18-MV X-ray beam. Neutron dose equivalents measured with CR-39 etch-track detectors were used to derive readout-to-neutron dose conversion factor for (6)LiF:Mg,Cu,P TLDs. Average neutron dose equivalents per 1 Gy of isocentre dose were 3.8±0.9 mSv Gy(-1) for thyroid and 7.0±5.4 mSv Gy(-1) for colon. For photons, the average dose equivalents per 1 Gy of isocentre dose were 0.2±0.1 mSv Gy(-1) for thyroid and 8.1±9.7 mSv Gy(-1) for colon. Paired (6)LiF:Mg,Cu,P and (7)LiF:Mg,Cu,P TLDs can be used to measure photon and neutron doses simultaneously. Organs in close proximity to target received larger doses from photons than those from neutrons whereas distally located organs received higher neutron versus photon dose. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Evaluation of adverse events in atomic bomb survivors receiving curative-intent radiation therapy from 2005 to 2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doi, Yoshiko; Murakami, Yuji; Kenjo, Masahiro; Imano, Nobuki; Kimura, Tomoki; Nagata, Yasushi

    2016-01-01

    To evaluate the safety of radiation therapy (RT) in atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors (ABS), we evaluated the frequency of RT-associated adverse events (AEs) in ABS. We selected patients who underwent curative external-beam RT (EBRT) at Hiroshima University Hospital between January 2005 and December 2010 and were born before August 1946; the patients were divided into ABS and non-ABS groups, which groups received identical treatments without stratification. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 220 ABS and 753 non-ABS patients. The median age was 72 years. The median observation durations were 41 and 37 months for the ABS and non-ABS groups, respectively. The ABS group had higher frequencies of women, breast cancer patients, and concurrent chemotherapy and had a lower incidence of only acute hematological AEs. However this tendency disappeared when breast cancer patients were excluded, and no significant differences were observed between the ABS and non-ABS groups regarding Grade ⩾ 3 other acute and late AEs. The overall cumulative incidence of Grade ⩾ 3 late AEs did not significantly differ between the ABS and non-ABS groups. Notable increases in AEs were not observed during or after RT among ABS. This study clarified that stratification is not required when treating ABS with RT. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Accelerated partial breast irradiation with external beam radiotherapy. First results of the German phase 2 trial

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ott, Oliver J.; Strnad, Vratislav; Stillkrieg, Wilhelm; Fietkau, Rainer [University Hospital Erlangen, Department of Radiation Oncology, Erlangen (Germany); Uter, Wolfgang [University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Dept. of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Erlangen (Germany); Beckmann, Matthias W. [University Hospital Erlangen, Dept. of Gynecology, Erlangen (Germany)

    2017-01-15

    To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of external beam three-dimensional (3D) conformal accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) for selected patients with early breast cancer. Between 2011 and 2016, 72 patients were recruited for this prospective phase 2 trial. Patients were eligible for APBI if they had histologically confirmed breast cancer or pure ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a tumor diameter ≤3 cm, clear resection margins ≥2 mm, no axillary lymph node involvement, no distant metastases, tumor bed clips, and were aged ≥50 years. Patients were excluded if mammography showed a multicentric invasive growth pattern, or if they had residual diffuse microcalcifications postoperatively, an extensive intraductal component, or vessel invasion. Patients received 3D conformal external beam APBI with a total dose of 38 Gy in 10 fractions in 1-2 weeks. The trial had been registered at the German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS-ID: DRKS00004417. Median follow-up was 25.5 months (range 1-61 months). Local control was maintained in 71 of 72 patients. The 3-year local recurrence rate was 2.1% (95% confidence interval, CI: 0-6.1%). Early toxicity (grade 1 radiodermatitis) was seen in 34.7% (25/72). Late side effects ≥ grade 3 did not occur. Cosmetic results were rated as excellent/good in 96.7% (59/61). APBI with external beam radiotherapy techniques is feasible with low toxicity and, according to the results of the present and other studies, on the way to becoming a standard treatment option for a selected subgroup of patients. (orig.) [German] Untersuchung der Vertraeglichkeit und Sicherheit der externen, 3-D-konformalen akzelerierten Teilbrustbestrahlung (APBI) fuer ausgewaehlte Patientinnen mit einem fruehen Mammakarzinom. Von 2011 bis 2016 wurden 72 Patientinnen in diese prospektive Phase-2-Studie eingebracht. Einschlusskriterien waren ein histologisch gesichertes Mammakarzinom oder DCIS, ein Tumordurchmesser ≤ 3 cm, tumorfreie Resektionsraender ≥ 2

  1. Bevalac external beamline optics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kalnins, J.G.; Krebs, G.F.; Tekawa, M.M.; Alonso, J.R.

    1987-04-01

    This handbook is intended as an aid for tuning the external particle beam (EPB) lines at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory's Bevalac. The information contained within will be useful to the Bevalac's Main Control Room and experimenters alike. First, some general information is given concerning the EPB lines and beam optics. Next, each beam line is described in detail: schematics of the beam line components are shown, all the variables required to run a beam transport program are presented, beam envelopes are given with wire chamber pictures and magnet currents, focal points and magnifications. Some preliminary scaling factors are then presented which should aid in choosing a given EPB magnet's current for a given central Bevalac field. Finally, some tuning hints are suggested.

  2. The Importance of Contamination Knowledge in Curation - Insights into Mars Sample Return

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrington, A. D.; Calaway, M. J.; Regberg, A. B.; Mitchell, J. L.; Fries, M. D.; Zeigler, R. A.; McCubbin, F. M.

    2018-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), in Houston, TX (henceforth Curation Office) manages the curation of extraterrestrial samples returned by NASA missions and shared collections from international partners, preserving their integrity for future scientific study while providing the samples to the international community in a fair and unbiased way. The Curation Office also curates flight and non-flight reference materials and other materials from spacecraft assembly (e.g., lubricants, paints and gases) of sample return missions that would have the potential to cross-contaminate a present or future NASA astromaterials collection.

  3. External Beam Radiotherapy for Clinically Localized Hormone-Refractory Prostate Cancer: Clinical Significance of Nadir Prostate-Specific Antigen Value Within 12 Months

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogawa, Kazuhiko; Nakamura, Katsumasa; Sasaki, Tomonari; Onishi, Hiroshi; Koizumi, Masahiko; Shioyama, Yoshiyuki; Araya, Masayuki; Mukumoto, Nobutaka M.S.; Mitsumori, Michihide; Teshima, Teruki

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: To analyze retrospectively the results of external beam radiotherapy for clinically localized hormone-refractory prostate cancer and investigate the clinical significance of nadir prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value within 12 months (nPSA12) as an early estimate of clinical outcomes after radiotherapy. Methods and Materials: Eighty-four patients with localized hormone-refractory prostate cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy were retrospectively reviewed. The total radiation doses ranged from 30 to 76 Gy (median, 66 Gy), and the median follow-up period for all 84 patients was 26.9 months (range, 2.7-77.3 months). Results: The 3-year actuarial overall survival, progression-free survival (PFS), and local control rates in all 84 patients after radiotherapy were 67%, 61%, and 93%, respectively. Although distant metastases and/or regional lymph node metastases developed in 34 patients (40%) after radiotherapy, local progression was observed in only 5 patients (6%). Of all 84 patients, the median nPSA12 in patients with clinical failure and in patients without clinical failure was 3.1 ng/mL and 0.5 ng/mL, respectively. When dividing patients according to low (<0.5 ng/mL) and high (≥0.5 ng/mL) nPSA12 levels, the 3-year PFS rate in patients with low nPSA12 and in those with high nPSA12 was 96% and 44%, respectively (p < 0.0001). In univariate analysis, nPSA12 and pretreatment PSA value had a significant impact on PFS, and in multivariate analysis nPSA12 alone was an independent prognostic factor for PFS after radiotherapy. Conclusions: External beam radiotherapy had an excellent local control rate for clinically localized hormone-refractory prostate cancer, and nPSA12 was predictive of clinical outcomes after radiotherapy.

  4. Comparative sensitivities of functional MRI sequences in detection of local recurrence of prostate carcinoma after radical prostatectomy or external-beam radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roy, Catherine; Foudi, Fatah; Charton, Jeanne; Jung, Michel; Lang, Hervé; Saussine, Christian; Jacqmin, Didier

    2013-04-01

    The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the respective accuracies of three types of functional MRI sequences-diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI, and 3D (1)H-MR spectroscopy (MRS)-in the depiction of local prostate cancer recurrence after two different initial therapy options. From a cohort of 83 patients with suspicion of local recurrence based on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) kinetics who were imaged on a 3-T MRI unit using an identical protocol including the three functional sequences with an endorectal coil, we selected 60 patients (group A, 28 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy; group B, 32 patients who underwent external-beam radiation) who had local recurrence ascertained on the basis of a transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy results and a reduction in PSA level after salvage therapy. All patients presented with a local relapse. Sensitivity with T2-weighted MRI and 3D (1)H-MRS sequences was 57% and 53%, respectively, for group A and 71% and 78%, respectively, for group B. DCE-MRI alone showed a sensitivity of 100% and 96%, respectively, for groups A and B. DWI alone had a higher sensitivity for group B (96%) than for group A (71%). The combination of T2-weighted imaging plus DWI plus DCE-MRI provided a sensitivity as high as 100% in group B. The performance of functional imaging sequences for detecting recurrence is different after radical prostatectomy and external-beam radiotherapy. DCE-MRI is a valid and efficient tool to detect prostate cancer recurrence in radical prostatectomy as well as in external-beam radiotherapy. The combination of DCE-MRI and DWI is highly efficient after radiation therapy. Three-dimensional (1)H-MRS needs to be improved. Even though it is not accurate enough, T2-weighted imaging remains essential for the morphologic analysis of the area.

  5. Text Mining to Support Gene Ontology Curation and Vice Versa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruch, Patrick

    2017-01-01

    In this chapter, we explain how text mining can support the curation of molecular biology databases dealing with protein functions. We also show how curated data can play a disruptive role in the developments of text mining methods. We review a decade of efforts to improve the automatic assignment of Gene Ontology (GO) descriptors, the reference ontology for the characterization of genes and gene products. To illustrate the high potential of this approach, we compare the performances of an automatic text categorizer and show a large improvement of +225 % in both precision and recall on benchmarked data. We argue that automatic text categorization functions can ultimately be embedded into a Question-Answering (QA) system to answer questions related to protein functions. Because GO descriptors can be relatively long and specific, traditional QA systems cannot answer such questions. A new type of QA system, so-called Deep QA which uses machine learning methods trained with curated contents, is thus emerging. Finally, future advances of text mining instruments are directly dependent on the availability of high-quality annotated contents at every curation step. Databases workflows must start recording explicitly all the data they curate and ideally also some of the data they do not curate.

  6. Feasibility and efficacy of external beam radiotherapy after hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion with TNF-α and melphalan for limb-saving treatment in locally advanced extremity soft-tissue sarcoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olieman, Annette F.T.; Pras, Elisabeth; Ginkel, Robert J. van; Molenaar, Willemina M.; Koops, Heimen Schraffordt; Hoekstra, Harald J.

    1998-01-01

    Purpose: Hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (HILP) with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and melphalan is associated with a dramatic antitumor effect in locally advanced extremity soft-tissue sarcomas (STS). The aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of adjuvant radiotherapy after HILP with TNF-α, IFN-γ, and melphalan and delayed surgical resection. Methods and Materials: Between 1991 and 1995, 34 patients--16 males and 18 females, median age 50 (range 18-80) years--underwent HILP for locally advanced extremity STS. Resection of the residual tumor mass was performed in most patients after 6-8 weeks. Fifteen patients with histopathological viable tumor after resection received adjuvent 60-70 Gy external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) (44%, HILP + EBRT group). Nineteen patients received HILP without adjuvent EBRT (56%, HILP-only group). Five patients in the HILP-only group had also distant metastases (15%) and received HILP as a palliative treatment. Treatment morbidity, local recurrences, and regional and distant metastases were scored. Results: During a median follow-up of 34 months (range 8-54), limb salvage was achieved in 29 patients (85%): 14 patients after HILP + EBRT and 15 patients after HILP only. None of the patients from the HILP + EBRT group developed local recurrences; however, five patients from the HILP-only did (26%) (p < 0.05). Regional metastases were observed in one patient from the HILP + EBRT group (7%) and in two patients from the HILP-only group who were treated with curative intent (14%). Distant metastases occurred in four patients after HILP + EBRT (27%) and in four patients after HILP only with curative intent (29%). The mean morbidity (subjective, objective, medical management, and analytical evaluation) score in both groups was, respectively, 0.33 for skin and subcutaneous tissue and for muscle and soft tissue, 0.34 (HILP + EBRT group) and 0.33 (HILP-only group). Conclusion: Adjuvent

  7. Injectable silver nanosensors: in vivo dosimetry for external beam radiotherapy using positron emission tomography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Anders Nymark; Rydhög, J. S.; Søndergaard, Rikke Vicki

    2016-01-01

    Development of safe and efficient radiotherapy routines requires quantification of the delivered absorbed dose to the cancer tissue in individual patients. In vivo dosimetry can provide accurate information about the absorbed dose delivered during treatment. In the current study, a novel silver......-nanosensor formulation based on poly(vinylpyrrolidinone)-coated silver nanoparticles formulated in a gelation matrix composed of sucrose acetate isobutyrate has been developed for use as an in vivo dosimeter for external beam radiotherapy. In situ photonuclear reactions trigger the formation of radioactive (106)Ag......, which enables post treatment verification of the delivered dose using positron emission tomography imaging. The silver-nanosensor was investigated in a tissue equivalent thorax phantom using clinical settings and workflow for both standard fractionated radiotherapy (2 Gy) and stereotactic radiotherapy...

  8. The Results of Curative Radiation Therapy for 49 Patients of the Uterine Cervical Carcinomas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryu, Mi Ryeong; Kim, Yeon Sil; Choi, Byung Ock; Yoon, Sei Chul; Shinn, Kyung Sub; Namkoong, Sung Eun; Kim, Seung Jo

    1992-01-01

    Fifty patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix received curative radiotherapy by external irradiation of the whole pelvis and intracavitary radiation at the Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Kangnam St. Mary Hospital from September,1983 to October, 1986. External beam whole pelvic irradiation was done first up to 4500-5940 cGy in 5 weeks to 6.5 weeks, followed by an intracavitary radiation. Total dose of radiation to point A varied from 6500 cGy to l1344 cGy (average 6764 cGy). Of the 50 patients, one patient was lost to follow up and follow up period of the remaining 49 patients ranged from 3 months to 93 months (median 32 months). According to FIGO classification, 6 (12.2%) were in stage I b, 6(12.2%) in stage I a, 25(51%) in stage II b, 7(14%) in stage III, and 5(10.2%) in stage IV. Age of the patients ranged from 33 to 76 years (Median 60 years). Pathologically, forty six(94%) patients had squamous cell carcinoma, 2 (4% had adenocarcinoma, and 1 (2%) had adenosquamous cell carcinoma. Overall response rate was 84%. 5-year survival rate was 49% for entire group (75% for stage I b, 83% for stage II a, 42.5% for stage II b, 25% for stage III, 40% for stage IV). Complications were observed in 11(22.4%) patients, who revealed rectal complications with most common frequency. Others were self limiting trifle ones such as wet desquamation, fatigue, mild leukopenia, etc. The correlation of the survival rate with various factors (age, dose, Hb level, pelvic lymph node status, performance status, local recurrence) was evaluated but showed no statistical significance except the age and local recurrence in this series; survival of patients less than 50 years of age was worse than that of the older, and the presence of local recurrence had worse prognosis(p< 0.05)

  9. Curative radiotherapy of supraglottic cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Yong Ho; Chai, Gyu Young

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of curative radiotherapy in the management of supraglottic cancer. Twenty-one patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the supraglottis were treated with radiotherapy at Gyeongsang National University Hospital between 1990 and 1994. Median follow-up period was 36 months and 95% were observed for at least 2 years. Actuarial survival rate at 5 years was 39.3% for 21 patients. The 5-year actuarial survival rate was 75.0% in Stage I, 42.9% in Stage II, 33.3% in Stage III, and 28.6% in Stage IV(p=0.54). The 5-year local control rate was 52.0% for 21 patients. The 5-year local control rate was 75.0% in Stage I, 57.1% in Stage II, 66.7% in Stage III, and 28.6% in Stage IV(p=0.33). Double primary cancer was developed in 3 patients and those were all esophageal cancers. In early stage(Stage I and II) supraglottic cancer, curative radiotherapy would be a treatment of choice and surgery would be better to be reserved for salvage of radiotherapy failure. In advanced stage(Stage III and IV), radiotherapy alone is inadequate for curative therapy and combination with surgery should be done in operable patients. This report emphasizes the importance of esophagoscopy and esophagogram at the follow-up of patients with supraglottic cancer

  10. An Emergent Micro-Services Approach to Digital Curation Infrastructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen Abrams

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available In order better to meet the needs of its diverse University of California (UC constituencies, the California Digital Library UC Curation Center is re-envisioning its approach to digital curation infrastructure by devolving function into a set of granular, independent, but interoperable micro-services. Since each of these services is small and self-contained, they are more easily developed, deployed, maintained, and enhanced; at the same time, complex curation function can emerge from the strategic combination of atomistic services. The emergent approach emphasizes the persistence of content rather than the systems in which that content is managemed, thus the paradigmatic archival culture is not unduly coupled to any particular technological context. This results in a curation environment that is comprehensive in scope, yet flexible with regard to local policies and practices and sustainable despite the inevitability of disruptive change in technology and user expectation.

  11. Numerical study of chaotic oscillations in the electron beam with virtual cathode in the external non-uniform magnetic fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hramov, Alexander E., E-mail: aeh@nonlin.sgu.r [Faculty of Nonlinear Processes, Saratov State University, 83, Astrakhanskaya, Saratov, 410012 (Russian Federation); Koronovskii, Alexey A., E-mail: alkor@nonlin.sgu.r [Faculty of Nonlinear Processes, Saratov State University, 83, Astrakhanskaya, Saratov, 410012 (Russian Federation); Kurkin, Semen, E-mail: KurkinSA@nonlin.sgu.r [Faculty of Nonlinear Processes, Saratov State University, 83, Astrakhanskaya, Saratov, 410012 (Russian Federation)

    2010-07-05

    In this Letter the results of theoretical investigations of the chaotic microwave oscillator based on the electron beam with a virtual cathode are presented. Nonlinear non-stationary processes in these electron systems are studied by means of numerical analysis of 2.5D model. It was discovered that the non-uniform external magnetic field value controls the dynamical regime of oscillations in the virtual cathode oscillator. The processes of the chaotization of output microwave radiation are described and interpreted from the point of view of the formation and interaction of electron structures (bunches) in the electron beams. The numerical results have shown that the investigated electron system with virtual cathode could be considered as a promising controlled source of wideband chaotic oscillations in the microwave range.

  12. SU-E-T-577: Commissioning of a Deterministic Algorithm for External Photon Beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, T; Finlay, J; Mesina, C; Liu, H

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: We report commissioning results for a deterministic algorithm for external photon beam treatment planning. A deterministic algorithm solves the radiation transport equations directly using a finite difference method, thus improve the accuracy of dose calculation, particularly under heterogeneous conditions with results similar to that of Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Methods: Commissioning data for photon energies 6 – 15 MV includes the percentage depth dose (PDD) measured at SSD = 90 cm and output ratio in water (Spc), both normalized to 10 cm depth, for field sizes between 2 and 40 cm and depths between 0 and 40 cm. Off-axis ratio (OAR) for the same set of field sizes was used at 5 depths (dmax, 5, 10, 20, 30 cm). The final model was compared with the commissioning data as well as additional benchmark data. The benchmark data includes dose per MU determined for 17 points for SSD between 80 and 110 cm, depth between 5 and 20 cm, and lateral offset of up to 16.5 cm. Relative comparisons were made in a heterogeneous phantom made of cork and solid water. Results: Compared to the commissioning beam data, the agreement are generally better than 2% with large errors (up to 13%) observed in the buildup regions of the FDD and penumbra regions of the OAR profiles. The overall mean standard deviation is 0.04% when all data are taken into account. Compared to the benchmark data, the agreements are generally better than 2%. Relative comparison in heterogeneous phantom is in general better than 4%. Conclusion: A commercial deterministic algorithm was commissioned for megavoltage photon beams. In a homogeneous medium, the agreement between the algorithm and measurement at the benchmark points is generally better than 2%. The dose accuracy for a deterministic algorithm is better than a convolution algorithm in heterogeneous medium

  13. Non-rigid CT/CBCT to CBCT registration for online external beam radiotherapy guidance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zachiu, Cornel; de Senneville, Baudouin Denis; Tijssen, Rob H. N.; Kotte, Alexis N. T. J.; Houweling, Antonetta C.; Kerkmeijer, Linda G. W.; Lagendijk, Jan J. W.; Moonen, Chrit T. W.; Ries, Mario

    2018-01-01

    Image-guided external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) allows radiation dose deposition with a high degree of accuracy and precision. Guidance is usually achieved by estimating the displacements, via image registration, between cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and computed tomography (CT) images acquired at different stages of the therapy. The resulting displacements are then used to reposition the patient such that the location of the tumor at the time of treatment matches its position during planning. Moreover, ongoing research aims to use CBCT-CT image registration for online plan adaptation. However, CBCT images are usually acquired using a small number of x-ray projections and/or low beam intensities. This often leads to the images being subject to low contrast, low signal-to-noise ratio and artifacts, which ends-up hampering the image registration process. Previous studies addressed this by integrating additional image processing steps into the registration procedure. However, these steps are usually designed for particular image acquisition schemes, therefore limiting their use on a case-by-case basis. In the current study we address CT to CBCT and CBCT to CBCT registration by the means of the recently proposed EVolution registration algorithm. Contrary to previous approaches, EVolution does not require the integration of additional image processing steps in the registration scheme. Moreover, the algorithm requires a low number of input parameters, is easily parallelizable and provides an elastic deformation on a point-by-point basis. Results have shown that relative to a pure CT-based registration, the intrinsic artifacts present in typical CBCT images only have a sub-millimeter impact on the accuracy and precision of the estimated deformation. In addition, the algorithm has low computational requirements, which are compatible with online image-based guidance of EBRT treatments.

  14. Doughnut laser beam as an incoherent superposition of two petal beams

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Litvin, IA

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Laguerre–Gaussian beams with a nonzero azimuthal index are known to carry orbital angular momentum (OAM), and are routinely created external to laser cavities. The few reports of obtaining such beams from laser cavities suffer from inconclusive...

  15. International survey of academic library data curation practices

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    This survey looks closely at the data curation practices of a sample of research-oriented universities largely from the USA, the UK, Australia and Scandinavia but also including India, South Africa and other countries. The study looks at how major universities are assisting faculty in developing data curation and management plans for large scale data projects, largely in the sciences and social sciences, often as pre-conditions for major grants. The report looks at which departments of universities are shouldering the data curation burden, the personnel involved in the efforts, the costs involved, types of software used, difficulties in procuring scientific experiment logs and other hard to obtain information, types of training offered to faculty, and other issues in large scale data management.

  16. Curating NASA's future extraterrestrial sample collections: How do we achieve maximum proficiency?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCubbin, Francis; Evans, Cynthia; Allton, Judith; Fries, Marc; Righter, Kevin; Zolensky, Michael; Zeigler, Ryan

    2016-07-01

    Introduction: The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E "Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials", JSC is charged with "The curation of all extraterrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions." The Directive goes on to define Curation as including "…documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach." Here we describe some of the ongoing efforts to ensure that the future activities of the NASA Curation Office are working to-wards a state of maximum proficiency. Founding Principle: Curatorial activities began at JSC (Manned Spacecraft Center before 1973) as soon as design and construction planning for the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) began in 1964 [1], not with the return of the Apollo samples in 1969, nor with the completion of the LRL in 1967. This practice has since proven that curation begins as soon as a sample return mission is conceived, and this founding principle continues to return dividends today [e.g., 2]. The Next Decade: Part of the curation process is planning for the future, and we refer to these planning efforts as "advanced curation" [3]. Advanced Curation is tasked with developing procedures, technology, and data sets necessary for curating new types of collections as envisioned by NASA exploration goals. We are (and have been) planning for future curation, including cold curation, extended curation of ices and volatiles, curation of samples with special chemical considerations such as perchlorate-rich samples, curation of organically- and biologically-sensitive samples, and the use of minimally invasive analytical techniques (e.g., micro-CT, [4]) to characterize samples. These efforts will be useful for Mars Sample Return

  17. Content curation en periodismo (y en documentación periodística)

    OpenAIRE

    Guallar, Javier

    2014-01-01

    The last years we have seen the appearance of concepts such as content curation and content curator as, respectively, the activity or system and the professional or specialist. Although the term is originally linked to the world of marketing, -considering marketer's Rohit Bhargava 'Manifesto for the content curator' (2009) as its founding article-, and its features mostly identify with those of the Information Science professional, content curation goes beyond a specific discipline or profess...

  18. Normal tissue tolerance to external beam radiation therapy: Brain and hypophysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haberer, S.; Assouline, A.; Mazeron, J.J.

    2010-01-01

    Anticancer treatments-induced central nervous system neurotoxicity has become a major problem in recent years. Real advances in therapeutic results for cancer treatments have improved patients survival. Nowadays, central nervous system radiation therapy is widely prescribed, both for palliative and curative treatments in the management of malignant or benign tumors. Recent data on tolerance of normal central nervous system to radiation therapy are reviewed here, early and delayed radiation-induced effects are described and dose recommendations are suggested for clinical practice. (authors)

  19. [Curative effect of ozone hydrotherapy for pemphigus].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Fuqiong; Deng, Danqi; Li, Xiaolan; Wang, Wenfang; Xie, Hong; Wu, Yongzhuo; Luan, Chunyan; Yang, Binbin

    2018-02-28

    To determine clinical curative effects of ozone therapy for pemphigus vulgaris.
 Methods: Ozone hydrotherapy was used as an aid treatment for 32 patients with pemphigus vulgaris. The hydropathic compression of potassium permanganate solution for 34 patients with pemphigus vulgaris served as a control. The main treatment for both groups were glucocorticoids and immune inhibitors. The lesions of patients, bacterial infection, usage of antibiotics, patient's satisfaction, and clinical curative effect were evaluated in the 2 groups.
 Results: There was no significant difference in the curative effect and the average length of staying at hospital between the 2 groups (P>0.05). But rate for the usage of antibiotics was significantly reduced in the group of ozone hydrotherapy (P=0.039). The patients were more satisfied in using ozone hydrotherapy than the potassium permanganate solution after 7-day therapy (P>0.05).
 Conclusion: Ozone hydrotherapy is a safe and effective aid method for pemphigus vulgaris. It can reduce the usage of antibiotics.

  20. New ICRU quantities for the environmental and individual monitoring. Standardization of individual dosemeters by using external beams of photon radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brosed, A.; Delgado, A.; Granados, C. E.

    1987-01-01

    The quantities introduced by ICRU for the radiological monitoring are commented, specially those implied in individual protection against external photons. A procedure is proposed in order to standardize the individual dosemeters by using the kerma in air references of CIEMAT-JEN. The reference radiation beams are described in connection with ISO standards. Provisional values are selected for the appropriate conversion and correction factors. (Author) 23 refs

  1. Low-dose-rate intraoperative brachytherapy combined with external beam irradiation in the conservative treatment of soft tissue sarcoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delannes, M.; Thomas, L.; Martel, P.; Bonnevialle, P.; Stoeckle, E.; Chevreau, Ch.; Bui, B.N.; Daly-Schveitzer, N.; Pigneux, J.; Kantor, G.

    2000-01-01

    Purpose: Conservative treatment of soft tissue sarcomas most often implies combination of surgical resection and irradiation. The aim of this study was to evaluate low-dose-rate intraoperative brachytherapy, delivered as a boost, in the local control of primary tumors, with special concern about treatment complications. Methods and Materials: Between 1986 and 1995, 112 patients underwent intraoperative implant. This report focuses on the group of 58 patients with primary sarcomas treated by combination of conservative surgery, intraoperative brachytherapy, and external irradiation. Most of the tumors were located in the lower limbs (46/58--79%). Median size of the tumor was 10 cm, most of the lesions being T2-T3 (51/58--88%), Grade 2 or 3 (48/58--83%). The mean brachytherapy dose was 20 Gy and external beam irradiation dose 45 Gy. In 36/58 cases, iridium wires had to be placed on contact with neurovascular structures. Results: With a median follow-up of 54 months, the 5-year actuarial survival was 64.9%, with a 5-year actuarial local control of 89%. Of the 6 patients with local relapse, 3 were salvaged. Acute side effects, essentially wound healing problems, occurred in 20/58 patients, late side effects in 16/58 patients (7 neuropathies G2 to G4). No amputation was required. The only significant factor correlated with early side effects was the location of the tumor in the lower limb (p = 0.003), and with late side effects the vicinity of the tumor with neurovascular structures (p = 0.009). Conclusion: Brachytherapy allows early delivery of a boost dose in a reduced volume of tissue, precisely mapped by the intraoperative procedure. Combined with external beam irradiation, it is a safe and efficient treatment technique leading to high local control rates and limited functional impairment

  2. Severe dry-eye syndrome following external beam irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parsons, J.T.; Bova, F.J.; Million, R.R.

    1994-01-01

    There are limited data in the literature on the probability of dry-eye complications according to radiotherapy dose. This study investigates the risk of radiation-induced severe dry-eye syndrome in patients in whom an entire orbit was exposed to fractionated external beam irradiation. Between October 1964 and May 1989, 33 patients with extracranial head and neck tumors received irradiation of an entire orbit. Most patients were treated with 60 Co. The dose to the lacrimal apparatus was calculated at a depth of 1 cm from the anterior skin surface, the approximate depth of the major lacrimal gland. The end point of the study was severe dry-eye syndrome sufficient to produce visual loss secondary to corneal opacification, ulceration, or vascularization. Twenty patients developed severe dry-eye syndrome. All 17 patients who received dose ≥57Gy developed severe dry-eye syndrome. Three (19%) of 16 patients who received doses ≥45 Gy developed severe dry-eye syndrome; injuries in the latter group were much more slower to develop (4 to 11 years) than in the higher dose group, in whom corneal vascularization and opacification were usually pronounced within 9-10 months. There were no data for the range of doses between 45.01 and 56.99 Gy. The data did not suggest an increased risk of severe dry-eye syndrome with increasing age. Data from the current series and the literature are combined to construct a sigmoid dose response curve. The incidence of injury increases from 0% reported after doses ≥30 Gy to 100% after doses ≥57 Gy. 13 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs

  3. Intraoperative plus external beam irradiation in nonresectable lung cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arian-Schad, K.S.; Juettner, F.M.; Ratzenhofer, B.; Leitner, H.; Porsch, G.; Pinter, H.; Ebner, F.; Hackl, A.G.; Friehs, G.B.

    1990-01-01

    Since 1987, 24 patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), stage T 1-3 N 0-2 M 0 , have undergone lymph node dissection and intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) to the primary with 10-20 Gy. Patient selection criteria were nonresectability based on severe cardiorespiratory impairment, no radiological evidence of distant metastases and a Karnofsky performance status of >80. In 18 patients the IORT procedure was followed by an external beam radiation series (EBR) including the tumor with 46 Gy and the regional lymph nodes with 45/56 Gy. The tumor response was assessed by CAT-scan volumetry before the institution of IORT, 4 weeks later, before the onset of EBR, 8 weeks after the combined treatment course and on a 3 months basis thereafter. Prospectively, MRI of the thorax with/without Gadolinium-DTPA was performed to examine contrast enhancement and signal behavior of the tumor, in an attempt to differentiate residual disease compared to therapy-related collateral damage. So far, 18 patients have completed the combined treatment course with a median follow-up of 11 months (range 4.5 to 25 months). The overall local response rate (CR and PR) was 88.2 per cent. In detail, 11 complete responses, 6 partial responses and one minimal response were observed. The overall and recurrent-free survival at 25 months was 49.6 per cent and 83.3 per cent, respectively. (author). 31 refs.; 2 figs.; 3 tabs

  4. Directly e-mailing authors of newly published papers encourages community curation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bunt, Stephanie M.; Grumbling, Gary B.; Field, Helen I.; Marygold, Steven J.; Brown, Nicholas H.; Millburn, Gillian H.

    2012-01-01

    Much of the data within Model Organism Databases (MODs) comes from manual curation of the primary research literature. Given limited funding and an increasing density of published material, a significant challenge facing all MODs is how to efficiently and effectively prioritize the most relevant research papers for detailed curation. Here, we report recent improvements to the triaging process used by FlyBase. We describe an automated method to directly e-mail corresponding authors of new papers, requesting that they list the genes studied and indicate (‘flag’) the types of data described in the paper using an online tool. Based on the author-assigned flags, papers are then prioritized for detailed curation and channelled to appropriate curator teams for full data extraction. The overall response rate has been 44% and the flagging of data types by authors is sufficiently accurate for effective prioritization of papers. In summary, we have established a sustainable community curation program, with the result that FlyBase curators now spend less time triaging and can devote more effort to the specialized task of detailed data extraction. Database URL: http://flybase.org/ PMID:22554788

  5. Self-Nulling Beam Combiner Using No External Phase Inverter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloemhof, Eric E.

    2010-01-01

    A self-nulling beam combiner is proposed that completely eliminates the phase inversion subsystem from the nulling interferometer, and instead uses the intrinsic phase shifts in the beam splitters. Simplifying the flight instrument in this way will be a valuable enhancement of mission reliability. The tighter tolerances on R = T (R being reflection and T being transmission coefficients) required by the self-nulling configuration actually impose no new constraints on the architecture, as two adaptive nullers must be situated between beam splitters to correct small errors in the coatings. The new feature is exploiting the natural phase shifts in beam combiners to achieve the 180 phase inversion necessary for nulling. The advantage over prior art is that an entire subsystem, the field-flipping optics, can be eliminated. For ultimate simplicity in the flight instrument, one might fabricate coatings to very high tolerances and dispense with the adaptive nullers altogether, with all their moving parts, along with the field flipper subsystem. A single adaptive nuller upstream of the beam combiner may be required to correct beam train errors (systematic noise), but in some circumstances phase chopping reduces these errors substantially, and there may be ways to further reduce the chop residuals. Though such coatings are beyond the current state of the art, the mechanical simplicity and robustness of a flight system without field flipper or adaptive nullers would perhaps justify considerable effort on coating fabrication.

  6. Curated routes: the project of developing experiential tracks in sub-urban landscape

    OpenAIRE

    Papathanasiou, Maximi; Uyttenhove, Pieter

    2015-01-01

    The Curated Routes project reflects on the visiting routes’ ability to make apparent the internal characteristics of urban environments. The project’s name allude to the intellectual function of curation and the materiality of routes. Curate deals with the practice of arranging material –tangible or intangible- in a way that a new understanding of an area is revealed. The word routes refers to the linear associations that link places and guide movement. The Curated Routes aim to reinforce the...

  7. Advanced Curation Activities at NASA: Implications for Astrobiological Studies of Future Sample Collections

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCubbin, F. M.; Evans, C. A.; Fries, M. D.; Harrington, A. D.; Regberg, A. B.; Snead, C. J.; Zeigler, R. A.

    2017-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10F JSC is charged with curation of all extraterrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions. The Directive goes on to define Curation as including documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for re-search, education, and public outreach. Here we briefly describe NASA's astromaterials collections and our ongoing efforts related to enhancing the utility of our current collections as well as our efforts to prepare for future sample return missions. We collectively refer to these efforts as advanced curation.

  8. How should the completeness and quality of curated nanomaterial data be evaluated?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchese Robinson, Richard L.; Lynch, Iseult; Peijnenburg, Willie; Rumble, John; Klaessig, Fred; Marquardt, Clarissa; Rauscher, Hubert; Puzyn, Tomasz; Purian, Ronit; Åberg, Christoffer; Karcher, Sandra; Vriens, Hanne; Hoet, Peter; Hoover, Mark D.; Hendren, Christine Ogilvie; Harper, Stacey L.

    2016-05-01

    Nanotechnology is of increasing significance. Curation of nanomaterial data into electronic databases offers opportunities to better understand and predict nanomaterials' behaviour. This supports innovation in, and regulation of, nanotechnology. It is commonly understood that curated data need to be sufficiently complete and of sufficient quality to serve their intended purpose. However, assessing data completeness and quality is non-trivial in general and is arguably especially difficult in the nanoscience area, given its highly multidisciplinary nature. The current article, part of the Nanomaterial Data Curation Initiative series, addresses how to assess the completeness and quality of (curated) nanomaterial data. In order to address this key challenge, a variety of related issues are discussed: the meaning and importance of data completeness and quality, existing approaches to their assessment and the key challenges associated with evaluating the completeness and quality of curated nanomaterial data. Considerations which are specific to the nanoscience area and lessons which can be learned from other relevant scientific disciplines are considered. Hence, the scope of this discussion ranges from physicochemical characterisation requirements for nanomaterials and interference of nanomaterials with nanotoxicology assays to broader issues such as minimum information checklists, toxicology data quality schemes and computational approaches that facilitate evaluation of the completeness and quality of (curated) data. This discussion is informed by a literature review and a survey of key nanomaterial data curation stakeholders. Finally, drawing upon this discussion, recommendations are presented concerning the central question: how should the completeness and quality of curated nanomaterial data be evaluated?Nanotechnology is of increasing significance. Curation of nanomaterial data into electronic databases offers opportunities to better understand and predict

  9. Ion-beam plasma and propagation of intense compensated ion beams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gabovich, M D [AN Ukrainskoj SSR, Kiev. Inst. Fiziki

    1977-02-01

    Discussed are the results of investigation of plasma properties received by neutralization of intense ion beam space charge. Considered is the process of ion beam compensation by charges, formed as a result of gas ionization by this beam or by externally introduced ones. Emphasis is placed on collective phenomena in ion-beam plasma, in particular on non-linear effects limiting amplitude of oscillations. It is shown that not only dynamic decompensation but the Coulomb collisions of ions with electrons as well as other collective oscillations significantly affects the propagation of compensated ion beams. All the processes are to be taken into account in solving the problem of obtaining ''superdense'' compensated beams.

  10. Ion-beam plasma and propagation of intense compensated ion beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gabovich, M.D.

    1977-01-01

    Discussed are the results of investigation of plasma properties recieved by neutralization of intensive ion beam space charge. Considered is the process of ion beam compensation by charges, formed as a result of gas ionization by this beam or by externally introduced ones. Emphasis is placed on collective phenomena in ion-beam plasma, in particular on non-linear effects limiting amplitude of oscillations. It is shown, that not only dinamic decompensation but the Coulomb collisions of ions with electrons as well as other collective oscillations significantly affects the propagation of compensated ion beams. All the processes are to be taken into account at solving the problem of obtaining ''superdense'' compensated beams

  11. External beam radiotherapy for head and neck carcinomas with preservation of parotid function: indications, techniques and long term results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding-Jen, Lee; Fairbanks, Robert; Lee, Frank C.

    1995-01-01

    Purpose/Objective: To reduce the incidence of radiotherapy induced xerostomia, we developed techniques of external beam irradiation with preservation of parotid function for patients with early to intermediate stage carcinomas of the head and neck. This analysis reports the efficacy of our methods. Materials and Methods: From 1985 to 1993, 42 patients with early to intermediate stage (T 1-3 N 0-2 M 0 ) head and neck carcinomas received a course of external beam radiotherapy. There were 13 patients with carcinoma of the oropharynx, 26 with carcinomas of the oral cavity and 3 with carcinomas of the hypopharynx (lateral wall). 7 patients received a course of definitive radiotherapy (66 to 72 Gy), while 35 patients received a course of postoperative radiotherapy (60-66 Gy). The fraction size was 2 Gy per day. In terms of treatment planning, the primary site (plus a margin) and the ipsilateral neck were covered by the irradiation volume. The ipsilateral parotid gland was within the treatment volume while the contralateral parotid gland was not. The most frequently used field arrangement was a paired wedge fields with an AP (medially just across the mid-line) and an ipsilateral posterior oblique field (usually 30 deg. off vertical axis with a spinal cord block). Multiple level of contours were taken and transmission blocks were used to improve dose homogeneity. In all patients, the ipsilateral parotid gland (and the neck) was irradiated while the contralateral parotid gland (and the neck) was not. Results: With a median follow up of 4 years (ranged from 1.5 to 9 years), only one patient developed symptomatic xerostomia. None had radiation induced dental caries. No patient developed recurrent disease in the contralateral neck. The local control rate was (38(42)) (90%) in the primary site and(41(42)) (98%) in the ipsilateral neck. Conclusion: With appropriate treatment planning, external beam irradiation with parotid function preservation can be achieved. Our results

  12. The development of an interdepartmental audit as part of a physics quality assurance programme for external beam therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonnett, D.E.; Jaukett, R.J.; Mills, J.A.; Martin-Smith, P.

    1994-01-01

    A cost-effective audit system has been developed that will both detect systematic error in data and procedures, and evaluate the quality assurance programme provided by a physics department for radiotherapy. The audit has been developed for external beam radiotherapy and assesses one modality and one treatment machine per year. The method of assessing the quality assurance programme and the schedule of measurements are described. The process is illustrated using the results of trial audits between the medical physics department at Coventry and Leicester. (author)

  13. MD 400: LHC emittance growth in presence of an external source of noise during collision

    CERN Document Server

    Barranco Garcia, Javier; Pieloni, Tatiana; Tambasco, Claudia; Trad, Georges; Valuch, Daniel; Betz, Michael; Wendt, Manfred; Pojer, Mirko; Solfaroli Camillocci, Matteo; Salvachua Ferrando, Belen Maria; Fuchsberger, Kajetan; Albert, Markus; Qiang, Ji; CERN. Geneva. ATS Department

    2016-01-01

    The interplay between head-on beam-beam interaction and external sources of noise can be a significant source of emittance growth, especially when considering large beam-beam tune shifts as for the HL-LHC upgrade project. In this experiment the emittance growth of colliding bunches with different brightness and therefore different beam-beam parameters in the presence of an external white noise source with different amplitudes is measured for different gains of the transverse feedback.

  14. Successful treatment of a 67-year-old woman with urethral adenocarcinoma with the use of external beam radiotherapy and image guided adaptive interstitial brachytherapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mujkanovic, Jasmin; Tanderup, Kari; Agerbæk, Mads

    2016-01-01

    Primary urethral cancer (PUC) is a very rare disease. This case report illustrates a successful treatment approach of a 67-year-old woman with a urethral adenocarcinoma selected for an organ preserving treatment with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and interstitial brachytherapy (BT) boost, using...

  15. Locally advanced prostatic cancer: experience with combined pelvic external beam irradiation and interstitial thermobrachytherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hancock, Steven L; Kapp, Daniel S; Goffinet, Don R; Prionas, Stavros; Cox, Richard S; Bagshaw, Malcolm A

    1995-07-01

    Purpose: Recurrence of prostatic carcinoma within the prostate gland remains a significant problem for patients who present with locally advanced disease. In an attempt to improve the local control of such tumors, an iridium-192 transperineal, template-guided prostatic implant was combined wit radiofrequency-induced hyperthermia after external beam irradiation of the pelvic lymph nodes and prostate gland. This study evaluates the influence of pre-treatment patient characteristics and treatment parameters upon outcome. Materials and Methods: Between July 1987 and April 1992 33 patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate were selected for treatment: 28 of these patients had extensive local disease on clinical examination (AJCC-4 stages T2b or c: 9 patients; T3: 19 patients); two patients with T2a tumors had Gleason grade 5 + 4 disease or disproportionately high prostate specific antigen (PSA) values and a mass encroaching upon the bladder on computerized tomographic scan. Three patients with more clinically limited T2a or T2b involvement elected implantation in lieu of an external beam irradiation boost. The mean pre-treatment serum PSA value was 25.6 ng/ml (Hybritech scale), with values of above 19 ng/ml for 17 of the patients. Treatment consisted of 50 Gy of external beam irradiation to the prostate and pelvic lymph nodes followed by a transperineal needle implant of the prostate gland. Thirty-two patients had no evidence of pelvic nodal involvement during exploration at laparotomy performed after external irradiation, and 25 of these had lymph node samplings that were histologically negative for metastasis. Perineal template oriented needles were placed by inspection and palpation at laparotomy; 2 were performed closed under ultrasound guidance. Needles were afterloaded with {sup 192}Ir to provide a dose of 30 Gy to the periphery of the prostate gland. Interstitial radiofrequency-induced hyperthermia treatments were given in conjunction with the implant, one just

  16. Intraoperative electron beam radiation therapy (IOEBRT) for carcinoma of the exocrine pancreas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dobelbower, R.R. Jr.; Konski, A.A.; Merrick, H.W. III; Bronn, D.G.; Schifeling, D.; Kamen, C.

    1991-01-01

    The abdominal cavities of 50 patients were explored in a specially constructed intraoperative radiotherapy operating amphitheater at the Medical College of Ohio. Twenty-six patients were treated with intraoperative and postoperative precision high dose external beam therapy, 12 with intraoperative irradiation but no external beam therapy, and 12 with palliative surgery alone. All but two patients completed the postoperative external beam radiation therapy as initially prescribed. The median survival time for patients treated with palliative surgery alone was 4 months, and that for patients treated with intraoperative radiotherapy without external beam therapy was 3.5 months. Patients undergoing intraoperative irradiation and external beam radiation therapy had a median survival time of 10.5 months. Four patients died within 30 days of surgery and two patients died of gastrointestinal hemorrhage 5 months posttreatment

  17. Palliative external-beam radiotherapy for bone metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Shinya; Hayashi; Hidekazu; Tanaka; Hiroaki; Hoshi

    2014-01-01

    The incidence of bone metastases(BMs)from hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is relatively low compared to those of other cancers,but it has increased recently,especially in Asian countries.Typically,BMs from HCC appear radiologically as osteolytic,destructive,and expansive components with large,bulky soft-tissue masses.These soft-tissue masses are unique to bone metastases from HCC and often replace the normal bone matrix and exhibit expansive growth.They often compress the peripheral nerves,spinal cord,or cranial nerves,causing not only bone pain but also neuropathic pain and neurological symptoms.In patients with spinal BMs,the consequent metastatic spinal cord compression(MSCC)causes paralysis.Skull base metastases(SBMs)with cranial nerve involvement can cause neurological symptoms.Therefore,patients with bony lesions often suffer from pain or neurological symptoms that have a severe,adverse effect on the quality of life.External-beam radiotherapy(EBRT)can effectively relieve bone pain and neurological symptoms caused by BMs.However,EBRT is not yet widely used for the palliative management of BMs from HCC because of the limited number of relevant studies.Furthermore,the optimal dosing schedule remains unclear,despite clinical evidence to support single-fraction ra-diation schedules for primary cancers.In this review,we outline data describing palliative EBRT for BMs from HCC in the context of(1)bone pain;(2)MSCC;and(3)SBMs.

  18. Absorbed dose determination in external beam radiotherapy. An international code of practice for dosimetry based on standards of absorbed dose to water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2000-01-01

    The International Atomic Energy Agency published in 1987 an International Code of Practice entitled 'Absorbed Dose Determination in Photon and Electron Beams' (IAEA Technical Reports Series No. 277 (TRS-277)), recommending procedures to obtain the absorbed dose in water from measurements made with an ionization chamber in external beam radiotherapy. A second edition of TRS-277 was published in 1997 updating the dosimetry of photon beams, mainly kilovoltage X rays. Another International Code of Practice for radiotherapy dosimetry entitled 'The Use of Plane-Parallel Ionization Chambers in High Energy Electron and Photon Beams' (IAEA Technical Reports Series No. 381 (TRS-381)) was published in 1997 to further update TRS-277 and complement it with respect to the area of parallel-plate ionization chambers. Both codes have proven extremely valuable for users involved in the dosimetry of the radiation beams used in radiotherapy. In TRS-277 the calibration of the ionization chambers was based on primary standards of air kerma; this procedure was also used in TRS-381, but the new trend of calibrating ionization chambers directly in a water phantom in terms of absorbed dose to water was introduced. The development of primary standards of absorbed dose to water for high energy photon and electron beams, and improvements in radiation dosimetry concepts, offer the possibility of reducing the uncertainty in the dosimetry of radiotherapy beams. The dosimetry of kilovoltage X rays, as well as that of proton and heavy ion beams, interest in which has grown considerably in recent years, can also be based on these standards. Thus a coherent dosimetry system based on standards of absorbed dose to water is possible for practically all radiotherapy beams. Many Primary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories (PSDLs) already provide calibrations in terms of absorbed dose to water at the radiation quality of 60 Co gamma rays. Some laboratories have extended calibrations to high energy photon and

  19. DCC DIFFUSE Standards Frameworks: A Standards Path through the Curation Lifecycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Higgins

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 DCC DIFFUSE Standards Frameworks aims to offer domain specific advice on standards relevant to digital preservation and curation, to help curators identify which standards they should be using and where they can be appropriately implemented, to ensure authoritative digital material. The Project uses the DCC Curation Lifecycle Model and Web 2.0 technology, to visually present standards frameworks for a number of disciplines. The Digital Curation Centre (DCC is actively working with a different relevant organisations to present searchable frameworks of standards, for a number of domains. These include digital repositories, records management, the geo-information sector, archives and the museum sector. Other domains, such as e-science, will shortly be investigated.

  20. External Beam Radiotherapy for Colon Cancer: Patterns of Care

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunn, Emily F.; Kozak, Kevin R.; Moody, John S.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: Despite its common and well characterized use in other gastrointestinal malignancies, little is known about radiotherapy (RT) use in nonmetastatic colon cancer in the United States. To address the paucity of data regarding RT use in colon cancer management, we examined the RT patterns of care in this patient population. Methods and Materials: Patients with nonmetastatic colon cancer, diagnosed between 1988 and 2005, were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Univariate and multivariate methods were used to identify factors associated with RT use. Results: On univariate analysis, tumor location, age, sex, race, T stage, N stage, and geographic location were each associated with differences in RT use (all p < 0.01). In general, younger patients, male patients, and patients with more advanced disease were more likely to receive RT. On multivariate analysis, tumor location, age, gender, T and N stage, time of diagnosis and geographic location were significantly associated with RT use (all p < 0.001). Race, however, was not associated with RT use. On multivariate analysis, patients diagnosed in 1988 were 2.5 times more likely to receive RT than those diagnosed in 2005 (p = 0.001). Temporal changes in RT use reflect a responsiveness to evolving evidence related to the therapeutic benefits of adjuvant RT. Conclusions: External beam RT is infrequently used for colon cancer, and its use varies according to patient and tumor characteristics. RT use has declined markedly since the late 1980s; however, it continues to be used for nonmetastatic disease in a highly individualized manner.

  1. Cracking of Beams Strengthened with Externally Bonded SRP Tapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krzywoń, Rafał

    2017-10-01

    Paper discusses strengthening efficiency of relatively new kind of SRP composite based on high strength steel wires. They are made of ultra-high strength steel primarily used in cords of car tires. Through advanced treatment, the mechanical properties of SRP steel are similar to other high carbon cold drawn steels used in construction industry. Strength significantly exceed 2000 MPa, there is no perfect plasticity at yield stress level. Almost linear stress-strain relationship makes SRP steel mechanical properties similar to carbon fibers. Also flexibility and weight ratio of the composite overlay is slightly worse than CFRP strip. Despite these advantages SRP is not as popular as other composites reinforced with fibers of high strength. This is due to the small number of studies of SRP behavior and applicability. Paper shows selected results of the laboratory test of beams strengthened with use of SRP and CFRP externally bonded overlays. Attention has been focused primarily on the phenomenon of cracking. Comparison include the cracking moment, crack width and spacing, coverage of crack zone. Despite the somewhat lower rigidity of SRP tapes, they have a much better adhesion to concrete, so that the crack width is comparable in almost the whole load range. The paper also includes an assessment of the common methods of checking the condition of cracking in relation to the tested SRP strengthening. The paper presents actual calculation procedures to determine the crack spacing and crack width. The discussed formulas are verified with results of provided laboratory tests.

  2. Cobalt-60 Machines and Medical Linear Accelerators: Competing Technologies for External Beam Radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Healy, B J; van der Merwe, D; Christaki, K E; Meghzifene, A

    2017-02-01

    Medical linear accelerators (linacs) and cobalt-60 machines are both mature technologies for external beam radiotherapy. A comparison is made between these two technologies in terms of infrastructure and maintenance, dosimetry, shielding requirements, staffing, costs, security, patient throughput and clinical use. Infrastructure and maintenance are more demanding for linacs due to the complex electric componentry. In dosimetry, a higher beam energy, modulated dose rate and smaller focal spot size mean that it is easier to create an optimised treatment with a linac for conformal dose coverage of the tumour while sparing healthy organs at risk. In shielding, the requirements for a concrete bunker are similar for cobalt-60 machines and linacs but extra shielding and protection from neutrons are required for linacs. Staffing levels can be higher for linacs and more staff training is required for linacs. Life cycle costs are higher for linacs, especially multi-energy linacs. Security is more complex for cobalt-60 machines because of the high activity radioactive source. Patient throughput can be affected by source decay for cobalt-60 machines but poor maintenance and breakdowns can severely affect patient throughput for linacs. In clinical use, more complex treatment techniques are easier to achieve with linacs, and the availability of electron beams on high-energy linacs can be useful for certain treatments. In summary, there is no simple answer to the question of the choice of either cobalt-60 machines or linacs for radiotherapy in low- and middle-income countries. In fact a radiotherapy department with a combination of technologies, including orthovoltage X-ray units, may be an option. Local needs, conditions and resources will have to be factored into any decision on technology taking into account the characteristics of both forms of teletherapy, with the primary goal being the sustainability of the radiotherapy service over the useful lifetime of the equipment

  3. Beam front accelerators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reiser, M.

    1982-01-01

    An intense relativistic electron beam cannot propagate in a metal drift tube when the current exceeds the space charge limit. Very high charge density and electric field gradients (10 2 to 10 3 MV/m) develop at the beam front and the electrons are reflected. When a neutral gas or a plasma is present, collective acceleration of positive ions occur, and the resulting charge neutralization enables the beam to propagate. Experimental results, theoretical understanding, and schemes to achieve high ion energies by external control of the beam front velocity will be reviewed

  4. Short-term Androgen-Deprivation Therapy Improves Prostate Cancer-Specific Mortality in Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer Patients Undergoing Dose-Escalated External Beam Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zumsteg, Zachary S.; Spratt, Daniel E.; Pei, Xin; Yamada, Yoshiya; Kalikstein, Abraham; Kuk, Deborah; Zhang, Zhigang; Zelefsky, Michael J.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: We investigated the benefit of short-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (PC) receiving dose-escalated external beam radiation therapy. Methods and Materials: The present retrospective study comprised 710 intermediate-risk PC patients receiving external beam radiation therapy with doses of ≥81 Gy at a single institution from 1992 to 2005, including 357 patients receiving neoadjuvant and concurrent ADT. Prostate-specific antigen recurrence-free survival (PSA-RFS) and distant metastasis (DM) were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models. PC-specific mortality (PCSM) was assessed using competing-risks analysis. Results: The median follow-up was 7.9 years. Despite being more likely to have higher PSA levels, Gleason score 4 + 3 = 7, multiple National Comprehensive Cancer Network intermediate-risk factors, and older age (P≤.001 for all comparisons), patients receiving ADT had improved PSA-RFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.598; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.435-0.841; P=.003), DM (HR, 0.424; 95% CI, 0.219-0.819; P=.011), and PCSM (HR, 0.380; 95% CI, 0.157-0.921; P=.032) on univariate analysis. Using multivariate analysis, ADT was an even stronger predictor of improved PSA-RFS (adjusted HR [AHR], 0.516; 95% CI, 0.360-0.739; P<.001), DM (AHR, 0.347; 95% CI, 0.176-0.685; P=.002), and PCSM (AHR, 0.297; 95% CI, 0.128-0.685; P=.004). Gleason score 4 + 3 = 7 and ≥50% positive biopsy cores were other independent predictors of PCSM. Conclusions: Short-term ADT improves PSA-RFS, DM, and PCSM in patients with intermediate-risk PC undergoing dose-escalated external beam radiation therapy

  5. Two Methods For Simulating the Strong-Strong Beam-Beam Interaction in Hadron Colliders

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Warnock, Robert L.

    2002-01-01

    We present and compare the method of weighted macro particle tracking and the Perron-Frobenius operator technique for simulating the time evolution of two beams coupled via the collective beam-beam interaction in 2-D and 4-D (transverse) phase space. The coherent dipole modes, with and without lattice nonlinearities and external excitation, are studied by means of the Vlasov-Poisson system

  6. Early observed transient prostate-specific antigen elevations on a pilot study of external beam radiation therapy and fractionated MRI guided High Dose Rate brachytherapy boost

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Anurag K; Godette, Denise J; Stall, Bronwyn R; Coleman, C Norman; Camphausen, Kevin; Ménard, Cynthia; Guion, Peter; Susil, Robert C; Citrin, Deborah E; Ning, Holly; Miller, Robert W; Ullman, Karen; Smith, Sharon; Crouse, Nancy Sears

    2006-01-01

    To report early observation of transient PSA elevations on this pilot study of external beam radiation therapy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy boost. Eleven patients with intermediate-risk and high-risk localized prostate cancer received MRI guided HDR brachytherapy (10.5 Gy each fraction) before and after a course of external beam radiotherapy (46 Gy). Two patients continued on hormones during follow-up and were censored for this analysis. Four patients discontinued hormone therapy after RT. Five patients did not receive hormones. PSA bounce is defined as a rise in PSA values with a subsequent fall below the nadir value or to below 20% of the maximum PSA level. Six previously published definitions of biochemical failure to distinguish true failure from were tested: definition 1, rise >0.2 ng/mL; definition 2, rise >0.4 ng/mL; definition 3, rise >35% of previous value; definition 4, ASTRO defined guidelines, definition 5 nadir + 2 ng/ml, and definition 6, nadir + 3 ng/ml. Median follow-up was 24 months (range 18–36 mo). During follow-up, the incidence of transient PSA elevation was: 55% for definition 1, 44% for definition 2, 55% for definition 3, 33% for definition 4, 11% for definition 5, and 11% for definition 6. We observed a substantial incidence of transient elevations in PSA following combined external beam radiation and HDR brachytherapy for prostate cancer. Such elevations seem to be self-limited and should not trigger initiation of salvage therapies. No definition of failure was completely predictive

  7. A Bile Duct Cancer Patient Whose Stent Shifted Significantly Over the Course of External Beam Radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yun, Hyong Geun

    2011-01-01

    The author reports a bile duct cancer patient whose stent shifted significantly from right to left over the course of radiotherapy. The 80-year-old female patient had a short stature with thoracic kyphosis and mutiple spinal compression fractures. She was also emaciated and very lean. By comparing the weekly scanned computed tomography images, the author found her stent to have shifted by more than 4 cm from right to left over the course of external beam radiotherapy. The results of this case study suggest that for a very lean and emaciated kyphotic bile duct cancer patient, the possibility of large interfractional movement of the bile duct or stent during radiotherapy should be considered.

  8. The Annotometer; Encouraging uptake and use of freely available curation tools.

    OpenAIRE

    Zhe, Xiao Si; Edmunds, Scott; Li, Peter; Goodman, Laurie; Hunter, Christopher

    2016-01-01

    In recent years it has become clear that the amount of data being generated worldwide cannot be curated and annotated by any individual or small group. Currently, there is recognition that one of the best ways to provide ongoing curation is to employ the power of the community. To achieve this, the first hurdle to overcome was the development of user-friendly tools and apps that non-expert curators would be comfortable and capable of using. Such tools are now in place, inclu...

  9. Combination of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with fractionated external beam radiotherapy for treatment of advanced symptomatic meningioma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kreissl, Michael C; Flentje, Michael; Sweeney, Reinhart A; Hänscheid, Heribert; Löhr, Mario; Verburg, Frederik A; Schiller, Markus; Lassmann, Michael; Reiners, Christoph; Samnick, Samuel S; Buck, Andreas K

    2012-01-01

    External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is the treatment of choice for irresectable meningioma. Due to the strong expression of somatostatin receptors, peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) has been used in advanced cases. We assessed the feasibility and tolerability of a combination of both treatment modalities in advanced symptomatic meningioma. 10 patients with irresectable meningioma were treated with PRRT ( 177 Lu-DOTA0,Tyr3 octreotate or - DOTA0,Tyr3 octreotide) followed by external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). EBRT performed after PRRT was continued over 5–6 weeks in IMRT technique (median dose: 53.0 Gy). All patients were assessed morphologically and by positron emission tomography (PET) before therapy and were restaged after 3–6 months. Side effects were evaluated according to CTCAE 4.0. Median tumor dose achieved by PRRT was 7.2 Gy. During PRRT and EBRT, no side effects > CTCAE grade 2 were noted. All patients reported stabilization or improvement of tumor-associated symptoms, no morphologic tumor progression was observed in MR-imaging (median follow-up: 13.4 months). The median pre-therapeutic SUV max in the meningiomas was 14.2 (range: 4.3–68.7). All patients with a second PET after combined PRRT + EBRT showed an increase in SUV max (median: 37%; range: 15%–46%) to a median value of 23.7 (range: 8.0–119.0; 7 patients) while PET-estimated volume generally decreased to 81 ± 21% of the initial volume. The combination of PRRT and EBRT is feasible and well tolerated. This approach represents an attractive strategy for the treatment of recurring or progressive symptomatic meningioma, which should be further evaluated

  10. Advances in Astromaterials Curation: Supporting Future Sample Return Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, C. A.; Zeigler, R. A.; Fries, M. D..; Righter, K.; Allton, J. H.; Zolensky, M. E.; Calaway, M. J.; Bell, M. S.

    2015-01-01

    NASA's Astromaterials, curated at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, are the most extensive, best-documented, and leastcontaminated extraterrestrial samples that are provided to the worldwide research community. These samples include lunar samples from the Apollo missions, meteorites collected over nearly 40 years of expeditions to Antarctica (providing samples of dozens of asteroid bodies, the Moon, and Mars), Genesis solar wind samples, cosmic dust collected by NASA's high altitude airplanes, Comet Wild 2 and interstellar dust samples from the Stardust mission, and asteroid samples from JAXA's Hayabusa mission. A full account of NASA's curation efforts for these collections is provided by Allen, et al [1]. On average, we annually allocate about 1500 individual samples from NASA's astromaterials collections to hundreds of researchers from around the world, including graduate students and post-doctoral scientists; our allocation rate has roughly doubled over the past 10 years. The curation protocols developed for the lunar samples returned from the Apollo missions remain relevant and are adapted to new and future missions. Several lessons from the Apollo missions, including the need for early involvement of curation scientists in mission planning [1], have been applied to all subsequent sample return campaigns. From the 2013 National Academy of Sciences report [2]: "Curation is the critical interface between sample return missions and laboratory research. Proper curation has maintained the scientific integrity and utility of the Apollo, Antarctic meteorite, and cosmic dust collections for decades. Each of these collections continues to yield important new science. In the past decade, new state-of-the-art curatorial facilities for the Genesis and Stardust missions were key to the scientific breakthroughs provided by these missions." The results speak for themselves: research on NASA's astromaterials result in hundreds of papers annually, yield fundamental

  11. External beam radiotherapy of localized prostatic adenocarcinoma. Evaluation of conformal therapy, field number and target margins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lennernaes, B.; Rikner, G.; Letocha, H.; Nilsson, S.

    1995-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to identify factors of importance in the planning of external beam radiotherapy of prostatic adenocarcinoma. Seven patients with urogenital cancers were planned for external radiotherapy of the prostate. Four different techniques were used, viz. a 4-field box technique and four-, five- or six-field conformal therapy set-ups combined with three different margins (1-3 cm). The evaluations were based on the doses delivered to the rectum and the urinary bladder. A normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) was calculated for each plan using Lyman's dose volume reduction method. The most important factors that resulted in a decrease of the dose delivered to the rectum and the bladder were the use of conformal therapy and smaller margins. Conformal therapy seemed more important for the dose distribution in the urinary bladder. Five- and six-field set-ups were not significantly better than those with four fields. NTCP calculations were in accordance with the evaluation of the dose volume histograms. To conclude, four-field conformal therapy utilizing reduced margins improves the dose distribution to the rectum and the urinary bladder in the radiotherapy of prostatic adenocarcinoma. (orig.)

  12. Teacher Training in Curative Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juul, Kristen D.; Maier, Manfred

    1992-01-01

    This article considers the application of the philosophical and educational principles of Rudolf Steiner, called "anthroposophy," to the training of teachers and curative educators in the Waldorf schools. Special emphasis is on the Camphill movement which focuses on therapeutic schools and communities for children with special needs. (DB)

  13. A criterion-based audit of the technical quality of external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brundage, Michael; Danielson, Brita; Pearcey, Robert; Bass, Brenda; Pickles, Tom; Bahary, Jean-Paul; Peng, Yingwei; Wallace, David; Mackillop, William

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the technical quality of external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer in Canada. Methods: This was a multi-institution, retrospective study of a random sample of patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer in Canada. Patterns of care were determined by abstracting details of the patients’ management from original records. The quality of patient’s technical care was measured against a previously published, comprehensive suite of quality indicators. Results: 32 of the 37 RT centres participated. The total study population of 810 patients included 25% low-risk, 44% intermediate-risk, and 28% high-risk cases. 649 received external beam RT (EBRT) only, for whom compliance with 12 indicators of the quality of pre-treatment assessment ranged from 56% (sexual function documented) to 96% (staging bone scan obtained in high-risk patients). Compliance with treatment-related indicators ranged from 78% (dose to prostate ⩾74 Gy in intermediate risk patients not receiving hormone therapy) to 100% (3DCRT or IMRT plan). Compliance varied among centres; no centre demonstrated 100% compliance on all indicators and every centre was 100% compliant on at least some indicators. The number of assessment-related indicators (n = 13) with which a given centre was 100% compliant ranged from 4 to 11 (median 7) and the number of the treatment-specific indicators (n = 8) with which a given centre was 100% compliant ranged from 6 to 8 (median 8). ADT therapy was utilised in most high-risk cases (191, 92.3%). Conclusions: While patterns of prostate cancer care in Canada vary somewhat, compliance on the majority of quality indicators is very high. However, all centres showed room for improvement on several indicators and few individual patients received care that met target benchmarks on all quality measures. This variation is particularly important for indicators such as delivered dose where impact on disease outcome is known to exist, and suggests that

  14. Normal tissue tolerance to external beam radiation therapy: Thyroid; Dose de tolerance des tissus sains: la thyroide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berges, O.; Giraud, P. [Service d' oncologie-radiotherapie, hopital europeen Georges-Pompidou, universite Paris Descartes, 75 - Paris (France); Belkacemi, Y. [Service d' oncologie-radiotherapie, CHU Henri-Mondor, universite Paris 12, 94 - Creteil (France)

    2010-07-15

    The thyroid is the most developed endocrine gland of the body. Due to its anatomical location, it may be exposed to ionizing radiation in external radiotherapy involving head and neck. This review aims to describe the thyroid radiation disorders, probably under-reported in the literature, their risk factors and follow-up procedures. The functional changes after external beam radiation consists mainly of late effects occurring beyond 6 months, and are represented by the clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism. Its incidence is approximately 20 to 30% and it can occur after more than 25 years after radiation exposure. Hyperthyroidism and auto-immune manifestations have been described in a lesser proportion. The morphological changes consist of benign lesions, primarily adenomas, and malignant lesions, the most feared and which incidence is 0.35%. The onset of hypothyroidism depends of the total dose delivered to the gland, and the irradiated. Modern techniques of conformal radiotherapy with modulated intensity could improve the preservation of the thyroid, at the expense of the increase in low doses and the theoretical risk of secondary cancers. (authors)

  15. Curation of complex, context-dependent immunological data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sidney John

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource (IEDB is dedicated to capturing, housing and analyzing complex immune epitope related data http://www.immuneepitope.org. Description To identify and extract relevant data from the scientific literature in an efficient and accurate manner, novel processes were developed for manual and semi-automated annotation. Conclusion Formalized curation strategies enable the processing of a large volume of context-dependent data, which are now available to the scientific community in an accessible and transparent format. The experiences described herein are applicable to other databases housing complex biological data and requiring a high level of curation expertise.

  16. Anesthesia for pediatric external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fortney, Jennifer T.; Halperin, Edward C.; Hertz, Caryn M.; Schulman, Scott R.

    1999-01-01

    Background: For very young patients, anesthesia is often required for radiotherapy. This results in multiple exposures to anesthetic agents over a short period of time. We report a consecutive series of children anesthetized for external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Methods: Five hundred twelve children ≤ 16 years old received EBRT from January 1983 to February 1996. Patient demographics, diagnosis, anesthesia techniques, monitoring, airway management, complications, and outcome were recorded for the patients requiring anesthesia. Results: One hundred twenty-three of the 512 children (24%) required 141 courses of EBRT with anesthesia. Anesthetized patients ranged in age from 20 days to 11 years (mean 2.6 ± 1.8 ). The frequency of a child receiving EBRT and requiring anesthesia by age cohort was: ≤ 1 year (96%), 1-2 years (93%), 2-3 years (80%), 3-4 years (51%), 4-5 years (36%), 5-6 years (13%), 6-7 years (11%), and 7-16 years (0.7%). Diagnoses included: primary CNS tumor (28%), retinoblastoma (27%), neuroblastoma (20%), acute leukemia (9%), rhabdomyosarcoma (6%), and Wilms' tumor (4%). Sixty-three percent of the patients had been exposed to chemotherapy prior to EBRT. The mean number of anesthesia sessions per patient was 22 ± 16. Seventy-eight percent of the treatment courses were once daily and 22% were twice daily. Anesthesia techniques included: short-acting barbiturate induction + inhalation maintenance (21%), inhalation only (20%), ketamine (19%), propofol only (12%), propofol induction + inhalation maintenance (7%), ketamine induction + inhalation maintenance (6%), ketamine or short-acting barbiturate induction + inhalation maintenance (6%). Monitoring techniques included: EKG (95%), O 2 saturation (93%), fraction of inspired O 2 (57%), and end-tidal CO 2 (55%). Sixty-four percent of patients had central venous access. Eleven of the 74 children with a central line developed sepsis (15%): 6 of the 11 were anesthetized with propofol (55%), 4 with a

  17. Evaluation of the response of concurrent high dose rate intracavitary brachytherapy with external beam radiotherapy in management of early stage carcinoma cervix.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patidar, Arvind Kumar; Kumar, H S; Walke, Rahul V; Hirapara, Pushpendra H; Jakhar, Shankar Lal; Bardia, M R

    2012-10-01

    To evaluate local disease control and early complications of concomitant brachytherapy with external beam-radiotherapy in early stage carcinoma cervix. Fifty patients of early stage carcinoma cervix (FIGO-IB/IIA) were randomly divided into study group concomitant external beam irradiation (EBRT) and HDR-ICBT (intra-cavitary brachytherapy, xrt = 50 Gy/25 Fr, HDR 5.2 Gy*5 Fr) and the control group EBRT followed by HDR-ICBT (xrt = 50 Gy/25 Fr, HDR 7.5 Gy*3 Fr). Acute reactions and local disease response were compared between treatment and at 6-month follow up. Median overall treatment times were 38 and 61 days in the study and the control groups, respectively. Acute skin reactions and diarrhea were more in the study but manageable. At the completion of the study, there were 80 and 68 % complete responses, 16 and 20 % partial responses, 0 and 8 % stable diseases in the study group and the control group, respectively. Response was better in the study group but statistically insignificant. Larger number of patients and longer follow up are required to arrive at concrete conclusion.

  18. Advanced Curation Protocols for Mars Returned Sample Handling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, M.; Mickelson, E.; Lindstrom, D.; Allton, J.

    Introduction: Johnson Space Center has over 30 years experience handling precious samples which include Lunar rocks and Antarctic meteorites. However, we recognize that future curation of samples from such missions as Genesis, Stardust, and Mars S mple Return, will require a high degree of biosafety combined witha extremely low levels of inorganic, organic, and biological contamination. To satisfy these requirements, research in the JSC Advanced Curation Lab is currently focused toward two major areas: preliminary examination techniques and cleaning and verification techniques . Preliminary Examination Techniques : In order to minimize the number of paths for contamination we are exploring the synergy between human &robotic sample handling in a controlled environment to help determine the limits of clean curation. Within the Advanced Curation Laboratory is a prototype, next-generation glovebox, which contains a robotic micromanipulator. The remotely operated manipulator has six degrees-of- freedom and can be programmed to perform repetitive sample handling tasks. Protocols are being tested and developed to perform curation tasks such as rock splitting, weighing, imaging, and storing. Techniques for sample transfer enabling more detailed remote examination without compromising the integrity of sample science are also being developed . The glovebox is equipped with a rapid transfer port through which samples can be passed without exposure. The transfer is accomplished by using a unique seal and engagement system which allows passage between containers while maintaining a first seal to the outside environment and a second seal to prevent the outside of the container cover and port door from becoming contaminated by the material being transferred. Cleaning and Verification Techniques: As part of the contamination control effort, innovative cleaning techniques are being identified and evaluated in conjunction with sensitive cleanliness verification methods. Towards this

  19. External-beam boost prior to total-body irradiation in relapsed NHL transplant patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Monson, Jedidiah M; Neuberg, Donna; Freedman, Arnold S; Tarbell, Nancy J; Nadler, Lee M; Mauch, Peter

    1995-07-01

    PURPOSE: To determine the impact of an external beam boost (EBB) on the outcome, relapse pattern and normal tissue toxicities of patients undergoing total-body irradiation (TBI) prior to bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for relapsed NHL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1982 and 1994, 299 patients at our institution underwent BMT for relapsed NHL. Patients underwent induction chemotherapy (CT) followed by conditioning with cyclophosphamide and 12 Gy TBI delivered in 6 fractions over 3 days. A total of 77 patients had persistent gross disease, defined as 2 cm or greater, after induction CT and received an EBB prior to BMT (EBB cohort). The median EBB dose was 28.8 Gy (range, 5-63), the median field size was 13 cm{sup 2} (range, 5-29.4) and the median time from EBB to BMT was 3 weeks (range, 1-20). A total of 222 patients were free of measurable disease or had disease measuring <2cm after CT and did not receive EBB (no-EBB cohort). To assess normal tissue toxicity, patients' simulation films and/or treatment records were reviewed for all 77 patients treated with local EBB and estimates were made of the percentage lung, heart and kidney in the radiation field. RESULTS: A total of 79 of 222 patients (36%) in the no-EBB cohort have relapsed; 33 of 77 patients (43%) in the EBB cohort have relapsed (p=0.28, by Fisher exact test). Median time to relapse after BMT was 54 months for the no-EBB cohort and 38 months for the EBB cohort (p=0.26, by log-rank test). The 3-year actuarial freedom from relapse (deaths in remission censored) was 59% for the no-EBB cohort (90% CI: 52-66%) and 51% for the EBB cohort (90% CI: 40-62%). Data on site of relapse was available for 101 of the 112 relapses (75 no-EBB, 26 EBB). For the no-EBB cohort 33 of 75 relapses (44%) were in sites of prior nodal disease only. For the EBB cohort, 12 of 26 relapses (46%) were in sites of prior nodal disease only, of these, only 6 (23%) were within the EBB treatment field. A total of 26 patients had thoracic

  20. Rotating light ion beam-plasma system in inertial confinement fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murakami, H.; Okada, T.

    1997-01-01

    The stabilizing mechanism of filamentation instability in light ion beam propagation is studied numerically by using a particle-in-cell code. Rotating light ion beam scheme has been proposed for the light ion beam propagation. The filamentation instability is stabilized by the external magnetic field which is induced by the rotating light ion beams. From a dispersion relation, linear growth rates of filamentation instabilities are obtained in a light ion beam-plasma system with an external magnetic field. The theory and simulation comparisons illustrate the results. (author)

  1. Prognostic significance of several histological features in intermediate and high-risk endometrial cancer patients treated with curative intent using surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narayan, K.; Bernshaw, D.; Quinn, M.; Allen, D.; Rejeki, V.; Herschtal, A.; Jobling, T.

    2009-01-01

    Full text: The purpose of the present study was to explore the prognostic significance of several histological features with respect to lymph node metastasis, failure-free survival (FeS), and overall survival (Os) in intermediate and high-risk endometrial cancer patients treated with curative intent. One hundred and eighty patients with endometrial cancer were treated with hysterectomy with or without lymphadenectomy and received external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). The mean follow-up period was 4.25 years (range 0.44-10.45 years). In multifactor analysis, fractional myometrial invasion (MI) (P = 0.047), histology (P < 0.001) and lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI) (P = 0.025) were significant predictors for FFS when nodal status was not included. When lymph node status was known, histology (P - 0.007) and LVSI (P = 0.014) remained significant factors for FFS. For OS, histology (P < 0.001) and fractional MI (P = 0.004) were the significant factors. Lymph node status could be predicted by tumour grading (P = 0.016) and absolute MI (P 0.002). Histology type and the presence of LVSI were the most important prognostic factors in high-risk endometrial cancer patients treated by surgery and postoperative radiotherapy. Absolute MI and tumour grading were useful predictors of nodal spread.

  2. Long-Term Results of an RTOG Phase II Trial (00-19) of External-Beam Radiation Therapy Combined With Permanent Source Brachytherapy for Intermediate-Risk Clinically Localized Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lawton, Colleen A., E-mail: clawton@mcw.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Yan, Yan [Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Statistical Center, Philadelphia, PA (United States); Lee, W. Robert [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC (United States); Gillin, Michael [Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Firat, Selim [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Baikadi, Madhava [Department of Radiation Oncology, Northeast Radiation Oncology Center, Scranton, PA (United States); Crook, Juanita [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC (Canada); Kuettel, Michael [Department of Radiation Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY (United States); Morton, Gerald [Department of Radiation Oncology, Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Center, Toronto, ON (Canada); Sandler, Howard [Department of Radiation Oncology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

    2012-04-01

    Purpose: External-beam radiation therapy combined with low-doserate permanent brachytherapy are commonly used to treat men with localized prostate cancer. This Phase II trial was performed to document late gastrointestinal or genitourinary toxicity as well as biochemical control for this treatment in a multi-institutional cooperative group setting. This report defines the long-term results of this trial. Methods and Materials: All eligible patients received external-beam radiation (45 Gy in 25 fractions) followed 2-6 weeks later by a permanent iodine 125 implant of 108 Gy. Late toxicity was defined by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer late radiation morbidity scoring scheme. Biochemical control was defined by the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) Consensus definition and the ASTRO Phoenix definition. Results: One hundred thirty-eight patients were enrolled from 20 institutions, and 131 were eligible. Median follow-up (living patients) was 8.2 years (range, 2.7-9.3 years). The 8-year estimate of late grade >3 genitourinary and/or gastrointestinal toxicity was 15%. The most common grade >3 toxicities were urinary frequency, dysuria, and proctitis. There were two grade 4 toxicities, both bladder necrosis, and no grade 5 toxicities. In addition, 42% of patients complained of grade 3 impotence (no erections) at 8 years. The 8-year estimate of biochemical failure was 18% and 21% by the Phoenix and ASTRO consensus definitions, respectively. Conclusion: Biochemical control for this treatment seems durable with 8 years of follow-up and is similar to high-dose external beam radiation alone or brachytherapy alone. Late toxicity in this multi-institutional trial is higher than reports from similar cohorts of patients treated with high-dose external-beam radiation alone or permanent low-doserate brachytherapy alone, perhaps suggesting further attention to strategies that limit doses to

  3. Development and validation of a prediction model for tube feeding dependence after curative (chemo- radiation in head and neck cancer.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kim Wopken

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Curative radiotherapy or chemoradiation for head and neck cancer (HNC may result in severe acute and late side effects, including tube feeding dependence. The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to develop a prediction model for tube feeding dependence 6 months (TUBEM6 after curative (chemo- radiotherapy in HNC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Tube feeding dependence was scored prospectively. To develop the multivariable model, a group LASSO analysis was carried out, with TUBEM6 as the primary endpoint (n = 427. The model was then validated in a test cohort (n = 183. The training cohort was divided into three groups based on the risk of TUBEM6 to test whether the model could be extrapolated to later time points (12, 18 and 24 months. RESULTS: Most important predictors for TUBEM6 were weight loss prior to treatment, advanced T-stage, positive N-stage, bilateral neck irradiation, accelerated radiotherapy and chemoradiation. Model performance was good, with an Area under the Curve of 0.86 in the training cohort and 0.82 in the test cohort. The TUBEM6-based risk groups were significantly associated with tube feeding dependence at later time points (p<0.001. CONCLUSION: We established an externally validated predictive model for tube feeding dependence after curative radiotherapy or chemoradiation, which can be used to predict TUBEM6.

  4. Data Curation Education in Research Centers (DCERC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marlino, M. R.; Mayernik, M. S.; Kelly, K.; Allard, S.; Tenopir, C.; Palmer, C.; Varvel, V. E., Jr.

    2012-12-01

    Digital data both enable and constrain scientific research. Scientists are enabled by digital data to develop new research methods, utilize new data sources, and investigate new topics, but they also face new data collection, management, and preservation burdens. The current data workforce consists primarily of scientists who receive little formal training in data management and data managers who are typically educated through on-the-job training. The Data Curation Education in Research Centers (DCERC) program is investigating a new model for educating data professionals to contribute to scientific research. DCERC is a collaboration between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science, the University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The program is organized around a foundations course in data curation and provides field experiences in research and data centers for both master's and doctoral students. This presentation will outline the aims and the structure of the DCERC program and discuss results and lessons learned from the first set of summer internships in 2012. Four masters students participated and worked with both data mentors and science mentors, gaining first hand experiences in the issues, methods, and challenges of scientific data curation. They engaged in a diverse set of topics, including climate model metadata, observational data management workflows, and data cleaning, documentation, and ingest processes within a data archive. The students learned current data management practices and challenges while developing expertise and conducting research. They also made important contributions to NCAR data and science teams by evaluating data management workflows and processes, preparing data sets to be archived, and developing recommendations for particular data management activities. The master's student interns will return in summer of 2013

  5. Proton Beam Reirradiation for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer: Multi-institutional Report on Feasibility and Early Outcomes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Romesser, Paul B. [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Radiation Oncology, New York, New York (United States); Cahlon, Oren [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Radiation Oncology, New York, New York (United States); ProCure Proton Therapy Center, Somerset, New Jersey (United States); Scher, Eli D. [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Radiation Oncology, New York, New York (United States); Hug, Eugen B.; Sine, Kevin [ProCure Proton Therapy Center, Somerset, New Jersey (United States); DeSelm, Carl [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Radiation Oncology, New York, New York (United States); Fox, Jana L. [Montefiore Medical Center, Radiation Oncology, Bronx, New York (United States); Mah, Dennis [ProCure Proton Therapy Center, Somerset, New Jersey (United States); Garg, Madhur K. [Montefiore Medical Center, Radiation Oncology, Bronx, New York (United States); Han-Chih Chang, John [Northwestern Medicine Chicago Proton Center, Warrenville, Illinois (United States); Lee, Nancy Y., E-mail: leen2@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Radiation Oncology, New York, New York (United States)

    2016-05-01

    Purpose: Reirradiation therapy (re-RT) is the only potentially curative treatment option for patients with locally recurrent head and neck cancer (HNC). Given the significant morbidity with head and neck re-RT, interest in proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) has increased. We report the first multi-institutional clinical experience using curative-intent PBRT for re-RT in recurrent HNC. Methods and Materials: A retrospective analysis of ongoing prospective data registries from 2 hybrid community practice and academic proton centers was conducted. Patients with recurrent HNC who underwent at least 1 prior course of definitive-intent external beam radiation therapy (RT) were included. Acute and late toxicities were assessed with the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0 and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group late radiation morbidity scoring system, respectively. The cumulative incidence of locoregional failure was calculated with death as a competing risk. The actuarial 12-month freedom–from–distant metastasis and overall survival rates were calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Ninety-two consecutive patients were treated with curative-intent re-RT with PBRT between 2011 and 2014. Median follow-up among surviving patients was 13.3 months and among all patients was 10.4 months. The median time between last RT and PBRT was 34.4 months. There were 76 patients with 1 prior RT course and 16 with 2 or more courses. The median PBRT dose was 60.6 Gy (relative biological effectiveness, [RBE]). Eighty-five percent of patients underwent prior HNC RT for an oropharynx primary, and 39% underwent salvage surgery before re-RT. The cumulative incidence of locoregional failure at 12 months, with death as a competing risk, was 25.1%. The actuarial 12-month freedom–from–distant metastasis and overall survival rates were 84.0% and 65.2%, respectively. Acute toxicities of grade 3 or greater included mucositis (9

  6. Proton Beam Reirradiation for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer: Multi-institutional Report on Feasibility and Early Outcomes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Romesser, Paul B.; Cahlon, Oren; Scher, Eli D.; Hug, Eugen B.; Sine, Kevin; DeSelm, Carl; Fox, Jana L.; Mah, Dennis; Garg, Madhur K.; Han-Chih Chang, John; Lee, Nancy Y.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Reirradiation therapy (re-RT) is the only potentially curative treatment option for patients with locally recurrent head and neck cancer (HNC). Given the significant morbidity with head and neck re-RT, interest in proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) has increased. We report the first multi-institutional clinical experience using curative-intent PBRT for re-RT in recurrent HNC. Methods and Materials: A retrospective analysis of ongoing prospective data registries from 2 hybrid community practice and academic proton centers was conducted. Patients with recurrent HNC who underwent at least 1 prior course of definitive-intent external beam radiation therapy (RT) were included. Acute and late toxicities were assessed with the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0 and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group late radiation morbidity scoring system, respectively. The cumulative incidence of locoregional failure was calculated with death as a competing risk. The actuarial 12-month freedom–from–distant metastasis and overall survival rates were calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Ninety-two consecutive patients were treated with curative-intent re-RT with PBRT between 2011 and 2014. Median follow-up among surviving patients was 13.3 months and among all patients was 10.4 months. The median time between last RT and PBRT was 34.4 months. There were 76 patients with 1 prior RT course and 16 with 2 or more courses. The median PBRT dose was 60.6 Gy (relative biological effectiveness, [RBE]). Eighty-five percent of patients underwent prior HNC RT for an oropharynx primary, and 39% underwent salvage surgery before re-RT. The cumulative incidence of locoregional failure at 12 months, with death as a competing risk, was 25.1%. The actuarial 12-month freedom–from–distant metastasis and overall survival rates were 84.0% and 65.2%, respectively. Acute toxicities of grade 3 or greater included mucositis (9

  7. High intensity beam profile monitors for the LAMPF primary beam lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoffman, E.W.; Macek, R.J.; van Dyck, O.; Lee, D.; Harvey, A.; Bridge, J.; Cainet, J.

    1979-01-01

    Two types of beam profile monitors are in use at LAMPF to measure the properties of the 800 MeV, 500 μA proton beam external to the linac. Both types use secondary electron emission from a wire to produce a current signal proportional to the amount of proton beam that intercepts the wire. The wire scanner system uses a pair of orthogonal wires which are passed through the beam and the harp system uses two fixed planes of parallel wires. Most of the harps are not retractable and are exposed continuously to the primary beam. The high beam intensities available lead to a number of technical problems for instruments that intercept the beam or are close to primary beam targets. The thermal, electrical, radiation-damage, and material selection problems encountered, and some solutions which have been implemented are discussed

  8. MET network in PubMed: a text-mined network visualization and curation system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Hong-Jie; Su, Chu-Hsien; Lai, Po-Ting; Huang, Ming-Siang; Jonnagaddala, Jitendra; Rose Jue, Toni; Rao, Shruti; Chou, Hui-Jou; Milacic, Marija; Singh, Onkar; Syed-Abdul, Shabbir; Hsu, Wen-Lian

    2016-01-01

    Metastasis is the dissemination of a cancer/tumor from one organ to another, and it is the most dangerous stage during cancer progression, causing more than 90% of cancer deaths. Improving the understanding of the complicated cellular mechanisms underlying metastasis requires investigations of the signaling pathways. To this end, we developed a METastasis (MET) network visualization and curation tool to assist metastasis researchers retrieve network information of interest while browsing through the large volume of studies in PubMed. MET can recognize relations among genes, cancers, tissues and organs of metastasis mentioned in the literature through text-mining techniques, and then produce a visualization of all mined relations in a metastasis network. To facilitate the curation process, MET is developed as a browser extension that allows curators to review and edit concepts and relations related to metastasis directly in PubMed. PubMed users can also view the metastatic networks integrated from the large collection of research papers directly through MET. For the BioCreative 2015 interactive track (IAT), a curation task was proposed to curate metastatic networks among PubMed abstracts. Six curators participated in the proposed task and a post-IAT task, curating 963 unique metastatic relations from 174 PubMed abstracts using MET.Database URL: http://btm.tmu.edu.tw/metastasisway. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

  9. The Distinction Between Curative and Assistive Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stramondo, Joseph A

    2018-05-01

    Disability activists have sometimes claimed their disability has actually increased their well-being. Some even say they would reject a cure to keep these gains. Yet, these same activists often simultaneously propose improvements to the quality and accessibility of assistive technology. However, for any argument favoring assistive over curative technology (or vice versa) to work, there must be a coherent distinction between the two. This line is already vague and will become even less clear with the emergence of novel technologies. This paper asks and tries to answer the question: what is it about the paradigmatic examples of curative and assistive technologies that make them paradigmatic and how can these defining features help us clarify the hard cases? This analysis will begin with an argument that, while the common views of this distinction adequately explain the paradigmatic cases, they fail to accurately pick out the relevant features of those technologies that make them paradigmatic and to provide adequate guidance for parsing the hard cases. Instead, it will be claimed that these categories of curative or assistive technologies are defined by the role the technologies play in establishing a person's relational narrative identity as a member of one of two social groups: disabled people or non-disabled people.

  10. Content curation en periodismo (y en documentación periodística

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javier Guallar

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Desde hace unos pocos años están con nosotros los conceptos de content curation y de content curator como actividad o sistema y como profesional o especialista, respectivamente. Aunque el origen del término se vincule al mundo del marketing –se considera como artículo fundacional “Manifesto for the content curator” del marketer Rohit Bhargava (2009-, y sus características se identifiquen en buena medida con las del profesional de la Información y la Documentación, la content curation va más allá de una disciplina concreta o de un rol profesional determinado. Ambos perfiles citados, marketers y bibliotecarios-documentalistas, pueden hacer content curation por supuesto, pero también otros, como educadores, por ejemplo. Y, como es el caso que tratamos aquí, periodistas (y documentalistas de prensa. Porque en estas breves líneas nos vamos a centrar en presentar el papel de la content curation en el ámbito del periodismo.

  11. Statistical modeling of the eye for multimodal treatment planning for external beam radiation therapy of intraocular tumors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rüegsegger, Michael B; Bach Cuadra, Meritxell; Pica, Alessia; Amstutz, Christoph A; Rudolph, Tobias; Aebersold, Daniel; Kowal, Jens H

    2012-11-15

    Ocular anatomy and radiation-associated toxicities provide unique challenges for external beam radiation therapy. For treatment planning, precise modeling of organs at risk and tumor volume are crucial. Development of a precise eye model and automatic adaptation of this model to patients' anatomy remain problematic because of organ shape variability. This work introduces the application of a 3-dimensional (3D) statistical shape model as a novel method for precise eye modeling for external beam radiation therapy of intraocular tumors. Manual and automatic segmentations were compared for 17 patients, based on head computed tomography (CT) volume scans. A 3D statistical shape model of the cornea, lens, and sclera as well as of the optic disc position was developed. Furthermore, an active shape model was built to enable automatic fitting of the eye model to CT slice stacks. Cross-validation was performed based on leave-one-out tests for all training shapes by measuring dice coefficients and mean segmentation errors between automatic segmentation and manual segmentation by an expert. Cross-validation revealed a dice similarity of 95%±2% for the sclera and cornea and 91%±2% for the lens. Overall, mean segmentation error was found to be 0.3±0.1 mm. Average segmentation time was 14±2 s on a standard personal computer. Our results show that the solution presented outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy, reliability, and robustness. Moreover, the eye model shape as well as its variability is learned from a training set rather than by making shape assumptions (eg, as with the spherical or elliptical model). Therefore, the model appears to be capable of modeling nonspherically and nonelliptically shaped eyes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Statistical Modeling of the Eye for Multimodal Treatment Planning for External Beam Radiation Therapy of Intraocular Tumors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rueegsegger, Michael B. [ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern (Switzerland); Bach Cuadra, Meritxell [Department of Radiology, University Hospital Center (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Signal Processing Laboratory - LTS5, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (Switzerland); Pica, Alessia [Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern (Switzerland); Amstutz, Christoph A. [Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland); Rudolph, Tobias [ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern (Switzerland); Aebersold, Daniel [Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern (Switzerland); Kowal, Jens H., E-mail: jens.kowal@artorg.unibe.ch [ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern (Switzerland)

    2012-11-15

    Purpose: Ocular anatomy and radiation-associated toxicities provide unique challenges for external beam radiation therapy. For treatment planning, precise modeling of organs at risk and tumor volume are crucial. Development of a precise eye model and automatic adaptation of this model to patients' anatomy remain problematic because of organ shape variability. This work introduces the application of a 3-dimensional (3D) statistical shape model as a novel method for precise eye modeling for external beam radiation therapy of intraocular tumors. Methods and Materials: Manual and automatic segmentations were compared for 17 patients, based on head computed tomography (CT) volume scans. A 3D statistical shape model of the cornea, lens, and sclera as well as of the optic disc position was developed. Furthermore, an active shape model was built to enable automatic fitting of the eye model to CT slice stacks. Cross-validation was performed based on leave-one-out tests for all training shapes by measuring dice coefficients and mean segmentation errors between automatic segmentation and manual segmentation by an expert. Results: Cross-validation revealed a dice similarity of 95% {+-} 2% for the sclera and cornea and 91% {+-} 2% for the lens. Overall, mean segmentation error was found to be 0.3 {+-} 0.1 mm. Average segmentation time was 14 {+-} 2 s on a standard personal computer. Conclusions: Our results show that the solution presented outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy, reliability, and robustness. Moreover, the eye model shape as well as its variability is learned from a training set rather than by making shape assumptions (eg, as with the spherical or elliptical model). Therefore, the model appears to be capable of modeling nonspherically and nonelliptically shaped eyes.

  13. Advanced Curation: Solving Current and Future Sample Return Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fries, M.; Calaway, M.; Evans, C.; McCubbin, F.

    2015-01-01

    Advanced Curation is a wide-ranging and comprehensive research and development effort at NASA Johnson Space Center that identifies and remediates sample related issues. For current collections, Advanced Curation investigates new cleaning, verification, and analytical techniques to assess their suitability for improving curation processes. Specific needs are also assessed for future sample return missions. For each need, a written plan is drawn up to achieve the requirement. The plan draws while upon current Curation practices, input from Curators, the analytical expertise of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) team, and suitable standards maintained by ISO, IEST, NIST and other institutions. Additionally, new technologies are adopted on the bases of need and availability. Implementation plans are tested using customized trial programs with statistically robust courses of measurement, and are iterated if necessary until an implementable protocol is established. Upcoming and potential NASA missions such as OSIRIS-REx, the Asteroid Retrieval Mission (ARM), sample return missions in the New Frontiers program, and Mars sample return (MSR) all feature new difficulties and specialized sample handling requirements. The Mars 2020 mission in particular poses a suite of challenges since the mission will cache martian samples for possible return to Earth. In anticipation of future MSR, the following problems are among those under investigation: What is the most efficient means to achieve the less than 1.0 ng/sq cm total organic carbon (TOC) cleanliness required for all sample handling hardware? How do we maintain and verify cleanliness at this level? The Mars 2020 Organic Contamination Panel (OCP) predicts that organic carbon, if present, will be present at the "one to tens" of ppb level in martian near-surface samples. The same samples will likely contain wt% perchlorate salts, or approximately 1,000,000x as much perchlorate oxidizer as organic carbon

  14. Sexual function after external-beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer: what do we know?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Incrocci, Luca

    2006-02-01

    Quality of life in general and sexual functioning in particular have become very important in cancer patients. Due to modern surgical techniques, improved quality of drugs for chemotherapy and very modern radiation techniques, more patients can be successfully treated without largely compromising sexual functioning. One can assume that because of the life-threatening nature of cancer, sexual activity is not important to patients and their partners, but this is not true. Prostate cancer has become the most common non-skin malignant neoplasm in older men in Western countries. In this paper, we discuss the various methods used to evaluate erectile and sexual dysfunction and the definition of potency. Data on the etiology of erectile dysfunction after external-beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer is reviewed, and the literature is been summarized. Patients should be offered sexual counseling and informed about the availability of effective treatments for erectile dysfunction, such as sildenafil, intracavernosal injection, and vacuum devices. Cancer affects quality of life and sexual function. The challenge for oncologists is to address this with compassion.

  15. Reducing the risk of radiocarcinogenesis in paediatric patients treated with external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, M.L.; Franich, R.D.; Kron, Tomas

    2010-01-01

    Full text: The aim of this study was to determine readily-implementable means of out-of-field dose reduction in paediatric patients undergoing external beam radiotherapy for intracranial lesions. [n this way, the risk of secondary cancer induction may be reduced. Dose measurements were taken using LiF:Mg, Cu, P TLD 1 00 H chips in a 5 year old paediatric phantom. Multiple TLDs were placed at: the right and left lenses of the eye, optic nerve, brain, thyroid, lungs, heart, kidneys, abdomen and gonads. Varian 600 C and Varian Trilogy linear accelerators, both at 6 MV, were investigated, using different delivery parameters. Most of the out-of-field dose at large distances is attributable to leakage. The difference between stereotactic and larger field sizes is less significant far from the primary field. Out-of-field dose from the Trilogy was 40% higher than the 600 e . Aligning the craniocaudal axis of the patient with the x-plane of the collimator results in a dose reduction of 40%, for both machines. - A simple shielding arrangement may halve out-of-field dose. (author)

  16. Integration of data: the Nanomaterial Registry project and data curation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guzan, K A; Mills, K C; Gupta, V; Murry, D; Ostraat, M L; Scheier, C N; Willis, D A

    2013-01-01

    Due to the use of nanomaterials in multiple fields of applied science and technology, there is a need for accelerated understanding of any potential implications of using these unique and promising materials. There is a multitude of research data that, if integrated, can be leveraged to drive toward a better understanding. Integration can be achieved by applying nanoinformatics concepts. The Nanomaterial Registry is using applied minimal information about nanomaterials to support a robust data curation process in order to promote integration across a diverse data set. This paper describes the evolution of the curation methodology used in the Nanomaterial Registry project as well as the current procedure that is used. Some of the lessons learned about curation of nanomaterial data are also discussed. (paper)

  17. Protective, curative and eradicative activities of fungicides against grapevine rust

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francislene Angelotti

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The protective, eradicative and curative activities of the fungicides azoxystrobin, tebuconazole, pyraclostrobin+metiram, and ciproconazole against grapevine rust, were determined in greenhouse. To evaluate the protective activity, leaves of potted ´Niagara´ (Vitis labrusca vines were artificially inoculated with an urediniospore suspension of Phakopsora euvitis four, eight or forteen days after fungicidal spray; and to evaluate the curative and eradicative activities, leaves were sprayed with fungicides two, four or eight days after inoculation. Disease severity was assessed 14 days after each inoculation. All tested fungicides present excellent preventive activity against grapevine rust; however, tebuconazole and ciproconazole provide better curative activity than azoxystrobin and pyraclostrobin+metiram. It was observed also that all tested fungicides significantly reduced the germination of urediniospore produced on sprayed leaves.

  18. Intraoperative radiotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishimura, Akira; Iida, Koyo; Sato, Shigehiro; Sakata, Suo

    1986-01-01

    Twenty-eight patients with pancreatic carcinoma, 23 (82 %) of whom had Stage III or IV, received intraoperative radiotherapy (IOR) with curative or non-curative surgery. Electron beams (10 to 18 MeV) with doses of 20 to 40 Gy were delivered to the tumor. Eight of 26 patients with unresectable tumor had postoperative external irradiation of 10.5 to 50 Gy. Abdominal and back pain relief was achieved after IOR in 12 (71 %) and in 6 (60 %) of the 26 patients, respectively. Appetite was promoted in 11 patients. In the case of unresectable carcinoma, survival time tended to prolong in the 8 patients receiving both IOR and postoperative external irradiation. One patient developed perforation of the colon probably caused by IOR. (Namekawa, K.)

  19. 103PD brachytherapy and external beam irradiation for clinically localized, high-risk prostatic carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dattoli, Michael; Wallner, Kent; Sorace, Richard; Koval, John; Cash, Jennifer; Acosta, Rudolph; Brown, Charles; Etheridge, James; Binder, Michael; Brunelle, Richard; Kirwan, Novelle; Sanchez, Servando; Stein, Douglas; Wasserman, Stuart

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: To summarize biochemical failure rates and morbidity of external beam irradiation (EBRT) combined with palladium ( 103 Pd) boost for clinically localized high-risk prostate carcinoma. Methods and Materials: Seventy-three consecutive patients with stage T2a-T3 prostatic carcinoma were treated from 1991 through 1994. Each patient had at least one of the following risk factors for extracapsular disease extension: Stage T2b or greater (71 patients), Gleason score 7-10 (40 patients), prostate specific antigen (PSA) >15 (32 patients), or elevated prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) (17 patients). Patients received 41 Gy EBRT to a limited pelvic field, followed 4 weeks later by a 103 Pd boost (prescription dose: 80 Gy). Biochemical failure was defined as a PSA greater than 1.0 ng/ml (normal 103 Pd brachytherapy for clinically localized, high-risk prostate cancer compare favorably with that reported after conventional dose EBRT alone. Morbidity has been acceptable

  20. Differentiated Thyroid Cancer with Extrathyroidal Extension: Prognosis and the Role of External Beam Radiotherapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael A. Sia

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available A study was performed to identify variables that affected cause-specific survival (CSS and local relapse-free rate (LRFR in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC and extrathyroid extension (ETE and to examine the role of external beam radiotherapy (XRT. Prognostic factors were similar to those found in studies of all patients with DTC. In patients with postoperative gross residual disease treated with radiotherapy, 10-year CSS and LRFR were 48% and 90%. For patients with no residual or microscopic disease, 10-year CSS and LRFR were 92% and 93%. In patients older than 60 years with T3 ETE but no gross residual disease postoperatively there was an improved LRFR at 5 years of 96%, compared to 87.5% without XRT (P=.02. Patients with gross ETE benefit from XRT and there may be a potential benefit in reducing locoregional failure in patients over 60 years with minimal extrathyroidal extension (T3.

  1. Six fractions per week of external beam radiotherapy and high-dose-rate brachytherapy for carcinoma of the uterine cervix: A phase I/II study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Sang Min; Huh, Seung Jae; Park, Won; Lee, Jeung Eun; Park, Young Je; Nam, Hee Rim; Lim, Do Hoon; Ahn, Yong Chan

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: This study evaluated the treatment results of external beam radiotherapy administered in six fractions per week and high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for the treatment of cervical cancer. Methods and Materials: From July 2000 to July 2003, 43 patients were enrolled in this study. The patients received 45 Gy from a 10-MV photon beam using four-field box or anterior-posterior beams. Parametrial regions and the pelvic side walls were boosted with up to 50.4 Gy using a midline block. The daily fraction dose was 1.8 Gy administered in six-weekly fractions, from Monday to Saturday. HDR brachytherapy was also delivered at doses of 24 Gy to point A in six fractions twice a week. The median follow-up time was 37 months (range, 9-60 months). Results: The median overall treatment time was 51 days for all patients (range, 44-62 days). Thirty-four patients (79.1%) achieved complete remission and 8 (18.6%) achieved partial remission after radiotherapy. Locoregional recurrence occurred in 5 patients (11.6%), and a distant metastasis was encountered in 6 patients (13.9%). The 3-year overall survival, locoregional, and distant metastasis-free survival rates were 74.7%, 87.8%, and 84.7%, respectively. Grade 2 and 3 late rectal complications were encountered in 3 (6.5%) and 1 (2.2%), respectively. There were no Grade 3 late bladder complications. Conclusions: Six fractions per week of external beam radiotherapy and HDR brachytherapy is an effective treatment for patients with a carcinoma of the uterine cervix and can be used as a possible alternative to concomitant chemoradiotherapy in elderly patients or in patients with co-morbidity

  2. Data Stewardship: Environmental Data Curation and a Web-of-Repositories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen S. Baker

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Scientific researchers today frequently package measurements and associated metadata as digital datasets in anticipation of storage in data repositories. Through the lens of environmental data stewardship, we consider the data repository as an organizational element central to data curation. One aspect of non-commercial repositories, their distance-from-origin of the data, is explored in terms of near and remote categories. Three idealized repository types are distinguished – local, center, and archive - paralleling research, resource, and reference collection categories respectively. Repository type characteristics such as scope, structure, and goals are discussed. Repository similarities in terms of roles, activities and responsibilities are also examined. Data stewardship is related to care of research data and responsible scientific communication supported by an infrastructure that coordinates curation activities; data curation is defined as a set of repeated and repeatable activities focusing on tending data and creating data products within a particular arena. The concept of “sphere-of-context” is introduced as an aid to distinguishing repository types. Conceptualizing a “web-of-repositories” accommodates a variety of repository types and represents an ecologically inclusive approach to data curation.

  3. Oncologic and functional outcome of base of tongue cancer treated with external-beam radiation and I-192 implant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrison, L.B.; Sessions, R.B.; Strong, E.W.; Fass, D.E.; Armstrong, J.G.; Zelefsky, M.J.

    1991-01-01

    This paper assesses tumor control and functional outcome for squamous cancer of the base of the tongue managed with external irradiation plus Ir-192 implant. Between January 1981 and June 1990, 36 previously untreated patients were treated with 5,000-5,400 cGy of external-beam radiation plus a 2,000-3,000 cGy boost to the base of tongue with an Ir-192 implant. Negative necks were irradiated alone, and positive necks were treated with irradiation followed by neck dissection. Crude local control by T stage are as follows: T1, 10 of 11; T2, 13 of 14; T3, 8 of 10; and T4 1 of 1. Actuarial local control is 87.5%. Of the four local failures, two were salvaged by surgery. Neck control was achieved in 35 of 36 patients. Complications occurred in 25%. When implantation was done with the nonlooping technique, the injury rate was statistically higher than when done with the looping technique (6 of 12 = 50% vs 3 of 24 = 12.5%, P = .02)

  4. An implantable radiation dosimeter for use in external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scarantino, Charles W.; Ruslander, David M.; Rini, Christopher J.; Mann, Gregory G.; Nagle, H. Troy; Black, Robert D.

    2004-01-01

    An implantable radiation dosimeter for use with external beam therapy has been developed and tested both in vitro and in canines. The device uses a MOSFET dosimeter and is polled telemetrically every day during the course of therapy. The device is designed for permanent implantation and also acts as a radiographic fiducial marker. Ten dogs (companion animals) that presented with spontaneous, malignant tumors were enrolled in the study and received an implant in the tumor CTV. Three dogs received an additional implant in collateral normal tissue. Radiation therapy plans were created for the animals and they were treated with roughly 300 cGy daily fractions until completion of the prescribed cumulative dose. The primary endpoints of the study were to record any adverse events due to sensor placement and to monitor any movement away from the point of placement. No adverse events were recorded. Unacceptable device migration was experienced in two subjects and a retention mechanism was developed to prevent movement in the future. Daily dose readings were successfully acquired in all subjects. A rigorous in vitro calibration methodology has been developed to ensure that the implanted devices maintain an accuracy of ±3.5% relative to an ionization chamber standard. The authors believe that an implantable radiation dosimeter is a practical and powerful tool that fosters individualized patient QA on a daily basis

  5. Improvement of the beam quality of a diode laser with two active broad-area segments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chi, Mingjun; Thestrup, B.; Mortensen, J.L.

    2003-01-01

    The beam quality of a diode laser with two active segments was improved using an external cavity with collimating optics, a grating, and an output coupler. The beam quality of the output beam, which is the first-order diffractive beam from the grating, was improved by a factor of 2, and at least...... half of the freely running power of the laser was coupled out from the external cavity. The output power can be enhanced further by the feedback from the zeroth-order beam. The possibility of improving the beam quality further is discussed and a new double-external-cavity configuration is suggested....

  6. Data Curation Education Grounded in Earth Sciences and the Science of Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmer, C. L.

    2015-12-01

    This presentation looks back over ten years of experience advancing data curation education at two Information Schools, highlighting the vital role of earth science case studies, expertise, and collaborations in development of curriculum and internships. We also consider current data curation practices and workforce demand in data centers in the geosciences, drawing on studies conducted in the Data Curation Education in Research Centers (DCERC) initiative and the Site-Based Data Curation project. Outcomes from this decade of data curation research and education has reinforced the importance of key areas of information science in preparing data professionals to respond to the needs of user communities, provide services across disciplines, invest in standards and interoperability, and promote open data practices. However, a serious void remains in principles to guide education and practice that are distinct to the development of data systems and services that meet both local and global aims. We identify principles emerging from recent empirical studies on the reuse value of data in the earth sciences and propose an approach for advancing data curation education that depends on systematic coordination with data intensive research and propagation of current best practices from data centers into curriculum. This collaborative model can increase both domain-based and cross-disciplinary expertise among data professionals, ultimately improving data systems and services in our universities and data centers while building the new base of knowledge needed for a foundational science of data.

  7. External beam techniques to boost cervical cancer when brachytherapy is not an option—theories and applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilic, Sarah; Khan, Atif J.; Beriwal, Sushil; Small, William

    2017-01-01

    The management of locally advanced cervical cancer relies on brachytherapy (BT) as an integral part of the radiotherapy delivery armamentarium. Occasionally, intracavitary BT is neither possible nor available. In these circumstances, post-external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) interstitial brachytherapy and/or hysterectomy may represent viable options that must be adequately executed in a timely manner. However, if these options are not applicable due to patient related or facility related reasons, a formal contingency plan should be in place. Innovative EBRT techniques such as intensity modulated and stereotactic radiotherapy may be considered for patients unable to undergo brachytherapy. Relying on provocative arguments and recent data, this review explores the rationale for and limitations of non-brachytherapy substitutes in that setting aiming to establish a formal process for the optimal execution of this alternative plan. PMID:28603722

  8. The Hayabusa Curation Facility at Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zolensky, M.; Bastien, R.; McCann, B.; Frank, D.; Gonzalez, C.; Rodriguez, M.

    2013-01-01

    The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa spacecraft made contact with the asteroid 25143 Itokawa and collected regolith dust from Muses Sea region of smooth terrain [1]. The spacecraft returned to Earth with more than 10,000 grains ranging in size from just over 300 µm to less than 10 µm [2, 3]. These grains represent the only collection of material returned from an asteroid by a spacecraft. As part of the joint agreement between JAXA and NASA for the mission, 10% of the Hayabusa grains are being transferred to NASA for parallel curation and allocation. In order to properly receive process and curate these samples, a new curation facility was established at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Since the Hayabusa samples within the JAXA curation facility have been stored free from exposure to terrestrial atmosphere and contamination [4], one of the goals of the new NASA curation facility was to continue this treatment. An existing lab space at JSC was transformed into a 120 sq.ft. ISO class 4 (equivalent to the original class 10 standard) clean room. Hayabusa samples are stored, observed, processed, and packaged for allocation inside a stainless steel glove box under dry N2. Construction of the clean laboratory was completed in 2012. Currently, 25 Itokawa particles are lodged in NASA's Hayabusa Lab. Special care has been taken during lab construction to remove or contain materials that may contribute contaminant particles in the same size range as the Hayabusa grains. Several witness plates of various materials are installed around the clean lab and within the glove box to permit characterization of local contaminants at regular intervals by SEM and mass spectrometry, and particle counts of the lab environment are frequently acquired. Of particular interest is anodized aluminum, which contains copious sub-mm grains of a multitude of different materials embedded in its upper surface. Unfortunately the use of anodized aluminum was necessary in the construction

  9. Ion beam analysis in art and archaeology: attacking the power precisions paradigm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abraham, Meg

    2004-01-01

    It is a post-modern axiom that the closer one looks at something the more blinkered is the view, thus the result is often a failure to see the whole picture. With this in mind, the value of a tool for art and archaeology applications is greatly enhanced if the information is scientifically precise and yet is easily integrated into the broader study regarding the objects at hand. Art and archaeological objects offer some unique challenges for researchers. First, they are almost always extraordinarily inhomogeneous across individual pieces and across types. Second they are often valuable and delicate so sampling is discouraged. Finally, in most cases, each piece is unique, thus the data is also unique and is of greatest value when incorporated into the overall understanding of the object or of the culture of the artisan. Ion beam analysis solves many of these problems. With IBA, it is possible to avoid sampling by using an external beam setup or by manipulating small objects in a vacuum. The technique is largely non-destructive, allowing for multiple data points to be taken across an object. The X-ray yields are from deeper in the sample than those of other techniques and using RBS one can attain bulk concentrations from microns into the sample. And finally, the resulting X-ray spectra is easily interpreted and understood by many conservators and curators, while PIXE maps are a wonderful visual record of the results of the analysis. Some examples of the special role that ion beam analysis plays in the examination of cultural objects will be covered in this talk

  10. The influence of single and fractionated dose external beam irradiation on injury-induced arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaefer, U.; Micke, O.; Dorszewski, A.; Breithardt, G.; Willich, N.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose/Objective: Restenosis after catheter-based revascularization has been demonstrated to be primarily caused by smooth muscle cell proliferation. This study examined the effects of external beam irradiation on neointimal proliferation after external injury to the central artery of the rabbit ear. Materials and Methods: 40 male New Zealand White rabbits were used in this study. Crush lesions were performed on each ear under general anesthesia and bilateral auricular nerve blockade. A single dose of 12 Gy (n=10), 16 Gy (n=10), or 20 Gy (n=10) and a fractionated dose of 4 x 5 Gy (n=10) gamma radiation was delivered to the left or right central artery of the ear 24 hours after injury; the contralateral central artery served as control. All rabbits were sacrificed after twenty-one days and the central arteries of the ear were fixed for morphometric measurements. Results: Mean (± SD) neointimal area was 0.062 ± 0.005 mm 2 (12 Gy), 0.022 ± 0,005 mm 2 (16 Gy), 0,028 ± 0,006 mm 2 and 0.038 mm 2 ± 0,02 mm 2 (4 x 5 Gy) in irradiated arteries compared with 0,081 ± 0,009 mm 2 in the control group. Mean (±SD) luminal area was 0.049 ± 0.004 mm 2 (12 Gy), 0.059 ± 0.002 mm 2 (16 Gy), 0.072 ± 0,006 mm 2 (20 Gy) and 0.048 mm 2 ± 0,018 mm 2 (4 x 5 Gy) in irradiated arteries compared with 0,043 ± 0,008 mm 2 in the control group. The difference in neointimal and luminal area between control and irradiated arteries was significant (p<0.05) only for the 16 and 20 Gy group compared to control. Conclusion: We conclude that in this model, external beam X-ray irradiation was successful in reducing neointimal proliferation after injury of the central artery of the rabbit ear. The optimal dose seems to be a single dose of 16 Gy - 20 Gy. Only a less prominent effect was noted for a fractionated dose of 4 x 5 Gy. Whether this approach can be used successfully to inhibit restenosis in the clinical setting requires further investigation

  11. Organic Contamination Baseline Study: In NASA JSC Astromaterials Curation Laboratories. Summary Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calaway, Michael J.

    2013-01-01

    In preparation for OSIRIS-REx and other future sample return missions concerned with analyzing organics, we conducted an Organic Contamination Baseline Study for JSC Curation Labsoratories in FY12. For FY12 testing, organic baseline study focused only on molecular organic contamination in JSC curation gloveboxes: presumably future collections (i.e. Lunar, Mars, asteroid missions) would use isolation containment systems over only cleanrooms for primary sample storage. This decision was made due to limit historical data on curation gloveboxes, limited IR&D funds and Genesis routinely monitors organics in their ISO class 4 cleanrooms.

  12. Spill control and intensity monitoring for the Bevatron--Bevalac external particle beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barale, J.J.; Crebbin, K.C.

    1975-03-01

    Time-intensity modulation in beam spill can be of primary concern in some experiments. The major source of this beam structure is from main-guide field-magnet power supply ripple. If the time constants are appropriate, then final control of beam structure can be accomplished by closed loop control of the intensity of beam spill. The response characteristics of the feedback system will determine the final structure. At high beam fluxes signal to noise ratio of beam detectors, in the feedback loop, can be improved by at least four orders of magnitude by using photomultiplier tubes and a water Cherenkov counter in place of the normal secondary emission monitor. At beam fluxes below 10 10 particles per second (PPS), a plastic scintillator and photomultiplier tube are used in the feedback system. A plastic scintillator and photomultiplier are also used in the beam as intensity monitors. At intensities below about 10 7 PPS standard counting techniques are used. For intensities between 10 6 to 110 9 PPS, the photomultiplier is used as a current source driving an integrating circuit which is then calibrated to read the number of particles per pulse. (U.S.)

  13. Holographic gratings in photorefractive polymers without external electric field

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kukhtarev, N.; Lyuksyutov, S.; Buchhave, Preben

    1997-01-01

    Using anomalous large diffusion we report a recording of reflection type gratings in a PVK-based photorefractive polymer without any external electric field. The diffraction efficiency of the gratings was measured to be 7%. An efficient modulation of beams during two-beam coupling up to 12...

  14. Signal amplification and Pierce's instability in convergent particle beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gnavi, G.; Gratton, F.T.

    1988-01-01

    Relativistic electron beams flowing between cylindrical and spherical electrodes (or solid angles sections of electrodes with these geometries) are studied. The beams are focused through the axis in the cylindrical case or through the center when spherical electrodes are considered. It is assumed that the external electrode is part of a device which accelerates the particles, the inner electrode is passive and removes the beams from the system. Electrons move by inertia in the interelectrode space, neutralized by an ion background. Properties of radial, small amplitude, perturbations are analyzed theoretically. Previous analyses of counterstreaming beams indicated that convergence modifies considerably the oscillations spectrum. Here, results on the amplification of signals when a beam is modulated at the external electrode are reported. Then, conditions for the instability of a beam when it flows through grounded electrodes (Pierce's instability of only one beam) are examined

  15. Radiotherapy for the treatment of primary vaginal cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samant, Rajiv; Tam, Tiffany; Dahrouge, Simon; E, Choan

    2005-01-01

    Disease control rates and toxicity were evaluated among 28 primary vaginal cancer patients treated with curative intent using radiotherapy. At 5 years, the majority (60%) of patients were disease-free and local control was 73% when a combination of external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy were used. Serious late toxicity was seen in 11% of patients

  16. Megavoltage external beam irradiation of craniopharyngiomas: Analysis of tumor control and morbidity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flickinger, J.C.; Lunsford, L.D.; Singer, J.; Cano, E.R.; Deutsch, M.

    1990-01-01

    From 1971 to 1985, 21 patients received megavoltage external beam radiation therapy at the University of Pittsburgh for control of craniopharyngioma. Minimum tumor doses prescribed to the 95% isodose volume ranged between 51.3 to 70.0 Gy. Median total dose was 60.00 Gy and median dose per fraction was 1.83 Gy. Three deaths occurred from intercurrent disease and no deaths from tumor progression. Actuarial overall survival was 89% and 82% at 5 and 10 years. Actuarial local control was 95% at 5 and 10 years. Radiation related complications included one patient with optic neuropathy, one with brain necrosis, and one that developed optic neuropathy followed by brain necrosis. The high dose group of patients who received a NSD or Neuret equivalent of greater than 60 Gy at 1.8 Gy per fraction had a significantly greater risk of radiation complications (p = .024). The actuarial risk at 5 years for optic neuropathy was 30% and brain necrosis was 12.5% in the high dose group. Tumor control in the high dose group was not shown to be significantly better. Any possible benefit in tumor control in treating patients with craniopharyngioma with doses above 60 Gy at 1.8 Gy per fraction appears to be offset by the increased risk of radiation injury

  17. Data Curation Program Development in U.S. Universities: The Georgia Institute of Technology Example

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tyler O. Walters

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The curation of scientific research data at U.S. universities is a story of enterprising individuals and of incremental progress. A small number of libraries and data centers who see the possibilities of becoming “digital information management centers” are taking entrepreneurial steps to extend beyond their traditional information assets and include managing scientific and scholarly research data. The Georgia Institute of Technology (GT has had a similar development path toward a data curation program based in its library. This paper will articulate GT’s program development, which the author offers as an experience common in U.S. universities. The main characteristic is a program devoid of top-level mandates and incentives, but rich with independent, “bottom-up” action. The paper will address program antecedents and context, inter-institutional partnerships that advance the library’s curation program, library organizational developments, partnerships with campus research communities, and a proposed model for curation program development. It concludes that despite the clear need for data curation put forth by researchers such as the groups of neuroscientists and bioscientists referenced in this paper, the university experience examined suggests that gathering resources for developing data curation programs at the institutional level is proving to be a quite onerous. However, and in spite of the challenges, some U.S. research universities are beginning to establish perceptible data curation programs.

  18. Optimum curative dose and the results of radiotherapy of the lower lip, larynx and cervix uteri neoplasms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kholin, V.V.; Libson, I.L.; Bartova, V.F.; Lubenets, Eh.N.

    1982-01-01

    An analysis of the results of radiotherapy of 951 patients with cancer of the lower lip, larynx and cervix uteri on the basis of the concept of a single optimum curative dose (OCD 1 ) is presented. The best long-term results (in good health for 3 years and more) were obtained for T 1 Stage with summary focal doses that were equivalent to OCD 1 : 98% for the lowel lip, 95% for the larynx, and 93.9% for cervix uteri. It has been shown that OCD 1 estimated for identical tumor volumes (1 cm 3 ) taking account of the character of fractionation and dose rate for all known sites is practically the same - about 24 Gy. It has been demonstrated that to reach a maximum effect with the growth of tumor volume, the summary curative dose should be increased; however, of common knowledge is that under the conditions of γ-beam therapy by simple fractionation the summary focal doses cannot exceed 60-80 Gy. The above doses can result in a radical effect in tumor volumes not more than 5-6 cm 3 . This tumor volume is regarded as a maximum one for cure of malignant epithelial tumors. In large volume tumors one should rely upon palliative radiotherapeutic results [ru

  19. Curating Public Art 2.0: The case of Autopoiesis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ajana, Btihaj

    2017-01-01

    This article examines the intersections between public art, curation and Web 2.0 technology. Building on the case study of Autopoiesis, a digital art project focusing on the curation and online exhibition of artworks received from members of the public in the United Arab Emirates, the article...... to facilitate autonomous creative self-expressions and enable greater public participation in culture. By providing a critical reflection on the ‘material’ contexts of this digital project, the article also demonstrates the related tensions between the virtual and the physical, and the wider ‘local’ realities...

  20. Accuracy of digital peripical radiography and cone-beam computed tomography in detecting external root resorption

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Creanga, Adriana Gabriela [Division of Dental Diagnostic Science, Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, Newark (United States); Geha, Hassem; Sankar, Vidya; Mcmahan, Clyde Alex; Noujeim, Marcel [University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio (United States); Teixeira, Fabrico B. [Dept. of Endodontics, University of Iowa, Iowa City (United States)

    2015-09-15

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and digital intraoral radiography in diagnosing simulated small external root resorption cavities. Cavities were drilled in 159 roots using a small spherical bur at different root levels and on all surfaces. The teeth were imaged both with intraoral digital radiography using image plates and with CBCT. Two sets of intraoral images were acquired per tooth: orthogonal (PA) which was the conventional periapical radiograph and mesioangulated (SET). Four readers were asked to rate their confidence level in detecting and locating the lesions. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess the accuracy of each modality in detecting the presence of lesions, the affected surface, and the affected level. Analysis of variation was used to compare the results and kappa analysis was used to evaluate interobserver agreement. A significant difference in the area under the ROC curves was found among the three modalities (P=0.0002), with CBCT (0.81) having a significantly higher value than PA (0.71) or SET (0.71). PA was slightly more accurate than SET, but the difference was not statistically significant. CBCT was also superior in locating the affected surface and level. CBCT has already proven its superiority in detecting multiple dental conditions, and this study shows it to likewise be superior in detecting and locating incipient external root resorption.

  1. Elevation of PSA after prostate radiotherapy: Rebound or biochemical recurrence?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toledano, A.; Kanoui, A.; Chiche, R.; Lamallem, H.; Beley, S.; Thibault, F.; Sebe, P.

    2008-01-01

    The fact that external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy are now considered to be curative techniques has led to major review of the modalities of follow-up after radiotherapy for prostate cancer. The problem concerns both the diagnosis of recurrence, rapidly announced by elevation of prostatic-specific antigen (PSA), usually at a subclinical stage, and the validity of criteria of biochemical recurrence to allow comparison of various study. Physicians involved in follow-up should be aware of the potential of bounce in PSA follow-up after external beam radiotherapy or brachytherapy. The PSA bounce phenomenon was defined by a rise of PSA values (+ 0.1 -0.8 ng/ml) with a subsequent fall. Biochemical failure after external beam radiotherapy or brachytherapy (with or without hormonotherapy) was defined by Phoenix criteria by a rise of 2 ng/ml above an initial PSA nadir. This definition was more correlated to PSA bounce phenomenon. (authors)

  2. EPI moved in beam S3

    CERN Multimedia

    1977-01-01

    The housing of the External Particle Identifier (EPI) is being moved to S3 beam. Test measurements with EPI were performed in the S3 beam between 20 and 110 GeV/c, before installing it behind BEBC. 110 GeV/c before

  3. American Brachytherapy Society Task Group Report: Combination of brachytherapy and external beam radiation for high-risk prostate cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spratt, Daniel E; Soni, Payal D; McLaughlin, Patrick W; Merrick, Gregory S; Stock, Richard G; Blasko, John C; Zelefsky, Michael J

    To review outcomes for high-risk prostate cancer treated with combined modality radiation therapy (CMRT) utilizing external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) with a brachytherapy boost. The available literature for high-risk prostate cancer treated with combined modality radiation therapy was reviewed and summarized. At this time, the literature suggests that the majority of high-risk cancers are curable with multimodal treatment. Several large retrospective studies and three prospective randomized trials comparing CMRT to dose-escalated EBRT have demonstrated superior biochemical control with CMRT. Longer followup of the randomized trials will be required to determine if this will translate to a benefit in metastasis-free survival, disease-specific survival, and overall survival. Although greater toxicity has been associated with CMRT compared to EBRT, recent studies suggest that technological advances that allow better definition and sparing of critical adjacent structures as well as increasing experience with brachytherapy have improved implant quality and the toxicity profile of brachytherapy. The role of androgen deprivation therapy is well established in the external beam literature for high-risk disease, but there is controversy regarding the applicability of these data in the setting of dose escalation. At this time, there is not sufficient evidence for the omission of androgen deprivation therapy with dose escalation in this population. Comparisons with surgery remain limited by differences in patient selection, but the evidence would suggest better disease control with CMRT compared to surgery alone. Due to a series of technological advances, modern combination series have demonstrated unparalleled rates of disease control in the high-risk population. Given the evidence from recent randomized trials, combination therapy may become the standard of care for high-risk cancers. Copyright © 2016 American Brachytherapy Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All

  4. TreeFam: a curated database of phylogenetic trees of animal gene families

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Heng; Coghlan, Avril; Ruan, Jue

    2006-01-01

    TreeFam is a database of phylogenetic trees of gene families found in animals. It aims to develop a curated resource that presents the accurate evolutionary history of all animal gene families, as well as reliable ortholog and paralog assignments. Curated families are being added progressively......, based on seed alignments and trees in a similar fashion to Pfam. Release 1.1 of TreeFam contains curated trees for 690 families and automatically generated trees for another 11 646 families. These represent over 128 000 genes from nine fully sequenced animal genomes and over 45 000 other animal proteins...

  5. The importance of adequate follow-up in defining treatment success after external beam irradiation for prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vicini, Frank A.; Kestin, Larry L.; Martinez, Alvaro A.

    1999-01-01

    Purpose: We reviewed our institution's experience treating patients with localized prostate cancer with external beam radiation therapy (RT) to determine how differences in the length of follow-up affect the determination of treatment outcome using the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) Consensus Panel Definition of biochemical failure (BF). Methods and Materials: From January 1987 through December 1997, 1109 patients with localized prostate cancer were treated with definitive external beam RT at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan. All patients received external beam RT to a median total prostate dose of 66.6 Gy (range: 59.4-70.4 Gy). A total of 1096 patients (99%) had sufficient prostate-specific antigen (PSA) follow-up to determine their biochemical status. To test the impact of differences in follow-up on the calculation of BF, 389 patients with at least 5 years of PSA follow-up were selected as the reference group for the initial analysis. BF was then retrospectively determined using the Consensus Panel definition at yearly intervals, ignoring the remainder of each patient's follow-up. The median follow-up for this group of patients was 6.6 years (range: 5.0-11.6 years). In a second analysis, patient cohorts were randomly selected with varying median PSA follow-up intervals in order to more accurately represent a population whose follow-up is distributed continuously over a defined range. Seven cohorts were randomly selected with 200 patients in each cohort. Cohorts were individually identified such that half of the patients (100) had 2 years or less follow-up than the stated time point for analysis and half (100) had up to 2 years more follow-up than the time point chosen for analysis. For example, in the cohort with a median follow-up of 3 years, 100 patients with a PSA follow-up from 1 to 3 years were randomly selected, and 100 patients with a follow-up from 3 to 5 years were randomly selected, thus generating a

  6. Practices of research data curation in institutional repositories: A qualitative view from repository staff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Dong Joon; Stvilia, Besiki

    2017-01-01

    The importance of managing research data has been emphasized by the government, funding agencies, and scholarly communities. Increased access to research data increases the impact and efficiency of scientific activities and funding. Thus, many research institutions have established or plan to establish research data curation services as part of their Institutional Repositories (IRs). However, in order to design effective research data curation services in IRs, and to build active research data providers and user communities around those IRs, it is essential to study current data curation practices and provide rich descriptions of the sociotechnical factors and relationships shaping those practices. Based on 13 interviews with 15 IR staff members from 13 large research universities in the United States, this paper provides a rich, qualitative description of research data curation and use practices in IRs. In particular, the paper identifies data curation and use activities in IRs, as well as their structures, roles played, skills needed, contradictions and problems present, solutions sought, and workarounds applied. The paper can inform the development of best practice guides, infrastructure and service templates, as well as education in research data curation in Library and Information Science (LIS) schools.

  7. Curation of US Martian Meteorites Collected in Antarctica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindstrom, M.; Satterwhite, C.; Allton, J.; Stansbury, E.

    1998-01-01

    To date the ANSMET field team has collected five martian meteorites (see below) in Antarctica and returned them for curation at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Meteorite Processing Laboratory (MPL). ne meteorites were collected with the clean procedures used by ANSMET in collecting all meteorites: They were handled with JSC-cleaned tools, packaged in clean bags, and shipped frozen to JSC. The five martian meteorites vary significantly in size (12-7942 g) and rock type (basalts, lherzolites, and orthopyroxenite). Detailed descriptions are provided in the Mars Meteorite compendium, which describes classification, curation and research results. A table gives the names, classifications and original and curatorial masses of the martian meteorites. The MPL and measures for contamination control are described.

  8. Incidence of primary hypothyroidism in patients exposed to therapeutic external beam radiation, where radiation portals include a part or whole of the thyroid gland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B A Laway

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Hypothyroidism is a known consequence of external-beam radiotherapy to the neck encompassing a part or whole of the thyroid gland. In this non-randomized prospective study, we have tried to evaluate the response of the thyroid gland to radiation by assessing thyroid function before irradiation and at regular intervals after irradiation. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study were to assess in the cancer patients, who were exposed to the therapeutic external beam radiation, where radiation portals include a part or whole of the thyroid gland: the incidence of primary hypothyroidism, the time required to become hypothyroid, any relation between the total dose for the development of hypothyroidism, and whether there are any patient or treatment-related factors that are predictive for the development of hypothyroidism, including the use of concurrent chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: This non-randomized, prospective study was conducted for a period of 2 years in which thyroid function was assessed in 59 patients (cases of head and neck cancer, breast cancer, lymphoma patients and other malignancies, who had received radiotherapy to the neck region. 59 euthyroid healthy patients (controls were also taken, who had not received the neck irradiation. These patients/controls were assessed periodically for 2 years. Results: The incidence of hypothyroidism after external beam radiation therapy (EBRT to neck where radiation portals include part or whole of the thyroid gland was 16.94%, seven cases had subclinical hypothyroidism (11.86% and three cases had clinical hypothyroidism (5.08%. Mean time for development of hypothyroidism was 4.5 months. There was no effect of age, gender, primary tumor site, radiation dose and chemotherapy, whether neoadjuvant or concurrent with the development of hypothyroidism. Conclusion: In summary, we found that thyroid dysfunction is a prevalent, yet easily treatable source of morbidity in patients

  9. Curative and eradicant action of fungicides to control Phakopsora pachyrhizi in soybean plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erlei Melo Reis

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Experiments were carried out in a growth chamber and laboratory to quantify the curative and eradicant actions of fungicides in Asian soybean rust control. The experiments were conducted with the CD 214 RR cultivar, assessing the following fungicides, separately or in association, chlorothalonil, flutriafol, cyproconazole + trifloxystrobin, epoxiconazole + pyraclostrobin, cyproconazole + azoxystrobin, and cyproconazole + picoxystrobin. The fungicides were applied at four (curative and nine days after inoculation (eradicant treatment. Treatments were evaluated according to the density of lesions and uredia/cm2, and the eradicant treatment was assessed based on the necrosis of lesions/uredia and on uredospore viability. Except for the fungicide chlorothalonil, there was curative action of latent/virtual infections by the fungicides. Penetrant fungicides that are absorbed have curative and eradicant action to soybean rust.

  10. An emerging role: the nurse content curator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Beth A

    2015-01-01

    A new phenomenon, the inverted or "flipped" classroom, assumes that students are no longer acquiring knowledge exclusively through textbooks or lectures. Instead, they are seeking out the vast amount of free information available to them online (the very essence of open source) to supplement learning gleaned in textbooks and lectures. With so much open-source content available to nursing faculty, it benefits the faculty to use readily available, technologically advanced content. The nurse content curator supports nursing faculty in its use of such content. Even more importantly, the highly paid, time-strapped faculty is not spending an inordinate amount of effort surfing for and evaluating content. The nurse content curator does that work, while the faculty uses its time more effectively to help students vet the truth, make meaning of the content, and learn to problem-solve. Brooks. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Elemental mapping of large samples by external ion beam analysis with sub-millimeter resolution and its applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, T. F.; Rodrigues, C. L.; Added, N.; Rizzutto, M. A.; Tabacniks, M. H.; Mangiarotti, A.; Curado, J. F.; Aguirre, F. R.; Aguero, N. F.; Allegro, P. R. P.; Campos, P. H. O. V.; Restrepo, J. M.; Trindade, G. F.; Antonio, M. R.; Assis, R. F.; Leite, A. R.

    2018-05-01

    The elemental mapping of large areas using ion beam techniques is a desired capability for several scientific communities, involved on topics ranging from geoscience to cultural heritage. Usually, the constraints for large-area mapping are not met in setups employing micro- and nano-probes implemented all over the world. A novel setup for mapping large sized samples in an external beam was recently built at the University of São Paulo employing a broad MeV-proton probe with sub-millimeter dimension, coupled to a high-precision large range XYZ robotic stage (60 cm range in all axis and precision of 5 μ m ensured by optical sensors). An important issue on large area mapping is how to deal with the irregularities of the sample's surface, that may introduce artifacts in the images due to the variation of the measuring conditions. In our setup, we implemented an automatic system based on machine vision to correct the position of the sample to compensate for its surface irregularities. As an additional benefit, a 3D digital reconstruction of the scanned surface can also be obtained. Using this new and unique setup, we have produced large-area elemental maps of ceramics, stones, fossils, and other sort of samples.

  12. The MIntAct project—IntAct as a common curation platform for 11 molecular interaction databases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orchard, Sandra; Ammari, Mais; Aranda, Bruno; Breuza, Lionel; Briganti, Leonardo; Broackes-Carter, Fiona; Campbell, Nancy H.; Chavali, Gayatri; Chen, Carol; del-Toro, Noemi; Duesbury, Margaret; Dumousseau, Marine; Galeota, Eugenia; Hinz, Ursula; Iannuccelli, Marta; Jagannathan, Sruthi; Jimenez, Rafael; Khadake, Jyoti; Lagreid, Astrid; Licata, Luana; Lovering, Ruth C.; Meldal, Birgit; Melidoni, Anna N.; Milagros, Mila; Peluso, Daniele; Perfetto, Livia; Porras, Pablo; Raghunath, Arathi; Ricard-Blum, Sylvie; Roechert, Bernd; Stutz, Andre; Tognolli, Michael; van Roey, Kim; Cesareni, Gianni; Hermjakob, Henning

    2014-01-01

    IntAct (freely available at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/intact) is an open-source, open data molecular interaction database populated by data either curated from the literature or from direct data depositions. IntAct has developed a sophisticated web-based curation tool, capable of supporting both IMEx- and MIMIx-level curation. This tool is now utilized by multiple additional curation teams, all of whom annotate data directly into the IntAct database. Members of the IntAct team supply appropriate levels of training, perform quality control on entries and take responsibility for long-term data maintenance. Recently, the MINT and IntAct databases decided to merge their separate efforts to make optimal use of limited developer resources and maximize the curation output. All data manually curated by the MINT curators have been moved into the IntAct database at EMBL-EBI and are merged with the existing IntAct dataset. Both IntAct and MINT are active contributors to the IMEx consortium (http://www.imexconsortium.org). PMID:24234451

  13. Argo: an integrative, interactive, text mining-based workbench supporting curation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rak, Rafal; Rowley, Andrew; Black, William; Ananiadou, Sophia

    2012-01-01

    Curation of biomedical literature is often supported by the automatic analysis of textual content that generally involves a sequence of individual processing components. Text mining (TM) has been used to enhance the process of manual biocuration, but has been focused on specific databases and tasks rather than an environment integrating TM tools into the curation pipeline, catering for a variety of tasks, types of information and applications. Processing components usually come from different sources and often lack interoperability. The well established Unstructured Information Management Architecture is a framework that addresses interoperability by defining common data structures and interfaces. However, most of the efforts are targeted towards software developers and are not suitable for curators, or are otherwise inconvenient to use on a higher level of abstraction. To overcome these issues we introduce Argo, an interoperable, integrative, interactive and collaborative system for text analysis with a convenient graphic user interface to ease the development of processing workflows and boost productivity in labour-intensive manual curation. Robust, scalable text analytics follow a modular approach, adopting component modules for distinct levels of text analysis. The user interface is available entirely through a web browser that saves the user from going through often complicated and platform-dependent installation procedures. Argo comes with a predefined set of processing components commonly used in text analysis, while giving the users the ability to deposit their own components. The system accommodates various areas and levels of user expertise, from TM and computational linguistics to ontology-based curation. One of the key functionalities of Argo is its ability to seamlessly incorporate user-interactive components, such as manual annotation editors, into otherwise completely automatic pipelines. As a use case, we demonstrate the functionality of an in

  14. The DigCurV Curriculum Framework for Digital Curation in the Cultural Heritage Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Molloy

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In 2013, the DigCurV collaborative network completed development of a Curriculum Framework for digital curation skills in the European cultural heritage sector. DigCurV synthesised a variety of established skills and competence models in the digital curation and LIS sectors with expertise from digital curation professionals, in order to develop a new Curriculum Framework. The resulting Framework provides a common language and helps define the skills, knowledge and abilities that are necessary for the development of digital curation training; for benchmarking existing programmes; and for promoting the continuing production, improvement and refinement of digital curation training programmes. This paper describes the salient points of this work, including how the project team conducted the research necessary to develop the Framework, the structure of the Framework, the processes used to validate the Framework, and three ‘lenses’ onto the Framework. The paper also provides suggestions as to how the Framework might be used, including a description of potential audiences and purposes.

  15. The art and science of data curation: Lessons learned from constructing a virtual collection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bugbee, Kaylin; Ramachandran, Rahul; Maskey, Manil; Gatlin, Patrick

    2018-03-01

    A digital, or virtual, collection is a value added service developed by libraries that curates information and resources around a topic, theme or organization. Adoption of the virtual collection concept as an Earth science data service improves the discoverability, accessibility and usability of data both within individual data centers but also across data centers and disciplines. In this paper, we introduce a methodology for systematically and rigorously curating Earth science data and information into a cohesive virtual collection. This methodology builds on the geocuration model of searching, selecting and synthesizing Earth science data, metadata and other information into a single and useful collection. We present our experiences curating a virtual collection for one of NASA's twelve Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), the Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC), and describe lessons learned as a result of this curation effort. We also provide recommendations and best practices for data centers and data providers who wish to curate virtual collections for the Earth sciences.

  16. Locoregional recurrences following radical external beam irradiation and interstitial implantation for operable breast cancer - a twenty three year experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leung, S.; Otmezguine, Y.; Calitchi, E.; Mazeron, J.J.; Le Bourgeois, J.P.; Pierquin, B.

    1986-01-01

    Locoregional recurrences are reported in 493 consecutive with T1 T2 N0 N1 breast cancer patients who were treated with radical external beam irradiation and interstitial 192 Ir implant between 1961 and 1979. Follow-up ranges from 5-23 years (mean 10 years) with 195 patients having 10-23 years follow up (mean 12 years). There were 51 (10%) locoregional recurrences with 34 mammary, 14 combined mammary/axillary and 3 isolated axillary recurrences. The 10 year relapse rate was 20/195 (10%). The results have been compared with other series in the literature and changes in the authors' current protocol are described. (Auth.)

  17. Unresectable Retiform Hemangioendothelioma Treated with External Beam Radiation Therapy and Chemotherapy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alina Z. Hirsh

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Retiform hemangioendothelioma (RH is an infrequently encountered vascular neoplasm of intermediate or borderline malignancy. Treatment of RH is controversial. We present a case of a 44-year-old Asian male presenting with an unresectable RH of the pelvis. The patient was treated with concurrent low-dose Cisplatin and External beam Radiation (4140cGy in 180cGy per fraction. This is the first report of a clinical complete response and a long-term local control of this rare tumor. This has significant clinical implication, since it gives the first evidence of treatment of this rare tumor using concurrent low-dose chemotherapy and radiation.

  18. Simulation of the development and interaction of instabilities in a relativistic electron beam under variation of the beam wall thickness

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badarin, A. A.; Kurkin, S. A. [Saratov State University (Russian Federation); Koronovskii, A. A. [Yuri Gagarin State Technical University (Russian Federation); Rak, A. O. [Belorussian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics (Belarus); Hramov, A. E., E-mail: hramovae@gmail.com [Saratov State University (Russian Federation)

    2017-03-15

    The development and interaction of Bursian and diocotron instabilities in an annular relativistic electron beam propagating in a cylindrical drift chamber are investigated analytically and numerically as functions of the beam wall thickness and the magnitude of the external uniform magnetic field. It is found that the interaction of instabilities results in the formation of a virtual cathode with a complicated rotating helical structure and several reflection regions (electron bunches) in the azimuthal direction. It is shown that the number of electron bunches in the azimuthal direction increases with decreasing beam wall thickness and depends in a complicated manner on the magnitude of the external magnetic field.

  19. Temperature dependence of the beam-foil interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gay, T.J.; Berry, H.G.

    1978-01-01

    The beam energy dependence between 50 and 200 keV of the linear polarization fraction (M/I) of the 2s 1 S--3p 1 P, 5016 A transition in He I on temperature was measured. The thin carbon exciter foils were heated externally by nichrome resistance elements. The measurements of Hight et al. are duplicated; the energy and current dependences are the same for corresponding between beam heating and external heating. It was also observed that γ, the number of slow secondary electrons produced per incident ion, decreases with increasing foil temperature. These two effects, in conjunction, offer a plausible explanation for the variation of polarization with beam current density. 5 figures

  20. Gamma-ray lasing by free nuclei and by matter-antimatter beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivlin, L.A.

    1997-01-01

    I discuss the possibilities to induce the gamma-ray emission departing from attempts to use the Moessbauer effect. Three separate approaches are considered: (A) Stimulated radiative transitions in deeply cooled nuclear beams with hidden inversion; (B) external two-photon ignition of nuclear lasing accompanied by gamma-ray giant pulse emission; and (C) burst-like radiative annihilation of relativistic beams of electrons and positrons or parapositronium atoms ignited by an external beam of soft photons

  1. Ion beam generation and focusing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, P.A.; Mendel, C.W.; Swain, D.W.; Goldstein, S.A.

    1975-01-01

    Calculations have shown that efficiently generated and focused ion beams could have significant advantages over electron beams in achieving ignition of inertially-confined thermonuclear fuel. Efficient ion beam generation implies use of a good ion source and suppression of net electron current. Net electron flow can be reduced by allowing electrons to reflex through a highly transparent anode or by use of transverse magnetic fields (either beam self-fields or externally applied fields). Geometric focusing can be achieved if the beam is generated by appropriately shaped electrodes. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate ion beam generation in both reflexing and pinched-flow diodes. Spherically shaped electrodes are used to concentrate a proton beam, and target response to proton deposition is studied

  2. Competencies for preservation and digital curation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonia Boeres

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Information Science, throughout its existence, has been a multi and interdisciplinary field, and has undergone constant change because of its object of study: information. Seen that this element is not static and is increasingly linked to information technology, we have witnessed a challenge arise: how to ensure the permanence of digital libraries? How to secure the terabytes generated with increasing speed, and in various formats, will be available and fully capable of use over time? This is a challenge that Information Science professionals are being challenged to solve in the process of so-called digital preservation and curation. Thus, this article aims to raise the skills that the information professional must have to carry out the process of preservation and digital curation. The article discusses the emergence of professions (from the perspective of Sociology, the need to work for the realization of the human being (Psychology and proficiencies of exercising the office of Information Science to ensure the preservation of digital information in information units.

  3. LncRNAWiki: harnessing community knowledge in collaborative curation of human long non-coding RNAs

    KAUST Repository

    Ma, L.

    2014-11-15

    Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) perform a diversity of functions in numerous important biological processes and are implicated in many human diseases. In this report we present lncRNAWiki (http://lncrna.big.ac.cn), a wiki-based platform that is open-content and publicly editable and aimed at community-based curation and collection of information on human lncRNAs. Current related databases are dependent primarily on curation by experts, making it laborious to annotate the exponentially accumulated information on lncRNAs, which inevitably requires collective efforts in community-based curation of lncRNAs. Unlike existing databases, lncRNAWiki features comprehensive integration of information on human lncRNAs obtained from multiple different resources and allows not only existing lncRNAs to be edited, updated and curated by different users but also the addition of newly identified lncRNAs by any user. It harnesses community collective knowledge in collecting, editing and annotating human lncRNAs and rewards community-curated efforts by providing explicit authorship based on quantified contributions. LncRNAWiki relies on the underling knowledge of scientific community for collective and collaborative curation of human lncRNAs and thus has the potential to serve as an up-to-date and comprehensive knowledgebase for human lncRNAs.

  4. Organic Contamination Baseline Study in NASA Johnson Space Center Astromaterials Curation Laboratories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calaway, Michael J.; Allen, Carlton C.; Allton, Judith H.

    2014-01-01

    Future robotic and human spaceflight missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and comets will require curating astromaterial samples with minimal inorganic and organic contamination to preserve the scientific integrity of each sample. 21st century sample return missions will focus on strict protocols for reducing organic contamination that have not been seen since the Apollo manned lunar landing program. To properly curate these materials, the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office under the Astromaterial Research and Exploration Science Directorate at NASA Johnson Space Center houses and protects all extraterrestrial materials brought back to Earth that are controlled by the United States government. During fiscal year 2012, we conducted a year-long project to compile historical documentation and laboratory tests involving organic investigations at these facilities. In addition, we developed a plan to determine the current state of organic cleanliness in curation laboratories housing astromaterials. This was accomplished by focusing on current procedures and protocols for cleaning, sample handling, and storage. While the intention of this report is to give a comprehensive overview of the current state of organic cleanliness in JSC curation laboratories, it also provides a baseline for determining whether our cleaning procedures and sample handling protocols need to be adapted and/or augmented to meet the new requirements for future human spaceflight and robotic sample return missions.

  5. Cornell electron beam ion source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kostroun, V.O.; Ghanbari, E.; Beebe, E.N.; Janson, S.W.

    1981-01-01

    An electron beam ion source (EBIS) for the production of low energy, multiply charged ion beams to be used in atomic physics experiments has been designed and constructed. An external high perveance electron gun is used to launch the electron beam into a conventional solenoid. Novel features of the design include a distributed sputter ion pump to create the ultrahigh vacuum environment in the ionization region of the source and microprocessor control of the axial trap voltage supplies

  6. Parametric x-ray FEL operating with external Bragg reflectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baryshevsky, V.G.; Batrakov, K.G.; Dubovskaya, I.Ya.

    1995-01-01

    In the crystal X-ray FELs using channeling and parametric quasi-Cherenkov mechanisms of spontaneous radiation were considered as versions of FEL allowing, in principle, to obtain coherent X-ray source. In this case a crystal is both radiator and resonator for X-rays emitted by a particle beam passing through crystal. However, it is well-known that a beam current density required for lasing is extremely high in X-ray spectral range for any radiation mechanisms and it is very important to find a way to lower its magnitude. The application of three-dimensional distributed feedback formed by dynamical diffraction of emitted photons permitted to reduce starting beam current density 10 2 -10 4 times up to 10 9 . One of ways to lower the starting current is the formation of multi-wave distributed feedback the another one is the application of external reflectors. The thing is that lasing regime was shown to be produced at frequencies in the vicinity of degeneration point for roots of dispersion equation describing radiation modes excited in an active medium (crystal plus particle beam). Unfortunately, in case of parametric quasi-Cherenkov FEL this region coincides with the region of strong self-absorption of radiation inside a crystal. That fact, obviously, increases the starting beam current. In this report we have shown that the application of external Bragg reflectors gives the possibility to lower radiation self-absorption inside a crystal by modifying radiation modes excited in the active medium under consideration. The corresponding dispersion equation and the expression for excited modes are derived. The generation equation determining starting conditions for lasing is obtained. Using these expressions we have shown that the application of external Bragg reflectors permits to reduce starting beam current density more than 10 times

  7. Strengthening of structurally damaged wide shallow RC beams using externally bonded CFRP plates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rajeh A. Al-Zaid

    Full Text Available Reinforced concrete wide shallow beams (WSBs are commonly used in the joist flooring systems. The structural behavior of WSBs strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP reinforcement was studied on isolated beams and as part of full-scale building. The effect of structural damage on the performance of WSBs flexurally strengthened with CFRP plates was investigated and presented in this paper. Eight full-scale WSBs were tested under four-point bending up to failure. Seven beams were strengthened with CFRP plates bonded to the soffit of the beams and one beam was unstrengthened serving as control. Prior to strengthening, the beams were subjected to different levels of damaging by preloading to 30-95% of the beams' flexural capacity. One beam was fully damaged by preloading to failure and repaired before strengthening by replacing the crushed concrete. The data showed that the pre-damaged strengthened beams exhibited ultimate capacities up to 8% lower than those of the undamaged strengthened beams. However, the load carrying capacities of pre-damaged strengthened beams were more than those predicted by ACI 440 design guide, fib Bulletin 14, and JSCE design recommendations. Both fib Bulletin 14 and JSCE design recommendations gave very conservative predictions with average ratios of experimental to predicted ultimate capacity of 2.02 and 2.35, respectively. More accurate predictions were obtained by ACI 440 design guide as the corresponding ratio was 1.24. These results indicate that strong confidence and reliability can be placed in applying CFRP strengthening to structurally damaged WSBs.

  8. The baladi curative system of Cairo, Egypt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Early, E A

    1988-03-01

    The article explores the symbolic structure of the baladi (traditional) cultural system as revealed in everyday narratives, with a focus on baladi curative action. The everyday illness narrative provides a cultural window to the principles of fluidity and restorative balance of baladi curative practices. The body is seen as a dynamic organism through which both foreign objects and physiological entities can move. The body should be in balance, as with any humorally-influenced system, and so baladi cures aim to restore normal balance and functioning of the body. The article examines in detail a narrative on treatment of a sick child, and another on treatment of fertility problems. It traces such cultural oppositions as insider: outsider; authentic:inauthentic; home remedy:cosmopolitan medicine. In the social as well as the medical arena these themes organize social/medical judgements about correct action and explanations of events.

  9. High field superconducting beam transport in a BNL primary proton beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allinger, J.; Brown, H.N.; Carroll, A.S.; Danby, G.; DeVito, B.; Glenn, J.W.; Jackson, J.; Keith, W.; Lowenstein, D.; Prodell, A.G.

    1979-01-01

    Construction of a slow external beam switchyard at the BNL AGS requires a rapid 20.4 0 bend in the upstream end of the beam line. Two curved superconducting window dipole magnets, operating at 6.0 T and about 80% of short sample magnetic field, will be utilized with two small superconducting sextupoles to provide the necessary deflection for a 28.5 GeV/c primary proton beam. Because the magnets will operate in a primary proton beam environment, they are designed to absorb large amounts of radiation heating from the beam without quenching. The field quality of the superconducting magnets is extremely good. Computer field calculations indicate a field error, ΔB/B 0 , equivalent to approx. = 1 x 10 -4 up to 75% of the 8.26 cm full aperture diameter in the magnet

  10. The MIntAct project--IntAct as a common curation platform for 11 molecular interaction databases

    OpenAIRE

    Orchard, S; Ammari, M; Aranda, B; Breuza, L; Briganti, L; Broackes-Carter, F; Campbell, N; Chavali, G; Chen, C; del-Toro, N; Duesbury, M; Dumousseau, M; Galeota, E; Hinz, U; Iannuccelli, M

    2014-01-01

    IntAct (freely available at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/intact) is an open-source, open data molecular interaction database populated by data either curated from the literature or from direct data depositions. IntAct has developed a sophisticated web-based curation tool, capable of supporting both IMEx- and MIMIx-level curation. This tool is now utilized by multiple additional curation teams, all of whom annotate data directly into the IntAct database. Members of the IntAct team supply appropriate l...

  11. Potential for enhancing external beam radiotherapy for lung cancer using high-Z nanoparticles administered via inhalation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Yao; Altundal, Yucel; Moreau, Michele; Sajo, Erno; Kumar, Rajiv; Ngwa, Wilfred

    2015-09-01

    Nanoparticle-aided radiation therapy is emerging as a promising modality to enhance radiotherapy via the radiosensitizing action of high atomic number (Z) nanoparticles. However, the delivery of sufficiently potent concentrations of such nanoparticles to the tumor remain a challenge. This study investigates the dose enhancement to lung tumors due to high-Z nanoparticles (NPs) administered via inhalation during external beam radiotherapy. Here NPs investigated include: cisplatin nanoparticles (CNPs), carboplatin nanoparticles (CBNPs), and gold nanoparticles (GNPs). Using Monte Carlo-generated megavoltage energy spectra, a previously employed analytic method was used to estimate dose enhancement to lung tumors due to radiation-induced photoelectrons from the NPs administered via inhalation route (IR) in comparison to intravenous (IV) administration. Previous studies have indicated about 5% of FDA-approved cisplatin concentrations reach the lung via IV. Meanwhile recent experimental studies indicate that 3.5-14.6 times higher concentrations of NPs can reach the lung by IR compared to IV. Taking these into account, the dose enhancement factor (DEF) defined as the ratio of the radiotherapy dose with and without nanoparticles was calculated for a range of NPs concentrations and tumor sizes. The DEF for IR was then compared with that for IV. For IR with 3.5 times higher concentrations than IV, and 2 cm diameter tumor, clinically significant DEF values of up to 1.19, 1.26, and 1.51 were obtained for CNPs, CBNPs and GNPs. In comparison values of 1.06, 1.08, and 1.15 were obtained via IV administration. For IR with 14.6 times higher concentrations, even higher DEF values were obtained e.g. 1.81 for CNPs. Results also showed that the DEF increased with increasing field size or decreasing tumor volume, as expected. The results of this work indicate that IR administration of targeted high-Z CNPs/CBNPs/GNPs could enable clinically significant DEF to lung tumors compared to IV

  12. Judson_Mansouri_Automated_Chemical_Curation_QSAREnvRes_Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Here we describe the development of an automated KNIME workflow to curate and correct errors in the structure and identity of chemicals using the publically...

  13. The new external ion beam analysis setup at the Demokritos Tandem accelerator and first applications in cultural heritage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sokaras, Dimosthenis; Bistekos, Euthimios; Georgiou, Lambros; Salomon, Joseph; Bogovac, Mladen; Aloupi-Siotis, Eleni; Paschalis, Vasilis; Aslani, Ioanna; Karabagia, Sofia; Lagoyannis, Anastasios; Harissopulos, Sotirios; Kantarelou, Vasiliki; Karydas, Andreas-Germanos

    2011-01-01

    At the 5.5 MV Tandem VdG accelerator of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of N.C.S.R. 'Demokritos', Athens, Greece, an external ion-beam set-up has been recently developed and installed. The aim of this development was to integrate the analytical capabilities of the PIXE, RBS and PIGE ion beam techniques in one experimental set-up, so that to attain a complete elemental and near surface structural characterization of samples in an almost non-destructive way and without any limitation concerning their size or conductive state. A careful 3D mechanical drawing optimized the set-up experimental parameters achieving probe dimensions at the millimeter range (1 mm 2 ) and fulfilling the special requirements imposed for optimum performance of the aforementioned techniques, including the possibility to use heavier, than protons, ion beams. For the digital pulse processing of the X-ray, γ-ray and charged particle detector signals, novel hardware and software tools were developed based on a custom FPGA configuration. The first applications were focused in the quality control of materials that have been intentionally contaminated with a particular tracer-element ('tagged' materials). The tagged materials which were developed and tested are technologically authentic replicas of ancient attic ceramics with black glazed decoration. Analytical diagnostic studies were carried out for a few representative paintings of contemporary Greek painters in order to identify and document materials/pigments and techniques and eventually to prevent trade of fakes. Finally, ancient glass beads were also examined with respect to the sodium concentration and its in-depth homogeneity.

  14. Reducing Organic Contamination in NASA JSC Astromaterial Curation Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calaway, M. J.; Allen, C. C.; Allton, J. H.

    2013-01-01

    Future robotic and human spaceflight missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids and comets will require handling and storing astromaterial samples with minimal inorganic and organic contamination to preserve the scientific integrity of each sample. Much was learned from the rigorous attempts to minimize and monitor organic contamination during Apollo, but it was not adequate for current analytical requirements; thus [1]. OSIRIS-REx, Hayabusa-2, and future Mars sample return will require better protocols for reducing organic contamination. Future isolation con-tainment systems for astromaterials, possibly nitrogen enriched gloveboxes, must be able to reduce organic and inorganic cross-contamination. In 2012, a baseline study established the current state of organic cleanliness in gloveboxes used by NASA JSC astromaterials curation labs that could be used as a benchmark for future mission designs [2, 3]. After standard ultra-pure water (UPW) cleaning, the majority of organic contaminates found were hydrocarbons, plasticizers, silicones, and solvents. Hydro-carbons loads (> C7) ranged from 1.9 to 11.8 ng/cm2 for TD-GC-MS wafer exposure analyses and 5.0 to 19.5 ng/L for TD-GC-MS adsorbent tube exposure. Plasticizers included peracetic acid sterilization were used in the atmospheric de-contamination (R) cabinets. Later, Lunar curation gloveboxes were degreased with a pressurized Freon 113 wash. Today, UPW has replaced Freon as the standard cleaning procedure, but does not have the degreasing solvency power of Freon. Future Cleaning Studies: Cleaning experiments are cur-rently being orchestrated to study how to degrease and reduce organics in a JSC curation glovebox lower than the established baseline. Several new chemicals in the industry have replaced traditional degreasing solvents such as Freon and others that are now federally restricted. However, these new suites of chemicals remain untested for lowering organics in curation gloveboxes. 3M's HFE-7100DL and Du

  15. Sharing Responsibility for Data Stewardship Between Scientists and Curators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedstrom, M. L.

    2012-12-01

    Data stewardship is becoming increasingly important to support accurate conclusions from new forms of data, integration of and computation across heterogeneous data types, interactions between models and data, replication of results, data governance and long-term archiving. In addition to increasing recognition of the importance of data management, data science, and data curation by US and international scientific agencies, the National Academies of Science Board on Research Data and Information is sponsoring a study on Data Curation Education and Workforce Issues. Effective data stewardship requires a distributed effort among scientists who produce data, IT staff and/or vendors who provide data storage and computational facilities and services, and curators who enhance data quality, manage data governance, provide access to third parties, and assume responsibility for long-term archiving of data. The expertise necessary for scientific data management includes a mix of knowledge of the scientific domain; an understanding of domain data requirements, standards, ontologies and analytical methods; facility with leading edge information technology; and knowledge of data governance, standards, and best practices for long-term preservation and access that rarely are found in a single individual. Rather than developing data science and data curation as new and distinct occupations, this paper examines the set of tasks required for data stewardship. The paper proposes an alternative model that embeds data stewardship in scientific workflows and coordinates hand-offs between instruments, repositories, analytical processing, publishers, distributors, and archives. This model forms the basis for defining knowledge and skill requirements for specific actors in the processes required for data stewardship and the corresponding educational and training needs.

  16. Curating Big Data Made Simple: Perspectives from Scientific Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sowe, Sulayman K; Zettsu, Koji

    2014-03-01

    The digital universe is exponentially producing an unprecedented volume of data that has brought benefits as well as fundamental challenges for enterprises and scientific communities alike. This trend is inherently exciting for the development and deployment of cloud platforms to support scientific communities curating big data. The excitement stems from the fact that scientists can now access and extract value from the big data corpus, establish relationships between bits and pieces of information from many types of data, and collaborate with a diverse community of researchers from various domains. However, despite these perceived benefits, to date, little attention is focused on the people or communities who are both beneficiaries and, at the same time, producers of big data. The technical challenges posed by big data are as big as understanding the dynamics of communities working with big data, whether scientific or otherwise. Furthermore, the big data era also means that big data platforms for data-intensive research must be designed in such a way that research scientists can easily search and find data for their research, upload and download datasets for onsite/offsite use, perform computations and analysis, share their findings and research experience, and seamlessly collaborate with their colleagues. In this article, we present the architecture and design of a cloud platform that meets some of these requirements, and a big data curation model that describes how a community of earth and environmental scientists is using the platform to curate data. Motivation for developing the platform, lessons learnt in overcoming some challenges associated with supporting scientists to curate big data, and future research directions are also presented.

  17. Flexural Behavior of Self-Compacting RC Continuous Beams Strengthened by CFRP Sheets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabih Z. Al-Sarraf

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This search presented an experimental study of the flexural behavior of self-compacting reinforced concrete continuous beams externally strengthened by carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP Sheets. The practical study contained eight self-compacting reinforced concrete continuous beams (with two span, each span had (1500 mm length and (150x250 mm cross sectional dimensions. Seven of these beams strengthened externally by CFRP sheets with and without external anchorage. The experimental variables included location of CFRP sheets and anchor type and location. The results, shows that the beams strengthened externally by CFRP sheets provided improvement in ultimate loads reached (60.71%. The usage of CFRP in the anchorage zone indicated an effective method in comparison to increasing the CFRP sheets lengths or extending them up to the support or under the loading points. Test results also showed that side strengthening provided an effective tool for increasing the load at the cracking stage and also the load capacity and reducing flexural crack widths.

  18. Beam related response of in vivo diode detectors for external radiotherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baci, Syrja, E-mail: sbarci2013@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Gjirokastra, “Eqrem Çabej” (Albania); Telhaj, Ervis [Department of Medical Physics, Hygeia Hospital Tirana (Albania); Malkaj, Partizan [Department of Physical Engineering, Polytechnic University, Tirana (Albania)

    2016-03-25

    In Vivo Dosimetry (IVD) is a set of methods used in cancer treatment clinics to determine the real dose of radiation absorbed by target volume in a patient’s body. IVD has been widely implemented in radiotherapy treatment centers and is now recommended part of Quality Assurance program by many International health and radiation organizations. Because of cost and lack of specialized personnel, IVD has not been practiced as yet, in Albanian radiotherapy clinics. At Hygeia Hospital Tirana, patients are irradiated with high energy photons generated by Elekta Synergy Accelerators. We have recently started experimenting with the purpose of establishing an IVD practice at this hospital. The first set of experiments was aimed at calibration of diodes that are going to be used for IVD. PMMA, phantoms by PTW were used to calibrate p – type Si, semiconductor diode dosimeters, made by PTW Freiburg for entrance dose. Response of the detectors is affected by energy of the beam, accumulated radiation dose, dose rate, temperature, angle against the beam axis, etc. Here we present the work done for calculating calibration factor and correction factors of source to surface distance, field size, and beam incidence for the entrance dose for both 6 MV photon beam and 18 MV photon beam. Dependence of dosimeter response was found to be more pronounced with source to surface distance as compared to other variables investigated.

  19. Beam related response of in vivo diode detectors for external radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baci, Syrja; Telhaj, Ervis; Malkaj, Partizan

    2016-01-01

    In Vivo Dosimetry (IVD) is a set of methods used in cancer treatment clinics to determine the real dose of radiation absorbed by target volume in a patient’s body. IVD has been widely implemented in radiotherapy treatment centers and is now recommended part of Quality Assurance program by many International health and radiation organizations. Because of cost and lack of specialized personnel, IVD has not been practiced as yet, in Albanian radiotherapy clinics. At Hygeia Hospital Tirana, patients are irradiated with high energy photons generated by Elekta Synergy Accelerators. We have recently started experimenting with the purpose of establishing an IVD practice at this hospital. The first set of experiments was aimed at calibration of diodes that are going to be used for IVD. PMMA, phantoms by PTW were used to calibrate p – type Si, semiconductor diode dosimeters, made by PTW Freiburg for entrance dose. Response of the detectors is affected by energy of the beam, accumulated radiation dose, dose rate, temperature, angle against the beam axis, etc. Here we present the work done for calculating calibration factor and correction factors of source to surface distance, field size, and beam incidence for the entrance dose for both 6 MV photon beam and 18 MV photon beam. Dependence of dosimeter response was found to be more pronounced with source to surface distance as compared to other variables investigated.

  20. [Curative Effects of Hydroxyurea on the Patients with β-thalassaemia Intermadia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Li; Yao, Hong-Xia

    2016-06-01

    To investigate the clinical features of β-thalassaemia intermediate (TI) patients and the curative effect and side reactions of hydroxyurea therapys. Twenty nine patients with TI were divided into hydroxyurea therapy group and no hydroxyurea therapy group; the curative effect and side reactions in 2 groups were compared; the situation of blood transfusion in the 2 groups was evaluated. In hydroxyurea therapy group, the hemoglobin level increased after treatment for 3 months; the reticulocyte percentage obviously decreased after treatment for 12 months; the serum ferritin had been maintained at a low level; while in no hydroxyurea therapy group, the levels of hemoglobin and reticulocytes were not significantly improved after treatment, the serum ferritin level gradually increased. In hydroxyurea therapy group, 12 cases were out of blood transfusion after treatment for 12 months, effective rate of treatment was 85.71%; while in no hydroxyurea therapy group, the blood transfusion dependency was not improved after treatment. No serious side reactions were found in all the hydroxyurea treated patients. The hydroxyurea shows a better curative effect on TI patients, no serious side reactions occur in all the patients treated with hydroxyurea, but the long-term curative effect and side reactions should be observed continuously.

  1. External beam radiotherapy boosted with high dose rate brachytherapy in completely resected uterine sarcomas. Is this a treatment option?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pellizzon, Antonio Cassio Assis; Novaes, Paulo Eduardo Ribeiro dos Santos; Maia, Maria Aparecida Conte; Ferrigno, Robson; Fogarolli, Ricardo; Salvajoli, Joao Vitor [Hospital de Cancer A.C. Camargo, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Dept. de Oncologia de Radiacao]. E-mail: pellizzon@aol.com

    2005-04-15

    Uterine sarcoma (US) is a relative rare tumor, which accounts for only about 3-5% of all uterine cancers. Aggressive cytoreductive surgery at the time of the initial diagnosis with maximum tumor debulking may lead to a prolonged survival or cure. Objective: to identify and review the role of adjuvant external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) associated with high dose rate brachytherapy (HDRB) in the management of patients presenting US with complete resection. Material and methods: this study is a retrospective analysis of 23 patients with US treated from 10/92 to 03/03, with surgery, external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and high dose rate brachytherapy (HDRB). The inclusion criteria for study participation included: histologically proven and graded US, completely resection of tumor, Karnofsky status 60-100, absence of significant infection, and recovery from recent surgery. Results: The median age of patients was 62 years (range 39-84); ten-year actuarial disease-free and overall survivals were 42.2% and 63.4%, respectively. On univariate analysis, predictive factors for disease-free survival (DFS) were age at initial presentation (p=0.0268), parity (p=0.0441), tumor grade (p= 0.0095), cervical or vaginal invasion (p=0.0014) and node dissection at time of surgery (p= 0.0471). On multivariate analysis, the only predictive factor was cervical or vaginal invasion (p= 0.048), hazard ratio of 4.7. Conclusion: it is quite likely that neither radiotherapy nor chemotherapy alone will appreciably improve survival in US. If radiation therapy provides better locoregional tumor control, hematogenous metastases will assume an even greater proportion of treatment failures. Unfortunately, our small and heterogeneous group analyzed precludes any definitive conclusions about the impact of HDRB associated to EBRT radiation therapy on recurrence or survival. (author)

  2. External beam radiotherapy boosted with high dose rate brachytherapy in completely resected uterine sarcomas. Is this a treatment option?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pellizzon, Antonio Cassio Assis; Novaes, Paulo Eduardo Ribeiro dos Santos; Maia, Maria Aparecida Conte; Ferrigno, Robson; Fogarolli, Ricardo; Salvajoli, Joao Vitor

    2005-01-01

    Uterine sarcoma (US) is a relative rare tumor, which accounts for only about 3-5% of all uterine cancers. Aggressive cytoreductive surgery at the time of the initial diagnosis with maximum tumor debulking may lead to a prolonged survival or cure. Objective: to identify and review the role of adjuvant external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) associated with high dose rate brachytherapy (HDRB) in the management of patients presenting US with complete resection. Material and methods: this study is a retrospective analysis of 23 patients with US treated from 10/92 to 03/03, with surgery, external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and high dose rate brachytherapy (HDRB). The inclusion criteria for study participation included: histologically proven and graded US, completely resection of tumor, Karnofsky status 60-100, absence of significant infection, and recovery from recent surgery. Results: The median age of patients was 62 years (range 39-84); ten-year actuarial disease-free and overall survivals were 42.2% and 63.4%, respectively. On univariate analysis, predictive factors for disease-free survival (DFS) were age at initial presentation (p=0.0268), parity (p=0.0441), tumor grade (p= 0.0095), cervical or vaginal invasion (p=0.0014) and node dissection at time of surgery (p= 0.0471). On multivariate analysis, the only predictive factor was cervical or vaginal invasion (p= 0.048), hazard ratio of 4.7. Conclusion: it is quite likely that neither radiotherapy nor chemotherapy alone will appreciably improve survival in US. If radiation therapy provides better locoregional tumor control, hematogenous metastases will assume an even greater proportion of treatment failures. Unfortunately, our small and heterogeneous group analyzed precludes any definitive conclusions about the impact of HDRB associated to EBRT radiation therapy on recurrence or survival. (author)

  3. tion using external beam radiation in gynaecological cancers

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Enrique

    The purpose of the modified technique is: (i) to accurately assess the lower extent of the disease and define the lower border of the external radiation field in both the anteropos- terior/ posteroanterior (AP/PA) and lateral fields; and (ii) to decrease the field size and reduce treatment-related side-effects. Methods and materials.

  4. Morbidity of curative cancer surgery and suicide risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayakrishnan, Thejus T; Sekigami, Yurie; Rajeev, Rahul; Gamblin, T Clark; Turaga, Kiran K

    2017-11-01

    Curative cancer operations lead to debility and loss of autonomy in a population vulnerable to suicide death. The extent to which operative intervention impacts suicide risk is not well studied. To examine the effects of morbidity of curative cancer surgeries and prognosis of disease on the risk of suicide in patients with solid tumors. Retrospective cohort study using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data from 2004 to 2011; multilevel systematic review. General US population. Participants were 482 781 patients diagnosed with malignant neoplasm between 2004 and 2011 who underwent curative cancer surgeries. Death by suicide or self-inflicted injury. Among 482 781 patients that underwent curative cancer surgery, 231 committed suicide (16.58/100 000 person-years [95% confidence interval, CI, 14.54-18.82]). Factors significantly associated with suicide risk included male sex (incidence rate [IR], 27.62; 95% CI, 23.82-31.86) and age >65 years (IR, 22.54; 95% CI, 18.84-26.76). When stratified by 30-day overall postoperative morbidity, a significantly higher incidence of suicide was found for high-morbidity surgeries (IR, 33.30; 95% CI, 26.50-41.33) vs moderate morbidity (IR, 24.27; 95% CI, 18.92-30.69) and low morbidity (IR, 9.81; 95% CI, 7.90-12.04). Unit increase in morbidity was significantly associated with death by suicide (odds ratio, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.03; P = .02) and decreased suicide-specific survival (hazards ratio, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.00-1.03, P = .01) in prognosis-adjusted models. In this sample of cancer patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, patients that undergo high-morbidity surgeries appear most vulnerable to death by suicide. The identification of this high-risk cohort should motivate health care providers and particularly surgeons to adopt screening measures during the postoperative follow-up period for these patients. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  5. Observations on the Curative Effect of Acupuncture on Depressive Neurosis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    FU Wen-bin; WANG Si-you

    2003-01-01

    Purpose To evaluate the curative effect of acupuncture on depressive neurosis. Method Sixty-two patients were randomly divided into a treatment group of 32 cases and a control group of 30 cases. The treatment group and the control group were treated with acupuncture and Fluoxetine, respectively. The curative effects were evaluated by HAMD. Results There was a significant difference between pretreatment and posttreatmentin each group ( P 0.05). But acupuncture had no side effects and was good in compliance. Conclusion Acupuncture is an effective method for treating depressive neurosis.

  6. Jean-Paul Martinon, ed. - The Curatorial: A Philosophy of Curating

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofia Romualdo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In the words of Jean-Paul Martinon, this book’s editor, The Curatorial: A Philosophy of Curating originated from a “wish to talk about curating”, the same wish that led to the creation, in 2006, of a practice-led PhD programme at Goldsmiths College, called Curatorial/Knowledge. The anthology features contributions from tutors, guest speakers and students, all of whom delve into what “the curatorial” is and what it might mean in the future. Curating, or the act of organizing exhibitions, paral...

  7. Optimal Treatment of Malignant Long Bone Fracture: Influence of Method of Repair and External Beam Irradiation on the Pathway and Efficacy of Fracture Healing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-10-01

    stiffness, or a partial snap with lower yield force and stiffness (Figure 4). Three dimensional micro CT analysis around fracture Figure 3. (a-b... fractures with plate fixation on both sides and irradiation on the left while the contralateral limb serves as a non-radiated internal control. The...AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-13-1-0430 TITLE: Optimal Treatment of Malignant Long Bone Fracture : Influence of Method of Repair and External Beam

  8. Solubility Study of Curatives in Various Rubbers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Guo, R.; Talma, Auke; Datta, Rabin; Dierkes, Wilma K.; Noordermeer, Jacobus W.M.

    2008-01-01

    The previous works on solubility of curatives in rubbers were mainly carried out in natural rubber. Not too much information available on dissimilar rubbers and this is important because most of the compounds today are blends of dissimilar rubbers. Although solubility can be expected to certain

  9. Treatment of locally advanced breast carcinoma with high-dose external beam supervoltage radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brufman, G.; Weshler, Z.; Prosnitz, L.R.; Fuks, Z.

    1981-01-01

    Between 1960 and 1978, 87 patients with locally advanced Tsub(3-4)Nsub(0-3)M 0 carcinoma of the breast were treated with 5,000 to 8,000 rad of external beam supervoltage radiotherapy. Initial clinical eradication of the tumour was observed in 76 of 87 cases (87%), but the actuarial probability of local control at 5 yr was only 53%. Furthermore, the actuarial probability of disease-free survival was 25% at 5 yr and 13% at 10 yr. Most of the patients eventually succumbed to metastatic breast carcinoma and the actuarial survival at 5 yr was 43% and at 10 yr, 16%. The addition of adjuvant low-dose chemotherapy, given to 13 patients, did not affect the rates of local control, survival or disease-free survival. The most common long-term complication was extensive and deforming radiation-induced fibrosis of the treated breast. The actuarial probability of 10-yr survival without a local recurrence and without severe fibrosis of the treated breast was only 17.5%. The role of adjuvant high-dose chemotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced breast carcinoma and the possible use of improved radiotherapy techniques to achieve a more effective long-term local control and a more desirable cosmetic end result are discussed. (author)

  10. Time of Decline in Sexual Function After External Beam Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siglin, Joshua; Kubicek, Gregory J.; Leiby, Benjamin; Valicenti, Richard K.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: Erectile dysfunction is one of the most concerning toxicities for patients in the treatment of prostate cancer. The inconsistent evaluation of sexual function (SF) and limited follow-up data have necessitated additional study to clarify the rate and timing of erectile dysfunction after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: A total of 143 men completed baseline data on SF before treatment and at the subsequent follow-up visits. A total of 1187 validated SF inventories were analyzed from the study participants. Multiple domains of SF (sex drive, erectile function, ejaculatory function, and overall satisfaction) were analyzed for ≤8 years of follow-up. Results: The median follow-up was 4.03 years. The strongest predictor of SF after EBRT was SF before treatment. For all domains of SF, the only statistically significant decrease in function occurred in the first 24 months after EBRT. SF stabilized 2 years after treatment completion, with no statistically significant change in any area of SF >2 years after the end of EBRT. Conclusion: These data suggest that SF does not have a continuous decline after EBRT. Instead, SF decreases maximally within the first 24 months after EBRT, with no significant changes thereafter.

  11. A hybrid human and machine resource curation pipeline for the Neuroscience Information Framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bandrowski, A E; Cachat, J; Li, Y; Müller, H M; Sternberg, P W; Ciccarese, P; Clark, T; Marenco, L; Wang, R; Astakhov, V; Grethe, J S; Martone, M E

    2012-01-01

    The breadth of information resources available to researchers on the Internet continues to expand, particularly in light of recently implemented data-sharing policies required by funding agencies. However, the nature of dense, multifaceted neuroscience data and the design of contemporary search engine systems makes efficient, reliable and relevant discovery of such information a significant challenge. This challenge is specifically pertinent for online databases, whose dynamic content is 'hidden' from search engines. The Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF; http://www.neuinfo.org) was funded by the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research to address the problem of finding and utilizing neuroscience-relevant resources such as software tools, data sets, experimental animals and antibodies across the Internet. From the outset, NIF sought to provide an accounting of available resources, whereas developing technical solutions to finding, accessing and utilizing them. The curators therefore, are tasked with identifying and registering resources, examining data, writing configuration files to index and display data and keeping the contents current. In the initial phases of the project, all aspects of the registration and curation processes were manual. However, as the number of resources grew, manual curation became impractical. This report describes our experiences and successes with developing automated resource discovery and semiautomated type characterization with text-mining scripts that facilitate curation team efforts to discover, integrate and display new content. We also describe the DISCO framework, a suite of automated web services that significantly reduce manual curation efforts to periodically check for resource updates. Lastly, we discuss DOMEO, a semi-automated annotation tool that improves the discovery and curation of resources that are not necessarily website-based (i.e. reagents, software tools). Although the ultimate goal of automation was to

  12. State of the Art of Cost and Benefit Models for Digital Curation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kejser, Ulla Bøgvad; Davidson, Joy; Wang, David

    2014-01-01

    , to support decision-making and for selecting the most efficient processes – all of which are critical for ensuring sustainability of digital curation investment. The evaluation revealed that the most prominent challenges are associated with the models’ usability, their inability to model quality and benefits......This paper presents the results of an evaluation carried out by the EU 4C project to assess how well current digital curation cost and benefit models meet a range of stakeholders’ needs. This work aims to elicit a means of modelling that enables comparing financial information across organisations...... of curation, and the lack of a clear terminology and conceptual description of costs and benefits. The paper provides recommendations on how these gaps in cost and benefit modelling can be bridged....

  13. Telerobotic system concept for real-time soft-tissue imaging during radiotherapy beam delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlosser, Jeffrey; Salisbury, Kenneth; Hristov, Dimitre

    2010-12-01

    The curative potential of external beam radiation therapy is critically dependent on having the ability to accurately aim radiation beams at intended targets while avoiding surrounding healthy tissues. However, existing technologies are incapable of real-time, volumetric, soft-tissue imaging during radiation beam delivery, when accurate target tracking is most critical. The authors address this challenge in the development and evaluation of a novel, minimally interfering, telerobotic ultrasound (U.S.) imaging system that can be integrated with existing medical linear accelerators (LINACs) for therapy guidance. A customized human-safe robotic manipulator was designed and built to control the pressure and pitch of an abdominal U.S. transducer while avoiding LINAC gantry collisions. A haptic device was integrated to remotely control the robotic manipulator motion and U.S. image acquisition outside the LINAC room. The ability of the system to continuously maintain high quality prostate images was evaluated in volunteers over extended time periods. Treatment feasibility was assessed by comparing a clinically deployed prostate treatment plan to an alternative plan in which beam directions were restricted to sectors that did not interfere with the transabdominal U.S. transducer. To demonstrate imaging capability concurrent with delivery, robot performance and U.S. target tracking in a phantom were tested with a 15 MV radiation beam active. Remote image acquisition and maintenance of image quality with the haptic interface was successfully demonstrated over 10 min periods in representative treatment setups of volunteers. Furthermore, the robot's ability to maintain a constant probe force and desired pitch angle was unaffected by the LINAC beam. For a representative prostate patient, the dose-volume histogram (DVH) for a plan with restricted sectors remained virtually identical to the DVH of a clinically deployed plan. With reduced margins, as would be enabled by real

  14. Telerobotic system concept for real-time soft-tissue imaging during radiotherapy beam delivery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlosser, Jeffrey; Salisbury, Kenneth; Hristov, Dimitre

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: The curative potential of external beam radiation therapy is critically dependent on having the ability to accurately aim radiation beams at intended targets while avoiding surrounding healthy tissues. However, existing technologies are incapable of real-time, volumetric, soft-tissue imaging during radiation beam delivery, when accurate target tracking is most critical. The authors address this challenge in the development and evaluation of a novel, minimally interfering, telerobotic ultrasound (U.S.) imaging system that can be integrated with existing medical linear accelerators (LINACs) for therapy guidance. Methods: A customized human-safe robotic manipulator was designed and built to control the pressure and pitch of an abdominal U.S. transducer while avoiding LINAC gantry collisions. A haptic device was integrated to remotely control the robotic manipulator motion and U.S. image acquisition outside the LINAC room. The ability of the system to continuously maintain high quality prostate images was evaluated in volunteers over extended time periods. Treatment feasibility was assessed by comparing a clinically deployed prostate treatment plan to an alternative plan in which beam directions were restricted to sectors that did not interfere with the transabdominal U.S. transducer. To demonstrate imaging capability concurrent with delivery, robot performance and U.S. target tracking in a phantom were tested with a 15 MV radiation beam active. Results: Remote image acquisition and maintenance of image quality with the haptic interface was successfully demonstrated over 10 min periods in representative treatment setups of volunteers. Furthermore, the robot's ability to maintain a constant probe force and desired pitch angle was unaffected by the LINAC beam. For a representative prostate patient, the dose-volume histogram (DVH) for a plan with restricted sectors remained virtually identical to the DVH of a clinically deployed plan. With reduced margins, as

  15. External-beam PIXE spectrometry for the study of Punic jewellery (SW Spain): The geographical provenance of the palladium-bearing gold

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ontalba Salamanca, M.A.; Gomez-Tubio, B.; Ortega-Feliu, I.; Respaldiza, M.A.; Luisa de la Bandera, M.; Ovejero Zappino, G.; Bouzas, A.; Gomez-Moron, A.

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents the study of a set of Punic gold items (400 B.C.), from the Museum of Cadiz (Spain). An external beam set-up has been employed for the absolutely non-destructive analysis of the objects. PIXE spectrometry has been performed in order to characterize the metallic alloys and the manufacturing techniques. Compositional differences have been found and soldering procedures have been identified. By comparison with the rings and other coetaneous jewellery, the presence of palladium in the bulk alloy of the earrings can be pointed out. The geographical provenance of the palladium-bearing gold is discussed based on geological and archaeological considerations

  16. External-beam PIXE spectrometry for the study of Punic jewellery (SW Spain): The geographical provenance of the palladium-bearing gold

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ontalba Salamanca, M.A. [Departamento de Fisica, Escuela Politecnica, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. de la Universidad s/n., 10071 Caceres (Spain)]. E-mail: ontalba@unex.es; Gomez-Tubio, B. [Centro Nacional de Aceleradores, Sevilla (Spain); Ortega-Feliu, I. [Centro Nacional de Aceleradores, Sevilla (Spain); Respaldiza, M.A. [Centro Nacional de Aceleradores, Sevilla (Spain); Luisa de la Bandera, M. [Departamento de Arqueologia, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain); Ovejero Zappino, G. [Cobre Las Cruces SA, Gerena, Sevilla (Spain); Bouzas, A. [Instituto Andaluz de Patrimonio Historico, Sevilla (Spain); Gomez-Moron, A. [Instituto Andaluz de Patrimonio Historico, Sevilla (Spain)

    2006-08-15

    This paper presents the study of a set of Punic gold items (400 B.C.), from the Museum of Cadiz (Spain). An external beam set-up has been employed for the absolutely non-destructive analysis of the objects. PIXE spectrometry has been performed in order to characterize the metallic alloys and the manufacturing techniques. Compositional differences have been found and soldering procedures have been identified. By comparison with the rings and other coetaneous jewellery, the presence of palladium in the bulk alloy of the earrings can be pointed out. The geographical provenance of the palladium-bearing gold is discussed based on geological and archaeological considerations.

  17. External injection systems applied in modern cyclotrons designed and manufactured in NIIEFA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bogdanov, P.V.; Vasilchenko, I.N.; Veresov, O.L.; Gavrish, Yu.N.; Grigorenko, S.V.; Zuev, Yu.V.; Kozienko, M.T.; Mudrolyubov, V.G.; Strokach, A.P.; Tsygankov, S.S.

    2012-01-01

    The main parameters and design features of the external injection systems applied in modern cyclotrons designed and manufactured in NIIEFA and intended for production of radionuclides for medicine are presented. The use of these external injection systems instead of a traditional internal source allows the current of the accelerated beam to be significantly increased and the in-leakage of the working gas to the acceleration chamber to be reduced, which results in reduced beam losses in the process of acceleration and lower equipment activation.

  18. JSC Advanced Curation: Research and Development for Current Collections and Future Sample Return Mission Demands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fries, M. D.; Allen, C. C.; Calaway, M. J.; Evans, C. A.; Stansbery, E. K.

    2015-01-01

    Curation of NASA's astromaterials sample collections is a demanding and evolving activity that supports valuable science from NASA missions for generations, long after the samples are returned to Earth. For example, NASA continues to loan hundreds of Apollo program samples to investigators every year and those samples are often analyzed using instruments that did not exist at the time of the Apollo missions themselves. The samples are curated in a manner that minimizes overall contamination, enabling clean, new high-sensitivity measurements and new science results over 40 years after their return to Earth. As our exploration of the Solar System progresses, upcoming and future NASA sample return missions will return new samples with stringent contamination control, sample environmental control, and Planetary Protection requirements. Therefore, an essential element of a healthy astromaterials curation program is a research and development (R&D) effort that characterizes and employs new technologies to maintain current collections and enable new missions - an Advanced Curation effort. JSC's Astromaterials Acquisition & Curation Office is continually performing Advanced Curation research, identifying and defining knowledge gaps about research, development, and validation/verification topics that are critical to support current and future NASA astromaterials sample collections. The following are highlighted knowledge gaps and research opportunities.

  19. Multiobjective optimization with a modified simulated annealing algorithm for external beam radiotherapy treatment planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aubry, Jean-Francois; Beaulieu, Frederic; Sevigny, Caroline; Beaulieu, Luc; Tremblay, Daniel

    2006-01-01

    Inverse planning in external beam radiotherapy often requires a scalar objective function that incorporates importance factors to mimic the planner's preferences between conflicting objectives. Defining those importance factors is not straightforward, and frequently leads to an iterative process in which the importance factors become variables of the optimization problem. In order to avoid this drawback of inverse planning, optimization using algorithms more suited to multiobjective optimization, such as evolutionary algorithms, has been suggested. However, much inverse planning software, including one based on simulated annealing developed at our institution, does not include multiobjective-oriented algorithms. This work investigates the performance of a modified simulated annealing algorithm used to drive aperture-based intensity-modulated radiotherapy inverse planning software in a multiobjective optimization framework. For a few test cases involving gastric cancer patients, the use of this new algorithm leads to an increase in optimization speed of a little more than a factor of 2 over a conventional simulated annealing algorithm, while giving a close approximation of the solutions produced by a standard simulated annealing. A simple graphical user interface designed to facilitate the decision-making process that follows an optimization is also presented

  20. Sample Transport for a European Sample Curation Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berthoud, L.; Vrublevskis, J. B.; Bennett, A.; Pottage, T.; Bridges, J. C.; Holt, J. M. C.; Dirri, F.; Longobardo, A.; Palomba, E.; Russell, S.; Smith, C.

    2018-04-01

    This work has looked at the recovery of Mars Sample Return capsule once it arrives on Earth. It covers possible landing sites, planetary protection requirements, and transportation from the landing site to a European Sample Curation Facility.

  1. Prevalence and Predicting Factors for Commonly Neglected Sexual Side Effects to External-Beam Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frey, Anders; Pedersen, Christian; Lindberg, Henriette; Bisbjerg, Rasmus; Sønksen, Jens; Fode, Mikkel

    2017-04-01

    Changes in sexual function other than erectile dysfunction are sparsely investigated after radiation therapy for prostate cancer. To investigate orgasmic dysfunction, urinary incontinence during sexual activity, changes in penile morphology, and sensory disturbances in the penis in patients with prostate cancer treated with external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT). In February 2015, men treated with EBRT at our center 3 months to 5 years previously (N = 519) received a study-specific questionnaire. This was developed from purpose-built questions and validated tools including the Erection Hardness Scale. All patients had received a radiation dose of 78 Gy. Androgen deprivation therapy was administered according to disease characteristics. Outcome measurements were prevalence rates and predictors of these side effects as identified by multivariate logistic regression analyses. One hundred nine patients were eligible (sexually active and had completed androgen deprivation therapy) for inclusion. Twenty-four percent reported anorgasmia, 44% reported a decreased intensity of their orgasms, and 40% reported that the time it took to reach orgasm had increased. Eleven percent reported anejaculation. Fifteen percent reported orgasm-associated pain. Only 4% reported urinary incontinence during sexual activity. Subjective penile length loss in excess of 1 cm was reported by 42%. Twelve percent reported an altered curvature of their penis after EBRT. Six percent reported painful erections. Twenty-seven percent reported decreased sensitivity in the penis after EBRT, 2% reported a cold sensation, and 2% reported paresthesia. Increasing time since final treatment increased the risk of penile sensory disturbances (odds ratio = 1.05; P = .028). Orgasmic dysfunction, changes in penile morphology, and sensory disturbances in the penis are common side effects of ERBT. Patients should be properly informed of the occurrence of these side effects before deciding which treatment to

  2. Risk of Fatal Cerebrovascular Accidents after External Beam Radiation Therapy for Early Stage Glottic Larynx Cancer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swisher-McClure, Samuel; Mitra, Nandita; Lin, Alexander; Ahn, Peter; Wan, Fei; O’Malley, Bert; Weinstein, Gregory S.; Bekelman, Justin E.

    2013-01-01

    Background This study compared the risk of fatal cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) in patients with early stage glottic larynx cancer receiving surgery or external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Methods and Materials Using a competing risks survival analysis, we compared the risk of death due to CVA among patients with early stage glottic larynx cancer receiving surgery or EBRT in the SEER database. Results The cumulative incidence of fatal CVA at 15 years was higher in patients receiving EBRT (2.8 %; 95% CI 2.3%–3.4%) compared to surgery (1.5 %; 95% CI 0.8 %–2.3%, p= 0.024). In multivariable competing risks regression models, EBRT remained associated with an increased risk of fatal CVA compared to surgery (adjusted HR 1.75; 95% CI 1.04–2.96, p= 0.037). Conclusion Treatment of early stage glottic larynx cancer with EBRT was associated with a small increase in the risk of late fatal CVA events relative to surgery. PMID:23595858

  3. Improvements to the internal and external antenna H(-) ion sources at the Spallation Neutron Source.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welton, R F; Dudnikov, V G; Han, B X; Murray, S N; Pennisi, T R; Pillar, C; Santana, M; Stockli, M P; Turvey, M W

    2014-02-01

    The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), a large scale neutron production facility, routinely operates with 30-40 mA peak current in the linac. Recent measurements have shown that our RF-driven internal antenna, Cs-enhanced, multi-cusp ion sources injects ∼55 mA of H(-) beam current (∼1 ms, 60 Hz) at 65-kV into a Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator through a closely coupled electrostatic Low-Energy Beam Transport system. Over the last several years a decrease in RFQ transmission and issues with internal antennas has stimulated source development at the SNS both for the internal and external antenna ion sources. This report discusses progress in improving internal antenna reliability, H(-) yield improvements which resulted from modifications to the outlet aperture assembly (applicable to both internal and external antenna sources) and studies made of the long standing problem of beam persistence with the external antenna source. The current status of the external antenna ion source will also be presented.

  4. Curating and Nudging in Virtual CLIL Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nielsen, Helle Lykke

    2014-01-01

    Foreign language teachers can benefit substantially from the notions of curation and nudging when scaffolding CLIL activities on the internet. This article shows how these principles can be integrated into CLILstore, a free multimedia-rich learning tool with seamless access to online dictionaries, and presents feedback from first and second year…

  5. Preirradiation PSA predicts biochemical disease-free survival in patients treated with postprostatectomy external beam irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crane, Christopher H.; Rich, Tyvin A.; Read, Paul W.; Sanfilippo, Nicholas J.; Gillenwater, Jay Y.; Kelly, Maria D.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: To assess the clinical outcome and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response and to determine prognostic factors for biochemical disease-free survival in patients treated with external beam radiotherapy following radical prostatectomy without hormonal therapy. Methods and Materials: Forty-eight patients were treated after prostatectomy with radiotherapy between March, 1988 and December, 1993. Seven patients had undetectable PSA ( 2.7. Five-year actuarial biochemical disease-free survival values were 71, 48, and 0%, respectively, for the three groups. Biochemical disease-free survival was not affected by preoperative PSA level, clinical stage, Gleason's score, pathologic stage, surgical margins, presence of undetectable PSA after surgery, surgery to radiation interval, total dose, or presence of clinically suspicious local disease. Based on digital rectal exam, there were no local failures. Conclusion: Biochemical disease-free survival after postprostatectomy radiation is predicted by the PSA at the time of irradiation. Clinical local control is excellent, but distant failure remains a significant problem in this population. The addition of concomitant systemic therapy should be investigated in patients with PSA >2.7

  6. Dosimetric evaluation of 4 different treatment modalities for curative-intent stereotactic body radiation therapy for isolated thoracic spinal metastases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Jun; Ma, Lin; Wang, Xiao-Shen; Xu, Wei Xu; Cong, Xiao-Hu; Xu, Shou-Ping; Ju, Zhong-Jian; Du, Lei; Cai, Bo-Ning; Yang, Jack

    2016-01-01

    To investigate the dosimetric characteristics of 4 SBRT-capable dose delivery systems, CyberKnife (CK), Helical TomoTherapy (HT), Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) by Varian RapidArc (RA), and segmental step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) by Elekta, on isolated thoracic spinal lesions. CK, HT, RA, and IMRT planning were performed simultaneously for 10 randomly selected patients with 6 body types and 6 body + pedicle types with isolated thoracic lesions. The prescription was set with curative intent and dose of either 33 Gy in 3 fractions (3F) or 40 Gy in 5F to cover at least 90% of the planning target volume (PTV), correspondingly. Different dosimetric indices, beam-on time, and monitor units (MUs) were evaluated to compare the advantages/disadvantages of each delivery modality. In ensuring the dose-volume constraints for cord and esophagus of the premise, CK, HT, and RA all achieved a sharp conformity index (CI) and a small penumbra volume compared to IMRT. RA achieved a CI comparable to those from CK, HT, and IMRT. CK had a heterogeneous dose distribution in the target as its radiosurgical nature with less dose uniformity inside the target. CK had the longest beam-on time and the largest MUs, followed by HT and RA. IMRT presented the shortest beam-on time and the least MUs delivery. For the body-type lesions, CK, HT, and RA satisfied the target coverage criterion in 6 cases, but the criterion was satisfied in only 3 (50%) cases with the IMRT technique. For the body + pedicle-type lesions, HT satisfied the criterion of the target coverage of ≥90% in 4 of the 6 cases, and reached a target coverage of 89.0% in another case. However, the criterion of the target coverage of ≥90% was reached in 2 cases by CK and RA, and only in 1 case by IMRT. For curative-intent SBRT of isolated thoracic spinal lesions, RA is the first choice for the body-type lesions owing to its delivery efficiency (time); the second choice is CK or HT; HT is the

  7. Dosimetric evaluation of 4 different treatment modalities for curative-intent stereotactic body radiation therapy for isolated thoracic spinal metastases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Jun [Department of Radiation Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing, 100853 (China); Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, 88 Jiankang Road, Weihui, Henan, 453100 (China); Ma, Lin [Department of Radiation Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing, 100853 (China); Department of Radiation Oncology, Hainan Branch of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Haitang Bay, Sanya, 572000 (China); Wang, Xiao-Shen; Xu, Wei Xu; Cong, Xiao-Hu; Xu, Shou-Ping; Ju, Zhong-Jian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing, 100853 (China); Du, Lei [Department of Radiation Oncology, Hainan Branch of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Haitang Bay, Sanya, 572000 (China); Cai, Bo-Ning [Department of Radiation Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing, 100853 (China); Yang, Jack [Department of Radiation Oncology, Monmouth Medical Center, 300 2nd Avenue, Long Branch, NJ 07740 (United States)

    2016-07-01

    To investigate the dosimetric characteristics of 4 SBRT-capable dose delivery systems, CyberKnife (CK), Helical TomoTherapy (HT), Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) by Varian RapidArc (RA), and segmental step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) by Elekta, on isolated thoracic spinal lesions. CK, HT, RA, and IMRT planning were performed simultaneously for 10 randomly selected patients with 6 body types and 6 body + pedicle types with isolated thoracic lesions. The prescription was set with curative intent and dose of either 33 Gy in 3 fractions (3F) or 40 Gy in 5F to cover at least 90% of the planning target volume (PTV), correspondingly. Different dosimetric indices, beam-on time, and monitor units (MUs) were evaluated to compare the advantages/disadvantages of each delivery modality. In ensuring the dose-volume constraints for cord and esophagus of the premise, CK, HT, and RA all achieved a sharp conformity index (CI) and a small penumbra volume compared to IMRT. RA achieved a CI comparable to those from CK, HT, and IMRT. CK had a heterogeneous dose distribution in the target as its radiosurgical nature with less dose uniformity inside the target. CK had the longest beam-on time and the largest MUs, followed by HT and RA. IMRT presented the shortest beam-on time and the least MUs delivery. For the body-type lesions, CK, HT, and RA satisfied the target coverage criterion in 6 cases, but the criterion was satisfied in only 3 (50%) cases with the IMRT technique. For the body + pedicle-type lesions, HT satisfied the criterion of the target coverage of ≥90% in 4 of the 6 cases, and reached a target coverage of 89.0% in another case. However, the criterion of the target coverage of ≥90% was reached in 2 cases by CK and RA, and only in 1 case by IMRT. For curative-intent SBRT of isolated thoracic spinal lesions, RA is the first choice for the body-type lesions owing to its delivery efficiency (time); the second choice is CK or HT; HT is the

  8. Stability diagram of colliding beams

    CERN Document Server

    Buffat, X; Mounet, N; Pieloni, T

    2014-01-01

    The effect of the beam-beam interactions on the stability of impedance mode is discussed. The detuning is evaluated by the means of single particle tracking in arbitrarily complex collision configurations, including lattice non-linearities, and used to numerically evaluate the dispersion integral. This approach also allows the effect of non-Gaussian distributions to be considered. Distributions modified by the action of external noise are discussed.

  9. An external proton beam at VERA to study objects of art by proton induced x-ray emission (PIXE)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kroepfl, P.; Forstner, O.; Kutschera, W.; Priller, A.; Steier, P.; Wallner, A.; Wuenschek, B.; Golser, R.

    2006-01-01

    Full text: PIXE is a very sensitive analytical method to determine the chemical composition of art objects, e.g. drawings, handwritings etc. A particular advantage is the possibility to analyze objects non-destructively under atmospheric pressure. Such an external beam PIXE facility is currently implemented at the Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA). The set-up allows to extract a 3 MeV proton beam of approximately 100 μm in diameter and currents in the range of a few nA's through an ultra-thin (0.1 μm) Silicon Nitride window. The characteristic x-rays emitted from the specimen are recorded with a Si(Li) and a Silicon Drift detector simultaneously to cover the widest possible Z-range of the detected elements. We have just completed an extensive period of studying beam effects on ancient paper to exclude possible damage to art objects, in particular drawings of the Renaissance that are among the most precious and rarest treasuries of graphical collections. They were created with different materials such as inks, chalks and metal points. A large collection of these fine arts objects is situated at the Albertina in Vienna. Together with scientists from the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France (C2RMF) in Paris, I. Reiche, A. Duval, H. Guicharnaud, from the CEREGE UMR CNRS 6635 in Aix-en-Provence, S. Merchel, from the Albertina in Vienna, E. Thobois, H. Singer, and from the Akademie der bildenden Kuenste in Vienna, M. Schreiner, we want then to analyze a few selected silverpoint drawings by Albrecht Duerer (1471-1528). (author)

  10. Outcomes of the 'Data Curation for Geobiology at Yellowstone National Park' Workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomer, A.; Palmer, C. L.; Fouke, B. W.; Rodman, A.; Choudhury, G. S.; Baker, K. S.; Asangba, A. E.; Wickett, K.; DiLauro, T.; Varvel, V.

    2013-12-01

    The continuing proliferation of geological and biological data generated at scientifically significant sites (such as hot springs, coral reefs, volcanic fields and other unique, data-rich locales) has created a clear need for the curation and active management of these data. However, there has been little exploration of what these curation processes and policies would entail. To that end, the Site-Based Data Curation (SBDC) project is developing a framework of guidelines and processes for the curation of research data generated at scientifically significant sites. A workshop was held in April 2013 at Yellowstone National Park (YNP) to gather input from scientists and stakeholders. Workshop participants included nine researchers actively conducting geobiology research at YNP, and seven YNP representatives, including permitting staff and information professionals from the YNP research library and archive. Researchers came from a range of research areas -- geology, molecular and microbial biology, ecology, environmental engineering, and science education. Through group discussions, breakout sessions and hands-on activities, we sought to generate policy recommendations and curation guidelines for the collection, representation, sharing and quality control of geobiological datasets. We report on key themes that emerged from workshop discussions, including: - participants' broad conceptions of the long-term usefulness, reusability and value of data. - the benefits of aggregating site-specific data in general, and geobiological data in particular. - the importance of capturing a dataset's originating context, and the potential usefulness of photographs as a reliable and easy way of documenting context. - researchers' and resource managers' overlapping priorities with regards to 'big picture' data collection and management in the long-term. Overall, we found that workshop participants were enthusiastic and optimistic about future collaboration and development of community

  11. Organic Contamination Baseline Study on NASA JSC Astromaterial Curation Gloveboxes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calaway, Michael J.; Allton, J. H.; Allen, C. C.; Burkett, P. J.

    2013-01-01

    Future planned sample return missions to carbon-rich asteroids and Mars in the next two decades will require strict handling and curation protocols as well as new procedures for reducing organic contamination. After the Apollo program, astromaterial collections have mainly been concerned with inorganic contamination [1-4]. However, future isolation containment systems for astromaterials, possibly nitrogen enriched gloveboxes, must be able to reduce organic and inorganic cross-contamination. In 2012, a baseline study was orchestrated to establish the current state of organic cleanliness in gloveboxes used by NASA JSC astromaterials curation labs that could be used as a benchmark for future mission designs.

  12. Fractionated external beam radiotherapy of skull base metastases with cranial nerve involvement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Droege, L.H.; Hinsche, T.; Hess, C.F.; Wolff, H.A. [University Hospital of Goettingen, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Goettingen (Germany); Canis, M. [University of Goettingen, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Goettingen (Germany); Alt-Epping, B. [University of Goettingen, Department of Palliative Medicine, Goettingen (Germany)

    2014-02-15

    Skull base metastases frequently appear in a late stage of various tumor entities and cause pain and neurological disorders which strongly impair patient quality of life. This study retrospectively analyzed fractionated external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) as a palliative treatment approach with special respect to neurological outcome, feasibility and acute toxicity. A total of 30 patients with skull base metastases and cranial nerve disorders underwent EBRT with a mean total dose of 31.6 Gy. Neurological status was assessed before radiotherapy, during radiotherapy and 2 weeks afterwards categorizing orbital, parasellar, middle fossa, jugular foramen and occipital condyle involvement and associated clinical syndromes. Neurological outcome was scored as persistence of symptoms, partial response, good response and complete remission. Treatment-related toxicity and overall survival were assessed. Before EBRT 37 skull base involvement syndromes were determined with 4 patients showing more than 1 syndrome. Of the patients 81.1 % responded to radiotherapy with 10.8 % in complete remission, 48.6 % with good response and 21.6 % with partial response. Grade 1 toxicity of the skin occurred in two patients and grade 1 hematological toxicity in 1 patient under concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Median overall survival was 3.9 months with a median follow-up of 45 months. The use of EBRT for skull base metastases with symptomatic involvement of cranial nerves is marked by good therapeutic success in terms of neurological outcome, high feasibility and low toxicity rates. These findings underline EBRT as the standard therapeutic approach in the palliative setting. (orig.)

  13. Fractionated external beam radiotherapy of skull base metastases with cranial nerve involvement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Droege, L.H.; Hinsche, T.; Hess, C.F.; Wolff, H.A.; Canis, M.; Alt-Epping, B.

    2014-01-01

    Skull base metastases frequently appear in a late stage of various tumor entities and cause pain and neurological disorders which strongly impair patient quality of life. This study retrospectively analyzed fractionated external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) as a palliative treatment approach with special respect to neurological outcome, feasibility and acute toxicity. A total of 30 patients with skull base metastases and cranial nerve disorders underwent EBRT with a mean total dose of 31.6 Gy. Neurological status was assessed before radiotherapy, during radiotherapy and 2 weeks afterwards categorizing orbital, parasellar, middle fossa, jugular foramen and occipital condyle involvement and associated clinical syndromes. Neurological outcome was scored as persistence of symptoms, partial response, good response and complete remission. Treatment-related toxicity and overall survival were assessed. Before EBRT 37 skull base involvement syndromes were determined with 4 patients showing more than 1 syndrome. Of the patients 81.1 % responded to radiotherapy with 10.8 % in complete remission, 48.6 % with good response and 21.6 % with partial response. Grade 1 toxicity of the skin occurred in two patients and grade 1 hematological toxicity in 1 patient under concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Median overall survival was 3.9 months with a median follow-up of 45 months. The use of EBRT for skull base metastases with symptomatic involvement of cranial nerves is marked by good therapeutic success in terms of neurological outcome, high feasibility and low toxicity rates. These findings underline EBRT as the standard therapeutic approach in the palliative setting. (orig.)

  14. Stable propagation of light-ion beam in inertial confinement fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okada, T.; Murakami, H.

    1996-01-01

    The stabilization mechanism of the filamentation instability for a light ion beam (LIB) penetrating plasma is investigated. For the stabilization of the filamentation instability, external magnetic field which is parallel to the direction of the light ion beam propagation is applied. Linear growth rates of filamentation instabilities in a light ion beam-plasma system with an external magnetic field were obtained by means of a dispersion relation. Numerical simulations were carried out using the particle-in-cell (PIC) method. The stabilizing mechanism of the filamentation instability is described. The theory and simulation comparisons illustrate the results. (author). 1 tab., 1 fig., 10 refs

  15. Stable propagation of light-ion beam in inertial confinement fusion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okada, T; Murakami, H [Tokyo Univ. of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei (Japan). Faculty of Technology

    1997-12-31

    The stabilization mechanism of the filamentation instability for a light ion beam (LIB) penetrating plasma is investigated. For the stabilization of the filamentation instability, external magnetic field which is parallel to the direction of the light ion beam propagation is applied. Linear growth rates of filamentation instabilities in a light ion beam-plasma system with an external magnetic field were obtained by means of a dispersion relation. Numerical simulations were carried out using the particle-in-cell (PIC) method. The stabilizing mechanism of the filamentation instability is described. The theory and simulation comparisons illustrate the results. (author). 1 tab., 1 fig., 10 refs.

  16. Reinforced concrete T-beams externally prestressed with unbonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymer tendons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bennitz, Anders; Nilimaa, Jonny; Täljsten, Björn

    2012-01-01

    force, and the presence of a deviator were investigated. The results were compared to those observed with analogous beams prestressed with steel tendons, common beam theory, and predictions made using an analytical model adapted from the literature. It was found that steel and CFRP tendons had very...... similar effects on the structural behavior of the strengthened beams; the minor differences that were observed are attributed to the difference between the modulus of elasticity of the CFRP and the steel used in the tests. The models predicted the beams' load-bearing behavior accurately but were less...

  17. Curating Media Learning: Towards a Porous Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDougall, Julian; Potter, John

    2015-01-01

    This article combines research results from a range of projects with two consistent themes. Firstly, we explore the potential for curation to offer a productive metaphor for the convergence of digital media learning across and between home/lifeworld and formal educational/system-world spaces--or between the public and private spheres. Secondly, we…

  18. Optimum location of external markers using feature selection algorithms for real‐time tumor tracking in external‐beam radiotherapy: a virtual phantom study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nankali, Saber; Miandoab, Payam Samadi; Baghizadeh, Amin

    2016-01-01

    In external‐beam radiotherapy, using external markers is one of the most reliable tools to predict tumor position, in clinical applications. The main challenge in this approach is tumor motion tracking with highest accuracy that depends heavily on external markers location, and this issue is the objective of this study. Four commercially available feature selection algorithms entitled 1) Correlation‐based Feature Selection, 2) Classifier, 3) Principal Components, and 4) Relief were proposed to find optimum location of external markers in combination with two “Genetic” and “Ranker” searching procedures. The performance of these algorithms has been evaluated using four‐dimensional extended cardiac‐torso anthropomorphic phantom. Six tumors in lung, three tumors in liver, and 49 points on the thorax surface were taken into account to simulate internal and external motions, respectively. The root mean square error of an adaptive neuro‐fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) as prediction model was considered as metric for quantitatively evaluating the performance of proposed feature selection algorithms. To do this, the thorax surface region was divided into nine smaller segments and predefined tumors motion was predicted by ANFIS using external motion data of given markers at each small segment, separately. Our comparative results showed that all feature selection algorithms can reasonably select specific external markers from those segments where the root mean square error of the ANFIS model is minimum. Moreover, the performance accuracy of proposed feature selection algorithms was compared, separately. For this, each tumor motion was predicted using motion data of those external markers selected by each feature selection algorithm. Duncan statistical test, followed by F‐test, on final results reflected that all proposed feature selection algorithms have the same performance accuracy for lung tumors. But for liver tumors, a correlation‐based feature

  19. Hospital of Diagnosis Influences the Probability of Receiving Curative Treatment for Esophageal Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Putten, Margreet; Koëter, Marijn; van Laarhoven, Hanneke W M; Lemmens, Valery E P P; Siersema, Peter D; Hulshof, Maarten C C M; Verhoeven, Rob H A; Nieuwenhuijzen, Grard A P

    2018-02-01

    The aim of this article was to study the influence of hospital of diagnosis on the probability of receiving curative treatment and its impact on survival among patients with esophageal cancer (EC). Although EC surgery is centralized in the Netherlands, the disease is often diagnosed in hospitals that do not perform this procedure. Patients with potentially curable esophageal or gastroesophageal junction tumors diagnosed between 2005 and 2013 who were potentially curable (cT1-3,X, any N, M0,X) were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Multilevel logistic regression was performed to examine the probability to undergo curative treatment (resection with or without neoadjuvant treatment, definitive chemoradiotherapy, or local tumor excision) according to hospital of diagnosis. Effects of variation in probability of undergoing curative treatment among these hospitals on survival were investigated by Cox regression. All 13,017 patients with potentially curable EC, diagnosed in 91 hospitals, were included. The proportion of patients receiving curative treatment ranged from 37% to 83% and from 45% to 86% in the periods 2005-2009 and 2010-2013, respectively, depending on hospital of diagnosis. After adjustment for patient- and hospital-related characteristics these proportions ranged from 41% to 77% and from 50% to 82%, respectively (both P < 0.001). Multivariable survival analyses showed that patients diagnosed in hospitals with a low probability of undergoing curative treatment had a worse overall survival (hazard ratio = 1.13, 95% confidence interval 1.06-1.20; hazard ratio = 1.15, 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.24). The variation in probability of undergoing potentially curative treatment for EC between hospitals of diagnosis and its impact on survival indicates that treatment decision making in EC may be improved.

  20. Curator's process of meaning-making in National museums

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cole, Anne Jodon

    2014-01-01

    The paper aims to understand the meaning-making process curators engage in designing/developing exhibitions of the nations indigenous peoples. How indigenous people are represented can with perpetuate stereotypes or mediate change while strengthening their personal and group identity. Analysis...

  1. Muscle invasive bladder cancer treated by transurethral resection, followed by external beam radiation and interstitial iridium-192

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wijnmaalen, Arendjan; Helle, Peter A.; Koper, Peter C.M.; Jansen, Peter P.; Hanssens, Patrick E.J.; Boeken Kruger, Cornelis G.G.; Putten, Wim L.J. van

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: In our center interstitial radiation has played an important role in the treatment of bladder cancer patients for over 40 years. Radium needles, that were initially used, were replaced by caesium needles in 1983, whereas the afterloading iridium wire technique was adopted in 1989. Patients with solitary tumors (T1, T2 and T3) with a surface diameter of < 5 cm are considered for interstitial radiation. In this study we report on the results of the afterloading iridium wire technique in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer. Materials and Methods: From May 1989 to September 1993 interstitial radiation using iridium wires was part of the treatment in 46 patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (37 T2, 9 T3). The mean age was 67 years. After transurethral resection of all visible tumor (if possible), in most cases 40 Gy (20 x 2.0 Gy, midplane dose) external beam radiation was delivered to the true pelvis, followed by 30 Gy interstitial radiation using iridium-192 wires covering the tumor area in the bladder. Results: After a median follow-up of 26 months, bladder relapses occurred in 7 patients. In 5 of them the tumor relapsed in the initial area, in 1 patient elsewhere in the bladder and in 1 patient tumor recurred in and outside the initial site. Recurrence was superficial (T1) in 4 patients. A relapse in the urethra was found once. Metastases developed in 13 patients, in 8 without bladder relapse. During the observation period 17 patients died, 13 due to bladder cancer. The actuarial bladder relapse-free survival at 4 years was 74% and 82% for T2 and T3 tumors, respectively. The actuarial distant metastases-free survival was 65% for both categories. No serious toxicity was recorded. Conclusion: In a selected group of patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer transurethral resection in combination with external beam and interstitial radiation provides an excellent opportunity to preserve the bladder with a high chance of success. Development of

  2. Method for energy recovery of spent ERL beams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marhauser, Frank; Hannon, Fay; Rimmer, Robert; Whitney, R. Roy

    2018-01-16

    A method for recovering energy from spent energy recovered linac (ERL) beams. The method includes adding a plurality of passive decelerating cavities at the beam dump of the ERL, adding one or more coupling waveguides between the passive decelerating cavities, setting an adequate external Q (Qext) to adjust to the beam loading situation, and extracting the RF energy through the coupling waveguides.

  3. WE-D-210-04: Radiation-Induced Polymerization of Ultrasound Contrast Agents in View of Non-Invasive Dosimetry in External Beam Radiation Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Callens, M; Verboven, E; Van Den Abeele, K [Department of Physics, Wave Propagation and Signal Processing, KU Leuven KULAK, Kortrijk (Belgium); D’Agostino, E [DoseVue NV, Hasselt (Belgium); Pfeiffer, H [Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Leuven (Belgium); D’hooge, J [Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Bio-Medical Science Group, KU Leuven, Leuven (Belgium)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: Ultrasound contrast agents (UCA’s) based on gas-filled microbubbles encapsulated by an amphiphilic shell are well established as safe and effective echo-enhancers in diagnostic imaging. In view of an alternative application of UCA’s, we investigated the use of targeted microbubbles as radiation sensors for external beam radiation therapy. As radiation induces permanent changes in the microbubble’s physico-chemical properties, a robust measure of these changes can provide a direct or indirect estimate of the applied radiation dose. For instance, by analyzing the ultrasonic dispersion characteristics of microbubble distributions before and after radiation treatment, an estimate of the radiation dose at the location of the irradiated volume can be made. To increase the radiation sensitivity of microbubbles, polymerizable diacetylene molecules can be incorporated into the shell. This study focuses on characterizing the acoustic response and quantifying the chemical modifications as a function of radiation dose. Methods: Lipid/diacetylene microbubbles were irradiated with a 6 MV photon beam using dose levels in the range of 0–150 Gy. The acoustic response of the microbubbles was monitored by ultrasonic through-transmission measurements in the range of 500 kHz to 20 MHz, thereby providing the dispersion relations of the phase velocity, attenuation and nonlinear coefficient. In addition, the radiation-induced chemical modifications were quantified using UV-VIS spectroscopy. Results: UV-VIS spectroscopy measurements indicate that ionizing radiation induces the polymerization of diacetylenes incorporated in the microbubble shell. The polymer yield strongly depends on the shell composition and the radiation-dose. The acoustic response is inherently related to the visco-elastic properties of the shell and is strongly influenced by the shell composition and the physico-chemical changes in the environment. Conclusion: Diacetylene-containing microbubbles are

  4. Reduction of the beam pulse repetition rate of the Hamburg Isochronous Cyclotron

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krause, H; Langkau, R; Schirm, N [Hamburg Univ. (F.R. Germany). 1. Inst. fuer Experimentalphysik

    1976-04-01

    A system for the reduction of the beam pulse repetition rate of the energy-variable Hamburg Isochronous Cyclotron comprising beam pulse supression in the cyclotron center and in the external beam is described.

  5. PIXE analysis using external proton beam

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Potocek, V; Potockova, J; Dzmuran, R; Sikora, J

    1985-03-01

    The possibilities were studied of the practical use of the analytical PIXE method. Calibration samples were analyzed of Cu, Cd, Hg and Pb in concentrations of 50 to 500 ..mu..g/l as well as natural samples of drinking water, pond water, human blood plasma, dry waste from ground vegetation, mushrooms, pine needles, aerosols, human hair, leaves and flowers, etc. The samples were processed using precipitation, mineralization or incineration and were trapped on a membrane filter (Synpor) or on a Tatrafan ON 15 foil. Some samples were freeze-dried and compressed into pellets. A proton beam with an intensity of 10 to 70 nA was used for analysis and the proton energy was selected 2.2 MeV. For most targets an exposure of 120 s was preset and the measurement lasted at least 60 s and 600 s at the most. It was found that Synpor filters browned and became more brittle during longer exposures. The other targets did not change during analysis.

  6. A new small-footprint external-beam PIXE facility for cultural heritage applications using pulsed proton beams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vadrucci, M.; Bazzano, G.; Borgognoni, F.; Chiari, M.; Mazzinghi, A.; Picardi, L.; Ronsivalle, C.; Ruberto, C.; Taccetti, F.

    2017-09-01

    In the framework of the COBRA project, elemental analyses of cultural heritage objects based on the particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) are planned in a collaboration between the APAM laboratory of ENEA-Frascati and the LABEC laboratory of INFN in Florence. With this aim a 3-7 MeV pulsed proton beam, driven by the injector of the protontherapy accelerator under construction for the TOP-IMPLART project, will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of the technique with a small-footprint pulsed accelerator to Italian small and medium enterprises interested in the composition analysis of ancient artifacts. The experimental set-up for PIXE analysis on the TOP-IMPLART machine consists of a modified assembly of the vertical beam line usually dedicated to radiobiology experiments: the beam produced by the injector (RFQ + DTL, a PL7 ACCSYSHITACHI model) is bent to 90° by a magnet, is collimated by a 300 μm aperture inserted in the end nozzle and extracted into ambient pressure by an exit window consisting of a Upilex foil 7.5 μm thick. The beam is pulsed with a variable pulse duration of 20-100 μs and a repetition rate variable from 10 to 100 Hz. The X-ray detection system is based on a Ketek Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) with 7 mm2 active area and 450 μm thickness, with a thin Beryllium entrance window (8 μm). The results of the calibration of this new PIXE set-up using thick target standards and of the analysis of the preliminary measurements on pigments are presented.

  7. Phase II study of concurrent capecitabine and external beam radiotherapy for pain control of bone metastases of breast cancer origin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yulia Kundel

    Full Text Available Pain from bone metastases of breast cancer origin is treated with localized radiation. Modulating doses and schedules has shown little efficacy in improving results. Given the synergistic therapeutic effect reported for combined systemic chemotherapy with local radiation in anal, rectal, and head and neck malignancies, we sought to evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of combined capecitabine and radiation for palliation of pain due to bone metastases from breast cancer.Twenty-nine women with painful bone metastases from breast cancer were treated with external beam radiation in 10 fractions of 3 Gy, 5 fractions a week for 2 consecutive weeks. Oral capecitabine 700 mg/m(2 twice daily was administered throughout radiation therapy. Rates of complete response, defined as a score of 0 on a 10-point pain scale and no increase in analgesic consumption, were 14% at 1 week, 38% at 2 weeks, 52% at 4 weeks, 52% at 8 weeks, and 48% at 12 weeks. Corresponding rates of partial response, defined as a reduction of at least 2 points in pain score without an increase in analgesics consumption, were 31%, 38%, 28%, 34% and 38%. The overall response rate (complete and partial at 12 weeks was 86%. Side effects were of mild intensity (grade I or II and included nausea (38% of patients, weakness (24%, diarrhea (24%, mucositis (10%, and hand and foot syndrome (7%.External beam radiation with concurrent capecitabine is safe and tolerable for the treatment of pain from bone metastases of breast cancer origin. The overall and complete response rates in our study are unusually high compared to those reported for radiation alone. Further evaluation of this approach, in a randomized study, is warranted.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01784393NCT01784393.

  8. Validation of an amino-acid-based radionuclide therapy plus external beam radiotherapy in heterotopic glioblastoma models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Israel, Ina [Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Wuerzburg, D-97080 Wuerzburg (Germany); Blass, Georg [Department of Radiotherapy and Radiooncology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg (Germany); Reiners, Christoph [Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Wuerzburg, D-97080 Wuerzburg (Germany); Samnick, Samuel, E-mail: samnick_s@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.d [Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Wuerzburg, D-97080 Wuerzburg (Germany)

    2011-05-15

    Background and purpose: Malignant gliomas represent a major therapeutic challenge because no efficient treatment is currently available. p-[{sup 131}I]iodo-L-phenylalanine ([{sup 131}I]IPA) is a glioma avid radiopharmaceutical that demonstrated antiproliferative and tumoricidal effects in gliomas. The present study validated the therapeutic efficiency of [{sup 131}I]IPA combined with external beam radiotherapy in experimental gliomas. Materials and methods: Glioma cells derived from the primary human A1207, T5135, Tx3868 and M059K glioblastoma cell lines or rat F98 glioma cell line were treated with various doses of [{sup 131}I]IPA, external photon irradiation (RT) or combined [{sup 131}I]IPA/RT treatment. Responsiveness of glioma cells to the different therapy modalities was investigated at 24, 48 and 72 h after treatments by trypan blue, WST-1 assay, propidium iodide and bisbenzimide staining as well as by clonogenic assay. In addition, the therapy-induced DNA damage and repair were evaluated using phosphorylated histone H2AX ({gamma}-H2AX). In vivo, the effectiveness of the combination treatment was validated in human Tx3868 and A1207 glioblastoma xenografts in CD1 nu/nu mice and RNU rats. Results: In vitro, the combination treatment resulted in a greater than additive increase in cytotoxic effect in glioma cell lines. Cell survival rate following a treatment with 1.0 {mu}Ci (37 kBq) of [{sup 131}I]IPA amounted to 70%{+-}15% and 60%{+-}10% after 48 and 72 h, respectively, and decreased under 20% after additional RT with 5 Gy. At higher RT doses, cell survival rate decreased below 5%. As a measure of DNA double-strand break, nuclear {gamma}-H2AX foci were determined as a function of time. Within 24 h, the number of {gamma}-H2AX foci per cell was significantly greater after combined modality compared with the individual treatments. In vivo, when combined with RT, the radionuclide therapy with [{sup 131}I]IPA resulted in an extended tumor growth delay, a reduction

  9. Observation of curative effect of 131I in treatment of hyperthyroidism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Kebin; Xu Fan; Zhang Yaping; Wang Jingchang; Zhao Mingli; Ye Ming

    2012-01-01

    Objective: To explore the curative effect of 131 I in the treatment of hyperthyroidism. Method: 126 patients with hyperthyroidism were treated with 131 I and the curative effect was analyzed. Result: The results showed that among 126 cases of hyperthyroidism treated with 131 I, 117 cases had recovered and the cure rate was 92.9%. 9 cases were found hypothyroidism in one-year follow-up and the occurrence rate was 7.1%. Conclusion: The treatment of hyperthyroidism with 131 I is safe and effective method. (authors)

  10. The Outcome of Conventional External Beam Radiotherapy for Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jang, Ji Young

    2008-01-01

    The best treatment for advanced esophageal cancer is chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. In spite of the advance of multimodality therapy, most patients with esophageal cancer are treated with radiation therapy alone. This study reports the outcome of the use of conventional external beam radiotherapy alone for the treatment of esophageal cancer. Between January 1998 and December 2005, 30 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were treated with external beam radiotherapy using a total dose exceeding 40 Gy. Radiotherapy was delivered with a total dose of 44-60 Gy (median dose, 57.2 Gy) over 36 ∼115 days (median time, 45 days). Thirteen patients (43.3%) had a history of disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, tuberculosis, lye stricture, asthma, cerebral infarct, and cancers. Four patients metachronously had double primary cancers. The most common location of a tumor was the mid-thoracic portion of the esophagus (56.7%). Tumor lengths ranged from 2 cm to 11 cm, with a median length of 6 cm. For AJCC staging, stage III was the most common (63.3%). Five patients had metastases at diagnosis. The median overall survival was 8.3 months. The survival rates at 1-year and 2-years were 33.3% and 18.7%, respectively. The complete response rate 1∼3 months after radiotherapy was 20% (6/30) and the partial response rate was 70% (21/30). Sixteen patients (53.3%) had an improved symptom of dysphagia. Significant prognostic factors were age, tumor length, stage, degree of dysphagia at the time of diagnosis and tumor response. Cox regression analysis revealed the aim of treatment, clinical tumor response and tumor length as independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Twenty-eight patients had local failure and another four patients had metastases. Three patients were detected with double primary cancers in this analysis. A complication of esophageal stricture was observed in three patients (10%), and radiation pneumonitis occurred in two patients (6

  11. The Outcome of Conventional External Beam Radiotherapy for Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jang, Ji Young [Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)

    2008-03-15

    The best treatment for advanced esophageal cancer is chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. In spite of the advance of multimodality therapy, most patients with esophageal cancer are treated with radiation therapy alone. This study reports the outcome of the use of conventional external beam radiotherapy alone for the treatment of esophageal cancer. Between January 1998 and December 2005, 30 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were treated with external beam radiotherapy using a total dose exceeding 40 Gy. Radiotherapy was delivered with a total dose of 44-60 Gy (median dose, 57.2 Gy) over 36 {approx}115 days (median time, 45 days). Thirteen patients (43.3%) had a history of disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, tuberculosis, lye stricture, asthma, cerebral infarct, and cancers. Four patients metachronously had double primary cancers. The most common location of a tumor was the mid-thoracic portion of the esophagus (56.7%). Tumor lengths ranged from 2 cm to 11 cm, with a median length of 6 cm. For AJCC staging, stage III was the most common (63.3%). Five patients had metastases at diagnosis. The median overall survival was 8.3 months. The survival rates at 1-year and 2-years were 33.3% and 18.7%, respectively. The complete response rate 1{approx}3 months after radiotherapy was 20% (6/30) and the partial response rate was 70% (21/30). Sixteen patients (53.3%) had an improved symptom of dysphagia. Significant prognostic factors were age, tumor length, stage, degree of dysphagia at the time of diagnosis and tumor response. Cox regression analysis revealed the aim of treatment, clinical tumor response and tumor length as independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Twenty-eight patients had local failure and another four patients had metastases. Three patients were detected with double primary cancers in this analysis. A complication of esophageal stricture was observed in three patients (10%), and radiation pneumonitis occurred in two

  12. Curating NASA's Astromaterials Collections: Past, Present, and Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeigler, Ryan

    2015-01-01

    Planning for the curation of samples from future sample return missions must begin during the initial planning stages of a mission. Waiting until the samples have been returned to Earth, or even when you begin to physically build the spacecraft is too late. A lack of proper planning could lead to irreversible contamination of the samples, which in turn would compromise the scientific integrity of the mission. For example, even though the Apollo missions first returned samples in 1969, planning for the curation facility began in the early 1960s, and construction of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory was completed in 1967. In addition to designing the receiving facility and laboratory that the samples will be characterized and stored in, there are many aspects of contamination that must be addressed during the planning and building of the spacecraft: planetary protection (both outbound and inbound); cataloging, documenting, and preserving the materials used to build spacecraft (also known as coupons); near real-time monitoring of the environment in which the spacecraft is being built using witness plates for critical aspects of contamination (known as contamination control); and long term monitoring and preservation of the environment in which the spacecraft is being built for most aspects of potential contamination through the use of witness plates (known as contamination knowledge). The OSIRIS REx asteroid sample return mission, currently being built, is dealing with all of these aspects of contamination in order to ensure they return the best preserved sample possible. Coupons and witness plates from OSIRIS REx are currently being studied and stored (for future studies) at the Johnson Space Center. Similarly, planning for the clean room facility at Johnson Space Center to house the OSIRIS-REx samples is well advanced, and construction of the facility should begin in early 2017 (despite a nominal 2023 return date for OSIRIS-REx samples). Similar development is being

  13. Strengthening Performance of PALF-Epoxy Composite Plate on Reinforced Concrete Beams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chin, Siew C.; Tong, Foo S.; Doh, Shu I.; Gimbun, Jolius; Ong, Huey R.; Serigar, Januar P.

    2018-03-01

    This paper presents the effective strengthening potential of pineapple leaves fiber (PALF)-epoxy composite plate on reinforced concrete (RC) beam. At first the PALF is treated with alkali (NaOH) and its morphology is observed via scanning electron microscope (SEM). The composite plates made of PALF and epoxy with fiber loading ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 v/v was tested for its flexural behaviour. The composite was then used for external RC beam strengthening. The structural properties of RC beams were evaluated and all the beams were tested under four-point bending. It was found that the flexural strength increased as the fiber volume ratio increases. The maximum flexural strength (301.94 MPa) was obtained at the fiber volume ratio of 40%. The beam strengthened with PALF-epoxy composite plate has a 7% higher beam capacity compared to the control beam. Cracks formed at the edge of the plate of PALF-strengthened beams resulted in diagonal cracking. Result from this work shows that the PALF-epoxy composite plate has the potential to be used as external strengthening material for RC beam.

  14. Polyethylene glycol hydrogel rectal spacer implantation in patients with prostate cancer undergoing combination high-dose-rate brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeh, Jekwon; Lehrich, Brandon; Tran, Carolyn; Mesa, Albert; Baghdassarian, Ruben; Yoshida, Jeffrey; Torrey, Robert; Gazzaniga, Michael; Weinberg, Alan; Chalfin, Stuart; Ravera, John; Tokita, Kenneth

    2016-01-01

    To present rectal toxicity rates in patients administered a polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel rectal spacer in conjunction with combination high-dose-rate brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy. Between February 2010 and April 2015, 326 prostate carcinoma patients underwent combination high-dose-rate brachytherapy of 16 Gy (average dose 15.5 Gy; standard deviation [SD] = 1.6 Gy) and external beam radiotherapy of 59.4 Gy (average dose 60.2 Gy; SD = 2.9 Gy). In conjunction with the radiation therapy regimen, each patient was injected with 10 mL of a PEG hydrogel in the anterior perirectal fat space. The injectable spacer (rectal spacer) creates a gap between the prostate and the rectum. The rectum is displaced from the radiation field, and rectal dose is substantially reduced. The goal is a reduction in rectal radiation toxicity. Clinical efficacy was determined by measuring acute and chronic rectal toxicity using the National Cancer Center Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.0 grading scheme. Median followup was 16 months. The mean anterior-posterior separation achieved was 1.6 cm (SD = 0.4 cm). Rates of acute Grade 1 and 2 rectal toxicity were 37.4% and 2.8%, respectively. There were no acute Grade 3/4 toxicities. Rates of late Grade 1, 2, and 3 rectal toxicity were 12.7%, 1.4%, and 0.7%, respectively. There were no late Grade 4 toxicities. PEG rectal spacer implantation is safe and well tolerated. Acute and chronic rectal toxicities are low despite aggressive dose escalation. Copyright © 2016 American Brachytherapy Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. A justification for semantic training in data curation frameworks development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, X.; Branch, B. D.; Wegner, K.

    2013-12-01

    In the complex data curation activities involving proper data access, data use optimization and data rescue, opportunities exist where underlying skills in semantics may play a crucial role in data curation professionals ranging from data scientists, to informaticists, to librarians. Here, We provide a conceptualization of semantics use in the education data curation framework (EDCF) [1] under development by Purdue University and endorsed by the GLOBE program [2] for further development and application. Our work shows that a comprehensive data science training includes both spatial and non-spatial data, where both categories are promoted by standard efforts of organizations such as the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), as well as organizations such as the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) that share knowledge and propagate best practices in applications. Outside the context of EDCF, semantics training may be same critical to such data scientists, informaticists or librarians in other types of data curation activity. Past works by the authors have suggested that such data science should augment an ontological literacy where data science may become sustainable as a discipline. As more datasets are being published as open data [3] and made linked to each other, i.e., in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) format, or at least their metadata are being published in such a way, vocabularies and ontologies of various domains are being created and used in the data management, such as the AGROVOC [4] for agriculture and the GCMD keywords [5] and CLEAN vocabulary [6] for climate sciences. The new generation of data scientist should be aware of those technologies and receive training where appropriate to incorporate those technologies into their reforming daily works. References [1] Branch, B.D., Fosmire, M., 2012. The role of interdisciplinary GIS and data curation librarians in enhancing authentic scientific

  16. Collecting, curating, and researching writers' libraries a handbook

    CERN Document Server

    Oram, Richard W

    2014-01-01

    Collecting, Curating, and Researching Writers' Libraries: A Handbook is the first book to examine the history, acquisition, cataloging, and scholarly use of writers' personal libraries. This book also includes interviews with several well-known writers, who discuss their relationship with their books.

  17. A relevancy algorithm for curating earth science data around phenomenon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maskey, Manil; Ramachandran, Rahul; Li, Xiang; Weigel, Amanda; Bugbee, Kaylin; Gatlin, Patrick; Miller, J. J.

    2017-09-01

    Earth science data are being collected for various science needs and applications, processed using different algorithms at multiple resolutions and coverages, and then archived at different archiving centers for distribution and stewardship causing difficulty in data discovery. Curation, which typically occurs in museums, art galleries, and libraries, is traditionally defined as the process of collecting and organizing information around a common subject matter or a topic of interest. Curating data sets around topics or areas of interest addresses some of the data discovery needs in the field of Earth science, especially for unanticipated users of data. This paper describes a methodology to automate search and selection of data around specific phenomena. Different components of the methodology including the assumptions, the process, and the relevancy ranking algorithm are described. The paper makes two unique contributions to improving data search and discovery capabilities. First, the paper describes a novel methodology developed for automatically curating data around a topic using Earth science metadata records. Second, the methodology has been implemented as a stand-alone web service that is utilized to augment search and usability of data in a variety of tools.

  18. The art of curation at a biological database: Principles and application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah G. Odell

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The variety and quantity of data being produced by biological research has grown dramatically in recent years, resulting in an expansion of our understanding of biological systems. However, this abundance of data has brought new challenges, especially in curation. The role of biocurators is in part to filter research outcomes as they are generated, not only so that information is formatted and consolidated into locations that can provide long-term data sustainability, but also to ensure that the relevant data that was captured is reliable, reusable, and accessible. In many ways, biocuration lies somewhere between an art and a science. At GrainGenes (https://wheat.pw.usda.gov;https://graingenes.org, a long-time, stably-funded centralized repository for data about wheat, barley, rye, oat, and other small grains, curators have implemented a workflow for locating, parsing, and uploading new data so that the most important, peer-reviewed, high-quality research is available to users as quickly as possible with rich links to past research outcomes. In this report, we illustrate the principles and practical considerations of curation that we follow at GrainGenes with three case studies for curating a gene, a quantitative trait locus (QTL, and genomic elements. These examples demonstrate how our work allows users, i.e., small grains geneticists and breeders, to harness high-quality small grains data at GrainGenes to help them develop plants with enhanced agronomic traits.

  19. High-dose external beam irradiation inhibits neointima formation in stented pig coronary arteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verheye, Stefan; Coussement, Patrick K.; Salame, Mahomed Y.; Fallahi, Payam; Cui Jianhua; Chronos, Nicolas A.F.; King, Spencer B.; Crocker, Ian R.; Robinson, Keith A.

    2001-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate high-dose external beam irradiation (EBRT) in a pig coronary stent preparation because low and intermediate-dose EBRT failed to show inhibition of neointima formation in stented animal models. Methods and Materials: Thirty-five stents were implanted in the coronary arteries of 17 pigs. Seven pigs were exposed to a single dose of 21 Gy EBRT immediately after stenting. Ten stented, nonirradiated pigs served as controls. After 4 weeks, the study arteries and myocardium were examined by light and scanning electron microscopy. Results: Compared with controls, 21 Gy EBRT resulted in a larger lumen area (7.57±1.67 mm 2 vs. 4.00±1.63 mm 2 , p 2 vs. 3.36±2.26 mm 2 , p<0.001) and a smaller maximal intimal thickness (0.16±0.09 mm vs. 0.68±0.31 mm, p<0.001). Unresorbed intramural hemorrhages and adherent mural thrombi were present in the irradiated vessels, which also showed incomplete re-endothelialization. The irradiated hearts demonstrated diffuse interstitial and perivascular inflammation and fibrosis. Conclusions: EBRT at 21 Gy to the entire heart significantly inhibited neointima formation in stented pig coronary arteries but also resulted in incomplete re-endothelialization, myocardial inflammation, and fibrosis. Improvements in localization and delivery techniques are required to allow clinical implementation of this technique

  20. A randomized trial comparing radical prostatectomy plus endocrine therapy versus external beam radiotherapy plus endocrine therapy for locally advanced prostate cancer. Results at median follow-up of 102 months

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akakura, Koichiro; Suzuki, Hiroyoshi; Ichikawa, Tomohiko

    2006-01-01

    The background of this study was to investigate the optimal treatment of locally advanced prostate cancer, a prospective randomized trial was conducted to compare radical prostatectomy plus endocrine therapy versus external beam radiotherapy plus endocrine therapy. One hundred patients with T2b-3N0M0 prostate cancer were enrolled and 95 were evaluated. Of 95 cases, 46 underwent radical prostatectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection and 49 were treated with external beam radiation by linear accelerator with 40-50 Gy to the whole pelvis and 20-Gy boost to the prostatic area. For all patients, endocrine therapy was initiated 8 weeks before surgery or radiotherapy and continued thereafter. The long-term outcome and morbidity were examined. Median follow-up period was 102 months. At 10 years overall survival rates in the surgery group were better than the radiation group (76.2% versus 71.1% for biochemical progression-free rates; P=0.25, 83.5% versus 66.1% for clinical progression-free rates; P=0.14, 85.7% versus 77.1% for cause-specific survival rates; P=0.06, and 67.9% versus 60.9% for overall survival rates; P=0.30), although none of them reached statistical significance. Erectile dysfunction was recognized in almost all patients as a result of continuous endocrine therapy. Incontinence requiring more than one pad per day was observed more frequently in the surgery group than the radiation group (P<0.01). For the treatment of patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, when combined with endocrine therapy, either radical prostatectomy or external beam radiotherapy demonstrated favorable long-term outcomes. The radiation dose of 60-70 Gy might not be enough for the local treatment of locally advanced prostate cancer. (author)

  1. Combined curative radiation therapy alone in (T1) T2-3 rectal adenocarcinoma: a pilot study of 29 patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerard, J.P.; Roy, P.; Coquard, R.; Barbet, N.; Romestaing, P.; Ayzac, L.; Ardiet, J.M.; Thalabard, J.C.

    1996-01-01

    Aim: Analysis of a pilot study including 29 consecutive patients with high surgical risk or refusal of colostomy treated with radiation therapy alone with curative intent. Patients: Between 1986 and 1992, 29 patients were treated for infiltrating adenocarcinoma of the rectum. Median age was 72 years. Transrectal ultrasound staging was used in 24 patients (T1, 2; T2, 14; T3, 13; N0, 23; N1, 6). In 20 patients the lower border of the tumor was at 5 cm or less from the anal verge and in 19 patients the diameter exceeded 3 cm. CEA was elevated in seven cases. Treatment: Contact X-ray (50 kV) was given first (70 Gy/3 fractions). External beam radiation therapy used a three-field technique in the prone position. Accelerated schedule (39 Gy/13 fractions/17 days) with a concomitant boost 'field within the field' (4 Gy/4 fractions). Six weeks later an iridium-192 implant was performed in 21 (20 Gy/22 h). Results: Median follow-up time was 46 months. Overall and specific survival at 5 years was 68% (SE = 0.09) and 76% (SE = 0.08). Local control was obtained in (21(29)) patients (72%). There was one grade 2 rectal bleeding and five grade 2 rectal necroses. The overall tolerance was good in these frail patients. Discussion: For T2. T3 or T1 > 3 cm diameter rectal adenocarcinoma, where contact X-ray alone is not recommended, a combined treatment with radiation therapy alone is able to give good local control with acceptable toxicity. This treatment should be restricted to inoperable patients

  2. Biological-effective versus conventional dose volume histograms correlated with late genitourinary and gastrointestinal toxicity after external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a matched pair analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roeske John C

    2003-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To determine whether the dose-volume histograms (DVH's for the rectum and bladder constructed using biological-effective dose (BED-DVH's better correlate with late gastrointestinal (GI and genitourinary (GU toxicity after treatment with external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer than conventional DVH's (C-DVH's. Methods The charts of 190 patients treated with external beam radiotherapy with a minimum follow-up of 2 years were reviewed. Six patients (3.2% were found to have RTOG grade 3 GI toxicity, and similarly 6 patients (3.2% were found to have RTOG grade 3 GU toxicity. Average late C-DVH's and BED-DVH's of the bladder and rectum were computed for these patients as well as for matched-pair control patients. For each matched pair the following measures of normalized difference in the DVH's were computed: (a δAUC = (Area Under Curve [AUC] in grade 3 patient – AUC in grade 0 patient/(AUC in grade 0 patient and (b δV60 = (Percent volume receiving = 60 Gy [V60] in grade 3 patient – V60 in grade 0 patient/(V60 in grade 0 patient. Results As expected, the grade 3 curve is to the right of and above the grade 0 curve for all four sets of average DVH's – suggesting that both the C-DVH and the BED-DVH can be used for predicting late toxicity. δAUC was higher for the BED-DVH's than for the C-DVH's – 0.27 vs 0.23 (p = 0.036 for the rectum and 0.24 vs 0.20 (p = 0.065 for the bladder. δV60 was also higher for the BED-DVH's than for the C-DVH's – 2.73 vs 1.49 for the rectum (p = 0.021 and 1.64 vs 0.71 (p = 0.021 for the bladder. Conclusions When considering well-established dosimetric endpoints used in evaluating treatment plans, BED-DVH's for the rectum and bladder correlate better with late toxicity than C-DVH's and should be considered when attempting to minimize late GI and GU toxicity after external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

  3. Learning relationships: Church of England curates and training ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2017-06-20

    Jun 20, 2017 ... exploring how this affects the dynamic of the relationship with their curates. Scripture is also ... factors, as employed in the models of personality advanced by Costa and .... psychological type preferences of their training incumbents. The data ..... to conceptualising and implementing Christian vocation.

  4. Improving efficiency and safety in external beam radiation therapy treatment delivery using a Kaizen approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapur, Ajay; Adair, Nilda; O'Brien, Mildred; Naparstek, Nikoleta; Cangelosi, Thomas; Zuvic, Petrina; Joseph, Sherin; Meier, Jason; Bloom, Beatrice; Potters, Louis

    Modern external beam radiation therapy treatment delivery processes potentially increase the number of tasks to be performed by therapists and thus opportunities for errors, yet the need to treat a large number of patients daily requires a balanced allocation of time per treatment slot. The goal of this work was to streamline the underlying workflow in such time-interval constrained processes to enhance both execution efficiency and active safety surveillance using a Kaizen approach. A Kaizen project was initiated by mapping the workflow within each treatment slot for 3 Varian TrueBeam linear accelerators. More than 90 steps were identified, and average execution times for each were measured. The time-consuming steps were stratified into a 2 × 2 matrix arranged by potential workflow improvement versus the level of corrective effort required. A work plan was created to launch initiatives with high potential for workflow improvement but modest effort to implement. Time spent on safety surveillance and average durations of treatment slots were used to assess corresponding workflow improvements. Three initiatives were implemented to mitigate unnecessary therapist motion, overprocessing of data, and wait time for data transfer defects, respectively. A fourth initiative was implemented to make the division of labor by treating therapists as well as peer review more explicit. The average duration of treatment slots reduced by 6.7% in the 9 months following implementation of the initiatives (P = .001). A reduction of 21% in duration of treatment slots was observed on 1 of the machines (P Kaizen approach has the potential to improve operational efficiency and safety with quick turnaround in radiation therapy practice by addressing non-value-adding steps characteristic of individual department workflows. Higher effort opportunities are identified to guide continual downstream quality improvements. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by

  5. High Contrast Internal and External Coronagraph Masks Produced by Various Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatha; Wilson, Daniel; White, Victor; Muller, Richard; Dickie, Matthew; Yee, Karl; Ruiz, Ronald; Shaklan, Stuart; Cady, Eric; Kern, Brian; hide

    2013-01-01

    Masks for high contrast internal and external coronagraphic imaging require a variety of masks depending on different architectures to suppress star light. Various fabrication technologies are required to address a wide range of needs including gradient amplitude transmission, tunable phase profiles, ultra-low reflectivity, precise small scale features, and low-chromaticity. We present the approaches employed at JPL to produce pupil plane and image plane coronagraph masks, and lab-scale external occulter type masks by various techniques including electron beam, ion beam, deep reactive ion etching, and black silicon technologies with illustrative examples of each. Further development is in progress to produce circular masks of various kinds for obscured aperture telescopes.

  6. On the limiting stationary currents of relativistic electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kavchuk, V.N.; Kondratenko, A.N.

    1987-01-01

    The problem on electron beam transport in the system of different configurations both vacuum and filled with gas or plasma is connected with the problem of the limiting current, which can conduct such systems. Two models of a vacuum relativistic electron beam (REB) are considered. It is shown that there is upper limit for the value of the external magnetic field, H 0 , in the model of isovelocity REB with the constant longitudinal beam particle rate, β z =const. Estimation of the limiting current of REB as a series of inverse power H 0 is obtained. Estimations of the limiting current of magnetized hallow REB with thin walls are obtained in another model with β z ≠ const. Determination used in this case of the limiting current is directly connected with ''trapping'' of the beam central part due to formation of a virtual cathode and based on consideration of uniflux electron motion in the beam. Such an approach allows to obtain estimations of the limiting current of the thin-wall hallow beam. In this case an upper limit for the thickness of the beam wall is connected with the bottom limit for the value of the external magnetic field providing radial beam equilibrium

  7. [Manipulative reduction and external fixation with cardboard splint for the treatment of calcaneal fractures: a 60-case report].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Bo-Chuan; Xie, Ke-Bo

    2014-07-01

    To investigate the therapeutic effects of manipulative reduction for calcaneal fractures. From January 2009 to June 2012, 53 cases (60 affected feet) of Sanders type I-IV calcaneal fractures were treated by manipulative reduction and external fixation with cardboard splint,including 45 males and 8 females with an average age of (33.5 +/- 1.54) years old ranging from 18 to 65. The course of disease ranged 0.5 h to 7 d. Before treatment the feet were swelling, ache and activity limitation in evidence, some feet were wide flat deformity, the cortical bone was broken in the imaging examination. All selected cases were evaluated using Creighton-Nebraska health foundation assessment scale for fractures of calcaneus. All cases were followed up at 12 months after treatment, 13 feet got excellent curative effect, 34 good, 11 moderate and 2 poor. Manipulative reduction for Sanders type I-IV calcaneal fractures could get excellent curative effect. Manipulative reduction for calcaneal fractures could avoid surgical trauma while assure high curative effects. Manipulative reduction is not only economical and easy therapy, but also can restore maximum function of the calcaneus with few complications and facilitate early rehabilitation of ankle and joint function.

  8. High biologically effective dose radiation therapy using brachytherapy in combination with external beam radiotherapy for high-risk prostate cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keisei Okamoto

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Purpose : To evaluate the outcomes of high-risk prostate cancer patients treated with biologically effective dose (BED ≥ 220 Gy of high-dose radiotherapy, using low-dose-rate (LDR brachytherapy in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT and short-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT. Material and methods : From 2005 to 2013, a total of 143 patients with high-risk prostate cancer were treated by radiotherapy of BED ≥ 220 Gy with a combination of LDR brachytherapy, EBRT, and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT. The high-risk patients in the present study included both high-risk and very high-risk prostate cancer. The number of high-risk features were: 60 patients with 1 high-risk factor (42%, 61 patients with 2 high-risk factors (43%, and 22 patients with 3 high-risk factors (15% including five N1 disease. External beam radiotherapy fields included prostate and seminal vesicles only or whole pelvis depending on the extension of the disease. Biochemical failure was defined by the Phoenix definition. Results : Six patients developed biochemical failure, thus providing a 5-year actual biochemical failure-free survival (BFFS rate of 95.2%. Biochemical failure was observed exclusively in cases with distant metastasis in the present study. All six patients with biochemical relapse had clinical failure due to bone metastasis, thus yielding a 5-year freedom from clinical failure (FFCF rate of 93.0%. None of the cases with N1 disease experienced biochemical failure. We observed four deaths, including one death from prostate cancer, therefore yielding a cause-specific survival (CSS rate of 97.2%, and an overall survival (OS rate of 95.5%. Conclusions : High-dose (BED ≥ 220 Gy radiotherapy by LDR in combination with EBRT has shown an excellent outcome on BFFS in high-risk and very high-risk cancer, although causal relationship between BED and BFFS remain to be explained further.

  9. Somatic cancer variant curation and harmonization through consensus minimum variant level data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deborah I. Ritter

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To truly achieve personalized medicine in oncology, it is critical to catalog and curate cancer sequence variants for their clinical relevance. The Somatic Working Group (WG of the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen, in cooperation with ClinVar and multiple cancer variant curation stakeholders, has developed a consensus set of minimal variant level data (MVLD. MVLD is a framework of standardized data elements to curate cancer variants for clinical utility. With implementation of MVLD standards, and in a working partnership with ClinVar, we aim to streamline the somatic variant curation efforts in the community and reduce redundancy and time burden for the interpretation of cancer variants in clinical practice. Methods We developed MVLD through a consensus approach by i reviewing clinical actionability interpretations from institutions participating in the WG, ii conducting extensive literature search of clinical somatic interpretation schemas, and iii survey of cancer variant web portals. A forthcoming guideline on cancer variant interpretation, from the Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP, can be incorporated into MVLD. Results Along with harmonizing standardized terminology for allele interpretive and descriptive fields that are collected by many databases, the MVLD includes unique fields for cancer variants such as Biomarker Class, Therapeutic Context and Effect. In addition, MVLD includes recommendations for controlled semantics and ontologies. The Somatic WG is collaborating with ClinVar to evaluate MVLD use for somatic variant submissions. ClinVar is an open and centralized repository where sequencing laboratories can report summary-level variant data with clinical significance, and ClinVar accepts cancer variant data. Conclusions We expect the use of the MVLD to streamline clinical interpretation of cancer variants, enhance interoperability among multiple redundant curation efforts, and increase submission of

  10. A simple technique for treating age-related macular degeneration with external beam radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roos, Daniel E.; Francis, J. Winston; Newnham, W. John

    1999-01-01

    Purpose: To develop a simple external beam photon radiotherapy technique to treat age-related macular degeneration without the need for simulation, planning computed tomography (CT) or computer dosimetry. Methods and Materials: The goal was to enable the treatment to be set up reliably on the treatment machine on Day 1 with the patient supine in a head cast without any prior planning. Using measurements of ocular globe topography from Karlsson et al. (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 1996; 33: 705-712), we chose a point 1.5 cm behind the anterior surface of the upper eyelid (ASUE) as the isocentre of a half-beam, blocked, 5.0 x 3.0-cm, angled lateral field to treat the involved eye. This would position the isocentre about 0.5 cm behind the posterior surface of the lens, and a little over 1 cm in front of the macula, according to Karlsson et al. The setup requires initial adjustment of the gantry from horizontal (to account for any asymmetry of position of the eyes), then angling 15 deg. posteriorly to avoid the contralateral eye. Finally, the couch is raised to position the isocentre 1.5 cm behind the ASUE. Results: To verify the applicability of the technique, we performed CT and computer dosimetry on the first 11 eyes so treated. Our CT measurements were in good agreement with Karlsson et al. The lens dose was < 5% and the macula was within the 95% isodose curve in each case (6-MV linac). Treatment setup time is approximately 10 min each day. The 11 patients were treated with 5 x 2.00 Gy (2 patients) or 5 x 3.00 Gy (9 patients), and subjective response on follow-up over 1 to 12 months (median 4 months) was comparable to previously reported results, with no significant acute side effects. Conclusion: Our technique is easy to set up and reliably treats the macula, with sparing of the lens and contralateral eye. It enables treatment to commence rapidly and cost-effectively without the need for simulation or CT computer planning

  11. Radiation safety assessment of cobalt 60 external beam radiotherapy using the risk-matrix method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dumenigo, C; Vilaragut, J.J.; Ferro, R.; Guillen, A.; Ramirez, M.L.; Ortiz Lopez, P.; Rodriguez, M.; McDonnell, J.D.; Papadopulos, S.; Pereira, P.P.; Goncalvez, M.; Morales, J.; Larrinaga, E.; Lopez Morones, R.; Sanchez, R.; Delgado, J.M.; Sanchez, C.; Somoano, F.

    2008-01-01

    External beam radiotherapy is the only practice in which humans are placed directly in a radiation beam with the intention to deliver a very high dose. This is why safety in radiotherapy is very critical, and is a matter of interest to both radiotherapy departments and regulatory bodies. Accidental exposures have occurred throughout the world, thus showing the need for systematic safety assessments, capable to identify preventive measures and to minimize consequences of accidental exposure. Risk-matrix is a systematic approach which combines the relevant event features to assess the overall risk of each particular event. Once an event sequence is identified, questions such as how frequent the event, how severe the potential consequences and how reliable the existing safety measures are answered in a risk-matrix table. The ultimate goal is to achieve that the overall risk for events with severe consequences should always be low o very low. In the present study, the risk-matrix method has been applied to an hypothetical radiotherapy department, which could be equivalent to an upper level hospital of the Ibero American region, in terms of safety checks and preventive measures. The application of the method has identified 76 event sequences and revealed that the hypothetical radiotherapy department is sufficiently protected (low risk) against them, including 23 event sequences with severe consequences. The method has revealed that the risk of these sequences could grow to high level if certain specific preventive measures were degraded with time. This study has identified these preventive measures, thus facilitating a rational allocation of resources in regular controls to detect any loss of reliability. The method has proven to have an important practical value and is affordable at hospital level. The elaborated risk-matrix can be easily adapted to local circumstances, in terms of existing controls and safety measures. This approach can help hospitals to identify

  12. Fractionated external beam radiotherapy of skull base metastases with cranial nerve involvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dröge, L H; Hinsche, T; Canis, M; Alt-Epping, B; Hess, C F; Wolff, H A

    2014-02-01

    Skull base metastases frequently appear in a late stage of various tumor entities and cause pain and neurological disorders which strongly impair patient quality of life. This study retrospectively analyzed fractionated external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) as a palliative treatment approach with special respect to neurological outcome, feasibility and acute toxicity. A total of 30 patients with skull base metastases and cranial nerve disorders underwent EBRT with a mean total dose of 31.6 Gy. Neurological status was assessed before radiotherapy, during radiotherapy and 2 weeks afterwards categorizing orbital, parasellar, middle fossa, jugular foramen and occipital condyle involvement and associated clinical syndromes. Neurological outcome was scored as persistence of symptoms, partial response, good response and complete remission. Treatment-related toxicity and overall survival were assessed. Before EBRT 37 skull base involvement syndromes were determined with 4 patients showing more than 1 syndrome. Of the patients 81.1 % responded to radiotherapy with 10.8 % in complete remission, 48.6 % with good response and 21.6 % with partial response. Grade 1 toxicity of the skin occurred in two patients and grade 1 hematological toxicity in 1 patient under concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Median overall survival was 3.9 months with a median follow-up of 45 months. The use of EBRT for skull base metastases with symptomatic involvement of cranial nerves is marked by good therapeutic success in terms of neurological outcome, high feasibility and low toxicity rates. These findings underline EBRT as the standard therapeutic approach in the palliative setting.

  13. An Optimized Online Verification Imaging Procedure for External Beam Partial Breast Irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willis, David J.; Kron, Tomas; Chua, Boon

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the capabilities of a kilovoltage (kV) on-board imager (OBI)-equipped linear accelerator in the setting of on-line verification imaging for external-beam partial breast irradiation. Available imaging techniques were optimized and assessed for image quality using a modified anthropomorphic phantom. Imaging dose was also assessed. Imaging techniques were assessed for physical clearance between patient and treatment machine using a volunteer. Nonorthogonal kV image pairs were identified as optimal in terms of image quality, clearance, and dose. After institutional review board approval, this approach was used for 17 patients receiving accelerated partial breast irradiation. Imaging was performed before every fraction verification with online correction of setup deviations >5 mm (total image sessions = 170). Treatment staff rated risk of collision and visibility of tumor bed surgical clips where present. Image session duration and detected setup deviations were recorded. For all cases, both image projections (n = 34) had low collision risk. Surgical clips were rated as well as visualized in all cases where they were present (n = 5). The average imaging session time was 6 min, 16 sec, and a reduction in duration was observed as staff became familiar with the technique. Setup deviations of up to 1.3 cm were detected before treatment and subsequently confirmed offline. Nonorthogonal kV image pairs allowed effective and efficient online verification for partial breast irradiation. It has yet to be tested in a multicenter study to determine whether it is dependent on skilled treatment staff.

  14. Use of Ontologies for Data Integration and Curation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judith Gelernter

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Data curation includes the goal of facilitating the re-use and combination of datasets, which is often impeded by incompatible data schema. Can we use ontologies to help with data integration? We suggest a semi-automatic process that involves the use of automatic text searching to help identify overlaps in metadata that accompany data schemas, plus human validation of suggested data matches.Problems include different text used to describe the same concept, different forms of data recording and different organizations of data. Ontologies can help by focussing attention on important words, providing synonyms to assist matching, and indicating in what context words are used. Beyond ontologies, data on the statistical behavior of data can be used to decide which data elements appear to be compatible with which other data elements. When curating data which may have hundreds or even thousands of data labels, semi-automatic assistance with data fusion should be of great help.

  15. Curating the Poster

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Line Hjorth

    2017-01-01

    Parallel to the primary functions performed by posters in the urban environment, we find a range of curatorial practices that tie the poster, a mass-produced graphic design media, to the museum institution. Yet little research has attempted to uncover the diverse subject of curatorial work...... and the process where posters created to live in a real-world environment are relocated in a museum. According to Peter Bil’ak (2006), it creates a situation where ”the entire raison d’être of the work is lost as a side effect of losing the context of the work”. The article investigates how environmental...... structures can work as guidelines for curating posters and graphic design in a museum context. By applying an ecological view to design, specifically the semiotic notion “counter-ability”, it stresses the reciprocal relationship of humans and their built and product-designed environments. It further suggests...

  16. A Phase Blending Study on Rubber Blends Based on the Solubility Preference of Curatives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Guo, R.; Talma, Auke; Datta, Rabin; Dierkes, Wilma K.; Noordermeer, Jacobus W.M.

    2009-01-01

    Using previously obtained data on the solubilities of curatives in SBR, EPDM and in NBR, different mixing procedures were performed on 50/50 SBR/EPDM and NBR/EPDM blends. In contrast to a previous phase-mixing study, the curatives were added to separate phases before final blending, in an attempt to

  17. Smart Mobility Stakeholders - Curating Urban Data & Models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sperling, Joshua [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-09-01

    This presentation provides an overview of the curation of urban data and models through engaging SMART mobility stakeholders. SMART Mobility Urban Science Efforts are helping to expose key data sets, models, and roles for the U.S. Department of Energy in engaging across stakeholders to ensure useful insights. This will help to support other Urban Science and broader SMART initiatives.

  18. Radiation retinopathy after external-beam irradiation: Analysis of time-dose factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parsons, J.T.; Bova, F.J.; Mendenhall, W.M.

    1994-01-01

    To investigate the risk of radiation-induced retinopathy according to total radiation dose and fraction size, based on both retorspective and prospectively collected data. Between October 1964 and May 1989, 68 retinae in 64 patients received fractionated external-beam irradiation during the treatment of primary extracranial head and neck tumors. All patients had a minimum of 3 years of ophthalmologic follow-up (range, 3 to 26 years; mean, 9 years; median, 8 years). Twenty-seven eyes in 26 patients developed radiation retinopathy resulting in visual acuity of 20/200 or worse. The mean and median times to the onset of symptoms attributable to retinal ischemia were 2.8 and 2.5 years, respectively. Fourteen of the injured eyes developed rubeosis iridis and/or neovascular glaucoma. Radiation retinopathy was not observed at doses below 45 Gy, but increased steadily in incidence at doses ≥45Gy. In the range of doses between 45 and 55 Gy, there was an increased risk of injury among patients who received doses per fraction of ≥1.9Gy (p - .09). There was also a trend toward increased risk of injury among patients who received chemotherapy (two of two vs. four of ten in the 45-51 Gy range; p - .23). The lowest dose associated with retinopathy was 45 Gy delivered to a diabetic patient by twice-a-day fractionation. The data did not suggest an increased risk of radiation retinopathy with increasing age. The current study suggests the importance of total dose as well as dose per fraction, and adds support to a small body of literature suggesting that patients with diabetes mellitus or who receive chemotherapy are at increased risk of injury. A sigmoid dose-response curve is constructed from our current data and data from the literature. 36 refs., 5 figs., 4 tabs

  19. Hydrodynamic calculations of 20-TeV beam interactions with the SSC beam dump

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, D.C.; Wingate, C.A.; Goldstein, J.C.; Godwin, R.P.; Mokhov, N.V.

    1993-01-01

    The 300μs, 400 MJ SSC proton beam must be contained when extracted to the external beam dump. The current design for the SSC beam dump can tolerate the beat load produced if the beam is deflected into a raster scan over the face of the dump. If the high frequency deflecting magnet were to fail, the beam would scan a single strip across the dump face resulting in higher local energy deposition. This could vaporize some material and lead to high pressures. Since the beam duration is comparable to the characteristic time of expected hydrodynamic motions, we have combined the static energy deposition capability of the MARS computer code with the two- and three-dimensional hydrodynamics of the MBA and SPHINX codes. EOS data suggest an energy deposition threshold of 15 kJ/g, below which hydrodynamic effects are minimal. Above this our 2D calculations show a hole boring rate of 7 cm/μs for the nominal beam, and pressures of a few kbar. Scanning the nominal beam faster than 0.08 cm/μs should minimize hydrodynamic effects. 3D calculations support this

  20. A Preliminary Design Of Application Of Wireless Identification And Sensing Platform On External Beam Radiotherapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heranudin; Bakhri, S.

    2018-02-01

    A linear accelerator (linac) is widely used as a means of radiotherapy by focusing high-energy photons in the targeted tumor of patient. Incorrectness of the shooting can lead normal tissue surrounding the tumor received unnecessary radiation and become damaged cells. A method is required to minimize the incorrectness that mostly caused by movement of the patient during radiotherapy process. In this paper, the Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform (WISP) architecture was employed to monitor in real time the movement of the patient’s body during radiotherapy process. In general, the WISP is a wearable sensors device that can transmit measurement data wirelessly. In this design, the measurement devices consist of an accelerometer, a barometer and an ionizing radiation sensor. If any changes in the body position which resulted in incorrectness of the shooting, the accelerometer and the barometer will trigger a warning to the linac operator. In addition, the radiation sensor in the WISP will detect unwanted radiation and that can endanger the patient. A wireless feature in this device can ease in implementation. Initial analyses have been performed and showed that the WISP is feasible to be applied on external beam radiotherapy.

  1. Study on external beam radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Mi Sook; Yoo, Seoung Yul; Yoo, Hyung Jun; Ji, Young Hoon; Lee, Dong Han; Lee, Dong Hoon; Choi, Mun Sik; Yoo, Dae Heon; Lee, Hyo Nam; Kim, Kyeoung Jung

    1999-04-01

    To develop the therapy technique which promote accuracy and convenience in external radiation therapy, to obtain the development of clinical treatment methods for the global competition. The contents of the R and D were 1. structure, process and outcome analysis in radiation therapy department. 2. Development of multimodality treatment in radiation therapy 3. Development of computation using networking techniques 4. Development of quality assurance (QA) system in radiation therapy 5. Development of radiotherapy tools 6. Development of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) tools. The results of the R and D were 1. completion of survey and analysis about Korea radiation therapy status 2. Performing QA analysis about ICR on cervix cancer 3. Trial of multicenter randomized study on lung cancers 4. Setting up inter-departmental LAN using MS NT server and Notes program 5. Development of ionization chamber and dose-rate meter for QA in linear accelerator 6. Development on optimized radiation distribution algorithm for multiple slice 7. Implementation on 3 dimensional volume surface algorithm and 8. Implementation on adaptor and cone for IORT

  2. Study on external beam radiation therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Mi Sook; Yoo, Seoung Yul; Yoo, Hyung Jun; Ji, Young Hoon; Lee, Dong Han; Lee, Dong Hoon; Choi, Mun Sik; Yoo, Dae Heon; Lee, Hyo Nam; Kim, Kyeoung Jung

    1999-04-01

    To develop the therapy technique which promote accuracy and convenience in external radiation therapy, to obtain the development of clinical treatment methods for the global competition. The contents of the R and D were 1. structure, process and outcome analysis in radiation therapy department. 2. Development of multimodality treatment in radiation therapy 3. Development of computation using networking techniques 4. Development of quality assurance (QA) system in radiation therapy 5. Development of radiotherapy tools 6. Development of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) tools. The results of the R and D were 1. completion of survey and analysis about Korea radiation therapy status 2. Performing QA analysis about ICR on cervix cancer 3. Trial of multicenter randomized study on lung cancers 4. Setting up inter-departmental LAN using MS NT server and Notes program 5. Development of ionization chamber and dose-rate meter for QA in linear accelerator 6. Development on optimized radiation distribution algorithm for multiple slice 7. Implementation on 3 dimensional volume surface algorithm and 8. Implementation on adaptor and cone for IORT.

  3. Estimating the annotation error rate of curated GO database sequence annotations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brown Alfred L

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Annotations that describe the function of sequences are enormously important to researchers during laboratory investigations and when making computational inferences. However, there has been little investigation into the data quality of sequence function annotations. Here we have developed a new method of estimating the error rate of curated sequence annotations, and applied this to the Gene Ontology (GO sequence database (GOSeqLite. This method involved artificially adding errors to sequence annotations at known rates, and used regression to model the impact on the precision of annotations based on BLAST matched sequences. Results We estimated the error rate of curated GO sequence annotations in the GOSeqLite database (March 2006 at between 28% and 30%. Annotations made without use of sequence similarity based methods (non-ISS had an estimated error rate of between 13% and 18%. Annotations made with the use of sequence similarity methodology (ISS had an estimated error rate of 49%. Conclusion While the overall error rate is reasonably low, it would be prudent to treat all ISS annotations with caution. Electronic annotators that use ISS annotations as the basis of predictions are likely to have higher false prediction rates, and for this reason designers of these systems should consider avoiding ISS annotations where possible. Electronic annotators that use ISS annotations to make predictions should be viewed sceptically. We recommend that curators thoroughly review ISS annotations before accepting them as valid. Overall, users of curated sequence annotations from the GO database should feel assured that they are using a comparatively high quality source of information.

  4. Risk of fatal cerebrovascular accidents after external beam radiation therapy for early-stage glottic laryngeal cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swisher-McClure, Samuel; Mitra, Nandita; Lin, Alexander; Ahn, Peter; Wan, Fei; O'Malley, Bert; Weinstein, Gregory S; Bekelman, Justin E

    2014-05-01

    This study compared the risk of fatal cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) in patients with early-stage glottic laryngeal cancer receiving surgery or external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Using a competing risks survival analysis, we compared the risk of death because of CVA among patients with early-stage glottic laryngeal cancer receiving surgery or EBRT in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The cumulative incidence of fatal CVA at 15 years was higher in patients receiving EBRT (2.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3% to 3.4%) compared to surgery (1.5%; 95% CI, 0.8% to 2.3%; p = .024). In multivariable competing risks regression models, EBRT remained associated with an increased risk of fatal CVA compared to surgery (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.75; 95% CI, 1.04-2.96; p = .037). Treatment for early-stage glottic laryngeal cancer with EBRT was associated with a small increase in the risk of late fatal CVA events relative to surgery. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. External beam and HDR intracavitary irradiation: an effective tool in the primary treatment of cervical cancer - excellent 10 year results and low side effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hammer, J.; Zoidl, J.P.; Track, C.; Seewald, D.H.; Labeck, W.

    1996-01-01

    Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to present our 15 years experience in the primary treatment of cervical cancer with a combination of external beam irradiation and high dose rate brachytherapy. Survival data will be presented and the safe use of intrauterine HDR applications will be demonstrated. Material and Methods: From August 1980 to December 1990, 303 patients with cancer of the uterine cervix underwent primary irradiation in a combination of external beam and HDR intracavitary treatment at the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Linz, Austria. All patients were classified according to the FIGO rules: Stage I 54 patients, stage II 171, stage III 75 and stage IV 3 patients. 8 patients were lost to follow up. The mean follow up time of survivors is 110 months. Results and Discussion: A complete remission could be achieved in 282 patients, which is 93%; persistent tumour was found in 21 patients at the first follow up check 3 to 5 months after completion of irradiation. The actuarial overall survival probability for all patients at 5 and 10 years is 62 % and 42 % respectively, the disease specific survival probability is 68 % and 64 %. The local control rate at 5 and 10 years is 73 % and 72 % respectively. According to stage, disease specific survival lies at 90 % for stage I, 69 % for stage II, and 48 % for stage III and IV at 5 years, and at 10 years 87 %, 66 % and 41 % respectively. The actuarial local control probability for stages I, II, and III/IV is 90 %, 74 %, and 60 % respectively at 5 yr, and 88 %, 74 %, and 56 % at 10 yr. (Kaplan-Meier calculations). From all 303 patients 34 suffered from 40 severe and moderate side effects (glossary of Chassagne and Sismondi). The rate for grade II complications is 10 % and for grade III 3 %. Conclusion: Intrauterine HDR brachycurietherapy in addition to external beam irradiation for primary treatment of invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix provides the same treatment

  6. Self-acceleration of relativistic modulated beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ajzatskij, N.I.

    1989-01-01

    Unlike the case of self-acceleration of continuous beams, the self-acceleration of relativistic modulated beams requires the energy redistribution between the particles not at the period of excited oscillations but rather between the bunches. This may occur only in the case when the electron beam creates a multifrequency equilibrium state in the passive structure. In this case, there is a possibility for some bunches to be captured in the accelerating phase of the field without any external action. The authors have analyzed this possibility both theoretically and experimentally. 12 refs., 2 figs

  7. Beam monitoring in radiotherapy and hadron-therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fontbonne, J.M.

    2012-01-01

    Radiotherapy techniques have evolved over the past twenty years. For photon beams, the development of tools such as multi leaf collimators, machines such as Cyberknife or tomo-therapy, have improved the conformation of treatments to the tumor volume and lowered maximum dose to healthy tissue. In another register, the use of proton-therapy is expanding in all countries and the development of carbon ions beams for hadron-therapy is also increasing. If techniques improve, the control requirements for the monitoring of the dose administered to patients are always the same. This document presents, first, the ins and outs of the different techniques of external beam radiotherapy: photon treatments, protons and hadrons. Starting from the basis of clinical requirements, it sets the variables to be measured in order to ensure the quality of treatment for the different considered modalities. It then describes some implementations, based on precise and rigorous specifications, for the monitoring and measurement of beams delivered by external beam radiotherapy equipments. Two instrumental techniques are particularly highlighted, plastic scintillators dosimetry for the control of megavoltage photon beams and ionization chamber dosimetry applied to proton-therapy or radiobiology experiments conducted at the GANIL facility. Analyzes and perspectives, based on the recent developments of treatment techniques, are delivered in conclusion and can serve as guide for future instrumental developments. (author)

  8. Recovery, Transportation and Acceptance to the Curation Facility of the Hayabusa Re-Entry Capsule

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abe, M.; Fujimura, A.; Yano, H.; Okamoto, C.; Okada, T.; Yada, T.; Ishibashi, Y.; Shirai, K.; Nakamura, T.; Noguchi, T.; hide

    2011-01-01

    The "Hayabusa" re-entry capsule was safely carried into the clean room of Sagamihara Planetary Sample Curation Facility in JAXA on June 18, 2010. After executing computed tomographic (CT) scanning, removal of heat shield, and surface cleaning of sample container, the sample container was enclosed into the clean chamber. After opening the sample container and residual gas sampling in the clean chamber, optical observation, sample recovery, sample separation for initial analysis will be performed. This curation work is continuing for several manths with some selected member of Hayabusa Asteroidal Sample Preliminary Examination Team (HASPET). We report here on the 'Hayabusa' capsule recovery operation, and transportation and acceptance at the curation facility of the Hayabusa re-entry capsule.

  9. External Beam Accelerated Partial-Breast Irradiation Using 32 Gy in 8 Twice-Daily Fractions: 5-Year Results of a Prospective Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pashtan, Itai M.; Recht, Abram; Ancukiewicz, Marek; Brachtel, Elena; Abi-Raad, Rita F.; D'Alessandro, Helen A.; Levy, Antonin; Wo, Jennifer Y.; Hirsch, Ariel E.; Kachnic, Lisa A.; Goldberg, Saveli; Specht, Michelle; Gadd, Michelle; Smith, Barbara L.; Powell, Simon N.; Taghian, Alphonse G.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: External beam accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) is an increasingly popular technique for treatment of patients with early stage breast cancer following breast-conserving surgery. Here we present 5-year results of a prospective trial. Methods and Materials: From October 2003 through November 2005, 98 evaluable patients with stage I breast cancer were enrolled in the first dose step (32 Gy delivered in 8 twice-daily fractions) of a prospective, multi-institutional, dose escalation clinical trial of 3-dimensional conformal external beam APBI (3D-APBI). Median age was 61 years; median tumor size was 0.8 cm; 89% of tumors were estrogen receptor positive; 10% had a triple-negative phenotype; and 1% had a HER-2-positive subtype. Median follow-up was 71 months (range, 2-88 months; interquartile range, 64-75 months). Results: Five patients developed ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), for a 5-year actuarial IBTR rate of 5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1%-10%). Three of these cases occurred in patients with triple-negative disease and 2 in non-triple-negative patients, for 5-year actuarial IBTR rates of 33% (95% CI, 0%-57%) and 2% (95% CI, 0%-6%; P<.0001), respectively. On multivariable analysis, triple-negative phenotype was the only predictor of IBTR, with borderline statistical significance after adjusting for tumor grade (P=.0537). Conclusions: Overall outcomes were excellent, particularly for patients with estrogen receptor-positive disease. Patients in this study with triple-negative breast cancer had a significantly higher IBTR rate than patients with other receptor phenotypes when treated with 3D-APBI. Larger, prospective 3D-APBI clinical trials should continue to evaluate the effect of hormone receptor phenotype on IBTR rates.

  10. Use of External Beam Radiotherapy Is Associated With Reduced Incidence of Second Primary Head and Neck Cancer: A SEER Database Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rusthoven, Kyle; Chen Changhu; Raben, David; Kavanagh, Brian

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: Patients with head and neck cancer have a significant risk of developing a second primary cancer of the head and neck. We hypothesized that treatment with external beam radiotherapy (RT) might reduce this risk, because RT can eradicate occult foci of second head and neck cancer (HNCA). Methods and Materials: The data of patients with Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Historic Stage A localized squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, larynx, and pharynx were queried using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. For patients treated with or without RT, the incidence of second HNCA was determined and compared using the log-rank method. Cox proportional hazards analysis was performed for each site, evaluating the influence of covariates on the risk of second HNCA. Results: Between 1973 and 1997, 27,985 patients were entered with localized HNCA. Of these patients, 44% had received RT and 56% had not. The 15-year incidence of second HNCA was 7.7% with RT vs. 10.5% without RT (hazard ratio 0.71, p <0.0001). The effect of RT was more profound in patients diagnosed between 1988 and 1997 (hazard ratio 0.53, p <0.0001) and those with pharynx primaries (hazard ratio 0.47, p <0.0001). On multivariate analysis, RT was associated with a reduced risk of second HNCA for pharynx (p <0.0001) and larynx (p = 0.04) tumors. For oral cavity primaries, RT was associated with an increased risk of second HNCA in patients treated before 1988 (p <0.001), but had no influence on patients treated between 1988 and 1997 (p = 0.91). Conclusion: For localized HNCA, RT is associated with a reduced incidence of second HNCA. These observations are consistent with the eradication of microscopic foci of second HNCA with external beam RT

  11. External Beam Accelerated Partial-Breast Irradiation Using 32 Gy in 8 Twice-Daily Fractions: 5-Year Results of a Prospective Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pashtan, Itai M. [Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Recht, Abram [Department of Radiation Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Ancukiewicz, Marek [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Brachtel, Elena [Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Abi-Raad, Rita F. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); D' Alessandro, Helen A. [Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Levy, Antonin; Wo, Jennifer Y. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Hirsch, Ariel E. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Kachnic, Lisa A. [Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Goldberg, Saveli [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Specht, Michelle; Gadd, Michelle; Smith, Barbara L. [Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Powell, Simon N. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Taghian, Alphonse G., E-mail: ataghian@partners.org [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States)

    2012-11-01

    Purpose: External beam accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) is an increasingly popular technique for treatment of patients with early stage breast cancer following breast-conserving surgery. Here we present 5-year results of a prospective trial. Methods and Materials: From October 2003 through November 2005, 98 evaluable patients with stage I breast cancer were enrolled in the first dose step (32 Gy delivered in 8 twice-daily fractions) of a prospective, multi-institutional, dose escalation clinical trial of 3-dimensional conformal external beam APBI (3D-APBI). Median age was 61 years; median tumor size was 0.8 cm; 89% of tumors were estrogen receptor positive; 10% had a triple-negative phenotype; and 1% had a HER-2-positive subtype. Median follow-up was 71 months (range, 2-88 months; interquartile range, 64-75 months). Results: Five patients developed ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), for a 5-year actuarial IBTR rate of 5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1%-10%). Three of these cases occurred in patients with triple-negative disease and 2 in non-triple-negative patients, for 5-year actuarial IBTR rates of 33% (95% CI, 0%-57%) and 2% (95% CI, 0%-6%; P<.0001), respectively. On multivariable analysis, triple-negative phenotype was the only predictor of IBTR, with borderline statistical significance after adjusting for tumor grade (P=.0537). Conclusions: Overall outcomes were excellent, particularly for patients with estrogen receptor-positive disease. Patients in this study with triple-negative breast cancer had a significantly higher IBTR rate than patients with other receptor phenotypes when treated with 3D-APBI. Larger, prospective 3D-APBI clinical trials should continue to evaluate the effect of hormone receptor phenotype on IBTR rates.

  12. Discovering New Global Climate Patterns: Curating a 21-Year High Temporal (Hourly) and Spatial (40km) Resolution Reanalysis Dataset

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, C. Y.; Dattore, R.; Peng, G. S.

    2014-12-01

    The National Center for Atmospheric Research's Global Climate Four-Dimensional Data Assimilation (CFDDA) Hourly 40km Reanalysis dataset is a dynamically downscaled dataset with high temporal and spatial resolution. The dataset contains three-dimensional hourly analyses in netCDF format for the global atmospheric state from 1985 to 2005 on a 40km horizontal grid (0.4°grid increment) with 28 vertical levels, providing good representation of local forcing and diurnal variation of processes in the planetary boundary layer. This project aimed to make the dataset publicly available, accessible, and usable in order to provide a unique resource to allow and promote studies of new climate characteristics. When the curation project started, it had been five years since the data files were generated. Also, although the Principal Investigator (PI) had generated a user document at the end of the project in 2009, the document had not been maintained. Furthermore, the PI had moved to a new institution, and the remaining team members were reassigned to other projects. These factors made data curation in the areas of verifying data quality, harvest metadata descriptions, documenting provenance information especially challenging. As a result, the project's curation process found that: Data curator's skill and knowledge helped make decisions, such as file format and structure and workflow documentation, that had significant, positive impact on the ease of the dataset's management and long term preservation. Use of data curation tools, such as the Data Curation Profiles Toolkit's guidelines, revealed important information for promoting the data's usability and enhancing preservation planning. Involving data curators during each stage of the data curation life cycle instead of at the end could improve the curation process' efficiency. Overall, the project showed that proper resources invested in the curation process would give datasets the best chance to fulfill their potential to

  13. Low grade gliomas: preliminary analysis of failure patterns among patients treated using 3D conformal external beam irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pu, Anthony T.; Sandler, Howard M.; Radany, Eric H.; Blaivas, Mila; Page, Michaelyn A.; Greenberg, Harry S.; Junck, Larry; Ross, Donald A.

    1995-01-01

    Purpose: The pattern of failure of low grade gliomas following radiotherapy is less well known than that of the high grade gliomas. Stereotactic histologic studies have suggested that tumor cells extend beyond imaging abnormalities, and that large margins would be required for radiotherapy target volumes to encompass all of the neoplasm. Our experience using computerized tomography (CT)- and magnetic resonance (MR)-planned irradiation of low grade gliomas was reviewed to determine the pattern of tumor recurrence, in an effort to clinically define the minimum margin required. Methods and Materials: Forty-six patients with low grade supratentorial gliomas were treated between April 1985 and November 1992 using three-dimensional (3D) conformal CT- or MR-planned external beam radiotherapy. Fields were designed to encompass a target volume created by adding a margin to the tumor in three dimensions. Generally, patients were treated using shrinking fields with an initial target (tumor plus a 1 to 3 cm margin) treated to a dose of 45 to 50.4 (median 50.4) Gy, and a boost (tumor plus a 0 to 2 cm margin) treated to a total of 54 to 59.4 (median 59.4) Gy. Median follow-up was 32.9 months. Results: There have been 11 failures; all of these occurred within the radiographic abnormality (either T2 prolongation or CT hypodensity) visualized at the time of treatment planning (i.e., all failures were within the boost volume). Median time to failure was 53 months. Because all failures were local, there was no relationship between the amount by which the tumor volumes were expanded to create target volumes and the eventual outcome. Conclusion: Despite pathologic data suggesting that low grade glioma cells can be found outside the MR T2-signal abnormality in many cases, our results demonstrate that conformal external beam radiotherapy, in which the high dose volume is limited, does not result in increased marginal or out-of-field failures. Until control of tumor within the

  14. Unusual Application Of Ion Beam Analysis For The Study Of Surface Layers On Materials Relevant To Cultural Heritage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mathis, F.; Salomon, J.; Aucouturier, M.; Trocellier, P.

    2006-01-01

    Recently a new thematic of research -- intentional patinas on antic copper-base objects -- lead the AGLAE (Accelerateur Grand Louvre pour l'Analyse Elementaire) team of the C2RMF (Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France) to improve its methods of analyzing thin surface layers both in their elemental composition and in-depth elemental distribution. A new beam extraction set-up containing a particle detector has been developed in order to use a 6 MeV alpha beam both in PIXE and RBS mode and to monitor precisely the ion dose received by the sample. Both RBS and ionization cross sections were assessed in order to make sure that the analysis can be quantitative. This set up allows great progresses in the understanding of both nature and structure of this very particular oxide layer obtained in the antiquity by chemical treatment on copper alloys, containing gold and/or silver and presenting very interesting properties of color and stability.Besides the non destructive properties of the IBA in external beam mode, this method of analyzing allows the study of samples in interaction with its environment. This was used to study the high temperature oxidation of Cu-Sn alloys using a furnace developed in order to heat a sample and analyze it in RBS mode at the same time. This new way of studying the growth of oxide layers permits to understand the oxidation mechanism of this system and to propose an experimental model for the identification of oxide layers due to an exposition to a high temperature, model needed for a long time by curators in charge of the study and the conservation of archaeological bronzes

  15. An analysis of clinical and treatment related prognostic factors on outcome using biochemical control as an end-point in patients with prostate cancer treated with external beam irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horwitz, Eric M.; Vicini, Frank A.; Ziaja, Ellen L.; Dmuchowski, Carl F.; Stromberg, Jannifer S.; Gustafson, Gary S.; Martinez, Alvaro A.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: We reviewed our institution's experience in treating patients with clinically localized prostate cancer with external beam irradiation (RT) to determine if previously analyzed clinical and treatment related prognostic factors affected outcome when biochemical control was used as an end-point to evaluate results. Materials and methods: Between 1 January 1987 and 31 December 1991, 470 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer were treated with external beam RT using localized prostate fields at William Beaumont Hospital. Biochemical control was defined as PSA nadir ≤1.5 ng/ml within 1 year of treatment. After achieving nadir, if two consecutive increases of PSA were noted, the patient was scored a failure at the time of the first increase. Prognostic factors, including the total number of days in treatment, the method of diagnosis, a history of any pretreatment transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and the type of boost were analyzed. Results: Median follow-up was 48 months. No statistically significant difference in rates of biochemical control were noted for treatment time, overall time (date of biopsy to completion of RT), history of any pretreatment TURP, history of diagnosis by TURP, or boost techniques. Patients diagnosed by TURP had a significant improvement in the overall rate of biochemical control (P < 0.03) compared to transrectal/transperineal biopsy. The 5-year actuarial rates were 58 versus 39%, respectively. This improvement was not evident when pretreatment PSA, T stage, or Gleason score were controlled for. On multivariate analysis, no variable was associated with outcome. When analysis was limited to a more favorable group of patients (T1/T2 tumors, pretreatment PSA ≤20 ng/ml and Gleason score <7), none of these variables were significantly predictive of biochemical control when controlling for pretreatment PSA, T stage and Gleason score. Conclusions: No significant effect of treatment time, overall time, pretreatment

  16. Computational studies of beam dynamics in the ETA gun

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paul, A.C.; Neil, V.K.

    1979-03-01

    A new general purpose computer code call EBQ, has been written to simulate the beam dynamics of the ETA, find its beam emittance and evaluate effects of changes in the electrode positions and external magnetic fields. The original calculations of the ETA were made with EGUN and yielded considerable insight into the operation of the device in the non-relativistic regime. The EBQ code was written specifically to attend to the special problems associated with high current relativistic beam propagation in axially symmetric machines possessing external 2-dimensional electric and magnetic fields. The coherent electric and magnetic self-fields of the beam must be calculated accurately. Special care has been used in the relativistic regime where a high degree of cancellation occurs between the self-magnetic and self electric forces of the beam. Additionally, EBQ can handle equally well non-relativistic problems involving multiple ion species where the space charge from each must be included in its mutual effect on the others. Such problems arise in the design of ion sources where different charge and mass states are present

  17. Preventive but Not Curative Efficacy of Celecoxib on Bladder Carcinogenesis in a Rat Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Sereno

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available To evaluate the effect of a cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitor, celecoxib (CEL, on bladder cancer inhibition in a rat model, when used as preventive versus as curative treatment. The study comprised 52 male Wistar rats, divided in 5 groups, during a 20-week protocol: control: vehicle, carcinogen: 0.05% of N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl nitrosamine (BBN, CEL: 10 mg/kg/day of the selective COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex, preventive CEL (CEL+BBN-P, and curative CEL (BBN+CEL-C groups. Although tumor growth was markedly inhibited by the preventive application of CEL, it was even aggravated by the curative treatment. The incidence of gross bladder carcinoma was: control 0/8(0%, BBN 13/20(65%, CEL 0/8(0%, CEL+BBN-P 1/8(12.5%, and BBN+CEL-C 6/8(75%. The number and volume of carcinomas were significantly lower in the CEL+BBN-P versus BBN, accompanied by an ample reduction in hyperplasia, dysplasia, and papillary tumors as well as COX-2 immunostaining. In spite of the reduction of tumor volumes in the curative BBN+CEL-C group, tumor malignancy was augmented. An anti-inflammatory and antioxidant profile was encountered only in the group under preventive treatment. In conclusion, preventive, but not curative, celecoxib treatment promoted a striking inhibitory effect on bladder cancer development, reinforcing the potential role of chemopreventive strategies based on cyclooxygenase 2 inhibition.

  18. Angular-momentum-dominated electron beams and flat-beam generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Yin-e

    2005-01-01

    In the absence of external forces, if the dynamics within an electron beam is dominated by its angular momentum rather than other effects such as random thermal motion or self Coulomb-repulsive force (i.e., space-charge force), the beam is said to be angular-momentum-dominated. Such a beam can be directly applied to the field of electron-cooling of heavy ions; or it can be manipulated into an electron beam with large transverse emittance ratio, i.e., a flat beam. A flat beam is of interest for high-energy electron-positron colliders or accelerator-based light sources. An angular-momentum-dominated beam is generated at the Fermilab/NICADD photoinjector Laboratory (FNPL) and is accelerated to an energy of 16 MeV. The properties of such a beam is investigated systematically in experiment. The experimental results are in very good agreement with analytical expectations and simulation results. This lays a good foundation for the transformation of an angular-momentum-dominated beam into a flat beam. The round-to-flat beam transformer is composed of three skew quadrupoles. Based on a good knowledge of the angular-momentum-dominated beam, the quadrupoles are set to the proper strengths in order to apply a total torque which removes the angular momentum, resulting in a flat beam. For bunch charge around 0.5 nC, an emittance ratio of 100 ± 5 was measured, with the smaller normalized root-mean-square emittance around 0.4 mm-mrad. Effects limiting the flat-beam emittance ratio are investigated, such as the chromatic effects in the round-to-flat beam transformer, asymmetry in the initial angular-momentum-dominated beam, and space-charge effects. The most important limiting factor turns out to be the uncorrelated emittance growth caused by space charge when the beam energy is low, for example, in the rf gun area. As a result of such emittance growth prior to the round-to-flat beam transformer, the emittance ratio achievable in simulation decreases from orders of thousands to

  19. Angular-momentum-dominated electron beams and flat-beam generation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Yin-e [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

    2005-06-01

    In the absence of external forces, if the dynamics within an electron beam is dominated by its angular momentum rather than other effects such as random thermal motion or self Coulomb-repulsive force (i.e., space-charge force), the beam is said to be angular-momentum-dominated. Such a beam can be directly applied to the field of electron-cooling of heavy ions; or it can be manipulated into an electron beam with large transverse emittance ratio, i.e., a flat beam. A flat beam is of interest for high-energy electron-positron colliders or accelerator-based light sources. An angular-momentum-dominated beam is generated at the Fermilab/NICADD photoinjector Laboratory (FNPL) and is accelerated to an energy of 16 MeV. The properties of such a beam is investigated systematically in experiment. The experimental results are in very good agreement with analytical expectations and simulation results. This lays a good foundation for the transformation of an angular-momentum-dominated beam into a flat beam. The round-to-flat beam transformer is composed of three skew quadrupoles. Based on a good knowledge of the angular-momentum-dominated beam, the quadrupoles are set to the proper strengths in order to apply a total torque which removes the angular momentum, resulting in a flat beam. For bunch charge around 0.5 nC, an emittance ratio of 100 ± 5 was measured, with the smaller normalized root-mean-square emittance around 0.4 mm-mrad. Effects limiting the flat-beam emittance ratio are investigated, such as the chromatic effects in the round-to-flat beam transformer, asymmetry in the initial angular-momentum-dominated beam, and space-charge effects. The most important limiting factor turns out to be the uncorrelated emittance growth caused by space charge when the beam energy is low, for example, in the rf gun area. As a result of such emittance growth prior to the round-to-flat beam transformer, the emittance ratio achievable in simulation decreases from orders of thousands to

  20. LANSCE Beam Current Limiter (XL)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallegos, F.R.; Hall, M.J.

    1997-01-01

    The Radiation Security System (RSS) at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) is an engineered safety system that provides personnel protection from prompt radiation due to accelerated proton beams. The Beam Current Limiter (XL), as an active component of the RSS, limits the maximum average current in a beamline, thus the current available for a beam spill accident. Exceeding the pre-set limit initiates action by the RSS to mitigate the hazard (insertion of beam stoppers in the low energy beam transport). The beam limiter is an electrically isolated, toroidal transformer and associated electronics. The device was designed to continuously monitor beamline currents independent of any external timing. Fail-safe operation was a prime consideration in its development. Fail-safe operation is defined as functioning as intended (due to redundant circuitry), functioning with a more sensitive fault threshold, or generating a fault condition. This report describes the design philosophy, hardware, implementation, operation, and limitations of the device