Abstract
We present early design and simulation work on a novel X-ray imaging detector. The intent of the FleX-RAY project is to create a digital X-ray detector that is capable of producing ...high-resolution images, is flexible enough to produce an image on a curved surface, and is capable of self-reporting its final shape. The X-rays will be detected on a sheet of scintillating optical fibers, which will guide the scintillation light to single-photon avalanche photodiodes. This setup allows the electronics and hardware to be moved out of the path of the X-ray beam, limiting the need for additional shielding. Self-shape-reporting will be achieved using a flexible ultra-thin glass substrate with optical waveguides and Bragg gratings, processed by femtosecond laser point-by-point writing. The functionalized glass substrate allows precise measurement of strains, which can be used to calculate the shape.
In fluoroscopy-guided interventions (FGIs), obtaining large quantities of labelled data for deep learning (DL) can be difficult. Synthetic labelled data can serve as an alternative, generated via ...pseudo 2D projections of CT volumetric data. However, contrasted vessels have low visibility in simple 2D projections of contrasted CT data. To overcome this, we propose an alternative method to generate fluoroscopy-like radiographs from contrasted head CT Angiography (CTA) volumetric data. The technique involves segmentation of brain tissue, bone, and contrasted vessels from CTA volumetric data, followed by an algorithm to adjust HU values, and finally, a standard ray-based projection is applied to generate the 2D image. The resulting synthetic images were compared to clinical fluoroscopy images for perceptual similarity and subject contrast measurements. Good perceptual similarity was demonstrated on vessel-enhanced synthetic images as compared to the clinical fluoroscopic images. Statistical tests of equivalence show that enhanced synthetic and clinical images have statistically equivalent mean subject contrast within 25% bounds. Furthermore, validation experiments confirmed that the proposed method for generating synthetic images improved the performance of DL models in certain regression tasks, such as localizing anatomical landmarks in clinical fluoroscopy images. Through enhanced pseudo 2D projection of CTA volume data, synthetic images with similar features to real clinical fluoroscopic images can be generated. The use of synthetic images as an alternative source for DL datasets represents a potential solution to the application of DL in FGIs procedures.
The vast majority of patients with plasma cell neoplasms die of progressive disease despite high response rates to novel agents. Malignant plasma cells are very radiosensitive, but the potential role ...of radioimmunotherapy (RIT) in the management of plasmacytomas and multiple myeloma has undergone only limited evaluation. Furthermore, CD38 has not been explored as a RIT target despite its uniform high expression on malignant plasma cells. In this report, both conventional RIT (directly radiolabeled antibody) and streptavidin-biotin pretargeted RIT (PRIT) directed against the CD38 antigen were assessed as approaches to deliver radiation doses sufficient for multiple myeloma cell eradication. PRIT demonstrated biodistributions that were markedly superior to conventional RIT. Tumor-to-blood ratios as high as 638:1 were seen 24 hours after PRIT, whereas ratios never exceeded 1:1 with conventional RIT. (90)Yttrium absorbed dose estimates demonstrated excellent target-to-normal organ ratios (6:1 for the kidney, lung, liver; 10:1 for the whole body). Objective remissions were observed within 7 days in 100% of the mice treated with doses ranging from 800 to 1,200 μCi of anti-CD38 pretargeted (90)Y-DOTA-biotin, including 100% complete remissions (no detectable tumor in treated mice compared with tumors that were 2,982% ± 2,834% of initial tumor volume in control animals) by day 23. Furthermore, 100% of animals bearing NCI-H929 multiple myeloma tumor xenografts treated with 800 μCi of anti-CD38 pretargeted (90)Y-DOTA-biotin achieved long-term myeloma-free survival (>70 days) compared with none (0%) of the control animals.
This study examines the effectiveness of the Veterans Administration's (VA) public relations and the effectiveness of advertisements of its suicide hotline, which is called the veterans crisis line ...(VCL). Using the organization-public relations theory (OPR) this study examined whether known failures of VA marketing campaigns for the VCL could be related to public relations factors. This study found that the VA suffers from a negative perception with veterans, and this translated into lower support for the VCL compared to another suicide hotline. This study concludes that ineffective public relations may indeed be a factor in the reluctance of veterans in crisis to call the VCL for life saving mental health support.
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This qualitative research project employed semi-structured interviews (analyzed with qualitative coding techniques) to examine how (N = 22) male American combat veterans manage privacy. The two-fold ...purpose of this study was to determine how combat veterans adhere to or deviate from the principles of communication privacy management theory (CPM). Secondly, to provide new knowledge that can shape counseling strategies and transition programs to account for how veterans manage their privacy. Some of the significant findings are that veterans believe that merely participating in combat implicitly creates a collective boundary that all veterans must maintain to protect the group. Secondly, the veterans did not use boundary coordination or privacy rule development. Instead, they relied upon internal rules that helped them craft a disclosure that minimized risk. Veterans reported having dense privacy boundaries by default, even towards members of their own family. These dense boundaries present significant obstacles to therapists working with veterans and their families.
Standard Reference Materials® SRMs 2241 through 2243 are certified spectroscopic standards intended for the correction of the relative intensity of Raman spectra obtained with instruments employing ...laser excitation wavelengths of 785 nm, 532 nm, or 488 nm/514.5 nm. These SRMs each consist of an optical glass that emits a broadband luminescence spectrum when illuminated with the Raman excitation laser. The shape of the luminescence spectrum is described by a polynomial expression that relates the relative spectral intensity to the Raman shift with units in wavenumber (cm−1). This polynomial, together with a measurement of the luminescence spectrum of the standard, can be used to determine the spectral intensity-response correction, which is unique to each Raman system. The resulting instrument intensity-response correction may then be used to obtain Raman spectra that are corrected for a number of, but not all, instrument-dependent artifacts. Peak area ratios of the intensity-corrected Raman spectrum of cyclohexane are presented as an example of a methodology to validate the spectral intensity calibration process and to illustrate variations that can occur in this measurement.
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Genetic predisposition is responsible for 5% to 10% of breast cancer. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) established guidelines delineating appropriate candidates for genetic ...counseling. This study aims to determine referral patterns for genetic counseling in women who met such guidelines.
Utilizing an institutional tumor registry, patients from an academic oncology program who met a subset of NCCN guidelines for genetic referrals between 2004 and 2010 were identified (breast cancer diagnosis ≤50 y without a known BRCA mutation). A retrospective chart review was conducted. Statistics were analyzed using SAS version 9.2.
A total of 314 patients were identified and 107 (34.1%) were referred for genetic counseling. Median age at diagnosis was younger for those referred versus not referred (43 and 46 y; P<0.0001). Women were more likely referred with a family history suspicious for an inherited cancer syndrome (67.3% vs. 36.2%; P<0.0001). There was no difference in stage at diagnosis, insurance, or race among women referred. Those patients who choose prophylactic contralateral mastectomy were likely to have been referred for genetic counseling (63.6% vs. 36.4%, P<0.0001). Among patients referred, 77.6% consulted with a genetics counselor, 95.2% underwent genetic testing, and 16.5% had a BRCA mutation.
Genetic counseling and testing is being underutilized in women who meet NCCN referral guidelines. Age and family history were noted to be predictive of referral for genetic evaluation. Further research is needed to determine additional factors that may impact not only referral rates but subsequent care for women with possible genetic predispositions to cancer.
MAUS: the MICE analysis user software Asfandiyarov, R.; Bayes, R.; Blackmore, V. ...
Journal of instrumentation,
04/2019, Volume:
14, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) collaboration has developed the MICE Analysis User Software (MAUS) to simulate and analyze experimental data. It serves as the primary codebase for the ...experiment, providing for offline batch simulation and reconstruction as well as online data quality checks. The software provides both traditional particle-physics functionalities such as track reconstruction and particle identification, and accelerator physics functions, such as calculating transfer matrices and emittances. The code design is object orientated, but has a top-level structure based on the Map-Reduce model. This allows for parallelization to support live data reconstruction during data-taking operations. MAUS allows users to develop in either Python or C++ and provides APIs for both. Various software engineering practices from industry are also used to ensure correct and maintainable code, including style, unit and integration tests, continuous integration and load testing, code reviews, and distributed version control. The software framework and the simulation and reconstruction capabilities are described.
This study offers an initial and exploratory examination of the role that the variable of predictability plays in crisis management. Leveraging the situational crisis communication theory, it ...employed two separate but inter-related experiments. They examined how manipulations of the level of crisis predictability impacted a number of crucial variables important for crisis response. The findings strongly indicate that when a crisis is framed as having been predictable, it results in a host of negative consequences for the involved organizations and complicates the recovery process. When a crisis is framed as having been unpredictable, it results in positive benefits for the organizations involved. This study provides justification for future research exploring the role of predictability during a crisis.
This report presents the design and testing of an external target system for clinical‐scale production of 211At on the Scanditronix MC‐50 cyclotron at the University of Washington Medical Center. ...While other 211At production sites have typically employed an internal target, an external target setup was deemed necessary at our facility since the cyclotron's main application is for cancer patient treatment via fast neutron therapy. The challenge was that previous external 211At targets demonstrated reduced yields when compared to internal target systems. The target developed in this study has been used in more than 100 irradiations. From those irradiations 211At saturated yields of 181 ± 16 MBq/μA and 241 ± 17 MBq/μA at 28.0 and 29.0 MeV, respectively, were obtained. Importantly, consistent yields were observed over the 25–60 μA range of irradiation currents evaluated. With a recent production in excess of 4 GBq 211At for a 29.0 MeV, 58 μA, 4‐hour irradiation, this external target system has demonstrated its potential for producing clinically relevant quantities of 211At.
We report on the design and testing of an external target system for clinical‐scale production of 211At. Saturated 211At yields of 181 ± 16 MBq/μA and 241 ± 17 MBq/μA at 28.0 and 29.0 MeV, respectively, were obtained with consistent yields noted over a wide range of irradiation currents. We have recently demonstrated this system's potential to yield clinically relevant quantities of 211At by producing an excess of 4 GBq 211At for a 29.0 MeV, 58 μA, 4‐hour irradiation.
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