Search

Background: The dosimetric parameters required in lung cancer radiation therapy are taken from a homogeneous water phantom; however, during treatment, the expected results are being affected because of its inhomogeneity. Therefore, it becomes necessary to quantify these deviations. Objective: The present study has been undertaken to find out inter- and intralung density variations and its dosimetric impact on lung cancer radiotherapy using Monte Carlo code FLUKA and PBC algorithms. Material and Methods: Density of 100 lungs was recorded from their CT images along with age. Then, after PDD calculated by FLUKA MC Code and PBC algorithm for virtual phantom having density 0.2 gm/cm3 and 0.4 gm/cm3 (density range obtained from CT images of 100 lungs) using Co-60 10 x10 cm2 beams were compared. Results: Average left and right lung densities were 0.275±0.387 and 0.270±0.383 respectively. The deviation in PBC calculated PDD were (+)216%, (+91%), (+)45%, (+)26.88%, (+)14%, (-)1%, (+)2%, (-)0.4%, (-)1%, (+)1%, (+)4%, (+)4.5% for 0.4 gm/cm3 and (+)311%, (+)177%, (+)118%, (+)90.95%, (+)72.23%, (+)55.83% ,(+)38.85%, (+)28.80%, (+)21.79%, (+)15.95%, (+)1.67%, (-) 2.13%, (+)1.27%, (+)0.35%, (-)1.79%, (-)2.75% for 0.2 gm/cm3 density mediums at depths of 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6 mm, 7 mm, 8mm, 9mm,10mm, 15mm, 30mm, 40mm, 50mm, 80mm and 100 mm, respectively. Conclusion: Large variations in inter- and intra- lung density were recorded. PBC overestimated the dose at air/lung interface as well as inside lung. The results of Monte Carlo simulation can be used to assess the performance of other treatment planning systems used in lung cancer radiotherapy.

Yanling Jin,1,* Nitika Sanger,2,* Ieta Shams,3,* Candice Luo,4,* Hamnah Shahid,5,* Guowei Li,1,* Meha Bhatt,1 Laura Zielinski,6 Bianca Bantoto,7 Mei Wang,1 Luciana PF Abbade,8 Ikunna Nwosu,4 Alvin Leenus,1 Lawrence Mbuagbaw,1 Muhammad Maaz,1 Yaping Chang,1 Guangwen Sun,1 Mitchell AH Levine,1,9 Jonathan D Adachi1,9 Lehana Thabane,1,9 Zainab Samaan1,10 1Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 2Department of Medical Science, Medical Sciences Graduate Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 3Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 4Faculty of Health Sciences, Bachelors of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 5Department of Arts and Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 6Department of Neuroscience, McMaster Integrative Neuroscience Discovery and Study, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 7Department of Science, Honours Integrated Sciences Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 8Department of Dermatology and Radiotherapy, Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, São Paulo, Brazil; 9St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 10Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Reporting guidelines (eg, Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials [CONSORT] statement) are intended to improve reporting standards and enhance the transparency and reproducibility of research findings. Despite accessibility of such guidelines, researchers are not required to adhere to them. Our goal was to determine the current status of reporting quality in the medical literature and examine whether adherence of reporting guidelines has improved since the inception of reporting guidelines. Materials and methods: Eight reporting guidelines, such as CONSORT, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE), Quality of Reporting of Meta-analysis (QUOROM), STAndards for Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy (STARD), Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE), Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS), and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) were examined. Our inclusion criteria included reviews published between January 1996 to September 2016 which investigated the adherence to reporting guidelines in the literature that addressed clinical trials, systematic reviews, observational studies, meta-analysis, diagnostic accuracy, economic evaluations, and preclinical animal studies that were in English. All reviews were found on Web of Science, Excerpta Medical Database (EMBASE), MEDLINE, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). Results: Among the general searching of 26,819 studies by using the designed searching method, 124 studies were included post screening. We found that 87.9% of the included studies reported suboptimal adherence to reporting guidelines. Factors associated with poor adherence included non-pharmacological interventions, year of publication, and trials concluding with significant results. Improved adherence was associated with better study designs such as allocation concealment, random sequence, large sample sizes, adequately powered studies, multiple authorships, and being published in journals endorsing guidelines. Conclusion: We conclude that the level of adherence to reporting guidelines remains suboptimal. Endorsement of reporting guidelines by journals is important and recommended. Keywords: guidelines, adherence, review, CONSORT

Despite its high prevalence and pathogenicity, Stilesia globipunctata is a neglected cestode infection of ruminants in the tropics and sub-tropics. The present study reports the effect of sex, age, year and month on the prevalence of S. globipunctata in the goat. A total of 5208 eviscerated intestines of the goat carcasses were screened for a period of seven years, from January 2001 to December 2007. The overall prevalence of 36.6 % was significantly affected by the factors studied (P

Background: Inclusion of inhomogeneity corrections in intensity modulated small fields always makes conformal irradiation of lung tumor very complicated in accurate dose delivery. Objective: In the present study, the performance of five algorithms via Monte Carlo, Pencil Beam, Convolution, Fast Superposition and Superposition were evaluated in lung cancer Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy planning. Materials and Methods: Treatment plans for ten lung cancer patients previously planned on Monte Carlo algorithm were re-planned using same treatment planning indices (gantry angel, rank, power etc.) in other four algorithms. Results: The values of radiotherapy planning parameters such as Mean dose, volume of 95% isodose line, Conformity Index, Homogeneity Index for target, Maximum dose, Mean dose; %Volume receiving 20Gy or more by contralateral lung; % volume receiving 30 Gy or more; % volume receiving 25 Gy or more, Mean dose received by heart; %volume receiving 35Gy or more; %volume receiving 50Gy or more, Mean dose to Easophagous; % Volume receiving 45Gy or more, Maximum dose received by Spinal cord and Total monitor unit, Volume of 50 % isodose lines were recorded for all ten patients. Performance of different algorithms was also evaluated statistically. Conclusion: MC and PB algorithms found better as for tumor coverage, dose distribution homogeneity in Planning Target Volume and minimal dose to organ at risks are concerned. Superposition algorithms found to be better than convolution and fast superposition. In the case of tumors located centrally, it is recommended to use Monte Carlo algorithms for the optimal use of radiotherapy.

Perfluoropolyethers (PFPE) are commercially available non-flammable short chain polymeric liquids. End-functionalized PFPE chains solvate lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) salt and these mixtures can be used as electrolytes for lithium (Li) batteries. Here we synthesize and characterize a new class of solid PFPE electrolytes. The electrolytes are made by either thermal or UV crosslinking PFPE chains with urethane methacrylate end-groups. For the synthesis of thermally crosslinked electrolytes, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) with organic acrylopropyl groups was used as crosslinker agent, while for UV cured electrolytes a photoinitiatior was used. We present thermal, morphological, and electrical data of the solid electrolytes. We compare these properties with those of the two parent liquids (PFPE with urethane methacrylate end-groups and POSS with acrylopropyl groups) mixed with LiTFSI. The solubility limit of LiTFSI in the PFPE-based solids is higher than that in the liquids. The conductivity data are analyzed using the Vogel–Tamman–Fulcher equation. The concentration of effective charge carriers is a strong function of the nature of the solvent (solid versus liquid) whereas the activation energy is neither a strong function of the nature of the solvent nor salt concentration.

Purpose: Errors in the identification of true patients in a health-care facility may result in the wrong dose or dosage being given to the wrong patient at the wrong site during radiotherapy sessions, radiopharmaceutical administration, radiological scans, etc. The aim of this article is to reduce the error in the identification of correct patients by implementation of the Python deep learning-based real-time patient identification program. Materials and Methods: The authors utilized and installed Anaconda Prompt (miniconda 3), Python (version 3.9.12), and Visual Studio Code (version 1.71.0) for the design of the patient identification program. In the field of view, the area of interest is merely face detection. The overall performance of the developed program is accomplished over three steps, namely image data collection, data transfer, and data analysis, respectively. The patient identification tool was developed using the OpenCV library for face recognition. Results: This program provides real-time patient identification information, together with the other preset parameters such as disease site, with a precision of 0.92%, recall rate of 0.80%, and specificity of 0.90%. Furthermore, the accuracy of the program was found to be 0.84%. The output of the in-house developed program as "Unknown" is provided if a patient's relative or an unknown person is found in restricted region. Interpretation and Conclusions: This Python-based program is beneficial for confirming the patient's identity, without manual interventions, just before therapy, administering medications, and starting other medical procedures, among other things, to prevent unintended medical and health-related complications that may arise as a result of misidentification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct numerical simulations of viscoelastic, subdiffusive, and plane Poiseuille flow, representing thick polymer solutions including polymer melts, flows of liquid crystals, as well as biological flow such as mucus, are reported. The stress strain equation is fundamentally derived by relating the timescale exponent at the microscale ( t α , with 0 < α ≤ 1) with the fractional order of the time derivative, α, of the corresponding non-linear equation in the continuum. The resultant stress constitutive equation is the fractional variant of the well-known upper convected Maxwell equation. In order to quantify the formation of spatiotemporal macrostructures (or the non-homogeneous regions of high viscosity at moderate to high fluid inertia), the space of symmetric positive definite polymer conformation tensors is visualized using a Riemannian metric along with its three scalar invariants. Numerical simulations of the channel flow, in the regime of low to moderate Reynolds number and low Weissenberg number, effectively capture these flow-structures by providing (i) a better resolution of the instantaneous regions of elastic shocks (which are the alternating regions of expanded and compressed polymer volume, in comparison with the volume of the mean conformation tensor), and (ii) a better resolution to detect neighborhoods where the mean conformation tensor tends to be significantly different in comparison to the instantaneous conformation tensor, thereby corroborating the experimentally observed flow-instability transition of subdiffusive flows. Finally, the strength of the subdiffusive flow model and the invariant theory is highlighted through an application of an electrohydrodynamic micropump. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Lunar swirls are bright albedo features only found on the Moon that are still not entirely understood. It is commonly accepted that reduced space weathering plays a role in explaining the origins of lunar swirls because the local magnetic fields that are typically associated with these albedo anomalies are effective in reducing the solar wind influx. However, additional processes are required to fully explain the spectral, photometric, and polarimetric properties of the swirls. Aims. In this study, we compare the photometric properties of the Chang'e-5 landing site to those of the Reiner Gamma swirl. Because the physical effects of a landing rocket jet on the lunar regolith are relatively well known, these observations can provide important insights into the physical properties of lunar swirls. Methods. We determined the single scattering albedo, opposition effect strength, and surface roughness of the Reiner Gamma swirl and the Chang'e-5 landing site with their respective statistical uncertainties based on the Hapke model and Bayesian inference sampling. Results. The Chang'e-5 landing site and the Reiner Gamma swirl exhibit similar photometric properties, in particular: an increased albedo and a reduced opposition effect strength. Additionally, the landing site is about 20% less rough compared to the surrounding area. Conclusions. These findings suggest that the swirl surface is less porous compared to the surrounding surface, similarly to a landing site where the top layer of the regolith has been blown away effectively so that the compactness was increased. We conclude that external mechanisms that are able to compress the uppermost regolith layer are involved in lunar swirl formation, such as interactions with the gaseous hull of a passing comet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Ultrasound-guided manipulation and reduction (M&R) of the distal radius fractures (DRF) is believed to improve radiographic indices due to real-time feedback of fracture alignment. The objective of this trial was to compare volar tilt, radial inclination, and radial height on radiographs between Ultrasound guided and conventional (landmark-guided) M&R. Materials and methods: A total of 79 distal radius extraarticular fractures in adults were randomised to Ultrasound guided and conventional (landmark-guided) M&R. The radiograph parameters described above were compared before and after M&R in both groups. Results: Except for volar tilt (P=0.05 difference in difference), there was no difference in both the groups on radiograph parameters i.e. radial inclination and radial height. We estimated a reduction in the incidence of mal-reduction by 49% (Risk ratio 0.51) and an absolute risk reduction of 22% through USG-guided reduction. We evaluated a number needed to treat 4 through USG-directed M&R of DRF to prevent one unacceptable reduction. There were 9 (22%) and 18 (46%) (P=0.70) unacceptable reductions in USG-guided and landmark-guided M&R. Conclusion: Adding USG guidance to conventional landmark-based closed reduction methods is not beneficial for the accuracy of fracture reduction in Colle’s fracture. However, improved volar tilt in sonographic-directed M&R needs further studies to determine the clinical significance.