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IRIS (Infrared Imaging Spectrograph) is the near-infrared (0.84 to 2.4 micron) diffraction-limited imager and Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) designed for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) and the Narrow-Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System ( NFIRAOS ). The imager will have a 34 arcsec x 34 arcsec field of view with 4 milliarcseconds (mas) pixels. The IFS consists of a lenslet array and slicer, enabling four plate scales from 4 mas to 50 mas, with multiple gratings and filters. We will report the progress on the development of the IRIS Data Reduction System ( DRS ) in the final design phase. The IRIS DRS is being developed in Python with the software architecture based on the James Webb Space Telescope science calibration pipeline. We are developing a library of algorithms as individual Python classes that can be configured independently and bundled into pipelines. We will interface this with the observatory software to run online during observations and we will release the package publicly for scientists to develop custom analyses. It also includes a C library for readout processing to be used for both in real-time processing (e.g., up-the-ramp, MCDS) as well the ability for astronomers to use for offline reduction. Lastly, we will also discuss the development of the IRIS simulation packages that simulate raw spectra and image readout-data from the Hawaii-4RG detectors, which helps in developing reduction algorithms during this design phase., Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VI, December 14-18, 2020, Online Only, United States, Series: Proceedings of SPIE

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a massive international undertaking with a myriad of software packages delivered by partners around the world. A comprehensive software development process with a focus on quality assurance has been established and agreed to by the partners to ensure a consistent and well-integrated system. Additionally, thorough requirements verification is necessary to ensure the deliverables meet the needs and requirements of the observatory. As software engineering continues to progress, technologies such as cloud-based collaboration tools and automated testing through continuous integration systems have become common place and facilitate the development and verification processes. We describe how TMT leverages the use of modern software development tools and methodologies to promote a cohesive and complete software system, using the recent construction and delivery of TMT Common Software as an example.

The transition from construction to operations of the Thirty-Meter-Telescope (TMT) will happen over a phase of "early-operations” that will last several years to encompass the technical and science commissioning of its main systems, and will conclude when the facility enters "steady-state operations” (early 2030s according to the current schedule). In this talk, we will present the current plan for technical and scientific operations of the Thirty-Meter-Telescope, including a description of its organizational structure, staffing and day-to-day activities. TMT's science operations model will be aimed at optimizing the science impact of the TMT and its operations efficiency, while providing a high-level of support to TMT users over all phases (submission, implementation and (post-)execution) of their science programs.

The TMT Software System consists of software components that interact with one another through a software infrastructure called TMT Common Software (CSW). CSW defines the types of components in the software system and their functional roles, software services for integrating components, and library code that is used by developers to create the components and subsystems that make up the TMT Software System. The unique features of CSW include the use of multiple, open-source products as the basis of the services, and an approach that works to reduce the amount of CSW-produced infrastructure code. The core of CSW is implemented on the JVM in the Scala programming language with both Java and Scala programming interfaces as well as limited access from C/C++ and Python. The source code for CSW is open source and available on GitHub. TMT CSW has recently completed its construction phase and has been delivered to the project by our India partners. This paper summarizes the technical design, construction process, construction deliverables, changes in the design during implementation, and lessons learned.

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a massive international undertaking with a myriad of software packages delivered by partners around the world. The Executive Software (ESW) package is the part of the TMT software system that is responsible for providing unified high-level control of observatory operations. It consists of five parts: a) a Sequencer Component that can be tailored to various sequencing needs by the loading of custom “scripts”, written in a TMT sequencing Domain Specific Language (DSL); b) a collection of these sequencing scripts used for critical observing tasks such as acquisition; c) user interface (UI) infrastructure that provides browser-based UI standards and access to TMT components and services; d) the set of UIs that observatory staff will use during operations to conduct TMT activities such as observing; and e) tools that assist in the visualization of observation data for quality assurance. In this paper, we describe the design of ESW, and give an update on the current status of the package, which is currently under construction.

The InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is the first-light client instrument for the Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS) on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Now approaching the end of its final design phase, we provide an overview of the instrument control software. The design is challenging since IRIS has interfaces with many systems at different stages of development (e.g., NFIRAOS, telescope control system, observatory sequencers), and will be built using the newly-developed TMT Common Software (CSW), which provides framework code (Java/Scala), and services (e.g., commands, telemetry). Lower-level software will be written in a combination of Java and C/C++ to communicate with hardware, such as motion controllers and infrared detectors. The overall architecture and philosophy of the IRIS software is presented, as well as a summary of the individual software components and their interactions with other systems., Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, SPIE (2020) 11452-28

Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is the first light instrument for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) that consists of a near-infrared (0.84 to 2.4 micron) imager and integral field spectrograph (IFS) which operates at the diffraction-limit utilizing the Narrow-Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS). The imager will have a 34 arcsec x 34 arcsec field of view with 4 milliarcsecond (mas) pixels. The IFS consists of a lenslet array and slicer, enabling four plate scales from 4 mas to 50 mas, multiple gratings and filters, which in turn will operate hundreds of individual modes. IRIS, operating in concert with NFIRAOS will pose many challenges for the data reduction system (DRS). Here we present the updated design of the real-time and post-processing DRS. The DRS will support two modes of operation of IRIS: (1) writing the raw readouts sent from the detectors and performing the sampling on all of the readouts for a given exposure to create a raw science frame; and (2) reduction of data from the imager, lenslet array and slicer IFS. IRIS is planning to save the raw readouts for a given exposure to enable sophisticated processing capabilities to the end users, such as the ability to remove individual poor seeing readouts to improve signal-to-noise, or from advanced knowledge of the point spread function (PSF). The readout processor (ROP) is a key part of the IRIS DRS design for writing and sampling of the raw readouts into a raw science frame, which will be passed to the TMT data archive. We discuss the use of sub-arrays on the imager detectors for saturation/persistence mitigation, on-detector guide windows, and fast readout science cases (< 1 second)., 14 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables, Proceeding 10707-112 of the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2018

The InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is the first-light client instrument for the Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS) on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). IRIS includes three natural guide star (NGS) On-Instrument Wavefront Sensors (OIWFS) to measure tip/tilt and focus errors in the instrument focal plane. NFIRAOS also has an internal natural guide star wavefront sensor, and IRIS and NFIRAOS must precisely coordinate the motions of their wavefront sensor positioners to track the locations of NGSs while the telescope is dithering (offsetting the telescope to cover more area), to avoid a costly re-acquisition time penalty. First, we present an overview of the sequencing strategy for all of the involved subsystems. We then predict the motion of the telescope during dithers based on finite-element models provided by TMT, and finally analyze latency and jitter issues affecting the propagation of position demands from the telescope control system to individual motor controllers., 21 pages, 19 figures, SPIE (2018) 10707-49

Purpose A pneumatic tourniquet is commonly used in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) to improve surgical field visualisation but may result in quadriceps muscle ischaemia. We performed this study to analyse the effect of the tourniquet on recovery following TKA. Materials and Methods A prospective randomised single-blinded trial was undertaken to examine the effect of the tourniquet on post-operative pain, swelling, blood loss, quadriceps function and outcome following TKA. Twenty patients with osteoarthritis of the knee were randomised to tourniquet or no tourniquet groups. Quadriceps function was assessed using surface electromyography (EMG) during active knee extension. Results The no tourniquet group had significantly less pain in the early post-operative period compared to the tourniquet group. There was no difference in Oxford knee score, range of motion, or thigh and knee swelling up to 12 months post-operatively. Quadriceps function, measured by surface EMG, was compromised for the first six months post-surgery by tourniquet use. The radiological cement mantle at the bone prosthesis interface at 12-month follow-up was not affected by the absence of a tourniquet. Conclusions We believe that it is safe and beneficial for our patients to routinely perform TKA without a tourniquet.

BackgroundThe aim of chemotherapy in patients with platinum resistant ovarian cancer is palliation. Patients’ experience of symptoms is not well documented, and the impact of treatment on symptoms has not been evaluated in clinical trials. We report symptom burden and treatment outcomes from stage 1 of the Gynecological Cancer Intergroup (GCIG) Symptom Benefit Study.MethodsOne hundred twenty-six patients receiving palliative chemotherapy completed 5 validated health-related quality-of-life questionnaires before starting treatment and before each cycle. They also reported their expected and perceived benefits from treatment. Physicians documented the reasons for treatment and adverse events including symptoms at baseline and estimated the number of cycles of treatment that patients would receive.ResultsPalliation was the major reason for chemotherapy. At baseline, all patients were symptomatic (almost 70% had ≥9 symptoms). Patients had high expectation of benefit from treatment. Only 41% of patients received the predicted number of cycles with most stopping early (≤2 cycles) due to progression, death, or adverse effects. Treatment was associated with significant toxicity, with discordance between patient report and physician grading. Although RECIST response rates were low (8.5%), 40% of the patients were reported to have had a clinical benefit and almost 50% of symptomatic patients also reported symptom improvement.ConclusionsPatients had a complex array of symptoms and significant symptom burden, which was commonly the reason for treatment. Although chemotherapy improved symptoms in about half of the patients, many did not benefit and progressed rapidly. Our findings support research into the use of patient reported outcome measures to document symptoms, adverse events, and subjective benefit, both in clinical trials and in clinical practice, in this patient population. Our findings highlight the need to develop prognostic models to better select patients for treatment, and this is an aim of stage 2 of the GCIG Symptom Benefit Study.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the optimal patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for assessing symptom benefit in trials of palliative chemotherapy for women with symptomatic ovarian cancer.MethodsCandidate PROMs were EORTC QLQ-C30 plus ovarian-specific QLQ-OV28, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Ovarian (FACT-O), FACT Ovarian Symptom Index (FOSI), and gynecologic cancer-specific Symptom Representation Questionnaire. Predefined optimality criteria were inclusion of all symptoms necessary for the specified purpose, recall period covering typical length of palliative chemotherapy, numerical item rating scales, and all necessary symptoms included in a single symptom index. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to data from stage 1 of the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup Symptom Benefit Study to determine the set of necessary symptoms and to objectively assess candidate PROMs against the optimality criteria.ResultsTen necessary symptoms were identified: pain, fatigue, abdominal bloating/discomfort, sleep disturbance, bowel disturbance, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, poor appetite, urinary symptoms, and weight changes. Although QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OV28 together cover all these symptoms, they split them into numerous scales, dissipating potential symptom-benefit signal. Conversely, FACT-O does not cover all necessary symptoms and contains many other HRQoL-related items and treatment side effects, diluting potential symptom-benefit signal when summed into scales. Item response scales and composite scoring of all candidate PROMs were suboptimal to our specific purpose. We therefore developed a new PROM, the Measure of Ovarian Symptoms and Treatment (MOST) concerns, to provide optimal measurement for the specified purpose.ConclusionsThis article documents the development of the MOST, a new PROM designed to assess patient-reported benefits and burden as end points in clinical trials of palliative chemotherapy for women with symptomatic ovarian cancer. The validity, reliability, and statistical efficiency of the MOST, relative to the best candidate scales of existing PROMs, will be assessed in the stage 2 of Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup Symptom Benefit Study.

Purpose. Chemotherapy for platinum-resistant/refractory ovarian cancer is motivated by the hope of benefit.Wesought to determine the relationships between: (a) trait hope, expectation of symptom benefit from chemotherapy, and anxiety and depression; (b) hope and perceived efficacy of chemotherapy; and (c) unfulfilled hope (where expectations for benefit are not fulfilled) and depression. Methods. Adult patients enrolled within stage 1 of the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup Symptom Benefit Study were included. Patient. Reported outcomes were collected from 126women with predominantly platinum-resistant ovarian cancer at baseline, prior to the first four treatment cycles (12-16 weeks), and four weeks after completing chemotherapy or at disease progression, whichever came first. Associations were assessed with Spearman rank correlation coefficient (r) and odds ratio. Results. Trait hope and expectation of symptom benefit from chemotherapy were weakly correlated with each other (r =0.25). Trait hope, but not expectation of symptom benefit, was negatively correlated with anxiety (r=-0.43) and depression (r=-0.50). The smaller the discrepancy between perceived and expected symptom benefit, the less likely the patient was to have scores indicative of depression (odds ratio: 0.68; 95% confidence interval: 0.49-0.96; p=.026). Conclusion. Trait hope and expectation of symptom benefit from chemotherapy appear to be distinct and independent of the aspects of quality of life and scores for depression. Hope did not appear to affect perceived efficacy of chemotherapy in alleviating symptoms, but women whose expectation of symptom benefit from chemotherapy was not fulfilled were more likelyto have scores indicative of depression. It may be preferable to encourage hope toward achievable goals rather than toward benefits from chemotherapy. © AlphaMed Press 2013.

The near-infrared instruments in the upcoming Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will be assisted by a multi conjugate Adaptive Optics (AO) system. For the efficient operation of the AO system, during observations, a near-infrared guide star catalog which goes as faint as 22 mag in JVega band is essential and such a catalog does not exist. A methodology, based on stellar atmospheric models, to compute the expected near-infrared magnitudes of stellar sources from their optical magnitudes is developed. The method is applied and validated in JHKs bands for a magnitude range of JVega 16–22 mag. The methodology is also applied and validated using the reference catalog of PAN STARRS. We verified that the properties of the final PAN STARRS optical catalog will satisfy the requirements of TMT IRGSC and will be one of the potential sources for the generation of the final catalog. In a broader context, this methodology is applicable for the generation of a guide star catalog for any existing/upcoming near-infrared telescopes.

The TMT Software System consists of software components that interact with one another through a software infrastructure called TMT Common Software (CSW). CSW consists of software services and library code that is used by developers to create the subsystems and components that participate in the software system. CSW also defines the types of components that can be constructed and their roles. The use of common component types and shared middleware services allows standardized software interfaces for the components. A software system called the TMT Interface Database System was constructed to support the documentation of the interfaces for components based on CSW. The programmer describes a subsystem and each of its components using JSON-style text files. A command interface file describes each command a component can receive and any commands a component sends. The event interface files describe status, alarms, and events a component publishes and status and events subscribed to by a component. A web application was created to provide a user interface for the required features. Files are ingested into the software system’s database. The user interface allows browsing subsystem interfaces, publishing versions of subsystem interfaces, and constructing and publishing interface control documents that consist of the intersection of two subsystem interfaces. All published subsystem interfaces and interface control documents are versioned for configuration control and follow the standard TMT change control processes. Subsystem interfaces and interface control documents can be visualized in the browser or exported as PDF files.

TMT Common Software (CSW). CSW consists of software services and library code that is used by developers to create the subsystems and components that participate in the software system. CSW also defines the types of components that can be constructed and their functional roles in the software system. TMT CSW has recently passed its preliminary design review. The unique features of CSW include its use of multiple, open-source products as the basis for services, and an approach that works to reduce the amount of CSW-provided infrastructure code. Considerable prototyping was completed during this phase to mitigate risk with results that demonstrate the validity of this design approach and the selected service implementation products. This paper describes the latest design of TMT CSW, key features, and results from the prototyping effort.

The purpose of the Observatory Software System (OSW) is to integrate all software and hardware components of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to enable observations and data capture; thus it is a complex software system that is defined by four principal software subsystems: Common Software (CSW), Executive Software (ESW), Data Management System (DMS) and Science Operations Support System (SOSS), all of which have interdependencies with the observatory control systems and data acquisition systems. Therefore, the software development process and plan must consider dependencies to other subsystems, manage architecture, interfaces and design, manage software scope and complexity, and standardize and optimize use of resources and tools. Additionally, the TMT Observatory Software will largely be developed in India through TMT’s workshare relationship with the India TMT Coordination Centre (ITCC) and use of Indian software industry vendors, which adds complexity and challenges to the software development process, communication and coordination of activities and priorities as well as measuring performance and managing quality and risk. The software project management challenge for the TMT OSW is thus a multi-faceted technical, managerial, communications and interpersonal relations challenge. The approach TMT is using to manage this multifaceted challenge is a combination of establishing an effective geographically distributed software team (Integrated Product Team) with strong project management and technical leadership provided by the TMT Project Office (PO) and the ITCC partner to manage plans, process, performance, risk and quality, and to facilitate effective communications; establishing an effective cross-functional software management team composed of stakeholders, OSW leadership and ITCC leadership to manage dependencies and software release plans, technical complexities and change to approved interfaces, architecture, design and tool set, and to facilitate effective communications; adopting an agile-based software development process across the observatory to enable frequent software releases to help mitigate subsystem interdependencies; defining concise scope and work packages for each of the OSW subsystems to facilitate effective outsourcing of software deliverables to the ITCC partner, and to enable performance monitoring and risk management. At this stage, the architecture and high-level design of the software system has been established and reviewed. During construction each subsystem will have a final design phase with reviews, followed by implementation and testing. The results of the TMT approach to the Observatory Software development process will only be preliminary at the time of the submittal of this paper, but it is anticipated that the early results will be a favorable indication of progress.

The InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) will be a first-light client instrument for the Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS) on the Thirty Meter Telescope. IRIS includes three configurable tip/tilt (TT) or tip/tilt/focus (TTF) On-Instrument Wavefront Sensors (OIWFS). These sensors are positioned over natural guide star (NGS) asterisms using movable polar-coordinate pick-off arms (POA) that patrol an approximately 2-arcminute circular field-of-view (FOV). The POAs are capable of colliding with one another, so an algorithm for coordinated motion that avoids contact is required. We have adopted an approach in which arm motion is evaluated using the gradient descent of a scalar potential field that includes an attractive component towards the goal configuration (locations of target stars), and repulsive components to avoid obstacles (proximity to adjacent arms). The resulting vector field is further modified by adding a component transverse to the repulsive gradient to avoid problematic local minima in the potential. We present path planning simulations using this computationally inexpensive technique, which exhibit smooth and efficient trajectories., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, SPIE (2016) 9913-29

TPS5614 Background: Advanced endometrial cancer (EC) progressing after 1 or more lines of chemotherapy is an area of unmet need with objective tumour response rates to subsequent lines of chemotherapy of ≤20%. DNA mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency, seen in approximately 15% of EC, is associated with a high mutational load and in addition, up to 90% of ECs are reported to have PDL1/ PD1 expressions. These factors make immune check point inhibition an ideal target for treatment. Methods: DESIGN: Multicentre phase 2 trial in two cohorts. ELIGIBILITY: Advanced, unresectable endometrial cancer that is either MMR-proficient and progressing after 1-3 lines of chemotherapy, or MMR-deficient and progressing after 0-3 lines of chemotherapy. ENDPOINTS: Objective tumour response rate (OTRR) according to iRECIST (primary) and RECIST 1.1, disease control rates at 16 and 24 weeks, progression free survival, overall survival, duration of OTR and DC, adverse events, health related quality of life. Tertiary correlative objectives: Associations between immunologic (including PD-L1), DNA mismatch repair (MMR) and other genetic characteristics with clinical outcomes; and family history of cancer and referral to familial cancer services. INTERVENTION: Durvalumab 1500 mg intravenously every 28 days until disease progression or prohibitive toxicity. STATISTICS: Total of 70 participants in two cohorts (35 each) will have 90% power to distinguish a difference in observed OTRR of ≥20% versus ≤5% (uninteresting rate) using Simon’s 2-stage minimax design with 10% type 1 error rate and allowing 10% ineligibility and missing data. Durvalumab will be considered worthy of pursuit if 4 or more OTR are observed in the first 32 participants in each cohort (OTRR ≥12.5%). BIOSPECIMENS: Tumour tissue and serial bloods (5 time points) will be collected for translational research. PHAEDRA is an investigator-initiated, cooperative-group trial led by ANZGOG, in collaboration with NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: Clinical trial information: ACTRN12617000106336.

The aim of chemotherapy in patients with platinum resistant ovarian cancer is palliation. Patients' experience of symptoms is not well documented, and the impact of treatment on symptoms has not been evaluated in clinical trials. We report symptom burden and treatment outcomes from stage 1 of the Gynecological Cancer Intergroup (GCIG) Symptom Benefit Study.One hundred twenty-six patients receiving palliative chemotherapy completed 5 validated health-related quality-of-life questionnaires before starting treatment and before each cycle. They also reported their expected and perceived benefits from treatment. Physicians documented the reasons for treatment and adverse events including symptoms at baseline and estimated the number of cycles of treatment that patients would receive.Palliation was the major reason for chemotherapy. At baseline, all patients were symptomatic (almost 70% had ≥9 symptoms). Patients had high expectation of benefit from treatment. Only 41% of patients received the predicted number of cycles with most stopping early (≤2 cycles) due to progression, death, or adverse effects. Treatment was associated with significant toxicity, with discordance between patient report and physician grading. Although RECIST response rates were low (8.5%), 40% of the patients were reported to have had a clinical benefit and almost 50% of symptomatic patients also reported symptom improvement.Patients had a complex array of symptoms and significant symptom burden, which was commonly the reason for treatment. Although chemotherapy improved symptoms in about half of the patients, many did not benefit and progressed rapidly. Our findings support research into the use of patient reported outcome measures to document symptoms, adverse events, and subjective benefit, both in clinical trials and in clinical practice, in this patient population. Our findings highlight the need to develop prognostic models to better select patients for treatment, and this is an aim of stage 2 of the GCIG Symptom Benefit Study.

The requirements for the production of a near Infra-Red Guide Star Catalog (IRGSC) for Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) observations are identified and presented. A methodology to compute the expected J band magnitude of stellar sources from their optical (g, r, i) magnitudes is developed. The computed and observed J magnitudes of sources in three test fields are compared and the methodology developed is found to be satisfactory for the magnitude range, JVega = 16-22 mag. From this analysis, we found that for the production of final TMT IRGSC (with a limiting magnitude of JVega = 22 mag), we need g, r, i bands optical data which go up to i AB ~ 23 mag. Fine tuning of the methodology developed, such as using Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) template fitting for optimal classification of stars in the fainter end, incorporating spectral libraries in the model, to reduce the scatter, and modification of the existing colour-temperature relation to increase the source density are planned for the subsequent phase of this work. © 2013 Indian Academy of Sciences.

5508Background: 110 (19%) of the 570 women with PRROC enrolled in SBS stopped chemotherapy within 8 weeks. We sought to identify baseline characteristics, including QOL and clinical factors, that w...

Gemini Observatory is using a new approach with instrument software that takes advantage of the strengths of our instrument builders and at the same time better supports our own operational needs. A lightweight software library in conjunction with modern agile software development methodologies is being used to ameliorate the problems encountered with the development of the first and second-generation Gemini instruments. Over the last two years, Gemini and the team constructing the software for the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) have been using an agile development process to implement the Gemini Instrument Application Interface (GIAPI) and the highlevel control software for the GPI instrument. The GPI is being tested and exercised with the GIAPI, and this has allowed us to perform early end-to-end testing of the instrument software. Early in 2009 for the first time in our development history, we were able to move instrument mechanisms with Gemini software during early instrument construction. As a result of this approach, we discovered and fixed software interface issues between Gemini and GPI. Resolving these problems at this stage is simpler and less expensive than when the full instrument is completed. GPI is currently approaching its integration and testing phase, which will occur in 2010. We expect that utilizing this new approach will yield a more robust software implementation resulting in smoother instrument integration, testing, and commissioning phases. In this paper we describe the key points of our approach and results of applying the new instrument API approach together with agile development methodologies. The paper concludes with lessons learned and suggestions for adapting agile approaches in other astronomy development projects.

The challenges facing the developers of user interfaces for astronomy applications has never been greater. Astronomers and engineers often use well-designed commercial and web applications outside their work environment and have come to expect a similar user experience with applications developed for their work tasks. The connectivity provided by the Internet and the ability to work from anywhere can improve user productivity, but it is a challenge to provide the kind of interactivity and responsiveness needed for astronomical applications to web based projects. It is fair to say that browserbased applications have not been adequate for many kinds of workhorse astronomy applications. The Flex/Actionscript framework from Adobe has been used successfully at the Space Telescope Science Institute in a variety of situations that were not possible with other technologies. In this paper, the Flex framework and technology is briefly introduced followed by a discussion of its advantages and disadvantages and how it addresses user expectations. Three astronomy applications will be presented demonstrating the technology capabilities with useful performance data. Flex/Actionscript is not well known within the astronomy development community, and our goal is to demonstrate that it can be the right choice for many astronomy applications.

The telescope development projects of the 1990's produced a set of capable 8-10m telescopes that are now in operations across the northern and southern hemispheres. This was the first generation of telescopes to benefit from carefully engineered software systems, yet several years of 8m operations have revealed weaknesses in a common architecture employed by many of them. Today engineers are working on the next generation of telescopes, the extremely large telescopes (ELTs), along with their software systems. It is our view that many of the fundamental assumptions about how software systems for 8-m class large telescopes should be constructed are not optimal for the next generation of extremely large telescopes. In fact, these ideas may constrain the solution space and result in overly complex software and increased development costs. This paper points out issues with current architecture solutions and how they impact the software needed for extremely large telescopes. It then provides the outline of a new approach for the design of the software running at the telescope that is targeted towards the development issues of ELTs and large telescope operations.

The new observatories currently being built, upgraded or designed represent a big step up in terms of complexity (laser guide star, adaptive optics, 30/40m class telescopes) with respect to the previous generation of ground-based telescopes. Moreover, the high cost of observing time imposes challenging requirements on system reliability and observing efficiency as well as challenging constraints in implementing major upgrades to operational observatories. Many of the basic issues are common to most of the new projects, while each project also brings an additional set of very specific challenges, imposed by the unique characteristics and scientific objectives of each telescope. Finding ways to share the solution and the risk for these common problems would allow the teams in the different projects to concentrate more resources on the specific challenges, while at the same time realizing more reliable and cost efficient systems. In this paper we analyze the many dimensions that might be involved in sharing and re-using observatory software (e.g. components, design, infrastructure frameworks, applications, toolkits, etc.). We also examine observatory experiences and technology trends. This work is the continuation of an effort started in the middle of 2007 to analyze the trends in software for the control systems of large astronomy projects.

The Gemini Observatories primarily operate a multi-instrument queue, with observers selecting observations that are best suited to weather and seeing conditions. Queue operations give higher ranked programs a greater chance for completion than lower ranked programs requesting the same conditions and instrument configuration. Queue observing naturally lends itself to Target of Opportunity (ToO) support since the time required to switch between programs and instruments is very short, and the staff observer is trained to operate all the available instruments and modes. Gemini Observatory has supported pre-approved ToO programs since beginning queue operations, and has implemented a rapid (less than 15 minutes response time) ToO mode since 2005. We discuss the ToO procedures, the statistics of 2+ years of rapid ToOs at Gemini North Observatory, the science that this important mode has enabled, and some recent software modifications which have improved both standard and rapid ToO support in the Gemini Observing Tool.

Gemini Observatory is now developing its next generation of astronomical instruments, the Aspen instruments. These new instruments are sophisticated and costly requiring large distributed, collaborative teams. Instrument software groups often include experienced team members with existing mature code. Gemini has taken its experience from the previous generation of instruments and current hardware and software technology to create an approach for developing instrument software that takes advantage of the strengths of our instrument builders and our own operations needs. This paper describes this new software approach that couples a lightweight infrastructure and software library with aspects of modern agile software development. The Gemini Planet Imager instrument project, which is currently approaching its critical design review, is used to demonstrate aspects of this approach. New facilities under development will face similar issues in the future, and the approach presented here can be applied to other projects.

5536 Background: The primary endpoint for clinical trials in PRR/PPS ≥ 3 ROC is progression free survival (PFS) and symptom benefit is not typically measured or reported. The primary aim of GCIG SB...

5564 Background: Women with PRR/PPS ≥ 3 ROC are a heterogeneous group with unpredictable response to palliative chemotherapy (PC). GCIG SBS recently completed recruitment of 949 patients treated wi...

The software for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is currently in the specification and design phase. A decision was made early on to provide a common software package that will provide basic infrastructure and services to be used by all project software packages. A roadmap for defining Common Software was written. The first roadmap step of defining what should be included in common software was accomplished by analyzing similar projects. The result was the definition of a reference architecture for end-to-end observatory software systems called the Observatory Software Domain Architecture. This architecture was then used to define the specifications for the TMT common software. This paper describes the roadmap, the reference architecture, and the current definition of TMT common software.

Gamma-ray bursts and other targets of opportunity require a quick response by observers to maximize the significance of observations. Because of this need for quickness, these types of observations are often observed at smaller facilities where observers and institutions have more freedom to respond to serendipitous events. The two Gemini 8-m telescopes have a well-developed workflow for queue observing that allows investigators to be involved in their science program throughout its lifecycle. To coincide with the startup of the Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer orbiting observatory in late 2004, the Gemini observing policies, workflow, and observing tools were enhanced to allow investigators to participate in target of opportunity programs. This paper describes how target of opportunity has been integrated into Gemini operations to allow investigators to trigger observations at the Gemini telescopes within minutes of an event.

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida, United States, Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 6270

Processing astronomical images is an inherently resource intensive procedure that is typically time consuming as well. At the same time, first order reductions are particularly important during the observing process since they can provide key quality assessment information. To resolve this conflict, the Online Data Processing (OLDP) system being commissioned at the Gemini Observatory automatically maps reduction sequences onto a cluster of servers during observing, taking advantage of available concurrency where possible. The user constructs a visual representation of the sequence for an observation using the Gemini Observing Tool. No constraints are placed upon the series of steps that comprise the sequence. At runtime, the OLDP reads the reduction sequence from the Observing Database and splits it into smaller pieces for simultaneous execution on the cluster. Recipe steps can be implemented in IRAF, shell scripts, or Java, and other types can be plugged into the architecture without modifying the core of the code base. This paper will introduce the Gemini OLDP and demonstrate how it utilizes modern infrastructure technology like Jini and JavaSpaces to achieve its goals.

At Gemini, support for observers during Phase 2 is a collaborative effort among individuals spread across four continents at many institutions. Short Phase 2 preparation periods necessitate close communication between observers and support personnel. Email alone has not been an adequate solution. For the 2003B semester, the Gemini Observing Tool has been extended to allow off-site investigators and national project office support personnel to directly access the science program database. The observer is able to keep up to date with changes by accessing his program at any time. Email notifications are generated automatically when activities occur in the science program lifecycle. This paper will give an overview of how this system, based upon Java and freely available open source software, provides these new capabilities.

Today's astronomers may use the telescopes and instruments of many observatories to execute their science observations. Discovering the distributed resources that are available is time consuming and error prone because astronomers must manually take facility information and match it to the needs of their science observations. While Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the proposal process are well supported by a wide variety of software tools, the initial phase of discovering what resources are available, Phase 0, suffers from a lack of software support. This paper describes and proposes the creation of a Phase 0 Network to fill this void. The network is built upon peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, showing that this new approach to distributed computing has viable uses in astronomy.

TPS5621 Background: Gynaecological cancers of several pathological subtypes express estrogen and/or progesterone hormone receptors (ER/PR). Previous studies, [all or mostly] retrospective, have rep...

TPS5627 Background: We hypothesise that intraperitoneal (IP) administration of bevacizumab will reduce formation, and delay time to re-accumulation, of ascites in patients with malignant ascites an...

Construction of the first Gemini 8-m telescope is well underway. The software that provides the user interface and high-level control of the observatory, the observatory control system (OCS), is also proceeding on track. The OCS provides tools that assist the astronomer from the proposal submission phase through planning, observation execution, and data review. A capable and flexible software infrastructure is required to support this comprehensive approach. New software technologies and industry standards have played a large part in the implementation of this infrastructure. For instance, the use of CORBA has provided many benefits in the software including object distribution, an interface definition language, and implementation language independence. In this paper, we describe the infrastructure of the OCS that supports observation planning and execution. Important software decisions and interfaces that allow Internet access and the ability to substitute alternate implementations easily are discussed as a model for other similar projects.

TPS5614 Background: Many gynaecological cancers of different pathological type express estrogen and/or progesterone hormone receptors (ER/PR). Reports of tumour response and clinical benefit with hormonal therapies show variable rates of activity. There is a need to prospectively study the role of aromatase inhibitors in women with potentially hormone responsive recurrent gynaecological cancers to establish response rates, clinical benefit, quality of life (QoL) and identify predictors of response. Methods: PARAGON is phase II Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup trial lead by the Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group, Cancer Research UK and the Belgian Gynaecological Oncology Group. The study is designed to facilitate research in rare tumours. The protocol allows postmenopausal women with recurrent gynaecological cancers to enrol into one of 7 subgroups; epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) with only rising CA125 after first line chemotherapy, platinum resistant/refractory EOC, low grade EOC, endometrial carcinomas, endometrial stromal sarcomas, miscellaneous sarcomas and granulosa cell tumours and other sex cord stromal tumours. ER/PR positivity must be confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Each subgroup will enrol 25-50 patients with defined stopping rules based on response and reviewed by independent data monitoring committee (IDMC). Eligible patients receive 1 mg anastrozole daily until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary objective: clinical benefit (partial or complete response or stable disease). Secondary objectives: progression free survival, response duration, QoL, toxicity. Blood and tumour samples are being collected for translational studies and confirmation of ER/PR positivity. Recruitment commenced in 2011 in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. One hundred and fourteen of 350 planned patients have been enrolled to January 2013. In November 2012 IDMC recommended continuing recruitment to the EOC with rising Ca125 only and resistant/refractory subgroups based on review of activity outcomes for the first 25 patients. The trial will open in Belgium in April 2013. ACTRN12610000796088 Clinical trial information: 12610000796088.

The processing of high-level system commands within an experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) database application shares many issues with the design of EPICS motor control records in that the traditional synchronous/asynchronous record processing model is not adhered to. This paper presents the design of the Gemini CAD (command action directive) and CAR (command action response) EPICS database records and illustrates their use in a telescope mount control context dealing with the handling of repeated offset and slew commands.

During 1993 we have upgraded our adaptive optics analysis software package to execute under an interactive, graphical user interface.This software may be used to evaluate a wide range of adaptive optics concepts, including constellations of multiple guide stars, mul-ticonjugate deformable mirror configurations, and integrated adaptive optics/image postprocessing techniques. Adaptive optics sys-tem performance is evaluated in terms of mean optical transfer functions, mean point spread functions, and related quantities. Theseestimates account for the integrated effects of error sources including servo lag, fitting error, sensor noise, and anisoplanatism. Theyare computed using minimal variance wavefront reconstruction algorithms which will optimize system performance for the givenoperating conditions.The graphical user interface for this software package was written using the Tool Command Language, TCL, for UNIX workstations.Features of the interface include input windows for entering adaptive optics system parameters, graphics output illustrating the wavefront sensor, deformable mirror, and guide star geometries specified by the user, and graphics output describing the adaptive opticsperformance estimates computed for the specified system and scenario.

TPS241 Background: The major objective of chemotherapy in patients with platinum resistant/refractory recurrent ovarian cancer (PRR ROC) is palliation. The symptoms in patients with PRR ROC are not well documented and the impact of chemotherapy on symptom benefit unclear. The Symptom Benefit study is a 2 stage study investigating how to best measure the benefit of chemotherapy. The overall aim is to develop a better measure of benefit from palliative chemotherapy that can be used in clinical trials in this patient population. Methods: Prospective observational cohort study in women with PRR ROC about to commence palliative chemotherapy. Stage 2 will assess changes in Quality of Life (QoL) scores from baseline to post treatment assessment using both standard QoL instruments and a new measure of symptoms, the Measure of Ovarian Cancer Symptoms and Treatment Concerns (MOST), developed based on results of stage 1. The individual QoL and MOST scores will be summarized by standard descriptive statistical measur...

The variable star HD 136905, recently designated GX Librae, is a chromospherically active K1 III single-lined spectroscopic binary with a period of 11.1345 days. It has moderate strength Ca II H and K and ultraviolet emission features, while H-alpha is strongly in absorption. The inclination of the system is 58 + or - 17 deg and the unseen secondary is most likely a G or K dwarf. The v sin i of the primary, 32 + or - 2 km/s, results in a minimum radius of 7.0 + or - 0.4 solar radii. Since the star fills a substantial fracture of its Roche lab, the double-peaked limit curve seen by photometric observers is predominantly ellipsoidal in nature. Both the photometry and the spectroscopy yield values for the period and the time of conjunction that are identical within their uncertainties.

Spectroscopic observations of the chromospherically active G5 IV single-lined binary HD 26337 = EI Eri are presented. An orbital period of 1.94722 days is found for the star. It has moderately strong Ca II H and K emission and strong ultraviolet emission features, while H-alpha is a weak absorption feature that is variable in strength. The inclination of the system is 46 + or - 12 deg, and the unseen secondary is probably a late K or early M dwarf. The v sin i of the primary is 50 + or - 3 km/s, resulting in a minimum radius of 1.9 + or - 0.1 solar radius. The star is within the required limits for Doppler imaging. The primary is close to filling its Roche lobe, resulting in a strong constraint that the mass ratio is 2.6 or greater, with a primary mass of at least 1.4 solar mass. The distance to the system is estimated at 75 pc.