Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hypofractionated Breast and Chest Wall Irradiation Using Simultaneous in-field Boost IMRT Delivered via Helical Tomotherapy

Although helical tomotherapy has been described as a means of administering accelerated partial breast irradiation, its practicality in routine whole breast irradiation as part of breast conserving therapy or chest wall irradiation has been questioned. In this technical note we describe our method of whole breast or chest wall irradiation using helical tomotherapy based image-guided, hypofractionated, simultaneous in-field boost intensity modulated radiation therapy. We have observed that excellent dose-distributions can be achieved with helical tomotherapy through a careful selection of treatment planning parameters. Dose homogeneity to the whole breast and simultaneously targeted lumpectomy region appears superior to conventional “tangents” with minimal hot or cold spots. Dose-volume histogram analysis documents effective reduction of high dose to critical sensitive structures (heart and lung) although a greater volume of these non-target organs receives low dose compared to what is typical with tangential beams. Treatment planning is efficient and is usually completed within one to two hours, although physician contouring requires more time and attention than non-IMRT approaches. Pretreatment megavoltage CT (MVCT) imaging has proved invaluable in aiding set-up and engenders greater confidence that the planned IMRT dose distributions are truly being delivered. In some situations, MVCT can provide visual feedback when a seroma or overall breast volume has changed significantly since simulation, thereby identifying cases where replanning might be prudent. Treatment is brief, typically completed in 6 to 9 minutes. Initial clinical application has confirmed the feasibility and practicality of helical tomotherapy as an efficient means of administering radiation therapy for routine breast-conserving therapy and post-mastectomy chest wall irradiation. A simultaneous in-field boost technique reduces the length of the overall course by about a week thereby adding convenience and reducing costs. Further refinements of our technique are being explored and formal prospective clinical evaluation is underway.
Rate-Selective Caching for Adaptive Streaming Over Information-Centric Networks

The growing demand for video content is reshaping our view of the current Internet, and mandating a fundamental change for future Internet paradigms. A current focus on Information-Centric Networks (ICN) promises a novel approach to intrinsically handling large content dissemination, caching and retrieval. While ubiquitous in-network caching in ICNs can expedite video delivery, a pressing challenge lies in provisioning scalable video streaming over adaptive requests for different bit rates. In this paper, we propose novel video caching schemes in ICN, to address variable bit rates and content sizes for best cache utilization. Our objective is to maximize overall throughput to improve the Quality of Service (QoS). In order to achieve this goal, we model the dynamic characteristics of rate adaptation, deriving caps on average delay, and propose DaCPlace which optimizes cache placement decisions. Building on DaCPlace, we further present a heuristic scheme, StreamCache, for low-overhead adaptive video caching. We conduct comprehensive simulations on NS-3 (specifically under the ndnSIM module). Results demonstrate how DaCPlace enables users to achieve the least delay per bit and StreamCache outperforms existing schemes, achieving near-optimal performance to DaCPlace .
Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer.

PURPOSE To describe physical activity levels of children (6-11 yr), adolescents (12-19 yr), and adults (20+ yr), using objective data obtained with accelerometers from a representative sample of the U.S. population. METHODS These results were obtained from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES), a cross-sectional study of a complex, multistage probability sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population in the United States. Data are described from 6329 participants who provided at least 1 d of accelerometer data and from 4867 participants who provided four or more days of accelerometer data. RESULTS Males are more physically active than females. Physical activity declines dramatically across age groups between childhood and adolescence and continues to decline with age. For example, 42% of children ages 6-11 yr obtain the recommended 60 min x d(-1) of physical activity, whereas only 8% of adolescents achieve this goal. Among adults, adherence to the recommendation to obtain 30 min x d(-1) of physical activity is less than 5%. CONCLUSIONS Objective and subjective measures of physical activity give qualitatively similar results regarding gender and age patterns of activity. However, adherence to physical activity recommendations according to accelerometer-measured activity is substantially lower than according to self-report. Great care must be taken when interpreting self-reported physical activity in clinical practice, public health program design and evaluation, and epidemiological research.
Efficacy of deferoxamine in preventing complications of iron overload in patients with thalassemia major.

BACKGROUND To determine whether deferoxamine prevents the complications of transfusional iron overload in thalassemia major, we evaluated 59 patients (30 were female and 29 male; age range, 7 to 31 years) periodically for 4 to 10 years or until death. METHODS At each follow-up visit, we performed a detailed clinical and laboratory evaluation and measured hepatic iron stores with a noninvasive magnetic device. RESULTS The body iron burden as assessed by magnetic measurement of hepatic iron stores was closely correlated (R = 0.89, P < 0.001) with the ratio of cumulative transfusional iron load to cumulative deferoxamine use (expressed in millimoles of iron per kilogram of body weight, in relation to grams of deferoxamine per kilogram, transformed into the natural logarithm). Each increase of one unit in the natural logarithm of the ratio (transfusional iron load to deferoxamine use) was associated with an increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance (relative risk, 19.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 4.8 to 77.4), diabetes mellitus (relative risk, 9.2; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.8 to 47.7), cardiac disease (relative risk, 9.9; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.9 to 51.2), and death (relative risk, 12.6; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.4 to 65.4). All nine deaths during the study occurred among the 23 patients who had begun chelation therapy later and used less deferoxamine in relation to their transfusional iron load (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The early use of deferoxamine in an amount proportional to the transfusional iron load reduces the body iron burden and helps protect against diabetes mellitus, cardiac disease, and early death in patients with thalassemia major.
Noise robust classification of moving vehicles via micro-Doppler signatures

For robust classification of moving wheeled and tracked vehicles using returned micro-Doppler signals within short dwell time, the influence of receiver white noise and low spectrum resolution are encountered. In this paper, noise reduction and super-resolution are realized simultaneously via a redundant dictionary based l1 -norm optimization method. Experiments based on the measured data are presented, including the analysis of noise reduction performance, and the evaluation of classification robustness for different signal-to-noise ratio cases. The experimental results are also compared with related methods.
The academic performance of primary school students from rural China

Purpose Low levels of human capital in rural China are rooted in the poor schooling outcomes of elementary school students. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the distribution of academic performance in rural China and identify vulnerable groups. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on a data set of 25,892 observations constructed from 11 school-level surveys spanning nine provinces and one municipality in China conducted from 2013 to 2015. Findings The authors find that the distribution of academic performance is uneven across provinces and subgroups. In general, male students, Han, living in richer counties, living with their parents and studying in rural public schools do better academically than female students, non-Han, living in poorer counties, left behind and studying in private migrant schools in cities. Research limitations/implications Using the results of this study, policymakers should be able to better target investments into rural education focusing on at risk subpopulations. Originality/value With limited data sources, the research on the academic performance of students in rural China is largely absent. The findings of this study help to fill the gaps in the literature base.
Regression of Neovascular Iris Vessels by Intravitreal Injection of Crystalline Cortisone

PurposeTo report the clinical outcome of patients who received an intravitreal injection of crystalline triamcinolone acetonide as treatment of neovascular glaucoma. Patients and MethodsThe study included 14 eyes of 14 patients with secondary neovascular glaucoma attributable to proliferative diabetic retinopathy (n = 9) or ischemic central retinal vein occlusion (n = 5). All patients received an intravitreal injection of 20 mg of crystalline triamcinolone acetonide as the only procedure (n = 4) or in combination with additional procedures, such as goniosynechiolysis (n = 1), phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation (n = 2), or transscleral peripheral retinal cryocoagulation (n = 7). Mean follow-up time was 3.10 ± 2.40 months (median, 3.5 months; range, 0.50–5.7 months). A goniosynechiolysis was carried out in those patients in whom the anterior chamber was circumferentially closed. ResultsAfter surgery, including the first days after surgery, the patients were nearly pain-free. Intraocular pressure was significantly (P <0.01) reduced from 33.4 ± 14.5 mm Hg before surgery to 20.7 ± 8.2 mm Hg at the end of the follow-up period. Postoperative visual acuity (mean, 0.09 ± 0.07; median, 0.10; range, finger counting to 0.25) was slightly but not significantly (P = 0.31) better than the preoperative values. Degree of rubeosis iridis decreased significantly (P = 0.02) from 2.6 ± 1.3 relative units to 1.3 ± 1.2 relative units. When considering only the four patients for whom the intraocular cortisone injection was the only procedure performed, mean intraocular pressure decreased from 26.5 ± 12.1 mm Hg to 21.75 ± 11.3 mm Hg. ConclusionsIntravitreal injection of crystalline cortisone with most of the vehicle removed may be a potentially useful additional tool in the treatment of neovascular glaucoma.
Tessellating Dissensus: Resistance, Autonomy and Radical Democracy - Can transnational municipalism constitute a counterpower to liberate society from neoliberal capitalist hegemony?

In this thesis I explore the idea and the newly invigorated movement of municipalism as a social, political and economic unit of organisation emerging in response to the ecological, social and psychological failures of the present neoliberal capitalist economy and the democratic crisis of the centralised state. I focus on the intersection of theory and practice where contemporary social movements are taking resistance into existing political institutions to prefigure a new radically democratic society. Learning from experiences in Frome, Barcelona and around the world I contend that the municipality is the organisational scale best able to bring about a new economic logic for the transition to a sane, sustainable, free and compelling twenty-first century life through truly democratic and authentically political processes. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The journey didn't begin with this piece of work, or here at Schumacher College, so the full list of people to thank for nudging my life toward this point is too long to include. To my parents, for providing me the privilege of a safe and stable environment from which to question all around me; my grandparents for their endless support in facilitating this transformative year; my free education at The Open University for engaging the fascination and motivation that had lain dormant within me; the diverse bunch of teachers, students, growers, volunteers and visitors with whom I have shared this home for the past twelve months; and to Ellis, for the support, friendship and love without which I wouldn’t have been able to rise to this challenge: thank you.
On sources of risk in quadratic hedging and incomplete markets

This thesis is divided into three chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of market incompleteness and its consequences on quadratic hedging strategies and hedging errors. The first chapter studies the effects of market incompleteness due to discrete time trading. We derive the asymptotics (in trading frequency) of the quadratic hedging error of a digital option and obtain a correction to the classical granularity formula, showing that for discontinuous payoffs, the second order term driven by the Cash Gamma remains highly significant. We also show that the discrete-time quadratic hedging strategy generates the same asymptotic error as a continuous-time Black-Scholes delta-hedging strategy used on a discrete set of times. The second chapter studies the effects of market incompleteness due to jumps in cases when the discretization error from Chapter 1 is predictable. We compute the hedging error under an exponential L´evy model for a general ’L´evy contract’ that encompasses log contracts, variance swaps and higher order moment swaps. We compare two utility-based pricing approaches for incomplete markets: quadratic hedging (corresponding to quadratic utility) and exponential utility. We show that for small jumps, numerically difficult exponential utility results are well-estimated via closedform quadratic hedging formulas. We use our results on hedging errors to obtain 'good-deal bounds' for variance and skewness swaps. The third chapter studies the effects of market incompleteness due to uncertainty in the exact specification of the data generating process. We conduct quadratic hedging under a regime-switching L´evy model, which switches between a finite set of distributions based on the value of a (hidden) state variable. We solve the quadratic hedging problem in two steps. First we compute a stochastic differential equation for the filtered estimate of the hidden state. We then use it to solve the quadratic hedging problem with this additional observable variable via classic techniques. We provide Fourier Transform formulas for the mean-value process and hedging strategy, and a recursive scheme for the hedging error.
Born Global Market Dominators and Implications for the Blockchain Avantgarde

Issues of dominance in the market place, “standards wars,” and “battles for dominance” between large companies are frequently addressed by researchers and the business press alike. The existence of companies that could establish internationally dominant solutions to customers' problems within a few years after their founding is quite unknown and the reasons for their success are hardly investigated so far. Therefore, they are not covered by traditional stage models for the establishment of dominant solutions. Presenting 22 cases and a new success factors model, this chapter shows how young companies can successfully establish their technologies as dominant solutions in the global market. Based on the studies' result, the authors then have a look at the groundbreaking IT invention of blockchain that is expected to disrupt many industries. The most prevalent success factors of the study are discussed along with the current blockchain innovation system. Their degree of significance for the success of international blockchain innovators is hypothesised for further empirical analyses.
A Novel Role for Enzyme I of the Vibrio cholerae Phosphoenolpyruvate Phosphotransferase System in Regulation of Growth in a Biofilm

ABSTRACT Glucose is a universal energy source and a potent inducer of surface colonization for many microbial species. Highly efficient sugar assimilation pathways ensure successful competition for this preferred carbon source. One such pathway is the phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system (PTS), a multicomponent sugar transport system that phosphorylates the sugar as it enters the cell. Components required for transport of glucose through the PTS include enzyme I, histidine protein, enzyme IIAGlc, and enzyme IIBCGlc. In Escherichia coli, components of the PTS fulfill many regulatory roles, including regulation of nutrient scavenging and catabolism, chemotaxis, glycogen utilization, catabolite repression, and inducer exclusion. We previously observed that genes encoding the components of the Vibrio cholerae PTS were coregulated with the vps genes, which are required for synthesis of the biofilm matrix exopolysaccharide. In this work, we identify the PTS components required for transport of glucose and investigate the role of each of these components in regulation of biofilm formation. Our results establish a novel role for the phosphorylated form of enzyme I in specific regulation of biofilm-associated growth. As the PTS is highly conserved among bacteria, the enzyme I regulatory pathway may be relevant to a number of biofilm-based infections.
Exploring the Reliability of U.S. Electric Utilities

This paper is a follow up to research conducted by Eto et al. (2012) that explored the long-term reliability of the U.S. power system. This research builds on the original analysis by including (1) a more comprehensive panel dataset of U.S. electric utilities and (2) a more robust econometric analysis of the factors which may affect reliability. First, reliability events for a representative sample of U.S. electric utilities are identified and categorized by reported cause. Next, an econometric model is introduced that relates two different measures of electric reliability to a number of correlates including annual measures of weather variability, utility sales, transmission and distribution expenditures, and the presence of outage management systems. A fixed and random effects panel regression was conducted using a cross-sectional dataset containing 12 years of data for 150+ electric utilities from across the United States. It is shown that a 5% increase in average wind speed increased the frequency and duration of reliability events by ~15% and ~50%, respectively. Higher than average wind speeds and lightning are consistently correlated with increases in the duration and frequency of reliability problems—regardless of whether major events are included in the calculation of the performance metric. There also appears to be a statistically significant and increasing time trend in the frequency and duration of reliability events, but results are sensitive to whether or not “major events” (i.e., natural disasters) are included in the panel regression. The paper concludes with a short discussion of study limitations and policy considerations, which could improve future technical analyses and, ultimately, the reliability of the U.S. electric utility sector. Lead Author Contact Information Larsen: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, MS90-4000, Berkeley CA USA 94720 / Phone: (510) 486-5015 / Email: PHLarsen@lbl.gov
Modular Interleaved Soft-Switching DC-DC Converter for High-Altitude Wind Energy Application

High-altitude wind power (HAWP) generating system uses dc-dc converter to transform the dc link voltage to an optimal medium voltage dc for efficient transmission to ground-based station. This paper presents a comparative study of current-fed and voltage-fed (VF) isolated dc-dc converters for HAWP application. VF converters (VFCs) with inductive and capacitive filters are compared with current-fed converters for a 100-kW rated power. The power electronic converters used maintain zero-voltage switching on the primary side switches to reduce switching losses. The current and voltage ratings of the components used are provided to realize higher power-to-weight (P/W) ratio. Losses and P/W ratio are assessed using the components' datasheets and compared with evaluate the converters that exhibit higher P/W ratio and efficiency. It is observed that VFC with capacitive filter exhibits higher P/W ratio and efficiency. Small signal modeling of VFC with capacitive filter is carried out to obtain the state-space model. Transmission voltage is controlled at optimal value using voltage control loop for efficient power transmission. Simulation studies of VFC with capacitive filters are carried out to verify the steady state analysis and performance using the software PSIM-9 at 100-kW power level that converts 600-8000 V. A 1-kW scaled down laboratory prototype is designed, built, and tested using modular devices and accessed to validate the performance. It yields an efficiency of 94.2% at full load converting a ten-times scaled down voltage of 60-800 V.
Objective Selection of High-Frequency Power Doppler Wall Filter Cutoff Velocity for Regions of Interest Containing Multiple Small Vessels

High-frequency (> 20 MHz) power Doppler ultrasound is frequently used to quantify vascularity in preclinical studies of small animal angiogenic models, but quantitative images can be difficult to obtain in the presence of flow artifacts. To improve flow quantification, color pixel density (CPD) can be plotted as a function of wall filter cutoff velocity to produce a wall-filter selection curve that can be used to estimate actual vascular volume fraction. A mathematical model based on receiver operating characteristic statistics is developed to study the behavior of wall-filter selection curves. The model is compared to experimental data acquired with a 30-MHz transducer and a custom-designed multiple-vessel flow phantom capable of mimicking a range of blood vessel sizes (200-300 ¿m), blood flow velocities (1-10 mm/s), and blood vessel orientations. At high flow rates, wall-filter selection curves for multiple-vessel regions include a plateau whose CPD corresponds with the total vascular volume fraction. Conversely, the vascular volume fraction of a subset of vessels is obtained at low flow rates. Detection of the volume fraction of all vessels is ensured when a plateau is > 0.5 mm/s in length and begins at a wall filter cutoff < 2 mm/s.
Pb-free microjoints (50 /spl mu/m pitch) for the next generation microsystems: the fabrication, assembly and characterization

To support the next generation highly integrated microsystem with 3D silicon integration using fine pitch interconnection and Si carrier, we develop a fabrication and assembly process at IBM Research to produce solder micro-joints (fine pitch flip-chip interconnections) for our system-on-package (SOP) technology. We fabricate solder bumps with 25 mum (or less) in diameter on 50 mum pitch size, as well as 50 mum in diameter on 100 mum pitch size, at wafer level (200mm) by electroplating method. There are up to 10208 micro-bumps (25 mum) built on a chip surface less than 0.4 cm2. The process can be applied to various solder compositions, including eutectic SnPb, Pb-free (CuSn), AuSn and high Pb (3Sn97Pb) solders. The test matrix includes different solder/UBM (under bump metallization) combination. In this paper, the discussion focuses on the fabrication, assembly and characterization of the micro-joints made with of Pb-free (CuSn) and eutectic SnPb solders with Ni and/or Cu stack plating. The preliminary electrical and mechanical test results indicated that reliable and high yield micro-bumps can be successfully made with this fabrication and assembly process