bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Small and Medium‐Sized Towns in Europe: Conceptual, Methodological and Policy Issues
Authors: Servillo Loris , Atkinson Rob , Hamdouch Abdelillah 
Published: February 2017

AbstractDespite that small and medium‐sized towns (SMSTs) have been, and continue to be, a central part of the history of Europe, these places have largely been neglected by urban research. The ESPON TOWN project, on which this Special Issue builds, sought to redress this neglect performing a comparative analysis of their position and role across Europe. In this introductory paper we discuss some of the theoretical and methodological challenges when it came to identifying, studying and analysing SMSTs and the theoretical framework developed to inform our understanding of SMSTs. In particular, three themes are discussed. The first one is about the ontological problem of defining a town. Administrative, morphological and functional perspectives are considered. The second one reflects on a wide array of interpretative approaches about the relationship between towns and their regional context. The third one is about the thematic and multi‐scalar perspectives that can characterise the policy approach to towns.
The Socio‐Economic Profiles of Small and Medium‐Sized Towns: Insights from European Case Studies
Authors: Hamdouch Abdelillah , Demaziere Christophe , Banovac Ksenija 
Published: February 2017

AbstractThis paper is part of the research on functional roles of European towns conducted by a group of researchers gathered around the ESPON project ‘TOWN’. Building on the systematic analysis of the socio‐economic dynamics of 31 European small and medium‐sized towns (SMSTs), we identified three profiles of their local economies. The first profile is defined as a dominant ‘residential’ economy that mostly relies on local activities that satisfy the needs of people in an area (residents, commuters or tourists). The second profile corresponds to a dominant ‘productive’ economy based on the production of goods and services to be mainly exported and consumed out of its area. The third profile is the mixed type that is characterised by an important share of activities in productive and residential sector with a complementary ‘creative‐knowledge’ dimension, based on entrepreneurship, creativity and collaboration in innovation. Moreover, we analysed the economic performance and the shift in profiles in order to detect in which way towns make choices between residential economy, competitiveness and innovation for their local development.
Embodied Emotions in the Geographies of Sexualities
Authors: Gorman‐Murray Andrew 
Published: February 2017

AbstractThis commentary responds to the papers comprising the themed issue ‘Geographies of Sexualities: Bodies, Spatial Encounters and Emotions’. I position the themed issue at the intersection of geographies of sexualities, embodied geographies and emotional geographies, and suggest how the papers collectively contribute to geographies of sexualities and to human geography more broadly. The themed issue entwines the themes of ‘the body’ and ‘emotions’ to advance understandings of embodied emotions in geographies of sexualities and beyond. I identify three ways in which embodied emotions are taken forward in geographical thinking. First, the capacity for emotionally embodied fieldwork generates insights into collective embodiment and communities of practice, at the same time contesting masculinist objectivity and detachment in knowledge production. Second, new spaces of encounter – such as online forums and social media – are not distinct from everyday geographies, but instead are part of a virtual‐physical emotional landscape that extends embodiment across material and digital environments. Third, the innovative combination of different elements of feminist geographical thinking – such as intersectionality, the body and emotion and affect – generates new understandings of inequality across and between social identities.
The utility of non‐axial treatment beam orientations for lower lobe lung cancers
Authors: Quaranta Brian P. , Das Shiva K. , Shafman Timothy D. , Light Kim L. , Marks Lawrence B. 
Published: February 2017

Traditional treatment beams for non‐small–cell lung cancer are limited to the axial plane. For many tumor geometries, non‐axial orientations appear to reduce the dose to normal tissues (e.g. heart, liver). We hypothesize that non‐axial beams provide a significant reduction in incidental irradiation of the heart and liver, while maintaining adequate target coverage. CT scans of twenty‐four patients with lower lobe lung cancers were studied. For each patient, an opposed oblique axial beam pair and a competing non‐axial opposed oblique pair were generated, both off‐cord. The competing plans delivered comparable doses/margins to the GTV. DVHs and integral doses were computed for all structures of interest for the two competing plans. The integral dose was compared for axial and non‐axial beams for each contoured organ using a paired t‐test. Dose to the heart was significantly lower for the non‐axial plans (). For 20/24 patients, the integral heart dose was reduced by using non‐axial beams. In those patients with tumors located in the inferior right lower lobe, a lower dose to the liver was achieved when non‐axial beams were used. There were no meaningful differences in dose to the GTV, lungs, or skin between axial and non‐axial beams. Non‐axial beams can reduce the dose to the heart and liver in patients with lower lobe lung cancers. Non‐axial beams may be clinically beneficial in these patients and should be considered as an option during planning.PACS number: 87.55.de
A computational tool for the efficient analysis of dose‐volume histograms for radiation therapy treatment plans
Authors: Pyakuryal Anil , Myint W. Kenji , Gopalakrishnan Mahesh , Jang Sunyoung , Logemann Jerilyn A. , Mittal Bharat B. 
Published: February 2017

A Histogram Analysis in Radiation Therapy (HART) program was primarily developed to increase the efficiency and accuracy of dose–volume histogram (DVH) analysis of large quantities of patient data in radiation therapy research. The program was written in MATLAB to analyze patient plans exported from the treatment planning system in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (AAPM/RTOG) format. HART‐computed DVH data was validated against manually extracted data from the planning system for five head and neck cancer patients treated with the intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) technique. HART calculated over 4000 parameters from the differential DVH (dDVH) curves for each patient in approximately 10–15 minutes. Manual extraction of this amount of data required 5 to 6 hours. The normalized root mean square deviation (NRMSD) for the HART–extracted DVH outcomes was less than 1%, or within 0.5% distance‐to‐agreement (DTA). This tool is supported with various user‐friendly options and graphical displays. Additional features include optimal polynomial modeling of DVH curves for organs, treatment plan indices (TPI) evaluation, plan‐specific outcome analysis (POA), and spatial DVH (zDVH) and dose surface histogram (DSH) analyses, respectively. HART is freely available to the radiation oncology community.PACS numbers: 87.53.‐j; 87.53.Tf; 87.53.Xd.
Evaluation of three APBI techniques under NSABP B‐39 guidelines
Authors: Scanderbeg Daniel , Yashar Catheryn , White Greg , Rice Roger , Pawlicki Todd 
Published: February 2017

This work compares two accelerated partial breast irradiation modalities, MammoSite brachytherapy and three‐dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D‐CRT), to a new method, strut‐adjusted volume implant (SAVI) brachytherapy, following NSABP B‐39 guidelines. A total of 21 patients treated at UC San Diego with the SAVI device were evaluated in this comparison. Nine of the 21 patients were eligible for all three modalities and were dosimetrically compared evaluating V90, V150, V200, total target volume, maximum skin, lung, and chestwall/rib dose. The target volumes (PTV_EVAL) differed with SAVI, having the least total volume at 59.9 cc vs. 71.5 cc and 351.6 cc for MammoSite and 3D‐CRT, respectively. The median V90, V150 and V200 for the three modalities were 97.7%, 25.0 cc, 10.4 cc (SAVI) vs. 97.6%, 23.9 cc, 5.0 cc (MammoSite) vs. 100% (V90 3D‐CRT). The maximum dose for SAVI, MammoSite, and 3D‐CRT, respectively, relative to the prescribed dose, for the lung: 80.0%, 150.0%, and 104.9%; for rib: 108.8%, 225.0%, and 114.7%; for skin: 75.0%, 135.0%, and 108.6%. Comparing modalities, PTV coverage varied between 97.6%–100.0% with more breast tissue covered by 3D‐CRT, as expected, given the differences between external beam and brachytherapy. The maximum lung, skin and rib doses were lowest for the SAVI, highlighting its ability to conform to exclude normal tissues. In offering partial breast radiation, the availability of a variety of techniques allows for maximal patient eligibility, and comparison of individual method pros and cons may guide the most appropriate choice for each patient.PACS number: 87.53.Jw; 87.53.Kn; 87.55.D
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic‐based low cost tissue equivalent phantom for verification dosimetry in IMRT
Authors: Kumar Rajesh , Sharma S.D. , Despande Sudesh , Ghadi Yogesh , Shaiju V.S. , Amols H.I. , Mayya Y. S. 
Published: February 2017

A novel IMRT phantom was designed and fabricated using Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic. Physical properties of ABS plastic related to radiation interaction and dosimetry were compared with commonly available phantom materials for dose measurements in radiotherapy. The ABS IMRT phantom has provisions to hold various types of detectors such as ion chambers, radiographic/radiochromic films, TLDs, MOSFETs, and gel dosimeters. The measurements related to pretreatment dose verification in IMRT of carcinoma prostate were carried out using ABS and Scanditronix‐Wellhofer RW3 IMRT phantoms for five different cases. Point dose data were acquired using ionization chamber and TLD discs, while Gafchromic EBT and radiographic EDR2 films were used for generating 2D dose distributions. Treatment planning system (TPS) calculated and measured doses in ABS plastic and RW3 IMRT phantom were in agreement within . The dose values at a point in a given patient acquired using ABS and RW3 phantoms were found comparable within 1%. Fluence maps and dose distributions of these patients generated by TPS and measured in ABS IMRT phantom were also found comparable both numerically and spatially. This study indicates that ABS plastic IMRT phantom is a tissue‐equivalent phantom and, dosimetrically, it is similar to solid/plastic water IMRT phantoms. Although this material is demonstrated for IMRT dose verification, it can also be used as a tissue‐equivalent phantom material for other dosimetry purposes in radiotherapy.PACS number: 87.53Kn, 87.55Qr, 87.53Bn and 87.55Km
Angular dose dependency of MatriXX TM and its calibration
Authors: Wolfsberger Luciant D. , Wagar Matthew , Nitsch Paige , Bhagwat Mandar S. , Zygmanski Piotr 
Published: February 2017

One of the applications of MatriXX (IBA Dosimetry) is experimental verification of dose for IMRT, VMAT, and tomotherapy. For cumulative plan verification, dose is delivered for all the treatment gantry angles to a stationary detector. Experimental calibration of MatriXX detector recommended by the manufacturer involves only AP calibration fields and does not address angular dependency of MatriXX. Angular dependency may introduce dose bias in cumulative plan verification if not corrected. For this reason, we characterized angular dependency of MatriXX and developed a method for its calibration. We found relatively large discrepancies in responses to posterior vs. anterior fields for four MatriXX (Evolution series) detectors (up to 11%), and relatively large variability of responses as a function of gantry angle in the gantry angle ranges of 91°–110° and 269°–260°. With our calibration method, the bias due to angular dependency is effectively removed in experimental verification of IMRT and VMAT plans.PACS number: 87.56Fc
Average CT in PET studies of colorectal cancer patients with metastasis in the liver and esophageal cancer patients
Authors: Tonkopi Elena , Chi Pai‐Chun Melinda , Mawlawi Osama , Riegel Adam C. , Rohren Eric M. , Macapinlac Homer A. , Pan Tinsu 
Published: February 2017

Average CT (ACT) and PET have a similar temporal resolution and it has been shown to improve registration of the CT and PET data for PET/CT imaging of the thorax. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of ACT attenuation correction on PET for gross tumor volume (GTV) delineation with standardized uptake value (SUV) for liver and esophageal lesions. Our study included 48 colorectal cancer patients with metastasis in the liver and 52 esophageal cancer patients. These patients underwent a routine PET/CT scan followed by a cine CT scan of the thoracic region for ACT. Differences between the two PET data sets ( and ) corrected with the helical CT (HCT) and ACT were quantified by analyzing image alignment, maximum SUV , and GTV. The 67% of the colorectal and 73% of the esophageal studies demonstrated misregistration between the and HCT data. ACT was effective in removing misregistration artifacts in 65% of the misregisted colorectal and in 76% of the misregisted esophageal cancer patients. Misregistration between the CT and PET data affected GTVs due to the change in with ACT. A change of greater than 20% between and was found in 15% of the colorectal and 17% of the esophageal cases. Our results demonstrated a more pronounced effect of misregistration for the smaller lesions near the diaphragm . ACT was effective in improving registration between the CT and PET data in PET/CT for the colorectal and esophageal cancer patients.PACS number: 87.58.Fg
A simple algorithm to assess patient suitability for Calypso‐seed implantation for four‐dimensional prostate localization
Authors: Kimple Randall J. , Wallen Eric M. , Pruthi Raj , Marks Lawrence B. 
Published: February 2017

To retrospectively determine the proportion of prostate cancer patients who are appropriate candidates for prostate localization with Calypso (Calypso Medical, Seattle, WA); to assess the accuracy of surface anatomy in predicting prostate depth; and to describe a simple clinical algorithm predicting patient's appropriateness for Calypso localization. Medical records and archived CT scans of all patients treated for localized prostate cancer at our institution between 2006 and 2007 were reviewed. Association between the feasibility of Calypso use, the depth of the prostate from the anterior torso, and a variety of anatomic factors were assessed (ANOVA, linear regression, and ROC). Patients were appropriate for the Calypso system in 91% of cases (localize and track, 52%; localize only, 39%). Strong correlation between greater trochanter location and the posterior prostate was seen , mean difference 0.6 cm). The negative predictive value of the greater trochanter measurements was 31%. Thirty‐one out of forty‐five patients (69%) who were deemed inappropriate for Calypso based on greater trochanter to anterior torso measurements were eligible on the basis of CT‐based measurements of prostate depth. Weight, BMI, waist circumference, and hip circumference correlated with distance from the prostate to the anterior torso and were predictive of Calypso appropriateness. All patients with weight , or waist/hip circumference , were eligible for Calypso. Most prostate cancer patients are candidates for Calypso localization ± tracking. The greater trochanter to anterior torso distance underestimates the number of eligible patients. Weight, BMI and waist/hip circumference are good predictors for Calypso appropriateness.PACS number: 87.63.‐d
Dosimetric characteristics of an electron multileaf collimator for modulated electron radiation therapy
Authors: Eldib Ahmed A. , ElGohary Mohamed I. , Fan Jiajin , Jin Lihui , Li Jinsheng , Ma C‐M Charlie , Elsherbini Nader A. 
Published: February 2017

Modulated electron radiation therapy (MERT) has been proven as an effective way to deliver conformal dose distributions to shallow tumors while sparing distal critical structures and surrounding normal tissues. It had been shown that a dedicated electron multileaf collimator (eMLC) is necessary to reach the full potential of MERT. In this study, a manually‐driven eMLC for MERT was investigated. Percentage depth dose (PDD) curves and profiles at different depths in a water tank were measured using ionization chamber and were also simulated using the Monte Carlo method. Comparisons have been performed between PDD curves and profiles collimated using the eMLC and conventional electron applicators with similar size of opening. Monte Carlo simulations were performed for all electron energies available (6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 20 MeV) on a Varian 21EX accelerator. Monte Carlo simulation results were compared with measurements which showed good agreement . The simulated dose distributions resulting from multiple static electron fields collimated by the eMLC agreed well with measurements. Further studies were carried out to investigate the properties of abutting electron beams using the eMLC, as it is an essential issue that needs to be addressed for optimizing the MERT outcome. A series of empirical formulas for abutting beams of different energies have been developed for obtaining the optimum gap sizes, which can highly improve the target dose uniformity.PACS numbers: 87.53.Wz, 87.53.Hv
High‐precision GAFCHROMIC EBT film‐based absolute clinical dosimetry using a standard flatbed scanner without the use of a scanner non‐uniformity correction
Authors: Chung Heeteak , Lynch Bart , Samant Sanjiv 
Published: February 2017

To report a study of the use of GAFCHROMIC EBT radiochromic film (RCF) digitized with a commercially available flatbed document scanner for accurate and reliable all‐purpose two‐dimensional (2D) absolute dosimetry within a clinical environment. We used a simplified methodology that yields high‐precision dosimetry measurements without significant postirradiation correction. The Epson Expression 1680 Professional scanner and the Epson Expression 10000XL scanner were used to digitize the films. Both scanners were retrofitted with light‐diffusing glass to minimize the effects of Newton rings. Known doses were delivered to calibration films. Flat and wedge fields were irradiated with variable depth of solid water and 5 cm back scatter solid water. No particular scanner nonuniformity effect corrections or significant post‐scan image processing were carried out. The profiles were compared with CC04 ionization chamber profiles. The depth dose distribution was measured at a source‐to‐surface distance (SSD) of 100 cm with a field size of . Additionally, 22 IMRT fields were measured and evaluated using gamma index analysis. The overall accuracy of RCF with respect to CC04 was found to be 2%–4%. The overall accuracy of RCF was determined using the absolute mean of difference for all flat and wedge field profiles. For clinical IMRT fields, both scanners showed an overall gamma index passing rate greater than 90%. This work demonstrated that EBT films, in conjunction with a commercially available flatbed scanner, can be used as an accurate and precise absolute dosimeter. Both scanners showed that no significant scanner nonuniformity correction is necessary for accurate absolute dosimetry using the EBT films for field sizes smaller than or equal to .PACS number: 87.53.Bn
Evaluation of a commercial flatbed document scanner and radiographic film scanner for radiochromic EBT film dosimetry
Authors: Matney Jason E. , Parker Brent C. , Neck Daniel W. , Henkelmann Greg , Rosen Isaac I. 
Published: February 2017

The purpose of this study was to quantify the performance and assess the utility of two different types of scanners for radiochromic EBT film dosimetry: a commercial flatbed document scanner and a widely used radiographic film scanner. We evaluated the Epson Perfection V700 Photo flatbed scanner and the Vidar VXR Dosimetry Pro Advantage scanner as measurement devices for radiochromic EBT film. Measurements were made of scan orientation effects, response uniformity, and scanner noise. Scanners were tested using films irradiated with eight separate fields to doses ranging from 0.115–5.119 Gy. ImageJ and RIT software was used for analyzing the Epson and Vidar scans, respectively. For repeated scans of a single film, the measurements in each dose region were reproducible to within standard deviation (SD) with both scanners. Film‐to‐film variations for corresponding doses were measured to be within SD for both Epson scanner and Vidar scanners. Overall, the Epson scanner showed a 10% smaller range of pixel value compared to the Vidar scanner. Scanner noise was small: SD for the Epson and for the Vidar. Overall measurement uniformity for blank film in both systems was better than , provided that the leading and trailing 2 cm film edges were neglected in the Vidar system. In this region artifacts are attributed to the film rollers. Neither system demonstrated a clear measurement advantage. The Epson scanner is a relatively inexpensive method for analyzing radiochromic film, but there is a lack of commercially available software. For a clinic already using a Vidar scanner, applying it to radiochromic film is attractive because commercial software is available. However, care must be taken to avoid using the leading and trailing film edges.PACS number: 87.55.Qr
Management of an affiliated physics residency program using a commercial software tool
Authors: Zacarias Albert S. , Mills Michael D. 
Published: February 2017

A review of commercially available allied health educational management software tools was performed to evaluate their capacity to manage program data associated with a CAMPEP‐accredited Therapy Physics Residency Program. Features of these software tools include: a) didactic course reporting and organization, b) competency reporting by topic, category and didactic course, c) student time management and accounting, and d) student patient case reporting by topic, category and course. The software package includes features for recording school administrative information; setting up lists of courses, faculty, clinical sites, categories, competencies, and time logs; and the inclusion of standardized external documents. There are provisions for developing evaluation and survey instruments. The mentors and program may be evaluated by residents, and residents may be evaluated by faculty members using this feature. Competency documentation includes the time spent on the problem or with the patient, time spent with the mentor, date of the competency, and approval by the mentor and program director. Course documentation includes course and lecture title, lecturer, topic information, date of lecture and approval by the Program Director. These software tools have the facility to include multiple clinical sites, with local subadministrators having the ability to approve competencies and attendance at clinical conferences. In total, these software tools have the capability of managing all components of a CAMPEP‐accredited residency program. The application database lends the software to the support of multiple affiliated clinical sites within a single residency program. Such tools are a critical and necessary component if the medical physics profession is to meet the projected needs for qualified medical physicists in future years.PACS numbers: 87.90.+y, 87.53.‐j