bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of bladder filling on doses to prostate and organs at risk: a treatment planning study
Authors: Moiseenko Vitali , Liu Mitchell , Kristensen Sarah , Gelowitz Gerald , Berthelet Eric 
Published: June 2007

In the present study, we aimed to evaluate effects of bladder filling on dose–volume distributions for bladder, rectum, planning target volume (PTV), and prostate in radiation therapy of prostate cancer. Patients were scanned with a full bladder, and after 1 hour, having been allowed to void, with an empty bladder. Radiotherapy plans were generated using a four‐field box technique and dose of 70 Gy in 35 fractions. First, plans obtained for full‐ and empty‐bladder scans were compared. Second, situations in which a patient was planned on full bladder but was treated on empty bladder, and vice versa, were simulated, assuming that patients were aligned to external tattoos. Doses to the prostate [equivalent uniform dose (EUD)], bladder and rectum [effective dose ], and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) were compared. Dose to the small bowel was examined. Mean bladder volume was 354.3 cm3 when full and 118.2 cm3 when empty. Median prostate EUD was 70 Gy for plans based on full‐ and empty‐bladder scans alike. The median rectal was 55.6 Gy for full‐bladder anatomy and 56.8 Gy for empty‐bladder anatomy, and the corresponding bladder was 29.0 Gy and 49.3 Gy respectively. In 1 patient, part of the small bowel (7.5 cm3) received more than 50 Gy with full‐bladder anatomy, and in 6 patients, part received more than 50 Gy with empty‐bladder anatomy. Bladder filling had no significant impact on prostate EUD or rectal . A minimal volume of the small bowel received more than 50 Gy in both groups, which is below dose tolerance. The bladder was higher with empty‐bladder anatomy; however, the predicted complication rates were clinically insignificant. When the multileaf collimator pattern was applied in reverse, substantial underdosing of the planning target volume (PTV) was observed, particularly for patients with prostate shifts in excess of 0.5 cm in any one direction. However, the prostate shifts showed no correlation with bladder filling, and therefore the PTV underdosing also cannot be related to bladder filling. For some patients, bladder dose–volume constraints were not fulfilled in the worst‐case scenario—that is, when a patient planned with full bladder consistently arrived for treatment with an empty bladder.PACS numbers: 87.53.‐j, 87.53.Kn, 87.53.Tf
Dosimetric characteristics of a cubic‐block‐piled compensator for intensity‐modulated radiation therapy in the Pinnacle radiotherapy treatment planning system
Authors: Sasaki Koji , Obata Yasunori 
Published: June 2007

We examined the dose distributions generated by (Philips Radiation Oncology Systems, Milpitas, CA) for intensity‐modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans using a cubic‐block‐piled compensator as the intensity modulator for 4‐MV and 10‐MV photon beams. The Pinnacle treatment planning system (TPS) uses an algorithm in which only the physical density of the absorber is required for calculating the characteristics of the modulator. The intensity modulator consists of cubic blocks (attenuator) of a tungsten alloy, plus cubic blocks of polyethylene resin foam that fill the spaces between the attenuator blocks and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) boards that act as the platform for the modulator. By measuring the transmission for various thicknesses of attenuator and by deriving values for the total physical density of the modulator, we determined the optimal effective density by comparing the curves fitted for the actual transmission data with the transmission calculated by the TPS. Using these effective densities, we examined the accuracy of for dose profiles of specific geometric patterns. The levels of consistency between the measurements and the calculations were within a tolerance of 3% of the dose difference and had a 3‐mm distance to agreement for the ladder‐, stairstep‐, and pyramid‐shaped test patterns, except in the high dose gradient region. In this modulator assembly, leakage occurred from the slits between the cubic blocks. This leakage was about 1.6% at maximum, and its influence on dose distribution was not crucial. In the TPS, in which physical density was the only user‐controllable parameter, we used the effective density of the absorber deduced from the effective mass attenuation coefficient. We conclude that the intensity modulation compensator system, together with a piled cubic attenuator, is clinically applicable, with an acceptable tolerance level. For the intensity map of the IMRT plan, measurements in treatment fields met 3% and 3‐mm criteria, excluding some regions of high gradient, which had a discrepancy of less than 5% and 4 mm.PACS numbers: 87.53.Mr, 87.53.Tf
Evaluation of the analytical anisotropic algorithm in an extreme water–lung interface phantom using Monte Carlo dose calculations
Authors: Gagné Isabelle Marie , Zavgorodni Sergei 
Published: June 2007

Our study compares the performance of the analytical anisotropic algorithm (AAA), a new superposition–convolution algorithm recently implemented in the Eclipse (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA) Integrated Treatment Planning System (TPS), to that of the pencil beam convolution (PBC) algorithm in an extreme (C‐shaped, horizontal and vertical boundaries) water–lung interface phantom. Monte Carlo (MC) calculated dose distributions for a variety of clinical beam configurations at nominal energies of 6‐MV and 18‐MV are used as benchmarks in the comparison. Dose profiles extracted at three depths (4, 10, and 16 cm), two‐dimensional (2D) maps of the dose differences, and dose difference statistics are used to quantify the accuracy of both photon‐dose calculation algorithms. Results show that the AAA is considerably more accurate than the PBC, with the standard deviation of the dose differences within a region encompassing the lung block reduced by a factor of 2 and more. Confidence limits with the AAA were 4% or less for all beam configurations investigated; with the PBC, confidence limits ranged from 3.5% to 11.2%. Finally, AAA calculations for the small 18‐MV beam, which is poorly modeled by PBC (dose differences as high as 16.1%), provided the same accuracy as the PBC model of the 6‐MV beams commonly acceptable in clinical situations.PACS number: 87.53.Bn
How image quality affects determination of target displacement when using kilovoltage cone‐beam computed tomography
Authors: Oh Seungjong , Kim Siyong , Suh Tae‐Suk 
Published: June 2007

The advent of kilovoltage cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) integrated with a linear accelerator allows for more accurate image‐guided radiotherapy (IGRT). The IGRT technique corrects target displacement based on internal body information obtained by acquiring the CBCT image set and registering it with the simulation CT image set just before the beam is delivered. In the present paper, we compare registration results by CBCT reconstruction quality (either high or medium). We analyzed data from a total of 56 CBCT projections from 6 patients. The translational vector differences were within 1 mm in all but 3 cases. The rotational displacement differences considered components of all three axes, and in 3 of 168 cases (56 projections by 3 axes), showed more than 1 degree of difference.PACS number: 87.57.Nk
Processing of Capsid Protein by Cathepsin L Plays a Crucial Role in Replication of Japanese Encephalitis Virus in Neural and Macrophage Cells
Authors: Mori Yoshio , Yamashita Tetsuo , Tanaka Yoshinori , Tsuda Yoshimi , Abe Takayuki , Moriishi Kohji , Matsuura Yoshiharu 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACT

The flavivirus capsid protein not only is a component of nucleocapsids but also plays a role in viral replication. In this study, we found a small capsid protein in cells infected with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) but not in the viral particles. The small capsid protein was shown to be generated by processing with host cysteine protease cathepsin L. An in vitro cleavage assay revealed that cathepsin L cleaves the capsid protein between amino acid residues Lys
18
and Arg
19
, which are well conserved among the mosquito-borne flaviviruses. A mutant JEV resistant to the cleavage of the capsid protein by cathepsin L was generated from an infectious cDNA clone of JEV by introducing a substitution in the cleavage site. The mutant JEV exhibited growth kinetics similar to those of the wild-type JEV in monkey (Vero), mosquito (C6/36), and porcine (PK15) cell lines, whereas replication of the mutant JEV in mouse macrophage (RAW264.7) and neuroblastoma (N18) cells was impaired. Furthermore, the neurovirulence and neuroinvasiveness of the mutant JEV to mice were lower than those of the wild-type JEV. These results suggest that the processing of the JEV capsid protein by cathepsin L plays a crucial role in the replication of JEV in neural and macrophage cells, which leads to the pathogenesis of JEV infection.
Hepatitis B Virus Maturation Is Sensitive to Functional Inhibition of ESCRT-III, Vps4, and γ2-Adaptin
Authors: Lambert Carsten , Döring Tatjana , Prange Reinhild 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACT
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an enveloped DNA virus that presumably buds at intracellular membranes of infected cells. HBV budding involves two endocytic host proteins, the ubiquitin-interacting adaptor γ2-adaptin and the Nedd4 ubiquitin ligase. Here, we demonstrate that HBV release also requires the cellular machinery that generates internal vesicles of multivesicular bodies (MVBs). In order to perturb the MVB machinery in HBV-replicating liver cells, we used ectopic expression of dominant-negative mutants of different MVB components, like the ESCRT-III complex-forming CHMP proteins and the Vps4 ATPases. Upon coexpression of mutated CHMP3, CHMP4B, or CHMP4C forms, as well as of ATPase-defective Vps4A or Vps4B mutants, HBV assembly and egress were potently blocked. Each of the MVB inhibitors arrested virus particle maturation by entrapping the viral core and large and small envelope proteins in detergent-insoluble membrane structures that closely resembled aberrant endosomal class E compartments. In contrast, HBV subvirus particle release was not affected by MVB inhibitors, hinting at different export routes used by viral and subviral particles. To further define the role γ2-adaptin plays in HBV formation, we examined the effects of its overexpression in virus-replicating cells. Intriguingly, excess γ2-adaptin blocked HBV production in a manner similar to the actions of CHMP and Vps4 mutants. Moreover, overexpressed γ2-adaptin perturbed the endosomal morphology and diminished the budding of a retroviral Gag protein, implying that it may act as a principal inhibitor of the MVB sorting pathway. Together, these results demonstrate that HBV exploits the MVB machinery with the aid of γ2-adaptin.
Borna Disease Virus Infection Impairs Synaptic Plasticity
Authors: Volmer Romain , Prat Christine M. A. , Le Masson Gwendal , Garenne André , Gonzalez-Dunia Daniel 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACT

The mechanisms whereby
Borna disease virus
(BDV) can impair neuronal function and lead to neurobehavioral disease are not well understood. To analyze the electrophysiological properties of neurons infected with BDV, we used cultures of neurons grown on multielectrode arrays, allowing a real-time monitoring of the electrical activity across the network shaped by synaptic transmission. Although infection did not affect spontaneous neuronal activity, it selectively blocked activity-dependent enhancement of neuronal network activity, one form of synaptic plasticity thought to be important for learning and memory. These findings highlight the original mechanism of the neuronal dysfunction caused by noncytolytic infection with BDV.
Efficient In Vitro Amplification of Chronic Wasting Disease PrP
RES
Authors: Kurt Timothy D. , Perrott Matthew R. , Wilusz Carol J. , Wilusz Jeffrey , Supattapone Surachai , Telling Glenn C. , Zabel Mark D. , Hoover Edward A. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACT

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of cervids is associated with conversion of the normal cervid prion protein, PrP
C
, to a protease-resistant conformer, PrP
CWD
. Here we report the use of both nondenaturing amplification and protein-misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) to amplify PrP
CWD
in vitro. Normal brains from deer, transgenic mice expressing cervid PrP
C
[Tg(cerPrP)1536 mice], and ferrets supported amplification. PMCA using normal Tg(cerPrP)1536 brains as the PrP
C
substrate produced >6.5 × 10
9
-fold amplification after six rounds. Highly efficient in vitro amplification of PrP
CWD
is a significant step toward detection of PrP
CWD
in the body fluids or excreta of CWD-susceptible species.
Phenotypic and Functional Changes of Cytotoxic CD56posNatural T Cells Determine Outcome of Acute Hepatitis C Virus Infection
Authors: Golden-Mason Lucy , Castelblanco Nicole , O'Farrelly Cliona , Rosen Hugo R. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTInnate CD56posnatural killer (NK) and natural T (NT) cells comprise important hepatic antiviral effector lymphocytes whose activity is fine-tuned through surface NK receptors (NKRs). Dysregulation of NKRs in patients with long-standing hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been shown, but little is known regarding NKRs in acute infection. Treatment-naïve patients with acute HCV (n= 22), including 10 with spontaneous recovery, were prospectively studied. CD56posNT levels were reduced early in acute HCV infection and did not fluctuate over time. In resolving HCV infection, NT cells with a more activated phenotype (lower CD158A and higher natural cytotoxicity receptor expression) at baseline predated spontaneous recovery. Moreover, NKG2A expression on CD56+NT cells correlated directly with circulating HCV RNA levels. Deficient interleukin-13 (IL-13) production by NT cells and reduced IL-2-activated killing (LAK) at baseline were associated with the ultimate development of persistence. These results indicate a previously unappreciated role for NT cells in acute HCV infection and identify a potential target for pharmacologic manipulation.
Differential effects of strength versus power training on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: a 2-year longitudinal study
Authors: von Stengel Simon , Kemmler Wolfgang , Kalender Willi A , Engelke Klaus , Lauber Dirk 
Published: June 2007

Objectives:To investigate the effect of two different schemes of loading in resistance training on bone mineral density (BMD) and pain in pretrained postmenopausal women.Methods:53 pretrained women (mean (SD) age 58.2 (3.7) years) who carried out a mixed resistance and gymnastics programme were randomly assigned to a strength training (ST) or power training (PT) group. The difference between the two groups was the movement velocity during the resistance training (ST, 4 s (concentric)/4 s (eccentric); PT, explosive/4 s). Otherwise both groups carried out periodised progressive resistance training (10–12 exercises, 2–4 sets, 4–12 repetitions at 70–92.5% of the one-repetition maximum (2/week) for 2 years. Mechanical loading was determined with a force measuring plate during the leg press exercise. At baseline and after 2 years, BMD was measured at different sites with dualx-ray absorptiometry. Pain was assessed by questionnaire.Results:Loading magnitude, loading/unloading rate, loading amplitude and loading frequency differed significantly (p<0.001) between the two groups. After 2 years, significant between-group differences were detected for BMD (PT, −0.3%; ST, −2.4%; p<0.05) and bone area (PT, 0.4%; ST, −0.9%; p<0.05) at the lumbar spine. At the hip, there was a non-significant trend in favour of the PT group. Also the incidence of pain indicators at the lumbar spine was more favourable in the PT group.Conclusion:The results show that PT may be superior for maintaining BMD in postmenopausal women. Furthermore, PT was safe as it did not lead to increased injury or pain.
Soft pattern matching models for definitional question answering
Authors: Cui Hang , Kan Min-Yen , Chua Tat-Seng 
Published: June 2007

We explore probabilistic lexico-syntactic pattern matching, also known as soft pattern matching, in a definitional question answering system. Most current systems use regular expression-based hard matching patterns to identify definition sentences. Such rigid surface matching often fares poorly when faced with language variations. We propose two soft matching models to address this problem: one based on bigrams and the other on the Profile Hidden Markov Model (PHMM). Both models provide a theoretically sound method to model pattern matching as a probabilistic process that generates token sequences. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the models on definition sentence retrieval for definitional question answering. We show that both models significantly outperform the state-of-the-art manually constructed hard matching patterns on recent TREC data.A critical difference between the two models is that the PHMM has a more complex topology. We experimentally show that the PHMM can handle language variations more effectively but requires more training data to converge.While we evaluate soft pattern models only on definitional question answering, we believe that both models are generic and can be extended to other areas where lexico-syntactic pattern matching can be applied.
Characterization of national Web domains
Authors: Baeza-Yates Ricardo , Castillo Carlos , Efthimiadis Efthimis N. 
Published: June 2007

During the last few years, several studies on the characterization of the public Web space of various national domains have been published. The pages of a country are an interesting set for studying the characteristics of the Web because at the same time these are diverse (as they are written by several authors) and yet rather similar (as they share a common geographical, historical and cultural context).
This article discusses the methodologies used for presenting the results of Web characterization studies, including the granularity at which different aspects are presented, and a separation of concerns between contents, links, and technologies. Based on this, we present a side-by-side comparison of the results of 12 Web characterization studies, comprising over 120 million pages from 24 countries. The comparison unveils similarities and differences between the collections and sheds light on how certain results of a single Web characterization study on a sample may be valid in the context of the full Web.
Sharing the cost more efficiently
Authors: Becchetti L. , Könemann J. , Leonardi S. , Páal M. 
Published: June 2007

In the
multicommodity rent-or-buy
(MROB) network design problems, we are given a network together with a set of
k
terminal pairs (
s
1
,
t
1
), …, (
s

k

,
t

k

. The goal is to provision the network so that a given amount of flow can be shipped between
s

i

and
t

i

for all 1 ≤
i
≤
k
simultaneously. In order to provision the network, one can either
rent
capacity on edges at some cost per unit of flow, or
buy
them at some larger fixed cost. Bought edges have no incremental, flow-dependent cost. The overall objective is to minimize the total provisioning cost.

Recently, Gupta et al. [2003a] presented a 12-approximation for the MROB problem. Their algroithm chooses a subset of the terminal pairs in the graph at random and then buys the edges of an approximate Steiner forest for these pairs. This technique had previously been introduced [Gupta et al. 2003b] for the single-sink rent-or-buy network design problem.
In this article we give a 6.828-approximation for the MROB problem by refining the algorithm of Gupta et al. and simplifying their analysis. The improvement in our article is based on a more careful adaptation and simplified analysis of the primal-dual algorithm for the Steiner forest problem due to Agrawal et al. [1995]. Our result significantly reduces the gap between the single-sink and multisink case.
Combinatorial testing
Authors: Krishnan R. , Krishna S. Murali , Nandhan P. Siva 
Published: June 2007

Combinatorial testing methods address generation of test cases for problems involving multiple parameters and combinations. The Orthogonal Array Based Testing Strategy (OATS) is one such combinatorial testing method, a systematic, statistical way of testing pair-wise interactions. It provides representative (uniformly distributed) coverage of all variable pair combinations. This makes the technique particularly useful for testing of software, wherever there is combinatorial explosion: a. In system testing for handling feature interactions b. In integration testing components c. It is also quite useful for testing products with a large number of configuration possibilities.
One of the fundamental assumptions behind OATS approach is that a subset covering all pair-wise combinations will be more effective than a randomly selected subset. OATS provides a means to select a minimal test set that guarantees testing the pair-wise combinations of all the selected variables. Covering pair-wise combinations has been reported to be very effective in the literature. Successful use of this technique, with 50% effort saving and improved testing with a factor of 2.6 is reported in the literature.
In this paper, we report on the in-house web-based application that we designed and implemented to support customized version of OATS and our experience in piloting and getting this method used in projects. In the in-house tool we have introduced a number of additional features, that help in generation and post processing of test-cases. We have also designed a supporting process for using this method, and we discuss the steps in this process in the paper. We share details on application in feature testing of a mobile phone application. This method has also been successfully used in designing feature interaction test cases and for augmenting the regression suite to increase coverage.
The new features of Fortran 2003
Authors: Reid John 
Published: June 2007

The aim of this paper is to summarize the new features of the Fortran 2003 standard (WG5 2004). We take as our starting point Fortran 95 plus the two official extensions (Cohen 2001, Reid 2001) that have been published as Type 2 Technical Reports (TRs). These provide features for
• Allocatable dummy arguments and type components, and
• Support for the five exceptions of the IEEE Floating Point Standard (IEEE 1989) and for other features of this Standard.
The Impact of Enlargement: Europeanization of Polish Foreign Policy? Tracking Adaptation and Change in the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Authors: Pomorska Karolina 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article analyses the process of adaptation of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to EU membership and participation in CFSP, both before and after EU accession. It addresses changes in organizational structure, but also in institutional culture and everyday practices. Despite the initial ambiguity, Polish decision-makers tend to perceive CFSP as an opportunity rather than a constraint on national foreign policy. It is argued that the turning point of the Europeanization process took place in 2003, when Poland became an active observer to the EU and its diplomats were allowed to attend meetings inside the Council. The article also identifies and analyses the gaps in experience and knowledge between the diplomats posted to Brussels and those that stayed in Warsaw. Finally, it examines the various challenges that EU membership held for the MFA and how they have been dealt with so far.