The use of tissue fiducial markers in improving the accuracy of post-prostatectomy radiotherapy

Michael Chao,Huong Ho,Daryl Lim Joon,Yee Chan,Sandra Spencer,Michael Ng,Jason Wasiak,Nathan Lawrentschuk,Kevin McMillan,Shomik Sengupta,Alwin Tan,George Koufogiannis,Margaret Cokelek,Farshad Foroudi,T 대한방사선종양학회 2019 Radiation Oncology Journal Vol.37 No.1

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the use of a radiopaque tissue fiducial marker (TFM) in the treatment of prostate cancer patients who undergo post-prostatectomy radiotherapy (PPRT). TFM safety, its role and benefit in quantifying the set-up uncertainties in patients undergoing PPRT image-guided radiotherapy were assessed. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 consecutive PPRT patients underwent transperineal implantation of TFM at the level of vesicourethral anastomosis in the retrovesical tissue prior to intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Prostate bed motion was calculated by measuring the position of the TFM relative to the pelvic bony anatomy on daily cone-beam computed tomography. The stability and visibility of the TFM were assessed in the initial 10 patients. Results: No postoperative complications were recorded. A total of 3,500 images were analysed. The calculated prostate bed motion for bony landmark matching relative to TFM were 2.25 mm in the left-right, 5.89 mm in the superior-inferior, and 6.59 mm in the anterior-posterior directions. A significant 36% reduction in the mean volume of rectum receiving 70 Gy (rV70) was achieved for a uniform planning target volume (PTV) margin of 7 mm compared with the Australian and New Zealand Faculty of Radiation Oncology Genito-Urinary Group recommended PTV margin of 10 mm. Conclusion: The use of TFM was safe and can potentially eliminate set-up errors associated with bony landmark matching, thereby allowing for tighter PTV margins and a consequent favourable reduction in dose delivered to the bladder and rectum, with potential improvements in toxicities.

The use of tissue fiducial markers in improving the accuracy of post-prostatectomy radiotherapy

Chao, Michael,Ho, Huong,Joon, Daryl Lim,Chan, Yee,Spencer, Sandra,Ng, Michael,Wasiak, Jason,Lawrentschuk, Nathan,McMillan, Kevin,Sengupta, Shomik,Tan, Alwin,Koufogiannis, George,Cokelek, Margaret,Foro The Korean Society for Radiation Oncology 2019 Radiation Oncology Journal Vol.37 No.1

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the use of a radiopaque tissue fiducial marker (TFM) in the treatment of prostate cancer patients who undergo post-prostatectomy radiotherapy (PPRT). TFM safety, its role and benefit in quantifying the set-up uncertainties in patients undergoing PPRT image-guided radiotherapy were assessed. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 consecutive PPRT patients underwent transperineal implantation of TFM at the level of vesicourethral anastomosis in the retrovesical tissue prior to intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Prostate bed motion was calculated by measuring the position of the TFM relative to the pelvic bony anatomy on daily cone-beam computed tomography. The stability and visibility of the TFM were assessed in the initial 10 patients. Results: No postoperative complications were recorded. A total of 3,500 images were analysed. The calculated prostate bed motion for bony landmark matching relative to TFM were 2.25 mm in the left-right, 5.89 mm in the superior-inferior, and 6.59 mm in the anterior-posterior directions. A significant 36% reduction in the mean volume of rectum receiving 70 Gy (rV₇₀) was achieved for a uniform planning target volume (PTV) margin of 7 mm compared with the Australian and New Zealand Faculty of Radiation Oncology Genito-Urinary Group recommended PTV margin of 10 mm. Conclusion: The use of TFM was safe and can potentially eliminate set-up errors associated with bony landmark matching, thereby allowing for tighter PTV margins and a consequent favourable reduction in dose delivered to the bladder and rectum, with potential improvements in toxicities.

Solving the Dynamic Correlation Problem of the Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible Model on Networks

Cai, Chao-Ran,Wu, Zhi-Xi,Chen, Michael Z. Q.,Holme, Petter,Guan, Jian-Yue American Physical Society 2016 Physical Review Letters Vol.116 No.25

Performance and Practice Use Comparisons: Public vs. Private Owner Projects

황본강,Pin-Chao Liao,Michael P. Leonard 대한토목학회 2011 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.15 No.6

Does the source of project ownership, public vs. private sectors make a difference in project performance? Do public agencies implement to some degree of management practices as private companies when executing capital facility projects? Using the data from 341 projects submitted to the Construction Industry Institute (CII) for benchmarking, this study aims to identify differences in project cost, schedule, and change performance under different delivery systems. Furthermore, utilization of best practices is analyzed in search of plausible explanation of differences in management approach, ultimately bridging the gap in that if ownerships differentiate use of best practices and their performance. The results of the analyses establish that in general, projects of private industry companies outperform those of public agencies with statistical significance in most cases. Derived from this study,significant difference of use of best practices between both sectors may be the important indicators affecting project performance. Lastly, according to analysis results, recommendations are made for both sectors for potential improvement in performance.

A new sexually dimorphic mantidfly species of Allomantispa Liu et al., 2015 from China (Neuroptera: Mantispidae)

Li Hongyu,Wu Chao,Ohl Michael,Liu Xingyue 한국응용곤충학회 2020 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.23 No.4

Allomantispa Liu et al., 2015 is the only extant genus of the mantidfly subfamily Drepanicinae from Eurasia, being endemic to the Oriental region. It currently consists of only two species from southeastern Tibet and northern Myanmar, respectively. Here we describe a new species of this rarely observed mantidfly genus, namely Allomantispa coniprocessa sp. nov. from Yunnan, China. Interestingly, the new species displays distinctive sexual dimorphic characters on the pronotum. The molecular identification reveals obvious genetic divergence between the allopatric individuals of the new species. Their morphological variations are illustrated and compared. In addition, some characters with taxonomic or phylogenetic significance present on the pronotum, the abdomen and the genitalia in Allomantispa are also discussed. Our finding updates the morphological and distributional information on Allomantispa and implies a more diverse fauna of this genus in the Oriental region than pre viously assumed.

Tomato PEPR1 ORTHOLOG RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE1 Regulates Responses to Systemin, Necrotrophic Fungi, and Insect Herbivory

Xu, Siming,Liao, Chao-Jan,Jaiswal, Namrata,Lee, Sanghun,Yun, Dae-Jin,Lee, Sang Yeol,Garvey, Michael,Kaplan, Ian,Mengiste, Tesfaye American Society of Plant Biologists 2018 The Plant cell Vol.30 No.9

<P>PORK1 is identified and characterized as a receptor-like kinase involved in tomato responses to the endogenous peptide systemin.</P><P>Endogenous peptides regulate plant immunity and growth. Systemin, a peptide specific to the Solanaceae, is known for its functions in plant responses to insect herbivory and pathogen infections. Here, we describe the identification of the tomato (<I>Solanum lycopersicum</I>) PEPR1/2 ORTHOLOG RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE1 (PORK1) as the TOMATO PROTEIN KINASE1b (TPK1b) interacting protein and demonstrate its biological functions in systemin signaling and tomato immune responses. Tomato <I>PORK1</I> RNA interference (RNAi) plants with significantly reduced <I>PORK1</I> expression showed increased susceptibility to tobacco hornworm (<I>Manduca sexta</I>), reduced seedling growth sensitivity to the systemin peptide, and compromised systemin-mediated resistance to <I>Botrytis cinerea.</I> Systemin-induced expression of <I>Proteinase Inhibitor II</I> (<I>PI-II</I>), a classical marker for systemin signaling, was abrogated in <I>PORK1</I> RNAi plants. Similarly, in response to systemin and wounding, the expression of jasmonate pathway genes was attenuated in <I>PORK1</I> RNAi plants. TPK1b, a key regulator of tomato defense against <I>B. cinerea</I> and <I>M. sexta</I>, was phosphorylated by PORK1. Interestingly, wounding- and systemin-induced phosphorylation of TPK1b was attenuated when <I>PORK1</I> expression was suppressed. Our data suggest that resistance to <I>B. cinerea</I> and <I>M. sexta</I> is dependent on PORK1-mediated responses to systemin and subsequent phosphorylation of TPK1b. Altogether, PORK1 regulates tomato systemin, wounding, and immune responses.</P>

Lab scale electrochemical codeposition experiments for comparison to computational predictions

Lafreniere, Philip,Zhang, Chao,Simpson, Michael,Blandford, Edward D. Korean Nuclear Society 2020 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.52 No.9

Signature-based safeguards (SBS) is being developed to assist tradition nuclear material accountancy methods in tracking material in pyroprocessing facilities. SBS involves identifying off-normal scenarios that would result in improper movement of material in a pyroprocessing facilities and determining associated sensor response signatures. SBS investigations are undertaken in the computational space utilizing an electrochemical transport code known as enhanced REFIN with anodic dissolution (ERAD) to calculate the affect of off-normal conditions in the electrorefiner (ER) on material movement. Work is undertaken to experimentally validate the predictions and assumptions made by ERAD for off-normal occurrences. These experiments were undertaken on a benchtop scale and involved operating an electrochemical cell at 10 separate current densities for constant current operations to deposit U and Gd at a W cathode. These experiments were then modeled using ERAD to compare calculated predictions versus analytical experimental results it was found. It was discovered both the experimental and calculated results reflect a trend of increased codeposition of U and Gd with increasing current density. ERAD was thus demonstrated to be useful for predicting trends from anomalous operation but will require further optimization to be utilized as a quantitative design tool.

Parasitic Inductance Cancellation for EMI Filter Capacitors Using Mutual Coupling

Pinhe Wang,Bima Nugraha Sanusi,Chao Liu,Jiasheng Huang,Ziwei Ouyang,Tiberiu Gabriel Zsurzsan,Michael A. E. Andersen 전력전자학회 2023 ICPE(ISPE)논문집 Vol.2023 No.-

Parasitic inductance of capacitors degrades the high frequency (HF) performance of electromagnetic interference (EMI) filters. In this paper, a new method of equivalent series inductance (ESL) cancellation for capacitors is proposed systematically. Firstly, a two-port network using mutual inductance is modeled and analyzed for parasitic inductance cancellation, and formulas deduction is demonstrated. Then, a symmetrical PCB layout is proposed for implementation. Finally, the proposed method is verified by experimental results. In the studied case, the ESL of the X-capacitor has been effectively cancelled up to 40MHz. And the differential-mode (DM) noise of the active clamping flyback converter can be reduced obviously from around 3.5MHz to 30MHz.

Featureless quantum insulator on the honeycomb lattice

Kim, Panjin,Lee, Hyunyong,Jiang, Shenghan,Ware, Brayden,Jian, Chao-Ming,Zaletel, Michael,Han, Jung Hoon,Ran, Ying American Physical Society 2016 Physical Review B Vol.94 No.6

<P>We show how to construct fully symmetric states without topological order on a honeycomb lattice for S = 1/2 spins using the language of projected entangled pair states. An explicit example is given for the virtual bond dimension D = 4. Four distinct classes differing by lattice quantum numbers are found by applying the systematic classification scheme introduced by two of the authors [ S. Jiang and Y. Ran, Phys. Rev. B 92, 104414 (2015)]. Lack of topological degeneracy or other conventional forms of symmetry breaking in the proposed wave functions are checked by numerical calculations of the entanglement entropy and various correlation functions. Exponential decay of all correlation functions measured are strongly indicative of the energy gap for the putative parent Hamiltonian of the state. Our work provides the first explicit realization of a featureless quantum state for spin-1/2 particles on a honeycomb lattice.</P>