The Colorado School of Mines Nevada geothermal study

Geothermal systems in the Basin and Range Province of the western United States probably differ in many respects from geothermal systems already discovered in other parts of the world because of the unique tectonic setting. To investigate this, a study of the geothermal occurrences at Fly Ranch, approximately 100 miles north of Reno, Nevada, has been undertaken. Ample evidence for a geothermal system exists in this area, including the surface expression of heat flow in the form of hot springs, an extensive area of low electrical resistivity, and a high level of seismicity along faults bounding the thermal area. However, geophysical and geological studies have not yet provided evidence for a local heat source at depth. Additional detailed geophysical and geological studies, as well as drilling, must be completed before the geothermal system can be described fully

Fibroblast Growth Factor 22 Is Not Essential for Skin Development and Repair but Plays a Role in Tumorigenesis

PMCID: PMC3380851This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

The influence of MRI scan position on patients with oropharyngeal cancer undergoing radical radiotherapy

<p>Background: The purpose of this study was to demonstrate how magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) patient position protocols influence registration quality in patients with oropharyngeal cancer undergoing radical radiotherapy and the consequences for gross tumour volume (GTV) definition and radiotherapy planning.</p> <p>Methods and materials: Twenty-two oropharyngeal patients underwent a computed tomography (CT), a diagnostic MRI (MRID) and an MRI in the radiotherapy position within an immobilization mask (MRIRT). Clinicians delineated the GTV on the CT viewing the MRID separately (GTVC); on the CT registered to MRID (GTVD) and on the CT registered to MRIRT (GTVRT). Planning target volumes (PTVs) were denoted similarly. Registration quality was assessed by measuring disparity between structures in the three set-ups. Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) radiotherapy planning was performed for PTVC, PTVD and PTVRT. To determine the dose received by the reference PTVRT, we optimized for PTVC and PTVD while calculating the dose to PTVRT. Statistical significance was determined using the two-tailed Mann–Whitney or two-tailed paired student t-tests.</p> <p>Results: A significant improvement in registration accuracy was found between CT and MRIRT versus the MRID measuring distances from the centre of structures (geometric mean error of 2.2 mm versus 6.6 mm). The mean GTVC (44.1 cm3) was significantly larger than GTVD (33.7 cm3, p value = 0.027) or GTVRT (30.5 cm3, p value = 0.014). When optimizing the VMAT plans for PTVC and investigating the mean dose to PTVRT neither the dose to 99% (58.8%) nor 95% of the PTV (84.7%) were found to meet the required clinical dose constraints of 90% and 95% respectively. Similarly, when optimizing for PTVD the mean dose to PTVRT did not meet clinical dose constraints for 99% (14.9%) nor 95% of the PTV (66.2%). Only by optimizing for PTVRT were all clinical dose constraints achieved.</p> <p>Conclusions: When oropharyngeal patients MRI scans are performed in the radiotherapy position there are significant improvements in CT-MR image registration, target definition and PTV dose coverage.</p&gt

Estimating Total Program Cost of a Long-Term, High-Technology, High-Risk Project with Task Durations and Costs That May Increase Over Time

Military Operations Research, 11, 2006, pp. 41-62.We plan a long-term project schedule for which the total budget depends upon the year the project finishes. Each task in the project can begin only when all its predecessor tasks have been completed, and each task has a range of feasible durations with a month-by-month cost profile for each duration. A task start can be delayed, but once started for some chosen duration, a task cannot be interrupted. Each task suffers some risk of delay and changed cost. Ignoring budget constraints, we use Monte Carlo simulation of the duration of each task in the project to infer the probability distribution of the project completion time. We then optimize a deterministic project schedule following budget guidance. Finally, we successively reschedule as the project progresses, simulating annual review of the active tasks, and possibly delaying each active task's duration and changing its monthly costs for its forecast duration. We do not require an independence assumption, so we can accommodate learning effects from completed tasks. U.S. Army Future Combat Systems (FCS) is our motivating application. FCS is a complex of information technologies, sensors, and command systems expected to require more than a decade and $16 billion to develop. The U.S. General Accounting Office finds FCS at significant risk of cost and schedule growth, and suggests two alternatives to a baseline Army plan. We analyze these three alternate project plans for FCS to discover which one can most likely be completed soonest and cheapest

Study of diffusion weighted MRI as a predictive biomarker of response during radiotherapy for high and intermediate risk squamous cell cancer of the oropharynx: The MeRInO study

Introduction and background: A significant proportion of patients with intermediate and high risk squamous cell cancer of the oropharynx (OPSCC) continue to relapse locally despite radical chemoradiotherapy (CRT). The toxicity of the current combination of intensified dose per fraction radiotherapy and platinum based chemotherapy limits further uniform intensification. If a predictive biomarker for outcomes from CRT can be identified during treatment then individualised and adaptive treatment strategies may be employed. Methods/design: The MeRInO study is a prospective observational imaging study of patients with intermediate and high risk, locally advanced OPSCC receiving radical RT or concurrent CRT Patients undergo diffusion weighted MRI prior to treatment (MRI_1) and during the third week of RT (MRI_2). Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements will be made on each scan for previously specified target lesions (primary and lymph nodes) and change in ADC calculated. Patients will be followed up and disease status for each target lesion noted. The primary aim of the MeRInO study is to determine the threshold change in ADC from baseline to week 3 of RT that may identify the sub-group of non-responders during treatment. Discussion: The use of DW-MRI as a predictive biomarker during RT for SCC H&N is in its infancy but studies to date have found that response to treatment may indeed be predicted by comparison of DW-MRI carried out before and during treatment. However, previous studies have included all sub-sites and biological sub-types. Establishing ADC thresholds that predict for local failure is an essential step towards using DW-MRI to improve the therapeutic ratio in treating SCC H&N. This would be done most robustly in a specific H&N sub-site and in sub-types with similar biological behaviour. The MeRInO study will help establish these thresholds in OPSCC

anomaly : Detection of Anomalous Structure in Time Series Data

One of the contemporary challenges in anomaly detection is the ability to detect, and differentiate between, both point and collective anomalies within a data sequence or time series. The anomaly package has been developed to provide users with a choice of anomaly detection methods and, in particular, provides an implementation of the recently proposed Collective And Point Anomaly family of anomaly detection algorithms. This article describes the methods implemented whilst also highlighting their application to simulated data as well as real data examples contained in the package.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures. An R package that implements the methods discussed in the paper can be obtained from The Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) via https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/anomaly/index.htm

anomaly: Detection of Anomalous Structure in Time Series Data

One of the contemporary challenges in anomaly detection is the ability to detect, and differentiate between, both point and collective anomalies within a data sequence or time series. The anomaly package has been developed to provide users with a choice of anomaly detection methods and, in particular, provides an implementation of the recently proposed collective and point anomaly family of anomaly detection algorithms. This article describes the methods implemented whilst also highlighting their application to simulated data as well as real data examples contained in the package

Targeting FGFR signaling to disrupt cellular cross-talk in pancreatic cancer

PhD Thesi