Kejituan persediaan rawatan antara-pecahan dengan peranti cegah gerak yang berbeza untuk VMAT bagi pesakit kanser oral

Kejituan persediaan rawatan dengan teknik yang kesamabentukannya tinggi seperti terapi isi padu arka termodulat (VMAT) berupaya mengurangkan dedahan dos sinaran yang berlebihan di bahagian mukosa oral. Oleh itu, satu kajian telah dijalankan untuk meningkatkan kejituan persediaan rawatan antara-pecahan rawatan dengan mengenal pasti penggunaan peranti cegah gerak yang sesuai. Seramai dua belas pesakit kanser mulut terlibat dalam kajian ini. Mereka dikategorikan kepada tiga kumpulan yang menggunakan peranti cegah gerak yang berbeza; HFW: headFIX® mouthpiece dibentuk dengan lilin, SYR: 10 cc / ml picagari dan TDW: lilin dibentuk pada kayu penekan lidah. Sebelum rawatan diberikan, pesakit menjalani radioterapi berpandukan imej (IGRT) bagi pengukuran ralat persediaan rawatan posisi. Sejumlah 292 set imej tomografi berkomputer bim-kon (CBCT) diperolehi. Perbezaan pada translasi (lateral, longitudinal, vertikal) dan rotasi (pic, guling, rewang) dalam setiap imej CBCT ditentukan. Ralat posisi pesakit dianalisis untuk aliran masa sepanjang radioterapi. Pengiraan ralat sistematik (Σ) dan rawak (σ) dilakukan dan margin CTV-PTV ditentukan. Min ± SD bagi ralat persediaan rawatan mutlak untuk HFW adalah paling rendah (p < 0.001) untuk semua ralat translasi dan arah rewang. Ralat vektor 3D adalah 1.93 ± 0.66, 3.84 ± 1.34 dan 2.79 ± 1.17 mm bagi HFW, SYR dan TDW. Terdapat peningkatan ralat vektor 3D selari dengan aliran masa antara-pecahan rawatan bagi semua peranti. Margin CTV-PTV bagi arah R-L, S-I dan A-P yang dikira adalah 3.08, 2.22 dan 0.81 mm, 3.76, 6.24 dan 5.06 mm dan 3.06, 3.45 dan 4.84 mm masing-masing. HFW menunjukkan ralat paling kecil dalam hampir semua perbandingan. Ini membuktikan HFW mempunyai kejituan dan kebolehulangan yang tinggi berbanding peranti yang lain dalam mengekalkan kedudukan pesakit. Semua margin bagi setiap peranti tidak melebihi protokol hospital (5 mm) kecuali SYR pada arah S-I dan A-P. Walau bagaimanapun, dalam keadaan tertentu, seperti penyinaran semula atau organ berisiko tinggi berdekatan dengan kawasan berdos tinggi atau margin lebih rendah (3 mm) boleh mendapat manfaat daripada IGRT

Radiation dose obtained from abdominal computed radiography: comparison between supine and prone positions

The aims of this study were to compare the entrance surface dose (ESD) between anteroposterior (AP) supine with posteroanterior (PA) prone projection of computed radiography (CR) abdominal examination and to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and ESD of a patient. AP supine and PA prone projections on the same patients for CR abdominal examination of intravenous urography (IVU) were acquired on 50 patients at Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh. All the radiographic examinations were carried out on a Siemens Multixtop general x-ray unit and the images were processed with CR Carestream Direct view Max. Entrance surface dose (ESD) in miligray (mGy) was measured using optical stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLD) calibrated by the Malaysian Nuclear Agency. Data were analyzed using dependent t-test comparing the AP and PA projections on the same subject and Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationship between BMI and percentage of reduction of ESD. Results showed a significant different (p < 0.01) between AP supine (mean ESD = 6.42 ± 7.13 mGy) and PA prone (mean ESD = 3.92 ± 3.56 mGy) projection at all BMI. The BMI has a positive correlation with percentage of reduction of ESD (r = 0. 61) and was statistically significant (p < 0.01). In conclusion, PA abdomen prone projection significantly reduces the radiation dose and there is a positive correlation between BMI and percentage of reduction of ESD. The use of PA prone projection for CR abdominal examination should be considered as the routine projection at all BMIs level. Awareness that as the BMI increases the ESD also increases at a moderate positive linear relationship

Understanding requirements dependency in requirements prioritization: a systematic literature review

Requirement prioritization (RP) is a crucial task in managing requirements as it determines the order of implementation and, thus, the delivery of a software system. Improper RP may cause software project failures due to over budget and schedule as well as a low-quality product. Several factors influence RP. One of which is requirements dependency. Handling inappropriate handling of requirements dependencies can lead to software development failures. If a requirement that serves as a prerequisite for other requirements is given low priority, it affects the overall project completion time. Despite its importance, little is known about requirements dependency in RP, particularly its impacts, types, and techniques. This study, therefore, aims to understand the phenomenon by analyzing the existing literature. It addresses three objectives, namely, to investigate the impacts of requirements dependency on RP, to identify different types of requirements dependency, and to discover the techniques used for requirements dependency problems in RP. To fulfill the objectives, this study adopts the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method. Applying the SLR protocol, this study selected forty primary articles, which comprise 58% journal papers, 32% conference proceedings, and 10% book sections. The results of data synthesis indicate that requirements dependency has significant impacts on RP, and there are a number of requirements dependency types as well as techniques for addressing requirements dependency problems in RP. This research discovered various techniques employed, including the use of Graphs for RD visualization, Machine Learning for handling large-scale RP, decision making for multi-criteria handling, and optimization techniques utilizing evolutionary algorithms. The study also reveals that the existing techniques have encountered serious limitations in terms of scalability, time consumption, interdependencies of requirements, and limited types of requirement dependencies

Evaluating the relationship of body mass index and waist circumference on the image quality of abdominal computed radiography

Body sizes of patients undergoing x-ray examination vary in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between BMI and WC on the image quality of abdominal computed radiography (CR). Anteroposterior supine abdomen projection was conducted on 69 patients from Hospital Raja Perempuan Bainun, Ipoh using a Siemens Multixtop general x-ray unit, and the images were processed with CR Carestream Direct view Max. Samples were categorised into normal BMI (n = 23), overweight (n = 23) and obese (n = 23). Image quality was measured quantitatively in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and qualitatively by visual grading analysis (VGA) based on the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) image criteria. Data were analysed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson’s correlation for comparison and determining the relationship among BMI, WC and image quality. Results showed a significant difference (p < 0.01) in image quality of VGAmean (normal = 4.40 ± 0.15, overweight = 4.35 ± 0.13, obese = 4.03 ± 0.34) and SNRmean (normal = 60.79 ± 2.19, overweight = 59.66 ± 1.68, obese = 55.78 ± 4.31). A moderate to high negative correlation existed between SNR (r = −0.73), VGA (r = −0.7) with BMI (p < 0.01) and between SNR (r = −0.83), VGA (r = −0.79) with WC (p < 0.01). This study suggests that WC has a higher negative linear relationship than BMI and can be used as an effective image quality predictor for abdominal CR examination

Early growth and plant performance of molineria colla species grown under different shade levels and media compositions

Molineria or locally known as lemba is a wild herbaceaous plant that is found abundantly in the shade areas and under rubber plantations. Main interest on this plant lies on the curculin, the sweet protein that is contained in its fruits which is known to have antidiabetic properties and is a good source of alternative sweetener. The importance of curculin found in the fruit has been discussed but cultivation of lemba was never reported. A study was carried out with the aim of obtaining the optimum growing conditions of Molineria species in nurseries, in relation to different media ratio and light requirement. The specific objectives of this study were to obtain the optimum media composition and shade requirement for M. latifolia and M. rubriclavata grown under nursery condition. Analysis were based on the selected growth parameters such ass plant height, number of leaves, fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots. Plants were grown under two shade structures providing 50% and 70%. The treatment combinations of two species and 10 soil mixtures were randomly assigned in a split plot design with four blocks in each shade structure. The media and species were the main and sub plots respectively. The experimental units were the potted plants, which were arranged in a square pattern of 15cm x 15cm. The potted plants were placed on the floor of black plastic sheets in each shade structure. Plants were harvested 16 weeks after planting (WAP). Data collected were plant height and fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots. Data were analysed using SAS version 9.2 package, and the mean separations was determined by the Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test (DNMRT) at ρ = 0.05.Result show that the best shade level for both varieties was 70%. It is concluded that the best media for maintaining Molineria species under nursery condition was 1:3:1(top soil:peat grow:sand) combination for M. latifolia var. megacarpa and 2:3:1 for M. rubriclavata

Development of a 4D digital phantom for Cone-Beam CT (CBCT) imaging on the Varian On-Board Imager (OBI)

Mitigating effects of respiratory motion during image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) is important especially during thoracic and abdomen scanning protocols such as cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging. However, the lack of ‘ground-truth’ in validating new algorithms has always been a challenge. The objective of this study is to outline the development of a novel 4D digital phantom for simulation of respiratory motion effects during CBCT image reconstruction based on Varian On-Board Imager (OBI): Half-Fan (HF) operating mode geometry. A set of actual 4D Magnetic Resonance (MR) data was used to develop the digital phantom. Firstly, the MR data sequencewasextendedto mimic a standard CBCT imaging acquisition protocol. Then, the images were segmented into several organs of interest and assigned with respective CT attenuation values. Subsequently, 2D projections of the developed digital phantom were simulated using the Varian OBI geometry. A Poisson noise model was also incorporated to the projection data to realistically simulate quantum noise that is present in an actual clinical environment. Three types of projections were then reconstructed using the standard 3D Feldkamp-Davis-Kress (FDK) algorithm, projections: without noise, with noise, and with noise and reconstructed with an additional Hann filter. As validation, the reconstructed images were compared against a single-frame of the developed phantom; quantitatively, using normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE) and qualitatively, using difference images. The results indicated that the phantom managed to display a consistent trend in modeling the effects of respiratory motion on the reconstructed images. On average, the NRMSE values for all three reconstructed images within the entire field-of-view (FOV) were evaluated to be approximately 29.07±0.22%. Nonetheless, the difference images indicated a large error in areas largely affected by respiratory motion. The NRMSE of a region-of-interest (ROI) near the affected area was evaluated as 51.26% that constitute to a significant +22.19% difference

Analysis of Light Bulb Temperature Control for Egg Incubator Design

This paper explained the analysis and findings of using light bulb as a thermal source for an incubator system. The inner dimension of the incubator is 26 cm (W) x 38 cm (L) x 26 cm (H). In the experiment, a temperature sensor that measures the inside temperature of the incubator used as a feedback signal. To run the experiments, number of light bulbs and its type were determined. There are three types of bulb used i.e. Incandescent Light (IL Bulb), Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL Bulb) and Light Emitting Diode (LED Bulb).&nbsp; Three fixtures are proposed for each bulb type, i.e. one-bulb fixture, two-bulb fixture and three-bulb fixture. Apart from that, three control modes were tested, i.e. Mode 1, Mode 2 and Mode 3. Mode 1 is ON-OFF bulb control. Mode 2 is ON-OFF bulb control, as well as ON-OFF ventilation fan control. Finally, Mode 3 is only ON bulb control and ON-OFF ventilation fans The experimental results showed that, for the chosen incubator size, three-bulb fixture IL-type light bulb controlled with Mode 3 control gave shorter time to reach the set point then return to set point after overshoot

Evaluation Methodology for Respiratory Signal Extraction from Clinical Cone-Beam CT (CBCT) using Data-Driven Methods

The absence of a ground truth for internal motion in clinical studies has always been a challenge to evaluate developed methods to extract respiratory motion especially during a 60-second cone-beam CT (CBCT) scan in Image-Guided Radiotherapy Treatment (IGRT). The unavailability of a gold standard has led this study to present a methodology to manually track respiratory motion on a clinically acquired CBCT projection data set over a 360° view angle. The tracked signal is then used as a reference to assess the performance of four data-driven methods in respiratory motion extraction, namely: the Amsterdam Shroud (AS), Local Principal Component Analysis (LPCA), Intensity Analysis (IA), and Fourier Transform (FT)-based methods that do not require additional equipment nor protocol to the existing treatment delivery. The assessment using this reference signal includes both quantitative and qualitative analysis. It is found out quantitatively that all four methods managed to extract respiratory signals that are highly correlated with the reference signal, with the LPCA method displaying the highest correlation coefficient value at 0.9108. Furthermore, the normalized root-mean-squared amplitude error of detected peaks and troughs within the signal from the LPCA method is also lowest at 1.6529 % compared to the other methods. This result is further supported by qualitative analysis via visual inspection of each extracted signal plotted with the reference signal on the same axes

Terrain Mapping From Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In land surveying, digital terrain model (DTM) and digital surface model (DSM) have long been benefitted in many applications related to terrain mapping. Conventional methods of generating DTM and DSM have limitations in terms of practicality, time consumption and costing. The problems are much more serious for tropical regions where clouds are persistence and tend to affect the accuracy of most of these devices. This study aims to propose a novel way of generating DTM and DSM by utilizing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for different land covers including forest, plantation and developed areas in the tropical region of Malaysia. The aerial images obtained from non-matrix digital compact camera payload on UAV were processed photogrammetrically to produce terrain mapping products including DTM, DSM and orthophoto. A detailed survey is also conducted at these areas to produce contour map as benchmark data in which is less being practiced by UAV mappers. To determine the accuracy, quantitative and qualitative analysis were carried out by means of root mean square error (RMSE) and visual inspection. The results show that the RMSE of DTM for forest, plantation and developed area are ± 1.806m, ± 0.938m and ± 0.549m, respectively while for DSM are ± 3.143m, ± 0.637m and ± 0.276m respectively. This study has determined that, the development area gives the highest accuracy compared to the plantation and forested area in which for developed and plantation area the DSM is better than DTM while vice-versa for forested area. It can be concluded that the complexity if terrain is found to be one of the key factors that influences the accuracy of the generated DSM and DTM

The assessment of risk factors for the Central/East African Genotype of chikungunya virus infections in the state of Kelantan: a case control study in Malaysia

BACKGROUND: The aims of the study were to assess the risk factors in relation to cross border activities, exposure to mosquito bite and preventive measures taken. An outbreak of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection in Malaysia has been reported in Klang, Selangor (1998) and Bagan Panchor, Perak (2006). In 2009, CHIKV infection re-emerged in some states in Malaysia. It raises the possibilities that re-emergence is part of the epidemics in neighbouring countries or the disease is endemic in Malaysia. For this reason, A community-based case control study was carried out in the state of Kelantan. METHODS: Prospective case finding was performed from June to December 2009. Those who presented with signs and symptoms of CHIKV infection were investigated. We designed a case control study to assess the risk factors. Assessment consisted of answering questions, undergoing a medical examination, and being tested for the presence of IgM antibodies to CHIKV. Descriptive epidemiological studies were conducted by reviewing both the national surveillance and laboratory data. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine risk factors contributing to the illness. Cases were determined by positive to RT-PCR or serological for antibodies by IgM. CHIKV specificity was confirmed by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: There were 129 suspected cases and 176 controls. Among suspected cases, 54.4% were diagnosed to have CHIKV infection. Among the controls, 30.1% were found to be positive to serology for antibodies [IgM, 14.2% and IgG, 15.9%]. For analytic study and based on laboratory case definition, 95 were considered as cases and 123 as controls. Those who were positive to IgG were excluded. CHIKV infection affected all ages and mostly between 50–59 years old. Staying together in the same house with infected patients and working as rubber tappers were at a higher risk of infection. The usage of Mosquito coil insecticide had shown to be a significant protective factor. Most cases were treated as outpatient, only 7.5% needed hospitalization. The CHIKV infection was attributable to central/east African genotype CHIKV. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, cross border activity was not a significant risk factor although Thailand and Malaysia shared the same CHIKV genotype during the episode of infections