PTV margin for dose escalated radiation therapy of prostate cancer with daily on-line realignment using internal fiducial markers: Monte Carlo approach and dose population histogram (DPH) analysis.

Using internal fiducial markers and electronic portal imaging (EPID) to realign patients has been shown to significantly reduce positioning uncertainties in prostate radiation treatment. This creates the possibility of decreasing the planning target volume (PTV) margin added on the clinical target volume (CTV), which in turn may allow for dose escalation. We compared the outcome of two plans: 70Gy/35fx, 10 mm PTV margin without patient realignment (Reference Plan) vs. 78Gy/39fx, 5 mm PTV margin with patient realignment (Escalated Plan). Four-field-oblique (gantry angles 35 degrees, 90 degrees, 270 degrees, 176 degrees, 325 degrees) beam arrangement was used. Monte Carlo code was used to simulate the daily organ motion. Dose to each organ was calculated. Tumour control probability (TCP) and the effective dose to critical organ (Deff) were calculated using the biologically normalized dose-volume histograms. By comparing the biological factors, we found that the prescription dose can be escalated to 78Gy/39fx with a 5 mm PTV margin when using internal fiducial markers and EPID. Based on the available dose-response data for intermediate risk prostate patients, this will result in a 20% increase of local control and significantly reduced rectal complications provided that less serial dose-volume behaviour of rectum is proven

Faith-Based Partnerships from the Perspective of the Schools: An exploratory study of partnership benefits and challenges in Philadelphia District Schools - Executive Summary

In the spring of 2008, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) asked Research for Action to conduct an exploratory study of partnerships between faith-based organizations and schools. The goal of the study was to understand the types of supports and benefits schools receive from their faith-based partners as well as the range of outcomes and impacts that result from these partnerships. This study was based on interviews at 23 schools and surveys received from 54% of all SDP schools. The study found that although nearly half (44%) of schools in the sample had a faith-based partner, the remainder were struggling to create or maintain a partnership (27%) or had never attempted to develop a faith-based partnership (29%). Faith-based partnerships in this study also varied in their complexity, ranging from one-time events to partnerships that provided multiple services, such as use of facilities, monetary donations, mentoring, parental engagement and tutoring services. Although principals cited some challenges to their partnership related to time, funding, staffing, and retaining a consistent volunteer base, most principals also reported positive benefits from these partnerships. Principals at most schools with active faith-based partnerships believed these programs helped improve students' motivation, self-esteem, goal setting, and/or conflict resolution skills

Forecasting environmental equity: Air quality responses to road user charging in Leeds, UK

Sustainable development requires that the goals of economic development, environmental protection and social justice are considered collectively when formulating development strategies. In the context of planning sustainable transport systems, trade-offs between the economy and the environment, and between the economy and social justice have received considerable attention. In contrast, much less attention has been paid to environmental equity, the trade-off between environmental and social justice goals, a significant omission given the growing attention to environmental justice by policy makers in the EU and elsewhere. In many countries, considerable effort has been made to develop clean transport systems by using, for example, technical, economic and planning instruments. However, little effort has been made to understand the distributive and environmental justice implications of these measures. This paper investigates the relationship between urban air quality (as NO2) and social deprivation for the city of Leeds, UK. Through application of a series of linked dynamic models of traffic simulation and assignment, vehicle emission, and pollutant dispersion, the environmental equity implications of a series of urban transport strategies, including road user cordon and distance based charging, road network development, and emission control, are assessed. Results indicate a significant degree of environmental inequity exists in Leeds. Analysis of the transport strategies indicates that this inequity will be reduced through natural fleet renewal, and, perhaps contrary to expectations, road user charging is also capable of promoting environmental equity. The environmental equity response is however, sensitive to road pricing scheme design

Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia

Under No Child Left Behind, urban school districts have increasingly turned to interim assessments, administered at regular intervals, to help gauge student progress in advance of annual state exams. These assessments have spawned growing debate among educators, assessment experts, and the testing industry: are they worth the significant investment of money and time? In Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia, Research for Action (RFA) weighs in on this issue. The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) was an early adopter of interim assessments, implementing the exams in 2003. Unlike teachers in some other regions, Philadelphia elementary and middle grades teachers rated these 'Benchmark' assessments highly. However, the study found that enthusiasm did not necessarily correlate with higher rates of student achievement. What did predict student success were three factors -- instructional leadership, collective responsibility, and use of the SDP's Core Curriculum. The report underscores the value of investment in ongoing data interpretation that emphasizes teachers' learning within formal instructional communities, such as grade groups of teachers. This research was funded by the Spencer Foundation and the William Penn Foundation

Ultracompact high-efficiency polarising beam splitter based on silicon nanobrick arrays

Since the transmission of anisotropic nano-structures is sensitive to the polarisation of an incident beam, a novel polarising beam splitter (PBS) based on silicon nanobrick arrays is proposed. With careful design of such structures, an incident beam with polarisation direction aligned with the long axis of the nanobrick is almost totally reflected (~98.5%), whilst that along the short axis is nearly totally transmitted (~94.3%). More importantly, by simply changing the width of the nanobrick we can shift the peak response wavelength from 1460 nm to 1625 nm, covering S, C and L bands of the fiber telecommunications windows. The silicon nanobrick-based PBS can find applications in many fields which require ultracompactness, high efficiency, and compatibility with semiconductor industry technologies

Remarkable insights into the paleoecology of the Avalonian Ediacaran macrobiota

Ediacaran macrofossils from the Avalon Terrane (primarily eastern Newfoundland and the central UK) record some of the earliest large and complex multicellular organisms on Earth. Perhaps the greatest unknown regarding these fossils is their relevance to the early evolutionary history of the Kingdom Animalia. In recent years, new data and discoveries have revealed insights into Ediacaran paleobiology, taxonomic relationships, paleoecology and taphonomy, significantly refining our understanding of Avalonian ecosystems. Here, we summarise recent observational and quantitative studies, and their bearing on the current understanding of Avalonian benthic marine ecosystems. A review of existing knowledge of the biological composition of Avalonian marine assemblages demonstrates that they record densely-populated ecosystems inhabited by a diverse range of organisms, likely representing multiple biological Kingdoms. Appreciation of this diversity, and of the complexities it introduces to paleoecological studies, is vital when considering the relationship between macroevolution and contemporaneous climatic, tectonic and geochemical events. We then summarise current understanding of Avalonian paleoecology. Studies into locomotion, reproduction, feeding strategies, and community structure and succession reveal that these ecosystems were considerably different to Phanerozoic settings. Furthermore, we suggest that Avalonian ecosystems witnessed the appearance of novel nutrient sources, offering new opportunities and niches for benthic organisms. The suggestion that the numerically dominant rangeomorphs were osmotrophic is reviewed and appraised in light of geochemical, morphological, and biological information. Finally, the use of modern ecological metrics in the study of Ediacaran fossil assemblages is assessed. Concerns regarding the interpretation of paleoecological data are outlined in light of current taphonomic and sedimentological understanding, and these cast doubt on previous suggestions that the Avalonian assemblages were largely composed of metazoans. Nevertheless, we emphasise that if treated with necessary caution, paleoecological data can play a significant role in assisting efforts to determine the biological affinities of late Ediacaran macroscopic organisms.Thanks are extended to the editors of Gondwana Research, T. Horscroft and M. Santosh, for inviting this review, and for their patience whilst we completed it. The Parks and Natural Areas Division, Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador provided permits to conduct research within the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve between 2008–2013, whilst the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation provided permits for paleontological research in other parts of the Province from 2012–2013. The support of the Portugal Cove South Visitor Center interpreters during our field research was greatly appreciated. This work has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council [grant numbers NE/I005927/1 to CGK and NE/G523539/1 to EGM]; a Henslow Junior Research Fellowship from Cambridge Philosophical Society to AGL; and the National Geographic Global Exploration Fund [GEFNE 22-11 to AGL]. Field assistance from J. Matthews, J. Stewart, D. Collins, and T. Hearing has been invaluable, and we have enjoyed fruitful discussions on this topic with N. Butterfield, D. McIlroy, J. Hoyal Cuthill, M. Brasier, S. Conway Morris and P. Wilby. The work and support of past and current workers in this field is gratefully acknowledged. B. MacGabhann and one anonymous reviewer are thanked for providing detailed comments that have strengthened this manuscript, whilst S. Jensen and M. Friedman provided helpful feedback on parts of this manuscript assessed as a chapter of AGL's thesis.This is the final published version of an article that was originally published in Gondwana Research, Available online 4 December 2014, doi:10.1016/j.gr.2014.11.00

Cryptosporidium Parvum Genome Project

A lack of basic understanding of parasite biology has been a limiting factor in designing effective means of treating and preventing disease caused by Cryptosporidium parvum. Since the genomic DNA sequence encodes all of the heritable information responsible for development, disease pathogenesis, virulence, species permissiveness and immune resistance, a comprehensive knowledge of the C. parvum genome will provide the necessary information required for cost-effective and targeted research into disease prevention and treatment. With the recent advances in high-throughput automated DNA sequencing capabilities, large-scale genomic sequencing has become a cost-effective and time-efficient approach to understanding the biology of an organism. In addition, the continued development and implementation of new software tools that can scan raw sequences for signs of genes and then identify clues as to potential functions, has provided the final realization of the potential rewards of genome sequencing. To further our understanding of C. parvum biology, we have initiated a random shotgun sequencing approach to obtain the complete sequence of the IOWA isolate of C. parvum. Our progress to date has demonstrated that sequencing of the C. parvum genome will be an efficient and costeffective method for gene discovery of this important eukaryotic pathogen. This will allow for the identification of key metabolic and immunological features of the organism that will provide the basis for future development of safe and effective strategies for prevention and treatment of disease in AIDS patients, as well as immunocompetent hosts. Moreover, by obtaining the complete sequence of the C. parvum genome, effective methods for subspecific differentiation (strain typing) and epidemiologic surveillance (strain tracking) of this pathogen can be developed

Seeing moir\'e: convolutional network learning applied to twistronics

Moir\'e patterns made of two-dimensional (2D) materials represent highly tunable electronic Hamiltonians, allowing a wide range of quantum phases to emerge in a single material. Current modeling techniques for moir\'e electrons requires significant technical work specific to each material, impeding large-scale searches for useful moir\'e materials. In order to address this difficulty, we have developed a material-agnostic machine learning approach and test it here on prototypical one-dimensional (1D) moir\'e tight-binding models. We utilize the stacking dependence of the local density of states (SD-LDOS) to convert information about electronic bandstructure into physically relevant images. We then train a neural network that successfully predicts moir\'e electronic structure from the easily computed SD-LDOS of aligned bilayers. This network can satisfactorily predict moir\'e electronic structures, even for materials that are not included in its training data.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure