Deep bore well water level fluctuations in the Koyna region, India: the presence of a low order dynamical system in a seismically active environment

Water level fluctuations in deep bore wells in the vicinity of seismically active Koyna region in western India provides an opportunity to understand the causative mechanism underlying reservoir-triggered earthquakes. As the crustal porous rocks behave nonlinearly, their characteristics can be obtained by analysing water level fluctuations, which reflect an integrated response of the medium. A Fractal dimension is one such measure of nonlinear characteristics of porous rock as observed in water level data from the Koyna region. It is inferred in our study that a low nonlinear dynamical system with three variables can predict the water level fluctuations in bore wells

VACUUM AND THERMOPLASTIC MOULD-BASED IMMOBILIZATION SYSTEMS USED IN PATIENT UNDERGOING PELVIC RADIATION THERAPY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to compare two immobilization systems for comparison of setup errors in targeted radiotherapy. Methods: Retrospective analysis was done for the patients undergoing radiotherapy from May 2012 to December 2018 at our institution. Immobilization was performed on 30 patients sessions (Vacuum cushion i.e., Vac-Lok™ = 15; Thermoplastic mould i.e., Pelvicast pelvic masks = 15). A total of 763 cone-beams were analysed. The target lesion location was verified by cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) prior to each session, with displacements assessed by CBCT simulation prior to each treatment session. Systematic setup errors, random setup errors, isocenter deviations in the Medio-lateral (ML), Supero-inferior (SI), Antero-posterior (AP), Rotation (yaw) directions of the patient position was calculated. Results: On comparing the Vac-Lok™ and Pelvicast pelvic masks group with respect to Systematic and random error in the lateral, longitudinal, vertical and YAW direction, no statistically significant difference was seen except the random error in YAW direction (P=0.037, Unpaired t-test). There was no difference observed in comparing the isocentric deviation. Conclusion: It was inferred and concluded that using a vacuum cushion for pelvic radiotherapy provides no added benefit compared to using a thermoplastic mould. Thermoplastic mould is recommended for patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy to improve overall reproducibility.Keywords: Rotational therapy; Radiotherapy; Systematic, random error; Thermoplastic mould; Vacuum cushion

Qualitative Analysis of Partially-observable Markov Decision Processes

We study observation-based strategies for partially-observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) with omega-regular objectives. An observation-based strategy relies on partial information about the history of a play, namely, on the past sequence of observations. We consider the qualitative analysis problem: given a POMDP with an omega-regular objective, whether there is an observation-based strategy to achieve the objective with probability~1 (almost-sure winning), or with positive probability (positive winning). Our main results are twofold. First, we present a complete picture of the computational complexity of the qualitative analysis of POMDP s with parity objectives (a canonical form to express omega-regular objectives) and its subclasses. Our contribution consists in establishing several upper and lower bounds that were not known in literature. Second, we present optimal bounds (matching upper and lower bounds) on the memory required by pure and randomized observation-based strategies for the qualitative analysis of POMDP s with parity objectives and its subclasses

VACUUM AND THERMOPLASTIC MOULD-BASED IMMOBILIZATION SYSTEMS USED IN PATIENT UNDERGOING PELVIC RADIATION THERAPY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to compare two immobilization systems for comparison of setup errors in targeted radiotherapy. Methods: Retrospective analysis was done for the patients undergoing radiotherapy from May 2012 to December 2018 at our institution. Immobilization was performed on 30 patients sessions (Vacuum cushion i.e., Vac-Lok™ = 15; Thermoplastic mould i.e., Pelvicast pelvic masks = 15). A total of 763 cone-beams were analysed. The target lesion location was verified by cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) prior to each session, with displacements assessed by CBCT simulation prior to each treatment session. Systematic setup errors, random setup errors, isocenter deviations in the Medio-lateral (ML), Supero-inferior (SI), Antero-posterior (AP), Rotation (yaw) directions of the patient position was calculated. Results: On comparing the Vac-Lok™ and Pelvicast pelvic masks group with respect to Systematic and random error in the lateral, longitudinal, vertical and YAW direction, no statistically significant difference was seen except the random error in YAW direction (P=0.037, Unpaired t-test). There was no difference observed in comparing the isocentric deviation. Conclusion: It was inferred and concluded that using a vacuum cushion for pelvic radiotherapy provides no added benefit compared to using a thermoplastic mould. Thermoplastic mould is recommended for patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy to improve overall reproducibility.Keywords: Rotational therapy; Radiotherapy; Systematic, random error; Thermoplastic mould; Vacuum cushion

Studies on the controlled rearing and ideal range of Environmental Conditions required for the mass production of selected marine copepods as Live-Feed for marine fish larvae

Studies on the controlled rearing and ideal range of Environmental Conditions required for the mass production of selected marine copepods as Live-Feed for marine fish larva

THE ACCUSED IS ENTERING THE COURTROOM: THE LIVE-TWEETING OF A MURDER TRIAL.

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupThe use of social media is now widely accepted within journalism as an outlet for news information. Live tweeting of unfolding events is standard practice. In March 2014, Oscar Pistorius went on trial in the Gauteng High Court for murder. Hundreds of journalists present began live-tweeting coverage, an unprecedented combination of international interest, permission to use technology and access which resulted in massive streams of consciousness reports of events as they unfolded. Based on a corpus of Twitter feeds of twenty-four journalists covering the trial, this study analyses the content and strategies of these feeds in order to present an understanding of how microblogging is used as a live reporting tool. This study shows the development of standardised language and strategies in reporting on Twitter, concluding that journalists adopt a narrow range of approaches, with no significant variation in terms of gender, location, or medium. This is in contrast to earlier studies in the field (Awad, 2006, Hedman, 2015; Kothari, 2010; Lariscy, Avery, Sweetser, & Howes, 2009 Lasorsa, 2012; Lasorsa, Lewis, & Holton, 2011; Sigal, 1999, Vis, 2013).Peer reviewe

Existence Results for an Impulsive Neutral Fractional Integrodifferential Equation with Infinite Delay

We consider an impulsive neutral fractional integrodifferential equation with infinite delay in an arbitrary Banach space X. The existence of mild solution is established by using solution operator and Hausdorff measure of noncompactness