How to develop a meaningful radiomic signature for clinical use in oncologic patients.

During the last decade, there is an increasing usage of quantitative methods in Radiology in an effort to reduce the diagnostic variability associated with a subjective manner of radiological interpretation. Combined approaches where visual assessment made by the radiologist is augmented by quantitative imaging biomarkers are gaining attention. Advances in machine learning resulted in the rise of radiomics that is a new methodology referring to the extraction of quantitative information from medical images. Radiomics are based on the development of computational models, referred to as "Radiomic Signatures", trying to address either unmet clinical needs, mostly in the field of oncologic imaging, or to compare radiomics performance with that of radiologists. However, to explore this new technology, initial publications did not consider best practices in the field of machine learning resulting in publications with questionable clinical value. In this paper, our effort was concentrated on how to avoid methodological mistakes and consider critical issues in the workflow of the development of clinically meaningful radiomic signatures

Ballistic Spin Injection from Fe into ZnSe and GaAs with a (001), (111), and (110) orientation

We present first-principles calculations of ballistic spin injection in Fe/GaAs and Fe/ZnSe junctions with orientation (001), (111), and (110). We find that the symmetry mismatch of the Fe minority-spin states with the semiconductor conduction states can lead to extremely high spin polarization of the current through the (001) interface for hot and thermal injection processes. Such a symmetry mismatch does not exist for the (111) and (110) interfaces, where smaller spin injection efficiencies are found. The presence of interface states is found to lower the current spin polarization, both with and without a Schottky barrier. Finally, a higher bias can also affect the spin injection efficiency.Comment: 12 pages, 18 figure

Characterization and Weathering of the Building Materials of Sanctuaries in the Archaeological Site of Dion, Greece

The sanctuaries of Demeter and Asklepios are part of the Dion archaeological site that sits among the eastern foothills of Mount Olympus. The main building materials are limestones and conglomerates. Sandstones, marbles, and ceramic plinths were also used. The materials consist mainly of calcite and/or dolomite, whereas the deteriorated surfaces contain also secondary and recrystallized calcite and dolomite, gypsum, various inorganic compounds, fluoroapatite, microorganisms and other organic compounds. Cracks and holes were observed in various parts of the stones. The influence of specific weathering agents and factors to the behavior of the materials was examined. The particular environmental conditions in Dion combine increased moisture and rain fall, insolation and great temperature differences, abundance of intensive surface and underground water bodies in the surrounding area, an area full of plants and trees, therefore, they can cause extensive chemical, biological and mechanical decay of the monuments. The following physical characteristics of the building materials have been studied: bulk density, open porosity, pore size distribution, water absorption and desorption, capillary absorption and desorption. The chemical composition of bulk precipitation, surface and underground water was investigated. The salts presence and crystallization was examined. The influence of the water presence to the behavior of the materials was examined by in situ IR thermometer measurements. Temperature values increased from the lower to the upper parts of the building stones and they significantly depend on the orientation of the walls. The results indicate the existence of water in the bulk of the materials due to capillary penetration. The existence of water in the bulk of the materials due to capillary penetration, the cycles of wet-dry conditions, correlated with the intensive surface and underground water presence in the whole surrounding area, lead to partial dissolution-recrystallization of the carbonate material and loss of the structural cohesion and the surface stability

Broken-Bond Rule for the Surface Energies of Noble Metals

Using two different full-potential ab-initio techniques we introduce a simple, universal rule based on the number of broken first-neighbor bonds to determine the surface energies of the three noble metals Cu, Ag and Au. When a bond is broken, the rearrangement of the electronic charge for these metals does not lead to a change of the remaining bonds. Thus the energy needed to break a bond is independent of the surface orientation. This novel finding can lead to the development of simple models to describe the energetics of a surface like step and kink formation, crystal growth, alloy formation, equilibrium shape of mesoscopic crystallites and surface faceting.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Prognostic value of preoperative dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI perfusion parameters for high-grade glioma patients

INTRODUCTION: The prognostic value of the dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI perfusion and its histogram analysis-derived metrics is not well established for high-grade glioma (HGG) patients. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate DCE perfusion transfer coefficient (Ktrans), vascular plasma volume fraction (vp), extracellular volume fraction (ve), reverse transfer constant (kep), and initial area under gadolinium concentration time curve (IAUGC) as predictors of progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in HGG patients. METHODS: Sixty-nine patients with suspected anaplastic astrocytoma or glioblastoma underwent preoperative DCE-MRI scans. DCE perfusion whole tumor region histogram parameters, clinical details, and PFS and OS data were obtained. Univariate, multivariate, and Kaplan–Meier survival analyses were conducted. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was employed to identify perfusion parameters with the best differentiation performance. RESULTS: On univariate analysis, ve and skewness of vp had significant negative impacts, while kep had significant positive impact on OS (P < 0.05). ve was also a negative predictor of PFS (P < 0.05). Patients with lower ve and IAUGC had longer median PFS and OS on Kaplan–Meier analysis (P < 0.05). Ktrans and ve could also differentiate grade III from IV gliomas (area under the curve 0.819 and 0.791, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: High ve is a consistent predictor of worse PFS and OS in HGG glioma patients. vp skewness and kep are also predictive for OS. Ktrans and ve demonstrated the best diagnostic performance for differentiating grade III from IV gliomas

Monte Carlo simulations of ferromagnetism in p-CdMnTe quantum wells

Monte Carlo simulations, in which the Schrodinger equation is solved at each Monte Carlo sweep, are employed to assess the influence of magnetization fluctuations,short-range antiferromagnetic interactions, disorder, magnetic polaron formation, and spin-Peierls instability on the carrier-mediated Ising ferromagnetism in two-dimensional electronic systems. The determined critical temperature and hysteresis are affected in a nontrivial way by the antiferromagnetic interactions. The findings explain striking experimental results for modulation-doped p-CdMnTe quantum wells.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letters; replaced figure 4; revised tex

Comparison of low contrast sensitivity among multi-slice CT units using various mAs setting for the potential benefit of non-MRI compatible, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) patients

Purpose: To evaluate the low contrast detectability sensitivity among 4-slice, 8-slice and 16-slice CT units using various mAs settings. Findings of the study may elucidate the most optimal imaging parameter for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) patients who are not MRI compatible.Methods and Materials: Low contrast targets in the CATPHAN phantom (model: CTP 504, The Phantom Laboratory) were imaged on a 4-slice LightSpeed Advantage™ GE CT scanner (GE Healthcare, WI) and a 16- slice LightSpeed Advantage™ GE CT scanner (GE Healthcare, WI) in 8-slice and 16-slice mode. The CATPHAN CTP515 low contrast targets of size 15, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2 mm for each contrast difference of 1%, 0.5% and 0.3% from the water-equivalent background was imaged using a SRS protocol. Two image sets per setting were acquired for mAs parameters of 300, 350 and 440. Images were evaluated in a blind study by three independent reviewers.Results: Using 300,350 and 440mAs settings on the 4-slice scanner, the average smallest diameters recorded at 1% contrast were 5 ± 1 mm, 5 ± 1 mm and 5 ± 0 mm and at 0.5% were 7 ± 2 mm, 7 ± 1 mm and 6 ± 1 mm. For the 8 - slice scanner, the average smallest diameters recorded at 1% contrast were 7 ± 0 mm, 6 ± 0 mm and 5 ± 0 mm, and at 0.5% were 12 ± 3 mm, 9 ± 1 mm and 6 ± 1 mm. For the 16 - slice scanner, the average smallest diameters recorded at 1% contrast were 7 ± 1 mm, 7 ± 1 mm and 6 ± 1 mm, and at 0.5% were 11 ± 3 mm, 8 ± 1 mm and 8 ± 1 mm. A difference was observed between the 4 and 8 - slice scanners at 300mAs (p &lt; 0.01) for each contrast level as well as the 4 and 16 slice at 440 (p &lt; 0.01) and 350 (p &lt; 0.01) mAs. Additionally, a difference was observed between each mAs for the 8 slice at 1% (p &lt; 0.01) and 0.5% (p &lt; 0.01) contrast.Conclusion: Results demonstrate consistently improved low contrast detectability as mAs was increased. CT simulation imaging parameters can be optimized to improve low contrast sensitivity for non MRI compatible SRS patients.----------------Cite this article as: Stanley D, Narayanasamy G, Breton C, Papanikolaou N, Gutierrez AN. Comparison of low contrast sensitivity among multi-slice CT units using various mAs setting for the potential benefit of non-MRI compatible, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) patients. Int J Cancer Ther Oncol 2014; 2(2):020237. DOI: 10.14319/ijcto.0202.37</p

Comparison of low contrast sensitivity among multi-slice CT units using various mAs setting for the potential benefit of non-MRI compatible, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) patients

Purpose: To evaluate the low contrast detectability sensitivity among 4-slice, 8-slice and 16-slice CT units using various mAs settings. Findings of the study may elucidate the most optimal imaging parameter for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) patients who are not MRI compatible.Methods and Materials: Low contrast targets in the CATPHAN phantom (model: CTP 504, The Phantom Laboratory) were imaged on a 4-slice LightSpeed Advantage™ GE CT scanner (GE Healthcare, WI) and a 16- slice LightSpeed Advantage™ GE CT scanner (GE Healthcare, WI) in 8-slice and 16-slice mode. The CATPHAN CTP515 low contrast targets of size 15, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2 mm for each contrast difference of 1%, 0.5% and 0.3% from the water-equivalent background was imaged using a SRS protocol. Two image sets per setting were acquired for mAs parameters of 300, 350 and 440. Images were evaluated in a blind study by three independent reviewers.Results: Using 300,350 and 440mAs settings on the 4-slice scanner, the average smallest diameters recorded at 1% contrast were 5 ± 1 mm, 5 ± 1 mm and 5 ± 0 mm and at 0.5% were 7 ± 2 mm, 7 ± 1 mm and 6 ± 1 mm. For the 8 - slice scanner, the average smallest diameters recorded at 1% contrast were 7 ± 0 mm, 6 ± 0 mm and 5 ± 0 mm, and at 0.5% were 12 ± 3 mm, 9 ± 1 mm and 6 ± 1 mm. For the 16 - slice scanner, the average smallest diameters recorded at 1% contrast were 7 ± 1 mm, 7 ± 1 mm and 6 ± 1 mm, and at 0.5% were 11 ± 3 mm, 8 ± 1 mm and 8 ± 1 mm. A difference was observed between the 4 and 8 - slice scanners at 300mAs (p &lt; 0.01) for each contrast level as well as the 4 and 16 slice at 440 (p &lt; 0.01) and 350 (p &lt; 0.01) mAs. Additionally, a difference was observed between each mAs for the 8 slice at 1% (p &lt; 0.01) and 0.5% (p &lt; 0.01) contrast.Conclusion: Results demonstrate consistently improved low contrast detectability as mAs was increased. CT simulation imaging parameters can be optimized to improve low contrast sensitivity for non MRI compatible SRS patients.----------------Cite this article as: Stanley D, Narayanasamy G, Breton C, Papanikolaou N, Gutierrez AN. Comparison of low contrast sensitivity among multi-slice CT units using various mAs setting for the potential benefit of non-MRI compatible, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) patients. Int J Cancer Ther Oncol 2014; 2(2):020237. DOI: 10.14319/ijcto.0202.3

Radiobiological Evaluation of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Treatments of Patients with Head and Neck Cancer: A Dual-Institutional Study

In clinical practice, evaluation of clinical efficacy of treatment planning stems from the radiation oncologist\u27s experience in accurately targeting tumors, while keeping minimal toxicity to various organs at risk (OAR) involved. A more objective, quantitative method may be raised by using radiobiological models. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the potential correlation of OAR-related toxicities to its radiobiologically estimated parameters in simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans of patients with head and neck tumors at two institutions. Lyman model for normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) and the Poisson model for tumor control probability (TCP) models were used in the Histogram Analysis in Radiation Therapy (HART) analysis. In this study, 33 patients with oropharyngeal primaries in the head and neck region were used to establish the correlation between NTCP values of (a) bilateral parotids with clinically observed rates of xerostomia, (b) esophagus with dysphagia, and (c) larynx with dysphagia. The results of the study indicated a strong correlation between the severity of xerostomia and dysphagia with Lyman NTCP of bilateral parotids and esophagus, respectively, but not with the larynx. In patients without complications, NTCP values of these organs were negligible. Using appropriate radiobiological models, the presence of a moderate to strong correlation between the severities of complications with NTCP of selected OARs suggested that the clinical outcome could be estimated prior to treatment