Unflattened Radiotherapy beams; characterisation, optimisation and application

The goal of this thesis was to investigate flattening filter free (FFF) beams produced by medical linear accelerators for radiotherapy applications, from their initial setup through to their clinical implementation. This was split into four sections that comprise the main experimental chapters of this thesis. The characteristics of FFF beams both matched (by tuning beam quality to the equivalent cFF beam) and unmatched were compared to conventional flattening filter (cFF) beams. The characterisation of FFF beams highlighted inconsistencies with the current parameters used for the description and quality assurance (QA) of cFF beams. New methods suitable for the QA of both cFF and FFF beams were investigated and proposed. The use of Monte Carlo (MC) modelling was investigated to determine how to model an FFF beam and facilitate further investigations. Treatment planning studies were performed for lung stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), pelvic SABR and Head and Neck volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). The planning work concluded that clinically acceptable plans were achievable through the use of FFF beams and provides a solid basis for clinical implementation. The work overall provides a comprehensive set of practical data and methods to support the use of FFF beams in clinical practice

An Arm\u27s Length Evaluation of Octopus

This paper explores and evaluates the use of Octopus in Hong Kong (HK). There are over 7.4 million cards sold and 7 million of these are active. The study examines how transport and other sectors can enhance their services through Octopus. Six of the forty organisations using the Hong Kong Octopus card were interviewed. A convenience sample of 800 actual and potential Octopus customers was sent a questionnaire. Unprecedented growth in the use of smartcard devices had been recorded in recent years. They are expected to bring revolutionary changes to businesses, governments and members of the society. The implications from this study would therefore be useful for those organisations that use or plan to adopt and implement the technology. Results of the survey are discussed, including penetration rate, figures on card ownership and usage, failure rate, results from promotion schemes and loyalty programmes, success factors, users reliance of the system and areas of improvement. The major reasons for not using the system are addressed. Findings obtained from interview sessions were integrated in the discussion

Outbreak of influenza A(H1N1) in a school in southern England

An outbreak of influenza A (subtype H1N1) has occurred in a primary school in West Sussex, southern England [1]. The first cases of illness occurred during the first week of May 2004. One child was admitted to hospital during that week with symptoms of fever, confusion, headache, and conjunctivitis. Staff reported the outbreak to the local health authorities when substantial numbers of children developed symptoms of fever, nausea, vomiting, cough, and sore throat. Information collected through a questionnaire distributed to parents whose children had been absent from school suggested a respiratory viral illness with a serial interval of one to three days, and duration of one to seven days

Evaluating Usability of New Zealand E-Tailing Sites

“When a main street store builds a web site, they open up opportunities to expand their market beyond geographic boundaries. The chances of losing sales from the physical shop are slight, but the potential to increase sales through their web site could be enormous….” [1]. The Internet is world wide virtual world that everyone can access (buy) almo st everything they might want in the real world. The web site is the front door of the online store that interacts between the e-tailer and consumers. Setting up the web site seems easy, but to make the site that usable and effective is not so easy. Of the many web sites on the Internet, only a few can survive and make a profit. Thirty New Zealand e-tailing sites were evaluated using a model adapted from that of Hersey. Most sites do a satisfactory job enabling commercial transactions (providing electronic catalogue, online order, online payment and delivery). 70% of those examined are positioned as full e-commerce capability sites. However, they lack a sense of building the consumer’s trust, a necessary step towards establishing a relationship. They do not provide the necessary assistance to make it easy for consumers to shop online, nor do they create a consumer community. Only 47% use either pull or push techniques to attract and retain the consumers

Business Strategies For the New Zealand Online Fashion Industry

The popularity of the Internet has raised the number of people shopping online and offers opportunities for fashion businesses to promote or sell their products via the Internet. There are an increasing number of New Zealand fashion organisations launching a web site either for information distribution, promotional use or online retailing. It is believed that the online fashion industry has a tremendous potential in New Zealand. Four interviews were carried out within New Zealand fashion organisations with the focus being their tactics in creating Internet fashion sites and the determinants to make them successful ones. A successful fashion web site should have rich and high quality content, fast loading speed, easy for navigation and good graphics. It is important for New Zealand fashion organisations to frequently update their web site, offer new promotions, consider consumer preferences and improve from there

Towards An Internet Site Usability Evaluation Model

The population of web sites continues growing every year, but are the sites usable? Most sites seem to ignore the usability issue. Usability is about making the site easy for consumers to navigate and operate. Unusable sites do not attract and retain consumers. A usable site is one that is concerned with the user’ perception and provides the fundaments that allow the consumer to accomplish tasks such as searching and purchasing. According to ISO’s usability definition, examining its effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction, measures the usability of the web site. Five commonly used usability evaluation methods, competitive analysis, scenarios, inspection method, log analysis and on-line questionnaires, were reviewed. Using these earlier concepts as a basis, the usability evaluation model was developed. The model consists of four components - Information, Transaction Service, Trust, and Non-functional requirements. The model was first tested on Travel sites. It was found that it could be used to classify the sites. It was then tested against a user perception survey of the industry sites. This indicated an agreement between the model and the user perceptions. The model was then tailored for e-commerce web sites and, based on the core similarities, a more abstract level could be postulated. This was then tested against its application to a third industry, Internet banking sites. Similarities and differences between the fundamental elements of the sites in the three industry sectors are related to the sector’s needs and those of the customers that they service

An Evaluation of the Fashion Web Sites in New Zealand

A fashion web site provides consumers with the opportunity to search for information. It also enables them to shop unconstrained by time or location. This research evaluates the performance of the fashion web sites in New Zealand and examines how the web sites can improve. Forty New Zealand fashion web sites were examined using the web site evaluation model tailored for fashion sites. The results show that the majority of New Zealand fashion web sites are informational rather than transactional. Fashion web sites should focus on how to improve their web site quality and web site content in order to attract more potential consumers

Aufführen und Komponieren von Musik in den allgemein bildenden Schulen Großbritanniens

Als die GCSE vor einigen Jahren als neue Prüfung eingeführt wurde, bewies die Prüfungsordnung Musik (music syllabus) eine radikalere Neubewertung der Prüfungsinhalte als in jedem anderen Unterrichtsfach des Schulwesens. Gerade die Prüfungsinhalte Instrumentalspiel und Komponieren stellen eine völlige Kehrtwende in der offiziellen Einstellung gegenüber dem Schulmusikunterricht dar. Die frühere Betonung der Information über Musik (historisch und theoretisch) wurde zurückgedrängt durch eine Erkenntnis, daß das Wesen der Musik ihre Praxis ist; und daß Information über Musik keinen Wert hat, wenn sie nicht ins Musikmachen (als Aufführen oder Komponieren von Musik) eingeschlossen ist. Diese Erkenntnis wurde in das Unterrichtskonzept eingearbeitet, das von der Arbeitsgruppe Musik für den englischen Lehrplan (National Curriculum) entwickelt wurde. (DIPF/Orig.