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- Benmakhlouf, Hamza, et al.
(author)
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Backscatter factors and mass energy-absorption coefficient ratios for diagnostic radiology dosimetry
- 2011
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In: Physics in Medicine and Biology. - : IOP Publishing. - 0031-9155 .- 1361-6560. ; 56:22, s. 7179-7204
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Backscatter factors, B, and mass energy-absorption coefficient ratios, (mu(en)/rho)(omega,) (air), for the determination of the surface dose in diagnostic radiology were calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. The main purpose was to extend the range of available data to qualities used in modern x-ray techniques, particularly for interventional radiology. A comprehensive database for mono-energetic photons between 4 and 150 keV and different field sizes was created for a 15 cm thick water phantom. Backscattered spectra were calculated with the PENELOPE Monte Carlo system, scoring track-length fluence differential in energy with negligible statistical uncertainty; using the Monte Carlo computed spectra, B factors and (mu(en)/rho)(omega), air were then calculated numerically for each energy. Weighted averaging procedures were subsequently used to convolve incident clinical spectra with mono-energetic data. The method was benchmarked against full Monte Carlo calculations of incident clinical spectra obtaining differences within 0.3-0.6%. The technique used enables the calculation of B and (mu(en)/rho)(w), air for any incident spectrum without further time-consuming Monte Carlo simulations. The adequacy of the extended dosimetry data to a broader range of clinical qualities than those currently available, while keeping consistency with existing data, was confirmed through detailed comparisons. Mono-energetic and spectra-averaged values were compared with published data, including those in ICRU Report 74 and IAEA TRS-457, finding average differences of 0.6%. Results are provided in comprehensive tables appropriated for clinical use. Additional qualities can easily be calculated using a designed GUI interface in conjunction with software to generate incident photon spectra.
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- Benmakhlouf, Hamza, et al.
(author)
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Influence of phantom thickness and material on the backscatter factors for diagnostic x-ray beam dosimetry
- 2013
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In: Physics in Medicine and Biology. - : IOP Publishing. - 0031-9155 .- 1361-6560. ; 58:2, s. 247-260
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most of the existing backscatter factors for the dosimetry of clinical diagnostic x-ray beams have been calculated for 15 cm thick phantoms; these data are used for skin dose determinations which in general ignore the influence of phantom material and thickness. The former should strictly be required whenever dosimetry measurements are made on phantom materials different from those used for the backscatter factor calculations. The phantom or patient thickness is of special importance when skin dose determinations are made for infants or paediatric patients. In this work, the recently published formalism for reference dosimetry and comprehensive database of backscatter factors for clinical beams and water phantoms have been extended using two correction factors which account for phantom material and thickness. These were determined with simulations using the PENELOPE Monte Carlo system, for PMMA to analyse the influence of the phantom material relative to water, and for a broad range of thicknesses of water and PMMA to investigate the role of this parameter in patient dose estimates. The material correction factor was found to be in the range 3-10%, depending on the field size and the HVL. The thickness correction factor was in the range 2-12% for a 5 cm thick phantom and square field sizes between 5 and 35 cm, reaching a plateau of about ±1% for thicknesses beyond 13 cm. Expressions in the form of surface fits over the calculated data are provided which streamline the determination of backscatter factors for arbitrary thicknesses and phantom materials, as well as field sizes. Results demonstrate the inadequacy of using conventional backscatter factors (calculated for 15 cm thick phantoms) without correction factors that take into account the phantom material and its thickness.
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- Bjørndal, Lars, et al.
(author)
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Randomised clinical trial on deep caries excavation 3-5 yr follow-up
- 2012
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In: Journal of dental research. - : Sage Publications. ; 91:Spec Iss b
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Objectives: Long term follow-up data based on randomised clinical trials are needed in relation to deep caries treatment. The aim of the present trial is to investigate the beneficial and harmful long term effects of stepwise excavation during two visits versus one completed excavation of deep caries in permanent teeth in adults. Methods: Consecutive patients contacting clinical units in Sweden and Denmark were included. The trial is a centrally randomised patient- and observer-blinded multicenter trial, with two parallel intervention groups. A sample size calculation showed that 134 patients were needed in each group. Taking dropouts into account, a total of 314 patients fulfilled well-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria and were centrally block-randomised stratified by age and pain. Inclusion criteria: (i) Person ≥ 18 yrs having deep caries with or without pain (ii) x-ray showing primary caries into the inner 1/4 of the dentin, with the presence of a radiopaque zone at the pulpal wall. Success was defined as unexposed pulp with sustained pulp vitality without apical radiolucency after follow-up. Blinded evaluation of 1½ follow-up has previously been carried out in 106 patients (stepwise excavation group) and 93 patients (direct complete excavation) (Bjørndal et al. 2010, EJOS). Results: At 3-5 yr follow up there was a statistically significantly higher success with stepwise excavation [difference: 11.5%, 95% confidence interval (0.5; 22.2)] versus a direct complete excavation procedure, being similarly with the short term follow-up data. 53.3% (n = 102) of the material has been controlled and no significant differences were noted between the two intervention groups in terms of patients not yet controlled, lost patients and failures (Table). Conclusion: A stepwise excavation procedure still seems preferable after a long term follow up and presumably related to the reduced risk of exposing the inflamed pulp associated with deep caries.
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- Bujila, Robert, et al.
(author)
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Practical approaches to approximating MTF and NPS in CT with an example application to task-based observer studies
- 2017
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In: Physica medica (Testo stampato). - : Elsevier BV. - 1120-1797 .- 1724-191X. ; 33, s. 16-25
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: To investigate two methods of approximating the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) and Noise Power Spectrum (NPS) in computed tomography (CT) for a range of scan parameters, from limited image acquisitions. Methods: The two methods consist of 1) using a linear systems approach to approximate the NPS for different filtered backprojection (FBP) kernels with a filter function derived from the kernel ratio of determined MTFs and 2) using an empirical fitted model to approximate the MTF and NPS. In both cases a scaling function accounts for variations in mAs and kV. The two methods of approximating the MTF/ NPS are further investigated by comparing image quality figure of merits (FOM) d' and AUC calculated using approximations of the MTF/NPS and MTF/NPS that have been determined for different mAs/kV levels and reconstruction kernels. Results: The greatest RMSE for NPS approximated for a range of mAs/kVp/convolution kernels using both methods and compared to determined NPS was 0.05 of the peak value. The RMSE for FOM with the kernel ratio method were at most 0.1 for d' and 0.01 for the AUC. Using the empirical model method, the RMSE for FOM were at most 0.02 for d' and 0.001 for the AUC. Conclusions: The two methods proposed in this paper can provide a convenient way of approximating the MTF and NPS for use in, among other things, mathematical observer studies. Both methods require a relatively small number of direct determinations of NPS from scan acquisitions to model the NPS/MTF for arbitrary mAs and kV.
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- Lundgren, Markus, et al.
(author)
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Analgesic antipyretic use among young children in the TEDDY study : No association with islet autoimmunity
- 2017
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In: BMC Pediatrics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2431. ; 17:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The use of analgesic antipyretics (ANAP) in children have long been a matter of controversy. Data on their practical use on an individual level has, however, been scarce. There are indications of possible effects on glucose homeostasis and immune function related to the use of ANAP. The aim of this study was to analyze patterns of analgesic antipyretic use across the clinical centers of The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) prospective cohort study and test if ANAP use was a risk factor for islet autoimmunity. Methods: Data were collected for 8542 children in the first 2.5 years of life. Incidence was analyzed using logistic regression with country and first child status as independent variables. Holm's procedure was used to adjust for multiplicity of intercountry comparisons. Time to autoantibody seroconversion was analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model with cumulative analgesic use as primary time dependent covariate of interest. For each categorization, a generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach was used. Results: Higher prevalence of ANAP use was found in the U.S. (95.7%) and Sweden (94.8%) compared to Finland (78.1%) and Germany (80.2%). First-born children were more commonly given acetaminophen (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.07, 1.49; p = 0.007) but less commonly Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) (OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.78, 0.95; p = 0.002). Acetaminophen and NSAID use in the absence of fever and infection was more prevalent in the U.S. (40.4%; 26.3% of doses) compared to Sweden, Finland and Germany (p < 0.001). Acetaminophen or NSAID use before age 2.5 years did not predict development of islet autoimmunity by age 6 years (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.99-1.09; p = 0.27). In a sub-analysis, acetaminophen use in children with fever weakly predicted development of islet autoimmunity by age 3 years (HR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.09; p = 0.024). Conclusions: ANAP use in young children is not a risk factor for seroconversion by age 6 years. Use of ANAP is widespread in young children, and significantly higher in the U.S. compared to other study sites, where use is common also in absence of fever and infection.
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| 10. |
- Skorodko, Tatiana, et al.
(author)
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Measurement of the p n ---> p p pi0 pi- reaction in search of the ABC resonance
- 2012
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In: Proceedings of 12th International Workshop on Production, properties and interaction of mesons (MESON 2012). - Les Ulis Cedex, France : EDP Sciences. ; , s. 09033-
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- With pd collisions at T_p = 1.2 GeV exclusive measurements of the quasi-free pn -> pppi^0pi^- reaction have been carried out. Using the WASA detector setup at COSY total and differential cross sections have been obtained for the energy region &radics = 2.35 - 2.48 GeV. Though this includes the region of the ABC effect and its associated resonance structure, no low-mass enhancement (ABC effect) is found in the pi^0pi^--invariant mass spectrum - in agreement with the constraint from Bose statistics demanding the isovector pion pair to be in relative p-wave. Conventional calculations including t-channel processes for Roper, Delta(1600) and DeltaDelta excitations and their decays, which are well-known from the study of the two-pion production in pp collisions, provide a reasonable description of the data at high energies, but fall low at low energies. From this we conclude that a large contribution from a so far unknown isoscalar low-energy process is missed in the calculations. Inclusion of the ABC resonance at m = 2.37 GeV with Gamma = 70 MeV and I(J^P) = 0(3^+), which was recently observed in the pn -> dpi^0pi^0 reaction, leads to a much improved description of the data at low energies.
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