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- Georg, Dietmar, et al.
(author)
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Clinical evaluation of monitor unit software and the application of action levels
- 2007
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In: Radiotherapy and Oncology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8140 .- 1879-0887. ; 85:2, s. 306-315
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PURPOSE: The aim of this study was the clinical evaluation of an independent dose and monitor unit verification (MUV) software which is based on sophisticated semi-analytical modelling. The software was developed within the framework of an ESTRO project. Finally, consistent handling of dose calculation deviations applying individual action levels is discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A Matlab-based software ("MUV") was distributed to five well-established treatment centres in Europe (Vienna, Graz, Basel, Copenhagen, and Umeå) and evaluated as a quality assurance (QA) tool in clinical routine. Results were acquired for 226 individual treatment plans including a total of 815 radiation fields. About 150 beam verification measurements were performed for a portion of the individual treatment plans, mainly with time variable fluence patterns. The deviations between dose calculations performed with a treatment planning system (TPS) and the MUV software were scored with respect to treatment area, treatment technique, geometrical depth, radiological depth, etc. RESULTS: In general good agreement was found between calculations performed with the different TPSs and MUV, with a mean deviation per field of 0.2+/-3.5% (1 SD) and mean deviations of 0.2+/-2.2% for composite treatment plans. For pelvic treatments less than 10% of all fields showed deviations larger than 3%. In general, when using the radiological depth for verification calculations the results and the spread in the results improved significantly, especially for head-and-neck and for thorax treatments. For IMRT head-and-neck beams, mean deviations between MUV and the local TPS were -1.0+/-7.3% for dynamic, and -1.3+/-3.2% for step-and-shoot IMRT delivery. For dynamic IMRT beams in the pelvis good agreement was obtained between MUV and the local TPS (mean: -1.6+/-1.5%). Treatment site and treatment technique dependent action levels between +/-3% and +/-5% seem to be clinically realistic if a radiological depth correction is performed, even for dynamic wedges and IMRT. CONCLUSION: The software MUV is well suited for patient specific treatment plan QA applications and can handle all currently available treatment techniques that can be applied with standard linear accelerators. The highly sophisticated dose calculation model implemented in MUV allows investigation of systematic TPS deviations by performing calculations in homogeneous conditions
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| 2. |
- Gröningsson, Per, et al.
(author)
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High resolution spectroscopy of the inner ring of SN 1987A
- 2008
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 479:3, s. 761-777
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We discuss high resolution VLT/UVES observations (FWHM similar to 6 kms(-1)) from October 2002 (day similar to 5700 past explosion) of the shock interaction of SN 1987A and its circumstellar ring. A large number of narrow emission lines from the unshocked ring, with ion stages from neutral up to Ne V and Fe VII, have been identified. A nebular analysis of the narrow lines from the unshocked gas indicates gas densities of (similar to 1.5 - 5.0) x 10(3) cm(-3) and temperatures of similar to 6.5 x 10(3) - 2.4 x 104 K. This is consistent with the thermal widths of the lines. From the shocked component we observe a large range of ionization stages from neutral lines to [FeXIV]. From a nebular analysis we find that the density in the low ionization region is 4 x 10(6) - 10(7) cm-3. There is a clear difference in the high velocity extension of the low ionization lines and that of lines from [Fe X - XIV], with the latter extending up to similar to- 390 km s(-1) in the blue wing for [Fe XIV], while the low ionization lines extend to typically similar to- 260 km s(-1). For H alpha a faint extension up to similar to- 450 km s(-1) can be seen probably arising from a small fraction of shocked high density clumps. We discuss these observations in the context of radiative shock models, which are qualitatively consistent with the observations. A fraction of the high ionization lines may originate in gas which has yet not had time to cool, explaining the difference in width between the low and high ionization lines. The maximum shock velocities seen in the optical lines are similar to 510 km s(-1). We expect the maximum width of especially the low ionization lines to increase with time.
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| 3. |
- Gröningsson, Per, et al.
(author)
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High resolution spectroscopy of the line emission from the inner circumstellar ring of SN 1987A and its hot spots
- 2007
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We discuss high resolution VLT/UVES observations (FWHM ~ 6 km/s) from October 2002 (day ~5700 past explosion) of the shock interaction of SN 1987A and its circumstellar ring. A nebular analysis of the narrow lines from the unshocked gas indicates gas densities of (1.5-5.0)E3 cm-3 and temperatures of 6.5E3-2.4E4 K. This is consistent with the thermal widths of the lines. From the shocked component we observe a large range of ionization stages from neutral lines to [Fe XIV]. From a nebular analysis we find that the density in the low ionization region is 4E6-1E7 cm-3. There is a clear difference in the high velocity extension of the low ionization lines and that of lines from [Fe X-XIV], with the latter extending up to ~ -390 km/s in the blue wing for [Fe XIV], while the low ionization lines extend to typically ~ -260 km/s. For H-alpha a faint extension up to ~ -450 km/s can be seen probably arising from a small fraction of shocked high density clumps. We discuss these observations in the context of radiative shock models, which are qualitatively consistent with the observations. A fraction of the high ionization lines may originate in gas which has yet not had time to cool down, explaining the difference in width between the low and high ionization lines. The maximum shock velocities seen in the optical lines are ~ 510 km/s. We expect the maximum width of especially the low ionization lines to increase with time.
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| 4. |
- Kadi, Fawzi, et al.
(author)
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The behaviour of satellite cells in response to exercise : what have we learned from human studies?
- 2005
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In: Pflügers Archiv. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0031-6768 .- 1432-2013. ; 451:2, s. 319-327
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Understanding the complex role played by satellite cells in the adaptive response to exercise in human skeletal muscle has just begun. The development of reliable markers for the identification of satellite cell status (quiescence/activation/proliferation) is an important step towards the understanding of satellite cell behaviour in exercised human muscles. It is hypothesised currently that exercise in humans can induce (1) the activation of satellite cells without proliferation, (2) proliferation and withdrawal from differentiation, (3) proliferation and differentiation to provide myonuclei and (4) proliferation and differentiation to generate new muscle fibres or to repair segmental fibre injuries. In humans, the satellite cell pool can increase as early as 4 days following a single bout of exercise and is maintained at higher level following several weeks of training. Cessation of training is associated with a gradual reduction of the previously enhanced satellite cell pool. In the elderly, training counteracts the normal decline in satellite cell number seen with ageing. When the transcriptional activity of existing myonuclei reaches its maximum, daughter cells generated by satellite cell proliferation are involved in protein synthesis by enhancing the number of nuclear domains. Clearly, delineating the events and the mechanisms behind the activation of satellite cells both under physiological and pathological conditions in human skeletal muscles remains an important challenge.
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| 7. |
- Pallas, Josef, 1974-
(author)
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Talking Organizations : Corporate Media Work and Negotiations of Local Practice
- 2007
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Contemporary business organizations are becoming increasingly medialized. The present thesis builds on the assumption that the media play an important part in shaping relations between organizations and their environments, and that we need to know more about the way organizations respond to and influence the media and the production of news. Following a close examination of thirteen major Swedish corporations and their media activities it has been suggested that business organizations are actively involved not only in direct media work, i.e. activities concerned with news coverage, but also in influencing the organizational and professional settings in which the production of news occurs. This involvement on the part of the companies embraced the production of media texts, the development of various relationships with the media, organizational arrangements for their Corporate Communications departments, and the professionalization of company-media interaction.This corporate involvement has been perceived as being exercised via a set of purposeful negotiations whereby the companies contribute to the co-shaping of the short-term conditions for the coverage of news regarding their conduct, as well as other general settings consisting the routines, norms and expectations that shape their long-term interactions with the media. It has been concluded that more attention should be paid to company-media activities identified as a negotiated local practice. This practice constitutes a formal behavioural frame of reference for the interacting actors, as it allows for the possibility of mutual adjustments and professional improvisations. Thus, with its suggestion for bridging between institutional expectations and locally developed solutions, the notion of negotiated local practices gives us a more comprehensive understanding of the way individual organizations interact with and co-shape their environments.
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