In vitro comparative study of vibro-acoustography versus pulse-echo ultrasound in imaging permanent prostate brachytherapy seeds

Background

Permanent prostate brachytherapy (PPB) is a common treatment for early stage prostate cancer. While the modern approach using trans-rectal ultrasound guidance has demonstrated excellent outcome, the efficacy of PPB depends on achieving complete radiation dose coverage of the prostate by obtaining a proper radiation source (seed) distribution. Currently, brachytherapy seed placement is guided by trans-rectal ultrasound imaging and fluoroscopy. A significant percentage of seeds are not detected by trans-rectal ultrasound because certain seed orientations are invisible making accurate intra-operative feedback of radiation dosimetry very difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, intra-operative correction of suboptimal seed distributions cannot easily be done with current methods. Vibro-acoustography (VA) is an imaging modality that is capable of imaging solids at any orientation, and the resulting images are speckle free.

Objective and methods

The purpose of this study is to compare the capabilities of VA and pulse-echo ultrasound in imaging PPB seeds at various angles and show the sensitivity of detection to seed orientation. In the VA experiment, two intersecting ultrasound beams driven at f₁ = 3.00 MHz and f₂ = 3.020 MHz respectively were focused on the seeds attached to a latex membrane while the amplitude of the acoustic emission produced at the difference frequency 20 kHz was detected by a low frequency hydrophone.

Results

Finite element simulations and results of experiments conducted under well-controlled conditions in a water tank on a series of seeds indicate that the seeds can be detected at any orientation with VA, whereas pulse-echo ultrasound is very sensitive to the seed orientation.

Conclusion

It is concluded that vibro-acoustography is superior to pulse-echo ultrasound for detection of PPB seeds.     

基于光谱发射率函数基形式不变的辐射测温技术

近年来,随着国防、工业、科技等领域飞速发展,无论是对于军用动力发射系统还是对于民用钢铁冶炼以及高科技新兴产业,辐射温度测量都具有重要意义。尤其在温度极高且伴随着瞬态测温(小于1 μs)需求的场合,多光谱辐射测温法被广泛运用。多光谱辐射测温法是通过选取被测目标多个特征波长,测量特征波长的辐射信息,再假设发射率与波长相关的数学模型,最终求解得到辐射温度。目前,利用该方法实际测温时,光谱发射率都采用固定的假设数学模型,而针对目标在不同温度状态下,该固定模型则无法进行自适应变化。同样,在不同温度下,如何解算最终的发射率和辐射温度也没有普适性的方法。基于普朗克黑体辐射定律,提出一种被测目标在不同温度下光谱发射率函数基形式不变的思想,简称发射率函数基形式不变法。通过该方法,发射率模型可以根据物体在不同温度状态下,函数系数动态改变来进行自适应变化。同时对于如何解算最终的发射率和辐射温度也相应提出了普适性的方法。通过大量仿真验证以及实际测量光谱辐射照度标准灯和溴钨灯温度实验,证明本文提出的方法比现有的光谱发射率处理方法更加简单实用并且能够有效地提高光谱发射率的计算精度,从而提高辐射温度测量精度。同时具有实用性好、应用广泛等特点。     

Kinematical separation of α-n final-state interaction at 50 MeV incident energy

A kinematically complete experiment has been performed to study the α-n final-state interaction (FSI) in the α + d ↦α + p + n break-up reaction at 50 MeV incident energy for the alpha-particles. For this, we have chosen four pairs of correlation angles for the outgoing alpha and protons. These are ( θ_α = 18^°, θ_p = 42^°), ( θ_α = 20^°, θ_p = 45^°), ( θ_α = 22^°, θ_p = 42^°) and ( θ_α = 22^°, θ_p = 47^°), selected kinematically where the allowed phase spaces are in favor of the α-n final-state interaction. Our experimental data show strong α-n FSI in all the selected configurations. Also, the FSI is found to be stronger at the lower alpha-particle energy when two FSI peaks appear in the same configuration. Received: 17 June 2002 / Accepted: 3 October 2002 / Published online: 4 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: dey_s2001@yahoo.com; Present address: 445 Waupelani Drive, Apt. F3, State College, PA 16801, USA. Communicated by M. Gar?on     

Comparison of Intermolecular Interactions of Irreversible and Reversible Inhibitors with Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase via Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a key protein from the TEC family and is involved in B-cell lymphoma occurrence and development. Targeting BTK is therefore an effective strategy for B-cell lymphoma treatment. Since previous studies on BTK have been limited to structure-function analyses of static protein structures, the dynamics of conformational change of BTK upon inhibitor binding remain unclear. Here, molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the molecular mechanisms of association and dissociation of a reversible (ARQ531) and irreversible (ibrutinib) small-molecule inhibitor to/from BTK. The results indicated that the BTK kinase domain was found to be locked in an inactive state through local conformational changes in the DFG motif, and P-, A-, and gatekeeper loops. The binding of the inhibitors drove the outward rotation of the C-helix, resulting in the upfolded state of Trp395 and the formation of the salt bridge of Glu445-Arg544, which maintained the inactive conformation state. Met477 and Glu475 in the hinge region were found to be the key residues for inhibitor binding. These findings can be used to evaluate the inhibitory activity of the pharmacophore and applied to the design of effective BTK inhibitors. In addition, the drug resistance to the irreversible inhibitor Ibrutinib was mainly from the strong interaction of Cys481, which was evidenced by the mutational experiment, and further confirmed by the measurement of rupture force and rupture times from steered molecular dynamics simulation. Our results provide mechanistic insights into resistance against BTK-targeting drugs and the key interaction sites for the development of high-quality BTK inhibitors. The steered dynamics simulation also offers a means to rapidly assess the binding capacity of newly designed inhibitors.     

On a partial integrodifferential equation of Seal’s type

In this paper we generalize a partial integrodifferential equation satisfied by the finite time ruin probability in the classical Poisson risk model. The generalization also includes the bivariate distribution function of the time of and the deficit at ruin. We solve the partial integrodifferential equation by Laplace transforms with the help of Lagrange’s implicit function theorem. The assumption of mixed Erlang claim sizes is then shown to result in tractable computational formulas for the finite time ruin probability as well as the bivariate distribution function of the time of and the deficit at ruin. A more general partial integrodifferential equation is then briefly considered.     

Sobolev方程一个新的H~1-Galerkin混合有限元分析

研究了Sobolev方程的H~1-Galerkin混合有限元方法.利用不完全双二次元Q_2~-和一阶BDFM元,建立了一个新的混合元模式,通过Bramble-Hilbert引理,证明了单元对应的插值算子具有的高精度结果.进一步,对于半离散和向后欧拉全离散格式,分别导出了原始变量u在H~1-模和中间变量p在H(div)-模意义下的超逼近性质.     

An analysis of moisture diffusion according to Fick’s law and the tensile mechanical behavior of a glass-fabric-reinforced composite

The properties of moisture diffusion parameters and their effect on the tensile mechanical behavior of a fabric composite (glass fiber/epoxy resin) in the warp and weft directions were investigated. The water up take by specimens conditioned in a humid environment under different relative humidities (0, 60, and 96% RH) at a constant temperature of 60°C was evaluated by weight gain measurements. The water absorption followed Fick’s diffusion law in the fabric composite. A comparison between the values obtained for the moisture diffusion coefficient and the equilibrium moisture content at the laboratory and those given by Loos and Springer showed that the parameters depended not only on the nature of materials, but also on environmental conditions. The effect of moisture absorption on tensile characteristics of the composite, which was tested in uniaxial tension in the warp and weft directions at constant imposed displacement rates up to failure, showed a significant reduction in the ultimate tensile strength of the specimens conditioned at 96% RH. Russian translation in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 45, No. 43, pp. 479-488, May-June, 2009.     

Random Flights in Higher Spaces

We consider in this paper random flights in ℝ ^d performed by a particle changing direction of motion at Poisson times. Directions are uniformly distributed on hyperspheres S ₁ ^d . We obtain the conditional characteristic function of the position of the particle after n changes of direction. From this characteristic function we extract the conditional distributions in terms of (n+1)−fold integrals of products of Bessel functions. These integrals can be worked out in simple terms for spaces of dimension d=2 and d=4. In these two cases also the unconditional distribution is determined in explicit form. Some distributions connected with random flights in ℝ³ are discussed and in some special cases are analyzed in full detail. We point out that a strict connection between these types of motions with infinite directions and the equation of damped waves holds only for d=2. Related motions with random velocity in spaces of lower dimension are analyzed and their distributions derived.