Neoadjuvant interstitial high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy combined with systemic chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This is the first study investigating neoadjuvant interstitial high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy combined with chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. The goal was to evaluate the type of surgical treatment, histopathologic response, side effects, local control, and survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 53 patients, who could not be treated with breast-conserving surgery due to initial tumor size (36/53) or due to an unfavorable breast-tumor ratio (17/53), were analyzed retrospectively. All but one were in an intermediate/high-risk group (St. Gallen criteria). The patients received a neoadjuvant protocol consisting of systemic chemotherapy combined with fractionated HDR brachytherapy (2 x 5 Gy/day, total dose 30 Gy). In cases, where breast-conserving surgery was performed, patients received additional external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT, 1.8 Gy/day, total dose 50.4 Gy). In patients, who underwent mastectomy but showed an initial tumor size of T3/T4 and/or more than three infiltrated lymph nodes, EBRT was also performed. RESULTS: In 30/53 patients (56.6%) breast-conserving surgery could be performed. The overall histopathologic response rate was 96.2% with a complete remission in 28.3% of patients. 49/53 patients were evaluable for follow-up. After a median of 58 months (45-72 months), one patient showed a mild fibrosis of the breast tissue, three patients had mild to moderate lymphatic edema of the arm. 6/49 (12.2%) patients died of distant metastases, 4/49 (8.2%) were alive with disease, and 39/49 (79.6%) were free from disease. Local recurrence was observed in only one case (2%) 40 months after primary therapy. After mastectomy, this patient is currently free from disease. CONCLUSION: The combination of interstitial HDR brachytherapy and chemotherapy is a well-tolerated and effective neoadjuvant treatment in patients with breast cancer. Compared to EBRT, treatment time is short. Postoperative EBRT of the whole breast -- if necessary -- is still possible after neoadjuvant brachytherapy. Even though the number of patients does not permit definite conclusions, the results are promising regarding survival and the very low rate of local recurrences.

Interactive Augmentation of Live Images using a HDR Stereo Camera

Adding virtual objects to real environments plays an important role in todays computer graphics: Typical examples are virtual furniture in a real room and virtual characters in real movies. For a believable appearance, consistent lighting of the virtual objects is required. We present an augmented reality system that displays virtual objects with consistent illumination and shadows in the image of a simple webcam. We use two high dynamic range video cameras with fisheye lenses permanently recording the environment illumination. A sampling algorithm selects a few bright parts in one of the wide angle images and the corresponding points in the second camera image. The 3D position can then be calculated using epipolar geometry. Finally, the selected point lights are used in a multi pass algorithm to draw the virtual object with shadows. To validate our approach, we compare the appearance and shadows of the synthetic objects with real objects.

Bitmap Movement Detection: HDR for Dynamic Scenes

Exposure Fusion and other HDR techniques generate well-exposed images from a bracketed image sequence while reproducing a large dynamic range that far exceeds the dynamic range of a single exposure. Common to all these techniques is the problem that the smallest movements in the captured images generate artefacts (ghosting) that dramatically affect the quality of the final images. This limits the use of HDR and Exposure Fusion techniques because common scenes of interest are usually dynamic. We present a method that adapts Exposure Fusion, as well as standard HDR techniques, to allow for dynamic scene without introducing artefacts. Our method detects clusters of moving pixels within a bracketed exposure sequence with simple binary operations. We show that the proposed technique is able to deal with a large amount of movement in the scene and different movement configurations. The result is a ghost-free and highly detailed exposure fused image at a low computational cost.

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A REMOTE AUDIT TOOL FOR HIGH DOSE RATE (HDR) 192IR BRACHYTHERAPY USING OPTICALLY STIMULATED LUMINESCENCE DOSIMETRY

This work aimed to create a mailable and OSLD-based phantom with accuracy suitable for RPC audits of HDR brachytherapy sources at institutions participating in NCI-funded cooperative clinical trials. An 8 × 8 × 10 cm3 prototype with two slots capable of holding nanoDot Al2O3:C OSL dosimeters (Landauer, Glenwood, IL) was designed and built. The phantom has a single channel capable of accepting all 192Ir HDR brachytherapy sources in current clinical use in the United States. Irradiations were performed with an 192Ir HDR source to determine correction factors for linearity with dose, dose rate, and the combined effect of irradiation energy and phantom construction. The uncertainties introduced by source positioning in the phantom and timer resolution limitations were also investigated. It was found that the linearity correction factor was where dose is in cGy, which differed from that determined by the RPC for the same batch of dosimeters under 60Co irradiation. There was no significant dose rate effect. Separate energy+block correction factors were determined for both models of 192Ir sources currently in clinical use and these vendor-specific correction factors differed by almost 2.6%. For Nucletron sources, this correction factor was 1.026±0.004 (99% Confidence Interval) and for Varian sources it was 1.000±0.007 (99% CI). Reasonable deviations in source positioning within the phantom and the limited resolution of the source timer had insignificant effects on the ability to measure dose. Overall measurement uncertainty of the system was estimated to be ±2.5% for both Nucletron and Varian source audits (95% CI). This uncertainty was sufficient to establish a ±5% acceptance criterion for source strength audits under a formal RPC audit program. Trial audits of eight participating institutions resulted in an average RPC-to-institution dose ratio of 1.000 with a standard deviation of 0.011.

Imagens da mulher na revista Vida Capichaba (1940-1949)

Investiga imagens da mulher na revista Vida Capichaba, periódico de publicaçao quinzenal que circulou, no Estado do Espírito Santo, entre as décadas de 1920 e 1950. Tem como foco as ediçoes publicadas entre os anos de 1940 e 1949. Analisa os imperativos sociais destinados à formaçao da mulher capixaba. Conclui que esses imperativos eram ambivalentes (ao mesmo tempo conservadores e subversivos), tendo a prática esportiva, e a moda a ela associada, papel importante na construçao de novas imagens e sentidos do feminino

Paula da Cunha Corrêa. Um Bestiário Arcaico. Fábulas e imagens de animais na poesía de Arquíloco, Editora Unicamp. 2010, 526 pp.

Fil: Zecchin de Fasano, Graciela Cristina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET); Argentina.

Paula da Cunha Corrêa. Um Bestiário Arcaico. Fábulas e imagens de animais na poesía de Arquíloco, Editora Unicamp. 2010, 526 pp.

Fil: Zecchin de Fasano, Graciela Cristina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET); Argentina.

Imagens da mulher na revista Vida Capichaba (1940-1949)

Investiga imagens da mulher na revista Vida Capichaba, periódico de publicaçao quinzenal que circulou, no Estado do Espírito Santo, entre as décadas de 1920 e 1950. Tem como foco as ediçoes publicadas entre os anos de 1940 e 1949. Analisa os imperativos sociais destinados à formaçao da mulher capixaba. Conclui que esses imperativos eram ambivalentes (ao mesmo tempo conservadores e subversivos), tendo a prática esportiva, e a moda a ela associada, papel importante na construçao de novas imagens e sentidos do feminino

Paula da Cunha Corrêa. Um Bestiário Arcaico. Fábulas e imagens de animais na poesía de Arquíloco, Editora Unicamp. 2010, 526 pp.

Fil: Zecchin de Fasano, Graciela Cristina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET); Argentina.

Imagens da mulher na revista Vida Capichaba (1940-1949)

Investiga imagens da mulher na revista Vida Capichaba, periódico de publicaçao quinzenal que circulou, no Estado do Espírito Santo, entre as décadas de 1920 e 1950. Tem como foco as ediçoes publicadas entre os anos de 1940 e 1949. Analisa os imperativos sociais destinados à formaçao da mulher capixaba. Conclui que esses imperativos eram ambivalentes (ao mesmo tempo conservadores e subversivos), tendo a prática esportiva, e a moda a ela associada, papel importante na construçao de novas imagens e sentidos do feminino