Purpose: Volumetric intensity-modulated arc therapy (RA) allows for rapid delivery of highly conformal dose distributions. In this study, planning and dosimetry of RAwere compared with conventional intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans of head-and-neck cancer patients. Materials and Methods: Computed tomography scans of 12 patients who had completed IMRT for advanced tumors of the ...

American Indians are the most under-represented minority group across all levels of education. The present study investigates sociocultural, psychological, and nontraditional academic factors that influence American Indian students’ decisions to pursue higher education (e.g., vocational training, college). Nineteen American Indians with previous academic difficulties completed several self-repo...

politicians adopt a variety of linguistic strategies in their speeches to connect with their audience. to name one, appraisal, as a system of interpersonal meaning, is concerned with evaluation where resources are used for negotiating social relationships. despite their significance in shaping texts, there have hardly been any extensive inventories of appraisal tools contrasting electoral speec...

this correlational study focused on formal organizations' administrative performance values. it examined the managers' (unit supervisors') employee performance appraisal process in relation to sex and personality differences among unit supervisors in tehran, shahid beheshti and iran medical sciences university hospitals (tehran, 1996). first 537 male and female managers performin...

INTRODUCTION We previously reported that low ratio of osteoprotegerin (OPG) to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) was associated with Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) remission at 6 months in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Here, we aimed to evaluate the value of baseline OPG/TRAIL ratio in predicting clinical and radiological outcomes in p...

Enterobacteriaceae are important pathogens of both nosocomial and community-acquired infections. In particular, strains with broad-spectrum beta-lactamases increasingly cause problems in health care settings. Rapid and reliable typing systems are key tools to identify transmission, so that targeted infection control measures can be taken. In this study, we evaluated the performance of Raman spe...

OBJECTIVES To explore the cardiovascular effects of nightlong repetitive arousals (RA). METHODS Twenty healthy subjects participated in two consecutive sleep studies. The first one was free of intervention and the second study involved repetitive arousals induced by acoustical stimuli. Blood pressure, heart rate variability (HRV), arterial stiffness index (ASI), and serum markers including ni...

OBJECTIVE Effective treatment can only be given during the early stages of RA if patients are seen early. However, many patients delay for prolonged periods before seeking medical advice. This study explores factors influencing the decision to seek medical advice in RA patients. METHODS In-depth, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 24 patients. Purposive sampling ensured a cross-...

Purpose: The aim of this study was to dosimetrically evaluate and compare double arc RapidArc (RA) with conventional IMRT (7 fields) plans for irradiation of locally advanced head and neck cancers (LAHNC), focusing on target coverage and doses received by organs at risk (OAR). Methods: Computed tomography scans of 20 patients with LAHNC were obtained. Contouring of the target volumes and OAR wa...

BACKGROUND Health economic evaluations support the health care decision-making process by providing information on costs and consequences of health interventions. The quality of such studies is assessed by health economic evaluation (HEE) quality appraisal instruments. At present, there is no instrument for measuring and improving the quality of such HEE quality appraisal instruments. Therefore...