Genetic variability of hepatitis C virus (HCV) determines pathogenesis of infection, including viral persistence and resistance to treatment. The aim of the present study was to characterize HCV genetic heterogeneity within a hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of a chronically infected patient by ultradeep 454 sequencing strategy. Three independent sequencing error correction methods were applied. F...

The high density and atomic number of hip prostheses for patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy challenge our ability to accurately calculate dose. A new clinical dose calculation algorithm, Monte Carlo, will allow accurate calculation of the radiation transport both within and beyond hip prostheses. The aim of this research was to investigate, for both phantom and patient geometries, the capa...

PURPOSE Developed herein is a three-dimensional (3D) flow contrast imaging system leveraging advancements in the extension of laser speckle contrast imaging theories to deep tissues along with our recently developed finite-element diffuse correlation tomography (DCT) reconstruction scheme. This technique, termed speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography (scDCT), enables incorporation of c...

We present estimators for panel data sample selection and switching models where the regression equations are dynamic and it is allowed for the existence of endogenous regressors and correlated individual unobserved heterogeneity. We consider two types of switching models under the names of observed dynamics switching and latent dynamics switching. The dynamic sample selection model implicitly ...

The 6 MV flattening filter-free (FFF) beam has been commissioned for use with compensators at our institution. This novel combination promises advantages in mitigating tumor motion due to the reduced treatment time made possible by the greatly increased dose rate of the FFF beam. Given the different energy spectrum of the FFF beam and the beam hardening effect of the compensator, the accuracy o...

At a nanometre scale, the behaviour of biological fluids is largely governed by interfacial physical chemistry. This may manifest as slowed or anomalous diffusion. Here we describe how measures developed for studying glassy systems allow quantitative measurement of interfacial effects on water dynamics, showing that correlated motions of particles near a surface result in a viscosity greater th...

BACKGROUND Monitoring the time course of mortality by cause is a key public health issue. However, several mortality data production changes may affect cause-specific time trends, thus altering the interpretation. This paper proposes a statistical method that detects abrupt changes ("jumps") and estimates correction factors that may be used for further analysis. METHODS The method was applied...

We searched systematically for randomized controlled trials, comparing moxibustion with a nonmoxibustion control group or other methods such as external cephalic version, postural methods, and acupuncture in databases, both Western and Chinese, up to June 2007. Six studies, with 1087 subjects and a high degree of heterogeneity, compared moxibustion vs observation or postural methods and reporte...

Meybohm and colleagues hypothesise that so-called ‘correct’ administration of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) may be beneficial and may provide new guidelines for clinical use of HES, but this is not supported by trial data [1]. In contrast, subgrouping trials according to ‘presumable correct indication’ does not change the mortality estimate (see Figure 1). There is also very little statistical hete...

The scaling effect correction of retrieved parameters is an essential and difficult issue in analysis and application of remote sensing information. Based on fractal theory, this paper developed a scaling transfer model to correct the scaling effect of the leaf area index (LAI) estimated from coarse spatial resolution image. As the key parameter of the proposed model, the information fractal di...