Interplay between an Absorbing Phase Transition and Synchronization in a Driven Granular System.

Absorbing phase transitions (APTs) are widespread in nonequilibrium systems, spanning condensed matter, epidemics, earthquakes, ecology, and chemical reactions. APTs feature an absorbing state in which the system becomes entrapped, along with a transition, either continuous or discontinuous, to an active state. Understanding which physical mechanisms determine the order of these transitions represents a challenging open problem in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics.

Qualitative Assessment of Titanium versus Carbon Fiber/Polyetheretherketone Pedicle Screw-Related Artifacts: A Cadaveric Study.

Background: Dorsal instrumentation and decompression are the mainstays of spinal tumor treatment. Replacing titanium screws with carbon fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFRP) screws can reduce imaging artifacts on neural structures and perturbations of radiation dose. Further reduction of metal content in such screws might enhance the benefit.

Quality of life in lung cancer survivors treated with tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKI): results from the multi-centre cross-sectional German study LARIS.

Purpose: We aimed at exploring the quality of life (QOL) of lung cancer survivors with proven tyrosine-kinase receptor (RTK) genetic alterations and targeted tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKI) therapy, compared to lung cancer survivors with no-RTK alterations and no-TKI therapy.

Methods: Data were collected in a cross-sectional multi-centre study. Primary lung cancer survivors were asked about their socio-demographic and clinical information, QOL, symptom burden, and distress.

Heart atlas for retrospective cardiac dosimetry: a multi-institutional study on interobserver contouring variations and their dosimetric impact.

Purpose: Cardiac effects after breast cancer radiation therapy potentially affect more patients as survival improves. The heart's heterogeneous radiation exposure and composition of functional structures call for establishing individual relationships between structure dose and specific late effects. However, valid dosimetry requires reliable contouring which is challenging for small volumes based on older, lower-quality computed tomography imaging.