Optimization of heart block in the left-sided whole breast radiation treatments.

Purpose: Blocks have been used to protect heart from potential radiation damage in left-sided breast treatments. Since cardiac motion pattern may not be fully captured on conventional 3DCT or 4DCT simulation scans, this study was intended to investigate the optimization of the heart block design taking the cardiac motion into consideration.

Materials And Methods: Whole breast treatment plans using two opposed tangential fields were designed based on 4DCT simulation images for 10 left-sided breast cancer patients.

Global risk factors and the prediction of recidivism rates in a sample of first-time misdemeanant offenders.

This article examines the prediction of recidivism using the Global Risk Assessment Device (GRAD), a reliable and valid measure of dynamic factors associated with family characteristics, peers, mental health, substance abuse, trauma exposure, educational concerns, accountability, and health risks. Using a sample of adult caregivers of first-time misdemeanant offenders, two factors-education and accountability-were significantly associated with recidivistic behavior, supporting the use of GRAD data in correctly identifying first-time offenders who have the greatest and the least likelihood for future offending behavior. Additional analyses utilizing parent reports on African American males indicate that the GRAD provides discrimination in the prediction of recidivism in a group typically seen as being high risk simply because of their gender and race.

Anesthesia services during operation unified assistance, aboard the USNS Mercy, after the tsunami in Southeast Asia.

The tsunami that struck Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004, resulted in the deaths of >300,000 individuals. The U.S.