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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

A link has been established between music, rhythmic ability, and language skills. In an article published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, Nina Kraus and Adam Tierney of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, describe their study of 124 Chicago high school students. The students were asked to tap their finger along to a metronome and their accuracy was computed, then their brain waves were recorded using electroencephalography as they listened to a repeated spoken syllable. What the researchers found was that the teens’ ability to keep the beat was directly related to their brain waves’ response to the speech syllable. “It may be that musical training—with its emphasis on rhythmic skills—can exercise the auditory system,” said Kraus. Previous studies have also linked rhythm and reading ability. It may be that musical training can help students improve many skills, such as speech. - See more at: http://blogs.physicstoday.org/newspicks/2013/09/musical-training-may-aid-language-processing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+physicstoday%2Fpt2+%28Physics+Today+News+Picks%29#sthash.dEDk8mLz.dpuf







http://blogs.physicstoday.org/newspicks/2013/09/musical-training-may-aid-language-processing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+physicstoday%2Fpt2+%28Physics+Today+News+Picks%29

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Joe Satriani signature licks

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Hal-Leonard-The-Best-of-Joe-Satriani-Signature-Licks-Book-with-CD--940338-i1160687.gc

Troy Stetina recommends this for left hand guitar technique. He recorded the solos.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Henry Kaplan and the story of Hodgkins disease

This book comes highly recommended from a colleague. It will make it's way on to my summer reading list.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Stereotactic cases, why we prescribe to the isodose line we do

Good topic on the Medphys list server.
Scott Dube posted this link to a good paper on the topic and gave the following commentary:


QUESTION:
What is the rationale behind cranial SRS prescriptions lines laying
> somewhere around 80-90%??

The dose falloff outside the target is steeper when you prescribe to 80%.
This paper even recommends 70%.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22422384

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Linac Guts

Siemens Primus

Just a couple of shots with the cover off. I love these, I think I need to brush up my photography skills, or keep the Nikon camera with me. This is an older machine and Siemens has exited the radiotherapy business so you won't see them around much longer. Had to replace a serial cable.


Monday, May 20, 2013

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Music uploads

I am going to upload some music clips, mostly of courses I'm working on as well as little music clips demoing gear and ideas for songs I have.

There are many sites I could upload this to. One of the most popular sites to upload to is Soundcloud.
I have an account at David Roeseners Sound Cloud

I also noticed tonight that Tumblr blogs easily allow music integration, so here is my tumblr blog.
davidroesener.tumblr.com

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

MLC Leaf width and plans

http://www.aapm.org/meetings/amos2/pdf/59-14909-99229-745.pdf

Quick summary of findings

Surprisingly, we noticed no difference in TV coverage and sparing of OARs. Furthermore, the isodose distributions and DVHs for the RPC and TG-119 phantoms show no major dosimetric gains for the smaller MLC widths, the cord for the RPC phantom received lower doses with the 1cm MLC system (our benchmark reference), for the same TV coverage across the systems. For the clinical cases, all systems gave comparable TV coverage and sparing of the OARs, with the Primus MLC system again, to provide slightly better conformity (lower CI). This better dose conformity is the reason that the dose fall-off within the "Ring" structure is higher, for the Primus system.

Conclusions:
This study is the first that comprehensively compares the majority of today’s MLC systems and has shown no significant indication that smaller MLC widths can lead to optimal plans, when multi-field IMRT techniques are used for planning.

3 day monk

I love this post and many others from Leo Babauta
http://zenhabits.net/3-day-monk/

ACR related

For later review
http://www.acr.org/Quality-Safety/Appropriateness-Criteria/Oncology
Another physicist/musician blog.

Looking forward to hearing some of his music, his early composition work looks promising. I think he has inspired me to start working on recording some compositions of my own. I do this off and on but haven't released anything for public consumption yet.

markstuartramsay.blogspot.co.uk

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Neoclassical Guitar

Back in the 80's i had one of Dave Celentanos books, for neoclassical guitar. He has a great youtube video where he plays Pachabel Canon.

http://www.davecelentano.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Pachelbels-Canon-taps-part-1.pdf

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Proton center tour@IU

 

This all looks good, weekend is pretty booked up so far.

 

Particle Beam Therapy Symposium

Symposium
$10
ticket required
Saturday, August 3 • 8:00am - 3:45pm
Room 103, Indiana Convention Center

Tour
$5
separate ticket required; limited to the first 150 registrants due to limited space
Saturday, August 3 • 4:00pm - 9:00pm
(inclusive of bus ride to Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center, Bloomington)
Depart from Indiana Convention Center
Moderators: Indra Das and Lei Dong
Schedule
8:00am - 8:30amAn Overview of Proton Beam Therapy: Clinical PerspectiveHerman Suit: Massachusetts General Hospital
8:30am - 10:00amParticle Beam Technology and Delivery
This session will focus on the pros and cons of different methods of beam production; cyclotron, synchrotron, synchrocyclotron and newer devices in the context of technology, beam energy, treatment delivery options, reliability, and throughput. It will focus on science with big picture and a neutral view.
Moderator: Jay Flantz
Speakers:
Jay Flanz: Synchrotron
Vladimir Derenchuk: Cyclotron
Rock Mackie: unconventional acceleration (laser, dielectric etc)
10:00am - 10:15amBreak
10:15am - 12:00pmProton Center Specific Configuration and Clinical Implementations
Machine type, delivery system, patient load, morning QA, monthly QA, patient QA, calibration protocol and innovative approaches
Moderators: Ron Zhu and Chee-Wai Cheng
MGH: Hsiao-Ming Lu
Loma Linda: Baldev Patyal
IUHPTC: Chee-Wai Cheng
MD Anderson: Narayan Sahoo
University of Florida: Roelf Slopsema
ProCure: Niek Schreuder
University of Pennsylvania: James McDonough
Washington University: Eric Klein
Scripps: Anthony Mascia
12:00pm - 12:30pmBoxed Lunch Pick Up
12:30pm - 2:15pmVendor-Specific Technology and Beam Delivery Techniques
Vendors provide 15-minute presentations with Q&A during lunch.
Moderators:  Indra Das and Lei Dong
IBA: Yves Jongen
Varian: Jan Timmer
Hitachi: Masumi Umezawa
Mevion: Lionel Bouchet
ProNova: Joe Matteo
Sumitomo: Yukio Kumata
2:15pm - 3:45pmTreatment Planning, Outcome, and Economics of Proton Therapy
Proton-specific treatment planning, plan evaluation, relative biological effectiveness, outcome, work flow, and reimbursement
Moderator:  Radhe Mohan
Treatment planning: Tony Lomax
RBE, Neutron, Outcome: Harald Paganetti
Economics: Peter Johnstone
4:00pm - 5:30pmTravel to Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center, Bloomington
5:30pm - 8:00pmTours and Dinner
8:00pm - 9:30pmReturn to Indiana Convention Center

Friday, May 3, 2013

Great article from 1941 on the Varian brothers

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/The_Klystron_boys%2C_Radio%27s_miracle_makers_in_Saturday_Evening_Post_Feb_8%2C_1941.pdf

Great article on the Varian brothers from 1941. Reminded me of the book Tuxedo Park by Jennet Conant.

Interesting stat on Marginal Corporate Income Tax Rates


Country
Marginal Corporate
Income Tax Rate
United States
40%
Japan
38%
France
33.3%
Australia
30%
Germany
29.5%
China
25%
South Korea
24.2%
United Kingdom
23%
Sweden
22%
Global Average
24%

Source: KPMG
 
 

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Running again

I am hoping to start running more frequently again. The greatest part about signing up for races, is you can publicly shame yourself with lousy running times, which should serve as a motivator for future performance.

One site called Athlinks, accumulates some of your results and can even compare your results to other runners who have ran in the same races as you head to head. This site doesn't have all my results, but you can even submit race results to it. For instance it currently shows that i haven't ran a race since 2010, but there is at least one race from 2011 that should be posted.

Time to sign up for some races, I plan to run a slow 5-k this month.

For results check it out. Athlinks
http://athlinks.com/myresults/73871534/David-Roesener.aspx

And yes those horribly slow marathon results are mine.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Notes on VNC screen refresh issues

http://tightvnc.10971.n7.nabble.com/No-screen-refresh-using-TightVNC-client-on-XP-to-Vine-Server-server-on-OS-X-td2397.html




http://tightvnc.10971.n7.nabble.com/No-screen-refresh-using-TightVNC-client-on-XP-to-Vine-Server-server-on-OS-X-td2397.html

VNC install for remote viewing

Installing x11vnc on Fedora Core

This is a very short guide how to install x11vnc to your Fedora Core.

x11vnc allows one to view remotely and interact with real X displays (i.e. a display corresponding to a physical monitor, keyboard, and mouse) with any VNC viewer. In this way it plays the role for Unix/X11 that WinVNC plays for Windows.

x11vnc is by far the easiest available vnc server for Linux. Just download, configure/make, and off you go! And it works like a charm over ssh tunnel!

Here's how I installed x11vnc on my FC8:

1) Download .tar.gz from http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/

2) Make sure you have X Software Development packets installed on your FC. To be sure, just open your sytem >> add/remove software, scroll down to development, and make sure you have X on your "x11 development".

3) After downloading http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/x11vnc-0.9.4.tar.gz, just tar zxvf x11vnc-0.9.4.tar.gz, ./configure, make and make install

4) Now you have your x11vnc server ready to be tested... It's propably installed at /usr/bin/x11vnc, and you can test drive it by just typing the command "x11vnc".
 
 
FROM: http://thelinuxguru.blogspot.com/2008/02/installing-x11vnc-on-fedora-core.html

Referenced in: Evaluation of multiple image-based modalities for image-guided radiation

The probability of correct target dosage: dose-population histograms for deriving treatment margins in radiotherapy

Part of this material was presented at the 1998 ASTRO meeting in Phoenix, AZ.

Abstract 

Purpose: To provide an analytical description of the effect of random and systematic geometrical deviations on the target dose in radiotherapy and to derive margin rules.
Methods and Materials: The cumulative dose distribution delivered to the clinical target volume (CTV) is expressed analytically. Geometrical deviations are separated into treatment execution (random) and treatment preparation (systematic) variations. The analysis relates each possible preparation (systematic) error to the dose distribution over the CTV and allows computation of the probability distribution of, for instance, the minimum dose delivered to the CTV.
Results: The probability distributions of the cumulative dose over a population of patients are called dose-population histograms in short. Large execution (random) variations lead to CTV underdosage for a large number of patients, while the same level of preparation (systematic) errors leads to a much larger underdosage for some of the patients. A single point on the histogram gives a simple “margin recipe.” For example, to ensure a minimum dose to the CTV of 95% for 90% of the patients, a margin between CTV and planning target volume (PTV) is required of 2.5 times the total standard deviation (SD) of preparation (systematic) errors (Σ) plus 1.64 times the total SD of execution (random) errors (σ′) combined with the penumbra width, minus 1.64 times the SD describing the penumbra width (σp). For a σp of 3.2 mm, this recipe can be simplified to 2.5 Σ + 0.7 σ′. Because this margin excludes rotational errors and shape deviations, it must be considered as a lower limit for safe radiotherapy.
Conclusion: Dose-population histograms provide insight into the effects of geometrical deviations on a population of patients. Using a dose-probability based approach, simple algorithms for choosing margins were derived.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Thyratron replacement tonight


Thyratron is a switching tube and is essentially a gas filled triode. When the grid is charged positively, the electrons flow from the cathode to the anode. The gas within the tube ionizes and conducts larger currents than do other switching devices. At the end of the pulse, the grid voltage is removed, preventing further current flow while the pulse forming network recharges. This cycle is repeated between 50 and 500 times per second.

Notes: 4252013 Sh, WI Siemens Primus

Virtual source position for electrons

Today the concept of virtual source position for electrons came up.

I looked it up on my blog and had posted from an unknown reference a few years ago and never included the information.

8.1.3. Inverse square law (virtual source position)
In contrast to a photon beam, which has a distinct focus located at the
accelerator X ray target, an electron beam appears to originate from a point in
space that does not coincide with the scattering foil or the accelerator exit
window. The term ‘virtual source position’ was introduced to indicate the
virtual location of the electron source.

The effective source to surface distance (SSD) for electron beams
(SSDeff) is defined as the distance from the virtual source position to the point
of the nominal SSD (usually the isocentre of the linac). The inverse square law
may be used for small SSD differences from the nominal SSD to make
corrections to the absorbed dose for variations in air gaps between the patient
surface and the applicator.

There are various methods to determine the SSDeff. One commonly used
method consists of measuring the dose at various distances from the electron
applicator by varying the gap between the phantom surface and the applicator
(with gaps ranging from 0 to 15 cm). In this method, doses are measured in a
phantom at the depth of maximum dose zmax, with the phantom first in contact
with the applicator (zero gap) and then at various distances g from the
applicator. Suppose I0 is the dose with zero gap (g = 0) and Ig is the dose with
gap distance g. It follows then from the inverse square law that:

Swiss Society of Radiobiology and Medical Physics

Swiss Society of Radiobiology and Medical Physics Member of the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) and the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) Quality Control of Medical Electron Accelerators
 http://www.sgsmp.ch/r11qca-e.pdf

Book in the works

I haven't posted much to this blog in a few years, it was originally hosted at medicalphysicsinfo.blogspot.com I have recently migrated it to my personal blog.

Last year I discussed with the friend the idea of writing an interesting book related to my career and some of the pioneers responsible for the equipment. It is in the research stage, but I hope to publish some excerpts from it as they become available. I am still very busy clinically so work on this project, is accomplished sporadically. While much of this blog may discuss my career, it is certain to also feature my other interests including music and exercise. As you can see I already posted one of my favorite training methods for running your best mile.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Jeff galloway mile method

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/resources/rw_archives/may_1999.html

I used this method to reach some running related goals. Will utilize this again especially once warmer weather affords me the use of an outdoor track. In the meantime 400 meter repeats at high speed on a treadmill seem to be in my near future