Adaptive clinical trial design has been proposed as a promising new approach that may improve the drug discovery process. Proponents of adaptive sample size re-estimation promote its ability to avoid 'up-front' commitment of resources, better address the complicated decisions faced by data monitoring committees, and minimize accrual to studies having delayed ascertainment of outcomes. We invest...

Background: Becoming a father is a crucial stage in menchr('39')s lives, which is associated with high levels of stress, as this event challenges their ability to cope with new situations, requires adapting to the new roles, and creates concerns regarding being a successful father. Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the effect of positive approach counseling on acceptance and a...

PURPOSE Evaluation of dose degradation by anatomic changes for head-and-neck cancer (HNC) intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) relative to intensity-modulated photon therapy (IMRT) and identification of potential indicators for IMPT treatment plan adaptation. METHODS For 31 advanced HNC datasets, IMPT and IMRT plans were recalculated on a computed tomography scan (CT) taken after about 4...

Lessons learned, opportunities, and barriers to scaling up health adaptation were identified from evaluation reports and other materials from three multinational health adaptation projects covering 14 low- and middle-income countries and from qualitative data collected through a focus group consultation and interviews with key informants purposively selected for their expertise and role in heal...

BACKGROUND The standard clinical protocol of image-guided IMRT for prostate carcinoma introduces isocenter relocation to restore the conformity of the multi-leaf collimator (MLC) segments to the target as seen in the cone-beam CT on the day of treatment. The large interfractional deformations of the clinical target volume (CTV) still require introduction of safety margins which leads to undesir...

Climate change issues are gradually gaining attention in the planning field, especially urban regions due to high vulnerability caused by their dense population and complex networks. Communities depend on local policy tools identify threats, determine goals, implement strategies. Consequently, many cities around world have developed climate adaptation plans reduce impacts past decades. This stu...

Governments, businesses, and civil society organizations have diverse policy tools to incentivize adaptation. Policy can shape the type extent of adaptation, therefore, function either as barriers or enablers for reducing risk vulnerability. Using data from a systematic review academic literature on global adaptation responses climate change (n = 1549 peer-reviewed articles), we categorize type...

Our approach for the Robocup97 competition is to emphasize teamwork among agents by augmenting reactions (based on awareness of the current situation) with predictions (based on predefined multiagent maneuvers). These predictions are accomplished by allowing agents to cooperatively accomplish predefined plans, which are elaborated reactively and hierarchically to ensure responsiveness to changi...