Accuray's new TomoEDGE™ dynamic jaws technology provides users with added flexibility in treatment delivery by sharpening dose fall off and accuracy. In many cases the use of TomoEDGE for head and neck tumors and prostate cancer treatments has resulted in the reduction of beam-on time by half. With the TomoHDA™ System this new technology is standard and can be applied to both TomoHelical™ and TomoDirect™ treatment modes for 3DCRT and IMRT deliveries.
The high-performance VoLO™ Technology – an enhancement to the TomoTherapy® treatment planning system – leverages the new dose calculation algorithm and advanced graphics processing technology to increase clinical efficiency, throughput and flexibility in developing both simple and the most complex radiation therapy plans.
"We are committed to our TomoTherapy customers and continue to innovate to provide the most advanced treatments in radiation oncology with the goal of improving patient care," said Joshua H. Levine, president and chief executive officer of Accuray. "The new TomoTherapy H™ Series offers treatment solutions for the entire spectrum of radiation therapy. It will enable unprecedented speed and efficiency ensuring the highest quality of care from the routine to the most complex cases."
The TomoHDA System is a fully-integrated 3D image-guided, full spectrum radiation therapy system and builds upon the proven TomoTherapy Hi-Art® and TomoHD™ technologies. The TomoHDA System offers multiple new benefits including performance enhancements, unrivaled dose distributions and faster treatments.
The TomoHDA System is part of the new TomoTherapy H Series. Included in this series of products, is the new TomoH™ System, the gold standard for image-guided IMRT (intensity-modulated radiation therapy) treatment, providing streamlined 3D CT daily image guidance and ultrafast MLC (multileaf collimator) modulation, enabling the delivery of the dose to achieve excellent target homogeneity while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. Also included in the series is the TomoHD™ System - including TomoDirect - a full spectrum solution that provides high quality treatments to every patient for any clinical indication requiring radiotherapy.
The new TomoEDGE™ dynamic jaws are capable of sharpening the dose and allow customers to treat more patients with the TomoTherapy System. The jaws are optimized to sweep across the target, minimizing dose to healthy tissue and critical structures adjacent to the target and opening to the desired maximum size to reduce treatment time. The result is a balanced treatment delivery that is as unique as each patient.
Using the high-performance VoLO Technology, the TomoHDA™ system allows ultra fast creation of highly conformal treatment plans with the flexibility to design a personalized treatment plan specific to the individual needs of each patient. For example, the application of VoLO technology on breast cancer treatment plans has been shown to reduce dose calculation and treatment planning optimization time to as few as three minutes. TomoHDA also includes a fan-beam computed tomography (CT) system capable of producing images 50 percent faster, facilitating improved patient re-positioning time and therefore less overall time for the patient to be on the treatment couch.
"Having been involved in the creation of and research collaboration for the new TomoEDGE, we have seen firsthand that this is one of the most versatile radiation therapy treatment options available," said PD Dr. Florian Sterzing, M.D., Consultant Radiation Oncologist at University Clinic of Heidelberg. "The new functionality enables improved quality of radiotherapy application and allows us to treat even more cancer patients."
The TomoHDA System also includes Citrix®-based remote planning with web-based review capabilities, providing the ultimate flexibility for clinicians to develop and approve treatment plans from virtual workstations.
"TomoTherapy's ability to treat the full range of disease sites, including even the most complex tumors, makes it an invaluable resource for cancer patients," said Wade Gebara, M.D. Chief of Radiation Oncology at Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, Mass. "With increased speed and reliability, the new TomoTherapy System will provide the opportunity for more patients to benefit from this personalized technology."
Also on display in Accuray's ASTRO booth (#7101) is the CyberKnife M6 FIM Sytem – part of the CyberKnife® M6™ Series – which is pending FDA 510(k) clearance and not yet available for commercial distribution in the United States. The new CyberKnife M6 FIM and FM Systems feature the InCise™ Multileaf Collimator, which combines the benefits of beam shaping with the flexibility of non-isocentric, non-coplanar delivery. The new InCise Multileaf Collimator (MLC) was designed specifically for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatments, giving the system the capability to extend its radiosurgical precision into a broader field of applications. The system is intended to treat large and irregular tumors more efficiently with excellent dose gradients, to expand the number of patients eligible for treatment.
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia – who compared treatment plans created with a theoretical MLC on the CyberKnife System to those created originally with the CyberKnife Iris™ Collimator and conventional Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) plans – found that an MLC mounted on a robotic arm could potentially offer numerous clinical benefits, including faster treatment delivery, better target coverage and a sharper dose fall off could be achieved than a typical gantry- based IMRT plan or previous CyberKnife treatments. The Fox Chase researchers demonstrated the potential to create treatment plans that would spare critical structures around tumors better with a robotically mounted MLC, providing the ability to treat tumors using a higher dose without increasing the normal tissue toxicity.
Statements made in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release relate, but are not limited, to expansion of the Company's global presence, quality of treatments, accuracy, dose delivery, clinical efficiency, continual innovation, pending regulatory clearance, treatment times, dose sculpting, and the Company's leadership position in radiation oncology innovation. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, including risks detailed from time to time under the heading "Risk Factors" in the company's report on Form 10-K filed on September 10, 2012. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available to the Company at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual performance or results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.


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Homepage » World » Cooperation on Climate Is Emerging in the Middle East
Cooperation on Climate Is Emerging in the Middle East
14 Jan 2023 by Admin-68 Views
"Of course it depends on the specific project, but these arrangements and agreements can have a positive impact on meeting the challenges of the climate crisis, but only if the governments involved make regional climate resilience and security a clear priority," said Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of EcoPeace Middle East, which helped develop Project Prosperity.
H2Pro's Moroccan deal was signed last year in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el Sheikh, which played host to COP27, the annual global climate summit. The conference — the first since both the pandemic and the Abraham Accords — marked a coming-out of sorts for Israel's green-tech sector.
"For the first time ever, Israel showcased a full-scale pavilion at COP and we are already working on plans for COP28 next year in Dubai," said David Saranga, head of digital at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who attended the conference and whose digital diplomacy heavily focuses on sustainability issues. Mr. Arad of H2Pro said, "because of the Accords, we no longer had to operate behind the curtain or under the radar at COP" when negotiating deals with former Arab rivals.
Despite the accords' initial successes, it will be difficult to maintain the current relationships and expand to additional nations without the participation of the Palestinian Authority, experts said.
"First and foremost, we must see cooperation between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians," said Mr. Bromberg. "Their presence is critical in ensuring that projects like the Project Prosperity move forward."
The arrival of Israel's new hard-line government also makes it more difficult for the Jewish state to formalize relations with additional Arab nations, particularly with the regional leader, Saudi Arabia.
While some nations may be tempted by the potential economic benefits, that may not be enough to entice holdout nations to put their hostilities aside, experts said. "A fair peace between the Palestinians and Israelis will increase the likelihood of expanding the scope of the Abraham Accords," said Dr. Al-Ketbi.
David Kaufman is a New York-based writer and editor who regularly contributes to The New York Times, The Financial Times, Air Mail and the New York Post.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


IF you fancy a night at the theatre and the chance to see three short plays, go along to Chingford Assembly Hall.
The hall in Station Road, Chingford, is the venue for Waltham Forest Drama Festival, which tonight plays host to a trio of performances by some of the best amateur actors in the borough.
The evening's line up begins Woodhouse Players and with the first act of Top Girls. This will be followed by Wadham Players and Sequence of Events, and the final play of the evening is Petronella with Highams Players. The evening is the fourth in a week long series of plays performed as part of the festival which culminates in the final production - College Players' presentation tomorrow of The Welsh Game, and the handing out of awards for best play, best actress, best actor, stage direction, lighting and more.
Performances begin at 7.30pm. Tickets for the evening are £6 each, and are available on the door or from 8527 4690.


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Public health partnership launched to tackle silent epidemic of hepatitis C
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GENEVA, PARIS, NEW YORK – The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics, and the Treatment Action Group are joining forces to tackle a 'silent' public health injustice: the continuing disparities in access to diagnostics and treatment for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), home to 75 per cent of those living with this viral illness.
The Hepatitis C Partnership for Control and Treatment, or Hepatitis C PACT, will foster an enabling environment for testing and treatment for HCV in LMICs by rolling out all-oral cures, scaling up community-based testing to find the missing millions of undiagnosed people, and addressing domestic financial challenges that prevent the launch of national programmes. It will also tackle patent and access barriers that stand in the way of reaching World Health Organization (WHO) goals of controlling hepatitis C by 2030.
Through its cumulative expertise and independence, the new partnership will build collaborations with countries and community and civil society groups, and develop evidence to support ambitious test-and-treat programmes while addressing HCV financing obstacles.
"Investing in public health partnership approaches, as in the case of the hepatitis C, saves people's lives, saves costs in national budgets, proves cost-effective, and shows significant returns on investment," says Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Director General of Health, Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
Our organisations already have a successful track record in supporting test-and-treat programmes in 'champion countries', such as Cambodia, India, and Malaysia. The Hepatitis C PACT will make best use of countries' strategic capacity to increase access to HCV care globally.
"In Malaysia, we have a collaborative partnership between government, non-governmental organisations, and civil society to reach the 400,000 people living with hepatitis C in our country," says Abdullah. "We have shown that we can make a difference with sustained financing, rolling out simpler diagnostic tests, and ensuring access to the best prices for treatments."
HCV can lead to chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, cancer, and death. Of the 58 million people with chronic HCV, an estimated 9.4 million people have been effectively cured. Twelve LMICs account for half the treatment uptake, with one country, Egypt, treating 4.4 million people.
"MSF has been working with Cambodia's Ministry of Health since 2016 to enable access to treatment, simplify hepatitis C care, and integrate this model in routine health services," says Mickaël Le Paih, MSF head of mission in Cambodia. "The cure rate for thousands of patients remained over 97 per cent for patients treated in tertiary level clinics or primary health care centres.
"We have shown through our collaboration with the Cambodian Communicable Disease Control Department and through peer-reviewed reports that such a model of HCV care allows rapid scale-up while maintaining a high quality of care, mostly delivered by trained nurses," says Le Paih. "Communicable diseases such as HCV can be controlled through supporting state-run response programmes."
The Hepatitis C PACT will address four key areas responsible for such a low rate of access to testing and treatment – concentrating on boosting access to both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing and newer-generation hepatitis C drugs called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). DAA treatments can cure patients in two to six months but non-generic versions have come with an infamously high price tag.
The partnership will focus on:
Increasing awareness among decision-makers: there is insufficient knowledge about HCV control among policymakers and other leaders. The partnership will generate key evidence on hepatitis C diagnosis and linkage to care, including in sexual health and harm reduction settings, advocate for policy change, raise awareness that the disease can be controlled, and provide community education.
Developing financing mechanisms for viral hepatitis strategies: currently there is insufficient domestic and global financing for HCV control. A new financing working group comprising representatives from over a dozen agencies will identify and design sustainable financing mechanisms for DAAs and diagnostics to support and catalyse global and domestic resources in priority countries.
Supporting simplified viral hepatitis diagnostics: there is a need for simplification of the diagnosis of the chronic hepatitis C infection. The development of simple and affordable of such diagnostic tools will be prioritised, enabling decentralisation of mass testing strategies.
Supporting access to simple and affordable DAA treatments for HCV in high-burden LMICs: despite decreases, DAA prices are generally too high to support large scale-up of treatment. The partnership will improve access to DAAs approved by WHO using a successful public-private partnership approach recently deployed in Malaysia for the approval of ravidasvir, a new DAA.
The Hepatitis C PACT is being launched with financing from MSF's Transformational Investment Capacity initiative, with the objective of increasing access to treatment for HCV patients in LMICs.
⚡NEWS
We're launching a public health programme with partners to tackle the continuing disparities in access to diagnostics and treatment for the #hepatitisC virus in low- and middle-income countries. #WorldHepatitisDay @DNDi @FINDdx @TAGTeam_Tweets https://t.co/IwXx9R6AXq
— MSF International (@MSF) July 28, 2021


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Journey to the island of volcanoes and geysers
Uta Kuehrt 09.02.12
On 31 January, the series "Meet the world" took us to Iceland, accompanied by two interesting guests.
Þorkell Gislason, an Icelander who now has been living in Estonia for two years, started off the evening with a short and enthralling Icelandic history lesson. We learned that it was the first Vikings who gave Reykjavik its name and that it was, in fact, Word War II that fuelled the economic growth of Iceland and eventually propelled Iceland into an independent state.
We also got to know that Iceland boasts the world's oldest parliamentary democracy and is a bastion of free speech and press freedom.
Next up was Mihkel Järveoja, who shared with us his stories from his time in Iceland, where he studied geology in 2009/2010 as an exchange student for a year. He even had a chance to witness live the notorious volcano eruption. He visited six different regions of Iceland and thoroughly enjoyed the variable and magnificent Icelandic nature. You can find his slide show here.
Mihkel recounted many amusing occasions during his stay, for example, blissfully enjoying a lengthy swim in the dangerous Viti geothermal lake, next to Askja volcano.
He also told us about the 50 km ski marathon he attended – and the (literally) uphill, and in hindsight, hilarious battle to finish it.
We also discovered that the perception of volcanic activities in Iceland greatly differs from the Western viewpoint. Volcanic eruptions are to be expected in Iceland.
During the first days of the Eyjafjallajökull's eruption, while the world media was reporting of a disastrous eruption, Icelanders were looking for a place to rent a car and go see the live "action". It was more of a family amusement, than a natural disaster scene. Granted, later on as the volcanic activity increased even Icelanders chose to rather watch it on TV.
Volcanoes and the French Revolution
While talking about volcanoes, Þorkell also told us about the legendary Laki eruption, which took place in 1783. "Icelanders believe that the eruption caused the French Revolution" surely brought out gales of laughter, but they did not last long.
As it would appear, the eruption brought upon a devastating effect not only on Iceland, but in whole Europe, and even in North America. The Laki eruption resulted in several years of extreme weather, destruction of crops and livestock and eventually widespread famine and poverty – all of which triggered the French Revolution in 1789.
After Mihkel and Þorkell were through with their talk, came the time for questions and answers.
With help from Þorkell, we all learned how to correctly pronounce "Eyjafjallajökull", though it took some tries to really get a hang of that.
Icelandic specialties
When talking about Icelandic food and drinks, McDonalds seemed to reign supreme until recently, when all McDonalds stores were closed, and Icelanders (mainly young ones) bought extra burgers and fries before the close up.
We learned that the most popular alcoholic drinks are beer and vodka, and of course we heard about the notorious Icelandic fish and meat gourmet dishes.
Apparently, after eating some of the traditional fish and meat dinners, the Icelandic vodka (branded "black death" by the locals, a reference to the disastrous consequences of overconsumption, as well as the "delicate" taste) tastes like mere Coca-Cola!
We also got to know that Iceland has a relatively poor fauna and flora (arctic fox being the only common indigenous wild animal), but some polar bears wander off to Iceland every now and then.
Þorkell had brought along a traditional Icelandic sweater, which has recently gained popularity especially among the young Icelanders.
Mihkel described the Icelander through the eyes of a foreigner, and concluded that they were rather similar to Estonians – relatively introvert and quiet, but when you finally get to know them, great friends!
In the end, we got a better understanding of Iceland, both through the eyes of an Icelander and through the eyes of an Estonian. We discovered we have many similarities – from the sauna and hot pot analogy, to religion's low prominence in both countries – we do have a lot in common!
After the formal talk was over, everyone got to taste Icelandic fish dishes that Þorkell had prepared for us, as well as freely talk to the performers and each other. The fish dishes, as it turns out, were in fact delicious!
Text by Dan Prits
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