The growing human population and a changing environment have raised significant concern for global food security, with the current improvement rate of several important crops inadequate to meet future demand . This slow improvement rate is attributed partly to the long generation times of crop plants. Here, we present a method called 'speed breeding', which greatly shortens generation time and accelerates breeding and research programmes. Speed breeding can be used to achieve up to 6 generations per year for spring wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (T. durum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and pea (Pisum sativum), and 4 generations for canola (Brassica napus), instead of 2-3 under normal glasshouse conditions. We demonstrate that speed breeding in fully enclosed, controlled-environment growth chambers can accelerate plant development for research purposes, including phenotyping of adult plant traits, mutant studies and transformation. The use of supplemental lighting in a glasshouse environment allows rapid generation cycling through single seed descent (SSD) and potential for adaptation to larger-scale crop improvement programs. Cost saving through light-emitting diode (LED) supplemental lighting is also outlined. We envisage great potential for integrating speed breeding with other modern crop breeding technologies, including high-throughput genotyping, genome editing and genomic selection, accelerating the rate of crop improvement.

Radiochromic film can be a fast and inexpensive means for performing accurate quantitative radiation dosimetry. The development of new radiochromic compositions that have greater dose sensitivity and fewer environmental dependencies has led to an ever increasing use of the film in radiotherapy applications. In this report the various physical and dosimetric properties of radiochromic film are presented and the strategies to adequately manage these properties when using radiochromic film for radiotherapy applications are discussed.

Study Design: A counterbalanced, repeated-measures design with ultrasound device (Omnisound 3000C, Dynatron 950, Excel Ultra III) as the independent variable. The 2 dependent variables were intramuscular (IM) temperature at 6 minutes and at the end of a 10-minute treatment. Objective: To compare IM temperatures produced by identical 3-MHz ultrasound treatments between 3 different ultrasound devices. Background: Most recent studies prescribing intensity and duration parameters for thermal ultrasound treatments have been performed using an Omnisound device, but have not been verified in other common ultrasound devices. Methods and Measures: Six uninjured volunteers (mean age ± SD, 22 ± 3.4 y; mean height ± SD, 171.9 ± 11.0 cm; mean mass ± SD, 66.1 ± 11.1 kg) gave informed consent and served as subjects. Separate ultrasound treatments using identical parameters (3 MHz, 1.5 W/cm 2 , 10 minutes, treatment area equal to twice transducer surface area) were administered at 24 or 48 hours intervals using a different ultrasound device for each treatment. Left medial calf IM temperature was recorded every 20 seconds using implantable thermocouples at a depth of 1.6 cm below the treatment surface. Data were analyzed using MANOVA with Sidak adjusted multiple comparisons post hoc. Results: Tissue heating using the Omnisound device was greater than with either the Dynatron or the Excel. The results of treatments using Dynatron or Excel devices did not differ. The Omnisound was the only device to consistently produce IM temperatures above the 40°C therapeutic threshold and did so in less than 6 minutes. The other devices did not reach this threshold within the 10-minute treatment session. Subjects routinely reported heating sensations approaching discomfort when the IM temperature reached the 40°C therapeutic threshold. Conclusions: Because there are differences in thermal effects between ultrasound devices, our results suggest that recently published parameters for ultrasound intensity and duration parameters will not produce equally therapeutic effects for all ultrasound devices. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2003;33:379-385.

The growing human population and a changing environment have raised significant concern for global food security, with the current improvement rate of several important crops inadequate to meet future demand [1]. This slow improvement rate is attributed partly to the long generation times of crop plants. Here we present a method called 'speed breeding', . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a (which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.The copyright holder for this preprint . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/161182 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Jul. 9, 2017; Watson and Ghosh et al. (2017) 2 which greatly shortens generation time and accelerates breeding and research programs.Speed breeding can be used to achieve up to 6 generations per year for spring wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (T. durum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), and pea (Pisum sativum) and 4 generations for canola (Brassica napus), instead of 2-3 under normal glasshouse conditions. We demonstrate that speed breeding in fully-enclosed controlled-environment growth chambers can accelerate plant development for research purposes, including phenotyping of adult plant traits, mutant studies, and transformation.The use of supplemental lighting in a glasshouse environment allows rapid generation cycling through single seed descent and potential for adaptation to larger-scale crop improvement programs. Cost-saving through LED supplemental lighting is also outlined. We envisage great potential for integrating speed breeding with other modern crop breeding technologies, including high-throughput genotyping, genome editing, and genomic selection, accelerating the rate of crop improvement.For most crop plants, the breeding of new, advanced cultivars, takes several years. Following crossing of selected parent lines, 4-6 generations of inbreeding are typically required to develop genetically stable lines for evaluation of agronomic traits and yield. This is particularly timeconsuming for field-grown crops that are often limited to only 1-2 generations per year. Here, we present flexible protocols for "speed breeding" that use prolonged photoperiods to accelerate the developmental rate of plants [2], thereby reducing generation time. We highlight the opportunity presented by speed breeding and detail protocols to inspire widespread adoption as a state-of-theart breeding and research tool.To evaluate speed breeding as a method to accelerate applied and basic research on cereal species, standard genotypes of spring bread wheat (T. aestivum), durum wheat (T. durum), barley (H. vulgare) and the model grass Brachypodium distachyon were grown in a controlled environment room with extended photoperiod (22 hours light/2 hours dark) ( Fig. 1; Methods:Speed breeding I; Supplementary Table 1). A light/dark period was chosen over a continuous photoperiod to support functional expression of circadian clock genes [3]. Growth was compare...

A new multileaf collimator (MLC) model has been incorporated into version 7.4 of the Pinnacle radiotherapy treatment planning system (Philips Radiation Oncology Systems, Milpitas, CA). The MLC model allows for rounded MLC leaf-ends and provides separate parameters for inter-leaf transmission, intra-leaf transmission and the tongue width of the MLC leaf. In this report we detail the method followed to commission the MLC model for a Varian 120-leaf Millennium MLC (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA, USA) for both 6 and 10 MV photons, and test the validity of the model for an IMRT field. Dose profiles in water were measured for a range of square MLC field sizes and compared to the Pinnacle computed dose profiles; in addition, the dose distribution for a series of adjacent MLC fields was measured to observe the model's behaviour along match-lines. Based on these results intra-leaf transmissions of 1.5% for 6 MV and 1.8% for 10 MV, leaf-tip radius of 12.0 cm, an inter-leaf transmission of 0.5%, and a tongue width of 0.1 cm were chosen. Using these values to compute the planar dose distribution for a 6 MV IMRT field, the new version of Pinnacle displayed improved dosimetric agreement with the dose-to-water EPID image and ion chamber measurements when compared to the old version of Pinnacle, particularly along the MLC tongue edge and across match-lines. Discrepancies of up to 5% were observed between calculated and measured doses along match-lines for both 6 MV and 10 MV photons; however, the new MLC model did predict the presence of match-lines and was a significant improvement on the previous model.

Strong predictors of response to a chronic disease management program for hip and knee OA were not identified. The significant predictors that were found should be considered in future studies.

We found that patients can be safely and effectively discharged on the day of surgery after UKA, with high levels of satisfaction. This clearly offers improved management of resources and financial savings to healthcare trusts. Cite this article: 2017;99-B:788-92.

A multicentre planning study comparing intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans for the treatment of a head and neck cancer has been carried out. Three Australian radiotherapy centres, each with a different planning system, were supplied a fully contoured CT dataset and requested to generate an IMRT plan in accordance with the requirements of an IMRT-based radiation therapy oncology group clinical trial. Plan analysis was carried out using software developed specifically for reviewing multicentre clinical trial data. Two out of the three plans failed to meet the prescription requirements with one misinterpreting the prescription and the third failed to meet one of the constraints. Only one plan achieved all of the dose objectives for the critical structures and normal tissues. Although each centre used very similar planning parameters and beam arrangements the resulting plans were quite different. The subjective interpretation and application of the prescription and planning objectives emphasize one of the many difficulties in carrying out multicentre IMRT planning studies. The treatment prescription protocol in a clinical trial must be both lucid and unequivocally stated to avoid misinterpretation. Australian radiotherapy centres must show that they can produce a quality IMRT plan and that they can adhere to protocols for IMRT planning before using it in a clinical trial.