Background: In nuclear medicine, PHANTOMs are mainly used to evaluate the overall performance of the imaging systems, and practically there is no PHANTOM exclusively designed for the evaluation of the software performance. In this study the HOFFMAN brain PHANTOM was used for quantitative evaluation of reconstruction techniques. The PHANTOM is modified to acquire tomographic and planar image of the same structure. The planar image may be used as the reference image to evaluate the quality of reconstructed slices, using the companion software developed in MATLAB. Materials and Methods: The designed PHANTOM was composed of 4 independent 2D slices that could have been placed juxtapose to the 3D PHANTOM. Each slice was composed of objects of different size and shape (for example: circle, triangle, and rectangle). Each 2D slice was imaged at distances ranging from 0 to 15 cm from the collimator surface. The PHANTOM in 3D configuration was imaged acquiring 128 views of 128×128 matrix size. Reconstruction was performed using different filtering condition and the reconstructed images were compared to the corresponding planar images. The modulation transfer function, scatter fraction and attenuation map were calculated for each reconstructed image. Results: Since all the parameters of the acquisition were identical for the 2D and the 3D imaging, it was assumed that the difference in the quality of the images has exclusively been due to the reconstruction condition. The planar images were assumed to be the most perfect images which could be obtained with the system. The comparison of the reconstructed slices with the corresponding planar images yielded the optimum reconstruction condition. The results clearly showed that Wiener filter yields superior quality image among the entire tested filters. The extent of the improvement has been quantified in terms of universal image quality index. Conclusion: The PHANTOM and the accompanying software were evaluated and found to be quite useful in determining the optimum filtering condition and mathematical evaluation of the scatter and attenuation in tomographic images.

The combustion system used by the HOFFMAN furnaces for brick factories has a very low efficiency. In the current paper, the performance of the combustion system of HOFFMAN furnaces of Kolet Pottery Brick Co has improved, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) by making changes to the HOFFMAN furnace torch, including the converging the torch head, inserting the spring in the pipe to create the swirl flow, shortening the nozzle length for the better mixing of the fuel and air, and more. The changes were simulated in each step with the FLUENT simulation software. Based on the theoretical results and simulation, optimized torch was made and a field test was carried out on it in a brick factory and the gases from their combustion were analyzed. As a result of these reforms, the combustion efficiency of the HOFFMAN furnaces has increased from 27% to 47 %, and consumption of fuel oil has decreased by a third. Also, the CO value of 16854 ppm in the old torch was reduced to 298 ppm in the optimized torch and the NO value ranged from 49 to 18 ppm as a result of optimizations.

Objective To determine the frequency of PHANTOM limb sensation (PLS) and PHANTOM limb pain (PLP) in children and young adults suffering landmine-related amputation.Materials & Methods All youths with amputation due to landmine explosions participated in this study. The proportions of patients with PHANTOM limb sensation/pain, intensity and frequency of pain were reported. Chi square test was used to examine the relationship between variables. Comparison of PLP and PLS between upper and lower amputation was done by unpaired t-test.Results There were 38 male and 3 female with the mean age of 15.8±2.4yr. The mean interval between injury and follow-up was 90.7±39.6 months. Twelve (44.4%) upper limb amputees and 11 (26.8%) lower limb amputees had PLS. Nine (33.3%) upper limb amputees and 7 (17.1%) lower limb amputees experienced PLP. Of 27 upper limb amputees, 6 (14.6%) and among 15 lower limb amputees, 6 (14.6%) had both PLS and PLP. One case suffered amputation of upper and lower limbs and was experiencing PLS and PLP in both parts. PLS had a significant difference between the upper and lower amputated groups.Significant relationship was observed between age of casualty and duration of injury with PLP.Conclusion PHANTOM limb sensation and pain in young survivors of landmine explosions appear to be common, even years after amputation.

Introduction: The determination of accurate dose distribution is an issue of fundamental importance in radiotherapy, especially with regard to the fact that the human body is a heterogeneous medium. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze the density and isodose depth profiles of 6 MV beam in a SP34 slab‐wooden dust (pine) ‐SP34 slab (SWS) heterogeneous PHANTOM.Materials and Methods: The density of SP34 slab, wooden dust of pine, and thoracic region of 10 patients were calculated using computed tomography (CT) images. The depths of isodose lines were measured for 6 MV beam on the CT images of the chest, SP34 slab PHANTOM, and SWS PHANTOM. Dose calculation was performed at the depths of 2, 13, and 21 cm in both PHANTOMs. Furthermore, patient-specific quality assurance (QA) was implemented using both PHANTOMs.Results: The mean densities of the lung, SP34 slabs, and wooden dust were 0.29, 0.99, and 0.27 gm/cc respectively. The mean depths of different isodose lines in the SWS PHANTOM were found to be equivalent to those in actual patients. Furthermore, the percentage variation between the planned and measured doses was higher in the SWS PHANTOM as compared to that in the SP34 PHANTOM. Furthermore, the percentage variation between the planned and measured doses in patient‐specific QA was higher in the SWS PHANTOM as compared to that in the SP34 PHANTOM.Conclusion: As the findings indicated, the density and isodose depth profiles of the SWS PHANTOM were equivalent to those of the actual thoracic region of human.

U “ ncanny” refers to a paradoxical feature in which the object creates attraction and repulsion simultaneously, creating a kind of hatred in cognition; it may manifest itself in a disturbing way, seeming familiar and strange at the same time. The purpose of this research is to show how this Uncanniness occurs in puppet performance, accelerating the three-way communication between the puppet, the puppeteer and the spectator, and strengthening the belief that the puppet or object is alive during the performance. For this purpose, the first step is to study reception theory, which refers to the audience’ s reception of the art work and their understanding and interpretation in order to achieve a kind of established knowledge. In the next step, the occurrence of Uncanniness is established through the study of the double vision theory, which analyzes the process of the spectator’ s imagination in bringing objects and puppets to life on the stage. In this study, by considering the Uncanny meanings and by looking at the story of “ The Sandman” by Frederick HOFFMAN, the characters and the conflict are first defined in the story’ s three opening letters. Furthermore, the psychological conflict of the protagonist, Nathanael, is presented, who is torn between hallucinations and reality. Nathanael struggles his whole life against posttraumatic stress which comes from a traumatic episode with the sandman in his childhood experience. Until the end of the book it remains unclear whether this experience was real, or just a dream of the young Nathanael. The text clearly leaves the decision open in as much as it offers two understandings: that of Nathanael’ s belief that there is a dark power controlling him, and Clara’ s postulation against this by arguing that it is only a psychological element. The story is partly a subjective description of the proceedings from Nathanael’ s viewpoint which, due to enormous psychological problems, is not likely objective – or possibly objectively portrayed. HOFFMAN consciously leaves the reader unsure. Of central importance is the “ eyes” theme (interpreted by Freud in his 1919 essay, The Uncanny, as fear of castration), the “ steps” , the robot, and laughter. Puppets also have an immortal aspect compared to humans-puppets do not die but human beings do-but the scene is a place for the subconscious mind and the world within the characters. According to Freud, it can be said that the Uncanny factor has had an effect both on the works and the formation of works of the artist in recreating another in the whole work, and has also had an extraordinary effect on the audience’ s perception and it can be said that this modern duality is full of unconscious desires that can be related to cultural desires and order. The conclusive analysis of the data examines how Uncanny happens and forms a connection between the puppet and the unconscious of the audience. The research method is descriptive and analytical based documented resources.

Introduction: Werdnig-HOFFMAN syndrome is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and an autosomal recessive disorder. This was a qualitative case study focusing on lived experiences of the mother of 2 children with Werdnig-HOFFMAN syndrome.Case Report: The case was a 37-year-old widowed, mother of two children with Werdnig-HOFFMAN syndrome. The first child had died at age 5 due to breathing and swallowing issues and the second child is now 2 years old and has tracheostomy. The mother's experiences of living with children with Werdnig-HOFFMAN syndrome were "the disintegration of family life, observing the slow death of a children, understanding the children's feelings, and caring for an ill child".Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that the mother had experienced distress due to the disintegration of life, and observing the death of a child, and caring for a sick child. Financial problems, substance abuse, and the death of the spouse were due to the crippling costs and issues of the disease.

Annually, many people are irradiated for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. As-sessment of radiation dose and its related risks to patients are important issues in radiation protection dosimetry. The complex mathematical calculations of the absorbed and effective doses are now done with computers. The calculations are performed with the help of anthropomorphic computational models of human body called PHANTOMs and Monte Carlo codes (MCNP). There are various types of PHANTOMs, yet the latest type is hybrid PHANTOM which has been introduced to the scientific community in recent years. Hybrid PHANTOM is the connection between mathematical and voxel PHANTOMs. They retain both the anatomic realism of voxel PHANTOMs and the flexibility of mathematical PHANTOMs. Using hybrid PHANTOMs, the absorbed doses can be determined for any patients before they are exposed to radiation. Then, the energy of the emitted particles and irradiation geometry can be determined for any special purposes. A hybrid PHANTOM is under construction for Iranian patients to be used in different applications such as testing new radiopharmaceuticals or cancer treatments with high LET radiation. Herein, we report on our findings.