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In single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), patients with bone disorders receive a radiopharmaceutical (RP) that accumulates selectively in pathological lesions. Accurate quantification of RP uptake plays a critical role in disease staging, prognosis, and the development of personalized treatment strategies. Traditionally, the accuracy of quantitative assessment is evaluated through in vitro clinical trials using the standardized physical NEMA IEC phantom, which contains six spheres simulating lesions of various sizes. However, such experiments are limited by high costs and radiation exposure to researchers. This study proposes an alternative in silico approach based on numerical simulation using a digital twin of the NEMA IEC phantom. The computational framework allows for extensive testing under varying conditions without physical constraints. Analogous to clinical protocols, we calculated the recovery coefficient (RC_max), defined as the ratio of the maximum activity in a lesion to its known true value. The simulation settings were tailored to clinical SPECT/CT protocols involving ^99mTc for patients with bone-related diseases. For the first time, we systematically analyzed the impact of lesion-to-background ratios and post-reconstruction filtering on RC_max values. Numerical experiments revealed the presence of edge artifacts in reconstructed lesion images, consistent with those observed in both real NEMA IEC phantom studies and patient scans. These artifacts introduce instability into the iterative reconstruction process and lead to errors in activity quantification. Our results demonstrate that post-filtering helps suppress edge artifacts and stabilizes the solution. However, it also significantly underestimates activity in small lesions. To address this issue, we introduce post-reconstruction correction factors derived from our simulations to improve the accuracy of quantification in lesions smaller than 20 mm in diameter.

A new method of statistical analysis of texts is suggested. The frequency distribution of the first significant digits in numerals of English-language texts is considered. We have taken into account cardinal as well as ordinal numerals expressed both in figures, and verbally. To identify the author’s use of numerals, we previously deleted from the text all idiomatic expressions and set phrases accidentally containing numerals, as well as itemizations and page numbers, etc. Benford’s law is found to hold approximately for the frequencies of various first significant digits of compound literary texts by different authors; a marked predominance of the digit 1 is observed. In coherent authorial texts, characteristic deviations from Benford’s law arise which are statistically stable significant author peculiarities that allow, under certain conditions, to consider the problem of authorship and distinguish between texts by different authors. The text should be large enough (at least about 200 kB). At the end of $\{1, 2, \ldots, 9\}$ digits row, the frequency distribution is subject to strong fluctuations and thus unrepresentative for our purpose. The aim of the theoretical explanation of the observed empirical regularity is not intended, which, however, does not preclude the applicability of the proposed methodology for text attribution. The approach suggested and the conclusions are backed by the examples of the computer analysis of works by W.M. Thackeray, M. Twain, R. L. Stevenson, J. Joyce, sisters Bront¨e, and J.Austen. On the basis of technique suggested, we examined the authorship of a text earlier ascribed to L. F. Baum (the result agrees with that obtained by different means). We have shown that the authorship of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” pertains to her, whereas the primary draft, “Go Set a Watchman”, seems to have been written in collaboration with Truman Capote. All results are confirmed on the basis of parametric Pearson’s chi-squared test as well as non-parametric Mann –Whitney U test and Kruskal –Wallis test.

The distribution of the first significant digit in numerals of connected texts is considered. Benford's law is found to hold approximately for them. Deviations from Benford's law are statistically significant author peculiarities that allow, under certain conditions, to distinguish between parts of the text with a different authorship.