Radiation and Environmental Biophysics最新文献

{"title":"Flexible and lead-free polymer composites for X-ray shielding: comparison of polyvinyl chloride matrix filled with nanoparticles of tungsten oxides.","authors":"Negar Rabiei, Leila Gholamzadeh, Mohsen Khajeh Aminian, Hamed Sharghi","doi":"10.1007/s00411-024-01103-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-024-01103-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Polymer nanocomposites have been investigated as lightweight and suitable alternatives to lead-based clothing. The present study aims to fabricate flexible, lead-free, X-ray-shielding composites using a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) matrix and different nanostructures. Four different nanostructures containing impure tungsten oxide, tungsten oxide (WO₃), barium tungstate (BaWO₄), and bismuth tungstate (Bi₂WO₆) were synthesized through various methods. Subsequently, their morphological characteristics were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Also, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis was performed to establish the presence of the filler in the PVC matrix. Two different weight ratios of these nanostructures (20% wt and 50% wt) were used to produce the PVC composites. To investigate attenuation parameters, the prepared composites were irradiated with X-rays at tube voltages of 40, 80, and 120 kV. The results showed that the PVC composites containing 20% wt Bi₂WO₆ had the highest linear attenuation coefficient (µ) at all three voltages. Furthermore, they had the lowest half-value layer (HVL), tenth-value layer (TVL), and 0.5 mm equivalent lead thickness values at each of the three voltages. The PVC composites containing 50% wt Bi₂WO₆ had attenuation coefficients greater than those reported for PbO at all three X-ray voltages. Among the studied tungsten nanostructures, bismuth tungstate had the best attenuation performance for X-ray protection. Additionally, this composite is light, flexible, and non-toxic, making it a promising alternative to lead aprons.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"151-161"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142954122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determination of activities of ²¹⁰Pb in Slovak tobacco and cigarettes: a study on radiological risks.","authors":"Silvia Dulanská, Veronika Demovics Silliková, Zuzana Goneková, Michaela Ticháková, Klára Gebeová, Michal Trnka, Daniel Kosnáč, Ján Pánik","doi":"10.1007/s00411-024-01098-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-024-01098-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigates the ²¹⁰Pb activity concentrations in tobacco and cigarettes available in Slovakia, utilizing two specific extraction methods including the Sr Resin sorbent used in extraction chromatography, and the AnaLig Sr01 sorbent, which operates based on molecular recognition principles. The findings revealed significant variations in ²¹⁰Pb activity concentrations, with concentrations ranging from 13.3 to 33.8 mBq/g in tobacco, and from 16.8 to 28.5 mBq/g in cigarettes. The average ²¹⁰Pb activity per cigarette was 14.4 mBq ± 1.7 mBq. Annual effective doses for smokers were calculated, with values for tobacco ranging from 27.9 to 126.7 µSv and for cigarettes from 25.5 to 115.7 µSv. The study highlights the importance of comparing these two methods to ensure an accurate assessment of ²¹⁰Pb exposure and evaluation of radiological risks associated with smoking in Slovakia.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"191-200"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11971057/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142814126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Radiation adaptive response for constant dose-rate irradiation in high background radiation areas.","authors":"Ernest Bugała, Krzysztof Wojciech Fornalski","doi":"10.1007/s00411-024-01093-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-024-01093-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The presented paper describes the problem of human health in regions with high level of natural ionizing radiation in various places in the world. The radiation adaptive response biophysical model was presented and calibrated for the special case of constant dose-rate irradiation. The calibration was performed for the data of residents of several high background radiation areas, like Ramsar in Iran, Kerala in India or Yangjiang in China. Studied end-points were: chromosomal aberrations, cancer incidence and cancer mortality. For the case of aberrations, among collected publications about 45% have shown the existence of adaptive response. Average reduction of chromosomal aberrations was ∼ 10%, while for the case of cancer incidence it was ∼ 15% and ∼ 17% for cancer mortality (each taking into account only results showing adaptive response). Results of the other 55% of data regarding chromosomal aberrations have been tested with the LNT (linear no-threshold) hypothesis, but results were inconsistent with the linear model. The conditions for adaptive response occurrence are still unknown, but it is postulated to correlate with the distribution of individual radiosensitivity among members of surveyed populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"29-44"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11971215/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142547108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison between flattening filter and flattening filter-free photon beams in head and neck cancer patients using volumetric modulated arc therapy technique.","authors":"Mahmoud Mohamed Alfishawy, Khaled Mohamed Elshahat, Amr Ismail Kany","doi":"10.1007/s00411-024-01104-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-024-01104-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to evaluate the dosimetric and clinical outcomes of flattening filter (FF) versus flattening filter-free (FFF) beams in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Twenty-four patients with 70/59.4/54 Gy dose prescribed in 33 fractions with simultaneous integrated boost treatment were retrospectively analyzed to compare treatment delivery efficiency, target coverage, sparing of organs at risk (OARs), and remaining volume at risk (RVR) in two HNC groups (nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal). Study findings indicate that FFF beams significantly reduce conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI) by p-values (0.008, < 0.001, 0.002, 0.015) for PTV70 CI, PTV70 HI, PTV60 HI, and PTV54 HI, respectively. Gradient dose was significantly improved in FFF mode, and monitor units (MU) were increased (p < 0.001). In terms of OARs, the study revealed superior performance of FFF in most of structures and RVR especially in the oropharyngeal group. OARs sparing is notably enhanced for structures distant from the target (eyes, lenses, and optic pathway). Additionally, brainstem sparing shows significant improvement in oropharyngeal cases when using FFF plans (p = 0.046); however, FF plans demonstrate superior results in nasopharyngeal cases (p = 0.026). It is concluded that both FF and FFF photon beams are effective for treating HNC patients. VMAT plans using FFF mode offer clinically acceptable outcomes, demonstrating a significant reduction in gradient and integral dose. However, FF plans exhibit superior target homogeneity and reduced MU requirements. Therefore, the choice between these techniques should be based on a comprehensive evaluation of all relevant parameters.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"67-76"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142984134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of tissue-air ratios in epoxy resin and PMMA phantoms for radiation dosimetry: findings from experimental measurements and Monte Carlo simulations.","authors":"Hamza Sekkat, Abdellah Khallouqi, Omar El Rhazouani, Abdellah Halimi","doi":"10.1007/s00411-024-01105-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-024-01105-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study assesses radiation doses in multi-slice computed tomography (CT) using epoxy resin and PMMA phantoms, focusing on the relationship between TAR (tissue air ratio) and kilovoltage peak (kVp). The research was conducted using a Hitachi Supria 16-slice CT scanner. An epoxy resin phantom was fabricated from commercially available materials, to simulate human tissue. The phantom contained four peripheral inserts and one central insert for dose measurement, with optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters positioned at various depths (2 to 10 cm). Monte Carlo simulations were executed using the Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission toolkit (GATE) to model photon transport, with the x-ray spectrum generated using SpekPy software. A non-linear fitting model was developed to describe the TAR-kVp relationship across different depths for epoxy resin and PMMA. Results indicated that TAR values were higher at low depths (2 cm) and decreased with increasing depth, reflecting the x-ray beam's attenuation. For instance, at 80 kVp and 2 cm depth, the experimental TAR for PMMA was 1.102 ± 0.011, closely matching the MC simulation value of 1.110 ± 0.036, resulting in a small difference of 0.7%. At a depth of 10 cm, the experimental TAR for PMMA decreased to 0.245 ± 0.006, while the MC TAR was 0.248 ± 0.016, with a relative difference of 1.2%. Similar trends were observed for epoxy resin, where the experimental TAR ranged from 1.070 ± 0.014 at 2 cm to 0.235 ± 0.009 at 10 cm, while MC simulation values ranged from 1.080 ± 0.038 to 0.238 ± 0.017. Bland-Altman analysis confirmed these results, with mean differences of 0.008 for PMMA and 0.006 for epoxy resin, indicating high agreement between the experimental and simulated TAR values. This study highlights the importance of phantom material selection in dose assessment and the implications of TAR in dose correction within the context of diagnostic radiology.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"179-189"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142984054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relationships between protection and operational dosimetric quantities for external exposure to natural background radiation.","authors":"A Ulanowski, T Sato, N Petoussi-Henss, M Balonov","doi":"10.1007/s00411-025-01109-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-025-01109-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Protection and operational dosimetric quantities for human external exposure have been compared for situations of outdoor exposure to natural background radiation represented by gamma radiation of primordial and cosmogenic radionuclides and by radiations produced by the galactic cosmic rays in the Earth atmosphere. Calculations were performed using the data from publications of the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements and the International Commission on Radiological Protection for global geographical grid of marine and terrestrial locations. Using modelled fluence spectra of natural cosmogenic and terrestrial background radiation, the ratios of the protection to operational quantities were calculated, demonstrating the effect of high-LET neutron component on the ratios of effective dose to absorbed dose, air kerma and the operational quantities. The influence of the neutron component was found to be stronger for high-altitude terrestrial locations and for terrestrial and marine locations at higher geographic latitudes. The computed ratios can be used for interpretation of the measured ambient dose rate data and calculation of effective doses in radiological protection tasks or assessment of public exposure to natural and anthropogenic sources of radiation.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"105-115"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143414974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the correlation between Gamma passing rate and clinical dosimetric variations in breast cancer IMRT plans with multi-leaf collimator errors: perspectives from the ArcCHECK QA system.","authors":"Xiuquan Li, Jia Deng, Xiangyang Wu, Hang Yang, Dengdian Huang","doi":"10.1007/s00411-024-01097-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-024-01097-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to comprehensively investigate the influence of multi-leaf collimator (MLC) position errors on both the clinical absolute dose distribution and Gamma passing rate (%GP) in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans for breast cancer. Additionally, the correlation between %GP and the clinical absolute dose relative difference (%DE) caused by MLC position errors was analysed. Ten IMRT plans for breast cancer were randomly selected. Systematic and random MLC position errors were introduced into DICOM files representing the investigated treatment plans by modifying the plan files and adjusting the MLC positions. Systematic errors were categorized as MLC opening errors, closing errors, and shift errors. The %DE in the tumour planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) caused by MLC errors were statistically analyzed using dose-volume histogram (DVH) analysis. The ArcCHECK quality assurance (QA) system was used to detect the %GP differences between baseline plans and plans with MLC errors. The correlation between %GP and %DE was obtained using linear regression methods. The results of this study indicate that MLC opening and closing errors have a significant impact on %DE and %GP in IMRT plans for breast cancer. Opening and closing errors can be detected at a gamma level of 3%/2 mm, if error values are greater than or equal to 0.5 mm, and %GP can predict DVH dosimetric changes caused by MLC opening and closing errors. It is concluded that DVH-based verification of IMRT plans can serve as an adjunct method to Gamma analysis to improve QA accuracy for breast cancer cases. Additionally, it is concluded that greater attention should be given to MLC leaf opening and closing errors in clinical practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"55-65"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11971205/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142627161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating the biological impact of shelters on astronaut health during different solar particle events: a Geant4-DNA simulation study.","authors":"Hassan Vafapour, Payman Rafiepour, Javad Moradgholi, Smj Mortazavi","doi":"10.1007/s00411-025-01111-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-025-01111-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mechanistic Monte Carlo simulations have proven invaluable in tackling complex challenges in radiobiology, for example for protecting astronauts from solar particle events (SPEs) during deep space missions which remains an underexplored area. In this study, the Geant4-DNA Monte Carlo code was used to assess the DNA damage caused by SPEs and evaluate the protective effectiveness of a multilayer shelter. By examining the February 1956 and October 1989 SPEs-two extreme cases-the results showed that the proposed shelter reduced DNA damage by up to 57.9% for the October 1989 SPE and 36.7% for the February 1956 SPE. Cell repair and survival modeling further revealed enhanced cell survival with the shelter, reducing lethal DNA damage by up to 64.3% and 88.2% for February 1956 and October 1989 SPEs, respectively. The results presented here highlight the crucial importance of developing effective radiation shielding to protect astronauts during solar storms and emphasizes the need to improve predictions of solar particle events to optimize shelter design.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"137-150"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143053364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comment on \"The scientific nature of the linear no-threshold (LNT) model used in the system of radiological protection\" by A. Wojcik and F. Zölzer.","authors":"Michael P R Waligórski, Marek K Janiak","doi":"10.1007/s00411-025-01112-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-025-01112-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143468967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of the conformity of intensity-modulated radiation therapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy using AAPM TG 119 protocol.","authors":"Dang Thi Minh Tam, Phan Long Ho, Phan Quoc Uy, Nguyen Trung Hieu, Vo Tan Linh, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Nguyen Thi The Lam, Bui Thi Thuy Nga, Truong Huu Thanh, Tran Thien Thanh, Chau Van Tao","doi":"10.1007/s00411-024-01091-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00411-024-01091-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aim of this work was to evaluate the conformity of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), and verify the accuracy of the planning and delivery system used in this work based on the AAPM TG-119 protocol. The Eclipse 13.6 treatment planning system (TPS) was used to plan the TG-119 test suite, which included four test cases: MultiTarget, Prostate, Head/Neck, and C-Shape for IMRT and VMAT techniques with 6 MV and 10 MV acceleration voltages. The results were assessed and discussed in terms of the TG-119 protocol and the results of previous studies. In addition, point dose and planar dose measurements were done using a semiflex ion chamber and an electronic portal imaging device (EPID), respectively. The planned doses of all test cases met the criteria of the TG-119 protocol, except those for the spinal cord of the C-Shape hard case. There were no significant differences between the treatment planning doses and the doses given in the TG-119 report, with p-values ranging from 0.974 to 1 (p > 0.05). Doses to the target volumes were similar in the IMRT and VMAT plans, but the organs at risk (OARs) doses were different depending on the test case. The planning results showed that IMRT is more conformal than VMAT in certain cases. For the point dose measurements, the confidence limit (CL_point) of 0.030 and 0.021 were better than the corresponding values of 0.045 and 0.047 given in the TG-119 report for high-dose and low-dose areas, respectively. Regarding the planar dose measurements, the CL_planar value of 0.38 obtained in this work was lower than that given in the TG-119 report (12.4). It is concluded that the dosimetry measurements performed in this study showed better confidence limits than those provided in the TG 119 report. IMRT remains more conformal in certain circumstances than the more progressive VMAT. When selecting the method of delivering a dose to the patient, several factors must be considered, including the radiotherapy technique, energy, treatment site, and tumour geometry.</p>","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"557-571"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141996344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}