Rain garden hydrological performance - Responses to real rainfall events.

Rain gardens, as bioretention facilities belonging to blue-green infrastructure solutions, are becoming increasingly implemented in cities. The main reason for this is to support traditional drainage systems in receiving runoff from impermeable surfaces and managing it through temporary retention and infiltration into the ground. However, as practice shows, investors focusing on the construction of the systems and their commissioning skip their monitoring during the operating period, thus missing the opportunity to obtain reliable data on their hydrological performance under actual field conditions. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a rain garden, located in an urban area, to capture runoff from the roof of a building. The assessment was based on the results of measurements carried out in 2021 on the variability of the levels of water retained in the rain garden and on measurements of growing medium moisture content at several selected points in the rain garden depression against thermal and rainfall conditions. The results showed that the rain garden demonstrated good hydrological performance. This was proven by the observed direct infiltration of rainwater into the structural layer or the short retention time for rainfall events with a higher rainfall total. The highest growing medium moisture was observed in the area of rainwater inflow to the rain garden. The results of the research may be useful in the planning and realization of future investments with rain gardens, which are to be situated in areas of similar meteorological conditions.

Treatment of electropolishing industrial wastewater and its impact on the immobilisation of Daphnia magna.

The amount of industrial pollution entering the environment and its impact on living organisms is an ongoing concern. At the same time, due to an increasing awareness, new methods of wastewater treatment are being explored that are not only effective but also environmentally acceptable. Meeting environmental standards for permitted concentrations is a necessity, but investigating the effects of wastewater on living organisms is also an important issue. In this paper, the influence of metal ions (Fe(III), Cr(III), Ni(II), Cu(II)) in industrial wastewater from electropolishing of stainless steel on Daphnia magna has been investigated. Daphnids have been exposed to wastewater both before and after treatment (Ca(OH)2 precipitation, sorption with peat). Immobilisation in a 48-h acute toxicity test and EC50 has been determined. In the case of studied industrial wastewater, the organic content (expressed as total organic carbon) of the effluent has a positive impact in terms of the survival of D. magna and increases the range of heavy metal concentrations tolerated by them. The application of a two-stage process with Ca(OH)2 neutralisation followed by sorption with peat allows for the removal of almost 100% of metal ions from the wastewater. The reduction obtained ensured a limited impact on D. magna and a decrease in immobilisation to less than 10%. Proper execution of the wastewater treatment process ensures a reduction of its negative impact on living organisms.

Dosimetric consequences of prostate-based couch shifts on the precision of dose delivery during simultaneous IMRT irradiation of the prostate, seminal vesicles and pelvic lymph nodes.

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the impact interfraction prostate (CTV1) motion corrections on doses delivered to seminal vesicles (CTV2) and lymph nodes (CTV3), and to determine ideal planning target volume (PTV) margins for these targets with prostate-based position verification. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis based on 253 cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) studies of 28 patients. The isocenter-shift method was used to estimate the interfraction prostate and bony shift effects on the original plan coverage. Friedman's test was used to assess statistical significance between dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters which were calculated for prostate-based sum plans, bony-based sum plans and original treatment plans. The van Herk formula was used to determine the set-up margin size for prostate-based verification. RESULTS: The tracked shifts influenced the minimum, maximum and mean CTV2 and CTV3 doses, with a range differential of 0.17%-2.63% (prostate shifts) and 0.13%-1.92% (bony shifts) compared to the corresponding original parameters. Friedman's test revealed significant differences in the minimum doses to the CTV3 and maximum doses to both the CTV2 and CTV3. The calculated set-up margins of 1.22 cm (vertical), 0.19 cm (longitudinal) and 0.39 cm (lateral) should be added to CTV3 while performing prostate-based positioning. CONCLUSION: To avoid geographical miss during simultaneous irradiation of independently moving targets (CTV1-3) appropriate margins should be used in accordance with the position verification method used. Based on our findings the following margin sizes should be used: 0.7 cm for the CTV1, 0.8-0.9 cm for the CTV2 , and asymmetric 1.0 cm (vertically) and 0.5 cm (other axes) for the CTV3.

Modelling of percolation rate of stormwater from underground infiltration systems.

Underground or surface stormwater storage tank systems that enable the infiltration of water into the ground are basic elements used in Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS). So far, the design methods for such facilities have not taken into account the phenomenon of ground clogging during stormwater infiltration. Top layer sealing of the filter bed influences the infiltration rate of water into the ground. This study presents an original mathematical model describing changes in the infiltration rate variability in the phases of filling and emptying the storage and infiltration tank systems, which enables the determination of the degree of top ground layer clogging. The input data for modelling were obtained from studies conducted on experimental sites on objects constructed on a semi-technological scale. The experiment conducted has proven that the application of the model developed for the phase of water infiltration enables us to estimate the degree of module clogging. However, this method is more suitable for reservoirs embedded in more permeable soils than for those located in cohesive soils.

Evaluation of combining bony anatomy and soft tissue position correction strategies for IMRT prostate cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Radiotherapy treatment requires delivering high homogenous dose to target volume while sparing organs at risk. That is why accurate patient positioning is one of the most important steps during the treatment process. It reduces set-up errors which have a strong influence on the doses given to the target and surrounding tissues. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of combining bony anatomy and soft tissue imaging position correction strategies for patients with prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study based on pre-treatment position verification results determined for 10 patients using kV images and CBCT match. At the same patients' position, two orthogonal kV images and set of CT scans were acquired. Both verification methods gave the information about patients' position changes in vertical, longitudinal and lateral directions. RESULTS: For 93 verifications, the mean values of kV shifts in vertical, longitudinal and lateral directions equaled: -0.11 ± 0.54 cm, 0.26 ± 0.38 cm and -0.06 ± 0.47 cm, respectively. The same values achieved for CBCT matching equaled: 0.07 ± 0.62 cm, 0.22 ± 0.36 cm and -0.02 ± 0.45 cm. Statistically significant changes between the values of shifts received during the first week of treatment and the rest time of the irradiation process were found for 2 patients in the lateral direction and 2 patients in vertical direction among kV results and for 3 patients in the longitudinal direction among CBCT results. A significant difference between kV and CBCT match results was found in the vertical direction. CONCLUSIONS: In clinical practice, CBCT combined with kV or even portal imaging improves precision and effectiveness of prostate cancer treatment accuracy.