Antibacterial functionalization of cotton and cotton/polyester fabrics applying hybrid coating of copper/chitosan nanocomposites loaded polymer blends via gamma irradiation.

In the present work, copper/chitosan nanocomposites (Cu/CS) were prepared in an aqueous solution in the presence of CS as stabilizer and CuSO4·5H2O precursor. The Cu/CS NPs formation was proved through transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier Transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and XRD diffraction. Cotton and cotton/polyester fabrics were gamma-radiation grafted by padding to pickup of 100%, in nanocomposites based on Cu/CS NPs loaded in polymer blends of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and plasticized starch (PLST). The grafted fabrics were characterized in terms of tensile mechanical, crease recovery and water absorption properties. The results showed that cotton fabrics displayed higher water absorption (%) than cotton/polyester fabrics for all PVA/PLST compositions and water absorption was found to decrease with increasing the ratio of PVA in the PVA/PLST blends. Cotton/polyester fabrics displays crease recovery angle (CRA) value of 147.6 upon treated with PVA/PLST (80/20%) and gamma irradiated to 30 kGy compared to CRA value of 125.0 for cotton fabrics treated under the same conditions. For cotton fabrics, the tensile strength was largely depends on the irradiation dose, in which the tensile strength of the treated fabric with the different formulations is higher than the untreated fabric. The antimicrobial activity of the fabrics against gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aurous) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) was investigated. In case of gram-positive bacteria cotton fabric showed the highest impact, for both 50/50 and 20/80 PVA/PLST of 14 and 14.5 mm inhibition zone, whilst, cotton/polyester fabric recorded 6 and 5 mm inhibition zone against gram-negative bacteria for 50/50 and 20/80 PVA/PLST, respectively.

The impact of the oxygen scavenger on the dose-rate dependence and dose sensitivity of MAGIC type polymer gels.

Recent developments in radiation therapy aimed at more precise dose delivery along with higher dose gradients (dose painting) and more efficient dose delivery with higher dose rates e.g. flattening filter free (FFF) irradiation. Magnetic-resonance-imaging based polymer gel dosimetry offers 3D information for precise dose delivery techniques. Many of the proposed polymer gels have been reported to exhibit a dose response, measured as relaxation rate ΔR2(D), which is dose rate dependent. A lack of or a reduced dose-rate sensitivity is very important for dosimetric accuracy, especially with regard to the increasing clinical use of FFF irradiation protocols with LINACs at high dose rates. Some commonly used polymer gels are based on Methacrylic-Acid-Gel-Initiated-by-Copper (MAGIC). Here, we report on the dose sensitivity (ΔR2/ΔD) of MAGIC-type gels with different oxygen scavenger concentration for their specific dependence on the applied dose rate in order to improve the dosimetric performance, especially for high dose rates. A preclinical x-ray machine ('Yxlon', E = 200 kV) was used for irradiation to cover a range of dose rates from low [Formula: see text] min = 0.6 Gy min-1 to high [Formula: see text] max = 18 Gy min-1. The dose response was evaluated using R2-imaging of the gel on a human high-field (7T) MR-scanner. The results indicate that all of the investigated dose rates had an impact on the dose response in polymer gel dosimeters, being strongest in the high dose region and less effective for low dose levels. The absolute dose rate dependence [Formula: see text] of the dose response in MAGIC-type gel is significantly reduced using higher concentrations of oxygen scavenger at the expense of reduced dose sensitivity. For quantitative dose evaluations the relative dose rate dependence of a polymer gel, normalized to its sensitivity is important. Based on this normalized sensitivity the dose rate sensitivity was reduced distinctly using an increased oxygen scavenger concentration with reference to standard MAGIC-type gel formulation at high dose rate levels. The proposed gel composition with high oxygen scavenger concentration exhibits a larger linear active dose response and might be used especially in FFF-radiation applications and preclinical dosimetry at high dose rates. We propose in general to use high dose rates for calibration and evaluation as the change in relative dose sensitivity is reduced at higher dose rates in all of the investigated gel types.

Sonochemical shape control of copper hydroxysulfates.

Shape control of inorganic nanoparticles generally requires the use of surfactants or ligands to passivate certain crystallographic planes. Additive free shape control methods utilize the differences in the growth rates of crystallographic planes. We combined this approach with the sonochemical method to synthesize copper hydroxysulfate (Brochantite) with morphologies ranging from flowers, to bricks, belts and needles. Sodium peroxydisulfate, which was used as the sulfate and hydroxide source, was decomposed thermally and/or sonically under various pH and temperature conditions. The relative release rates of the sulfate and hydroxide anions determined the final form of the crystals. This technique yielded products even at acidic pH, marking a distinction from the literature reactions, which start with stoichiometric amounts of sulfate and hydroxide anions and yield only a single crystal morphology.

Improved MAGIC gel for higher sensitivity and elemental tissue equivalent 3D dosimetry.

PURPOSE: Polymer-based gel dosimeter (MAGIC type) is a preferable phantom material for PET range verification of proton beam therapy. However, improvement in elemental tissue equivalency (specifically O/C ratio) is very desirable to ensure realistic time-activity measurements. METHODS: Glucose and urea was added to the original MAGIC formulation to adjust the O/C ratio. The dose responses of the new formulations were tested with MRI transverse relaxation rate (R2) measurements. RESULTS: The new ingredients improved not only the elemental composition but also the sensitivity of the MAGIC gel. The O/C ratios of our new gels agree with that of soft tissue within 1%. The slopes of dose response curves were 1.6-2.7 times larger with glucose. The melting point also increased by 5 degrees C. Further addition of urea resulted in a similar slope but with an increased intercept and a decreased melting point. CONCLUSIONS: Our improved MAGIC gel formulations have higher sensitivity and better elemental tissue equivalency for 3D dosimetry applications involving nuclear reactions.

Characterization of dose-dependent Young's modulus for a radiation-sensitive polymer gel.

Radiation-sensitive polymer gels for clinical dosimetry have been intensively investigated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) because the transversal magnetic relaxation time is dependent on irradiation dose. MRI is expensive and not easily available in most clinics. For this reason, low-cost, quick and easy-to-use potential alternatives such as optical computed tomography (CT), x-ray CT or ultrasound attenuation CT have also been studied by others. Here, we instead evaluate the dose dependence of the elastic material property, Young's modulus and the dose response of the viscous relaxation of radiation-sensitive gels to discuss their potential for dose imaging. Three batches of a radiation-sensitive polymer gel (MAGIC gel) samples were homogeneously irradiated to doses from 0 Gy to 45.5 Gy. Young's modulus was computed from the measured stress on the sample surface and the strain applied to the sample when compressing it axially, and the viscous relaxation was determined from the stress decay under sustained compression. The viscous relaxation was found not to change significantly with dose. However, Young's modulus was dose dependent; it approximately doubled in the gels between 0 Gy and 20 Gy. By fitting a second-order polynomial to the Young's modulus-versus-dose data, 99.4% of the variance in Young's modulus was shown to be associated with the change in dose. The precision of the gel production, irradiation and Young's modulus measurement combined was found to be 4% at 2 Gy and 3% at 20 Gy. Potential sources of measurement error, such as those associated with the boundary conditions in the compression measurement, inhomogeneous polymerization, temperature (up to 1% error) and the evaporation of water from the sample (up to 1% error), were estimated and discussed. It was concluded that Young's modulus could be used for dose determination. Imaging techniques such as elastography may help to achieve this if they can provide a local measurement of Young's modulus, which may eliminate problems associated with the boundaries (e.g. variation in coefficient of friction) and inhomogeneous polymerization. Elastography combined with a calibration should also be capable of mapping dose in three dimensions.

A quantitative study of magnetization transfer in MAGIC gels.

Magnetization transfer (MT) has been measured quantitatively as a function of radiation dose in MAGIC polymer gels. The MT rates between the free and immobile macromolecular proton pools (kmr and kfm), and the ratio of the sizes of these coupled proton pools (Pm/Pf), were measured by analysing the response to an inversion recovery sequence. While pm/pf increases linearly with dose, the fast MT rate kmf also increases with dose, unlike previous measurements in BANG gels. This dependence of kmf on dose suggests there are additional factors that modify spin exchange in MAGIC gels as irradiation occurs.

MAGIC-type polymer gel for three-dimensional dosimetry: intensity-modulated radiation therapy verification.

A new type of polymer gel dosimeter, which responds well to absorbed dose even when manufactured in the presence of normal levels of oxygen, was recently described by Fong et al. [Phys. Med. Biol. 46, 3105-3113 (2001)] and referred to by the acronym MAGIC. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using this new type of gel for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) verification. Gel manufacturing was carried out in room atmosphere under normal levels of oxygen. IMRT inverse treatment planning was performed using the Helios software. The gel was irradiated using a linear accelerator equipped with a dynamic multileaf collimator, and intensity modulation was achieved using sliding window technique. The response to absorbed dose was evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging. Measured and calculated dose distributions were compared with regard to in-plane isodoses and dose volume histograms. In addition, the spatial and dosimetric accuracy was evaluated using the gamma formalism. Good agreement between calculated and measured data was obtained. In the isocenter plane, the 70% and 90% isodoses acquired using the different methods are mostly within 2 mm, with up to 3 mm disagreement at isolated points. For the planning target volume (PTV), the calculated mean relative dose was 96.8 +/- 2.5% (1 SD) and the measured relative mean dose was 98.6 +/- 2.2%. Corresponding data for an organ at risk was 34.4 +/- 0.9% and 32.7 +/- 0.7%, respectively. The gamma criterion (3 mm spatial/3% dose deviation) was fulfilled for 94% of the pixels in the target region. Discrepancies were found in hot spots the upper and lower parts of the PTV, where the measured dose was up to 11% higher than calculated. This was attributed to sub optimal scatter kernels used in the treatment planning system dose calculations. Our results indicate great potential for IMRT verification using MAGIC-type polymer gel.

Investigation of ultrasonic properties of PAG and MAGIC polymer gel dosimeters.

Ultrasonic speed of propagation and attenuation were investigated as a function of absorbed radiation dose in PAG and MAGIC polymer gel dosimeters. Both PAG and MAGIC gel dosimeters displayed a dependence of ultrasonic parameters on absorbed dose with attenuation displaying significant changes in the dose range investigated. The ultrasonic attenuation dose sensitivity at 4 MHz in MAGIC gels was determined to be 4.7 +/- 0.3 dB m(-1) Gy(-1) and for PAG 3.9 +/- 0.3 dB m(-1) Gy(-1). Ultrasonic speed dose sensitivities were 0.178 +/- 0.006 m s(-1) Gy(-1) for MAGIC gel and -0.44 +/- 0.02 m s(-1) Gy(-1) for PAG. Density and compressional elastic modulus were investigated to explain the different sensitivities of ultrasonic speed to radiation for PAG and MAGIC gels. The different sensitivities were found to be due to differences in the compressional elastic modulus as a function of dose for the two formulations. To understand the physical phenomena underlying the increase in ultrasonic attenuation with dose, the viscoelastic properties of the gels were studied. Results suggest that at ultrasonic frequencies, attenuation in polymer gel dosimeters is primarily due to volume viscosity. It is concluded that ultrasonic attenuation significantly increases with absorbed dose. Also, the ultrasonic speed in polymer gel dosimeters is affected by changes in dosimeter elastic modulus that are likely to be a result of polymerization. It is suggested that ultrasound is a sufficiently sensitive technique for polymer gel dosimetry.