A custom, low-cost, continuous flow chamber built for experimental Sargassum seaweed decomposition and exposure of small rodents to generated gaseous products.

Since 2011, Sargassum events have increased in frequency along the Caribbean and Atlantic coasts. The accumulation and decomposition of large amounts of Sargassum seaweed on beaches pose socio-economic, ecological, and health risks due to the emission of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methane, and ammonia. However, limited research exists on the emission processes and the health effects of subchronic and chronic exposure to low levels of H2S. Additionally, the absence of emission factor data for Sargassum decomposition on-site makes health risk assessments challenging. This study aimed to create a custom chamber to simulate real-world Sargassum decomposition, exposing experimental animals to the generated gases. Metal content was analyzed, and emission rates were estimated in a controlled environment. The decomposition-exposure system replicated reported environmental gas emissions from the Caribbean region, except for NH3. H2S bursts were observed during the decomposition process at intervals of 2-10 days, with higher frequency associated with larger masses of decomposing Sargassum. The decomposed gas was transferred to the exposure chamber, resulting in an 80-87% reduction in H2S concentration. The maximum H2S emission was 156 ppm, with a concentration ranging from 50.4 to 56.5 ppm. An estimated emission rate of 7-8 g/h for H2S was observed, and significant levels of lead, arsenic, and aluminum were found in beached Sargassum from the northeast coast of Brazil. This study's developed model provides an opportunity to investigate the effects and risks to human health associated with exposure to gases produced during the environmental decomposition of Sargassum seaweed.

MPTHub: An Open-Source Software for Characterizing the Transport of Particles in Biorelevant Media.

The study of particle transport in different environments plays an essential role in understanding interactions with humans and other living organisms. Importantly, obtained data can be directly used for multiple applications in fields such as fundamental biology, toxicology, or medicine. Particle movement in biorelevant media can be readily monitored using microscopy and converted into time-resolved trajectories using freely available tracking software. However, translation into tangible and meaningful parameters is time consuming and not always intuitive. We developed new software-MPTHub-as an open-access, standalone, user-friendly tool for the rapid and reliable analysis of particle trajectories extracted from video microscopy. The software was programmed using Python and allowed to import and analyze trajectory data, as well as to export relevant data such as individual and ensemble time-averaged mean square displacements and effective diffusivity, and anomalous transport exponent. Data processing was reliable, fast (total processing time of less than 10 s), and required minimal memory resources (up to a maximum of around 150 MB in random access memory). Demonstration of software applicability was conducted by studying the transport of different polystyrene nanoparticles (100-200 nm) in mucus surrogates. Overall, MPTHub represents a freely available software tool that can be used even by inexperienced users for studying the transport of particles in biorelevant media.

Scientific Evidence about the Risks of Micro and Nanoplastics (MNPLs) to Human Health and Their Exposure Routes through the Environment.

Nowadays, a large amount and variety of plastic is being produced and consumed by human beings on an enormous scale. Microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPLs) have become ubiquitous since they can be found in many ecosystem components. Plastic particles can be found in soil, water, and air. The routes of human exposure are numerous, mainly involving ingestion and inhalation. Once ingested, these particles interact with the gastrointestinal tract and digestive fluids. They can adsorb substances such as additives, heavy metals, proteins, or even microorganisms on their surface, which can cause toxicity. During inhalation, they can be inhaled according to their respective sizes. Studies have reported that exposure to MNPLs can cause damage to the respiratory tract, creating problems such as bronchitis, asthma, fibrosis, and pneumothorax. The reports of boards and committees indicate that there is little data published and available on the toxicity of MNPLs as well as the exposure levels in humans. Despite the well-established concept of MNPLs, their characteristics, and presence in the environment, little is known about their real effects on human health and the environment.

An error detection method for real-time EPID-based treatment delivery quality assurance.

PURPOSE: To quantify the error detection power of a new treatment delivery error detection method. The method validates monitor unit (MU) resolved beam apertures using real-time EPID images. METHODS: The on-board EPID imager was used to measure cine-EPID (~10 Hz) images for 27 beams from 15 VMAT/SBRT clinical treatment plans and five nonclinical plans. For each frame acquisition, planned apertures were interpolated from the treatment plan multileaf collimator (MLC) positions expected during the frame acquisition interval. Inaccurate deliveries were identified by monitoring in-aperture missed fluence and out-of-aperture excess fluence beyond a specified buffer. Delivery errors were simulated by perturbing the planned MLC positions before comparison with nonperturbed measured apertures. Systematic 1-5 mm MLC leaf shifts were used to train a logistic regression model to determine the error detection threshold. Model accuracy was monitored using tenfold cross-validation. The model's error detection ability was tested with other error modes: plan control point (CP) weight perturbations, collimator rotations, random MLC leaf position errors, EPID imager shift, and stuck MLC leaf. The error detection accuracy was evaluated using the Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) and the false positive rate (FPR). Per-beam error thresholds of >1, >5, and >10% errant frames were tested to label per-beam errors. The model also was tested for its ability to distinguish five cases with highly similar plans and compared with gamma analysis. RESULTS: Delivery errors were detected by monitoring intended per-frame images with a 2 mm MLC buffer. Frame-by-frame aperture errors were identified with an optimal threshold of 0.3% of the expected aperture area. The per-frame FPR was 0.02%. The MCC was 1.00 (perfect classification) for detection based on 1% of frames for random CP weight shift, 3 mm random MLC shifts, 90° and 180° collimator rotations, and an MLC leaf stuck after 10% of the beam delivery. The MCC for 2°, 4°, and 8° collimator rotation were 0.53, 0.76, and 0.96, respectively, for the 1% of beam delivery threshold. The 3 mm EPID shift had poor detection, with a minimum MCC of 0.14. The highly similar plans were reliably detected by the aperture check but were not detectable with gamma analysis. CONCLUSION: The high error detection sensitivity and low FPR makes the aperture check error detection method well suited to pretreatment and during-treatment beam delivery quality assurance (QA). The aperture check detects subtle beam delivery errors, including those resulting from MLC leaf positioning deviations, CP MU shifts, and stuck MLC leaves. Furthermore, the method can distinguish between highly similar treatment plans. Since the aperture check method monitors for the aperture shapes over a given MU interval, it is also sensitive to errors in MU per CP, without requiring dosimetric calibration of the EPID. The aperture check is one part of a Swiss cheese error detection scheme, which provides redundant error testing of multiple error modes, including nonaperture related errors. The rapid error detection, at 1% of a beam's delivery, make the aperture check a potential candidate for QA of on-line adaptive radiotherapy, or other situations in which pretreatment delivery QA is impractical.

Testing the methodology for a dosimetric end-to-end audit of IMRT/VMAT: results of IAEA multicentre and national studies.

Introduction: Within an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) co-ordinated research project (CRP), a remote end-to-end dosimetric quality audit for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)/ volumetric arc therapy (VMAT) was developed to verify the radiotherapy chain including imaging, treatment planning and dose delivery. The methodology as well as the results obtained in a multicentre pilot study and national trial runs conducted in close cooperation with dosimetry audit networks (DANs) of IAEA Member States are presented.Material and methods: A solid polystyrene phantom containing a dosimetry insert with an irregular solid water planning target volume (PTV) and organ at risk (OAR) was designed for this audit. The insert can be preloaded with radiochromic film and four thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs). For the audit, radiotherapy centres were asked to scan the phantom, contour the structures, create an IMRT/VMAT treatment plan and irradiate the phantom. The dose prescription was to deliver 4 Gy to the PTV in two fractions and to limit the OAR dose to a maximum of 2.8 Gy. The TLD measured doses and film measured dose distributions were compared with the TPS calculations.Results: Sixteen hospitals from 13 countries and 64 hospitals from 6 countries participated in the multicenter pilot study and in the national runs, respectively. The TLD results for the PTV were all within ±5% acceptance limit for the multicentre pilot study, whereas for national runs, 17 participants failed to meet this criterion. All measured doses in the OAR were below the treatment planning constraint. The film analysis identified seven plans in national runs below the 90% passing rate gamma criteria.Conclusion: The results proved that the methodology of the IMRT/VMAT dosimetric end-to-end audit was feasible for its intended purpose, i.e., the phantom design and materials were suitable; the phantom was easy to use and it was robust enough for shipment. Most importantly the audit methodology was capable of identifying suboptimal IMRT/VMAT delivery.

A multinational audit of small field output factors calculated by treatment planning systems used in radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: An audit methodology for verifying the implementation of output factors (OFs) of small fields in treatment planning systems (TPSs) used in radiotherapy was developed and tested through a multinational research group and performed on a national level in five different countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Centres participating in this study were asked to provide OFs calculated by their TPSs for 10 × 10 cm2, 6 × 6 cm2, 4 × 4 cm2, 3 × 3 cm2 and 2 × 2 cm2 field sizes using an SSD of 100 cm. The ratio of these calculated OFs to reference OFs was analysed. The action limit was ±3% for the 2 × 2 cm2 field and ±2% for all other fields. RESULTS: OFs for more than 200 different beams were collected in total. On average, the OFs for small fields calculated by TPSs were generally larger than measured reference data. These deviations increased with decreasing field size. On a national level, 30% and 31% of the calculated OFs of the 2 × 2 cm2 field exceeded the action limit of 3% for nominal beam energies of 6 MV and for nominal beam energies higher than 6 MV, respectively. CONCLUSION: Modern TPS beam models generally overestimate the OFs for small fields. The verification of calculated small field OFs is a vital step and should be included when commissioning a TPS. The methodology outlined in this study can be used to identify potential discrepancies in clinical beam models.

Estudo dosimétrico para caracterização de um Sistema postal de controle de qualidade em braquiterapia

A Braquiterapia é uma etapa essencial do tratamento de vários tipos de câncer. O uso de fontes de 192Ir com alta taxa de dose impõe a necessidade de procedimentos apropriados de calibração e controle da qualidade, de forma a garantir a exatidão da dose administrada. Um programa em GEANT4 foi desenvolvido para calcular grandezas dosimétricas em um fantoma de acrílico. Assim foi possível definir uma metodologia para avaliar a dose na vizinhança de uma fonte de braquiterapia utilizando um formalismo em função da grandeza dose absorvida na água para dosimetria termoluminescente. Um fantoma de acrlílico foi proposto e caracterizado com grandezas do protocolo TG- 3 calculadas pelo método de Monte Carlo. O fantoma foi irradiado com os TLDs no equipamento de braquiterapia do Varian Gammamed Plus, a dose e o kerma de referência calculado concordaram em 0,30%.

High dose rate Brachytherapy is an essential part of the treatment of several types of cancer. The use of high dose rate 192Ir sources requires appropriate calibration in order to ensure the desired level of accuracy of the dose delivered. A GEANT4 program was developed to calculate dosimetric quantities in an acrylic phantom. Thus it was possible to define a methodology for calculating the dose around a brachytherapy source using a termoluminescent dosimetry formalism in terms of water absorbed dose. An acrylic phantom was proposed and characterized with magnitudes protocol TG-43 calculated by Monte Carlo method. The phantom was irradiated in Varian's brachytherapy equipment Gammamed Plus, the dose and the kerma calculated reference agreed at 0,30%.

O cenário da inovação tecnológica / The scenario of technological innovation

A inovação tecnológica tem um importante papel no cenário econômico mundial, pois a inserção de novas tecnologias proporciona maior poder de competição dentro do mercado econômico e conduz à disponibilização aos consumidores de produtos e ser- viços de maior qualidade. Geralmente, a inovação está atrelada à propriedade intelectual, haja vista que o conhecimento passível de proteção será transformado em produtos e processos inovadores. A inovação decorre da atuação de vários atores, envolvendo o setor público e o setor privado e, para incentivar a atuação conjunta desses setores, o Estado atua implementando políticas de incentivo à geração de propriedade intelectual e inovação. No setor público destaca-se a atuação dos Núcleos de Inovação tecnológica - NlT's das Instituições Científicas e Tecnológicas - ICT's na proteção do conhecimento gerado e disseminação da política de propriedade intelectual. Diante de necessidade de formação de parcerias que conduzissem a uma troca de conhecimentos entre os núcleos das ICT's mineiras e de disseminação da política de propriedade intelectual de forma mais abrangente, em Minas Gerais, foi criada a Rede Mineira de Propriedade Intelectual. Dessa forma, resta evidente a importância da propriedade intelectual no cenário da inovação, bem como conduzir a uma maior interação entre a universidade e as empresas, esta última, responsável por transformar o conhecimento em tecnologia e serviços para a sociedade.

Technological innovation plays an important role in the world economic scenario, since the insertion of new technologies provides more competition power inside the economic market and leads to the availability of higher quality products and services for consumers. In general, innovation is related to intellectual property, because the knowledge that can be protected will be transformed into innovatiue products and processes. lunovation is a result of many actions inuoluing the public and privare sectors. To strengthen this joint action, the government implements policies uihich encourage the generation of intellec- tual property and innooation. In the public sector, lhe Núcleos de Inovoação tecnolôgica (Technologicallnnouation Centers) - NIT's of the Instituições Científicas e Tecnológicas (Scientitic and Technological Institutions) -IC7"s have ioorked prominent/y to protect knowledge and disseminate the intellectual property policy. The Rede Mineira de Proprie- dade Intelectual (Intellectual Property Net of Minas Gerais) was created due to the need for partnerships uihich lead to an exchange of knowledge antong lhe centers of the NIT's of Minas Gerais and disseminare the intelectual property policy iu a filare comprehensive way. Theretore, it is necessary Ia point out the significance of intellectual property in lhe contexl ot innovation and pursue a higher interaction between universities and compa- nies, because companies are responsible to transform knowledge into technology and services for society.