Borosilicate glass 60Co high dose rate brachytherapy thermoluminescence dosimetry.

Brachytherapy is commonly used in treatment of cervical, prostate, breast and skin cancers, also for oral cancers, typically via the application of sealed radioactive sources that are inserted within or alongside the area to be treated. A particular aim of the various brachytherapy techniques is to accurately transfer to the targeted tumour the largest possible dose, at the same time minimizing dose to the surrounding normal tissue, including organs at risk. The dose fall-off with distance from the sources is steep, the dose gradient representing a prime factor in determining the dose distribution, also representing a challenge to the conduct of measurements around sources. Amorphous borosilicate glass (B2O3) in the form of microscope cover slips is recognized to offer a practicable system for such thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD), providing for high-spatial resolution (down to < 1 mm), wide dynamic dose range, good reproducibility and reusability, minimal fading, resistance to water and low cost. Herein, investigation is made of the proposed dosimeter using a 1.25 MeV High Dose Rate (HDR) 60Co brachytherapy source, characterizing dose response, sensitivity, linearity index and fading. Analysis of the TL glow curves were obtained using the Tmax-Tstop method and first-order kinetics using GlowFit software, detailing the frequency factors and activation energy.

The presence of radioactive heavy minerals in prospecting trenches and concomitant occupational exposure.

Uranium, perhaps the most strategically important component of heavy minerals, finds particular significance in the nuclear industry. In prospecting trenches, the radioactivity of 238U and 232Th provides a good signature of the presence of heavy minerals. In the work herein, the activity concentrations of several key primordial radionuclides (238U, 232Th, and 40K) were measured in prospecting trenches (each of the latter being of approximately the same geometry and physical situation). All of these are located in the Seila area of the South Eastern desert of Egypt. A recently introduced industry standard, the portable hand-held RS-230 BGO gamma-ray spectrometer (1024 channels) was employed in the study. Based on the measured data, the trenches were classified as either non-regulated (U activity less than 1000 Bq kg-1) or regulated (with 238U activity more than 1000 Bq kg-1). Several radiological hazard parameters were calculated, statistical analysis also being performed to examine correlations between the origins of the radionuclides and their influence on the calculated values. While the radioactivity and hazard parameters exceed United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) guided limits, the mean annual effective doses of 0.49 and 1.4 mSv y-1 in non-regulated and regulated trenches respectively remain well below the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended 20 mSv/y maximum occupational limit. This investigation reveals that the studied area contains high uranium content, suitable for extraction of U-minerals for use in the nuclear fuel cycle.

Optically stimulated Al2O3:C luminescence dosimeters for teletherapy: Hp(10) performance evaluation.

The performance of optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs, Al2O3:C) was evaluated in terms of the operational quantity of HP(10) in Co-60 external beam teletherapy unit. The reproducibility, signal depletion, and dose linearity of each dosimeter was investigated. For ten repeated readouts, each dosimeter exposed to 50mSv was found to be reproducible below 1.9 ± 3% from the mean value, indicating good reader stability. Meanwhile, an average signal reduction of 0.5% per readout was found. The dose response revealed a good linearity within the dose range of 5-50mSv having nearly perfect regression line with R2 equals 0.9992. The accuracy of the measured doses were evaluated in terms of operational quantity HP(10), wherein the trumpet curve method was used respecting the 1990 International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) standard. The accuracy of the overall measurements from all dosimeters was discerned to be within the trumpet curve and devoid of outlier. It is established that the achieved OSL Al2O3:C dosimeters are greatly reliable for equivalent dose assessment.

Determination of (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K activity concentrations in riverbank soil along the Chao Phraya river basin in Thailand.

The activity concentrations of (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K in riverbank soil along the Chao Phraya river basin was determined through gamma-ray spectrometry measurements made using a hyper-pure germanium detector in a low background configuration. The ranges of activity concentrations of (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K were found to be 13.9 â†” 76.8, 12.9 â†” 142.9 and 178.4 â†” 810.7 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The anthropogenic radionuclide, (137)Cs, was not observed in statistically significant amounts above the background level in the current study. The absorbed gamma dose rate in air at 1 m above the ground surface, the outdoor annual effective dose equivalent, the values of the radium equivalent activity and the external hazard index associated with all the soil samples in the present work were evaluated. The results indicate that the radiation hazard from primordial radionuclides in all soil samples from the area studied in this current work is not significant.

Metal deposition at the bone-cartilage interface in articular cartilage.

There is a growing interest being shown in the changes occurring in elemental distribution at the bone-cartilage interface, the changes either being a result of mechanical damage or disease. In particular, such investigations have tended to concern the elemental alterations associated with the osteoarthritic wear and tear damage occurring to the cartilage and subchondral bone of synovial joints or that associated with disease processes such as rheumatic arthritis. Present studies examine sections of femoral head obtained from total hip replacement surgery, use being made of micro-proton-induced X-ray emission (micro-PIXE) and the Rutherford back scattering (RBS) techniques. Enhancements of Zn, Ca and P have been observed at the bone-cartilage interface. Further, the concentration of Zn in spongy bone underlying the subchondral surface of a section of the femoral head has been measured, obtaining 136 microg g(-1) bone, the presence of Ca and P at the same position being 0.235 and 0.0451 g g(-1) bone, respectively. These values are slightly different to figures recently published by other authors using similar techniques.

Concentrations of Fe, Cu and Zn in breast tissue: a synchrotron XRF study.

An x-ray fluorescence system with a synchrotron radiation source was used to quantify the levels of iron, copper and zinc in breast tissue specimens. Healthy tissue and breast carcinomas were investigated as an aid to understanding the mechanisms of breast cancer and as a possible complementary diagnostic tool. Eighty samples were measured in total. Twenty samples were matched pairs, i.e. 20 tumour samples with 20 corresponding healthy tissue specimens taken at a distance from the tumour. The remaining 40 samples consisted of 20 excised tumours and 20 healthy specimens from breast reduction surgeries. The levels of the elements of interest were quantified via calibration models constructed using the XRF response from standard solutions. The statistical analysis of the results indicates elevation of the levels of all three trace elements in the tumours. The effect is more prominent for copper and zinc while the contrast between healthy and diseased tissue is enhanced when comparing the independent specimens rather than the paired samples. Specifically, the ratio of mean tumour to mean healthy concentration for iron was 1.6 for the paired samples and 2.7 for the non-paired samples. The ratios describing copper content were 3.1 for paired and 3.6 for non-paired samples while for zinc they were 2.4 and 4.4 respectively.

Oim mice exhibit altered femur and incisor mineral composition and decreased bone mineral density.

To investigate the role of the pro alpha 2(I) collagen chains of type I collagen in mineralization we used the oim (osteogenesis imperfecta model) mouse as our model system. The oim/oim mouse (homozygous for a null mutation in its COL1A2 gene of type I collagen) fails to synthesize functional pro alpha 2(I) collagen chains, synthesizing only homotrimers of pro alpha 1(I) collagen chains. To evaluate the role of pro alpha 2(I) collagen in type I collagen structure/function in mineralized tissues, we examined age-matched oim/oim, heterozygous (oim/+), and wild-type (+/+) mouse femurs and incisors for mineral composition (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, fluoride, sodium, potassium, and chloride) by neutron activation analyses (NAA), and bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in a longitudinal study (7 weeks to 16 months of age). NAA demonstrated that oim/oim femurs had significant differences in magnesium, fluoride, and sodium content as compared with +/+ mouse femurs, and oim/oim teeth had significant differences in magnesium content as compared to +/+ teeth. The ratio of calcium to phosphate was also significantly reduced in the oim/oim mouse femurs (1.58 +/- 0.01) compared with +/+ femurs (1.63 +/- 0.01). DEXA demonstrated that oim/oim mice had significantly reduced BMC and BMD as compared to oim/+ and +/+ mice. Serum and urine calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus levels, and Ca(47) absorption across the gut were equivalent in oim/oim and +/+ mice, with no evidence of hypercalciuria. These studies suggest that the known decreased biomechanical properties of oim/oim bone reflect both altered mineral composition as well as the decreased BMD, which further suggests that the presence of alpha2(I) chains plays an important role in mineralization.

Measurement of small-angle photon scattering for some breast tissues and tissue substitute materials.

For photon energies encountered in diagnostic radiology the shape of the scattering distributions for low-atomic-number media exhibits peaks in intensity close to the forward direction that are not predicted by conventional theoretical models. The positions and shapes of the peaks depend upon the interatomic and intermolecular configurations of the scatterers. The phenomenon is of particular interest because of its relevance to the understanding and modelling of x-ray imaging processes and the possibility that the peaking may be characteristic of tissue type. In the present study, peaks in the forward scattering distributions have been demonstrated for 19 samples of breast tissue and three tissue substitute materials using a position-sensitive photon detector and a 60 kVp x-ray source. Prominent features were observed for all samples investigated. Large differences were found in the shapes of the distributions between adipose and fibroglandular tissues and only small differences were found between carcinomas and fibroglandular tissues.