Comparison of subjective and objective evaluation of screen-film systems for chest radiography

A subjective and an objective comparison of six screen-film systems is reported. Among the objective parameters which characterise image quality, resolution appeared to be the most critical one when compared with the averaged ranking produced by the radiologists. The results have shown that a relationship between dose and image quality can be established for most of screen-film systems tested. The problem which remains in the optimisation procedure of chest imaging, is the definition of the level of image quality requirements

European Survey of Image Quality Assessment Methods Used in Mammography

The definition of reference dose levels has to be linked with the definition of image quality. Unfortunately, there is still no general agreement on the definition of image quality in mammography, and most of the protocols used are based on the detectability of objects having various shapes and contrasts. To facilitate the task of assessing image quality, scoring methods are often used to produce a single number representative of the imaging chain performance. The goal of this study is to present a comparison between different ways of assessing image quality commonly used in Europe. A set of five mammograms, having different image quality levels, has been obtained with several test objects and compared. The results show large sensitivity variations among the different methods. Concerted work between radiologists and physicists is still required to define the radiological tasks and develop objective ways to measure image quality in mammography

Retrospective analysis of the impact of respiratory motion in treatment margins for frameless lung SBRT based on respiratory-correlated CBCT data-sets.

To investigate the impact of respiratory motion in the treatment margins for lung SBRT frameless treatments and to validate our treatment margins using 4D CBCT data analysis. Two hundred and twenty nine fractions with early stage NSCLC were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were treated in frameless and free breathing conditions. The treatment margins were calculated according to van Herk equation in Mid-Ventilation. For each fraction, three 4D CBCT scans, pre- and postcorrection, and posttreatment, were acquired to assess target baseline shift, target localization accuracy and intra-fraction motion errors. A bootstrap analysis was performed to assess the minimum number of patients required to define treatment margins. The retrospectively calculated target-baseline shift, target localization accuracy and intra-fraction motion errors agreed with the literature. The best tailored margins to our cohort of patients were retrospectively computed and resulted in agreement with already published data. The bootstrap analysis showed that fifteen patients were enough to assess treatment margins. The treatment margins applied to our patient's cohort resulted in good agreement with the retrospectively calculated margins based on 4D CBCT data. Moreover, the bootstrap analysis revealed to be a promising method to verify the reliability of the applied treatment margins for safe lung SBRT delivery

Commissioning of an ultra-high dose rate pulsed electron beam medical LINAC for FLASH RT preclinical animal experiments and future clinical human protocols.

To present the acceptance and the commissioning, to define the reference dose, and to prepare the reference data for a quality assessment (QA) program of an ultra-high dose rate (UHDR) electron device in order to validate it for preclinical animal FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH RT) experiments and for FLASH RT clinical human protocols. The Mobetron <sup>®</sup> device was evaluated with electron beams of 9 MeV in conventional (CONV) mode and of 6 and 9 MeV in UHDR mode (nominal energy). The acceptance was performed according to the acceptance protocol of the company. The commissioning consisted of determining the short- and long-term stability of the device, the measurement of percent depth dose curves (PDDs) and profiles at two different positions (with two different dose per pulse regimen) and for different collimator sizes, and the evaluation of the variability of these parameters when changing the pulse width and pulse repetition frequency. Measurements were performed using a redundant and validated dosimetric strategy with alanine and radiochromic films, as well as Advanced Markus ionization chamber for some measurements. The acceptance tests were all within the tolerances of the company's acceptance protocol. The linearity with pulse width was within 1.5% in all cases. The pulse repetition frequency did not affect the delivered dose more than 2% in all cases but 90 Hz, for which the larger difference was 3.8%. The reference dosimetry showed a good agreement within the alanine and films with variations of 2.2% or less. The short-term (resp. long-term) stability was less than 1.0% (resp. 1.8%) and was the same in both CONV and UHDR modes. PDDs, profiles, and reference dosimetry were measured at two positions, providing data for two specific dose rates (about 9 Gy/pulse and 3 Gy/pulse). Maximal beam size was 4 and 6 cm at 90% isodose in the two positions tested. There was no difference between CONV and UHDR mode in the beam characteristics tested. The device is commissioned for FLASH RT preclinical biological experiments as well as FLASH RT clinical human protocols

Effect of conventional and ultra-high dose rate "FLASH" irradiations on preclinical tumour models: A systematic analysis: Tumour response to CONV and UHDR irradiation.

When compared to conventional dose rate irradiation (CONV), ultra-high dose rate irradiation (UHDR) has shown superior normal tissue sparing. However, a clinically relevant widening of the therapeutic window by UHDR, termed "FLASH effect", also depends on the tumour toxicity obtained by UHDR. Based on a combined analysis of published literature, the current study re-examines the hypothesis of tumour isoefficacy for UHDR versus CONV and aims to identify potential knowledge gaps to inspire future in vivo studies. A systematic literature search identified publications assessing in vivo tumour responses comparing UHDR and CONV. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed, including combined analyses of tumour growth and survival data. We identified 66 data sets from 15 publications that compared UHDR and CONV for tumour efficacy. The median number of animals per group was 9 (range: 3-15) and the median follow-up period was 30.5 (range: 11-230) days after the first irradiation. Tumour growth assays were the predominant model used. Combined statistical analyses of tumour growth and survival data are consistent with UHDR isoefficacy compared to CONV. Only one study determined tumour-controlling dose (TCD <sub>50</sub> ) and reported statistically non-significant differences. The combined quantitative analyses of tumour responses support the assumption of UHDR isoefficacy compared to CONV. However, the comparisons are primarily based on heterogeneous tumour growth assays with limited numbers of animals and short follow-up, and most studies do not assess long-term tumour control probability. Therefore, the assays may be insensitive in resolving smaller response differences, such as responses of radio-resistant tumour sub-clones. Hence, tumour cure experiments, including additional TCD <sub>50</sub> experiments, are needed to confirm the assumption of isoeffectiveness in curative settings

Recurrences of ventricular tachycardia after stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation arise outside the treated volume: analysis of the swiss cohort

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) has been recently introduced for the management of therapy-refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT). VT recurrences have been reported after STAR but the mechanisms remain largely unknown. We analyzed recurrences in our patients after STAR. METHODS From 09.2017 to 01.2020, 20 patients (68±8y, LVEF 37±15%) suffering from refractory VT were enrolled, 16/20 with a history of at least 1 electrical storm. Before STAR, an invasive electro-anatomical mapping (Carto3) of the VT substrate was performed. A mean dose of 23±2Gy was delivered to the planning target volume (PTV). RESULTS The median ablation volume was 26 ml (range 14-115) and involved the interventricular septum in 75% of patients. During the first 6 months after STAR, VT burden decreased by 92% (median value, from 108 to 10 VT/semester). After a median follow-up of 25 months, 12/20 (60%) developed a recurrence and underwent a redo ablation. VT recurrence was located in proximity of the treated substrate in 9 cases, remote from the PTV in 3 cases and involved a larger substrate over ≥3 LV segments in 2 cases. No recurrences occurred inside the PTV. Voltage measurements showed a significant decrease in both bipolar and unipolar signal amplitude after STAR. CONCLUSION STAR is a new tool available for the treatment of VT, allowing for a significant reduction of VT burden. VT recurrences are common during follow-up, but no recurrences were observed inside the PTV. Local efficacy was supported by a significant decrease in both bipolar and unipolar signal amplitude

Hepatobiliary scintigraphy allows the evaluation of short-term functional toxicity of liver stereotactic body radiotherapy: Results of a pilot study.

To study the potential of (99m)Tc-Mebrofenin hepatobiliary scintigraphy (HBS) in identifying the short-term variations of liver function after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for liver cancers. We treated with SBRT 3 patients (pts) affected by a cholangiocarcinoma and 3 patient presenting liver metastases (3x15 Gy, 4 pts; 5x8 Gy, 1 pt; 6x5 Gy, 1 pt). All patients received HBS before and 3 months after SBRT, which were co-registered with the simulation CT-scan. Structures corresponding to isodoses from 10-90 Gy were created, with intervals of 10 Gy. Finally, the variations of the mean activity (MBq) in each isodose structure have been calculated. Then, a linear regression analysis was performed. We showed a linear reduction of the activity, significantly related to the delivered dose (p<0.01), and a reduction of the perfusion of 0.78% for each delivered Gy. The linear equation has predictive value of the loss of the function of 96% (R2 = 0.9605). HBS could improve treatment plans for liver SBRT, by allowing the identification of the liver function variations after SBRT and, potentially, the prediction of remnant liver function after SBRT. These preliminary results should be confirmed on long-term prospective data and larger population

Fear of crime on the rail networks: Perceptions of the UK public and British Transport Police

Counter-terrorism on the rail network is vital to the security of the United Kingdom. The British Transport Police (BTP) employ covert and overt security measures to prevent crime, which includes: closed circuit television, armed police, unarmed polisce, police community support officers, police dogs, stops and searches and awareness campaigns. All security measures aim to deter crime while importantly reassuring the public. We surveyed both members of the public and BTP officers about the perceived effectiveness of current security measures, specifically with regards to fear of terrorism. Feelings of reassurance and the perceived effectiveness of security measures were positively related. The most effective and reassuring security measure was the use of armed police; whereas the least effective and reassuring was the use of awareness campaigns. However, interestingly, qualitative analyses suggested that an increase in armed police without informed awareness campaigns would have a negative impact on public reassurance by increasing fear

The Nature of Gender: work, gender and environment

Gender has long been recognised as important within environmental issues, but exactly how and in what contexts it is relevant has been hotly debated. As feminist theorising around women and gender has changed, so have conceptualisations about gender and environment, leading to a key debate within ecofeminism and related literatures about whether there is an essential or a contingent relationship between women and natural environments. Within geography, most political ecologists work with the assumption that the gender-environment nexus is a contingent relationship, and thus investigate how gender relations are salient in the symbolic and material construction of environmental issues. This paper seeks to build from this work and again raise the question of how gender is conceptualised in relation to environment. I begin by briefly reviewing some of the work that has been done on gender and environment and then draw from post-structural feminism to suggest that gender itself has been under-theorised in work on environment. Once gender is re-conceptualized as a process, the dynamic relationship between gender, environment and other aspects of social and cultural life can be brought into view. What emerges is the need for political ecologists to examine gender beyond the household and community and the need to re-conceptualise the gender-environment nexus. A case study of community forestry in Nepal is used to illustrate the importance of interrogating the processes by which gender relations become salient and are reproduced symbolically and materiall