[Assessment of the impact on mortality of air pollution by particles in the city of Valencia during the period 2015-2017].

Objective: Air pollution is a global public health issue, with particulate matter (PM) being the pollutant with the greatest impact on health. The main objective of this article was to estimate the impact of mortality attributable to particulate pollution in the city of Valencia during the period 2015-2017.

Methods: The Health Impact Assessment (HIA) methodology from the Aphekom project was used.

An efficient component of the redundancy calibration program to ensure equipment stability by assaying HDR Ir-192 sources at the time of replacement.

Background: Brachytherapy (BT) treatments involving temporary high-dose rate (HDR) sources are extensively employed in clinical practice. Ensuring the consistency of all measurement equipment at the hospital level is crucial, requiring a robust redundancy and consistency program. This enables the institution to verify the stability of the dosimetry system over time.

[Exposure to noise at home, emotional behaviour, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in 9-year-old children].

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between noise disturbance at home, sleep disturbance, and neurodevelopmental problems in 9-year-old children.

Material And Methods: Noise exposure (frequency) perceived by 430 9-year-old children from the INMA cohort in Valencia, Spain, were reported by their mothers. The risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as internalizing and externalizing problems, were assessed using the Child Behaviour Checklist.

Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and childhood asthma: a European collaborative analysis.

Objectives: To investigate the associations of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour in early childhood with asthma and reduced lung function in later childhood within a large collaborative study.

Design: Pooling of longitudinal data from collaborating birth cohorts using meta-analysis of separate cohort-specific estimates and analysis of individual participant data of all cohorts combined.

Setting: Children aged 0-18 years from 26 European birth cohorts.

Green spaces and respiratory, cardiometabolic, and neurodevelopmental outcomes: An individual-participant data meta-analysis of >35.000 European children.

Studies evaluating the benefits and risks of green spaces on children's health are scarce. The present study aimed to examine the associations between exposure to green spaces during pregnancy and early childhood with respiratory, cardiometabolic, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in school-age children. We performed an Individual-Participant Data (IPD) meta-analysis involving 35,000 children from ten European birth cohorts across eight countries.

Demonstration of event position reconstruction based on diffusion in the NEXT-white detector.

Noble element time projection chambers are a leading technology for rare event detection in physics, such as for dark matter and neutrinoless double beta decay searches. Time projection chambers typically assign event position in the drift direction using the relative timing of prompt scintillation and delayed charge collection signals, allowing for reconstruction of an absolute position in the drift direction. In this paper, alternate methods for assigning event drift distance via quantification of electron diffusion in a pure high pressure xenon gas time projection chamber are explored.

The impact of prenatal mercury on neurobehavioral functioning longitudinally assessed from a young age to pre-adolescence in a Spanish birth cohort.

Unlabelled: The objective is to investigate the relation between cord blood mercury concentrations and child neurobehavioural functioning assessed longitudinally during childhood until pre-adolescence.

Methods: The study involves mothers and their offspring engaged in the Spanish INMA birth cohort (n = 1147). Total mercury (THg) was determined in cord blood.

Ambient air temperature exposure and foetal size and growth in three European birth cohorts.

Introduction: Ambient air temperature may affect birth outcomes adversely, but little is known about their impact on foetal growth throughout pregnancy. We evaluated the association between temperature exposure during pregnancy and foetal size and growth in three European birth cohorts.

Methods: We studied 23,408 pregnant women from the English Born in Bradford cohort, Dutch Generation R Study, and Spanish INMA Project.

Urban environment and health: a cross-sectional multiregional project based on population health surveys in Spain (DAS-EP project) - study protocol.

Introduction: The European Environment Agency estimates that 75% of the European population lives in cities. Despite the many advantages of city life, the risks and challenges to health arising from urbanisation need to be addressed in order to tackle the growing burden of disease and health inequalities in cities. This study, (DAS-EP project), aims to investigate the complex association between the urban environmental exposures (UrbEEs) and health.

Characterization of Plastic Scintillator Detector for In Vivo Dosimetry in Gynecologic Brachytherapy.

(1) Background: High dose gradients and manual steps in brachytherapy treatment procedures can lead to dose errors which make the use of in vivo dosimetry (IVD) highly recommended for verifying brachytherapy treatments. A new procedure was presented to obtain a calibration factor which allows fast and robust calibration of plastic scintillation detector (PSD) probes for the geometry of a compact phantom using Monte Carlo simulations. Additionally, characterization of PSD energy, angular, and temperature dependences was performed.

Dosimetry of Large Field Valencia applicators for Cobalt-60-based brachytherapy.

Background: Non-melanoma skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer and one of the main approaches is brachytherapy. For small lesions, the treatment of this cancer with brachytherapy can be done with two commercial applicators, one of these is the Large Field Valencia Applicators (LFVA).

Purpose: The aim of this study is to test the capabilities of the LFVA to use clinically Co sources instead of the Ir ones.

Physical activity and body mass related to catch-up lung function growth in childhood: a population-based accelerated cohort study.

Objective: The existence of catch-up lung function growth and its predictors is uncertain. We aimed to identify lung function trajectories and their predictors in a population-based birth cohort.

Methods: We applied group-based trajectory modelling to z-scores of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (zFEV) and z-scores of forced vital capacity (zFVC) from 1151 children assessed at around 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14 and 18 years.

Photoactivatable Ruthenium Complexes Containing Minimal Straining Benzothiazolyl-1,2,3-triazole Chelators for Cancer Treatment.

Ruthenium(II) complexes containing diimine ligands have contributed to the development of agents for photoactivated chemotherapy. Several approaches have been used to obtain photolabile Ru(II) complexes. The two most explored have been the use of monodentate ligands and the incorporation of steric effects between the bidentate ligands and the Ru(II).

[Niveles de mercurio en pescado en la Comunitat Valenciana: evolución temporal (2011-2017) y factores asociados.].

Objective: Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal, and dietary exposure is the main one in humans, especially fish consumption. In order to reduce Hg exposure, maximum levels in fish products have been established. We aimed to describe total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in fish species consumed in Comunitat Valenciana, as well as factors associated and their tendency during the period 2011-2017.

Genetic Susceptibility to Neurotoxicity Related to Prenatal Inorganic Arsenic Exposure in Young Spanish Children.

We explored the influence of child and maternal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes related to neurological function and arsenic metabolism (i.e., , , , , , , , and as well as ) on the association between prenatal arsenic (As) exposure and methylation efficiency and neuropsychological development in 4-5-year-old children.

Assessing the Utility of Multiplexed Polymerase Chain Reaction in Detecting Microorganisms Causing Infections in Critically ill Patients.

Early sepsis diagnosis is crucial for implementing adequate antibiotic therapy and for patient survival. This study investigated whether using multiplexed PCR for detecting microorganisms in critical septic patients affects initial antibiotic treatment and compared it to microbiological culture. It also explored scenarios where PCR is more effective in clinical practice.

Generation and comparison of 3D dosimetric reference datasets for COMS eye plaque brachytherapy using model-based dose calculations.

Purpose: A joint Working Group of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), and the Australasian Brachytherapy Group (ABG) was created to aid in the transition from the AAPM TG-43 dose calculation formalism, the current standard, to model-based dose calculations. This work establishes the first test cases for low-energy photon-emitting brachytherapy using model-based dose calculation algorithms (MBDCAs).

Acquisition And Validation Methods: Five test cases are developed: (1) a single model 6711 I brachytherapy seed in water, 13 seeds (2) individually and (3) in combination in water, (4) the full Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) 16 mm eye plaque in water, and (5) the full plaque in a realistic eye phantom.

Influence of genetic polymorphisms on arsenic methylation efficiency during pregnancy: Evidence from a Spanish birth cohort.

Background: Inorganic arsenic (iAs) is a widespread toxic metalloid. It is well-known that iAs metabolism and its toxicity are mediated by polymorphisms in AS3MT and other genes. However, studies during pregnancy are scarce.

AAPM WGDCAB Report 372: A joint AAPM, ESTRO, ABG, and ABS report on commissioning of model-based dose calculation algorithms in brachytherapy.

The introduction of model-based dose calculation algorithms (MBDCAs) in brachytherapy provides an opportunity for a more accurate dose calculation and opens the possibility for novel, innovative treatment modalities. The joint AAPM, ESTRO, and ABG Task Group 186 (TG-186) report provided guidance to early adopters. However, the commissioning aspect of these algorithms was described only in general terms with no quantitative goals.

A near-infrared light-activatable Ru(ii)-coumarin photosensitizer active under hypoxic conditions.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) represents a promising approach for cancer treatment. However, the oxygen dependency of PDT to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) hampers its therapeutic efficacy, especially against hypoxic solid tumors. In addition, some photosensitizers (PSs) have dark toxicity and are only activatable with short wavelengths such as blue or UV-light, which suffer from poor tissue penetration.

Exposure to mercury among Spanish adolescents: Eleven years of follow-up.

The toxic effects of mercury exposure on human health are a public health concern. The most important source of this exposure is the consumption of fish and marine mammals. This study aims to describe hair mercury concentrations and their evolution from birth until eleven years of age in adolescents from the INMA (Environment and Childhood) birth cohort study, and to assess the association of hair mercury concentrations at eleven years of age with sociodemographic and dietary factors.

A User-Friendly System for Mailed Dosimetric Audits of Ir or Co HDR Brachytherapy Sources.

Objectives: The main goal of this work is to design and characterize a user-friendly methodology to perform mailed dosimetric audits in high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy for systems using either Iridium-192 (Ir) or Cobalt-60 (Co) sources.

Methods: A solid phantom was designed and manufactured with four catheters and a central slot to place one dosimeter. Irradiations with an Elekta MicroSelectron V2 for Ir, and with a BEBIG Multisource for Co were performed for its characterization.

Benchmark of the PenRed Monte Carlo framework for HDR brachytherapy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to validate the PenRed Monte Carlo framework for clinical applications in brachytherapy. PenRed is a C++ version of Penelope Monte Carlo code with additional tallies and utilities.

Methods And Materials: Six benchmarking scenarios are explored to validate the use of PenRed and its improved bachytherapy-oriented capabilities for HDR brachytherapy.

Associations of residential greenspace exposure and fetal growth across four areas in Spain.

An accumulating body of evidence has associated exposure to greenspace with improved birth outcomes, including higher birth weight and lower risk of low birth weight; however, evidence on such association with in-utero fetal growth is scarce. We explored the influence of maternal exposure to residential greenspace and fetal growth in four INMA (Infancia y Medio Ambiente) Spanish birth cohorts (2003-2008), with 2,465 participants. Residential greenspace was characterised by the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) average across 100 m, 300 m, and 500 m buffers around the residence.