Characterization of LiF TLD-100 in carbon ion beams for remote audits.

Background: A passive dosimeter framework for the measurement of dose in carbon ion beams has yet to be characterized or implemented for regular use.

Purpose: This work determined the dose calculation correction factors for absorbed dose in thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) in a therapeutic carbon ion beam. TLD could be a useful tool for remote audits, particularly in the context of clinical trials as new protocols are developed for carbon ion radiotherapy.

Vestibular prepulse inhibition of the human blink reflex.

Objective: Auditory and somatosensory prepulses are commonly used to assess prepulse inhibition (PPI). The effect of a vestibular prepulse upon blink reflex excitability has not been hitherto assessed.

Methods: Twenty-two healthy subjects and two patients with bilateral peripheral vestibular failure took part in the study.

Balancing benefits and limitations of linear energy transfer optimization in carbon ion radiotherapy for large sacral chordomas.

Background And Purpose: A low linear energy transfer (LET) in the target can reduce the effectiveness of carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT). This study aimed at exploring benefits and limitations of LET optimization for large sacral chordomas (SC) undergoing CIRT.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen cases were used to tune LET-based optimization, and seven to independently test interfraction plan robustness.

Genetic cholestasis: classification according to the cellular defect.

Advances in molecular biology achieved during the last years have allowed us to know the genes involved in biliary secretion and the mutations capable of generating cholestasis. The mechanisms involved in forming bile and its circulation have been clarified. According to the biology of biliary secretion, we classify the genetic causes of cholestasis as follows: 1) transport abnormalities in canalicular or basolateral membranes, 2) alterations in intracellular vesicle transit, 3) increased paracellular permeability, 4) mutations in nuclear receptors, 5) cholangiopathies, and 6) hepatocellular diseases, due to disturbance of the function of intracellular organelles or errors of metabolism.

Dosimetric Comparison Between Proton and Photon Radiation Therapies for Pediatric Neuroblastoma.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the most beneficial radiation treatment technique for pediatric patients with thoracic and abdominal neuroblastoma (NBL), through a dosimetric comparison between photon Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy and proton Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy treatment plans.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on a multicentre case series of 19 patients with thoracic and/or abdominal NBL who underwent radiation therapy, following the recommendations of the European protocol for high-risk NBL (HR-NBL2/SIOPEN). The prescribed dose was 21.

Electrolyte-Gated Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistor-Based Sensors for Nanoplastics Detection in Seawater: A Study of the Interaction between Nanoplastics and Carbon Nanotubes.

Plastics accumulating in the environment are nowadays of great concern for aquatic systems and for the living organisms populating them. In this context, nanoplastics (NPs) are considered the major and most dangerous contaminants because of their small size and active surface, which allow them to interact with a variety of other molecules. Current methods used for the detection of NPs rely on bulky and expensive techniques such as spectroscopy.

A dosiomics approach to treatment outcome modeling in carbon ion radiotherapy for skull base chordomas.

Purpose: To investigate the role of dosiomics features extracted from physical dose (D), RBE-weighted dose (D) and dose-averaged Linear Energy Transfer (LET), to predict the risk of local recurrence (LR) in skull base chordoma (SBC) treated with Carbon Ion Radiotherapy (CIRT). Thus, define and evaluate dosiomics-driven tumor control probability (TCP) models.

Materials And Methods: 54 SBC patients were retrospectively selected for this study.

Proton therapy for intracranial meningioma: a single-institution retrospective analysis of efficacy, survival and toxicity outcomes.

Purpose: To report the outcomes of a large series of intracranial meningiomas (IMs) submitted to proton therapy (PT) with curative intent.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis on all consecutive IM patients treated between 2014 and 2021. The median PT prescription dose was 55.

Subjective brain fog: a four-dimensional characterization in 25,796 participants.

Importance: Brain fog is associated with significant morbidity and reduced productivity and gained increasing attention after COVID-19. However, this subjective state has not been systematically characterised.

Objective: To characterise self-reported brain fog.

Illusions of Self-Motion during Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Tremor.

Objective: Brain networks mediating vestibular perception of self-motion overlap with those mediating balance. A systematic mapping of vestibular perceptual pathways in the thalamus may reveal new brain modulation targets for improving balance in neurological conditions.

Methods: Here, we systematically report how magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery of the nucleus ventralis intermedius of the thalamus commonly evokes transient patient-reported illusions of self-motion.

OSLD nanoDot characterization for carbon radiotherapy dosimetry.

. This study characterized optically-stimulated luminescent dosimeter (OSLD) nanoDots for use in a therapeutic carbon beam using the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) framework for remote output verification..

Technical note: Radiological clinical equivalence for phantom materials in carbon ion therapy.

Purpose: As carbon ion radiotherapy increases in use, there are limited phantom materials for heterogeneous or anthropomorphic phantom measurements. This work characterized the radiological clinical equivalence of several phantom materials in a therapeutic carbon ion beam.

Methods: Eight materials were tested for radiological material-equivalence in a carbon ion beam.

Effects of nuclear interaction corrections and trichrome fragment spectra modelling on dose and linear energy transfer distributions in carbon ion radiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: Nuclear interaction correction (NIC) and trichrome fragment spectra modelling improve relative biological effectiveness-weighted dose (D) and dose-averaged linear energy transfer (LET) calculation for carbon ions. The effect of those novel approaches on the clinical dose and LET distributions was investigated.

Materials And Methods: The effect of the NIC and trichrome algorithm was assessed, creating single beam plans for a virtual water phantom with standard settings and NIC + trichrome corrections.

Synthetic CT imaging for PET monitoring in proton therapy: a simulation study.

This study addresses a fundamental limitation of in-beam positron emission tomography (IB-PET) in proton therapy: the lack of direct anatomical representation in the images it produces. We aim to overcome this shortcoming by pioneering the application of deep learning techniques to create synthetic control CT images (sCT) from combining IB-PET and planning CT scan data.We conducted simulations involving six patients who underwent irradiation with proton beams.

Using the photon isoeffective dose formalism to compare and combine BNCT and CIRT in a head and neck tumour.

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a radiotherapy technique based on the enrichment of tumour cells with suitable 10-boron concentration and on subsequent neutron irradiation. Low-energy neutron irradiation produces a localized deposition of radiation dose caused by boron neutron capture reactions. Boron is vehiculated into tumour cells via proper borated formulations, able to accumulate in the malignancy more than in normal tissues.

The Role of Carbon Ion Therapy in the Changing Oncology Landscape-A Narrative Review of the Literature and the Decade of Carbon Ion Experience at the Italian National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy.

Background: Currently, 13 Asian and European facilities deliver carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) for preclinical and clinical activity, and, to date, 55 clinical studies including CIRT for adult and paediatric solid neoplasms have been registered. The National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO) is the only Italian facility able to accelerate both protons and carbon ions for oncological treatment and research.

Methods: To summarise and critically evaluate state-of-the-art knowledge on the application of carbon ion radiotherapy in oncological settings, the authors conducted a literature search till December 2022 in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Cochrane.

Spinal Cord Stimulation for Gait Disorders in Parkinson's Disease and Atypical Parkinsonism: A Systematic Review of Preclinical and Clinical Data.

Background: Falls in extrapyramidal disorders, particularly Parkinson's disease (PD), multisystem atrophy (MSA), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), are key milestones affecting patients' quality of life, incurring increased morbidity/mortality and high healthcare costs. Unfortunately, gait and balance in parkinsonisms respond poorly to currently available treatments. A serendipitous observation of improved gait and balance in patients with PD receiving spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for back pain kindled an interest in using SCS to treat gait disorders in parkinsonisms.

Virtual 4DCT generated from 4DMRI in gated particle therapy: phantom validation and application to lung cancer patients.

. Respiration negatively affects the outcome of a radiation therapy treatment, with potentially severe effects especially in particle therapy (PT). If compensation strategies are not applied, accuracy cannot be achieved.

Clinical Benefits of Therapeutic Interventions Targeting Mitochondria in Parkinson's Disease Patients.

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been associated with neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease, and several treatments targeting mitochondria have been tested in these patients to delay disease progression and tackle disease symptoms. Herein, we review available data from randomised, double-blind clinical studies that have investigated the role of compounds targeting mitochondria in idiopathic Parkinson's disease patients, with a view of providing patients and clinicians with a comprehensive and practical paper that can inform therapeutic interventions in this group of people.

Characterization of a flat-panel detector for 2D dosimetry in scanned proton and carbon ion beams.

Purpose: To fully characterize the flat panel detector of the new Sphinx Compact device with scanned proton and carbon ion beams.

Materials And Methods: The Sphinx Compact is designed for daily QA in particle therapy. We tested its repeatability and dose rate dependence as well as its proportionality with an increasing number of particles and potential quenching effect.

Synthetic CT in Carbon Ion Radiotherapy of the Abdominal Site.

The generation of synthetic CT for carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) applications is challenging, since high accuracy is required in treatment planning and delivery, especially in an anatomical site as complex as the abdomen. Thirty-nine abdominal MRI-CT volume pairs were collected and a three-channel cGAN (accounting for air, bones, soft tissues) was used to generate sCTs. The network was tested on five held-out MRI volumes for two scenarios: (i) a CT-based segmentation of the MRI channels, to assess the quality of sCTs and (ii) an MRI manual segmentation, to simulate an MRI-only treatment scenario.

Validation of a rapid remote digital test for impaired cognition using clinical dementia rating and mini-mental state examination: An observational research study.

Background: The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) are useful screening tools for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, these tests require qualified in-person supervision and the CDR can take up to 60 min to complete. We developed a digital cognitive screening test (M-CogScore) that can be completed remotely in under 5 min without supervision.