Variations in linear energy transfer distributions within a European proton therapy planning comparison of paediatric posterior fossa tumours.

Background And Purpose: Radiotherapy for paediatric posterior fossa tumours may cause complications in the brainstem and upper spinal cord due to high doses. With proton therapy (PT) this risk may increase due to higher relative biological effectiveness (RBE) from elevated linear energy transfer (LET). This study assesses variations in LET in the brainstem and spinal cord in proton treatment plans from European centres.

Flow electrolytic separation of radionuclides for interference suppression in γ-spectrometry.

Background: The direct and accurate measurement of low-level γ-emitters in samples from nuclear facilities is a challenging task due to the presence of high activities of dominant radionuclides. In this case a complex chemical separation is required to remove interfering radionuclides prior to γ-spectrometric analysis. Several radionuclides such as, Ag, Sb, Sn and Te are of relevance for radioanalytical analysis in nuclear facilities.

Clinical practice in European centres treating paediatric posterior fossa tumours with pencil beam scanning proton therapy.

Background And Purpose: As no guidelines for pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy (PT) of paediatric posterior fossa (PF) tumours exist to date, this study investigated planning techniques across European PT centres, with special considerations for brainstem and spinal cord sparing.

Materials And Methods: A survey and a treatment planning comparison were initiated across nineteen European PBS-PT centres treating paediatric patients. The survey assessed all aspects of the treatment chain, including but not limited to delineations, dose constraints and treatment planning.

Recovery of europium from E-waste using redox active tetrathiotungstate ligands.

Rare-earth elements (REEs) are critical to our modern economy, yet their mining from natural ores bears a profound environmental impact. Traditional separation techniques are chemical and energy-intensive because their chemical similarities make REEs very challenging to purify, requiring multiple extraction steps to achieve high purity products. This emphasizes the need for sustainable and straightforward separation methods.

Cs and isotopic ratios of Pu and U in lichens and mosses from Russian Arctic areas.

Knowledge of past anthropogenic sources of radionuclide contamination in Russian Arctic areas is important to assess the radioecological situation of these less-studied regions. Therefore, we investigated the sources of radionuclide contamination in Russian Arctic in the 1990s. Lichen and moss samples were collected from 1993 to 1996 in Kola Peninsula, Franz Josef Land, and few other locations.