The Need for Sustainability, Equity, and International Exchange: Perspectives of Early Career Environmental Psychologists on the Future of Conferences.

At the 2019 and 2021 International Conference on Environmental Psychology, discussions were held on the future of conferences in light of the enormous greenhouse gas emissions and inequities associated with conference travel. In this manuscript, we provide an early career researcher (ECR) perspective on this discussion. We argue that travel-intensive conference practices damage both the environment and our credibility as a discipline, conflict with the intrinsic values and motivations of our discipline, and are inequitable.

Urban upgrading and levels of interpersonal violence in Cape Town, South Africa: The violence prevention through urban upgrading programme.

Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading applies second generation crime prevention through environmental design, which includes built environment interventions alongside social programmes and community participation initiatives in Khayelitsha, one of South Africa's poorest and most violent suburbs. We conducted a retrospective population-based study using survey data from 3625 geo-located households collected between 2013 and 2015 and mapped alcohol outlets to assess the association between the intervention and reported experience of violence. The analysis used generalised linear models to estimate and compare selfreported experience of violence adjusting for known confounders, which included area and household deprivation as well as alcohol outlet density.

Evaluation of effective treatment depth in skin cancer treatments with electronic brachytherapy.

Purpose: To evaluate changes in the percent depth dose (PDD) and effective depth of treatment due to force applied by the applicator during treatments of nonmelanoma skin cancer with the Xoft electronic brachytherapy system.

Methods: To simulate compressible tissue, a 5-mm tissue-equivalent bolus was used. A soft x-ray ion chamber was used for output measurements, which were performed for all Xoft surface applicators with plastic endcaps in place.

TG-51 reference dosimetry for the Halcyon™: A clinical experience.

Halcyon™ is a single-energy (6 MV-FFF), bore-enclosed linear accelerator. Patient setup is performed by first aligning to external lasers mounted to the front of the bore, and then loading to isocenter through pre-defined couch shifts. There is no light field, optical distance indicator or front pointer mechanism, so positioning is verified through MV imaging with kV imaging scheduled to become available in the future.

Measured and Monte Carlo simulated electron backscatter to the monitor chamber for the Varian TrueBeam Linac.

To accurately simulate therapeutic electron beams using Monte Carlo methods, backscatter from jaws into the monitor chamber must be accounted for via the backscatter factor, S . Measured and simulated values of S for the TrueBeam are investigated. Two approaches for measuring S are presented.

Validation of Varian TrueBeam electron phase-spaces for Monte Carlo simulation of MLC-shaped fields.

Purpose: This work evaluates Varian's electron phase-space sources for Monte Carlo simulation of the TrueBeam for modulated electron radiation therapy (MERT) and combined, modulated photon and electron radiation therapy (MPERT) where fields are shaped by the photon multileaf collimator (MLC) and delivered at 70 cm SSD.

Methods: Monte Carlo simulations performed with EGSnrc-based BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc and penelope-based PRIMO are compared against diode measurements for 5 × 5, 10 × 10, and 20 × 20 cm(2) MLC-shaped fields delivered with 6, 12, and 20 MeV electrons at 70 cm SSD (jaws set to 40 × 40 cm(2)). Depth dose curves and profiles are examined.

Comparison of measured Varian Clinac 21EX and TrueBeam accelerator electron field characteristics.

Dosimetric comparisons of radiation fields produced by Varian's newest linear accelerator, the TrueBeam, with those produced by older Varian accelerators are of interest from both practical and research standpoints. While photon fields have been compared in the literature, similar comparisons of electron fields have not yet been reported. In this work, electron fields produced by the TrueBeam are compared with those produced by Varian's Clinac 21EX accelerator.

Evaluation of an analytic linear Boltzmann transport equation solver for high-density inhomogeneities.

Purpose: Acuros external beam (Acuros XB) is a novel dose calculation algorithm implemented through the ECLIPSE treatment planning system. The algorithm finds a deterministic solution to the linear Boltzmann transport equation, the same equation commonly solved stochastically by Monte Carlo methods. This work is an evaluation of Acuros XB, by comparison with Monte Carlo, for dose calculation applications involving high-density materials.