Three-Layered Composite Scintillator Based on the Epitaxial Structures of YAG and LuAG Garnets Doped with Ce and Sc Impurities.

In this study, we propose novel three-layer composite scintillators designed for the simultaneous detection of different ionizing radiation components. These scintillators are based on epitaxial structures of LuAG and YAG garnets, doped with Ce and Sc ions. Samples of these composite scintillators, containing YAG:Ce and LuAG:Ce single crystalline films with different thicknesses and LuAG:Sc single crystal substrates, were grown using the liquid phase epitaxy method from melt solutions based on PbO-BO fluxes.

Investigation of X-rays Beams Uniformity in Radiotherapeutic Tumor Treatment Procedure Using LuAG:Ce Crystal Detectors.

In this study, Ce-doped LuAlO garnet (LuAG) crystal detectors, with a density of ρ = 6 g/cm and an effective atomic number Z = 62, are proposed as promising materials for radiotherapy applications. This type of detector demonstrates excellent uniformity of structural and optical properties, high thermoluminescence (TL) light yield, optimal position of main TL glow peaks at temperatures around 245-295 °C, and high radiation stability. The set of TL detectors made from LuAG:Ce single crystal was used to evaluate the uniformity of dose and energy spectra of X-ray radiation from a clinical accelerator with 6 MV and 15 MV beams at the Department of Medical Physics, Oncology Center in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and γ-rays from a Co source at the National Institute of Oncology in Warsaw.

Hybrid planning techniques for early-stage left-sided breast cancer: dose distribution analysis and estimation of projected secondary cancer-relative risk.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate three techniques of irradiation of left-sided breast cancer patients, three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), hybrid Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (h-IMRT), and hybrid Volumetric-Modulated Arc Therapy (h-VMAT, h-ARC), in terms of dose distribution in the planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs). The second aim was to estimate the projected relative risk of radiation-induced secondary cancers for hybrid techniques.

Materials And Methods: Three treatment plans were prepared in 3D-CRT, h-IMRT, and h-VMAT techniques for each of the 40 patients, who underwent CT simulation in deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH).

Evictionism, Libertarianism, and Duties of the Fetus.

In "Evictionism and Libertarianism," published in this journal, Walter Block defends the view that, although the fetus is a human being with all the rights to its body, it may nonetheless be evicted from the woman's body as a trespasser, provided the pregnancy is unwanted. We argue that this view is untenable: the statement that the unwanted fetus is a trespasser does not follow from the premises that the fetus uninvitedly resides in the woman's body and that the woman is a full self-owner. For this statement to follow, one more statement would have to be true; namely, the woman would have to hold her self-ownership rights specifically against the fetus, and for this to be the case, the fetus would have to have a correlative duty to the woman to abstain from interfering with her body.

Special Issues of "Materials for Luminescent Detectors and Transformers of Ionizing Radiation".

The papers published in the first and second Special Issues of "Materials for Luminescent Detectors and Transformers of Ionizing Radiation" were selected from the manuscripts related to the respective presentations at the 11th International Conference on Luminescent Detectors and Transformers of Ionizing Radiation (LUMDETR 2021), which was organized by the Institute of Physics of Kazimierz Wielki University of Bydgoszcz and Oncology Center prof [...

Basic Characteristics of Dose Distributions of Photons Beam for Radiotherapeutic Applications Using YAG:Ce Crystal Detectors.

Thermostimulated luminescence (TSL) dosimetry is a versatile tool for the assessment of dose from ionizing radiation. In this work, the Ce doped YAlO garnet (YAG:Ce) with a density ρ = 4.56 g/cm and effective atomic number Z = 35 emerged as a prospective TSL material in radiotherapy applications due to its excellent radiation stability, uniformity of structural and optical properties, high yield of TSL, and good position of main glow peak around 290-300 °C.

Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) vs. volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) in deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) technique in left-sided breast cancer patients-comparative analysis of dose distribution and estimation of projected secondary cancer risk.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare two techniques of irradiation of left-sided breast cancer patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery, three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy technique (3D-CRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), in terms of dose distribution in the planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs). The second aim of the study was estimation of the projected risk of radiation-induced secondary cancer for both radiotherapy techniques.

Materials And Methods: For 25 patients who underwent CT simulation in deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH), three treatment plans were generated: one using a three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy technique and two using volumetric modulated arc therapy.

A generic curriculum development model for the biomedical physics component of the educational and training programmes of the non-physics healthcare professions.

The objective of the study was the construction of a generic curriculum development model for the use of biomedical physics (BMP) educators teaching the non-physics healthcare professions (HCP) in Europe. A comprehensive, qualitative cross-sectional Europe-wide survey of the curricula delivered by BMP in Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) was carried out. Curricular content was collected from faculty web-sites, curricular documents and textbooks.

Comprehensive analysis of sequences of a protein switch.

Switches form a special class of proteins that dramatically change their three-dimensional structures upon a small perturbation. One possible perturbation that we explore is that of a single point mutation. Building on the pioneering experimental work of Alexander et al.

The morphological diversity of dermatoglyphic patterns on fingers: a simple and objective method for measurement.

The paper contains a proposal for a simple way of measuring the morphological diversity of patterns on fingers. The mono/polymorphism index (Imp) is the sum of 45 mutual absolute differences between the numerical values of the patterns depending on their degree of morphological complexity. Wendt's 7-degree scale was used to quantify the patterns.

Association of FSH with metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women: a comparison with CRP, adiponectin and leptin.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) determination in the postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a comparative analysis with biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), adiponectin, leptin and leptin-to-adiponectin ratio (L/A).

Material & Methods: 135 postmenopausal women with MetS and 153 without MetS were subjected to examinations.

Results: The increase in the probability of MetS, when the value of the marker concentration decreased or increased by 1 standard deviation, was two times higher for FSH-based models than for models including CRP and leptin, and was similar to models including adiponectin and L/A.

A-FABP concentration is more strongly associated with cardiometabolic risk factors and the occurrence of metabolic syndrome in premenopausal than in postmenopausal middle-aged women.

We aimed at the evaluation of the relationship between adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) and cardiometabolic risk factors in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Additionally, we compared A-FABP with adipokines related to metabolic syndrome (MetS) such as leptin and adiponectin. 94 premenopausal and 90 early postmenopausal middle-aged Caucasian women were subject to examinations.

Structural studies of copper(II) complexes with 2-(2-aminoethyl)pyridine derived Schiff bases and application as precursors of thin organic-inorganic layers.

Cu(ii) complexes with Schiff bases derived from 2-pyridin-2-ylethanamine were obtained and characterized by UV-Vis, fluorescence, and IR spectra. The X-ray crystal structures determined for [Cu(ii)(epy(di-t-Buba))Cl] × 0.042H2O and [Cu(ii)(epy(di-t-Buba))O2CCH3] revealed tetrahedral distortion of the Cu(ii) coordination sphere in the solid phase.

A complex evaluation of the asymmetry of dermatoglyphs.

Altogether 20 traits of the fingers, 22 traits of the palm and 8 traits of the sole were taken into consideration, on both sides of the bodies of 1652 males and 1628 females. Numbers of asymmetrical variants of the traits within the whole complex of 25 pairs of traits were determined individually. In the case of descriptive traits, asymmetry was deemed to be the occurrence on either side of the body of non-identical variants of the traits, and for quantitative traits, the absolute difference of at least two ridges was accepted.

Microbial air contamination in indoor environment of a university library.

The present study was aimed at evaluating the number of bacteria and mould fungi in the indoor and outdoor environment of Toruń University Library. The sampling sites were located in the rooms serving the functions typical of libraries (i.e.

Association of follicle-stimulating hormone and sex hormone binding globulin with the metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women.

Objectives: We compared the association of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Design And Methods: We examined 320 postmenopausal women (148 with MetS and 172 without MetS).

Results: FSH was more strongly associated with MetS probability in the logistic regression model compared to SHBG.

Validation of Relativistic DFT Approaches to the Calculation of NMR Chemical Shifts in Square-Planar Pt(2+) and Au(3+) Complexes.

Recently implemented hybrid density functional methods of calculating nuclear magnetic shielding using the two-component zeroth-order regular approximation approach (J. Phys. Chem.

Structural and luminescence studies of nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes with (1R,2R)-cyclohexanediamine derived unsymmetric Schiff base.

Unsymmetrical Schiff base obtained by the condensation reaction of (1R,2R)(-)cyclohexanediamine with 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 2-hydroxynaphthaldehyde was used as a ligand for copper(II) and nickel(II). The ligand and complexes were characterized by circular dichroism (CD), UV-VIS, fluorescence, IR and (1)H (NOE diff), NOESY and (13)C NMR (ligand) spectra. The X-ray crystal structures solved for (1R,2R)(-)chxn(salH)(naftalH) and Cu(II)(1R,2R)(-)chxn(sal)(naftal) revealed tetrahedral distortion of coordination sphere in the solid phase.

K(h)α1,2 x-ray hypersatellite line broadening as a signature of K-shell double photoionization followed by outer-shell ionization and excitation.

We propose a novel approach for the theoretical analysis of the photoinduced high-resolution K(h)α(1,2) x-ray hypersatellite spectra, which allows us to obtain reliable values of lifetimes of the doubly K-shell ionized states and fundamental information about the relative role of K-shell double photoionization (DPI) mechanisms. It is demonstrated for the first time that the K(h)α(1,2) hypersatellite natural line broadening observed for selected metal atoms with 20 ≤ Z ≤ 30 can be well reproduced quantitatively by taking into account the influences of the open-shell valence configuration (adopted from predictions of the band-structure method) and the outer-shell ionization and excitation following the DPI process.

1H, 13C, 15N NMR coordination shifts in Fe(II), Ru(II) and Os(II) cationic complexes with 2,2':6',2″-terpyridine.

(1)H, (13)C and (15)N NMR studies of iron(II), ruthenium(II) and osmium(II) bis-chelated cationic complexes with 2,2':6',2″-terpyridine ([M(terpy)(2) ](2+) ; M = Fe, Ru, Os) were performed. Significant shielding of nitrogen-adjacent H(6) and deshielding of H(3'), H(4') protons were observed, both effects being mostly expressed for Fe(II) compounds. The metal-bonded nitrogens were shielded, this effect being much larger for the outer N(1), N(1″) than the inner N(1') atoms, and enhanced in the Fe(II) → Ru(II) → Os(II) series.

1H, 13C, 195Pt and 15N NMR structural correlations in Pd(II) and Pt(II) chloride complexes with various alkyl and aryl derivatives of 2,2'-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline.

(1)H, (13)C, (195)Pt and (15)N NMR studies of platinide(II) (M = Pd, Pt) chloride complexes with such alkyl and aryl derivatives of 2,2'-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline as LL = 6,6'-dimethyl-bpy, 5,5'-dimethyl-bpy, 4,4'-di-tert-butyl-bpy, 2,9-dimethyl-phen, 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-phen, 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-phen, having the general [M(LL)Cl(2)] formula were performed and the respective chemical shifts (δ(1H), δ(13C), δ(195Pt), δ(15N)) reported. (1)H high-frequency coordination shifts (Δ(coord)(1H) = δ(complex)(1H)-δ(ligand)(1H)) mostly pronounced for nitrogen-adjacent protons and methyl groups in the nearest adjacency of nitrogen, as well as (15)N low-frequency coordination shifts (Δ(coord)(15H) = δ(complex)(15H)-δ(ligand)(15H)) were discussed in relation to the molecular structures.

Comparison between C-reactive protein and adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein as a component of metabolic syndrome in middle-aged women.

Objectives: We compared the diagnostic accuracy of CRP and adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP) for the metabolic syndrome (MS).

Design And Methods: We examined 310 middle-aged Caucasian women.

Results: CRP and AFABP values were significantly associated with the MS probability in the logistic regression model.

Long-term weight gain and metabolic syndrome, adiponectin and C-reactive protein in women aged 50-60 years.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the weight change during 30-40 year follow-up on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) components, C-reactive protein (CRP) and adiponectin.

Material And Methods: The study included 153 women. Blood pressure, anthropometric and laboratory measures were done at the age of 50-60 years.

(1)H NMR assignment corrections and (1)H, (13)C, (15)N NMR coordination shifts structural correlations in Fe(II), Ru(II) and Os(II) cationic complexes with 2,2'-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline.

(1)H, (13)C and (15)N NMR studies of iron(II), ruthenium(II) and osmium(II) tris-chelated cationic complexes with 2,2'-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline of the general formula [M(LL)(3)](2+) (M = Fe, Ru, Os; LL = bpy, phen) were performed. Inconsistent literature (1)H signal assignments were corrected. Significant shielding of nitrogen-adjacent protons [H(6) in bpy, H(2) in phen] and metal-bonded nitrogens was observed, being enhanced in the series Ru(II) --> Os(II) --> Fe(II) for (1)H, Fe(II) --> Ru(II) --> Os(II) for (15)N and bpy --> phen for both nuclei.