Absorbed Dose to Water Rate in a Cyberknife VSI System Reference Field Using Ionization Chambers and Gafchromic Films

This work investigated the absorbed dose to water rate under reference conditions in a Cyberknife VSI system using radiochromic films EBT3 and MD-V3 and three ionization chambers: an Exradin A12 and two FC65P Welhöfer Scanditronix with different serial numbers. The correction factor,, was studied using a Varian iX linac and the Cyberknife system. The measurements in the Varian iX were performed in a 10 × 10 cm2 field, 10 cm depth in liquid water at 90 cm and 70 cm SSD and in a 5.4 × 5.4 cm2 field, 10 cm depth at 70 cm SSD to simulate the Cyberknife conditions. In the Cyberknife system, measurements were performed using ionization chambers and both film types at 70 cm SSD and 10 cm depth in its 6 cm diameter reference field. The results indicate that ?is independent of the dosimeters and the evaluation methods. Maximum differences of 0.22% - 0.55% (combined uncertainties of 1.22% - 1.98%, k = 1) are obtained on ?using Varian iX, whereas discrepancies of 2.08% - 2.09% (combined uncertainties of 1.87% - 2.13%, k = 1) are observed using the Cyberknife system. Given the agreement between detectors and the combined standard uncertainties, the data from Varian iX could be considered the most accurate and consequently a weighted average factor of 0.902 ± 0.006 could be used for the Cyberknife VSI system reference field. Within measurement uncertainties, the absorbed dose rate measured in the Cyberknife VSI system reference field was found to be independent of the dosimeters used. These results suggest that the absorbed dose measured at a point within a given field size should be the same, regardless the dosimeter used, if their dosimetric characteristics are well known. This highlighted the importance of performing dosimetry by controlling all parameters that could affect the dosimeter response. One can conclude that radiochromic film dosimetry can be considered as an appropriate alternative for measuring absorbed dose to water rate.

Composition of Triacylglycerols in Fats of Cow and Goat Milk Produced in Four Zones of Mexico

The study of the triacylglycerols (TAG) by gas chromatography (GC) using capillary columns is an efficient technique for the determination of some characteristics of quality of fats and oils. The objective of the present study was to determine by GC the content of TAG present in fat of cow and goat milk produced in four zones of Mexico. According to criteria established in Mexican Standardization, 25 samples were obtained of 1 L of ultra-pasteurized cow milk (UHT) and 27 and 48 of raw cow and goat milk, respectively. The fat was extracted from all of the milk samples by detergent solution, and was stored at –20℃ until its analysis. The chromatographic conditions made it possible to identify and quantify TAG of 28 to 54 numbers of carbons, which were analyzed under descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. For the cow milk fat, the statistical analyses indicated significant difference (p < 0.05) in the TAG C34, C50 and C52, and for the goat milk fat in the TAG of C36 to C52. No equality of means was found among the TAG of the cow and goat milk fat. This study offers an advance in the characterization of the TAG present in the cow and goat milk fat produced in Mexico.

Fuzzy Rules to Improve Traffic Light Decisions in Urban Roads

Many researchers around the world are looking for developing techniques or technologies that cover traditional and recent constraints in urban traffic con-trol. Normally, such traffic devices are facing with a large scale of input data when they must to response in a reliable, suitable and fast way. Because of such statement, the paper is devoted to introduce a proposal for enhancing the traffic light decisions. The principal goal is that a semaphore can provide a correct and fluent vehicular mobility. However, the traditional semaphore operative ways are outdated. We present in a previous contribution the development of a methodology capable of improving the vehicular mobility by proposing a new green light interval based on road conditions with a CBR approach. However, this proposal should include whether it is needed to modify such light duration. To do this, the paper proposes the adaptation of a fuzzy inference system helping to decide when the semaphore should try to fix the green light interval according to specific road requirements. Some experiments are conducted in a simulated environment to evaluate the pertinence of implementing a decision-making before the CBR methodology. For example, using a fuzzy inference approach the decisions of the system improve almost 18% in a set of 10,000 experiments. Finally, some conclusions are drawn to emphasize the benefits of including this technique in a methodology to implement intelligent semaphores.

Synthesis and Characterization of Organic Bio-Absorbents Coming from Sugarcane Bagasse

In this work, a modification of the sugarcane bagasse is performed, in order to obtain organic catalysts. The bagasse analysis is performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transformer Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), which indicated that characteristic peaks determined its chemical compounds. In addition, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is used to know the morphology. Finally, a discoloration test is conducted on an azo compound (methylene blue) in an aqueous medium, obtaining an efficiency of 98.6%.