Evaluation of Patient-Specific Quality Assurance for Carbon Ion Radiotherapy Using Full Energy Scanning Method at QST Hospital

Purpose: Patient-specific QA (PSQA) measurements for carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) are critical components of processes designed to identify discrepancies between calculated and delivered doses. We report the results of PSQA conducted at the QST Hospital during the period from September 2017 to March 2018. Methods: We analyzed PSQA results for 1448 fields for 10 disease sites with various target volumes, target depths and number of energy layers. For the PSQA, all the planned beams were recalculated on a water phantom with treatment planning software. The recalculated dose distributions were compared with the measured distributions using a 2D ionization chamber array at three depths, including 95% of the area of the prescription dose. These recalculated dose distributions were evaluated using the 3%/3mm gamma index with a passing threshold of 90%. Results: The passing rates for prostate, head and neck, and bone and soft tissue were 96.8%, 99.3%, and 91.7%, respectively. Additionally, 94.7% of lung plans with low energy beams passed. Overall, the CIRT in the QST Hospital reached a high passing rate of more than 95%. Although the remaining 5% failed to pass, there was no dependence between measurement depth and disease sites in these failures. Conclusion: Using PSQA measurements, we confirmed consistency between the planned and delivered doses for CIRT using the full energy scanning method.

A double toroidal analyzer for scanning probe electron energy spectrometer

An ultra-high vacuum （UHV） compatible electron spectrometer employing a double toroidal analyzer has been de- veloped. It is designed to be combined with a custom-made scanning tunneling microscope （STM） to study the spatially localized electron energy spectrum on a surface. A tip-sample system composed of a piezo-driven field-emission tungsten tip and a sample of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite （HOPG） is employed to test the performance of the spectrometer. Two-dimensional images of the energy-resolved and angle-dispersed electrons backscattered from the surface of HOPG are obtained, the performance is optimized and the spectrometer is calibrated. A complete electron energy loss spectrum covering the elastic peak to the secondary electron peaks for the HOPG surface, acquired at a tip voltage of -140 V and a sample current of 0.5 pA, is presented, demonstrating the viability of the spectrometer.

Electron Energy Spectroscopic Mapping of Surface Plasmon by Parallel Scanning Method

In this work,electron energy spectroscopic mapping of surface plasmon of Ag nanostructures on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite is reported.Benefitting from the angular dispersive feature of the present scanning probe electron energy spectrometer,a multi-channel detection mode is developed.By scanning along one direction,the two-dimensional intensity distribution of Ag surface plasmon excitation due to the collision of electron emitted from the tip can be obtained in parallel.The spectroscopic spatial resolution is determined to be around 80 nm.

Periodic energy decomposition analysis for electronic transport studies as a tool for atomic scale device manufacturing

Atomic scale manufacturing is a necessity of the future to develop atomic scale devices with high precision.A different perspective of the quantum realm,which includes the tunnelling effect,leakage current at the atomic-scale,Coulomb blockade and Kondo effect,is inevitable for the fabrication and hence,the mass production of these devices.For these atomic-scale device development,molecular level devices must be fabricated.Proper theoretical studies could be an aid towards the experimental realities.Electronic transport studies are the basis to realise and interpret the problems happening at this minute scale.Keeping these in mind,we present a periodic energy decomposition analysis(pEDA)of two potential candidates for moletronics:phthalocyanines and porphyrins,by placing them over gold substrate cleaved at the(111)plane to study the adsorption and interaction at the interface and then,to study their application as a channel between two electrodes,thereby,providing a link between pEDA and electronic transport studies.pEDA provides information regarding the bond strength and the contribution of electrostatic energy,Pauli’s energy,orbital energy and the orbital interactions.Combining this analysis with electronic transport studies can provide novel directions for atomic/close-toatomic-scale manufacturing(ACSM).Literature survey shows that this is the first work which establishes a link between pEDA and electronic transport studies and a detailed pEDA study on the above stated molecules.The results show that among the molecules studied,porphyrins are more adsorbable over gold substrate and conducting across a molecular junction than phthalocyanines,even though both molecules show a similarity in adsorption and conduction when a terminal thiol linker is attached.A further observation establishes the importance of attractive terms,which includes interaction,orbital and electrostatic energies,in correlating the pEDA study with the transport properties.By progressing this research,further developments could be possible in atomic-scale manufacturing in the future.

Bioactive conformation analysis of anthranilic diamide insecticides:DFT-based potential energy surface scanning and 3D-QSAR investigations

Anthranilic diamides are fasting growing class insecticides in modern crop protection for their high activity, low ecotoxicity, and broad insecticidal spectra. However. the bioactive conformations of anthranilic diamides are still unclear until now. In the present study, DFT-based potential energy surface scanning was used to detect the low energy conformations of chlorantraniliprole, then were used respectively in the structure alignment for a series of anthranilic diamide compounds followed by detailed CoMFA and CoMSIA analyses. Finally, the bioactive conformations of anthranilic diamide insecticides were revealed from a series of low energy conformations, which might provide some clues for future insecticide design.

Comparison of Antioxidant Activities of Silver Nanoparticles and Methanol Extracts of Three Indigenous Nigeria Herbal Seeds

The antioxidant of seeds was carried out using extracts from methanol and Silver Nanoparticles from the spice. The SEM shows the shapes, dispersion and agglomeration of the sample, while the EDX confirms the SEM and the presence of some compounds. The FT-IR reveals the AgNPs capping and reducing the particular biomolecule from the functional group for identification. Compounds found in the FT-IR seeds of Capsicum annum are Ag L (Silver iodide), C K (Cyanogen chloride), P K (Phenol). Monodora myristica are Mo L (Molybdenum), Ag L (Silver iodide), C K (Cyanogen chloride), P K (Phenol), Mg K (Magnesium). Piper guineense are Ag L (Silver iodide), Ci K (Potassium chloride), C K (Cyanogen chloride), P K (Phenol). The seeds show that the AgNPS of CA and MM has a better antioxidant activity than the methanol of CA and MM, while the PG methanol has a better activity than the AgNPS PG. The control (Catechin and Galic acid) has a slight overall better DPPH activity than the AgNPS. It is important to note that there is a concentration dependency in CA, MM AgNPS, PG methanol respectively. Notably, at CA methanol, the conc. at 125 was higher than the conc. at 250. Hence, there is need to create a great part in using plant samples for making tabulated or capsulated drugs for treatment of diseases and using plant silver nanoparticles to develop a healthy food/drug preservative package material “smart packaging” that will enhance shelf-life.

Cerebral artery evaluation of dual energy CT angiography with dual source CT

Background Conventional computed tomography angiography （CTA） is time consuming, user-dependent and has poor image quality in skull base region. This study assessed the feasibility of a new method, dual energy CTA for depicting the cerebral artery.Methods Phantom scan was done with head CTA sequences on dual source CT and 64 spiral CT for radiation dose calculation. Dual energy CTA was done with dual source CT on 36 patients who were suspected of having cerebral vascular disease. Three series axial images in 0.75 mm thick, 0.4 mm increment were acquired, which were named with 80 kV, 140 kV and merged images; 80 kV and 140 kV images were transferred into dual energy software, and maximum intensity projection （MIP） image was generated quickly by dual energy bone remove （DEBR group）; merged images were transferred into In Space software to acquire MIP image through manual conventional bone remove （CoBR group）. Post processing time and reading time were compared. Image qualities of the two groups were compared, mainly focusing on skull base segments of internal carotid artery and bone subtraction. ANOVA and SNK tests were applied for radiation dose comparison. Student＇s t test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were applied for assessing differences between data for significance. Cohen＇s kappa was used for interobserver agreement. Results Radiation dose of phantom scan showed dual energy CTA was between digital bone subtraction and conventional CTA. The post processing time and reading time were much shorter in DEBR than CoBR, and image quality in skull base was much higher in DEBR than CoBR （P〈0.01）. There was no significant difference for suprasellar vessels between two groups （P〉0.5）. Interobserver agreement for all vessel segments was excellent （kappa=0.97）. Conclusions Dual energy CTA is a reliable, new modality for depicting cerebral artery, overcoming the limitation of conventional CTA in the skull base region. It can save much time in post processing and reading than conventional CTA.

Effect of non-uniform efficiency on higher-order cumulants in heavy-ion collisions

We perform a systematic study on the effect of non-uniform track efficiency correction in higher-order cumulant analysis in heavy-ion collisions.Through analytical derivation,we find that the true values of cumulants can be successfully reproduced by the efficiency correction with an average of the realistic detector efficiency for particles with the same charges within each single phase space.The theoretical conclusions are supported by a toy model simulation by tuning the non-uniformity of the efficiency employed in the track-by-track efficiency correction method.The valid averaged efficiency is found to suppress the statistical uncertainties of the reproduced cumulants dramatically.Thus,usage of the averaged efficiency requires a careful study of phase space dependence.This study is important for carrying out precision measurements of higher-order cumulants in heavy-ion collision experiments at present and in future.

Influence of ash composition on the sintering behavior during pressurized combustion and gasification process

To determine the ash characteristics during fluidized bed combustion and gasification purposes, the investigation of the impacts of chemical composition of Jincheng coal ash on the sintering temperature was conducted. A series of experiments on the sintering behavior at 0.5 MPa was performed using the pressurized pressure-drop technique in the combustion and gasification atmospheres. Meanwhile, the mineral transformations of sintered ash pellets were observed using X-ray diffractometer （XRD） analyzer to better understand the experimental results. In addition, quantitative XRD and field emission scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer （FE-SEM/EDS） analyses of ash samples were used for clarifying the detailed ash melting mechanism. These results show that the addition of Fe203 can obviously reduce the sintering temperatures under gasification atmospheres, and only affect a little the sintering temperature under combustion atmosphere. This may be due to the presence of iron-bearing minerals, which will react with other ash compositions to produce low-melting-point eutectics. The FE-SEM/EDS analyses of ash samples with Fe203 additive show consistent results with the XRD measurements. The CaO and Na20 can reduce the sintering temperatures under both the combustion and gasification atmospheres. This can be also contributed to the formation of low-melting-point eutectics, decreasing the sintering temperature. Moreover, the fluxing minerals, such as magnetite, anhydrite, muscovite, albite and nepheline, contribute mostly to the reduction of the sintering temperature while the feldspar minerals, such as anorthite, gehlenite and sanidine, can react with other minerals to produce low-melting-point eutectics, and thereby reduce the sintering temperatures.

Effect of Copper Content on the Direct Process of Organosilane Synthesis from Silicon and Methyl Chloride

The effect of copper concentration on the performance of the catalytic reaction between silicon and methyl chloride was investigated using online gas chromatogram. The catalyst concentration greatly influences various aspects of the direct organosilane synthesis process, including the reaction rate, the selec- tivity, and the silicon conversion. The reaction activity and the silicon conversion increase as the catalyst concentration increases. However, the reaction selectivity decreases for the catalyst concentrations more .than 9 wt.%. The cross-sections of deactivated contact mass particles were observed by optical microscopy and analyzed by scanning electron microscope combined with energy dispersive X-ray detector （SEM-EDX） The observations showed that a textured substance formed on the original flat surface of the silicon particles after deactivation with copper only in a shallow surface layer of the contact mass. This indicates that the copper diffusion is the rate limiting step which causes the reaction deactivation.

Characterization of Intracellular Gold Nanoparticles Synthesized by Biomass of Aspergillus terreus

Greener synthesis of nanoparticle is a revolutionizing area in research field.Biological method of reduction of metal ions is often preferred because they are clean,safe,biocompatible,and environmentally acceptable than physical,chemical,and mechanical methods.The wet biomass of Aspergillus terreus（A.terreus） was utilized for the intracellular synthesis of gold nanoparticles.Gold nanoparticles were produced when an aqueous solution of chloroauric acid was reduced by A.terreus biomass as the reducing agent.Production of gold nanoparticles was confirmed by the color change of biomass from yellow to pinkish violet.The produced nanoparticles were then characterized by FT-IR,SEM,EDS,and XRD.The SEM images revealed that the nanoparticles were spherical,irregularly shaped with no definite morphology.Average size of the biosynthesized gold nanoparticles was 186 nm.The presence of the gold nanoparticle was confirmed by EDS analysis.Crystalline nature of synthesized gold nanoparticle was confirmed by XRD pattern.

Characterization of Compositionally Complex Hydrides in a Metastable Refractory High-Entropy Alloy

Here,we study the hydride formation in a metastable Ti-33Zr-22Hf-11Ta(at.%)refractory high entropy alloy(RHEA).Deviating to non-equiatomic compositions of RHEAs promotes the formation of transformation-induced plasticity where the body-centered cubic phase transforms to hexagonal close-packed(HCP)phase.It is found that the phase transformation capability assists the hydride formation due to the low solubility of hydrogen within the HCP phase.In this study,hydrogen is charged via electrochemical polishing and the corresponding phase transformation is activated in the metastable RHEAs.The newly formed HCP phase interacts with hydrogen to form a face-centered cubic hydride verified by electron energy loss spectroscopy.This work provides a primary exploration of the formation of compositionally complex metal hydrides in the metastable RHEAs,which are potential candidates for future hydrogen storage material design.