LET spectra scoring for applications in proton radiotherapy.

Purpose: This work aims at implementation, validation, and proof of application of fast, voxel-based single proton linear energy transfer (LET) spectra scoring for clinical proton therapy. The LET spectra provide more comprehensive information on the mixed radiation field produced by protons in heterogeneous patient geometry in comparison to the dose-averaged LET (LET), commonly investigated pre-clinically and clinically.

Materials And Methods: We implemented single particle spectra scoring methods for LET and other physics quantities, e.

Modeling changes in genetic heterogeneity using games with resources.

Background And Objective: This study explores an extension of the classic Hawk and Dove evolutionary game model by considering the influence of environmental or external resources on the players' fitness. This allows us to model the resulting heterogeneous population dynamics, which is of great importance for simulating cancer population growth and optimizing anti-cancer therapies.

Methods: To model population heterogeneity, we are using an extension of classical spatial evolutionary game theory by introducing multidimensional spatial evolutionary games (MSEG).

Fast Monte Carlo log-based framework for robust 4D dose evaluation in proton therapy.

Cyclotron Centre Bronowice Krakow proton therapy center is establishing a methodology for dosimetric evaluation to support treatments of moving targets, particularly in the mediastinal area. We propose a robust 4D Monte Carlo (MC) dose evaluation approach for proton treatment plans, integrating temporal information on both pencil beam delivery and organ motion in the context of free-breathing treatments.A specialized tool combining the GPU-accelerated FRED MC code and temporal patient and treatment delivery data was developed.

GPU-accelerated FREDopt package for simultaneous dose and LETproton radiotherapy plan optimization via superiorization methods.

This study presents Fast paRticle thErapy Dose optimizer (FREDopt), a newly developed GPU-accelerated open-source optimization software for simultaneous proton dose and dose-averaged linear energy transfer (LET) optimization in intensity-modulated proton therapy treatment planning. FREDopt was implemented entirely in Python, leveraging CuPy for GPU acceleration and incorporating fast Monte Carlo simulations from the FRED code. The treatment plan optimization workflow includes pre-optimization and optimization, the latter equipped with a novel superiorization of feasibility-seeking algorithms.

Serotype distribution of invasive and non-invasive pneumococcal disease in children ≤5 years of age following the introduction of 10- and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in infant national immunization programs: a systematic literature review.

Introduction: Widespread implementation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs)-namely the 7-valent PCV (PCV7), 10-valent pneumococcal non-typeable protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV), and 13-valent PCV (PCV13)-in infant national immunization programs has reduced pneumococcal diseases in children, including invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), acute otitis media (AOM), and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, as the use of PCV impacts pneumococcal epidemiology, identifying the serotypes associated with remaining disease is crucial to guide future vaccination strategies for this population.

Methods: We systematically searched the literature for observational studies (2006-2020) on pneumococcal serotype distribution in IPD, AOM, and CAP among ≤5-year-old children post-PCV introduction.