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UV radiometers are widely employed for irradiance measurements, but their periodical calibrations not only induce an extra cost but also are time-consuming. In this study, the KI/KIO3 actinometer was applied to calibrate UV radiometer detectors at 254 nm with a quasi-collimated beam apparatus equipped with a low-pressure UV lamp, and feasible calibration conditions were identified. Results indicate that a washer constraining the UV light was indispensable, while the size (10 or 50 mL) of a beaker containing the actinometer solution had little influence when a proper washer was used. The absorption or reflection of UV light by the internal beaker wall led to an underestimation or overestimation of the irradiance determined by the KI/KIO3 actinometer, respectively. The proper range of the washer internal diameter could be obtained via mathematical analysis. A radiometer with a longer service time showed a greater calibration factor. To minimize the interference from the inner wall reflection of the collimating tube, calibrations should be conducted at positions far enough away from the tube bottom. This study demonstrates that after the feasible calibration conditions are identified, the KI/KIO3 actinometer can be applied readily to calibrate UV radiometer detectors at 254 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this study, a dedicated device for ion chamber measurements of absorbed dose-to-water for a Nucletron microSelectron-v2 HDR 192Ir brachytherapy source is presented. The device uses two ionization chambers in a so-called sandwich assembly. Using this setup and by taking the average reading of the two chambers, any dose error due to difficulties in absolute positioning (centering) of the source in between the chambers is cancelled to first order. The method's accuracy was examined by comparing measurements with absorbed dose-to-water determination based on the AAPM TG-43 protocol. Methods: The optimal source-to-chamber distance (SCD) for 192Ir dosimetry was determined from ion chamber measurements in a water phantom. The 192Ir source was sandwiched between two Exradin A1SL chambers (0.057 cm3) at the optimal SCD separation. The measured ionization was converted to the absorbed dose-to-water using a 60Co calibration factor and a Monte Carlo-calculated beam quality conversion factor, kQ, for 60Co to 192Ir. An uncertainty estimate of the proposed method was determined based on reproducibility of measurements at different institutions for the same type of source. Results: The optimal distance for the A1SL chamber measurements was determined to be 5 cm from the 192Ir source center, considering the depth dependency of kQ for 60Co to 192Ir and the chamber positioning. The absorbed dose to water measured at (5 cm, 90°) on the transverse axis was 1.3% lower than TG-43 values and its reproducibility and overall uncertainty were 0.8% and 1.7%, respectively. The measurement doses at anisotropic points agreed within 1.5% with TG-43 values. Conclusions: The ion chamber measurement of absorbed dose-to-water with a sandwich method for the 192Ir source provides a more accurate, direct, and reference dose compared to the dose-to-water determination based on air-kerma strength in the TG-43 protocol. Due to the simple but accurate assembly, the sandwich measurement method is useful for daily dose management of 192Ir sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that discusses the use of sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to quantitatively determine the kinds of sulfur species in natural samples using internally calibrated reference spectra of model compounds. It mentions that the results show the importance of using a calibration system when performing quantitative XANES analysis. It affirms that the preparation of the samples should consider the presence of self-absorbing particles.

Purpose: Gafchromic film and ionometric calibration procedures for HDR 192Ir brachytherapy sources in terms of dose rate to water are presented and the experimental results are compared to the TG-43 protocol as well as with the absolute dose measurement results from a water calorimetry-based primary standard. Methods: EBT-1 Gafchromic films, an A1SL Exradin miniature Shonka thimble type chamber, and an SI HDR 1000 Plus well-type chamber (Standard Imaging, Inc., Middleton, WI) with an ADCL traceable Sk calibration coefficient (following the AAPM TG-43 protocol) were used. The Farmer chamber and Gafchromic film measurements were performed directly in water. All results were compared to direct and absolute absorbed dose to water measurements from a 4 °C stagnant water calorimeter. Results: Based on water calorimetry, the authors measured the dose rate to water to be 361±7 μGy/(h U) at a 55 mm source-to-detector separation. The dose rate normalized to air-kerma strength for all the techniques agree with the water calorimetry results to within 0.83%. The overall 1-sigma uncertainty on water calorimetry, ionization chamber, Gafchromic film, and TG-43 dose rate measurement amounts to 1.90%, 1.44%, 1.78%, and 2.50%, respectively. Conclusions: This work allows us to build a more realistic uncertainty estimate for absorbed dose to water determination using the TG-43 protocol. Furthermore, it provides the framework necessary for a shift from indirect HDR 192Ir brachytherapy dosimetry to a more accurate, direct, and absolute measurement of absorbed dose to water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water calorimetry is an established technique for absorbed dose to water measurements in external beams. In this paper, the feasibility of direct absorbed dose measurements for high dose rate (HDR) iridium-192 (192Ir) sources using water calorimetry is established. Feasibility is determined primarily by a balance between the need to obtain sufficient signal to perform a reproducible measurement, the effect of heat loss on the measured signal, and the positioning uncertainty affecting the source-detector distance. The heat conduction pattern generated in water by the Nucletron microSelectron-HDR 192Ir brachytherapy source was simulated using COMSOL MULTIPHYSICSTM software. Source heating due to radiation self-absorption was calculated using EGSnrcMP. A heat-loss correction kc was calculated as the ratio of the temperature rise under ideal conditions to temperature rise under realistic conditions. The calorimeter setup used a parallel-plate calorimeter vessel of 79 mm diameter and 1.12 mm thick front and rear glass windows located 24 mm apart. Absorbed dose was measured with two sources with nominal air kerma strengths of 38 000 and 21 000 U, at source-detector separations ranging from 24.7 to 27.6 mm and irradiation times of 36.0 to 80.0 s. The preliminary measured dose rate per unit air kerma strength of (0.502±0.007) μGy/(s U) compares well with the TG-43 derived 0.505 μGy/(s U). This work shows that combined dose uncertainties of significantly less than 5% can be achieved with only modest modifications of current water calorimetry techniques and instruments. This work forms the basis of a potential future absolute dose to water standard for HDR 192Ir brachytherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method to estimate reactive transport parameters as well as geometric conduit parameters from a multitracer test in a karst aquifer is provided. For this purpose, a calibration strategy was developed applying the two-region nonequilibrium model CXTFIT. The ambiguity of the model calibration was reduced by first calibrating the model with respect to conservative tracer breakthrough and later transferring conservative transport parameters to the reactive model calibration. The reactive transport parameters were only allowed to be within a defined sensible range to get reasonable calibration values. This calibration strategy was applied to breakthrough curves obtained from a large-scale multitracer test, which was performed in a karst aquifer of the Swabian Alb, Germany. The multitracer test was conducted by the simultaneous injection of uranine, sulforhodamine G, and tinopal CBS-X. The model succeeds to represent the tracer breakthrough curves (TBCs) of uranine and sulforhodamine G and verifies that tracer-rock interactions preferably occur in the immobile fluid region, although the fraction of this region amounts to only 3.5% of the total water. However, the model failed to account for the long tailing observed in the TBC of tinopal CBS-X. Sensitivity analyses reveal that model results for the conservative tracer transport are most sensitive to average velocity and volume fraction of the mobile fluid region, while dispersion and mass transfer coefficients are least influential. Consequently, reactive tracer calibration allows the determination of sorption sites in the mobile and immobile fluid region at small retardation coefficients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]