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- Hassellöv, Ida-Maja, 1974, et al.
(author)
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ICES Viewpoint background document: Impact from exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) on the marine environment (Ad hoc).
- 2020
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Shipping is a diverse industry that connects the world. The distribution and intensity of commercial shipping is increasing and there is a growing need to assess and mitigate the impacts of vessel activities on the marine environment. New global standards on sulphur content in marine fuels have led to an increasing number of ships installing exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS), also known as scrubbers, to reduce their emissions of sulphur oxides to the atmosphere. Ships equipped with a scrubber can continue to use heavy fuel oil, and the process results in discharges of large volumes of acidified water that contain a mix of contaminants, such as heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), oil residues, and nitrates. For the most common type of scrubber, open loop, this polluted water is directly discharged back to the sea, trading reductions in air pollution for increased water pollution. The scrubber discharge mixture has demonstrated toxic effects in laboratory studies, causing immediate mortality in plankton and exhibiting negative synergistic effects. The substances found in scrubber discharge water are likely to have further impacts in the marine environment through bioaccumulation, acidification and eutrophication. The impacts of scrubber discharge water can be completely avoided through the use of alternative fuels, such as distilled low sulphur fuels. Distilled fuels have the added benefit that they remove the threat of heavy fuel oil spills from shipping activities. If the use of alternative fuels is not adopted, and scrubbers continue to be considered an equivalent method to meet the sulphur emissions limits, then there is urgent need for: 1) significant investment in technological advances and port reception facilities to allow zero discharge closed loop scrubber systems; 2) improved protocols and standards for measuring, monitoring and reporting on scrubber discharge water acidity and pollutants; 3) evidence-based regulations on scrubber water discharge limits that consider the full suite of contaminants.
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| 2. |
- Marin, Ida, et al.
(author)
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Establishment of a clinical SPECT/CT protocol for imaging of(161)Tb
- 2020
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In: Ejnmmi Physics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2197-7364. ; 7:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background It has been proposed, and preclinically demonstrated, that(161)Tb is a better alternative to(177)Lu for the treatment of small prostate cancer lesions due to its high emission of low-energy electrons.Tb-161 also emits photons suitable for single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. This study aims to establish a SPECT protocol for(161)Tb imaging in the clinic. Materials and methods Optimal settings using various gamma-camera collimators and energy windows were explored by imaging a Jaszczak phantom, including hollow-sphere inserts, filled with(161)Tb. The collimators examined were extended low-energy general purpose (ELEGP), medium-energy general purpose (MEGP), and low-energy high resolution (LEHR), respectively. In addition, three ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithms were investigated: attenuation-corrected OSEM (A-OSEM); attenuation and dual- or triple-energy window scatter-corrected OSEM (AS-OSEM); and attenuation, scatter, and collimator-detector response-corrected OSEM (ASC-OSEM), where the latter utilized Monte Carlo-based reconstruction. Uniformity corrections, using intrinsic and extrinsic correction maps, were also investigated. Image quality was assessed by estimated recovery coefficients (RC), noise, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Sensitivity was determined using a circular flat phantom. Results The best RC and SNR were obtained at an energy window between 67.1 and 82.1 keV. Ring artifacts, caused by non-uniformity, were removed with extrinsic uniformity correction for the energy window between 67.1 and 82.1 keV, but not with intrinsic correction. Analyzing the lower energy window between 48.9 and 62.9 keV, the ring artifacts remained after uniformity corrections. The recovery was similar for the different collimators when using a specific OSEM reconstruction. Recovery and SNR were highest for ASC-OSEM, followed by AS-OSEM and A-OSEM. When using the optimized parameter setting, the resolution of(161)Tb was higher than for(177)Lu (8.4 +/- 0.7 vs. 10.4 +/- 0.6 mm, respectively). The sensitivities for(161)Tb and(177)Lu were 7.41 and 8.46 cps/MBq, respectively. Conclusion SPECT with high resolution is feasible with(161)Tb; however, extrinsic uniformity correction is recommended to avoid ring artifacts. The LEHR collimator was the best choice of the three tested to obtain a high-resolution image. Due to the complex emission spectrum of low-energy photons, window-based scatter correction had a minor impact on the image quality compared to using attenuation correction only. On the other hand, performing attenuation, scatter, and collimator-detector correction clearly improved image quality. Based on these data, SPECT-based dosimetry for(161)Tb-labeled radiopharmaceuticals is feasible.
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