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1038 records returned

2009 FOUNDERS AWARD: Presented to KELLY L. CLASSIC at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota 12-16 July 2009.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19901585 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Roessler GS Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

2009 ELDA E. ANDERSON AWARD: Presented to SUSAN M. JABLONSKI at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota 12-16 July 2009.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19901586 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Poston J Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

2009 DISTINGUISHED SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Presented to David H. Sliney at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota 12-16 July 2009.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19901587 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Cherry RN Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

2009 GEOFFREY G. EICHHOLZ OUTSTANDING SCIENCE TEACHER AWARD: Presented to TONI VELURE at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota 12-16 July 2009.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19901588 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Lewandowski M Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

2009 health physics society fellow members and student awards.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Authors: PMID: 19901589 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

2009 WILLIAM A. McADAMS OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD: Presented Posthumously to MICHAEL S. TERPILAK at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota 12-16 July 2009.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19901590 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Milligan PA Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Logistic analysis of obt dynamics.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Formation and depuration of non-exchangeable organically bound tritium (OBT) is measured in mussel dry tissue on expanding time scales. The OBT course of time is analyzed by means of the Verhulst logistic growth function. Two separate routes are found as well for OBT formation as depuration, i.e., restoration of organically bound hydrogen (OBH). Routes which arrive at saturation earlier than sampling started are assigned to respiration. Other routes which start with one-day delay are attributed to metabolc pathways. The metabolic route of OBT formation includes, in addition to the logistic growth function, one rapid me...
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Baumgaertner F, Yankovich TL, Kim SB Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

A study of the shielding used to reduce leakage and scattered radiation to the fetus in a pregnant patient treated with a 6-mv external x-ray beam.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
A Monte Carlo-based procedure has been developed to assess the shielded fetal doses from 6 MV external photon beam radiation treatments and improve upon existing techniques that are based on AAPM Task Group Report 36 (TG-36). Anatomically realistic models of the pregnant patient representing 3- and 6-mo gestational stages were implemented into the MCNPX code together with a detailed accelerator model that is capable of simulating scattered and leakage radiation from the accelerator head. The phantom was shielded using suggested lead and Cerrobend in different locations and with different thicknesses. Absorbed doses to ...
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Han B, Bednarz B, Xu XG Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

The canadian national calibration reference center for bioassay and in vivo monitoring: an update.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The Canadian National Calibration Reference Center (NCRC) for Bioassay and In Vivo Monitoring is part of the Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada. The NCRC operates three performance testing programs that are designed to confirm that workplace monitoring results are accurate and provide the necessary external verification that is part of a comprehensive quality assurance program. The NCRC performance testing programs cover the in vitro, in vivo, and internal dosimetry parts of Canadian facilities' radiation protection programs. The internal dosimetry performance testing is a new addition to the performance testin...
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Daka JN, Kramer GH Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Effective dose variation in pediatric computed tomography: dose reference levels in Greece.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Computed tomography provides high-resolution imaging of the human body. However, it contributes mainly to the doses on the population. Additionally, the fact that children are two to three times more sensitive to the x rays compared to the adults results in the increased need of taking action for the reduction of the dose regarding the computed tomography examinations. The first part of this paper presents the results of an investigation on the variation of doses to children while the second part compares those results with the European standards. This project took place in twelve hospitals distributed throughout the c...
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Yakoumakis E, Karlatira M, Gialousis G, Dimitriadis A, Makri T, Georgiou E Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

MODELING A 222Rn MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE BASED ON ABSORPTION IN POLYCARBONATES AND TRACK-ETCH COUNTING.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This report describes a theoretical model of the response of Rn detectors that are based on radon absorption and electrochemical etching of alpha-tracks in polycarbonates. The model is based on the volume distribution of the absorbed Rn and the response function of electrochemically etched Makrofol. Theoretical expression for the calibration factor is obtained, and comparison with experimental results is made. The comparison demonstrates very good correspondence between theoretical and experimental values. The conclusion is that this model can be useful in design and optimization of Rn measurements based on absorption in p...
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Pressyanov DS Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Multifactorial Study of the Risk of Lung Cancer among French Uranium Miners: Radon, Smoking and Silicosis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study reminds us of the complexity involved in assessing occupational risks in the case of multiple sources of exposure. PMID: 19901596 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Amabile JC, Leuraud K, Vacquier B, Caër-Lorho S, Acker A, Laurier D Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Cardiac catheterization: impact of face and neck shielding on new estimates of effective dose.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Optimization of radiation protection devices for the operator is achieved by minimizing the effective dose (E) on the basis of the recommendations of Publications 60 and 103 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Radiation exposure dosimetry was performed with thermoluminescence dosimeters using one Alderson phantom in the patient position and a second one in the typical position of the operator. Various types of protective clothing as well as fixed leaded shieldings (table mounted shielding and overhead suspended shields) were considered calculating E. Shielding factors for protective equip...
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: von Boetticher H, Lachmund J, Hoffmann W Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

ON THE EFFECT OF AN ERROR IN A STANDARD D2O-MODERATED 252Cf ENERGY SPECTRUM.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There appears to be an error in the neutron fluence for neutrons with energies between 9 and 10 MeV for the tabulated D2O-moderated Cf source in ISO 8529-1. If the referenced spectrum is used as tabulated, the error contributes a total error to neutron dose values from this source of approximately 3%. PMID: 19901598 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Cummings FM Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

HML's WHOLE BODY COUNTER: MEASURING HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE PERSONS.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The National Internal Radiation Assessment Section's Human Monitoring Laboratory (HML) has the responsibility to measure persons who may become internally contaminated following an accidental or intentional release of radioactivity. In preparation for measuring individuals who may be highly internally contaminated, the HML has reconfigured and recalibrated its whole body counter for this event. The calibration was performed using Monte Carlo simulations and validated by experimental measurements. An equation was developed that related the counting efficiency as a function of photon energy and phantom-to-detector distan...
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Kramer GH, Capello K, Chiang A, Hauck BM Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

The risk of cancer from natural background ionizing radiation.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19901600 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Wakeford R, Kendall GM, Little MP Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Reply to wakeford.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19901601 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Nair RR, Akiba S Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

News and notices.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Authors: PMID: 19901602 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

THE HEALTH PHYSICS SOCIETY: An Affiliate of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA).Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Authors: PMID: 19901603 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

THE HEALTH PHYSICS SOCIETY * 2009 Affiliate Members.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Authors: PMID: 19901604 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - November 12, 2009 Category: Physics Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Spouse selection by health status and physical traits. Sardinia, 1856-1925.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Military medical information and data from civil registers of death and marriage have been used to study the role of physical characteristics and health conditions in explaining access to marriage for the male population of Alghero, a small city located in Sardinia Island (Italy), at the turn of 19th century. Literature data about contemporary populations have already demonstrated the influence of somatic traits in the mate choice. The results presented here show that men with low height and poor health status at the age of 20 were negatively selected for marriage. This holds true also in a society where families often...
Source: Health Physics - November 9, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Manfredini M, Breschi M, Mazzoni S Tags: Am J Phys Anthropol Source Type: journals

Gleaning signals about the past from cemetery data.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We present here analyses of burials occurring between 1900 and 1990 at the Columbia Cemetery in Columbia, Missouri. Our analyses, in combination with archival materials relating to infrastructure improvements in Columbia and data on infectious disease mortality in the state of Missouri, show that patterns of death observed in the cemetery data provide evidence for the timing of changes in the health of Columbia's residents. At the time that major improvements in sanitation and hygiene were implemented, burials of individuals dying under age 45 decreased significantly while burials of individuals older than 45 remained rela...
Source: Health Physics - November 9, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Sattenspiel L, Stoops M Tags: Am J Phys Anthropol Source Type: journals

Secular change in heights of indigenous adults from a Zapotec-speaking community in Oaxaca, southern Mexico.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Secular change in adult height of residents in a rural indigenous community in the Valley of Oaxaca was evaluated. Subjects were measured in 1971 (49 males, 26 females 19-70 years), 1978 (128 males, 124 females 19-82 years) and 2000 (155 males, 255 females 19-89 years). Heights were adjusted for estimated loss with age using two protocols; height at 21 years of age was also estimated. The effects of age and secular factors on measured and adjusted heights were evaluated through segmented linear regressions for three birth periods, <1930, 1930 through 1959 and >/=1960 which approximate significant periods in Mexic...
Source: Health Physics - November 9, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Malina RM, Peña Reyes ME, Little BB Tags: Am J Phys Anthropol Source Type: journals

Tuberculosis and leprosy in perspective.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Two of humankind's most socially and psychologically devastating diseases, tuberculosis and leprosy, have been the subject of intensive paleopathological research due to their antiquity, a presumed association with human settlement and subsistence patterns, and their propensity to leave characteristic lesions on skeletal and mummified remains. Despite a long history of medical research and the development of effective chemotherapy, these diseases remain global health threats even in the 21st century, and as such, their causative agents Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. leprae, respectively, have recently been the subje...
Source: Health Physics - November 3, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Stone AC, Wilbur AK, Buikstra JE, Roberts CA Tags: Am J Phys Anthropol Source Type: journals

Reproductive ecology and the endometrium: Physiology, variation, and new directions.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Endometrial function is often overlooked in the study of fertility in reproductive ecology, but it is crucial to implantation and the support of a successful pregnancy. Human female reproductive physiology can handle substantial energy demands that include the production of fecund cycles, ovulation, fertilization, placentation, a 9-month gestation, and often several years of lactation. The particular morphology of the human endometrium as well as our relative copiousness of menstruation and large neonatal size suggests that endometrial function has more resources allocated to it than many other primates. The human endo...
Source: Health Physics - November 3, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Clancy KB Tags: Am J Phys Anthropol Source Type: journals

RSO Interview with Nazia Zakir. Interviewed by René Michel.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
RSO Interview with Nazia Zakir. Interviewed by René Michel. Health Phys. 2009 Nov;97(5 Suppl):S151-4 Authors: Zakir N PMID: 19820469 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - October 21, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Zakir N Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Surge capacity volunteer perspectives on a field training exercise specifically designed to emphasize likely roles during a disaster response.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Experience gained from involvement in a number of emergency response activities since September 2001 in Texas indicated that the likely roles of statewide medical reserve corps units typically included aspects such as crowd control, registration and tracking, and information management. The need for training specifically focused on these likely roles became apparent. A novel field training exercise was developed that specifically focused on these likely roles. The exercise centered on a scenario involving the surreptitious placement of radioactivity in high traffic areas across the country, resulting in the contaminati...
Source: Health Physics - October 21, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Emery RJ, Sprau DD, Morecook RC, Herbold J Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Results of a self-absorption study on the Versapor 3000 47-mm filters for radioactive particulate air stack sampling.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Since the mid-1980's the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has used a value of 0.85 as a correction factor for the self absorption of activity for particulate radioactive air samples collected from building exhaust for environmental monitoring. More recently, an effort was made to evaluate the current particulate radioactive air sample filters (Versapor 3000, 47-mm diameter) used at PNNL for self absorption effects. There were two methods used to characterize the samples. Sixty samples were selected from the archive for acid digestion to compare the radioactivity measured by direct gas-flow proportional coun...
Source: Health Physics - October 21, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Barnett JM, Cullinan VI, Barnett DS, Trang-Le TL, Bliss M, Greenwood LR, Ballinger MY Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Nuclear plant emergency preparedness in Russia.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article describes the program in some detail and compares some elements to programs in the United States. The author was favorably impressed with the state of nuclear plant emergency preparedness in the Russian Federation and identified program elements that should be considered for implementation elsewhere. PMID: 19820472 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - October 21, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Sullivan RL Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Determination of an environmental background level of 90Sr in urine for the Hanford bioassay program.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
During the decommissioning and maintenance of some of the facilities at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site in Washington State, workers have potential for a Sr intake. However, because of worldwide radioactive fallout, Sr is present in our environment and can be detectable in routine urine bioassay samples. It is important for the Hanford Site bioassay program to discriminate an occupational intake from a non-occupational environmental one. A detailed study of the background Sr in the urine of unexposed Hanford workers was performed. A survey of the Hanford Site bioassay database found 128 Hanford workers who w...
Source: Health Physics - October 21, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Antonio CL, Rivard JW Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

The lauriston s. Taylor lectures in radiation protection and measurements.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19820445 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Tenforde TS Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Introduction of the 32nd lauriston taylor lecturer in radiation protection and measurements, dade w. Moeller.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19820446 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Ryan MT Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Lauriston s. Taylor lecture: yucca mountain radiation standards, dose/risk assessments, thinking outside the box, evaluations, and recommendations.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste repository is designed to contain spent nuclear fuel and vitrified fission products. Due to the fact that it will be the first such facility constructed anywhere in the world, it has proved to be one in which multiple organizations, most prominently the U.S. Congress, are exercising a role. In addition to selecting a site for the facility, Congress specified that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) promulgate the associated Standards, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission establish applicable Regulations to implement the Standards, and the U.S. Department...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Moeller DW Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Welcome to the forty-fourth annual ncrp meeting.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19820448 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Tenforde TS Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Fifth warren k. Sinclair keynote address: issues in quantifying the effects of low-level radiation.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Health risks from exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation are well characterized from epidemiological studies. Uncertainty and controversy remain for extension of these risks to the low doses and low dose rates of particular relevance in the workplace, in medical diagnostics and screening, and from background radiations. In order to make such extrapolations, a number of concepts have been developed for radiation protection, partly on the basis of assumed processes in the mechanisms of radiation carcinogenesis. Included amongst these are the assumptions of a linear no-threshold dose response and simple scaling fact...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Goodhead DT Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Low-dose extrapolation of radiation health risks: some implications of uncertainty for radiation protection at low doses.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Ionizing radiation is a known and well-quantified human cancer risk factor, based on a remarkably consistent body of information from epidemiological studies of exposed populations. Typical examples of risk estimation include use of Japanese atomic bomb survivor data to estimate future risk from radiation-related cancer among American patients receiving multiple computed tomography scans, persons affected by radioactive fallout, or persons whose livelihoods involve some radiation exposure, such as x-ray technicians, interventional radiologists, or shipyard workers. Our estimates of radiation-related risk are uncertain,...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Land CE Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Risks from low dose/dose rate radiation: what an understanding of DNA damage response mechanisms can tell us.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The DNA damage response (DDR) mechanisms represent a vital line of defense against exogenous and endogenous DNA damage to enhance two distinct outcomes, survival and the maintenance of genomic stability. The latter is critical for cancer avoidance. DDR processes encompass repair pathways and signal transduction mechanisms that activate cell cycle checkpoint arrest and apoptosis. DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) represent important radiation-induced lesions. The major DSB repair pathways are DNA non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR) and ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) activates the DSB s...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Jeggo PA Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Non-targeted effects of ionizing radiation: implications for risk assessment and the radiation dose response profile.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Radiation risks at low doses remain a hotly debated topic. Recent experimental advances in our understanding of effects occurring in the progeny of irradiated cells, and/or the non-irradiated neighbors of irradiated cells (i.e., non-targeted effects associated with exposure to ionizing radiation), have influenced this debate. The goal of this document is to summarize the current status of this debate and speculate on the potential impact of non-targeted effects on radiation risk assessment and the radiation dose response profile. PMID: 19820452 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Morgan WF, Sowa MB Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Factors that modify radiation-induced carcinogenesis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It is known that numerous factors can influence radiation carcinogenesis in animals; these factors include the specific characteristics of the radiation (radiation type and dose, dose-rate, dose-fractionation, dose distribution, etc.) as well as many other contributing elements that are not specific to the radiation exposure, such as animal genetic characteristics and age, the environment of the animal, dietary factors and whether specific modifying agents for radiation carcinogenesis have been utilized in the studies. This overview focuses on the modifying factors for radiation carcinogenesis, in both in vivo and in v...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Kennedy AR Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Radiation carcinogenesis in context: how do irradiated tissues become tumors?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It is clear from experimental studies that genotype is an important determinant of cancer susceptibility in general, and for radiation carcinogenesis specifically. It has become increasingly clear that genotype influences not only the ability to cope with DNA damage but also influences the cooperation of other tissues, like the vasculature and immune system, necessary for the establishment of cancer. Our experimental data and that of others suggest that the carcinogenic action of ionizing radiation (IR) can also be considered a two-compartment problem: while IR can alter genomic sequence as a result of DNA damage, it c...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Barcellos-Hoff MH, Nguyen DH Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

The role of dose-rate on risk from internally-deposited radionuclides and the potential need to separate dose-rate effectiveness factor (dref) from the dose and dose-rate effectiveness factor (ddref).Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In 1980, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements suggested the term dose-rate effectiveness factor (DREF) to describe the reduction of effectiveness of protracted radiation in producing biological damage and risk. A nonlinear decrease in damage was also noted following low total doses. The International Commission on Radiological Protection therefore combined the influence of low dose and low dose-rate and assigned a single value of 2.0 for a dose and dose-rate effectiveness factor (DDREF) to be applied for estimating risk for both low total dose and low dose-rate exposures. This paper re-evaluates on...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Brooks AL, Eberlein PE, Couch LA, Boecker BB Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Variations in radiosensitivity among individuals: a potential impact on risk assessment?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
To have an impact on risk assessment for purposes of radiation protection recommendations, significantly broad variations in carcinogenic radiosensitivity would have to exist in significant proportions in the human population. Even if we knew all the genes where mutations would have major effects, individual genome sequencing does not seem useful, since we do not know all these genes, nor can we be certain of the phenotypic effect of polymorphisms discovered. Further, sequencing would not reveal epigenetic changes in gene expression. Another approach to develop phenotypic biomarkers for cells or tissues for which varia...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Kato TA, Wilson PF, Nagasaw H, Peng Y, Weil MM, Little JB, Bedford JS Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Low-dose radiation epidemiology studies: status and issues.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Although the Japanese atomic bomb study and radiotherapy studies have clearly documented cancer risks from high-dose radiation exposures, radiation risk assessment groups have long recognized that protracted or low exposures to low-linear energy transfer radiations are key radiation protection concerns because these are far more common than high-exposure scenarios. Epidemiologic studies of human populations with low-dose or low dose-rate exposures are one approach to addressing those concerns. A number of large studies of radiation workers (Chernobyl clean-up workers, U.S. and Chinese radiological technologists, and th...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Shore RE Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

The impact of dosimetry uncertainties on dose-response analyses.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Radiation dose estimates used in epidemiological studies are subject to many sources of uncertainty, and the error structure may be a complicated mixture of different types of error. Increasingly, efforts are being made to evaluate dosimetry uncertainties and to take account of them in statistical analyses. The impact of these uncertainties on dose-response analyses depends on the magnitude and type of error. Errors that are independent from subject to subject (random errors) reduce statistical power for detecting a dose-response relationship, increase uncertainties in estimated risk coefficients, and may lead to under...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Gilbert ES Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Does scientific evidence support a change from the lnt model for low-dose radiation risk extrapolation?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The linear no-threshold (LNT) model has been widely used to establish international rules and standards in radiation protection. It is based on the notion that the physical energy deposition of ionizing radiation (IR) increases carcinogenic risk linearly with increasing dose (i.e., the carcinogenic effectiveness remains constant irrespective of dose) and, within a factor of two, also with dose-rate. However, recent findings have strongly put into question the LNT concept and its scientific validity, especially for very low doses and dose-rates. Low-dose effects are more difficult to ascertain than high-dose effects. Ep...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Averbeck D Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Extrapolating radiation-induced cancer risks from low doses to very low doses.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There is strong evidence that ionizing radiation increases cancer risks at high doses (e.g., >/=1 Gy), and persuasive, if controversial, epidemiological evidence that cancer risks are increased at low doses ( approximately 10 mGy). Discussed here are the issues related to extrapolating radiation risks from low radiation doses to very low doses (</=1 mGy) - for which purpose we are forced to rely on radiobiological evidence and biophysical arguments. At high doses, cells are typically hit by many tracks of radiation, while at low doses most cells are typically hit by a single track of radiation; at very low doses ...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Brenner DJ Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Incorporating information from the u.s. Department of energy low-dose program into regulatory decision-making: three policy integration challenges.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) sponsors a research program aimed at gaining a better understanding of how low-dose radiation affects cellular functioning and progression toward disease. There have been calls to incorporate into regulatory decision-making the scientific information that this program has produced. After a discussion of the evolution of radiation protection law and the weight-of-evidence approach that agencies employ, this paper offers some preliminary thoughts about how to approach this complex and important policy question. Three implementation challenges are identified and discussed. The firs...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Locke PA Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Perspectives of u.s. Government agencies on the potential role of greater scientific understanding of low-dose radiation effects in establishing regulatory health protection guidance.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This paper summarizes the perspectives of three U.S. federal agencies on the potential long-term influence of new findings on the biological and potential health effects of low dose and low dose-rate radiation on regulatory controls placed on exposures in occupational, medical, and public settings. PMID: 19820462 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Tenforde TS, Brooks AL Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Beliefs about radiation: scientists, the public and public policy.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Human behavioral responses to potential hazards are mediated by the beliefs held about those hazards. This holds whether the "behavior" under consideration is the provision of advice about the hazard, statements of support for policies that address the hazard, or personal behaviors in response to the hazard. This paper focuses on beliefs about radiation and the implications of those beliefs for views about radiation protection by both scientists and members of the U.S. public. We use data from a large sample of scientists, collected in 2002, and a series of surveys of the U.S. public collected in 2007. Among scientists...
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Jenkins-Smith HC, Silva CL, Murray C Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals

Federal programs to reimburse the public for environmental and occupational exposures.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Since the mid-1980's there has been growing public concern about possible health effects associated with radiation exposures of veterans and atomic weapons workers. These concerns have led to a series of Congressional actions that have resulted in legislation creating three compensation programs that are intended to compensate individuals whose radiation exposures may be considered a causative agent for specified health effects. PMID: 19820464 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Health Physics)
Source: Health Physics - October 14, 2009 Category: Physics Authors: Ziemer PL Tags: Health Phys Source Type: journals