[en] A proposal is made to permit compliance with a limit by radioactivity measurements, taking into account the statistical nature ofradioactivy. The proposal has also some influence to the quality of the measurement under given conditions. (author)

[en] This second part is relative to radiation protection, it includes: developments and problems of radiation protection law: a permanent challenge, the caution principle, the new commune directive on base standards in the field of radiation protection, the dose limits, the case law of the European court of Justice in the Nuclear field from 1971 to the present Day. (N.C.)

[en] Unlike other fields of toxicology, radiation protection has a dual system of quantities, one set for assessment and the derivation of authorised limits and another set for monitoring radiation performance and compliance. Neutrons are an important or dominant constituent of the radiation field around high energy accelerators and the evolution of the radiation protection quantities used to measure neutrons is described. In 1990 ICRP introduced a new quantity, the effective dose, E, with which to express its protection limits. E represented a radical departure from previous advice of the Commission, particularly in the manner by which it weighted the absorbed dose deposited by high LET radiations. This advice had profound consequences for neutron dosimetry. Over the past decade analyses have revealed logical flaws and inconsistencies in the definition of effective dose. These are briefly discussed with most emphasis being placed on inconsistencies in radiation weighting. Suggestions are made with a view to resolving these inconsistencies. (author)

[en] Mobile telephone is fast getting popular among users and in fact it has become one of the fastest selling electronic products in the world. More base stations are expected to be built to meet such high demands and this has caused great concerned among members of the public, especially those living close to the stations, about the potential harmful health effects of radiofrequency (RF) radiation produced by such facilities. A project was initiated by MINT in early 2000 with aims to assess the radiation levels present in the areas around the base stations and to establish baseline data on the pattern and trend of the radiation emission from each different set up of the facilities. This paper highlights some basics facts about mobile telephones and preliminary findings of the project. The assessment has been carried out at 16 base station sites and the results indicate that the radiation levels present around these sites are very low. Their broadband readings vary between below the detection limit of 0.3μWatts/cm² to 11 μWatts/cm² and they are comparable to normal background radiation present in places away from any base stations. The highest level observed was 1.5% of the exposure limit recommended for members of the public. However, locations at close distance in front of the the antenna can be very serious in term of radiation exposure since the radiation level here can easily exceed the permissible exposure limit for public. Safety precaution needs to be taken when entering these areas and they should be out of bound for members of the public. (Author)

[en] To compare the radiation dosage and costs in conventional and digital technologies. The study dealt with transverse sections. The dosage applied with conventional technology was measured in 254 patients who intertwined 402 explorations of 6 anatomic regions in 4 Radiodiagnostic Services. The dosage applied with digital technology was measured in 57 patients who underwent 95 explorations of the same anatomic region in one Radiodiagnostic Service. The costs of the 6 types of conventional and digital explorations performed were calculated for two Radiodiagnostic Service. The doses administered (mGy) using convectional/digital technology were as follows: chest PA 0.2/0.1; chest LAT 0.7/0.3; breast CC 7.0/8.4; breast LAT 7.0/7.8; breast OB 7.0/10.5; cervical spine AP 9.6/9.0; cervical spine LAT 21.9/29.6; pelvis AP 7.3/7.1; plain abdominal 6.5/2.2. The costs incurred (1992 pesetas) with the convectional/digital technologies: chest AP and LAT 1,393/2,973; portable chest 2,027/3,714; mammography 2,357/3,486; phlebography 12,718/14,023; hysterosalpingography 4,876/6,701; bone scientigraphy 1,633/2,839. Compared with conventional technology, digital imaging reduces the radiation doses received by the patients, except in the case of mammography. The costs associated with the use of digital technology are greater than those incurred with conventional technology, mainly due to the costs of amortization. the use of digital technology is more justified when: 1) it is very necessary to reduce the dosage; 2) studies of chest and abdomen predominant; 3) the volume of utilization is high; 4) staff management is flexible , and 5) the cost of purchasing the equipment is lower. (Author) 10 refs

[en] In this paper dose limits in connection with optimization of protection are discussed. The amount of money that would be appropriate to pay to eliminate a unit collective dose is taken into account. Thereby dose limits and source-related dose constraints play an important role. Finally ethical problems due to most exposed individuals and the overall risk are taken into account from a practical point of view. (Suda)

[en] Biological dosimetry allows us to assess absorbed dose in cases of accidental overexposure to ionizing radiations. It is recommended in many particular cases of suspected irradiation and also as complementary to existing physical data. In this article, a review of its applications is made, some common practical situations are presented and different techniques for routinary use and others in

[en] The four-wheel steering (4WS) is an efficient method to improve the manoeuvrability of electric vehicle with the tendency of understeer, by providing the sufficient steering angles. Because of the various kinds of driving environments, the inner coupling between the active front and rear wheels of the 4WS vehicle is a challenging problem, which usually results in unstable yaw stability of the vehicle. In order to solve this coupling problem, this paper presents a double-layer dynamic decoupling control system (DDDCS), which consists of an upper part-dynamic decoupling unit (DDU) and a lower part-steering control unit (SCU). The DDU is presented to solve the dynamic coupling problem between the active front and rear wheels, and separately establishes two decoupled models by the diagonal decoupling method. The SCU is designed to obtain the decoupled control signals by the model predictive controller, then, the yaw stability of 4WS vehicle can be guaranteed. The results of the simulation show that the proposed DDDCS has good decoupling performance and stable yaw performance for 4WS vehicle.

[en] Ultra fast, sub-nanosecond (picosecond to femtosecond) duration, laser pulses present unique challenges when performing laser safety analysis involving mode-locked lasers, which operate at pulse repetition frequencies above the critical frequency in the near infrared wavelength bands. Two specific cases are presented, one such case that agrees and one that disagrees with the general rule on critical frequency. The results show that in all cases the appropriate maximum permissible exposure is always the smallest of the values calculated from ANSI rule 1, 2 and 3

[en] The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) issued a new and revised standard (ICRP 60) with recommendations for limits of radiation doses. The impacts for the exploitation and personnel of related industrial and medical sectors are outlined