Radiation Protection Policy in a Nuclear Era -Recommendations from Health Physicists in Response to EO 14300.

Radiation Physics commissioning of LCLS-II superconducting Linac. Gun and cryomodules commissioning

Mean radiant temperature in outdoor urban environments: From radiative physics to data-driven and hybrid modelling frameworks

This study aimed to validate the Portuguese version of the Healthcare Professional Knowledge of Radiation Protection (HPKRP) scale to assess knowledge of radiation protection among healthcare workers exposed to ionizing radiation. The increasing use of radiation in medicine raises concerns about potential side effects, not only for patients but also for professionals operating the equipment. Appropriate and well-constructed instruments are essential to generate structured and interpretable findings and quantifiable outcomes that support improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and practices.&#xD;Methods: A descriptive correlational cross-sectional study was conducted electronically using a Google Forms survey between March 2025 and July 2025. Participants included nurses, doctors, dentists, and radiographers who use a personal dosimeter. The Portuguese version of the HPKRP was developed using translation and back-translation procedures, followed by statistical validation. Internal consistency, item-total correlations, and regression analyses were performed using IBM SPSS (version 30).&#xD;Results: A total of 247 valid responses were analysed. The scale demonstrated very high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.983). Item-total correlations ranged from 0.568 to 0.890, confirming strong internal consistency. Radiographers reported the highest perceived knowledge, while nurses scored lowest. Knowledge gaps were identified particularly in areas related to radiation physics (formulas and units of measurement) and reporting of adverse events. Training in radiation protection was significantly associated with higher scores (p < 0.001).&#xD;Conclusions: The Portuguese version of the HPKRP scale demonstrates high internal consistency and provides preliminary evidence of reliability for assessing healthcare professionals' self-perceived knowledge of radiation protection. However, as a subjective measure, it does not reflect objective knowledge or clinical competence and should be interpreted with caution. The instrument may be useful for identifying perceived knowledge gaps and supporting educational strategies when used in combination with objective assessment methods.&#xD.

Physics-based optimization of gamma-ray detector response and pair production cross-sections using the GRIBO algorithm.

Interventional cardiology has profoundly transformed the management of cardiovascular disease; however, working within the cardiac catheterization laboratory exposes healthcare professionals to substantial occupational hazards. Four principal risks can be identified: (i) malignancy and non-malignant sequelae related to chronic exposure to ionizing radiation; (ii) musculoskeletal injury associated with prolonged use of heavy radioprotective equipment; (iii) exposure to blood-borne pathogens and other infectious agents; and (iv) work-related psychological strain. Among these, cumulative radiation exposure remains the most consequential and historically under-recognized threat. Although the radiation dose which operators receive during a single procedure is markedly lower than that delivered to patients, healthcare professionals are subjected to repeated, lifelong exposure. For a high-volume interventional cardiologist, the annual effective dose may substantially exceed that of other radiation-exposed professionals, including nuclear industry workers and diagnostic radiologists. Importantly, unlike radiologists, many cardiologists receive limited formal training in radiation physics and radiobiology, which may lead to limited awareness of dose-optimization strategies and stochastic risk. Contemporary epidemiological evidence has refined our understanding of the biological effects of chronic low-dose and low-dose-rate radiation. Risk estimates for malignancy have progressively increased as follow-up durations have lengthened and methodological approaches have improved. Moreover, emerging data suggest that sustained low-dose exposure may confer an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, thereby extending concern beyond oncological endpoints. Occupational exposure varies greatly depending on the location: doses to the head can be several times higher than doses to the chest, with a predominance on the left side attributable to the position of the operator in relation to the X-ray source. In addition to the well-established association with posterior subcapsular cataracts, observational studies have reported potential links between long-term occupational exposure and neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, although causality remains to be definitively established. Mitigation of these risks necessitates a paradigm shift towards a rigorous culture of radiation safety. Institutional commitment is essential, encompassing advanced shielding systems, ceiling-suspended protection, real-time dosimetry with immediate feedback, and systematic optimization of imaging protocols. Ultimately, the future of the field may depend on the progressive adoption of radiation-sparing and radiation-free technologies, including intracardiac and intracoronary ultrasound, electro anatomical mapping systems, and non-fluoroscopic navigation platforms. In parallel, robot-assisted procedures enable remote manipulation of the catheter promise to reduce the operator's direct exposure. The pursuit of a zero-radiation environment in the workplace should not be considered an ambitious ideal but a strategic priority to safeguard the next generation of interventional cardiologists.

Italian Association of Medical and Health Physics (AIFM) policy statement: laser safety management in healthcare.

On June 9 th and 10 th , 2025 the Health Physics Society (HPS) and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) jointly sponsored two open forums with the hopes of discussing and responding to constituent beliefs regarding a series of nuclear-related Executive Orders (EOs). The HPS and NCRP leaders were joined by members from the American Academy of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), and the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) as panelists to help respond and moderate the forums. The forums focused on three of the nine relevant EOs, and, while varying opinions were shared, three common themes were strongly supported: First, many of the constituents support change, particularly regulatory harmonization (205/212, 97%), and the time to make changes [now] is appropriate due to these EOs. Second, the constituents believe that these EOs will have a significant impact on the nuclear fields (420/468, 90%). Third, the constituents strongly support the United States in increasing its use of nuclear power (236/245, 96%).

Traditional satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) often suffers from systematic optical path distortions due to the neglect of seafloor slope effects, leading to significant accuracy degradation in high-gradient coastal areas. This study proposes a Slope-Aware Physics-Informed Neural Network (SA-PINN) framework that synergistically utilizes ICESat-2 bathymetric photons and Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery. The core innovation involves a slope-aware operator, integrated into the radiative transfer-based physics loss function, which explicitly rectifies directional optical path deviations induced by seafloor inclination. By fusing physical mechanisms with data-driven features, the model utilizes a seven-dimensional feature space comprising four spectral bands, two directional slope components, and prior depth. Applications at Culebra, Maui, and Molokai demonstrate that SA-PINN significantly outperforms the Stumpf model, Random Forest, and standard CNNs, achieving root mean square errors (RMSE) of 1.36 m, 2.91 m, and 1.34 m, respectively. Ablation studies confirm that SA-PINN reduces RMSE by up to 37% compared to CNN in complex regions with slopes exceeding 10°, ensuring superior physical consistency and spatial continuity. This research provides a robust, in situ-free automated solution for high-resolution bathymetric mapping in remote and steep coastal environments globally.

Urban planners increasingly require high-resolution thermal comfort maps to prioritize heat adaptation, yet validating the necessary microclimate models against standard field instruments remains methodologically fraught. This study establishes an integrated measurement–modeling framework applied to a study area in Strasbourg, France. First, we evaluate the radiative physics of the LASER/F model against net radiometer measurements at a specific sub-canopy location and against incoming shortwave radiation pyranometer records across three instrumentation sites. Results demonstrate high accuracy for longwave fluxes (R2&gt;0.95) but reveal that simplified tree geometry leads to condition-dependent shortwave discrepancies. Second, we quantify the systematic divergence between Mean Radiant Temperature derived from black globe measurements and six-directional simulations across seven sites. We analyze how these inevitable discrepancies, stemming mainly from geometric mismatch, propagate into the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), resulting in (71.5–75.5%) diurnal exact categorical agreement. Finally, spatial application of the model uncovers a “masked risk”: while temporal averaging suggests that 100% of the district remains safe (mean UTCI &lt;32∘C), duration-based analysis reveals that 72.8% of surfaces actually experience critical heat stress for over a quarter of the period. To address these hidden exposure risks, we propose a “Combined Risk Score” (CRS) that integrates thermal intensity and critical exposure duration on an absolute, dataset-independent scale, with a sensitivity analysis demonstrating that spatial risk prioritization is invariant to the intensity–duration weighting choice at the operational threshold.

The objective of this paper is to examine the historical development and scholarly debate surrounding the linear no-threshold (LNT) model in radiation protection using bibliometric techniques. A cited reference analysis was conducted on 750 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS) was applied to identify citation peaks and seminal works. Conventional bibliometric indicators (top authors, affiliations, journals, and funding agencies) were also assessed. The United States accounted for over half of the publications, with Edward J. Calabrese identified as the most prolific author. Health Physics and Dose-Response were the leading journals. Exxon Mobil Corporation and US government agencies were the most frequent funding sources. RPYS revealed seven significant citation peaks (1956, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2015, 2017). Notable seminal works included the BEAR I Report (1956), BEIR VII Phase 2 Report (2006), and critiques by Calabrese (2015). Among the 10 most cited LNT publications, six were critical of the model. Foundational works such as Muller's 1927 study on radiation-induced mutations were also highlighted. Bibliometric analysis, particularly RPYS, effectively mapped the evolution of LNT scholarship, identifying influential works and illustrating the persistent divide between pro-LNT and anti-LNT perspectives. The findings underscore the role of citation context and funding sources in shaping scientific narratives.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in oral and maxillofacial radiology to comprehensively include all examination questions, to systematically analyse their topic distribution across years and examination periods, and to concurrently compare multiple contemporary large language models within a unified methodological framework. This study aimed to compare the accuracy performance of six different artificial intelligence (AI) systems based on large language models (LLMs) of questions asked in the field of oral and maxillofacial radiology in the Dental Specialization Examination (DSE) over the past 13 years, and to analyze the subject matter in detail. A total of 200 oral and maxillofacial radiology questions from the DSE held between 2012 and 2025 were included in the analysis. The questions were grouped according to their topics and divided into early-late periods (2012-2018 and 2019-2025) to observe changes over time. ChatGPT-5.2, ChatGPT-4.0, Gemini-3, Claude 4.5, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity AI were tested using the original question formats. The models' answers were evaluated against the official answer key. In addition, the questions were analyzed according to exam years and periods. In the early and late periods, ChatGPT-5.2 showed accuracy rates of 91.9% and 95.7%, respectively. This was followed by ChatGPT-4.0 (79.8% - 82.8%). Differences between the models were statistically significant across periods (p < 0.001). Oral diseases and oral pathology retained their importance in both early and late stages of oral health. Furthermore, while oral diseases and oral pathology were more frequently inquired about in the spring, advanced imaging techniques, radiation physics, and temporomandibular joint disorders were also included in the autumn surveys. ChatGPT-5.2 demonstrated the highest and most consistent accuracy among the evaluated models in DSE oral and maxillofacial radiology questions. In the field of oral and maxillofacial radiology, these model prototypes have the potential to generate new knowledge. Interest in oral diseases and pathology has remained important, while attention to jaw lesions and advanced imaging techniques has increased in recent years.

The &lt;i&gt;Japanese Journal of Health Physics&lt;/i&gt; has published many articles related to the 2011 accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Among them, as of March 2022, 40 articles in the field of environmental monitoring had been published. These articles cover a wide range of topics, including environmental radiation, radioactivity monitoring, and decontamination methods developed after the accident. The papers presented in this journal and reviewed in this article reflect the experiences of experts in radiation protection and radioecology, and they also serve as a record of the practical challenges faced at the time. Readers are encouraged to use this review as a gateway to the original articles.

This paper outlines the development of the specialist medical physicist role in Sweden. Since introducing certification in 1999, the need for advanced expertise in patient safety, technology, optimization, and regulation became evident. In response, the Swedish Medical Physicist Association and the Swedish Society for Radiation Physics launched a national specialist training program in 2004, further refined in 2010. The program includes registration, clear competency goals, and supervision requirements and is endorsed by most Swedish hospitals. Following the EU Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom, Sweden committed to establishing the Medical Physics Expert role, prompting a proposed legislative amendment mandating specialist training in radiotherapy, radiology and nuclear medicine, and MRI, as this area is highly specialized within the expertise of Swedish medical physicists. This paper is meant to inspire similar initiatives internationally.

Objectives. This study evaluated radiation protection knowledge among oral and dental healthcare professionals in Turkey, focusing on medical imaging technicians (MITs), dentists and dental assistants (DAs). Methods. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 236 participants using the validated Turkish version of the healthcare professional knowledge of radiation protection (Tr-HPKRP) scale. Knowledge was assessed across three domains: radiation physics and principles; radiation protection; and safe use of ionizing radiation. Mann–Whitney U tests and Kruskal–Wallis tests were applied for group comparisons. Results. MITs achieved significantly higher scores than dentists and DAs across all domains (p < 0.01). Structured education through academic programs or formal in-service training was positively associated with knowledge (p < 0.01), while reliance on informal sources such as media or colleagues showed no effect (p > 0.05). Professional experience was not correlated with knowledge (p > 0.05). Conclusions. Substantial knowledge gaps exist among dentists and DAs compared with MITs. Integrating standardized and regularly updated radiation safety training into undergraduate curricula and continuing professional development is essential to improve compliance with best practices and ensure patient and practitioner safety in dental diagnostic imaging.

Radiation physics and CBRNe Science as a new section of EPJ Plus

Radiation physics design of the new low emittance injector tunnel for LCLS-II-HE upgrade.

Arend van Roggen, editor in chief of the IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation (TDEI) for a quarter century from 1977 until 2001, passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at the age of 97 in Boxborough, Massachusetts. He was born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, on January 2, 1928. He earned his undergraduate degree in physics and chemistry and his “doctorandus” degree at the University of Leiden and moved to the United States in 1954 together with his wife, Lien. In 1956 he completed his PhD in physics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, with Professor Walter Gordy (1909–1985) and started his day job at E.I. du Pont de Nemours Inc. at their Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware—first in the Polychemicals Department dealing with EPR magnetic-resonance experiments, then in the Radiation Physics Department, and finally in Engineering Physics.

Abstract Noise is a crucial dynamic performance indicator for gearboxes. However, direct and precise measurement of actual vibration and noise during gearbox operation under complex working conditions is challenging and obtaining noise performance by directly measuring prototype samples during the design phase is cost-prohibitive. Traditional numerical analysis methods struggle to meet real-time measurement requirements. While emerging purely data-driven methods, due to their black-box nature, suffer from a lack of reliability and generalization. This paper introduces a revolutionary computational paradigm to overcome these limitations: the Physics-Informed Region-Aware Acoustic Predictor (PI-RAAP). The key innovation of PI-RAAP is a physically-motivated architecture that explicitly models the underlying physics of acoustic radiation. Within a dual-encoder design, a novel region-aware mechanism mathematically encodes the acoustic superposition principle. This structure enables the model to quantitatively attribute the contribution of each surface region and thus provides much improved interpretability. Furthermore, the governing Helmholtz equation is embedded in the loss function as a soft constraint, which helps to maintain physical consistency and improves generalization beyond the training data. A comprehensive numerical simulation pipeline is established and experimentally validated for generating the dataset. Results demonstrate that PI-RAAP achieves exceptional predictive accuracy, evidenced by an average Sound Pressure Level (SPL) error of just 0.702 dB, while accelerating prediction speeds by at least 3 orders of magnitude compared to conventional BEM. The proposed framework strongly promotes the in-depth application and widespread adoption of digital twin technology in the analysis and control of gearbox vibration and noise by accurately substituting actual measurement with real-time prediction.

THE HEALTH PHYSICS SOCIETY: An Affiliate of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA)