Measurements Of Radiation Research Articles

Sheltered from the heat? How tents and shade covers may unintentionally increase air temperature exposures to unsheltered communities

ObjectiveHeat vulnerability and homelessness are central public health concerns in cities globally, and public health implementation should address these two challenges in tandem to minimize preventable heat-related morbidity and mortality. Populations facing unsheltered homelessness use tents (or similar shelters) with shading features to minimize sun and heat exposure. This study evaluates the efficacy of different tent cover (shading) materials and how they moderate the in-tent air temperature (Tair) exposures of tent users during extreme summer conditions. Study designWithin-tent Tair monitoring using Kestrel Drop devices occurred across three full typical summer days in Phoenix, Arizona in July 2022. MethodsIn-tent Tair were statistically compared between six small side-by-side identical tents with different cover materials (control (no cover), mylar, white bedsheet, tarp, sunbrella fabric, aluminum foil), as well as with ambient Tair. ResultsUsing any tent resulted in higher daytime in-tent Tair than ambient Tair. Further, compared to a control tent, the Tair within tents shaded with sunbrella, tarp, and white bedsheet had significantly higher Tair at all times (2.36 °C, 2.46 °C, and 1.11 °C higher Tair, respectively), controlling for Tair and day/night. ConclusionAdding cover materials over tents may increase heat risk to an already vulnerable population at certain times of the day. Higher in-tent Tair is attributable to the reduced ability for heat and vapor to escape, largely due to reduced ventilation (mixing). Local authorities and welfare associations should reconsider using unventilated tents for shading and promote more widespread, ventilated tents and shade to ensure that prevention efforts do not further marginalize the most vulnerable. Future work should incorporate more comprehensive measurements of solar radiation to quantify overall heat stress for exposure reduction techniques.

Photoionization of Se2+ and S4+ ions using the screening constant per unit nuclear charge method

Photoionization of Se2+ and S4+ ions are studied in this paper. Accurate resonance energies and quantum defects of the 4s4p2 (3P2, 1D2) 4 s → 4s4p2(2D5/2)np, and 4s24p (3P1, 3P2,1D2) 4p → 4s24p(2P3/2)nd Rydberg transitions in Se2+ are reported. In addition precise energies and quantum defects belonging to the resonances arising from 2p → nd (1P1, 3D1) and 2p → ns (1P1, 3D1) excitations in ground state (1S0) S4+ and to the 1s22s22p63s2 1S0 → 1s22s2p63s2np 1P1 transitions in S4+are tabulated. Calculations are performed in the framework of the Screening constant per unit nuclear charge (SCUNC) method. The SCUNC semi-empirical formulas reproduce excellently the existing synchrotron radiation measurements on Se2+ [Esteves et al., 2015. Phys. Rev. A. 92, 063424]. Furthermore, the present results agree excellently with the synchrotron measurements and MCDF and R-matrix calculations on S4+ [Mosnier et al., 2022. Phys. Rev. A. 106, 033113]. The new SCUNC data tabulated up to n = 50 may be useful reference data suitable for incorporation into astrophysical modeling codes.

Earth System Model Aerosol–Cloud Diagnostics (ESMAC Diags) package, version 2: assessing aerosols, clouds, and aerosol–cloud interactions via field campaign and long-term observations

Abstract. Poor representations of aerosols, clouds, and aerosol–cloud interactions (ACIs) in Earth system models (ESMs) have long been the largest uncertainties in predicting global climate change. Huge efforts have been made to improve the representation of these processes in ESMs, and the key to these efforts is the evaluation of ESM simulations with observations. Most well-established ESM diagnostics packages focus on the climatological features; however, they lack process-level understanding and representations of aerosols, clouds, and ACIs. In this study, we developed the Earth System Model Aerosol–Cloud Diagnostics (ESMAC Diags) package to facilitate the routine evaluation of aerosols, clouds, and ACIs simulated the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) from the US Department of Energy (DOE). This paper documents its version 2 functionality (ESMAC Diags v2), which has substantial updates compared with version 1 (Tang et al., 2022a). The simulated aerosol and cloud properties have been extensively compared with in situ and remote-sensing measurements from aircraft, ship, surface, and satellite platforms in ESMAC Diags v2. It currently includes six field campaigns and two permanent sites covering four geographical regions: the eastern North Atlantic, the central US, the northeastern Pacific, and the Southern Ocean. These regions produce frequent liquid- or mixed-phase clouds, with extensive measurements available from the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility and other agencies. ESMAC Diags v2 generates various types of single-variable and multivariable diagnostics, including percentiles, histograms, joint histograms, and heatmaps, to evaluate the model representation of aerosols, clouds, and ACIs. Select examples highlighting the capabilities of ESMAC Diags are shown using E3SM version 2 (E3SMv2). In general, E3SMv2 can reasonably reproduce many observed aerosol and cloud properties, with biases in some variables such as aerosol particle and cloud droplet sizes and number concentrations. The coupling of aerosol and cloud number concentrations may be too strong in E3SMv2, possibly indicating a bias in processes that control aerosol activation. Furthermore, the liquid water path response to a perturbed cloud droplet number concentration behaves differently in E3SMv2 and observations, which warrants further study to improve the cloud microphysics parameterizations in E3SMv2.

Nd3+ doped oxide thermal probes based on luminescence intensity ratio within BW-II and excitation in BW-I

The Nd3+ have taken a central place in the field of nanothermometry thanks to the presence of several narrow Stark emission and is easily excited through the lasers commercially available. With the goal to boost the development of Nd3+-based nanothermometers, especially working with emissions into BW-II, the thermal response of different oxide matrices Y2O3, Y2Ge2O7, Y3Al5O12, YBO3, and Y3BO6 were evaluated considering emissions from the Nd3+ 4F3/2 → 4I11/2 transition, which falls into the BW-II. Interestingly, we observed these lines are more intense than those located in BW-I, which can enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore, the design of thermal probes emitting in BW-II showed to be an excellent strategy to provide more accurate thermal sensing as the scattering of the light by the tissues is reduced in BW-II. In light of this, we also maximized the luminescence intensity of the matrices by Nd3+ doping from 0.1 to 10 mol%. Furthermore, their structure and luminescence properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and radiative decay curve measurements. Additionally, exploring thermal response and luminescence emission optimization in several compounds offers enriched information support to design new high-level Nd3+-based thermal probes. Among Y2O3, Y2Ge2O7, Y3Al5O12 (YAG), YBO3, and Y3BO6 matrices studied, Y2O3 is the promising matrix to conduct thermal sensing due to exhibiting the highest Sr value around 0.4 %.K−1 in which 0.5 mol% Nd3+ is the deal doping to maximize its luminescence intensity.

Assessment of the ITER divertor bolometer diagnostic performance

The ITER bolometer diagnostic will provide measurements of the total radiation emitted from the plasma, a part of the overall energy balance. It will consist of some 550 lines of sight (LOS) of bolometer detector, bundled in multiple individual cameras, which will be located in the gaps between blanket modules on the vacuum vessel wall, in five divertor cassettes, in two upper port plugs and in one equatorial port plug (Meister et al., 2017). The LOS are optimised as much as possible with design constraints to capture the details of different plasma regions in which the intensity and local distribution of radiation will vary over a large range. This is especially true in the divertor, where up to 70 % of the total thermal exhaust power from the core will have to be radiated during burning plasma operation. This radiation will be tightly concentrated meaning that not only will tomographic reconstruction of the distribution be challenging, but the bolometer cameras themselves need to be properly designed to handle the resulting heat fluxes. This paper first presents an assessment of the photonic heat fluxes falling on bolometers in the divertor region during high performance operation (where the heat fluxes will be highest). These heat fluxes are computed using ray-tracing from radiation distributions obtained with the SOLPS (plasma boundary region) and JINTRAC (plasma core region) codes and will serve as essential input to the thermal design studies of bolometers. The same SOLPS and JINTRAC simulations are used as models for the second focus of the paper which examines how closely the radiation distribution obtained from tomographic inversion of synthetic signals from the bolometer LOS matches the model input. Some effort has also been devoted to a study of how the reconstructions are affected by loss of individual LOS.

Niepewność pomiarów średniej temperatury promieniowania za pomocą termometrów kulistych = Uncertainty of mean radiant-temperature measurements using globe thermometers

In the analysis of the human heat balance, the biggest problem is to precisely determine the amount of energy absorbed by a human organism under dynamically changing solar conditions and while being surrounded by many different surfaces that can absorb, emit or reflect solar radiation in different ways. Therefore, in thermal comfort studies some simplifications of the radiation field around human body are necessary and thus the concept of mean radiant temperature (Mrt) is most often used. Mrt values can be derived either from direct instrumental measurements or calculated by one of the microclimate models. The most accurate way to determine the Tmrt outdoors is by integral radiation measurements and the calculation of angular factors (i.e. the proportion of radiation received by the human body from different directions). This method involves simultaneous measurements of long- and short-wave radiation flux densities in six directions, which requires three sets of net radiometers. Although this method of Mrt determination describes the radiation environment accurately and independently of the variable wind field, it requires the use of expensive and complex measurement devices. Cheap and easy to operate alternative offers globe thermometer. In steady state conditions, readings from the air temperature sensor inside the globe thermometer (tg) will reflect the convective and radiative heat exchange around the globe thermometer. Knowing tg, as well as globe emissivity and diameter, the Mrt may be calculated. In this research three different globe thermometers were used to determine Mrt: 15-cm standard globe thermometer (SGT) and two 4-cm custom made acrylic globe thermometers (AGT) painted in black and grey. The measurements were conducted in the summer in Warsaw, on two selected green areas, under sunny and warm weather conditions. In each location Mrt measurements were taken in two spots – in the shade of trees and in the open grassy spaces, with high SVF. Our results demonstrate, that globe thermometers, although being relatively cheap and less complex instruments for determining Mrt, can be used to a limited extend, due to high instability of their indications under significant radiative loads.

Radiation Protection of a 3D Computer Tomography Scanning Workplace for Logs-A Case Study.

Despite its undeniable advantages, the operation of a CT scanner also carries risks to human health. The CT scanner is a source of ionizing radiation, which also affects people in its surroundings. The aim of this paper is to quantify the radiation exposure of workers at a 3D CT wood scanning workplace and to determine a monitoring program based on measurements of ionizing radiation levels during the operation of a CT log scanner. The workplace is located in the Biotechnology Park of the National Forestry Centre. The ionizing radiation source is located in a protective cabin as a MICROTEC 3D CT machine with an X-ray lamp as X-ray source. The CT scanner is part of the 3D CT scanning line and its function is continuous quality scanning or detection of internal defects of the examined wood. The measurement of leakage radiation during scanning is performed with a metrologically verified meter. The measured quantity is the ambient dose equivalent rate H˙*10. The results of the measurements at the selected measurement sites have shown that, after installation of additional safety barriers, the CT scanner for the logs complies with the most strict criteria in terms of radiation protection. Workers present at the workplace during the operation of the CT scanner are not exposed to radiation higher than the background radiation level.

Measurement of Radiation Exposure of Hands and Fingers of Nuclear Medicine Personnel Using Innovative Low-Cost GM Based System

Pocket dosimeters are used commonly in Nuclear Medicine or radiology workers for daily dose measurement or during certain high radiation exposure procedures for short periods of time. These are expensive and have many maintenance costs. It may not be feasible to procure many at a time due to cost restraints. We designed a low cost remote dose monitoring device for measurement of radiation for short periods of time. Measuring device was constructed using micro Geiger Muller Counter. The micro-Geiger Counter with model no SBM21 was connected to high voltage circuit and the output signal was obtained. After this, output signal was sent it to Arduino circuit running custom code ESP8266 and readings was made on the mobile/ laptop application after connecting to Arduino circuit running custom code ESP8266 via internet. Readings were taken for short durations during certain periods. Readings were compared to the standard measuring instrument simultaneously. The tube was connected to their hands for hand exposure with a wire. Readings were recorded in the form of μSv/h or mSv/h. RESULT: Total readings were taken during various occasions while preparing (59) and dispensing (45) radioisotopes. During preparation of radiopharmaceuticals, average readings for 99mTc-Sestamibi[16 SAMPLE] (100mCi to 250mCi), 99mTc-MDP [21SAMPLE] (150-200mCi) and 99mTc-DTPA [22SAMPLES] (10-20mCi) were 1115 μSv/h, 3083 μSv/h and 453 μSv/h respectively. During dispensing of radiopharmaceuticals, average readings of total 15 sample each for 99mTc-Sestamibi (100mCi to 250mCi), 99mTc-MDP (150-200mCi) and 99mTc-DTPA (10-20mCi) were 351μSv/h, 209 μSv/h and 235 μSv/h respectively. It was feasible for the worker to fit the measuring device in their pocket while working. Conclusion: Our pilot study revealed accurate readings >95% of the times for short periods of time. Study designing, standardization of readings with more real time accuracy can make this method more reliable and is a low cost means to monitor short periods of radiation exposure for radiation workers.

Multiplicity counting using organic scintillators to distinguish neutron sources: An advanced teaching laboratory

In this advanced instructional laboratory, students explore complex detection systems and nondestructive assay techniques used in the field of nuclear physics. After setting up and calibrating a neutron detection system, students carry out timing and energy deposition analyses of radiation signals. Through the timing of prompt fission neutron signals, multiplicity counting is used to carry out a special nuclear material (SNM) nondestructive assay. Our experimental setup is comprised of eight trans-stilbene organic scintillation detectors in a well-counter configuration, and measurements are taken on a spontaneous fission source as well as two (α,n) sources. By comparing each source's measured multiplicity distribution, the resulting measurements of the (α,n) sources can be distinguished from that of the spontaneous fission source. Such comparisons prevent the spoofing, i.e., intentional imitation, of a fission source by an (α,n) neutron source. This instructional laboratory is designed for nuclear engineering and physics students interested in organic scintillators, neutron sources, and nonproliferation radiation measurement techniques.

Preface

IC3DDose 2022 - 12th International Conference on 3D and Advanced Dosimetry The 12th IC3DDose conference on advanced radiation dosimetry was held in person in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada from June 20 to 23, 2022. The meeting was scheduled back-to-back with the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists’ (COMP) annual scientific meeting, offering unique opportunities for scientific knowledge sharing and extensive networking. It was a refreshing restart for the IC3DDose community after the cancelled meeting in 2020 and a reduced scope virtual meeting in 2021.A total of 71 participants from 11 countries met for 3.5 days in a mix of refresher/review sessions and proffered presentations covering state-of-the-art dosimetry encompassing all major dosimetry techniques used for standard external beam and brachytherapy. Presenters also covered advanced applications addressing the challenges of radiation measurement in small field, MR-Linac, microbeam and FLASH dosimetry. A total of 14 invited presentations and 25 contributed talks were given the at meeting including papers in a Rising Star Competition and in a single hybrid session with virtual participants from Australia, China and Japan. The associated papers presented in these proceedings add to an already extensive collection of 118 review and 574 proffered papers in 9 previous volumes of the Journal of Physics Conference Series from the past conferences.A feature for this year’s meeting was that all contributed speakers on a given day were asked to mount their presentation slides on poster boards for a dedicated closing discussion session entitled “Meet the speakers of the day”. This allowed attendees to engaged in deeper discussions, beyond the question periods at the end of their talks. The daily sessions reinforced the IC3DDose philosophy to foster strong mingling of all participants, from trainees to more experienced attendees. A keynote address and the final morning of sessions were open to COMP registrants also. This made the topics of the IC3DDose meeting available to a much wider audience.The meeting was a great success and the attendees developed new expertise and new networks through the many interactions over the meeting’s four days. Colleagues from Aarhus Denmark announced at the end of the meeting that they will now undertake to organize a 13th meeting in 2024.The local organizing committee sincerely thanks the sponsors for our meeting: Elekta and Varian as bronze sponsor and MedScint in the start-up category. We further acknowledge support from COMP, l’ Association Québécoise des Physicien(ne)s Médicaux Cliniques, l’ Université Laval and CRCHU de Quebec-Université Laval.Louis Archambault, Luc Beaulieu and L. John Schreiner(for the organizing and scientific committee)List of International Scientific Committee, Local Organizing Committee, Detailed Program of the 12th International Conference on 3D and Advanced Dosimetry (IC3Ddose) June 2022, Château Frontenac, Quebec City, Contents, About, A Warm Thank You to our Sponsors, at a Glance, Day 1 – June, Day 2 – Day 3 – June 22nd, Day 4 –, a Warm Thank You to our Sponsors are available in this pdf.

Considerations for MR-linac bunker shielding design

Purpose. To show the considerations followed for MR-linac in shielding design for the first MR-linac in Mexico following the national clinical necessities. Method. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) 151 recommendations were followed for the shielding design for primary and secondary barriers and the door design. The calculations were made considering the clinical demands in the country, that is, intensity modulated (IMRT) and 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DC-RT) in 80%–20% proportion. Results. The values obtained in the level survey fully comply with the limits established by the national regulatory authority and with those recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for public and occupational exposures. Conclusion. It is remarkable that the workload may increase or that the doses per patient may increase considering occupancy factors, which would allow the introduction of hypofractionated techniques with the same number of patients considered in this work without the need to make modifications in the bunker design.

Measurement of Mechanical Behavior of 11B-Enriched MgB2 Wire Using a Pulsed Neutron Source

MgB2 represents a hexagonal superconductive material renowned for its straightforward composition, which has facilitated the development of cost-effective practical wires. Its capacity to function at temperatures as low as liquid hydrogen (LH2) has made it a prominent candidate as wire material for the coils of next-generation fusion reactors. Much like other superconducting wires, a prevalent issue arises when these wires are employed in coils, wherein electromagnetic forces induce tensile stress and strain within the wire. This, in turn, diminishes the critical current, which is the maximum current capable of flowing within the generated magnetic field and strain. The techniques and methods for accurately measuring the actual strain on the filaments are of paramount importance. While strain measurements have been conducted with synchrotron radiation and neutrons for other practical wires in the past, no such measurements have been undertaken for MgB2. Presumably, this lack of measurement is attributed to its relatively greater thickness, making it less suitable for synchrotron radiation measurements. Additionally, the high absorption cross-section of the included boron-10 poses challenges in obtaining elastic scattering data for neutron measurements. In response, we fabricated a wire enriched with boron-11, an isotope with a smaller neutron absorption cross-section. We then embarked on the endeavor to measure its strain under tensile loading using pulsed neutrons. Consequently, we succeeded in obtaining changes in the lattice constant under tensile loading through Rietveld analysis. This marks the inaugural instance of strain measurement on an MgB2 filament, signifying a significant milestone in superconductivity research.

Assessment of secondary radiation dose in radiology departments

BackgroundIn hospitals and clinics, medical imaging using ionizing radiation is one of the most essential and powerful diagnostic techniques that exposes patients, workers, and the general population to radiation through primary and secondary radiation. Thus, routine leakage testing of X-ray tubes and scattered radiation testing are important in ensuring the absence of leakage and scattered radiation. Materials and methodsThis investigation conducted background and secondary radiation exposure assessments of 17 X-ray units in the radiology departments of three selected major public hospitals. The weekly dose in both controlled and uncontrolled areas was measured using a Ludlum Model 9DP-1 ionization chamber dosimeter and expressed in μSv/h. Resultsand Discussion: The highest dose was recorded in the controlled area of the CT scan room in Hospital A, where the mean dose rate was 12.16 μSv/h (in the control door) and 8.38 μSv/h (in the main door). The dose rates in these areas were approximately ten times higher than those measured in corridors. Generally, the measurement results showed that the scattered radiation doses in the controlled and uncontrolled areas of the radiology units were within the permissible limits set in the National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements Report No. 147. This finding may be attributed to the distance between these locations and the X-ray sources, and the lead lining of the area. ConclusionThe secondary radiation levels in the assessed diagnostic rooms were within the reference exposure level for the public and workers, indicating that appropriate barriers (doors and walls) had been installed in the investigated hospitals.

Evaluation of liquid cloud albedo susceptibility in E3SM using coupled eastern North Atlantic surface and satellite retrievals

Abstract. The impact of aerosol number concentration on cloud albedo is a persistent source of spread in global climate predictions due to multi-scale, interactive atmospheric processes that remain difficult to quantify. We use 5 years of geostationary satellite and surface retrievals at the US Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) eastern North Atlantic (ENA) site in the Azores to evaluate the representation of liquid cloud albedo susceptibility for overcast cloud scenes in the DOE Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 1 (E3SMv1) and provide possible reasons for model–observation discrepancies. The overall distribution of surface 0.2 % CCN concentration values is reasonably simulated, but simulated liquid water path (LWP) is lower than observed and layer mean droplet concentration (Nd) comparisons are highly variable depending on the Nd retrieval technique. E3SMv1's cloud albedo is greater than observed for given LWP and Nd values due to a lower cloud effective radius than observed. However, the simulated albedo response to Nd is suppressed due to a correlation between the solar zenith angle (SZA) and Nd created by the seasonal cycle that is not observed. Controlling for this effect by examining the cloud optical depth (COD) shows that E3SMv1's COD response to CCN concentration is greater than observed. For surface-based retrievals, this is only true after controlling for cloud adiabaticity because E3SMv1's adiabaticities are much lower than observed. Assuming a constant adiabaticity in surface retrievals as done in top-of-atmosphere (TOA) retrievals narrows the retrieved ln Nd distribution, which increases the cloud albedo sensitivity to ln Nd to match the TOA sensitivity. The greater sensitivity of COD to CCN is caused by a greater Twomey effect in which the sensitivity of Nd to CCN is greater than observed for TOA-retrieved Nd, and once model–observation cloud adiabaticity differences are removed, this is also true for surface-retrieved Nd. The LWP response to Nd in E3SMv1 is overall negative as observed. Despite reproducing the observed LWP–Nd relationship, observed clouds become much more adiabatic as Nd increases, while E3SMv1 clouds do not, associated with more heavily precipitating clouds that are partially but not completely caused by deeper clouds and weaker inversions in E3SMv1. These cloud property differences indicate that the negative LWP–Nd relationship is likely not caused by the same mechanisms in E3SMv1 and observations. The negative simulated LWP response also fails to mute the excessively strong Twomey effect, highlighting potentially important confounding factor effects that likely render the LWP–Nd relationship non-causal. Nd retrieval scales and assumptions, particularly related to cloud adiabaticity, contribute to substantial spreads in the model–observation comparisons, though enough consistency exists to suggest that aerosol activation, drizzle, and entrainment processes are critical areas to focus E3SMv1 development for improving the fidelity of aerosol–cloud interactions in E3SM.

Machine Learning Downscaling of SoilMERGE in the United States Southern Great Plains

SoilMERGE (SMERGE) is a root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) product that covers the entire continental United States and spans 1978 to 2019. Machine learning techniques, Random Forest (RF), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Gradient Boost (GBoost) downscaled SMERGE to spatial resolutions straddling the field scale domain (100 to 3000 m). Study area was northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas. The coarse resolution of SMERGE (0.125 degree) limits this product’s utility. To validate downscaled results in situ data from four sources were used that included: United States Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) observatory, United States Climate Reference Network (USCRN), Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN), and Soil moisture Sensing Controller and oPtimal Estimator (SoilSCAPE). In addition, RZSM retrievals from NASA’s Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Surface (AirMOSS) campaign provided a nearly spatially continuous comparison. Three periods were examined: era 1 (2016 to 2019), era 2 (2012 to 2015), and era 3 (2003 to 2007). During eras 1 and 2, RF outperformed XGBoost and GBoost, whereas during era 3 no model dominated. Performance was better during eras 1 and 2 as opposed to the pre-L band era 3. Improvements across all eras, regions, and models realized from downscaling included an increase in correlation from 0.03 to 0.42 and a decrease in ubRMSE from −0.0005 to −0.0118 m3/m3. This study demonstrates the feasibility of SMERGE downscaling opening the prospect for the development of a long-term RZSM dataset at a more desirable field-scale resolution with the potential to support diverse hydrometeorological and agricultural applications.

Smart City and the digital measurement of solar ultraviolet radiation in Outdoor workers in the City of Lisbon

Abstract The growing incidence of skin cancer over the years has made it a significant public health problem. However, technology can be used to tackle the skin cancer which is highly preventable, mainly through reduced exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Digital services can be used to promote individual and collective protective measures and interventions. Specifically, there is an opportunity when the exposure is intermittent or continuous, and occurs in an occupational or leisure setting. We are using a digital platform to contribute to raising public and policy awareness on solar UVR-inflicted occupational skin cancers in the municipality of Lisbon. The digital platform is performing direct measurements of the solar UVR dose received by outdoor workers. Results will likely contribute to further understanding the risk estimates for keratinocyte cancer estimations in this population. The digital platform integrates a personal electronic dosimeter (GENESIS-UV system) to assess occupational solar UVR doses of gardeners, masons, and gravediggers of the municipality of Lisbon. Two hundred and ten outdoor workers were selected to wear the dosimeter for 1 month each, between April and October during their daily working hours. The digital platform that offers private access to information through dashboard visualization provided information for the outdoor workers and facilitate communication with the participants. Study data provides the outdoor workers with information on their personal solar UVR exposure during their working hours and an estimate of their risk of developing skin cancer. The results prospectively should flow into the design of adequate prevention campaigns for skin cancer in outdoor workers.

CLIM: Co-occurrence with Laplacian Intensity Modulation and Enhanced Color Space Transform for Infrared-Visible Image Fusion

Thermal infrared and multispectral visible remote sensing image fusion combines thermal image information with corresponding visible scene content to generate a better representative fused image. Thermal images can distinguish targets using difference in thermal radiation measurements, whereas visible images contain better texture detail in multispectral wavelength bands. The article presents a novel methodology named CLIM to sharpen coarser spatial resolution multispectral remote sensing images using relatively higher spatial resolution broadband thermal infrared image. The boundary-preserving information is extracted from high resolution thermal infrared image using co-occurrence image filter, and is combined with Laplacian of Gaussian based sharpened image to extract salient features for injection. In addition, visible image is transformed to IHS color space, and intensity component is enhanced using CLAHE and inverse transformation to generate enhanced visible image for fusion. The procedure developed is evaluated with Indian Nano Satellite (INS) broadband thermal infrared images available at a spatial resolution of 175 m with same day acquisition MODIS multispectral visible images available at a relatively coarser spatial resolution of 500 m. The nearest acquisition of Landsat-8 thermal infrared images with MODIS multispectral visible images is also used for infrared–visible multi-modal image fusion. The CLIM fused image confirms that distinct features such as dam, ship docking zones and refinery regions, are better demarked and semantically more meaningful in comparison with individual thermal infrared and multispectral visible image. The proposed CLIM approach is compared with, and found to perform better than state-of-the-art image fusion techniques, both visually and quantitatively.

DEVELOPMENT OF BACKPROPAGATION ALGORITHM FOR ESTIMATING SOLAR RADIATION: A CASE STUDY IN TURKEY

Solar energy has an important role in achieving the objective of replacing fossil fuels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions with significant potential. Engineers, architects, and farmers require accurate information about solar radiation in order to develop solar energy systems. It is a common practice for meteorological services around the world to measure the duration of sunshine and air temperature. Despite this, worldwide measurements of solar radiation are extremely rare and some information is lacking. It becomes vitally critical to estimate solar radiation at sites that have not own station. In the literature, a variety of models have been developed to estimate solar radiation. The artificial neural network (ANN) model is commonly used for the estimation of global solar radiation. In this study, a backpropagation algorithm for throughout the year is generated to estimate global solar radiation in Adana by using the meteorological data obtained from Turkish State Meteorological Services. ANN model was developed by using the data for 2014, 2015, and 2016 years with the MATLAB program. The data for 2017 is used for testing the model. A comparison between the developed model and real data is performed depending on the R2 value. As a result of the study, the R2 obtained by training the data was calculated as 0.9019. The R2 value derived from test data was calculated as 0.7277. In light of these results, it can be said that the estimation study was satisfactory.

Measurements in pulsed neutron fields.

Dosimetry in pulsed and mixed radiation fields represents an important challenge in radiation measurements, because in several accelerator technologies, the acceleration occurs in bunches of particles with short time duration, producing intense radiation pulses spaced by a relatively long time of beam off. The stray mixed radiation field generated around these installations maintains the same time structure as the primary beam and causes a problem in workplace fields' monitoring. Active neutron detectors normally used in steady neutron fields, specifically REM-counters and Bonner sphere spectrometers, can suffer pulsed fields because of the high dead time losses during the bursts and are often inadequate for pulsed field monitoring. This work reviews the efforts of European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS), and in particular of the Working Group 11 'High Energy Radiation Fields', to define the problem, characterize instrumentation and to propose solutions to the issue of pulsed and mixed radiation fields. Despite the EURADOS initiative, several open issues still remain. A metrological traceability for pulsed neutron fields is missing. There is still room for the optimization and better characterization of available instruments. Initiatives of education and training are required.

EURADOS project on the impact of the proposed ICRU operational dose quantities.

Following the publication of the joint The International Commissions on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) and on Radiological Protection (ICRP) report on new operational quantities for radiation protection, the European Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) have carried out an initial evaluation. The EURADOS report analyses the impact that the new quantities will have on: radiation protection practice; calibration and reference fields; European and national regulation; international standards and, especially, dosemeter and instrument design. The task group included experienced scientists drawn from across the various EURADOS working groups.