Radiological Engineering Research Articles

CHERNE: prehistory and early days of the network

ABSTRACTWhile the founding members of CHERNE gradually retire, the memory of the early steps of the network should not be lost. CHERNE (‘Cooperation for Higher Education on Radiological and Nuclear Engineering’) is the product of a specific Erasmus activity possible in the early 2000s: the intensive programmes (IP). The first step was a collaboration of three partners (Czech Technical University CTU, Institut Supérieur Industriel de Bruxelles ISIB, Universitat Politècnica de València UPV) organising in 2002 the 3-year IP ‘PAN: Practical Approach to Nuclear techniques’, soon integrating two other partners (Aachen University of Applied Science AcUAS, XIOS Hogeschool Limburg). A second IP ‘SPERANSA: Stimulating Practical Expertise in RAdiation and Nuclear SAfety’ was first organised without Erasmus support in 2005. A workshop was held in 2005 at UPV, including colleagues from other universities. Its main goal was to put in contact professors and researchers from European Institutions in order to share experiences in education and research in Radiation Protection and Nuclear Engineering. The creation of an informal group of universities to develop activities for the benefit of students was discussed. With the addition of Università degli Studi di Bologna (UniBo) to the initial group, the CHERNE network was created. It attracted rapidly more members (6 adhesions in 2006). CHERNE was conceived as a non-formal wide-scope open network, easily integrating new members, offering affordable activities to the students and mostly relying on Erasmus subsidies. The main goal was still the organisation of Erasmus IP’s based on practical activities, benefitting of the access to big experimental facilities offered by several partners, like reactors, accelerators, or a radiochemical laboratory. SPERANSA was organised from 2006 to 2008, ‘JUNCSS: JÜlich Nuclear Chemistry Summer School’ from 2007 to 2011 and ‘RAPIX-NOCOS: Radiation protection in non-conventional sectors’ in 2007 and 2008 without Erasmus support. The annual workshops triggered exchanges between partners and attracted more institutions. The first workshops saw intense discussions about the network organisation and the types of activities that could be organised. A kind of maturity was reached from 2008.

Meeting the Needs of the Nation for Radiation Protection: Summary of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.

The 52nd Annual Meeting of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) was held in Bethesda, MD, 11-12 April 2016, on the topic of "Meeting National Needs for Radiation Protection." This meeting was an outgrowth of the NCRP initiative "Where are the Radiation Professionals?" (WARP), which addresses looming shortages in professional personnel trained in the radiological disciplines, including but not limited to health physics, radiological engineering, radiobiology, radiochemistry, radioecology, radiation emergency response; and the medical disciplines of diagnostic and interventional radiology, radiation oncology, nuclear medicine, and medical physics. A shortage of radiation professionals has been predicted for at least 20 y but now seems to be imminent. Obviously radiation professionals are needed for regulatory responsibilities at both state and federal levels, national defense, energy production, waste management, industrial applications, education, and medicine. Although the supply of radiation professionals in medicine appears to be adequate for the next decade or so, the use of radiation in medical diagnosis and therapy will continue to increase with the aging of the general population.

STEM Leader From the Roeper School: An Interview With Nuclear Engineer Clair J. Sullivan

Clair J. Sullivan is an assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC). Her research interests includ...

Magnetic Bacterial Nanocellulose for neurovascular reconstruction in cerebral aneurysm treatment applications

Event Abstract Back to Event Magnetic Bacterial Nanocellulose for neurovascular reconstruction in cerebral aneurysm treatment applications Sandra L Arias1, 2*, Akshath Shetty2, 3, Angana Senpan2, Monica Echeverry-Rendon4 and Jean Paul Allain2, 3 1 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Bioengineering, United States 2 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, United States 3 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, United States 4 University of Antioquia, Department of Materials Engineering, Colombia Introduction: Cerebral aneurysms are abnormal blood pockets that form outside of the arterial wall in the brain. The main obstacle in aneurysmal neuroendovascular reconstruction approaches is the delayed closure of the aneurysm due to poor cell retention[1]. We hypothesized that a magnetic bacterial nanocellulose (MBNC) can improve local cell retention at the site of the aneurysmal neck defect via focal magnetic attractive forces. Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a natural hydrogel produced by A. Xylinum, which has high mechanical properties (114 GPa for a single filament of BNC)[2], and is biocompatible[3]. To test the feasibility of our approach, we precipitated iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) in BNC pellicles to yield a magnetic hydrogel, and characterized the resulting material via XPS, SEM and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). We additionally introduced cell adhesion sites (collagen) on the MBNC via 1-cyano-4-dimethylaminopyridinium tetrafluoroborate (CDAP) activation of the cellulose fibrils. A cytotoxicity test based on intracellular esterase activity was used to test the biocompatibility of the MBNC pellicles. Materials and Methods: Magnetic functionalization: The MBNC was prepared by in-situ precipitation of Fe2+ and Fe3+ ferrous ions in never-dried BNC[4]. Collagen bio-conjugation: 100 ul of CDAP solution was added on top of BNC and MBNC pellicles and allow to react for 1 min. Subsequently, 0.1 N of HCl was added per sample to stop the activation. The pellicles were washed with PBS and 200 ul of collagen was added on top per sample. The biocompatibility of the samples was tested via calcein/ethidium homodiamer-1 to mark healthy and apoptotic human smooth muscle cells (HSMCs) respectively. MBNC characterization: XPS was employed to reveal the chemical composition both of MBNC and collagen-bioconjugated MBNC pellicles. Magnetic strength via VSM was used to measure the magnetic strength of the MBNC. SEM was used to examine the morphology of the MBNC. Results and Discussion: Fig. 1A shows the set-up used in the fabrication of MBNC. The BNC acquires a black color after incorporation of IONPs, which are dispersed along the BNC fibers or forming aggregates (Fig. 1B-D). Compared with the XPS of BNC (Fig. 2), the spectrum of MBNC shows a significant new signal at a binding energy (BE) of 722 and 709 eV, which is the characteristic peak of Fe 2p1/2 and Fe 2p3/2. The XPS on collagen-conjugated MBNC resulted on the detection of nitrogen, which can be interpreted as an indirect measure of the protein content. Fig. 3 shows the esterase activity measured via calcein (green) of HSMCs culture on MBNC for 24 hours. Both samples show a high HSMC viability and confluence, indicanting that the MBNC and collagen-bioconjugated MBNC did not have negative detrimental effects on HSMCs under these experimental conditions. . The VSM plot of MBNC provide evidence that IONPS are superparamagnetic at room temperature. Conclusion: Our results show that we successfully incorporated Fe3O4 nanoparticles and cell-adhesion sites on the BNC. The VSM data showed that MBNC had a magnetic saturation of (0.054), which is above of the value considered to have satisfactory magnetic strength for tissue engineering purposes (0.049 emu/g). This work was funded by Department of Defense under contract No. W81XWH-11-2-0067

2014 Founders Award Memorialization--James E. Turner.

Department of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering Nuclear Science Center University of Florida Gainesville, FL [email protected] The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Radiation shielding competence of silicate and borate heavy metal oxide glasses: Comparative study

Gamma-ray shielding competence of silicate and borate heavy metal oxide glasses has been investigated using linear attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers and exposure buildup factors (EBF). The gamma-ray EBF were computed using the Geometric Progression (G-P) fitting method for photon energies from 0.015 to 15MeV, and for penetration depths up to 40 mean free paths (mfps). The macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutron has been calculated for energy range from 2 to 12MeV. It is found that bismuth silicate glass has superior shielding properties and is suitable for replacement of lead glasses. The present investigation is very useful for gamma-ray and neutron shielding and design for lead-free shielding glass in radiological engineering.

TRAINING SOFTWARE USING VIRTUAL-REALITY TECHNOLOGY AND PRE-CALCULATED EFFECTIVE DOSE DATA

This paper describes the development of a software package, called VR Dose Simulator, which aims to provide interactive radiation safety and ALARA training to radiation workers using virtual-reality (VR) simulations. Combined with a pre-calculated effective dose equivalent (EDE) database, a virtual radiation environment was constructed in VR authoring software, EON Studio, using 3-D models of a real nuclear power plant building. Models of avatars representing two workers were adopted with arms and legs of the avatar being controlled in the software to simulate walking and other postures. Collision detection algorithms were developed for various parts of the 3-D power plant building and avatars to confine the avatars to certain regions of the virtual environment. Ten different camera viewpoints were assigned to conveniently cover the entire virtual scenery in different viewing angles. A user can control the avatar to carry out radiological engineering tasks using two modes of avatar navigation. A user can also specify two types of radiation source: Cs and Co. The location of the avatar inside the virtual environment during the course of the avatar's movement is linked to the EDE database. The accumulative dose is calculated and displayed on the screen in real-time. Based on the final accumulated dose and the completion status of all virtual tasks, a score is given to evaluate the performance of the user. The paper concludes that VR-based simulation technologies are interactive and engaging, thus potentially useful in improving the quality of radiation safety training. The paper also summarizes several challenges: more streamlined data conversion, realistic avatar movement and posture, more intuitive implementation of the data communication between EON Studio and VB.NET, and more versatile utilization of EDE data such as a source near the body, etc., all of which needs to be addressed in future efforts to develop this type of software.

Enhancement of a subcritical experimental facility via MCNP simulations

At the University of Cincinnati Nuclear and Radiological Engineering Program, a once moth-balled vintage subcritical reactor facility was reassembled to provide a practical laboratory experience for students in nuclear science. The relative simplicity and accessibility of this facility are some of its most desirable features. Recent work had led to supplementing the experimental aspects of this facility with a three-dimensional, full detail, MCNP model of this reactor. This article emphasizes the latest validations of this simulation model against the most recently available laboratory measurements of neutron flux distributions and subcritical neutron multiplication factors, while illustrating a unique feature of this facility which enables experimentalists to carry out step by step measurements, and the corresponding simulations, while the core is being loaded and unloaded. Furthermore, additional simulations are herein included to evaluate the impact of different moderator and reflector arrangements upon core reactivity, including a few combinations of heavy water and/or beryllium, primarily as a venue for researchers to begin studying potential upgrades or changes to the current design.

Speedup of Particle Transport Problems with a Beowulf Cluster

The MCNP code is a general Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport program that is widely used in health physics, medical physics and nuclear engineering for problems involving neutron, photon and electron transport[1]. However, due to the stochastic nature of the algorithms employed to solve the Boltzmann transport equation, MCNP generally exhibits a slow rate of convergence. In fact, engineers and scientists can quickly identify intractable versions of their most challenging and CPU-intensive problems. For example, despite the latest advancements in personal computers (PCs) and quantum leaps in their computational capabilities, an ordinary electron transport problem could require up to several CPU-days or even CPU-weeks on a typical desktop PC of today. One common contemporary approach to help address these performance limitations is by taking advantage of parallel processing. In fact, the very nature of the Monte Carlo approach embedded within MCNP is inherently parallel because, at least in principle, every particle history can potentially be tracked individually in an independent processor. In practice, however, there are many issues that must be confronted to achieve a reasonable level of parallelization. First, of course, a suitable parallel computing platform is required. Next, the computer program itself should exploit parallelism from within by combining such tools as Fortran-90 and PVM, for example. This article describes the installation and performance testing of the latest release of MCNP, Version 5 (MCNP5), compiled with PGI Fortran-90 and with PVM on a recently assembled 22-node Beowulf cluster that is now a dedicated platform for the faculty and students of the University of Cincinnati’s Nuclear and Radiological Engineering (UCNRE) Program. The performance of a neutron transport problem and that of a more challenging gamma-electron (coupled) problem are both highlighted. The results show that the PVM-compiled MCNP5 version with 20 tasks can execute roughly 12 times faster than the sequential version of the tested neutron transport problem, whereas another increasingly challenging gamma-electron (coupled) dose problem executed nearly 18 times faster than its serial counterpart, this performance on 20 processors is an impressive result relative to a linear (ideal) speedup.

Webb S: Contemporary IMRT: Developing Physics and ClinicalImplementation. Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering

IMRT is Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy: Irradiating from several directions repeatedly targets a tumor, but less its surroundings, due to differing projections; yet minimising such collateral damage may be cost-controversial. Beams are modulated by retarding compensators and perimeter-blocking collimators. Radiotherapy retards mitosis, especially G2, but responce is tissue-specific, hampered by the likes of tumor hypoxia. X-rays result when an electron beam hits a target, but in therapy, electrons are previously electromagnetically accelerated so resulting X-rays are quite stronger. Despite improved calculation and control, nonintegration remains: Technology mismanagement frequently occurs when rogue specialties treat others as superfluous; yet the more technical and nimble a field, the greater need for cross-disciplinary clarity and integration (eg p. 379). Tradeoffs between nimbleness and safety are political moving targets. Avowedly the least mathematical, but also least focused (in any order, p.xv), of four, this tome surveys developments, more like a managerial update. Curiously the author spawned separate titles instead of revising, expanding editions: Multibook fatigue has lapsed author into shamanistic jargon and acronyms; yet such superfluous obfuscation bears significant blame for modern medical errors. The final sixth of this tome is a rich collection of references. This, or any precursor, nicely rounds off a two semester radiological engineering course with Cember's health physics[1], Faiz Khan's radiotherapy[2], Kak & Slaney's tomography[3], and Pham & Dimov's rapid manufacturing [4] texts, preceeded by thorough reexcercising of Schaum's laGrangian mechanics [5]. In the second chapter on rotation IMRT and tomotherapy, pseudo structures flagged for dose minimisation are especially interesting. The third chapter discusses multileaf collimators (MLC) and sequencers (leaf moving algorithms, aka, curiously, interpreters) in terms of leakage, scattering, rounding, edge penumbra and speed considerations. Radiation might be misdirected while leaves are moving and they don't move quite instantaneously, requiring Leaf Motion Calculators (shamanistically, sequencers!). The fourth chapter discusses non-MLC techniques: Accuray.com CyberKnife (accelerators, Gamma Knife cobalt) with real-time imaging, jaws/mask technique and variable-aperture collimators. The fifth chapter cites specific anatomical tumors and attendant clinical evidence: the author laments evidence-based medicine circuitously implies being accepted until one has been accepted enough to have sufficient clinical data; Perhaps physicists disempower trials specialists. Integrated systems might compensate, real-time, for detected radiobiological characteristics like hypoxia. Furthest clinical results are Sloan Kettering's prostate (rectal toxicity declines) and Marsden's (author) breast. 3-dimensional spans book's last half, discussing margin definition, distortion correction, contrast agents, fluence smoothing, motion (esp respiration, modelled as cosine to power of assymetry) and surface marker gating, and movement correction. Tracking motion is preferrable over immobilisation techniques resembling medieval torture. Image importing softwares include Nomos Corvus, Nucletron Plato, Nordian MDS Helax TMS, Philips ADAC Pinnacle, Varian CadPlan Helios & CMS Focus. Inverse minimises discrepancy from desired spatial dose, constrained by dose (power-law biological cost) to non-targets and then projects beams backwards from each direction. Various optimisation methods are discussed, quite improved from 1960s confinement to linear programming; However, one must avoid that optimiser scourge, local minima. Monte Carlo techniques (MCDOSE, DOSXYZ, MCNP, ETRAN, EGS4; accumulating random beam behaviors defined by Boolean rules instead of differential equations) allow for simulation of geometries easily described mathematically, but are slow and have noise convergeance errors. Since Cyberknife robot chases the moving patient (p. 164), one hopes for more engineering, integrating planning with therapy, instead of batch methods, which the author prefers, like older automobiles, in his 2001 text, because they do not remove the human from decision making. Engineers would prototype in MathWorks.Com MatLab(p. 47), but would consider it too slow for production. Planning originated with slower computers (before MLC sequencers, p. 42) like Harvard JCRT (Bjarngard, Kijewski, Siddon) [6], Wachsmann's 1959 pendulum and rotation Moving Field Radiation Therapy [7] and van de Goijn's 1970 3D EXTDOS; yet Shirato & Sawada (pp. 335–341) develop real-time integration and Tubingen (p. 295) integrates MLC constraints, sequencers and planning. Given mathematical computation now so competent at scavenging useful information from what was previously considered noise (eg Barbour, Nirx.Net), perhaps one might exploit treatment radiation for some imaging, reducing total exposure, and seek further integration synergies.

THE HAWLEY MEDAL FOR 2002 TO RODNEY C. EWING

![Figure][1] RODNEY C. EWING The Hawley Medalist for 2002 is Dr. Rodney C. Ewing. Dr Ewing is a Professor in the Departments of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, Material Science and Engineering, and Geological Sciences at the University of Michigan. The Hawley Medal is

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A proportional-scintillation counter beta spectrometer

Using a proportional counter for coincidence gating of events in a plastic scintillator provides selective registration of beta interactions in the scintillator. The technique has been used to construct a field instrument that can selectively collect beta spectra (coincidence gating) or gamma spectra (anticoincidence gating). The technique provides a means of studying the energy structure of the radiation fields to correct dosimeter response and to aid in radiological engineering studies. Dose rates can be calculated from the spectra and compared with results obtained with conventional instruments. The system has proved to be an effective tool for studying beta spectra in the field.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

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Books received

Books receivedPublished Online:29 May 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-53-636-1208-cSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutAbstractReceipt of the following books are acknowledged as a courtesy to the senders. They have been lodged in the Library of the British Institute of Radiology for the use of members.Dictionary of Radiological Engineering. English–German-French. Ed. G. F. Neuder and H. M. Ullrich. 2nd ed., pp. 95, 1980 (De Gruyter, Berlin/New York). £17·50. ISBN 3–11–007807–4 Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 53, Issue 636December 1980Pages: 1123-1216 © The British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineMay 29,2014 Metrics Download PDF

131-I discharges from an operating boiling water reactor nuclear power station.

A series of radiological surveillance studies was conducted at Dresden Nuclear Power Station by the Radiological Engineering Laboratory of the Division of Environmental Radiation which provided data on 131I concentrations observed in the plant, the plant's effluent, and the environment. Based on the Dresden study data, an evaluation is made in this paper of the public health significance of 131I discharges from BWR nuclear power plants. The in-plant barriers to the transport of 131I through a BWR nuclear power plant to the site environs were found to function at a high efficiency. As a result, the critical phase of the environmental surveillance program for Dresden, a BWR without gaseous holdup, was concluded to be the submersion dose from noble gases, not 131I in milk. For a BWR nuclear power plant employing gaseous holdup, it was concluded that the ingestion 131I dose may be more limiting than the submersion dose from noble gases.

Control of tritium health hazards at the Savannah River Plant.

Abstract The control of hazards resulting from tritium production at the Savannah River Plant are described. Controls in use include radiological engineering techniques followed by training of operating personnel, use of protective clothing, control of surface and air contamination, bioassay, and environmental monitoring. Details indicating the effectiveness of these control measures are given.

Response of the Liver to Irradiation

Advances in radiological engineering as well as in therapeutic administration —i.e., fractionation and protraction of doses—have enabled the radiologist to deliver increasingly larger amounts of radiation to the organs of the body. While in former decades the response of the skin was the chief concern of the radiologist, more recently the response of the bodily organs has attracted increasing interest. Perhaps in no field of radiation biology are opinions so greatly divergent as in assessing the response of the liver to irradiation. On the basis of clinical experience, Pack and Livingston (97) classify the liver among the most radiosensitive structures. Jungling (70), on the other hand, considers the liver relatively radioresistant, and Wintz (126) writes: “According to my experience the radiosensitivity of liver tissue is not very great. It is less than that of the skin and mucous membranes. One may safely expose the liver to a single dose as high as 150 per cent S.E.D. without noticing clinical symptoms...