Detector is a device that is sensitive to radiation and can produce a response signal suitable for measurement or analysis. A radiation detection instrument.
Collective dose (Animation) The sum of the individual doses received in a given time period by a specified population from exposure to a specified source of radiation
Biodosimetry The use of physiological, chemical or biological markers of exposure of human tissues to ionizing radiation for the purpose of reconstructing doses to individuals or populations.
4. What is electron volt (eV)?
Electron volt (eV) is a unit of energy equivalent to the amount of energy gained by an electron when it passes from a point of low potential to a point one volt higher in potential
Decay constant is the fraction of a number of atoms of a radionuclide that disintegrates in a unit of time. The decay constant is inversely proportional to the radioactive half-life.
6. What is assigned Protection Factor?
Assigned Protection Factor Assigned Protection Factor (APF) means the workplace level of respiratory protection that a respirator or class of respirators is expected to provide to employees enrolled in a continuing, effective respiratory protection program.
7. Explain me what is epidemiology?
Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations; and the application of this study to the control of health problems.
8. What is background radiation?
Background radiation ionizing radiation from natural sources, such as terrestrial radiation due to radionuclides in the soil or cosmic radiation originating in outer space.
Committed dose a dose that accounts for continuing exposures expected to be received over a long period of time (such as 30, 50, or 70 years) from radioactive materials that were deposited inside the body. For more information
Exposure pathway a route by which a radionuclide or other toxic material can enter the body. The main exposure routes are inhalation, ingestion, absorption through the skin, and entry through a cut or wound in the skin.
Deuterium a non-radioactive isotope of the hydrogen atom that contains a neutron in its nucleus in addition to the one proton normally seen in hydrogen. A deuterium atom is twice as heavy as normal hydrogen.
Americium (Am) a silvery metal; it is a man-made element whose isotopes Am-237 through Am-246 are radioactive. Am-241 is formed spontaneously by the beta decay of plutonium-241. Trace quantities of americium are widely used in smoke detectors and as neutron sources in neutron moisture gauges.
13. Please explain what is biological half-life?
Biological half-life the time required for one half of the amount of a substance, such as a radionuclide, to be expelled from the body by natural metabolic processes, not counting radioactive decay, once it has been taken in through inhalation, ingestion, or absorption.
Kerma is the initial kinetic energy of the primary ionizing particles (photoelectrons, Compton electrons, positron/negatron pairs from photon radiation, and scattered nuclei from fast neutrons) produced by the interaction of the incident uncharged radiation, per unit mass of interacting medium. Unit of measure is gray.
Combined injury physical, thermal, and/or chemical trauma combined with radiation exposure at a dose sufficient to diminish the likelihood of overall survival or functional recovery.
16. What is activity (radioactivity)?
Activity (radioactivity) the property of certain nuclides of emitting radiation by spontaneous transformation of their nuclei. Various units of (radio)activity have been used including curie (1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 disintegrations per second) and becquerel
17. What is Cutaneous Radiation Syndrome (CRS)?
Cutaneous Radiation Syndrome (CRS) the complex syndrome resulting from radiation exposure of more than 200 rads to the skin. The immediate effects can be reddening and swelling of the exposed area (like a severe burn), blisters, ulcers on the skin, hair loss, and severe pain. Very large doses can result in permanent hair loss, scarring, altered skin color, deterioration of the affected body part, and death of the affected tissue (requiring surgery).
Health physics a scientific field that focuses on protection of humans and the environment from radiation. Health physics uses physics, biology, chemistry, statistics, and electronic instrumentation to help protect individuals from any damaging effects of radiation.
19. What is Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) Reports?
Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) Reports of the National Research Council's committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation. For more information
Actinides elements in the periodic table with atomic numbers from 90 to 103 (thorium to lawrencium); i.e., elements with a higher atomic number than actinium, which has an atomic number of 89. These are also called "rare earth metals." They include most of the well-known elements found in nuclear reactions. Actinides with atomic numbers higher than 92 do not occur naturally but are produced artificially by bombarding other elements with particles. Some of the actinides include plutonium, curium, and californium.
21. What is high-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter (HEPA)?
High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter (HEPA) a filter that is at least 99.97% efficient in removing monodisperse particles of 0.3 micrometers in diameter. The equivalent NIOSH 42 CFR 84 particulate filters are the N100, R100, and P100 filters.
22. What is leukocyte reduction?
Leukocyte reduction a process used to filter and remove white blood cells from whole blood before transfusion. Leukocytes are removed from blood because they provide no benefit to the recipient but may carry bacteria and viruses to the recipient. Patients who receive blood that has not been leuko-reduced may have adverse effects, including fever with chills; alloimmunization, an immune system reaction that can compromise a later transfusion; and the transmission of viruses, including cytomegalovirus, which can be dangerous for low-birth weight infants and to immunosuppressed patients.
23. What is effective half-life?
Effective half-life the time required for the amount of a radionuclide deposited in a living organism to be diminished by 50% as a result of the combined action of radioactive decay and biological elimination.
Beta burns Energetic beta particles with high enough specific-activity, if left on the skin surface for a sufficient length of time, may cause erythema and dry (or even wet) desquamation. These are often called "beta burns." "Beta burns" have been described after a nuclear weapon detonation as a consequence of fallout on the skin.
25. Tell us how do you stay up to date with new radiation treatments?
Shows continuous training and professional development.
26. What is lead federal agency (LFA)?
Lead federal agency (LFA) the federal agency that leads and coordinates the emergency response activities of other federal agencies during a nuclear emergency. After a nuclear emergency, the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan
27. What is electromagnetic radiation?
A traveling wave motion that results from changing electric and magnetic fields. Types of electromagnetic radiation range from those of short wavelength, like x-rays and gamma rays, through the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared regions, to radar and radio waves of relatively long wavelengths.
Cumulative dose the total dose resulting from repeated or continuous exposures of the same portion of the body, or of the whole body, to ionizing radiation.
Illustrates whether the individual has a competent bedside manner and if they can handle highly emotional situations without becoming flustered.
30. What is incident (unplanned event)?
An occurrence or event, natural or manmade that requires a response to protect life or property. Incidents can include major disasters, emergencies, terrorist attacks, terrorist threats, civil unrest, wild land and urban fires, floods, hazardous materials spills, nuclear accidents, aircraft accidents, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms, tsunamis, war-related disasters, public health and medical emergencies, and other occurrences requiring an emergency response.
high-energy electromagnetic radiation emitted by certain radionuclides when their nuclei transition from a higher to a lower energy state. These rays have high energy and a short wave-length. All gamma rays emitted from a given isotope have the same energy, a characteristic that enables scientists to identify which gamma emitters are present in a sample. Gamma rays penetrate tissue farther than do beta or alpha particles but leave a lower concentration of ions in their path to potentially cause cell damage. Gamma rays are very similar to x-rays.
32. What is committed dose equivalent (CDE)?
Committed dose equivalent (CDE) The dose to a specific organ or tissue that is received from an intake of radioactive material by an individual over a specified time after the intake. For radiation protection purposes, the specified time is to the age of 70, which is normally taken to be 50 years for a radiation worker and 70 years for a member of the public.
33. What is Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS)?
Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) The Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) is also known as Radiation Sickness. A person exposed to radiation will develop ARS only if the radiation dose was high, penetrating (e.g., x-rays or gamma rays), encompassed most or all of the body, and was received in a short period of time. Clinical severity of the four subsyndromes of ARS (hematopoietic, cutaneous, gastrointestinal, and neurovascular) will vary with dose and host factors (e.g., young or old age, immunosuppression, and medical co-morbidity--especially extensive trauma and burns).
Tests communication and patient-management skills.
35. What is dose reconstruction?
Dose reconstruction scientific procedures that assist with 4 activities - managing victims of radiation emergencies, such as providing input to decisions on protection of emergency workers and members of the public or medical treatment of exposed individuals; providing exposed individuals or populations with information about the doses they received; investigating dose-response relationships in epidemiologic studies; determining whether individuals whose disease might have been induced by radiation qualify for compensation.
