An Investigation of Natural Background Radiation and Health Risk Assessment in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran

Background: The natural radiation, which comes from the environment, is one of the most important cancer risk sources. Objectives: This study aimed to measure the natural background radiations (BRs) and estimate the annual effective dose (AED), as well as the health risks in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran. Methods: background radiations for both indoors and outdoors were measured using a Geiger-Muller detector (X5C plus) in eight cities. Five points were chosen in each city for the BR measurements, and in each point, five stations were randomly selected and measured. Results: The average outdoor and indoor dose rates were obtained 136.9 ± 12.5 and 149.3 ± 19.8 nSv.h-1, respectively. The mean AEDs for adults, children, and infants were 0.17, 0.19, and 0.22 mSv.y-1 resulting from the outdoor exposure, in that order, and these values for indoor irradiation were 0.73, 0.84, and 0.94 mSv.y-1. The percentage of excess lifetime cancer risks due to indoor exposure was 4.6% for whole populations and 3% for adults. The heritable effects risk for these groups were 0.17 and 0.073%, respectively. Conclusions: The findings of the present study indicated that the average value of BR dose rates was higher than the global value. The reason can be due to the high exposure levels of hot springs, igneous rock, and high altitudes in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province.

AIRBORNE RADIOMETRIC MAPPING FOR NATURAL RADIATION ASSESSMENT OVER OKITIPUPA SOUTHEAST BELT OF THE BITUMINOUS SAND FIELD OF NIGERIA

Airborne radiometric data were used for natural radiation assessment with the view to assess its likely environmental and health impact, which is one of the major factors that may pose some dangers to both physical and biological components especially during the exploitation of bitumen and also use the assessment as a baseline study that could be useful in planning appropriate environmental management programs that will reduce the potential negative effect of exploiting the resources on the environment. To determine the radiation source effects of humans, exposure rate, absorbed dose rate and annual effective dose rate were computed. The results obtained over Okitipupa southeast belt bituminous sand field indicate that the average levels of natural background radiations are generally not considered harmful. The natural activity levels were not above average and the does appear to be well within recommended limits and norms for naturally occurring activity.

Weather Classification Using an Automotive LIDAR Sensor Based on Detections on Asphalt and Atmosphere

A semi-/autonomous driving car requires local weather information to identify if it is working inside its operational design domain and adapt itself accordingly. This information can be extracted from changes in the detections of a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor. These changes are caused by modifications in the volumetric scattering of the atmosphere or surface reflection of objects in the field of view of the LIDAR. In order to evaluate the use of an automotive LIDAR as a weather sensor, a LIDAR is placed outdoor in a fixed position for a period of 9 months covering all seasons. As target, an asphalt region from a parking lot is chosen. The collected sensor raw data is labeled depending on the occurring weather conditions as: clear, rain, fog and snow, and the presence of sunlight: with or without background radiation. The influence of different weather types and background radiations on the measurement results is analyzed and different parameters are chosen in order to maximize the classification accuracy. The classification is done per frame in order to provide fast update rates while still keeping an F1 score higher than 80%. Additionally, the field of view is divided into two regions: atmosphere and street, where the influences of different weather types are most notable. The resulting classifiers can be used separately or together increasing the versatility of the system. A possible way of extending the method for a moving platform and alternatives to virtually simulate the scene are also discussed.

Exposure to cell phone induce oxidative stress in mice preantral follicles during in vitro cultivation: An experimental study

Background: Radiations emitting from mobile phones have been proposed to affect people’s health, mediated by various mechanisms like induction of oxidative stress. Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of cell phone exposure on the oxidative status of mice preantral follicles (PFs) during in vitro culture. Materials and Methods: PFs (n = 2580) were isolated mechanically from 16 to 18 day-old NMRI mice (n = 50) and divided into control and cell phone-exposed groups. PFs were cultured for 12 days and ovulation was induced using human chorion gonadotropin. The developmental parameters including size, survival, antral cavity formation, ovulation and oocyte maturation were assessed. In parallel, enzymatic antioxidants activities, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were evaluated. Results: The diameters and the rates of survival, antrum formation, ovulation, and metaphase II oocytes of exposed PFs to cell phone were significantly lower than those of the control group (p ≤0.001). The PFs exposed to cell phone had significantly lower superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and catalase (CAT) activity compared with the control group. In the cell phone exposed PFs, the TAC level was significantly lower (p≤ 0.001) and MDA levels were significantly higher (p≤ 0.001), compared to the those of control group. Conclusion: Exposure to cell phone compromised the developmental competence of mice PFs by increasing oxidative stress. Key words: Bovine, Embryonic development, Niacin, Oocytes, VitrificationKey words: Ovarian follicle, Cell phone, Oxidative stress, Mice.

Excess lifetime cancer risk due to natural background radiations of Soil in North Kashmir

Background: Long-term exposure to environmental radioactivity and the associated external exposure due to gamma emitting radionuclides have serious health effects particularly on cancer risk. Of course, the soil radioactivity depends on the underlying rocks and consequently, the soil type and geographic conditions.Objectives: Evaluation of excess life time cancer risk due to natural radioactivity of the soil of the surface layer of the Nichahoma lignite belt and the soil of villages surrounding the lignite belt.Methods: In this particular study, stirring radionuclides of the Ra226, Th232, and K40 present in the soil samples of the lignite belt and soil of the villages surrounding the lignite belt were measured by using a low-background Pb-shielded gamma spectroscopic counting assembly utilizing NaI(Tl) detector for the measurement and to evaluation the radiation hazard indices and excess lifetime cancer risk.Results: The excess lifetime cancer ranged from 0.65×10-3 to 0.71× 10-3 (average ~0.68×10-3) for the soil of the lignite belt and from 1.15×10-3 to 1.34×10-3(average ~1.25×10-3) for the soil of the villages surrounding the belt. The correlation analyses, performed between the radium equivalent activity and excess lifetime cancer risk for the two types of the sample, showed a very strong and linear dependence of excess lifetime cancer risk on radium equivalent activity and measured dose rate for the soil of the lignite belt compared to the soil of the villages surroundingthe lignite belt.Conclusion: Compared to the world average, the average value of computed excess lifetime cancer risk for both the categories of investigated samples in the study was found to be higher than 0.29. JMS 2018: 21 (2):101-108

From Geiger-Counters to File Systems: Remote Hardware Access for the Operating Systems Course

Operating systems interface between hardware and the user, random numbers are useful for security and simulation, and file systems form the program access to them in a modern operating system. Blending these items into a remotely accessed infrastructure forms the basis for supporting operating systems projects. This work describes the hardware, software, and communication infrastructure to support student projects by sharing remote hardware to acquire background radiations events with a Geiger counter, transforming those events into random numbers, and providing those numbers through a custom file system. Collectively, the hardware and software provide an inexpensive remote laboratory experience for computing students.