Recommendations to reduce hand exposure for standard nuclear medicine procedures

The optimization of the extremity dosimetry of medical staff in nuclear medicine was the aim of the Work Package 4 (WP4) of the ORAMED project, a Collaborative Project (2008-2011) supported by the European Commission within its 7th Framework Programme. Hand doses and dose distributions across the hands of medical staff working in nuclear medicine departments were evaluated through an extensive measurement program involving 32 hospitals in Europe and 139 monitored workers. The study included the most frequently used radionuclides, (99m)Tc- and (18)F-labelled radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic and (90)Y-labelled Zevalin (R) and DOTATOC for therapy. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulations were performed in different predefined scenarios to evaluate separately the efficacy of different radiation protection measures by comparing hand dose distributions according to various parameters. The present work gives recommendations based on results obtained with both measurements and simulations. This results in nine practical recommendations regarding the positioning of the dosemeters for an appropriate skin dose monitoring and the best protection means to reduce the personnel exposure.

Random mixtures with orientational order, and the anisotropic resistivity tensor of high Tc superconductors

By generalizing effective-medium theory to the case of orientationally ordered but positionally disordered two component mixtures, it is shown that the anisotropic dielectric tensor of oxide superconductors can be extracted from microwave measurements on oriented crystallites of YBa2Cu3O7¿x embedded in epoxy. Surprisingly, this technique appears to be the only one which can access the resistivity perpendicular to the copper¿oxide planes in crystallites that are too small for depositing electrodes. This possibility arises in part because the real part of the dielectric constant of oxide superconductors has a large magnitude. The validity of the effective-medium approach for orientationally ordered mixtures is corroborated by simulations on two¿dimensional anisotropic random resistor networks. Analysis of the experimental data suggests that the zero-temperature limit of the finite frequency resistivity does not vanish along the c axis, a result which would simply the existence of states at the Fermi surface, even in the superconducting state

Meissner effect and critical fields in an inhomogeneous Ba2HoCu3O7-x high-Tc superconductor

The Meissner and diamagnetic shielding effects and the upper, lower, and thermodynamical critical fields have been studied in a Ba2HoCu3O7-x sample using magnetization measurements in fields up to 55 kOe. The diamagnetic shielding curve shows the existence of a transition at Tc=91.5 K followed by a broad transition extending from 85 to 25 K which may be related to inhomogeneities in the oxygen content of the sample. A rather low flux expulsion (13.5%) is observed which we attribute to flux pinning or trapping. We show that the coexistence of superconducting and nonsuperconducting regions within the sample at temperatures just below Tc leads to strong reductions in the critical magnetic fields.

Role of technetium-99m diphosphonate and gallium-67 citrate bone scanning in the early diagnosis of infectious spondylodiscitis: a comparative study

A comparative study of the parts played by technetium-99m diphosphonate and gallium-67 citrate bone scanning in the early diagnosis of infectious spondylodiscitis is presented. Nineteen patients were included in the study. All patients (11 men aged 19-70 years and eight women aged 18-72 years) had a history of back pain varying in duration from one to 15 weeks. A 99mTc diphosphonate bone scan was positive in 17 patients. The two patients with negative results had less than two weeks of back pain. The 67Ga citrate bone scan showed uptake in all patients.

First-principles periodic calculation of four-body spin terms in high-Tc cuprate superconductors

A general mapping between the energy of pertinent magnetic solutions and the diagonal terms of the spin Hamiltonian in a local representation provides the first general framework to extract accurate values for the many body terms of extended spin Hamiltonians from periodic first-principle calculations. Estimates of these terms for La2CuO4, the paradigm of high-Tc superconductor parent compounds, and for the SrCu2O3 ladder compound are reported. For La2CuO4, present results support experimental evidence by Toader et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 197202 (2005)]. For SrCu2O3 even larger four-body spin amplitudes are found together with Jl/Jr=1 and non-negligible ferromagnetic interladder exchange.

First-principles periodic calculation of four-body spin terms in high-Tc Cuprate superconductors

A general mapping between the energy of pertinent magnetic solutions and the diagonal terms of the spin Hamiltonian in a local representation provides the first general framework to extract accurate values for the many body terms of extended spin Hamiltonians from periodic first-principle calculations. Estimates of these terms for La2CuO4, the paradigm of high-Tc superconductor parent compounds, and for the SrCu2O3 ladder compound are reported. For La2CuO4, present results support experimental evidence by Toader et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 197202 (2005)]. For SrCu2O3 even larger four-body spin amplitudes are found together with Jl/Jr=1 and non-negligible ferromagnetic interladder exchange.

Civil society organisations participating in ISO TC 228 and ISO TC 229: the INTERNORM project and its future

This paper presents the first results of the INTERNORM pilot project funded by the University of Lausanne (2010 - 2014) to support the involvement of civil society organisations (CSO) in two ISO technical committees (TC), the ISO TC 228 on "tourism and related services" and the ISO TC 229 on "nanotechnologies". It analyses how a distinct participatory mechanism can influence the institutional environment of technical diplomacy in which standards are shaped. The project is an attempt to respond to the democratic deficit attested in the field of international standardisation, formally open to civil society participation, but still largely dominated by expert knowledge and market players. Many international standards have direct implications on society as a whole, but CSOs (consumers and environmental associations, trade unions) are largely under-represented in negotiation arenas. The paper draws upon international relations literature on new institutional forms in global governance and studies of participation in science and technology to address three questions: to which extent do CSOs identify participation in standardisation as worth of their mobilisation? How is the pluralisation of knowledge and expertise supporting CSO position during the deliberation? To which extent can CSO access and influence standardisation beyond their consultative role? It argues that there are significant limitations to the rise of civil society participation in such global governance mechanisms. Despite high entry costs into technical diplomacy, participation is not so much a matter of upstream engagement, or of procedure and resources only, than of opportunistic CSOs mobilization, of distinct thematic incentives and concrete outcomes to be expected in standardisation arenas or in the broader use of international standards.

Itse toteutettu harjoittelu tc-nivelen dorsaalifleksiosuunnan hypomobiliteetissa

Työn tarkoituksena oli selvittää lisääkö itse toteutettu harjoittelu nilkan dorsaalifleksiosuuntaista liikelaajuutta tc-nivelen ollessa hypomobiili. Työ toteutettiin Tapanilan Erän miesten salibandyliiga-joukkueen niille pelaajille, joilla esiintyi tc-nivelen dorsaalifleksiosuuntaista liikerajoitusta. Alkumitta-uksista saamiemme mittaustulosten perusteella tutkimuksesta muodostui yksittäistapaustutkimus. Salibandykentän koko ja pelille ominainen liike tekevät pelin aikana liikkumisesta kiihdytys- ja pysähdyspainotteisen, jolloin reaktio- ja räjähtävä nopeus hallitsevat liikettä. Tc-nivelen hypomobilitee-tissa liikelaajuus ja liukuminen nivelessä itsessään ovat alentuneet, joka altistaa lihasvenähdyksille, hermon pinnetiloille tai paratenoniiteille (jänteen viereisten kudosten tulehdukset), joka on seurausta ylikuormituksesta. Opinnäytetyön keskeisin osa-alue on tc-nivelen liikelaajuuden lisääminen dorsaalifleksiosuuntaan hypomobiliteettiongelmassa mobilisointi- ja venytysharjoitteiden avulla. Työ on hyvä erityisesti niille fysioterapeuteille, jotka toimivat alaraaja- ja urheilufysioterapian parissa. Tulokselliseen fysioterapiaan vaikuttaa asiakkaan aktiivinen harjoitteiden tekeminen, jolloin säännölli-sellä harjoittelulla päästään hyvään lopputulokseen. Samalla alaraajojen-selän alueen kivut lievenevät ja poistuvat lopulta asentovirheiden korjautumisen myötä.