Volume 17 (2011): Issue 1 (January 2011)

The concept of radiation protection culture, proposed by French Society for Radiation Protection (SFRP) and then launched by International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) is presented. The paper is focused on the role of radiation culture in preventing unjustified fear associated with the use of radiation. Principles of RP culture and optimization of radiation protection, as well as the problems how RP culture can be learned and how to engage the stakeholders are considered.

A columnar mini phantom is designed as recommended by ESTRO to measure the Head Scatter Factor (S_c) for 6 MV beam of two linear accelerators. The measurement of S_c at different orientations of the chamber, parallel and perpendicular at 1.5 cm depth predicts the deviation of 2.05% and 1.9% for Elekta and Siemens linear accelerators respectively. The measurement of S_c at 1.5 cm is higher compared to 10 cm depth for both the linear accelerators suggesting the electron contamination at 1.5 cm depth. The effect of wedges on S_c yields a significant contribution of 3.5% and 5% for Siemens and Elekta linear accelerators respectively. The collimator exchange effect reveals the opening of upper jaw increases the S_c irrespective of the linear accelerator. The result emphasizes the need of S_c measurement at 10 cm. The presence of wedge influences the S_c value and the SSD has no influence on S_c. The measured S_c values are in good agreement with the published data.

In this review, the classification of respiratory muscle fatigue from the perspective of its origin is presented. The fatigue is classified as central or peripheral, and the latter further subdivided into high- and low-frequency fatigue. However, muscle fatigue is a complex process and all three types of fatigue probably occur simultaneously in the overloaded respiratory muscles. The relative importance of each type depends on the duration of respiratory loading and other physiological variables. However, central and high-frequency fatigue resolve rapidly once muscle overload is removed, whereas low-frequency fatigue persists over long time.

The purpose of this review is to present selected tests available with the potential to detect the development of respiratory muscle fatigue in normal subjects and patients. All reviewed techniques represent a part of a variety of measures and indices, which have been employed to assess this complex process at the present time.

Impairment of motor function following peripheral nerve injury is a serious clinical problem. Generally nerve injury leads to erroneous control of muscle activity that results in gait and voluntary movement abnormalities followed by muscle atrophy. This article presents a review of studies on the effects of peripheral nerve injury on the motor system performed on animal models. We focused our attention on the results that are fundamental for better understanding of the degenerative and regenerative processes induced by nerve injury as well as of the mechanisms of structural changes in neuronal networks controlling movement. Quoted results are also important for clinical applications because they allow to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques that can be used after nerve injury inducing motor deficits. However, till now no efficient therapy inducing satisfactory recovery was found. There is still a need to continue an advanced basic research directed to develop effective therapies. Thus the aim of this review is to compare the results of recent studies performed on various animal models in order to propose new methods for identification of mechanisms responsible for muscle deficits and propose targets for new pharmacological therapies.