0000000000244800
AUTHOR
Elio Tomarchio
Analysis of 7Be and 210Pb concentration and 7Be/210Pb activity ratio in ground level air in Palermo (Italy).
Recently a renewed interest has been put on the use of radioactive tracers to study transport and mixing processes in the atmosphere. Among the most commonly used radioactive tracers in the atmosphere, 7Be and 210Pb have assumed an ever-increasing importance. Beryllium-7 is the product of the interaction of cosmic rays with Nitrogen and Oxygen nuclei. Its cosmogenic origin makes the measured concentrations strongly dependent on the geographical position and seasonal cycles. It emits 478 keV gamma photons and has a half-life of about 53 days.
FMECA Application in Tomotherapy: Comparison between Classic and Fuzzy Methodologies
Accident analysis in radiotherapy highlighted the need to increase quality assurance (QA) programs by the identification of failures/errors with very low probability (rare event) but very severe consequences. In this field, a Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) technique, used in various industrial processes to rank critical events, has been met with much interest. The literature describes different FMECA methods; however, it is necessary to understand if these tools are incisive and effective in the healthcare sector. In this work, comparisons of FMECA methodologies in the risk assessment of patients undergoing treatments performed with helical tomotherapy are reported. …