Aspects of harmonisation of individual monitoring for external radiation in Europe: Conclusions of a EURADOS action

Following the publication of the EU Council Directive 96/29, EURADOS coordinated two working groups (WGs) for promoting the process of harmonisation on individual monitoring of occupationally exposed persons in Europe. An overview of the major findings of the second WG is presented. Information on the technical and quality standards and on the accreditation and approval procedures has been compiled. The catalogue of dosimetric services has been updated and extended. An overview of national regulations and standards for protection from radon and other natural sources in workplaces has been made, attempting to combine the results from individual monitoring for external, internal and workplace monitoring. A first status description of the active personal dosemeters, including legislative and technical information, and their implementation has been made. The importance of practical factors on the uncertainty in the dose measurement has been estimated. Even if a big progress has been made towards harmonisation, there is still work to be don

EURADOS education and training activities

This paper provides a summary of the Education and Training (E&amp ; T) activities that have been developed and organized by the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) in recent years and in the case of Training Courses over the last decade. These E&amp ; T actions include short duration Training Courses on well-established topics organized within the activity of EURADOS Working Groups (WGs), or one-day events integrated in the EURADOS Annual Meeting (workshops, winter schools, the intercomparison participants' sessions and the learning network, among others). Moreover, EURADOS has recently established a Young Scientist Grant and a Young Scientist Award. The Grant supports young scientists by encouraging them to perform research projects at other laboratories of the EURADOS network. The Award is given in recognition of excellent work developed within the WGs' work programme. Additionally, EURADOS supports the dissemination of knowledge in radiation dosimetry by promoting and endorsing conferences such as the individual monitoring (IM) series, the neutron and ion dosimetry symposia (NEUDOS) and contributions to E&amp ; T sessions at specific events

Polymorphisms in the selectin gene cluster are associated with fertility and survival time in a population of Holstein Friesian cows

Selectins are adhesion molecules, which mediate attachment between leucocytes and endothelium. They aid extravasation of leucocytes from blood into inflamed tissue during the mammary gland’s response to infection. Selectins are also involved in attachment of the conceptus to the endometrium and subsequent placental development. Poor fertility and udder health are major causes for culling dairy cows. The three identified bovine selectin genes SELP, SELL and SELE are located in a gene cluster. SELP is the most polymorphic of these genes. Several SNP in SELP and SELE are associated with human vascular disease, while SELP SNP rs6127 has been associated with recurrent pregnancy loss in women. This study describes the results of a gene association study for SNP in SELP (n = 5), SELL (n = 2) and SELE (n = 1) with fertility, milk production and longevity traits in a population of 337 Holstein Friesian dairy cows. Blood samples for PCR-RFLP were collected at 6 months of age and animals were monitored until either culling or 2,340 days from birth. Three SNP in SELPEx4-6 formed a haplotype block containing a Glu/Ala substitution at rs42312260. This region was associated with poor fertility and reduced survival times. SELPEx8 (rs378218397) coded for a Val475Met variant locus in the linking region between consensus repeats 4 and 5, which may influence glycosylation. The synonymous SNP rs110045112 in SELEEx14 deviated from Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. For both this SNP and rs378218397 there were too few AA homozygotes present in the population and AG heterozygotes had significantly worse fertility than GG homozygotes. Small changes in milk production associated with some SNP could not account for the reduced fertility and only SELPEx6 showed any association with somatic cell count. These results suggest that polymorphisms in SELP and SELE are associated with the likelihood of successful pregnancy, potentially through compromised implantation and placental development

Distinct Compartmentalization of the Chemokines CXCL1 and CXCL2 and the Atypical Receptor ACKR1 Determine Discrete Stages of Neutrophil Diapedesis.

Neutrophils require directional cues to navigate through the complex structure of venular walls and into inflamed tissues. Here we applied confocal intravital microscopy to analyze neutrophil emigration in cytokine-stimulated mouse cremaster muscles. We identified differential and non-redundant roles for the chemokines CXCL1 and CXCL2, governed by their distinct cellular sources. CXCL1 was produced mainly by TNF-stimulated endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes and supported luminal and sub-EC neutrophil crawling. Conversely, neutrophils were the main producers of CXCL2, and this chemokine was critical for correct breaching of endothelial junctions. This pro-migratory activity of CXCL2 depended on the atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1), which is enriched within endothelial junctions. Transmigrating neutrophils promoted a self-guided migration response through EC junctions, creating a junctional chemokine "depot" in the form of ACKR1-presented CXCL2 that enabled efficient unidirectional luminal-to-abluminal migration. Thus, CXCL1 and CXCL2 act in a sequential manner to guide neutrophils through venular walls as governed by their distinct cellular sources.This work was supported by funds from the British Heart Foundation (FS/14/3/30518 to T.G. and S.N.), the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement 608765 (to T.G. and S.N.), and by the Wellcome Trust (098291/Z/12/Z to S.N.). D.S. is supported by the CNIC, SAF2016-79040-R from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, and ERC-2016-CoG 725091 from the European Research Council. M.T. and A.R. are supported by the Sinergia grant CRSII3_160719 of the Swiss National Science Foundation. G.G. is supported by the Wellcome Trust and the MRC. U.H.v.A. and A.T. are supported by the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and the HMS Center for Immune Imaging

Results of the EURADOS extremity dosemeter intercomparison 2009.

This paper presents the results of an intercomparison for extremity dosemeters organised by the European radiation dosimetry group in 2009. In total, 59 systems were tested during this exercise including ring, stall and wrist dosemeters. A total of 1652 dosemeters were irradiated in the selected fields of photons and beta radiation qualities on appropriate phantoms (ISO finger and pillar phantom) in the dose quantity H(p)(0.07). All irradiations were carried out in selected accredited reference dosemetry laboratories (Seibersdorf Laboratories, Austria and IRSN, France). The results show that, especially at low-energy beta radiations ((85)Kr) and for beta irradiations with large angles of incidence (60°), many tested systems show pronounced under responses. On the other hand, for photon irradiations down to energies of 16 keV most systems showed good results. A participants meeting was held at IM2010 with discussion on both general aspects of this intercomparison and specific problems

EURADOS programme of intercomparisons for individual monitoring services: Seven years of development and future plans.

In 2008 the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) started a new programme of intercomparisons for individual monitoring services (IMS). The aim was to provide the possibility to IMS in Europe to participate in dosimetry intercomparions with regular time intervals with all types of dosemeter systems that are used routinely to monitor workers for exposure to external radiation. A self-evaluation of the programme shows that, apart from a few problems encountered, the programme can be judged as fit for its purpose. The results of a questionnaire among the participants support this conclusion. The conclusions encourage EURADOS to continue this programme of self-sustained intercomparisons for IMS