The Lara Phenomenon: Powerful Female Characters in Video Games

The content of games is an understudied area in social scientific research about video games. The purpose of the present study is to contribute to the understanding of the portrayal of gender and race in games. Previous research on game content has revealed that stereotypical masculine characters dominate video games and that those characters are generally White. Nowadays, quite a few video games have women in leading parts; Tomb Raider's Lara Croft is the prototypical example. In our study we investigated the so-called 'Lara phenomenon,' that is, the appearance of a competent female character in a dominant position. We also studied the portrayal of men and the race of both male and female characters. We did a content analysis on the introductory films of 12 contemporary video games. Our results show that female characters appeared as often in leading parts as male characters did. They were portrayed with a sexualized emphasis on female features. Most game characters belonged to the dominant White race, the heroes exclusively so

Field calibration of a TLD albedo dosemeter in the high-energy neutron field of CERF.

The new albedo dosemeter-type AWST-TL-GD 04 has been calibrated in the CERF neutron field (Cern-EU high-energy Reference Field). This type of albedo dosemeter is based on thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs) and used by the individual monitoring service of the Helmholtz Zentrum München (AWST) since 2015 for monitoring persons, who are exposed occupationally against photon and neutron radiation. The motivation for this experiment was to gain a field specific neutron correction factor Nn for workplaces at high-energy particle accelerators. Nn is a dimensionless factor relative to a basic detector calibration with (137)Cs and is used to calculate the personal neutron dose in terms of Hp(10) from the neutron albedo signal. The results show that the sensitivity of the albedo dosemeter for this specific neutron field is not significantly lower as for fast neutrons of a radionuclide source like (252)Cf. The neutron correction factor varies between 0.73 and 1.16 with a midrange value of 0.94. The albedo dosemeter is therefore appropriate to monitor persons, which are exposed at high-energy particle accelerators

Dosimetric properties of the new TLD albedo neutron dosemeter AWST-TL-GD 04.

A new official albedo dosemeter based on thermoluminescent detectors has been introduced in 2015 by the individual monitoring service of the Helmholtz Zentrum München for monitoring persons who are exposed occupationally against photon and neutron radiation. To enhance the sensitivity for fast neutrons, a new badge with an enlarged albedo window has been developed at TU Dresden. The properties of the new albedo dosemeter are discussed, and the results of official intercomparisons and field calibrations are shown

Indoor air as an important source for 210Pb accumulation in man.

Pilot study was performed with measurements in a German, inhabited, two-family house, to obtain data on the correlation between the equilibrium equivalent radon concentration Ceq and the 210Pb concentration CPb in indoor air. Aerosol samples were collected in various rooms of the house under conditions of low ventilation. The data indicate a linear correlation between Ce and CPb. A regression analysis, assuming such a relationship, resulted in the following equation: CPb (in mBq.m -3) = 8.2 × 10-3 Ceq (in Bq.m-3) + 0.32. From this relationship it follows that in environments with enhanced radon concentrations direct inhalation of 210Pb is an important source for 210Pb accumulation in man. It was estimated that at an indoor 222Rn concentration of 1000 Bq.m 3, the 210Pb uptake from inhalation amounts 32 mBq.d-1 of which 62% originates from the direct inhalation of 210Pb. Only the remaining third can be attributed to inhaled short-lived radon progeny and to radon gas dissolved in body tissues. It is shown that, in addition to ingestion and even for elevated indoor radon concentrations, direct inhalation of indoor 210Pb is a further important source of uncertainty, when in vivo measurements of the 210Pb activity in the human body are used as a measure of cumulative radon exposure

Neutron workplace spectrometry (Energy And Direction) using Tl detectors: First approach and response functions.

The response of albedo dosemeters depends on the energy and angle of the incident neutron radiation. For their use as personal dosemeters, a field-calibration factor has to be applied. The presently used single sphere method for field calibration can be extended and optimised by putting five albedo dosemeters on the surface of a polyethylene sphere and two TL cards in the centre. To investigate the potential of this extension, reference measurements and Monte Carlo calculations were performed and the fluence response of the detectors at different positions on and within the sphere was determined. Calculated response functions demonstrate that information on the energy and directional distribution of neutron fluence can be extracted with this simple set-up for unknown neutron fields