Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 147. The principle of electricity generation in nuclear power plants is the same as in thermal power plants After the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, many technical terms related to nuclear reactors appeared in newspapers, such as nuclear fuel rod, control rods, and criticality. This terminology is all related to power generation and to the question of how electricity is generated at a nuclear power plant. In thermal power plants, water is converted into steam using heat energy obtained from the combustion of coal and other fossil fuel. This steam is further used to rotate a turbine, which generates ele

Author: Karim Moutchou Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo In August 2018, I was honored to be invited to Japan by the MRIG group for 3 weeks. In my previous articles here (My clinical exchange experience in Japan, Visit to Fukushima Prefecture), I detailed the main goals of that tour and what I learned. It was a great pleasure to learn at Juntendo University Hospital and Kobe Medical Center and visit institution near Fukushima. Moreover, I was pleasantly surprised that my trip’s positive impact continued for a long time after that because of the Japanese visa that allowed me to enter the country. I am Moroccan, and the Henley Passport Index ranks our country’s passport as one of the wea

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 145. Detecting the number of electrons emitted from collisions against radiation rays The extent of radiation exposure determines its impact on health. There are various measuring devices to detect levels of radiation and radioactivity. Radiation rays have a feature of colliding against substances in their way and forcing those materials to emit electrons. When radiation rays pass through a measuring device filled with stable gas, they collide against the substances composing the gas, and electrons are emitted from those substances. Measuring devices that detect the amounts of emitted electrons are called Geiger counters. Ano

Author: Anonymus Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo November 23 was the 5th day since the Iranian government implemented the shutdown of Internet access in the country in response to the increasing protest activity across the country, followed by sharply raising gasoline prices. The Iranian authorities stated that the aim of the Internet shutdown was to suppress the nationwide anti-government protests. That was not, however, the only purpose of the Internet shutdown; according to a report by the New York Times, during this period of Internet shutdown, the United States State Department received over 20,000 messages, videos, and photographs showing human rights violations by Iranian secu

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 143. Measurement of radiation exposure levels using fluorescent substances The extent of radiation exposure determines its impact on health. There are various measuring devices to detect levels of radiation and radioactivity. The previous article explained that substances that illuminate by absorbing energy from other light sources—similar to luminous alarm clock dials—are called fluorescent substances. We also reported that fluorescent substances are used in many measuring devices for air radiation dose rates (scintillation detectors). Actually, this fluorescence is used in the badge type of personal radiation dosimeters (al

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 141. Total body irradiation for bone marrow transplantation The current standard "cancer" treatment consists of the following three types of therapies; surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Several techniques for radiation therapy have been developed to reduce radiation exposure to normal surrounding tissues while concentrating radiation on cancer lesions. For example, the exposure of the lung and heart are avoided in the radiation therapy of breast cancer, and the exposure of the rectum and bladder are avoided in the radiation therapy of prostate cancer. There is a type of radiation therapy that is given to the entir