Neutron absorbed dose determination by calculations of recoil energy

The aim of this work is to calculate the absorbed dose to matter due to neutrons in the 5-150 MeV energy range. Materials involved in the calculations are Al2O3, CaSO4 and CaS, which may be used as dosemeters and have already been studied for their luminescent properties. The absorbed dose is assumed to be mainly due to the energy deposited by the recoils. Elastic reactions are treated with the ECIS code while for the non-elastic ones, a Monte Carlo code has been developed and allowed to follow the nucleus decay and to determine its characteristics (nature and energy). Finally, the calculations show that the absorbed dose is mainly due to non-elastic process and that above 20 MeV this dose decreases slightly with the neutron energy.     

Influence of radioactive aerosol and biological parameters of inhaled radon progeny on human lung dose

The present work focuses on assessing the influence of biological and aerosol parameters on human lung dose. The dose conversion factor (DCF), which gives the relationship between the effective dose and the potential alpha energy concentration of inhaled short-lived radon progeny (218Po, 214Pb, 214Bi/214Po) is estimated using a dosimetric approach related to the International Commission on Radiological Protection(ICRP). The calculations are based on the measurements of the distribution of activity size of indoor radon progeny, their unattached fraction (f(b)) and potential alpha energy concentration (E). These experimental data are measured using a low-pressure cascade impactor and a wire-screen diffusion battery. Because of the short half-lives of the investigated nuclides, modifications that simplify the dose calculation are possible. The radioactive aerosol and biological parameters are varied in order to assess the DCF arising from the uncertainty of these parameters. The main emphasis is on the variation of the ventilation rate, breathing mode, critical cells for the induction of lung cancer and the parameters of the attached and unattached activity size distribution of the radon progeny. The investigation shows that the DCF is more than a factor of two higher than the values recommended by the ICRP, namely 3.9 mSv WLM(-1) for the public and 5.1 mSv WLM(-1) for working places. The dose results for indoor aerosol conditions are in the range 2.3-2.6 mSv WLM(-1) depending on the breathing mode.     

Fraction of the positive 218Po and 214Pb clusters in indoor air

The fraction of the positively charged unattached radon decay products, 218Po and 214Pb in indoor air was determined by model calculations. The results of the calculations were confirmed by measurements in a test chamber (volume: 8 m3). The fraction of both radionuclides depends on the attachment parameter (S(1)) and the neutralisation rate (nu) in room air. The total removal parameter S1 = lambda1 + v + q(f) + X = lambda1 C1f/C0 considers the attachment rate to aerosol particles (X), plate-out rate to room surfaces (q(f)) and the ventilation rate (nu) (lambda1: decay constant of 218Po). The S1-value of room can be determined by measurement of the concentration of the unattached 218Po clusters (C1f) and radon (C0). The neutralisation rate (nu) in environmental air depends mainly on the ion production rate. The influence of the relative humidity in the range 30-95% (temperature: 20 degrees C) is negligible. In addition, equal neutralisation rates for 218Po and 214Pb could be derived. In room air with ion production rates between 5 and 500 nC kg(-1) h(-1) mainly generated by the alpha emitters of radon, thoron and their short-lived decay products, the fractions for positive 218Po clusters vary between 55 and 17% and for 214Pb clusters between 53 and 14%. For a typical average concentration of radon (50 Bq m(-3)) and thoron (10 Bq m(-3)) in homes, 48% of 218Po clusters and 45% of 214Pb clusters are positively charged.     

VMAT中射野间角度间隔对剂量验证的影响

针对容积旋转调强放疗计划系统的剂量精度验证问题,考察剂量计算中照射弧的离散化处理对剂量验证的影响。通过改变模拟射野随机架角的变化关系并结合γ因子分析,结果表明:当射野形状随机架角变化缓慢时,增大离散间隔,主要对低剂量区的剂量分布有明显影响,90%剂量检验通过率容易达到;当射野形状随机架角变化快时,增大离散间隔对低剂量和高剂量区的剂量分布都有明显影响,剂量检验通过率明显降低,此时照射弧的离散化角度间隔应不大于4°,才能获得较满意的剂量检验通过率。另外,剂量检验通过率与模体几何和旋转调强的等中心位置的选取没有明显的依赖性。     

Radioactivity of 210Pb in Japanese cigarettes and radiation dose from smoking inhalation

It is well known that cigarette tobaccos contain naturally occurring radioactive nuclides such as (210)Pb and (210)Po. In many countries, the radioactivity of tobaccos has been measured to estimate the effective dose from smoking inhalation. The present study covered 24 cigarette brands including the top 20 of sales in Japan between April 2008 and March 2009. The activity concentrations of (210)Pb were measured by gamma-ray spectrometry, and then those of its progeny ((210)Po) were evaluated assuming the radioactive equilibrium between the two nuclides. Their concentrations were in the range of 2-14 mBq cigarette(-1) with an arithmetic mean of 8±3 mBq cigarette(-1). The annual committed effective doses were also calculated, based on the scenario that a smoker consumes 20 cigarettes a day. The average doses from (210)Pb and (210)Po inhalations were 22±9 and 68±27 μSv y(-1), respectively.     

Study of eye drops dispensing and dose variability by using plastic dropper tips

The application of eye drops from flexible dropper bottles fitted with different types of dropper tips is associated with the high variability of eye drop weights. The aim of this report was to investigate the simultaneous effect of three factors influencing the mean weight of drops dispensing from two plastic dropper tips. Using a designed experiment (Box-Behnken), the effect of the concentration of benzalkonium chloride solutions (BAC) in the range of 0-0.02%, the dispensing angle from 90° to 30° from horizontal, and the residual volume of liquid in the dropper bottle from 4 to 10 mL on the mean drop weights were examined. The significant effect of the increase in BAC concentration resulted in a linear decrease in drop weights for both of the dropper tips investigated. The significant effect of the dispensing angle was influenced by the dropper tip design. For the dropper tip A, the effect of the dropper tip tilt was described by the quadratic equation with a minimum, which corresponded to the dispensing angle equal to that of 48° from horizontal. Below this angle, the increase in drop weights occurred due to the drop formation from the wetted external surface of the tip orifice. The linear decrease in drop weights in response to the decrease in dispensing angle was detected for the dropper tip B. The regression equations and the contour line plots obtained allowed the drop weights to be estimated for the actual combinations of both the BAC concentration and the dispensing angle. The effect of the residual volume was found to be non-significant. Based on the formula of Tate's law, the direct proportion between surface tension of a solution and the radius of the effective perimeter of a dropper tip can be used to estimate the theoretical maximal weight of drops at the dispensing angle of 90°. Using the stalagmometric values of surface tension of the BAC solutions, the maximal drop weights were estimated for both of the dropper tips investigated. A comparison between the theoretical and the experimentally measured drop weights enabled the dropper tips behavior to be discussed by using Harkins and Brown correction factor F. The F-value of 0.74 noted for the dropper tip A differed from that of stalagmometer F-value (0.61) indicating a deviation from the simple drop formation process in answer to more complicated design of the dropper tip A. On the other hand, the F-value of 0.6 observed for the dropper tip B demonstrated the better consistency with stalagmometry. As a result, the dropper tip B with the linear decrease of drop weights in response to the increased concentration of BAC and the decreased dispensing angle without the adverse external drop formation could be recommended in real drop dispensing.     

Sr0.4Pb0.6TiO3基陶瓷晶界组成对热敏特性的影响

采用固相烧结工艺制备出了Ｓｒ_０．４Ｐｂ_０．６ＴｉＯ_３半导体陶瓷元件,其阻温特性具有独特的ＮＴＣＲ和ＰＴＣＲ复合效应,陶瓷室温电阻率及居里点以下的ＮＴＣＲ效应随着烧结温度的升高而提高,适当过量ＰｂＯ则能降低陶瓷室温电阻率及其ＮＴＣＲ效应．利用ＸＲＤ、ＳＥＭ和ＥＤＳ分别对样品的相结构、形貌及成份分布等进行分析,结果显示晶界中的Ｓｒ,Ｔｉ含量相对较高,而Ｐｂ含量相对较低,材料的阻温特性明显受其影响．铅挥发造成的阳离子空位是该类半导体陶瓷在居里点下出现ＮＴＣＲ效应的主要原因之一,同时探讨了Ｙ^３＋离子掺杂（Ｓｒ,Ｐｂ）ＴｉＯ_３陶瓷的半导化机理和热敏特性．     

Analysis of the uncertainty in internal dose estimate resulting from biological stochastic variability of excretion

A method for investigating the uncertainty in internal dose estimate resulting from biological stochastic variability of excretion is proposed in the paper. The method is based on analysing generated cases of individual monitoring data using Monte Carlo simulation technique. In case of a single intake and assumption of stochastic variability of excretion is a single source of uncertainty it was shown that the intake (dose) uncertainty depends exclusively on the uncertainty of the bioassay data and the number of daily urine (faeces) measurements. Assuming a log-normal distribution for describing the variability of excretion a simple expression for calculating the uncertainty was proposed. In case of routine monitoring data it was shown that the uncertainty of annual intake (dose) estimate would depend on biological stochastic variability of excretion, type of excretion function and the number of monitoring intervals in a year. By the example of Pu and U aerosols it was shown that the effects of decreasing uncertainty in the dose estimate resulting from increasing the number of monitoring intervals in a year and from decreasing the uncertainty of bioassay data (performing a number of successive daily measurements, once in a year) should be estimated to optimise the routine monitoring program.     

Influence of material spatial variability on required safety factors for masonry walls in compression

Since masonry is one of the oldest and most traditional construction types, corresponding safety concepts are usually based on experience instead of being calibrated by structural reliability methods. For this reason, reliability analyses of masonry structures are needed to check if safety factors should be adjusted. Masonry is a non‐homogenous material. Because of that, it is very important to consider the spatial variability of material properties when assessing the reliability of masonry walls. Therefore, it is useful to know if and to what extent spatial variability increases or decreases the reliability of masonry walls and the required safety factors. The influence of spatial variability depends on the length of a wall due to the capability of load redistribution. Also, it is affected by the governing failure mode, which depends on the slenderness of the wall, and can be local compression or stability failure. This paper demonstrates the effect of spatial variability on the load‐bearing capacity of masonry walls in terms of mean value, scatter and design value. For this purpose, walls of varying length and slenderness were analysed with and without the consideration of spatial variability by performing Monte Carlo simulations. Based upon that, safety factors were determined which are required to meet the target reliability defined by EN 1990.     

Influence of a Pb buffer layer on structural and magnetotransport properties of Co/Cu multilayers

In this paper changes of structure and magnetotransport properties of Co/Cu multilayers were observed as a function of the Pb buffer layer thickness. Structural analysis indicated that the Pb buffer leads to the decay of superlattice periodicity. Surface topography of the top layer of the Co/Cu multilayers observed by SFM allowed the determination of surface roughness which is relatively large and weakly depends on buffer thickness. This effect is accompanied by the continuous rise of island size that reaches a diameter around 200 nm for Co/Cu multilayers deposited on 40 nm Pb buffer. AES experiments show significant segregation of Pb to the surface. A small magnetoresistance effect ΔR/R measured for Co/Cu multilayers deposited on an Pb buffer is almost independent of the thickness of the buffer layer. This behavior of ΔR/R could be understood by assuming that discontinuous ferromagnetic layers, bridged through the Cu spacer, are formed.     

Comparison of radon lung dosimetry models for the estimation of dose uncertainties

In order to investigate the degree of dose uncertainty produced by different models, three dosimetry models were compared with each other, representing different classes of models: (i) The RADEP/IMBA model based on the ICRP Human Respiratory Tract Model, a deterministic regional compartment model, (ii) the RADOS model, a deterministic airway generation model and (iii) the IDEAL dosimetry model, a stochastic airway generation model. The outputs of the three models for defined mining exposure conditions were compared at three different levels: deposition fractions for attached and unattached radon progeny; nuclear transformations, reflecting the combined effect of deposition and clearance; and resulting cellular doses. Resulting dose exposure conversion factors ranged from 7.8 (median) mSv/WLM (IDEAL) to 11.8 mSv/WLM (RADEP/IMBA), with 8.3 mSv/WLM (RADOS) as an intermediate value. Despite methodological and computational differences between the three models, resulting dose conversion factors do not appreciably differ from each other, although predictions by the two generation models are consistently smaller than that for the RADEP/IMBA model.     

场效应管X射线剂量增强的实验测量

为了实验精确测量场效应管的X射线剂量增强系数,介绍了如何改进剂量增强系数实验测量的方法和实验测量装置,以及实验测量的详细过程.得到了两种不同类型场效应管的辐照数据,根据实验数据计算了其剂量增强系数.剂量增强效应十分明显,IRF540场效应管在阈电压1.5 V时相对剂量增强系数为16,IRF9530要小些,在阈电压为4v时相对剂量增强系数约7.5.     

Influence of Boron-Containing Dopants on Superconducting Properties of (Bi, Pb)-2223 HTS

The influence of addition of lead borate Pb(BO₂)₂ and boron oxide B₂O₃ on the phase evolution and superconducting properties of (Bi, Pb)-2223 HTSs synthesized by the solid-state reaction method in alumina crucibles has been studied. X-ray diffraction, resistivity, critical current density, and AC susceptibility measurements were performed on the prepared compounds. Obtained results have shown that boron-containing dopants lead to the drastic enhancement of the (Bi, Pb)-2223 phase formation. Boron-doped samples reveal a significant increase in both the zero resistivity temperature and transport critical current density compared to the undoped specimen. On the other hand, a high content of boron-containing dopants causes the appearance of a very low-T _c 2201 phase and leads to a deterioration of coupling between superconducting grain boundaries. Obtained results could enable us to develop a cheap and energy efficient fabrication technology for nearly single (Bi, Pb)-2223 phase superconducting materials via heat treatment of boron-incorporated precursors in an alumina crucibles.     

微量铅和铬酸盐对高压铝箔腐蚀行为的影响

研究了含微量铅和无铅高压阳极铝箔在铬酸系和非铬酸系溶液中的电化学腐蚀行为和对比电容的影响.用扫描电子显微镜观察了铝箔的腐蚀形貌.结果表明,重铬酸盐腐蚀和微量铅均可单独使高压阳极铝箔在腐蚀过程中发孔均匀,并提高比电容.相关的环保型高压铝箔生产技术还有待深入开展.     

Influence of absorbed dose and deep traps on thermoluminescence response: a numerical simulation

Numerical simulations based on standard rate equations are carried out to study the dependence of the thermoluminescence (TL) response on the absorbed dose. The model, which includes thermally stimulated exoelectronic emission (TSEE), uses three electron traps--two active and one thermally disconnected (TD)--and one deep hole trap acting as a recombination centre. After instantaneous creation of a given dose of electron-hole pairs, one first follows isothermal recombination and trap filling before simulating the TL readout. Influence of TD traps and specific effects due to trap saturation are illustrated. A systematic study of the TL response is performed in wide ranges of the determining parameters. The dose dependence is found to be quadratic, linear or intermediate according to their relative values. Results are explained in terms of recombination-trapping competition, trap occupancy and in relation with the presence of TSEE.     

Fe-Cr-Mo合金颗粒对磁流变弹性体损耗因子的影响

为改善磁流变弹性体(MRE)的阻尼性能,使用Fe-Cr-Mo合金颗粒(通过电火花方法制备得到)与硅橡胶混合制备得到了MRE样品.利用DHVTC振动测试系统测试了MRE在0~500 m T磁场范围内的动态剪切性能(激振频率为5 Hz,应变振幅为1.90%).重点研究了Fe-Cr-Mo颗粒对MRE的损耗因子的影响.结果表明,Fe-Cr-Mo合金颗粒含量达到70%时,MRE的零场损耗因子具有最大值0.24.此外,当磁场强度达到500 m T时,MRE(颗粒含量为60%)的损耗因子增加了13%.增加MRE中Fe-Cr-Mo合金颗粒含量,或者增大外磁场都会导致MRE损耗因子的提高.     

Influence of Electric Poling on Pb0.9Bi0.1Fe0.55Nb0.45O3 Multiferroic

This paper analyzes the influence of electric poling on structure, magnetism, and ferroelectricity by temperature-dependent Raman scattering (180 K–500 K), magnetic susceptibility, and ferroelectric measurements on Pb_0.9Bi_0.1Fe_0.55Nb_0.45O₃ (PBFNO) multiferroic. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has confirmed the monoclinic structure for PBFNO sample before and after poling. Rietveld refined XRD for poled and unpoled sample shows the influence of electric poling on Fe-O1, Fe-O2, Nb–O, and Bi-O modes with small variation in the lattice parameters. The unpoled PBFNO exhibits broad and overlapping 10 active modes at room temperature (100 to 1300 cm^?1) at 147, 212, 255, 431, 479, 561, 700, 795, 835, and 1112 cm^?1. In case of a poled sample, Pb–O and Nb–O-Nb modes become more active compared to the unpoled sample. Changes observed in the temperature-dependent magnetic measurements, i.e., ZFC/FC and M-H loop, evidence the poling effects on Fe–O and Nb–O active modes. By poling the improvement in ferroelectric domain, ordering occurs, and it is confirmed by P-E loops. The consequences of numerous investigations on electric poling of PBFNO will provide the foundation for future device development and design.

     

Magnetic and transport properties of 214 oxides: Dependence on doping

We consider how doping can be described in terms of the charge-transfer insulator concept. We discuss and compare a few models for the band structure for the doped charges. This has led us to the conclusion that the band structure stability problem is one of the main issues in any correspondence between results for thet-J model and, say, the three-band model for the slightly doped layered oxides. The stability criterion is formulated and its implications discussed. Provided a phenomenological conduction band is chosen to satisfy the criterion of stability, a detailed picture of how dopants influence the spin wave spectrum atT=0 is presented. The basic physics for the destruction of the antiferromagnetic (AF) long-range order is rather model-independent: the long-range order (atT=0) disappears due to the Cerenkov effect when the Fermi velocity first exceeds the spin wave velocity. We then discuss the overall spectrum of spin excitations and see that the spin wave attenuation for x<x _c,T= 0 due to Landau damping appears in the range of magnon momentak(x)=2m ^* s±x. We also argue that in the presence of superconductivity, the Cerenkov effect is eliminated due to the gap in the spectrum. This may restore the role of the AF fluctuations as the main source of dissipation at the lowest temperatures. A brief discussion of how interaction with magnons may affect the hole spectrum concludes the paper.