Thorium in quartz glass: Significance for activation analysis of excreta

The thorium content of quartz glass tubing was found to vary greatly from very low values (<5 ng Th/g) to about 300 ng Th/g. When trace amounts of thorium are to be determined by activation analysis, e.g. in excreta, thorium content of quartz glass irradiation vials has to be taken into consideration. Analysis of fecal ash samples from persons living in the Vienna area who were not occupationally exposed to thorium containing dust, gave thorium excretion rates in feces of 0.5 to 8 g per day. For occupationally exposed persons some of the values were much higher, up to 70 g per day.     

Fullerene ionization dynamics after single photon excitation with synchrotron radiation

Ionization dynamics of free C₆₀ is investigated after single photon excitation with synchrotron radiation in the energy range between 8.9 eV and 27.6 eV. Upper limits for the time constants describing possible delayed ionization are obtained from peak shape asymmetries in time of flight spectra as a function of excitation energy. The results clearly indicate that delayed ionization is not observed after single photon excitation in contrast to the results obtained in ns-laser MPI experiments.     

Oxidation of sulphide minerals-III determination of sulphate and thiosulphate in oxidised sulphide minerals

A method has been developed to determine sulphate and thiosulphate in small amounts of the oxidation products of sulphide minerals. The sample is treated with ammonium sulphide solution to promote ion-exchange between sulphide ion and the sulphur-bearing anions of the oxidation products. Sulphate is determined alone and then all other sulphoxy anions are oxidized to sulphate and determined as such. The non-sulphate anions are reported as thiosulphate. The relative error is about 10% or less for 2 mg or more of sulphoxy anion. Although this method does not yield exact results with respect to sulphite or polythionates, a clearer understanding of the oxidation of sulphide minerals is now available.     

Radium-226 in uranium mill tailings

A study of the physical state of²²⁶Ra in uranium mill tailings was undertaken by Chemex Laboratories Ltd. under contract to NUTP. A test portion of a leached uranium ore was collected just prior to neutralization with lime and subjected to repetitive batch water leaching. The leachates were analyzed for barium, lead,²²⁶Ra, iron and sulphate. The experimental results suggest that²²⁶Ra is co-precipitated with lead sulphate during uranium leaching of the ore with sulphuric acid. The attainment of equilibrium conditions in the pore water of the leached ore then allows a re-proportioning of²²⁶Ra between solid lead and barium sulphates resulting in a depletion of²²⁶Ra in the outer layers of the crystals of solid lead sulphate and an enrichment in²²⁶Ra in the outer layers of solid barium sulphate.     

The stability of the certified reference ores MP-1 KC-1 and SU-1 towards air oxidation

The stability of three certified reference sulphide ores, MP-1, KC-1 and SU-1, towards air oxidation has been measured at 50 degrees and 40, 62 and 82% relative humidity, and at 62% relative humidity and 34 degrees and 67 degrees . Both the relative humidity and temperature affect the rate of oxidation but their relative importance depends on the mineralogical composition of the ore. Changes in the water-extractable metals and elemental sulphur content on oxidation have been determined. It is concluded that these ores may be stored safely in sealed bottles under normal laboratory conditions.     

TPEPICO studies near ionization threshold of argon and krypton clusters

Single photon ionization of argon and krypton clusters has been studied in the region between threshold and the ionization potential of the corresponding atom. Synchrotron radiation from the electron storage ring BESSY is used to ionize the clusters; threshold-photo-electron-photoion-coincidence (TPEPICO)-time-of-flight technique is used to detect ions correlated with the emission of zero-kinetic-energy-electrons. The spectra of the clusters in the range ofn=2 to 15 are discussed in view of the extensive fragmentation taking place in these systems. In order to characterize the properties of the clusters a method using scaling laws is applied. The principles and the deduction of Hagena's scaling parameter Γ* are briefly reviewed. Using Γ* an experimentally derived mean cluster size for molecular beams can be assigned. This allows one to clearly demonstrate the systematic variations of the measured spectra due to cluster fragmentation. As a general feature it is observed that, in the range studied, the peak in the measured ionization rate for a cluster ion (fragment) of a given size shifts to higher photon energies as the mean cluster size is increased.     

On the threshold for the Maker‐Breaker H‐game

We study the Maker‐Breaker H‐game played on the edge set of the random graph . In this game two players, Maker and Breaker, alternately claim unclaimed edges of , until all edges are claimed. Maker wins if he claims all edges of a copy of a fixed graph H; Breaker wins otherwise. In this paper we show that, with the exception of trees and triangles, the threshold for an H‐game is given by the threshold of the corresponding Ramsey property of with respect to the graph H. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 49, 558–578, 2016     

Resilience of perfect matchings and Hamiltonicity in random graph processes

Let {G_i} be the random graph process: starting with an empty graph G₀ with n vertices, in every step i ≥ 1 the graph G_i is formed by taking an edge chosen uniformly at random among the nonexisting ones and adding it to the graph G_{i ? 1}. The classical “hitting‐time” result of Ajtai, Komlós, and Szemerédi, and independently Bollobás, states that asymptotically almost surely the graph becomes Hamiltonian as soon as the minimum degree reaches 2, that is if δ(G_i) ≥ 2 then G_i is Hamiltonian. We establish a resilience version of this result. In particular, we show that the random graph process almost surely creates a sequence of graphs such that for edges, the 2‐core of the graph G_m remains Hamiltonian even after an adversary removes ‐fraction of the edges incident to every vertex. A similar result is obtained for perfect matchings.     

Methanol Mitigation during Manufacturing of Fruit Spirits with Special Consideration of Novel Coffee Cherry Spirits

Methanol is a natural ingredient with major occurrence in fruit spirits, such as apple, pear, plum or cherry spirits, but also in spirits made from coffee pulp. The compound is formed during fermentation and the following mash storage by enzymatic hydrolysis of naturally present pectins. Methanol is toxic above certain threshold levels and legal limits have been set in most jurisdictions. Therefore, the methanol content needs to be mitigated and its level must be controlled. This article will review the several factors that influence the methanol content including the pH value of the mash, the addition of various yeast and enzyme preparations, fermentation temperature, mash storage, and most importantly the raw material quality and hygiene. From all these mitigation possibilities, lowering the pH value and the use of cultured yeasts when mashing fruit substances is already common as best practice today. Also a controlled yeast fermentation at acidic pH facilitates not only reduced methanol formation, but ultimately also leads to quality benefits of the distillate. Special care has to be observed in the case of spirits made from coffee by-products which are prone to spoilage with very high methanol contents reported in past studies.