A fast-neutron coincidence collar using liquid scintillators for fresh fuel verification

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The IAEA has developed a liquid scintillator-based system for the non-destructive assay of 235U in fresh fuel assemblies. The fast neutron...     

Optical properties of black liquor and refractometric methods for monitoring the solid residue concentration in sulfate cellulose production

Measurements of the refractive index, its temperature dependence, and the optical transmission of black liquors produced during sulfate pulping are reported for soluble solid residue concentrations up to k ≅ 60 %. The design features of a commercial refractometer for monitoring the concentration of black liquor are examined briefly. A procedure is proposed for laboratory calibration of commercial sensors that employs black liquor solutions in highly refractive organic liquids as reference samples.     

Weak localization in bilayer graphene

We have performed the first experimental investigation of quantum interference corrections to the conductivity of a bilayer graphene structure. A negative magnetoresistance--a signature of weak localization--is observed at different carrier densities, including the electroneutrality region. It is very different, however, from the weak localization in conventional two-dimensional systems. We show that it is controlled not only by the dephasing time, but also by different elastic processes that break the effective time-reversal symmetry and provide intervalley scattering.     

Search for the Relationship between Particle Precipitation from the Earth’s Radiation Belt and Cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts

Physics of Atomic Nuclei - The article studies the relationship between particle precipitation from the Earth’s radiation belt and cosmic gamma-ray bursts. For this purpose, experimental...     

Sorption of phosphates on macroporous synthetic calcium silicates

The sorption of phosphate ions on macroporous synthetic calcium silicates has been studied and it has been evaluated whether the latter are suitable to serve as sorbents of geochemical barriers preventing phosphorus losses from agricultural soils.     

Impact of distinct chemical structures for the development of a methamphetamine vaccine

(+)-Methamphetamine (METH) use and addiction has grown at alarming rates over the past two decades, while no approved pharmacotherapy exists for its treatment. Immunopharmacotherapy has the potential to offer relief through producing highly specific antibodies that prevent drug penetration across the blood-brain barrier thus decreasing reinforcement of the behavior. Current immunotherapy efforts against methamphetamine have focused on a single hapten structure, namely linker attachment at the aromatic ring of the METH molecule. Hapten design is largely responsible for immune recognition, as it affects presentation of the target antigen and thus the quality of the response. In the current paper we report the systematic generation of a series of haptens designed to target the most stable conformations of methamphetamine as determined by molecular modeling. On the basis of our previous studies with nicotine, we show that introduction of strategic molecular constraint is able to maximize immune recognition of the target structure as evidenced by higher antibody affinity. Vaccination of GIX(+) mice with six unique METH immunoconjugates resulted in high antibody titers for three particularly promising formulations (45-108 μg/mL, after the second immunization) and high affinity (82, 130, and 169 nM for MH2, MH6, and MH7 hapten-based vaccines, respectively). These findings represent a unique approach to the design of new vaccines against methamphetamine abuse.     

Particle number density and velocity distributions in laser plumes

A time-of-flight mass spectrometer with electron impact ionization facility was used in investigations of the laser plume structure. Densities and velocity distributions of positively charged and neutral species were measured 12 cm downstream of the target. Velocities of particles in a plume were measured by the retarding potential method. The combination of a skimmer and declining electric field was used to suppress the influence of charged particles during the measurement of the neutral component parameters. In the case of YBaCuO ceramic laser ablation, a strong variation of the laser-induced plume composition was observed from its head to its tail. It seems to be accounted for by the difference of the starting (phase transition) temperatures of various layers of a plume. Ions detected mainly in the head of a plume were followed by atoms, molecules and clusters in inverse succession to their appearance in the plume under the light intensity increase. The characteristic of the number density dependence upon the laser spot diameter make it clear that most of the molecules BaO and YO are the direct product of ablation. In contrast, the detected clusters with masses up to 2000 amu are the product of condensation in the expanding plume under the conditions of the experiments.     

Automatic design of illumination systems

The approach for autodesign of optical characteristics of different illumination units such as backlight systems, led arrays and light boxes is considered. Suggested software solution allows finding optimal configuration of lighting scheme for providing necessary distribution of output light. Additional preprocessing phase is introduced in design process, which provides reduction of design iterations and better convergence compared to conventional design methods, utilizing random fluctuations of design parameter between iterations. The results of several designs of different kinds of illumination systems are presented.     

Studies of natural kaolinite and its modified forms

Modified forms of the natural and annealed at 700°C kaolinite have been fabricated by treatment using hydrochloric acid of different concentrations. The resulting samples were investigated using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, IR spectroscopy, and positron annihilation spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, etc. The dependencies of elements contents, dye adsorption, specific surface area, and specific internal volume on the concentration of hydrochloric acid have been determined. It has been demonstrated that the changes in the structure of annealed kaolinite were significantly increased by the increase of the concentration of acid, and also there were proportional changes in the values of specific surface area, internal volume, and dye adsorption. Changes in the structural parameters of natural kaolinite depend on the acid concentration in a less degree. Modification with acid results in obtaining solutions that contain metal chlorides. Precipitation of these metals in the form of oxides on the surface of kaolinite particles results in fabrication of new sorbents, whose yield is close to the quantitative one, whereas the kaolinite sorption characteristics become improved. Further kaolinite modification by cellulose under similar conditions results in fabrication of a new, more efficient sorbent. It has been demonstrated that natural kaolinite treated with 12% hydrochloric acid had lower friction coefficient than the annealed one.