Estimation of Ra-224 Content in Egyptian Black Sand by the Can- and Alpha-Autoradiography Techniques using LR-115 Plastic Detectors

Sealed can- and alpha-autoradiography techniques were used to estimate the effective and real contents of Ra-224 respectively in Egyptian black sand samples collected from Rosetta City in the Nile Delta at the North Coast of Egypt. The effective Ra-224 content was found to be 15 ± 3 Bq · kg^?1. From the average chemical composition of the black sand samples, the range-energy relation for the alpha-particles of the thorium series was calculated. Assuming radioactive equilibrium, the real Ra-224 content for samples collected from different regions were found to range from 90 to 900 Bq · kg^?1. As a result, the total emanation power was measured and then used to estimate grain diameter of the black sand. The average mass exhalation rate of the different locations in Rosetta City was also estimated.     

Appraisal of radioactivity and associated radiation hazards in sand samples of four rivers of Punjab province,Pakistan

Natural and anthropogenic radioactivity of sand and water samples collected from the four big rivers of Punjab province, Pakistan, was measured using a high-purity germanium detector coupled with a high resolution multichannel analyser. The average concentration of the naturally occurring radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in all the sand samples from the rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Indus was found to be 22±0.6, 36±1 and 287±10 Bq?kg ^?1, respectively, while the concentration of the anthropogenic radionuclide ¹³⁷Cs was found to be below the minimum detectable activity, i.e. ～ 1.2 Bq?kg ^?1. All the sand samples have Ra_eq concentrations lower than the limit of 370 Bq?kg ^?1. Indoor (H _in) and outdoor (H _out) radiation hazard indices were calculated for the samples to assess the radiation hazards arising due to the use of this sand in construction, and were found to be less than unity in the study area. Calculated values of the absorbed dose rate were less than the typical world average value of 59 nGy?h ^?1, and the annual effective dose rate was also less than the typical world value of 70 μSv, except in the Indus river, in which it is slightly higher then the world average. Results show that the measured values are comparable with other global radioactivity measurements. None of the studied riverbeds was considered a radiological hazard, and their sand can be safely used in construction.     

Identification of aerosol particle sources in semi‐rural area of Kwabenya,near Accra,Ghana, by EDXRF techniques

Small aerosol particles have for a long time been known to be harmful to humans, and are today regarded to cause a larger number of deaths than traffic accidents globally. Energy dispersive x‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF) is a well known method that has been used for identification of toxic as well as non‐toxic elements in the particles. The combination of elements will together with other information help to identify the sources and predict the effects of particles on environment and human health. The present work was conducted in Kwabenya, a suburb of the capital Accra of Ghana, which is frequently exposed to Harmattan dust from the Sahara–Sahel region. In total 171 filters each of PM2.5 and PM(2.5–10) were collected during 1 year. Levels of elements, black carbon (BC) and mass, were determined for both particle sizes. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the datasets from Harmattan and non‐Harmattan periods. The daily average of PM10 was very high, 179 µg m^?3 and the BC contents were 4 µg m^?3. The presence of crustal elements was large in PM(2.5–10) as well as in PM2.5, and had a more than tenfold increase in PM(2.5–10) during the Harmattan period. Major characteristic elements for different sources were identified from correlation coefficients and regression analysis of the data. Sahara sand aerosol was the major source in both study periods, but influence from biomass burning, sea‐spray and metal industries was also observed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The parameters of binary black hole system in PKS 1510-089

Observations of PKS 1510-089 indicate the existence of a deep flux minimum with a timescale of \sim 35 min and an interval of about 336±14 d. A binary black hole system is proposed to be at the nucleus of this object. The secondary black hole orbits around the primary black hole. The minimum is caused by the periodic eclipse of the primary black hole by the secondary black hole. Based on the observations of PKS 1510-089, we estimate the parameters of the binary black hole system. The masses for the primary and secondary black holes are 1. 37×10⁹M_{\odot} (M_{\odot} is the solar mass) and 1. 37 \times 10⁷M_{\odot} , and the major axis for this pair being about 0.1 parsec(pc).     

Natural radioactivity levels and associated health hazards from the terrestrial ecosystem in Rosetta branch of the River Nile,Egypt

Twenty soil and 25 sediment samples were collected from the banks and bottom of the River Nile in the surroundings of biggest cities located close to it. Natural radioactivity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K have been evaluated for all samples by means of γ spectrometric analysis. The radioactivity levels of soil and sediment samples fall within the internationally recommended values. Nevertheless, high natural background radiation zones are detected in the Kafr El-Zayat region due to the presence of a fertilizer factory, and in the Rosetta region due to the presence of black sand deposits. The absorbed dose rate, the γ index and excess life time cancer risk are calculated. High values for some of the radiation health parameters are detected in the Kafr El-Zayat and Rosetta regions representing a serious problem to public health because the soil and sediment are used as constructing material for buildings. Furthermore, the isotope analysis of uranium for representative collected sediment samples via α spectrometry showed average specific activities of 18.7?±?3.6, 0.087?±?0.0038 and 18.6?±?3.8 Bq kg^–1 for ²³⁴U, ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U, respectively. In general, these values confirm the balance in the isotopic abundance of U isotopes.     

Radioactivity of sand,groundwater and wild plants in northeast Sinai,Egypt

The radioactivity levels are poorly studied in non-coastal arid regions. For this reason, 38 locations covering an area of about 350 km² in northeast Sinai, Egypt, were investigated by γ-ray spectroscopy. Moderately significant correlations among ²³⁸U, ²³⁴Th, and ²²⁶Ra isotopes and low significant correlations between the concentrations of ²³⁸U-series and ²³²Th in sand were obtained. No evidence of correlation was found between the concentrations of radioisotopes and pH, grain size, total organic matter content, bicarbonate or calcium carbonate concentrations of the sand samples. The mean values of soil-to-plant transfer factor were 0.15, 0.18, 1.52 and 0.74 for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cs, respectively. The range of concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K in water samples collected from five wells were<0.4–0.16,<0.4–0.13, and<0.15–1.62 Bq l^?1, respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate in outdoor air at a height of 1 m above the ground surface for the sand samples was 19.4 nGy h^?1. The Ra_eq activities of the sands are lower than the recommended maximum value of 370 Bq kg^?1 criterion limit for building materials.     

Synchrotron peak luminosity,black hole mass and Eddington ratio for SDSS flat-spectrum radio quasars

For a sample of 185 flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) constructed from the SDSS DR3 quasar catalog, we found a significant correlation between the synchrotron peak luminosity and both the black hole mass and Eddington ratio. This implies that the physics of its jet formation is not only tightly related with the black hole mass, but also with the accretion rate. We verify that the synchrotron peak luminosity can be a better indicator of jet emission than 5 GHz luminosity, through comparing the relationships between each of these two parameters and both black hole mass and Eddington ratio. The fundamental plane of black hole activity for our FSRQs is established as L _r ∝ L ^0.80±0.06_x M ^{−0.04±0.09}_bh with a weak dependence on black hole mass, however, the scatter is significant.

     

Investigation of black phosphorus field-effect transistors and its stability

In this paper, the electrical properties of black phosphorus(BP) are investigated. Back-gated field-effect transistors (FETs) array with different channel length are fabricated on the same BP nanoflake. The device exhibits high current on/off ratio (5 × 10³), high field-effect mobility (130 cm² V^?1 s^?1) and low contact resistance (917 Ω μm). In addition, the stability of BP device is also explored. Results show that the 10 nm Al₂O₃ dielectric layer can effectively depress the exposure of BP flakes with air and then protect the BP devices from ambient degradation. There is no noticeable degradation in device performance for the devices with 10 nm Al₂O₃ passivating layer even after being exposed in air for 2 weeks.     

Estimation of microbial methane generation and oxidation rates in the municipal solid waste landfill of Kaluga city,Russia

Using a theoretical model and mass isotopic balance, biogas (methane and CO₂) released from buried products at their microbial degradation was analysed in the landfill of municipal and non-toxic industrial solid organic waste near Kaluga city, Russia. The landfill contains about 1.34×10⁶ tons of waste buried using a ‘sandwich technique’ (successive application of sand–clay and waste layers). The δ¹³C values of biogenic methane with respect to CO₂ were?56.8 (±2.5) ‰, whereas the δ¹³C of CO₂ peaked at+9.12‰ (+1.4±2.3‰ on average), reflecting a virtual fractionation of carbon isotopes in the course of bacterial CO₂ reduction at the landfill body. After passing through the aerated soil layers, methane was partially oxidised and characterised by δ¹³C in the range of?50.6 to?38.2‰, evidencing enrichment in ¹³C, while the released carbon dioxide had δ¹³C of?23.3 to?4.04‰, respectively. On the mass isotopic balance for the δ¹³C values, the methane production in the landfill anaerobic zone and the methane emitted through the aerated landfill surface to the atmosphere, the portion of methane oxidised by methanotrophic bacteria was calculated to be from 10 to 40% (averaged about 25%). According to the theoretical estimation and field measurements, the annual rate of methane production in the landfill reached about 2.9(±1.4)×10⁹ g C CH₄ yr^?1 or 5.3(±2.6)×10⁶ m³ CH₄ yr^?1. The average rates of methane production in the landfill and methane emission from landfill to the atmosphere are estimated as about 53 (±26) g C CH₄ m^?2 d^?1 (or 4 (±2) mol CH₄ m^?2 d^?1) and 33 (±12) g C CH₄ m^?2 d^?1 (or 2.7 (±1) mol CH₄ m^?2 d^?1), respectively. The calculated part of methane consumed by methanotrophic bacteria in the aerated part of the landfill was 13(±7) g C CH₄ m^?2 d^?1 (or 1.1(±0.6) mol CH₄ m^?2 d^?1) on average.     

Gamma-ray bursts from evaporating primordial black holes

It is believed that the detection of gamma-ray bursts from evaporating primordial black holes is highly improbable in the near future since the expected photon flux, consisting mainly of photons with energies ? GeV, is too low. Contrary to this point of view, we show that a large fraction of the black hole power at the final stage of evaporation (the last 10³ s) can be liberated as a burst of soft γ-ray emission of duration 10^?1–10³ s and luminosity 10²⁸–10³¹ erg/s in the energy range 0.1–1 MeV. According to our calculations of the black hole evaporation rate (within the Standard Model of elementary particles), when the black hole temperature exceeds approximately 10 GeV, the charged particle outflow from a black hole forms a well-defined plasma and can be described in the hydrodynamic approximation. In this case more than half of the rest energy of a black hole can be converted into soft gamma-rays due to the presence of the magnetic field with energy density comparable to that of charged particles. We consider various mechanisms leading to such transformation and estimate their efficiency. It is shown that, at least, some of the gamma-ray bursts detected by BATSE can be associated with evaporating black holes.     

Spin and mass of the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Center

A new method for exact determination of the masses and spins of black holes from the observations of quasi-periodic oscillations is discussed. The detected signal from the hot clumps in the accretion plasma must contain modulations with two characteristic frequencies: the frequency of rotation of the black hole event horizon and the frequency of the latitudinal precession of the clump’s orbit. Application of the method of two characteristic frequencies for interpretation of the observed quasi-periodic oscillations from the supermassive black hole in the Galactic center in the X-rays and in the near IR region yields the most exact, for the present, values of the mass and the spin (Kerr parameter) of the Sgr A* black hole: M = (4.2 ± 0.2) × 10⁶ M _⊙ and a = 0.65 ± 0.05. The observed quasi-periodic oscillations with a period of about 11.5 min are identified as the black hole event horizon rotation period and those with a period of about 19 min are identified as the latitudinal oscillation period of the hot spot orbits in the accretion disk.     

Radioactivity in Montenegro beach sands and assessment of the corresponding environmental risk

Activity concentrations of the naturally occurring radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K and anthropogenic ¹³⁷Cs in sand samples collected from 20 renowned beaches on the Coast of Montenegro have been determined using an HPGe (high purity Ge spectrometer). The average activity concentrations were found to be 7.4, 5.2, 97.3 and 0.5 Bq kg^?1, respectively. For all sand samples, the radium equivalent activity has been evaluated and found to be lower than the limit of 370 Bq kg^?1. External and internal hazard indices were less than unity. The gonadal dose equivalent was estimated to be on average 75 μSv y^?1, which is about four times lower than the global average for soil (0.3 mSv y^?1). Calculated values of absorbed dose rates showed the range from 3.1 to 28 nGy h^?1, which is below the world median of average values (57 nGy h^?1). The effective dose rate in the range from 3.8 to 34.4 μSv y^?1 was significantly below the recommended limit value for the public (1 mSv y^?1). The highest dose rate was found for the Velika Plaza locality, which also showed heavy metal contents (As, B, Cd, Hg, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn and Ba) significantly higher than in the sand from Jaz, a locality with one of the lowest dose rates.     

Bound on induced gravitational wave background from primordial black holes

The today’s energy density of the induced (second order) gravitational wave background in the frequency region ∼10⁻³–10³ Hz is constrained using the existing limits on primordial black hole production in the early Universe. It is shown, in particular, that at frequencies near ∼40 Hz (which is the region explored by LIGO detector), the value of the induced part of Ω_GW cannot exceed (1−3) × 10⁻⁷. The spread of values of the bound is caused by the uncertainty in parameters of the gravitational collapse of black holes.     

<Superscript>210</Superscript>Pb and <Superscript>210</Superscript>Po levels in sediments,water, and bioindicators in the Cananeia-Iguape estuary-Sao Paulo-Brazil

The purpose of this work was to determine levels of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in seawater, sediment cores, fish and seafood as well as to estimate the concentration factors and the bioindicators for ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in marine organisms collected in the estuary. ²¹⁰Pb levels in seawater varied from 2.1 to 6.2 mBq.L^?1 and for ²¹⁰Po ranged from 1.6 to 4.1 mBq.L^?1. ²¹⁰Pb concentration factors in fish varied from 0.5×10² to 0.8×10³, in crustaceans from 0.5×10³ to 0.2×10⁴ and in shellfish from 0.2×10⁴ to 0.3×10⁴. ²¹⁰Po concentration factors in fish varied from 0.9×10² to 0.5×10⁴, in crustaceans from 0.5×10⁴ to 0.2×10⁵ and in shellfish from 0.3×10⁵ to 0.9×10⁵. The results obtained to the concentration factors indicated that shellfish and crustaceans are good bioindicators for the radionuclides studies. Some species of fish also accumulated significantly quantities of these radionuclides.     

Gamma-ray bursts from evaporating primordial black holes

It is believed that the detection of gamma-ray bursts from evaporating primordial black holes is highly improbable in the near future since the expected photon flux, consisting mainly of photons with energies ≳ GeV, is too low. Contrary to this point of view, we show that a large fraction of the black hole power at the final stage of evaporation (the last 10³ s) can be liberated as a burst of soft γ-ray emission of duration 10⁻¹–10³ s and luminosity 10²⁸–10³¹ erg/s in the energy range 0.1–1 MeV. According to our calculations of the black hole evaporation rate (within the Standard Model of elementary particles), when the black hole temperature exceeds approximately 10 GeV, the charged particle outflow from a black hole forms a well-defined plasma and can be described in the hydrodynamic approximation. In this case more than half of the rest energy of a black hole can be converted into soft gamma-rays due to the presence of the magnetic field with energy density comparable to that of charged particles. We consider various mechanisms leading to such transformation and estimate their efficiency. It is shown that, at least, some of the gamma-ray bursts detected by BATSE can be associated with evaporating black holes. Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 36–45, January, 1998.     

Lithium diffusion in Li<Subscript>3</Subscript>V<Subscript>2</Subscript>(PO<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>3</Subscript>-based electrodes: a joint analysis of electrochemical impedance,cyclic voltammetry,pulse chronoamperometry,and chronopotentiometry data

In order to establish the mechanism and to determine the parameters of lithium transport in electrodes based on lithium-vanadium phosphate (Li₃V₂(PO₄)₃), the kinetic model was designed and experimentally tested for joint analysis of electrochemical impedance (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), pulse chronoamperometry (PITT), and chronopotentiometry (GITT) data. It comprises the stages of sequential lithium-ion transfer in the surface layer and the bulk of electrode material’s particles, including accumulation of lithium in the bulk. Transfer processes at both sites are of diffusion nature and differ significantly, both by temporal (characteristic time, τ) and kinetic (diffusion coefficient, D) constants. PITT data analysis provided the following D values for the predominantly lithiated and delithiated forms of the intercalation material: 10^?9 and 3 × 10^?10 cm² s^?1, respectively, for transfer in the bulk and 10^?12 cm² s^?1 for transfer in the thin surface layer of material’s particles. D values extracted from GITT data are in consistency with those obtained from PITT: 3.5–5.8 × 10^?10 and 0.9–5 × 10^?10 cm² s^?1 (for the current and currentless mode, respectively). The D values obtained from EIS data were 5.5 × 10^?10 cm² s^?1 for lithiated (at a potential of 3.5 V) and 2.3 × 10^?9 cm² s^?1 for delithiated (at a potential 4.1 V) forms. CV evaluation gave close results: 3 × 10^?11 cm² s^?1 for anodic and 3.4 × 10^?11 cm² s^?1 for cathodic processes, respectively. The use of complex experimental measurement procedure for combined application of the EIS, PITT, and GITT methods allowed to obtain thermodynamic E,c dependence of Li₃V₂(PO₄)₃ electrode, which is not affected by polarization and heterogeneity of lithium concentration in the intercalate.     

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering sensing on black silicon

Reactive ion etching was used to fabricate black‐Si over the entire surface area of 4‐inch Si wafers. After 20 min of the plasma treatment, surface reflection well below 2% was achieved over the 300–1000 nm spectral range. The spikes of the black‐Si substrates were coated by gold, resulting in an island film for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing. A detection limit of 1 × 10^?6 M (at count rate > 10² s^?1 . mW^?1) was achieved for rhodamine 6G in aqueous solution when drop cast onto a ～ 100‐nm‐thick Au coating. The sensitivity increases for thicker coatings. A mixed mobile‐on‐immobile platform for SERS sensing is introduced by using dog‐bone Au nanoparticles on the Au/black‐Si substrate. The SERS intensity shows a non‐linear dependence on the solid angle (numerical aperture of excitation/collection optics) for a thick gold coating that exhibits a 10 times higher enhancement. This shows promise for augmented sensitivity in SERS applications.     

A black hole preying on the star for a gamma-ray burst of GRB080503: Evidence for the second event in this new class

In this paper, we critically assess GRB080503, a short gamma-ray burst with very bright extended emission (about 30 times the gamma-ray fluence of the initial spike). The light curve of the prompt γ-ray emission of GRB080503 resembles that of GRB 060614 which has been suggested to be due to an event from an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) preying on a star. We therefore propose that GRB080503 is also due to a similar event; the mass of the IMBH is estimated to be about 4.6×10⁴ solar masses, and the engulfed star had about the same mass and size as the Sun. We also estimate that the total burst energy is about 7.67 × 10⁵⁰ ergs.

     

Measurement of the parity non-conservation in nuclear forces in 75As, 171Tm,and 175Lu and of the polarized bremsstrahlung from 51Cr, 170Tm, 177Lu,and 198Au

The circular polarization P of γ-rays from unpolarized sources of ⁷⁵Se, ¹⁷¹Er, and ¹⁷⁵Yb of strengths ? 500 Ci has been measured with a Compton polarimeter of the radial transmission type. Eight NaI crystals and a four-fold current integration system were used to simultaneously record the data in four independent channels. The results are: P = ?(1.8 ± 6.0) × 10^?5 for the 401 keV transition in ⁷⁵As (the experimental error is ± 1.5 × 10^?5, the remaining part is due to the uncertainty in the decay scheme of ⁷⁵Se), P = (0.8 ± 1.5) × 10^?4 for the 296 keV and 308 keV transition in ¹⁷¹Tm, and P = (5.7 ± 0.8) × 10^?5 for the 396 keV transition in ¹⁷⁵Lu. The last value confirms the parity non-conservation in nuclear forces. The polarimeter was calibrated with bremsstrahlung from ¹⁷⁰Tm. The correction for polarized bremsstrahlung was given special attention. Correction factors are derived for ⁵¹Cr, ¹⁷⁷Lu, and ¹⁹⁸Au from a comparison of the measured and calculated bremsstrahlung yields.     

The weight,shape, and speed of the universe

Present astronomical data indicate an unbound universe with density ～1.6 × 10^?31 g cm^?3 in which galaxies could not have formed gravitationally. We show how magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) processes allow galaxy formation in an open anisotropic MHD universe with shear, rotation, and fluid flow. The dipole anisotropy of the microwave background radiation sets their respective first-order values at 3.7×10^?15 yr^?1, 10^?14 yr^?1, and 5×10^?4 c. Second-order effects of Maxwell and Reynolds stresses require that the magnetic field, shear, and Hubble expansion be 10^?8 G, 3.7×10^?15 yr^?1, and 10^?10 yr^?1 (100 km sec^?1 Mpc^?1). The model is rigidly self-consistent, predicting both the recent value of the Hubble expansion above and of the shear (? 9×10^?15 yr^?1) given by the microwave background's recently measured quadrupole anisotropy.