Assessment of health risk associated with natural gamma dose rate levels and isodose mapping of Jordan

ABSTRACT

As a pioneering study in Jordan, an extensive measurement for external gamma dose rate (GDR) was conducted. A portable gamma radiation detector was used to perform these measurements at 1?m above the soil surface. A geographical positioning system Garmin was used to record a total of 823 measured points. The GDRs’ measurement ranged from 35 to 470?nGy?h^?1 giving a mean value of 90?nGy?h^?1, which was found to be one and half times higher than the world average of 59?nGy?h^?1. The lowest mean GDR 72?nGy?h^?1 was found in the Albalqa governate, while the highest mean GDR 131?nGy?h^?1 was found to be for the Alkarak governate. The mean annual effective dose was found to be 0.551?mSv, which is higher than the world average value of 0.48?mSv. This is a pivotal study evaluating the risks associated with GDR levels in Jordan that were the relative excess lifetime cancer risk, the mean collective effective dose, the mean weighted GDR and the mean lifetime dose that are 2.24?×?10^?3, 5538manSv?y^?1, 0.531?mSv and 39?mSv, respectively. The cosmic rays mean GDR was determined to be 20?nGy?h^?1. This study focuses on constructing GDRs’ baseline data in Jordan, which will be used to determine the possible change in the natural radiation due to other human activities in the future. ArcGIS software was employed to generate an isodose map to characterise exposure rates caused by GDR in Jordan.     

Arc spaces and the Rogers–Ramanujan identities

Arc spaces have been introduced in algebraic geometry as a tool to study singularities but they show strong connections with combinatorics as well. Exploiting these relations, we obtain a new approach to the classical Rogers–Ramanujan Identities. The linking object is the Hilbert–Poincaré series of the arc space over a point of the base variety. In the case of the double point, this is precisely the generating series for the integer partitions without equal or consecutive parts.     

A new mixed integer program and extended look-ahead heuristic algorithm for the block relocation problem

This paper considers the block relocation problem (BRP), in which a set of identically-sized items is to be retrieved from a set of last-in-first-out (LIFO) stacks in a specific order using the fewest number of moves. The problem is encountered in the maritime container shipping industry and other industries where inventory is stored in stacks. After surveying the work done on the BRP, we introduce “BRP-III”—a new mathematical formulation for the BRP—and show that it has considerably fewer decision variables and better runtime performance than the other formulation in the literature. We then introduce a new look-ahead algorithm (LA-N) that is an extension of the algorithms from the literature and show that the new algorithm generally obtains better solutions than the other algorithms and has minimal CPU runtime.     

Experimental and theoretical electronic absorption spectra of 2,4‐diphenyl‐1,5‐benzothiazepine and its derivatives: Solvatochromic effect and time dependent density functional theory approach

Electronic spectra of 2,4‐diphenyl‐1,5‐benzothiazepine and some of its derivatives in 1,2‐dichloromethane and ethanol are investigated experimentally and theoretically using the time dependent density functional theory (TD‐DFT) method at the B3LYP/6‐311G** level of the theory. The origin of the spectrum of the parent compound is found to be an additive one. The observed ultra violet (UV) spectra in both solvents show two bands S1 in the range between 312–334 nm and S2 in the range between 248–272 nm. The solvent effect is investigated experimentally and theoretically and a blue shift is observed, which is explained in terms of a hydrogen bond model between the solvent and the most negative site of the solute (N atom). This theoretical model is robust in reproducing the experimental blue shift and calculating the hydrogen bond energy and hydrogen bond length. The extent of delocalization and charge transfer processes of the studied compounds is estimated and discussed in terms of natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis and second order perturbation interactions (E²) between donors and acceptors. The effect of substituents of the studied compounds in both solvents shows a noticeable red shift attributed to hyperconjugation effects of the π electron systems of the different moieties.     

MHD mixed convection in an inclined cavity containing adiabatic obstacle and filled with Cu–water nanofluid in the presence of the heat generation and partial slip

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present paper, the performance of the graphene oxide in the solar steam generation has experimentally been examined. For this purpose, a setup...     

Experimental studies of flow boiling heat transfer by using nanofluids

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Flow boiling heat transfer widely utilized in numerous industrial applications such as boiler tubes, evaporators and cooling of reactors in a nuclear...     

Sub-ppt level voltammetric sensor for Hg2+ detection based on nafion stabilized l-cysteine-capped Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Bimetallic nanoparticles (BMNPs) have received considerable attention due to their distinctive properties when compared to the corresponding monometallic...     

Breakdown of the giant spin model in the magnetic relaxation of the Mn6 nanomagnets

We study the spin dynamics in two variants of the high-anisotropy Mn6 nanomagnet by inelastic neutron scattering, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and magnetometry. We show that a giant-spin picture is completely inadequate for these systems and that excited S multiplets play a key role in determining the effective energy barrier for the magnetization reversal. Moreover, we demonstrate the occurrence of tunneling processes involving pair of states having different total spin.     

Monoolein and chitosan gels as potential carriers of the rhBMP-2, using decortication surgical technique in Wistar rats as experimental model

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the new bone tissue, comparing two different carriers for rhBMP-2, monoolein and chitosan gels, using the decortication and nondecorticatication surgical technique in rat mandibles, evaluated by histomorphometrical method. It was used 56 male Wistar rats (300g), divided into 8 groups according to the rhBMP-2 carrier used, monoolein or chitosan gels; surgical technique, bone decortication or nondecortication; and period of time, 3 or 6 weeks until the sacrifice by perfusion. Results obtained in this study showed that the rhBMP-2/monoolein and rhBMP-2/chitosan used in this experimental model was able to induce osteogenesis, contributing to the bone healing process. The bone repair process was time dependent, so that at 6 weeks there was an improved amount of new bone in relation to 3 weeks, considered each analyzed group, and the decortication was able to expose the bone marrow and speed up the bone healing process, which was showed by histomorphometrical methods. Both of carriers were capable to adapt to the bone surgical area, according to the clinical observations, and had favorable properties in relation to protein releasing, revealed by the amount of new bone tissue found in the histological analysis.     

Effect of unilateral extraction of molar teeth on suprahyoid muscles: macroscopic and ultrastructural aspects

Anatomical and physiologic components are parts of the stomatognathic system and their interaction results in integrated functional activities. Important alterations in the masticatory system originated by dental loss affect the bone, oral mucosa and muscular function. Dental arch structures specifically designed to receive and expose teeth allow performance of their functions. But the distinction between bony and soft tissues is lost when teeth are removed since there is not a specific function to be completed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the macroscopic and ultrastructural effects of the unilateral extraction of molar teeth on the suprahyoid muscles function, using twenty young male gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) as the experimental animal model. They were divided in experimental malocclusion (n=10) and control (n=10) groups. The experimental malocclusion group was submitted to exodontia of the left upper molars and the control group was not submitted to this procedure and served as sham-operated. For macroscopic analysis of the suprahyoid muscle, the skin was uplifted and the muscles dissected individually and removed for weight analysis according to Scherle method. The electron microscopy analysis was made in ultra thin sections of small suprahyoid muscle fragments from the experimental and control groups, examined in a Jeol 1010, 880Kv transmission electron microscope. Several micrographs at magnifications of 3000x, 6000x, 30,000x were randomly selected for the qualitative analysis of the muscle fiber ultrastructures. Sixty days after the induced unilateral occlusal alteration no macroscopic morphologic changes was detected in the suprahyoid muscles and the muscle volume differences between the right and left sides and between groups were not significant. However, in the ultrastructural analysis suprahyoid muscles showed characteristics of specific adaptation to the unilateral occlusal alteration, by the reduced density of subsarcolemmal mitochondria and the shorter and less numerous ramifications in intermyofibrilar mitochondria localized between electronlucid myofibrils. It is concluded that unilateral exodontia of all the upper left molars affect the ultrastructural morphology of suprahyoid muscle fibers.