Accumulation of <Superscript>137</Superscript>Cs and <Superscript>40</Superscript>K in aboveground organs of tropical woody fruit plants

Distribution of ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs in tissues of the Citrus aurantifolia was measured by gamma spectrometry. A simple theoretical model is also proposed to describe the temporal evolution of ⁴⁰K activity concentration in such tropical woody fruit species. This model exhibits close agreement with the ⁴⁰K experimental results, in the leaf growing and fruit ripening processes of lemon trees.     

Analysis and risk estimates to workers of Brazilian granitic industries and sandblasters exposed to respirable crystalline silica and natural radionuclides

Occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica and to radiation emitted by natural radionuclides present both in rocks and sands was studied in the Brazilian extractive process and granite product manufacture. Respirable airborne dust samples were collected in working environments, where workers perform different tasks with distinct commercial granites types, and also in places where sandblasters work with sands from different origins. The free crystalline silica contents were determined using X-ray diffraction of the respirable particulate fraction of each sample. Dust samples from granite cutting and sandblasting ambient had the natural radionuclides concentrations measured by gamma spectrometry. Dust concentrations in the workplaces were quite variable, reaching values up to 10 times higher than the respirable particle mass threshold limit value (TLV) set by the American Conference for Governmental Industrial Hygienists of 3 mg m^?3. Also the free crystalline silica concentrations were high, reaching values up to 48 times the TLV of 0.025 mg m^?3. Additionally, our results suggest that the risk of radiation-induced cancer in the granite or marble industries is negligible. However, the combined exposure to dust, gamma radiation, and radon daughter products could result in the enhancement of lung cancer risks associated to sandblasting activities.     

Characterization of carbonate rocks through X-ray microfluorescence and X-ray computed microtomography

Carbonate rocks play an important role in petroleum geology by acting as reservoir rocks, generators, and even hydrocarbon sealants, accounting for about half of the oil and gas reserves known in the world. The study of these carbonate rocks have become very important in the hydrocarbon exploration scene in Brazil because of they consist in analogous for reservoir rocks of the presalt interval. Thus, the objective of this research was to use X-ray microfluorescence (micro-XRF) and X-ray microtomography analysis, as complementary techniques, in order to characterize samples of carbonate rocks in respect to their structures, textures, mineralogy, and pores. The microtomographic analyses allowed the identification of the horizontal structures as parallel lamination, horizontal, and vertical fractures filled by calcite and biotic constituents (gastropods bioclasts). Different composition of minerals were also identified, as calcite, quartz, feldspars, iron sulfides, and oxides. The porosity (ranges <1 to17%), and the high-density elements could also be quantified, as well as their distribution in each sample. The micro-XRF analysis present a direct relationship with the distribution of minerals that compound carbonate rocks, highlighting some structures, as well as helping to identify trace and minor elements in the carbonates (Mn, Sr, and Mg).     

Measurement of the D(s)+ lifetime

A high statistics measurement of the D(s)+ lifetime from the Fermilab fixed-target FOCUS photoproduction experiment is presented. We describe the analysis of the two decay modes, D(s)+ --> phi(1020)pi+ and D(s)+ -->K*(892)0K+, used for the measurement. The measured lifetime is 507.4 +/- 5.5(stat) +/- 5.1(syst) fs using 8961 +/- 105 D(s)+ --> phi(1020)pi+ and 4680 +/- 90 D(s)+ --> K*(892)0K+ decays. This is a significant improvement over the present world average.     

Disentangling the effects of phonation and articulation: Hemispheric asymmetries in the auditory N1m response of the human brain

Background  

The cortical activity underlying the perception of vowel identity has typically been addressed by manipulating the first and second formant frequency (F1 & F2) of the speech stimuli. These two values, originating from articulation, are already sufficient for the phonetic characterization of vowel category. In the present study, we investigated how the spectral cues caused by articulation are reflected in cortical speech processing when combined with phonation, the other major part of speech production manifested as the fundamental frequency (F0) and its harmonic integer multiples. To study the combined effects of articulation and phonation we presented vowels with either high (/a/) or low (/u/) formant frequencies which were driven by three different types of excitation: a natural periodic pulseform reflecting the vibration of the vocal folds, an aperiodic noise excitation, or a tonal waveform. The auditory N1m response was recorded with whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) from ten human subjects in order to resolve whether brain events reflecting articulation and phonation are specific to the left or right hemisphere of the human brain.     

An alternative Avrami equation to evaluate kinetic parameters of the interaction of Hg(II) with thin chitosan membranes

In this work, thin chitosan membranes were utilized as an adsorbent for the removal of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions. A rise of temperature accelerates the mass transfer of Hg(II) to the membranes, surfaces. The kinetic data did not present a good fitting to the traditional Lagergren adsorption kinetic equations. An alternative Avrami kinetic equation was employed and successfully fitted to the kinetic adsorption quantities. From this new equation, two regions presenting distinct kinectic parameters were found, and the use of the parameter n was also relationed to the determination of the kinetic order. Variations of the adsorption kinetic rate in relation to the time, the initial Hg(II) concentration, and the temperature were also calculated and are discussed.