Internal radiocesium contamination of adults and children in Fukushima 7 to 20 months after the Fukushima NPP accident as measured by extensive whole-body-counter surveys

The Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP accident contaminated the soil of densely-populated regions in Fukushima Prefecture with radioactive cesium, which poses significant risks of internal and external exposure to the residents. If we apply the knowledge of post-Chernobyl accident studies, internal exposures in excess of a few mSv/y would be expected to be frequent in Fukushima.Extensive whole-body-counter surveys (n = 32,811) carried out at the Hirata Central Hospital between October, 2011 and November, 2012, however show that the internal exposure levels of residents are much lower than estimated. In particular, the first sampling-bias-free assessment of the internal exposure of children in the town of Miharu, Fukushima, shows that the ¹³⁷Cs body burdens of all children (n = 1,383, ages 6–15, covering 95% of children enrolled in town-operated schools) were below the detection limit of 300 Bq/body in the fall of 2012. These results are not conclusive for the prefecture as a whole, but are consistent with results obtained from other municipalities in the prefecture, and with prefectural data.     

On the symmetry of three identical interacting particles in a one-dimensional box

We study a quantum-mechanical system of three particles in a one-dimensional box with two-particle harmonic interactions. The symmetry of the system is described by the point group D_3d$D_{3d}$. Group theory greatly facilitates the application of perturbation theory and the Rayleigh–Ritz variational method. A great advantage is that every irreducible representation can be treated separately. Group theory enables us to predict the connection between the states for the small box length and large box length regimes of the system. We discuss the crossings and avoided crossings of the energy levels as well as other interesting features of the spectrum of the system.     

Additive hazards regression with random effects for clustered failure times

Additive hazards model with random effects is proposed for modelling the correlated failure time data when focus is on comparing the failure times within clusters and on estimating the correlation between failure times from the same cluster, as well as the marginal regression parameters. Our model features that, when marginalized over the random effect variable, it still enjoys the structure of the additive hazards model. We develop the estimating equations for inferring the regression parameters. The proposed estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal under appropriate regularity conditions. Furthermore, the estimator of the baseline hazards function is proposed and its asymptotic properties are also established. We propose a class of diagnostic methods to assess the overall fitting adequacy of the additive hazards model with random effects. We conduct simulation studies to evaluate the finite sample behaviors of the proposed estimators in various scenarios. Analysis of the Diabetic Retinopathy Study is provided as an illustration for the proposed method.     

Synthesis,design of experiments and optimization of heterogeneous Fenton-like degradation of tartrazine by MgFe2O4 nano-catalyst

In this work, magnesium ferrites nanoparticles (MgFe₂O₄ NPs) were successfully fabricated by sol-gel auto-combustion (SGAC) method and were used in heterogeneous Fenton-like degradation of tartrazine. The obtained products were characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM and EDX. XRD studies confirmed that the synthesized MgFe₂O₄ NPs had a cubic spinel structure. The average crystallite size was evaluated using the Debyee Scherrer formula and found to be in the range 16.18–28.55 nm. In FTIR spectra, two primary absorption bands at 571 cm^?1 and 415 cm^?1 were observed. The spinel ferrites are characterized by these bands and the EDX confirms the presence of the desired elements Mg, Fe, and O. The influences of operating parameters were examined using the Box Behnken statistical design (BD), including magnesium ferrite dosage (0.04–0.12 g/L), tartrazine concentration (30–50 mg/L) and H₂O₂ concentration (3.53–7.06 mM). Using analysis of variance, a significant quadratic model was created. Optimum conditions were magnesium ferrite dosage of 0.092 g/L, tartrazine concentration of 30.21 mg/L and H₂O₂ concentration of 6.66 mM, respectively. The predicted degradation efficiency within the optimum conditions as established by the suggested model was 98.4%. Confirmatory tests were carried out and the degradation efficiency of 98.9% was observed, which was in good agreement with the model's prediction. After five recuperation and reapplications, the catalyst's degradation efficiency remains stable. These findings indicate that a heterogeneous Fenton-like process utilizing MgFe₂O₄ is effective in advanced wastewater treatment.     

Elementary Andreev processes in a driven superconductor–normal metal contact

We investigate the full counting statistics of a voltage-driven normal metal(N)–superconductor(S) contact. In the low-bias regime below the superconducting gap, the NS contact can be mapped onto a purely normal contact, albeit with doubled voltage and counting fields. Hence in this regime the transport characteristics can be obtained by the corresponding substitution of the normal metal results. The elementary processes are single Andreev transfers and electron- and hole-like Andreev transfers. Considering Lorentzian voltage pulses we find an optimal quantization for half-integer Levitons.     

基于kinect和unity的虚拟手抓取碰撞检测算法

针对目前碰撞检测算法效率低精度差的问题,提出了一种改进的层次方向包围盒（OBB）算法。首先通过位置关系判断虚拟手是否在物体包围球的邻近区域,然后用OBB和八叉树算法进行详细的碰撞检测,最后利用离散点到虚拟手简化面的矢量计算法实现精确的碰撞检测。实验结果表明,随着三维物体基元数目的增多,这种由粗略到精确递进的检测方式极大的提高了碰撞检测的效率和精度,具有可行性。该算法适用于任何复杂场景中刚体结构模型的碰撞检测,在运行时候不存在滞后情况,显示流畅,而且碰撞检测精度高,完全能够满足虚拟环境实时性和精确性的要求。     

Fragmentation of fuel pellets during transport via a belt conveyor: A design of experiment study

This work investigates the proportion of generated fines in a pilot-scale experiment using a belt conveyor and commercial fuel pellets. For this, a belt conveyor with a length of 3.1 m was used and operated at varying conditions: speeds, percentages of material loading on the belt, two combinations of the inclination angle of the belt and the falling height, and a different number of handling steps. We considered a design of experiments approach based on response surface methodology to investigate the effect of different conditions on the potential of fines generation. Moreover, a comparison between the results of the belt conveyor and three common benchmark experimental approaches (tumbling box, rotary impact tester, and mechanical compression test) was made. Results show that the number of handling steps and the combined effect of drop height and inclination angle directly affected the fines generation. However, the tested belt speed range and the level of loading were of lower significance. A polynomial quadratic model was derived based on the regression analysis and showed a high accuracy to predict the proportion of fines. Moreover, the tumbling box method showed good potential to predict the proportion of fines in a belt conveyor when transported several times.     

基于超短脉冲的癌细胞荧光光谱

研究用于癌症诊断与治疗的光敏剂血卟啉(hematoporphyrin derivative,HPD)的超快光动力学过程。采用超短脉冲激光光谱技术和皮秒时间相关单光子计数系统,测量经血卟啉培养的活体癌细胞与正常细胞的荧光光谱、荧光寿命特性及荧光峰值强度随时间的变化,观测到:癌细胞样品在645nm处具有特征发射光谱峰;癌细胞与正常细胞样品荧光寿命的快成分分别为150,300ps;癌细胞与正常细胞的荧光峰值强度经12h分别衰减10%和55%。对测量所得的荧光光谱曲线及时间分辨荧光衰减曲线分析,计算出:在癌细胞内部血卟啉浓度增大了约2个数量级;癌细胞与正常细胞的荧光寿命分别为824,1798ps;血卟啉在癌细胞与正常细胞样品中滞留时间分别为17,6d。测量结果确认了荧光光谱技术诊断与治疗癌症的可行性,并对发展超短脉冲激光光谱技术早期诊断与治疗癌症具有重要的指导意义和临床应用价值。     

单颗粒光散射显微成像技术在生化医药分析中的应用

等离子体纳米颗粒(PNPs)具有体积小、易表面修饰、生物相容性好、毒性低等优点,在生物传感、生物成像、疾病诊断、肿瘤治疗、材料科学等领域得到了广泛的应用.PNPs的光散射光学性质可以通过调节其大小、组成、形貌和微环境来控制,可用于生化和药物分析.此外,由于单粒子散射显微技术具有高空间分辨率和高灵敏度,借助PNPs具有的...     

Quantification of measurement uncertainty in the sequential determination of <Superscript>210</Superscript>Pb and <Superscript>210</Superscript>Po by liquid scintillation counting and alpha-particle spectrometry

Methodologies for the quantification of measurement uncertainties associated with the determination of ²¹⁰Pb- and ²¹⁰Po-specific activities by liquid scintillation counting (LSC) and alpha-particle spectrometry are presented, and are demonstrated using the soil reference material IAEA-326. Major contributors to the combined uncertainty associated with the measurement result of ²¹⁰Pb were the uncertainties of net count rates in the ²¹⁰Pb energy region of the sample spectrum and in the ²¹⁰Bi energy region of the blank spectrum. The predominant sources of uncertainty in the measurement of ²¹⁰Po were the uncertainties of net count rates in the regions of interest of ²⁰⁹Po and ²¹⁰Po. The relative standard uncertainty of ²¹⁰Po exponentially increases with the time interval between the sampling date and the separation date of Po, and this effect is strongly dependent on the ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb activity ratio. When the specific activity of ²¹⁰Pb is much higher than that of ²¹⁰Po in the sample, the relative standard uncertainty of the ²¹⁰Po determination increases significantly within a short time interval between the sampling date (or reference date) and the separation date of Po in samples.