Rare complication resulting from radiotherapy of spinal cord malignancy

A rare complication of irradiation is reported of a ten-year-old boy who had been treated by supervoltage irradiation following decompressive-laminectomy for his primary spinal cord neoplasm.

He probably received average dose of (4500) rads to a limited segment of his duodenum, within the six weeks. He developed this complication nine months after the completion of treatment. The dose-time-volume factors are considcred sufficient enough to produce such complications, however, there were apparent contributory factors such as unusual duodenal fixation and duodeno-jejunal ligament foreshortening.     

Proton induced modification in Poly(ethylene terephthalate)

A systematic investigation of 62 r MeV proton irradiated Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) has been carried out using Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The experiments revealed a restoration of the crystalline matrix and simultaneous decrease in thermal stability in the irradiated polymer as a function of dose, indicating that PET underwent both degradation and cross-linking by proton irradiation.     

Persistence of microstructural evolution in irradiated metals and its consequences at high radiation exposure

Abstract

A review is presented of a very general aspect of the response of all metals subjected to displacive irradiation. This aspect is referred to as «persistence» and describes the tendency of both radiation-induced microstructural evolution and the associated changes in material properties or dimensional stability to evolve to saturation states that resist further change upon continued irradiation. It is shown that new persistent states can develop on a longer time frame associated with the late-term loss of existing microstructural components or the gain of new components, especially when transmutation and/or segregation occurs. The persistent states are often dependent on the irradiation conditions, and if these are changed, the material usually adjusts to form the persistent state characteristic of the new conditions, with the memory of the former state often lost, and sometimes leaving no visible record of the former state in the new microstructure. Depending on the microstructural components involved, the transition toward the new persistent state can occur quickly or very slowly.     

Metallic Li colloids studied by 7 Li MAS NMR in electron-irradiated LiF

7 Li MAS NMR spectra of 2.5 v MeV electron-irradiated LiF crystals have been measured in a field of 9.4 v T. Besides the resonance line of the ionic compound, a second well-separated spectrum is observed in the region of the Knight shift value for metallic lithium. At room temperature, the latter can be decomposed into two components with different Knight shift and linewidth values. When the temperature is increased, line narrowing takes place at first, indicating shortening of correlation times for self-diffusion, independently in both components. Above 370 v K, both lines broaden and approach each other before collapsing into a single line. The high ppm component disappears after crossing the melting temperature of metallic lithium (454 v K). The two lines are attributed to different types of metallic Li: one to bulk-like metal, the other to Li present initially under pressure and relaxing to the former under thermal treatment.     

Crystal plasticity modeling of irradiation growth in Zircaloy-2

Abstract

A physically based reaction-diffusion model is implemented in the visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) crystal plasticity framework to simulate irradiation growth in hcp Zr and its alloys. The reaction-diffusion model accounts for the defects produced by the cascade of displaced atoms, their diffusion to lattice sinks and the contribution to crystallographic strain at the level of single crystals. The VPSC framework accounts for intergranular interactions and irradiation creep, and calculates the strain in the polycrystalline ensemble. A novel scheme is proposed to model the simultaneous evolution of both, number density and radius, of irradiation-induced dislocation loops directly from experimental data of dislocation density evolution during irradiation. This framework is used to predict the irradiation growth behaviour of cold-worked Zircaloy-2 and trends compared to available experimental data. The role of internal stresses in inducing irradiation creep is discussed. Effects of grain size, texture and external stress on the coupled irradiation growth and creep behaviour are also studied and compared with available experimental data.     

Improved thermal stability of crosslinked PTFE using fluorine gas treatment

Crosslinked PTFE (XF) samples were fluorinated at 293-593 K under 0.7-101 kPa F₂ and for 1 h to 7 days to improve its thermal stability. Because the weight uptake which may be caused by the fluorine addition was detected at room temperature, CC bonds in XF can be fluorinated and the fluorine content was saturated after 72 h. Weights of all samples increased more than that of original XF through additional fluorination of CC bonds, whereas it decreased by the chain-scission to form gaseous fluorocarbons such as CF₄. The intensity ratio in IR spectra of the peaks correspond to the double bond (CFCF₂) at 1785 cm⁻¹ and the characteristic peaks of PTFE at 1794 cm⁻¹, I_PTFE/I_PTFE was smaller for the fluorinated XF rather than that for XF. Average values of heat of crystallization (ΔH_c) for all fluorinated XF samples were about 2 J/g higher than that of the original XF. The decomposition temperature calculated from the TG curves increased with increasing reaction temperature and reaction time up to 72 h. Thermal stability of XF was improved through fluorine gas treatment.     

Photo-Induced Switching of CO2 Hydrogenation Pathway towards CH3OH Production over Pt@UiO-66-NH2(Co)

It is highly desired to achieve controllable product selectivity in CO₂ hydrogenation. Herein, we report light-induced switching of reaction pathways of CO₂ hydrogenation towards CH₃OH production over actomically dispersed Co decorated Pt@UiO-66-NH₂. CO, being the main product in the reverse water gas shift (RWGS) pathway under thermocatalysis condition, is switched to CH₃OH via the formate pathway with the assistance of light irradiation. Impressively, the space-time yield of CH₃OH in photo-assisted thermocatalysis (1916.3 μmol g_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹) is about 7.8 times higher than that without light at 240 °C and 1.5 MPa. Mechanism investigation indicates that upon light irradiation, excited UiO-66-NH₂ can transfer electrons to Pt nanoparticles and Co sites, which can efficiently catalyze the critical elementary steps (i.e., CO₂-to-*HCOO conversion), thus suppressing the RWGS pathway to achieve a high CH₃OH selectivity.     

Multifrequency electron paramagnetic resonance study on deproteinized human bone

Irradiated samples of deproteinized powdered human bone (femur) have been examined by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy in X, Q and W bands. In the bone powder sample only one type of CO2- radical ion is stabilized in the hydroxyapatite structure in contrast to powdered human tooth enamel, a material also containing hydroxyapatite, widely used for EPR dosimetry and in which a few radicals are stable at room temperature. It is suggested that the use of deproteinized bone for EPR dosimetry could improve the accuracy of dose determination.     

采用EPR谱和TEM对YSZ单晶辐照损伤的研究

 利用电子顺磁共振(EPR)谱和透射电子显微镜(TEM)研究了YSZ单晶的辐照效应。200 keV的Xe和400 keV的Cs离子注入［111］取向的YSZ单晶中,注量均为5×10¹⁶ cm^-2。EPR结果表明辐照产生了共振吸收位置g‖=1.989 和 g⊥=1.869、对称轴为［111］的六配位Zr³⁺顺磁缺陷。Cs辐照产生了比Xe 离子辐照多约150倍的六配位Zr³⁺顺磁缺陷。两种样品的剖面电子显微分析表明没有发现非晶化转变,但是Cs离子辐照的样品在损伤集中区域产生了密度较高的缺陷。因此,EPR谱和电子显微观察均说明在相同离位损伤(约160 dpa)的情况下,Cs离子辐照比Xe 离子辐照产生了更多的缺陷。造成这一现象的原因是Cs离子是化学活性的而Xe 离子却是惰性的。     

天然钻石与合成钻石的特异性光谱初步研究

通过紫外-可见-近红外(UV-Vis-NIR) 吸收光谱、傅里叶变换红外(FTIR)光谱及钻石观测仪( DiamondViewTM)对天然钻石、经辐照或热处理的天然钻石、高温高压(HTHP)合成钻石及化学气相沉积(CVD)合成钻石进行了较系统的谱图及微区生长结构的对比研究。结果表明：天然钻石、经辐照或高温退火处理后的天然钻石、高温高压(HTHP)合成钻石的UV-Vis-NIR吸收谱图在200～1 100 nm区间谱图的反射率变化明显。相比之下,CVD合成钻石的反射率的变化相对较小。基于钻石样品的红外光谱分析,在其图谱中的800～1 600 cm-1区间,合成钻石样品、特别是CVD合成钻石在上述区间无明显的特征吸收峰位。此外,DiamondViewTM检测表明：一般而言,经HTHP处理后的CVD合成钻石出现平行的位错线,并呈现淡蓝色荧光。部分天然钻石可见典型的八面体生长线或称为树的年轮状图像,且因样品经辐照与高温高压处理后其荧光图像的颜色发生改变。高温高压合成钻石呈现出块状几何生长图像。限于钻石样品类别的多样性及合成钻石工艺的复杂且不断更新特征,天然钻石与合成钻石 的UV-Vis-NIR或FTIR光谱特征存在一定的相似性,因此不具有典型天然钻石图谱特征的样品需进一步辅以DiamondViewTM、光致发光光谱等其他检测仪器予以综合分析。