Radioactive analysis and radiological hazards in different types of Egyptian cement

Studies of the natural γ-emitting radionuclides in different types of cements manufactured by different companies in Egypt (e.g. Iron (HI), Karnak (HK), and Super fine (HSu) products from Helwan Ltd.) have been done to determine their natural levels of radioactivity using a high-purity germanium detector (HPGe). Knowledge of radioactivity present in cement materials enables one to assess any possible radiological risks to human health. The results show that the highest mean values of ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th activity are 234.01±20.12 and 46.56±4.65 Bq kg^?1, respectively, measured in cement sample ‘Iron’ from Helwan company (HI). The corresponding value of ⁴⁰K is 333.53±26.68 Bq kg^?1 measured in cement sample ‘Karnak’ from Helwan company (HK). For ¹³⁷Cs, this value is 3.27±0.31 Bq kg^?1 measured in cement sample (HI). The average concentrations of measured radionuclides in the different cement samples are 72.21±6.39, 24.98±2.24, 134.49±10.45, and 0.58±0.08 Bq kg^?1 for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cs, respectively. The measured activity concentrations for these radionuclides were compared with the reported data of other countries. Radium equivalent (Ra_eq) activities and different hazard indices were calculated to assess the radiation hazard. Iron HI cement sample shows a higher Ra_eq activity of 311.91±31.10 Bq kg^?1. Calculations of absorbed doses in nGy h^?1 show that the Iron (HI), Karnak (HK), and Super fine (HSu) products from Helwan company have higher activities than the permissible level (80 nGy h^?1). On the basis of the external hazard index (H _ex), Ra_eq activities, and annual effective dose rates for organs (H _organ), the natural radioactivity of cement samples is not greater than the recommended values in the established standards and hence safe for use in building constructions and therefore for inhabitants.     

Radioactivity concentrations in topsoil samples from the Thrace region of Turkey and assessment of radiological hazard

The activity concentrations of gamma emitting radionuclides were measured in surface soil samples from the Thrace region. ²³²Th, ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs activities and physico-chemical parameters of the soil samples were determined in samples collected from 73 sampling stations. Radionuclide concentrations measured were compared with those found in the samples from other locations of Turkey and from different countries. The average activity concentrations of ²³²Th, ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs were found to be 24.71 ± 8.79, 22.30 ± 7.93, 32.09±12.44, 509.00±160.05, 32.74±29.24 Bq kg^?1, respectively. The mean value of the annual effective dose equivalent from the outdoor terrestrial gamma radiation was calculated as 57.2 μ Sv.     

Modeling natural gas market volatility using GARCH with different distributions

In this paper, we model natural gas market volatility using GARCH-class models with long memory and fat-tail distributions. First, we forecast price volatilities of spot and futures prices. Our evidence shows that none of the models can consistently outperform others across different criteria of loss functions. We can obtain greater forecasting accuracy by taking the stylized fact of fat-tail distributions into account. Second, we forecast volatility of basis defined as the price differential between spot and futures. Our evidence shows that nonlinear GARCH-class models with asymmetric effects have the greatest forecasting accuracy. Finally, we investigate the source of forecasting loss of models. Our findings based on a detrending moving average indicate that GARCH models cannot capture multifractality in natural gas markets. This may be the plausible explanation for the source of model forecasting losses.     

小型天然气液化装置在我国天然气工业中的应用前景分析

天然气是一种洁净的能源,在国家环保安全和能源保障方面具有重要意义。液化天然气是天然气推广应用的重要形式。文中分析了小型天然气液化装置在我国天然气工业上游的零散气田和边远气田天然气、油田伴生气以及煤层气等领域和下游的液化天然气汽车和城市燃气调峰等领域的应用前景,指出小型天然气液化装置的应用将推动我国天然气工业的发展,为我国的能源结构调整和可持续发展发挥作用。     

Natural abundance (17)O NMR spectroscopy of rat brain in vivo

Oxygen is an abundant element that is present in almost all biologically relevant molecules. NMR observation of oxygen has been relatively limited since the NMR-active isotope, oxygen-17, is only present at a 0.037% natural abundance. Furthermore, as a spin 5/2 nucleus oxygen-17 has a moderately strong quadrupole moment which leads to fairly broad resonances (T(2)=1-4 ms). However, the similarly short T(1) relaxation constants allow substantial signal averaging, whereas the large chemical shift range (>300 ppm) improves the spectral resolution of (17)O NMR. Here it is shown that high-quality, natural abundance (17)O NMR spectra can be obtained from rat brain in vivo at 11.74 T. The chemical shifts and line widths of more than 20 oxygen-containing metabolites are established and the sensitivity and potential for (17)O-enriched NMR studies are estimated.     

原子光谱线增宽的原因

本文从理论上给出了原子光谱线增宽的几种原因 ,即 :①自然线宽 ,它是原子的内禀特性 (即在跃迁中所涉及到的能级的特性 ) ;②多普勒增宽 ,它是原子无规则热运动的结果 ;③碰撞增宽 ,它是原子间相互作用的结果。并对这几种原因分别给出了数量级上的估算。对原子光谱的测定具有参考意义。     

制冷空调系统替代工质的发展现状及方向

本文主要针对CFC11、CFC12以及HCFC22介绍了目前替代工质的发展现状,阐述了混合工质以及氨、二氧化碳、碳氢化合物等自然工质作为替代工质的特点以及其发展现状,总结了制冷空调系统替代工质的发展方向。     

Geometries, stabilities, and electronic properties of gold-magnesium (AunMg) bimetallic clusters

The geometrical structures, relative stabilities, and electronic properties of bimetallic Au_nMg (n=1-8) clusters have been systematically investigated by means of first-principle density functional theory. The results show that the ground-state isomers have planar structures for n=1-7. Here, the calculated fragmentation energies, the second-order difference of energies, the highest occupied-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps, and the hardness exhibit a pronounced odd-even alternation, manifesting that the clusters, especially Au₂Mg, with even-number gold atoms have a higher relative stability. On the basis of natural population analysis, the charge transfer and magnetic moment are also discussed.     

A Monte Carlo study for the shielding of γ backgrounds induced by radionuclides for CDEX

The CDEX (China Dark matter EXperiment) Collaboration will carry out a direct search for WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) using an Ultra-Low Energy Threshold High Purity Germanium (ULE-HPGe) detector at the CJPL (China JinPing deep underground Laboratory). A complex shielding system was designed to reduce backgrounds and a detailed GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation was performed to study the achievable reduction of γ rays induced by radionuclides and neutron backgrounds by D(γ,n)p reaction. Furthermore, the upper level of allowed radiopurity of shielding materials was estimated under the constraint of the expected goal. Compared with the radiopurity reported by other low-background rare-event experiments, it indicates that the shielding used in the CDEX can be made out of materials with obtainable radiopurity.     

Cross sections for (d–t) neutron interaction with germanium isotopes

The cross sections for (n,x)$(n,x)$ reactions with Ge isotopes were measured at (d–t) neutron energies around 14 MeV with the activation technique using metal discs of natural composition. Calculations of detector efficiency, incident neutron spectrum and correction factors were performed with the Monte Carlo technique (MCNP4C code). Cross sections data are presented for ⁷⁰Ge(n,2n$n,2n$)⁶⁹Ge, ⁷⁴Ge(n,α$n,\alpha$)^71mZn, ⁷⁶Ge(n,2n$n,2n$)^75(m + g)Ge, ⁷⁰Ge(n,p$n,p$)⁷⁰Ga and ⁷²Ge(n,2n$n,2n$)^71gGe reactions. The cross section results for ⁷²Ge(n,2n$n,2n$)^71gGe reaction were reported for the first time. Some other cross sections were obtained with higher precision, including the ⁷⁰Ge(n,p$n,p$)⁷⁰Ga reaction. Theoretical calculations of excitation functions were performed with the TALYS-1.0 code and compared with the experimental cross section values. Data were included in the EXFOR database.