Volume 12, Issue 10

The analyses of radioactive isotopes 14C, 137Cs and 210Pb, and stable isotope 13C were performed in the sediment cores, top 40 cm, taken in 2011 from karst lakes Prošće and Kozjak in the Plitvice Lakes National Park, central Croatia. Frozen sediment cores were cut into 1 cm thick layers and dried. 14C activity in both carbonate and organic fractions was measured using accelerator mass spectrometry technique with graphite synthesis. 137Cs, 210Pb, 214Pb and 214Bi were measured by low level gamma spectrometry method on ORTECHPGe detector with the efficiency of 32%. Distribution of 14C activity from both lakes showed increase of the 14C activity in the top 10–12 cm in both carbonate and organic fractions as a response to thermonuclear bomb-produced 14C in the atmosphere in the sixties of the 20th century. Anthropogenically produced 137Cs was also observed in sediment profiles. Sedimentation rates for both lake sediments were estimated based on the unsupported 210Pb activity. Different 14C activity of the carbonate fraction (63–80 pMC, percent of modern carbon) and organic fraction (82–93 pMC) is the result of geochemical and biological processes of the sediment precipitation in the lake waters. This is also confirmed by the δ 13 C values of both fractions. Carbon isotope composition, a 14 C and δ 13 C, was compared with the lake sediments from the same lakes collected in 1989 and 2003.

The Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is based on selective uptake of boron in tumour tissue compared to the surrounding normal tissue. Infusion of compounds with boron is followed by irradiation with neutrons. Neutron capture on 10B, which gives rise to an alpha particle and recoiled 7Li ion, enables the therapeutic dose to be delivered to tumour tissue while healthy tissue can be spared. Here, therapeutic abilities of BNCT were studied for possible treatment of liver cancer using thermal and epithermal neutron beam. For neutron transport MCNP software was used and doses in organs of interest in ORNL phantom were evaluated. Phantom organs were filled with voxels in order to obtain depth-dose distributions in them. The result suggests that BNCT using an epithermal neutron beam could be applied for liver cancer treatment.

Plasma research poses a radiation hazard. Due to the program of deuterium plasma research using the PF-1000 device, it is an intensive source of neutrons (up to 1011 n · pulse −1) with energy of 2,45 MeV and ionizing electromagnetic radiation with a broad energy spectrum. Both types of radiation are mostly emitted in ultra-short pulses (∼100 ns). The aim of this work was to test and calibrate the RSS-131 radiometer for its application in measurements of ultra-short electromagnetic radiation pulses with broad energy spectrum emitted during PF-1000 discharge. In addition, the results of raw measurements performed in the control room are presented.

The paper provides experimental results of flash memory loss data investigation. Possible mechanisms of charge loss from storage element are reviewed. We provide some guidelines for flash memory evaluation to space application.

This paper presents a direct algebraic method of searching for analytic solutions of the two-dimensional time-independent Schrödinger equation that is impossible to separate into two one-dimensional ones. As examples, two-dimensional polynomial and Morse-like potentials are discussed. Analytic formulas for the ground state wave functions and the corresponding energies are presented. These results cannot be obtained by another known method.

We demonstrate the generation of two-mode continuous-variable (CV) entanglement in a V-type three-level atom trapped in a doubly resonant cavity using a microwave field driving a hyperfine transition between two upper excited states. By numerically simulating the dynamics of this system, our results show that the CV entanglement with large mean number of photons can be generated even in presence of the atomic relaxation and cavity losses. More interestingly, it is found that the intensity and period of entanglement can be enhanced significantly with the increasing of the atomic relaxation due to the existence of the perfect spontaneously generated interference between two atomic decay channels. Moreover, we also show that the entanglement can be controlled efficiently by tuning the intensity of spontaneously generated interference and the detuning of the cavity field.

In this paper we present non-singular Bianchi types I and V cosmological models, in the presence of bulk viscous fluid and within the framework of f(R,T) gravity theory. Exact solutions to the field equations are obtained by choosing a particular form of the function f(R,T) and a special value for the average scale factor of the model, which corresponds to a time- dependent deceleration parameter. The cosmological models initially accelerate for a certain period of time and thereafter decelerate. The physical and kinematical properties of the models of the universe are discussed.

We present a systematic study of the conditions for the generation of threshold energy eigen states and also the energy spectrum generated by two types of locally periodic delta potentials each having the same strength λV and separation distance parameter a: (a) sum of N attractive potentials and (b) sum of pairs of attractive and repulsive potentials. Using the dimensionless parameter g = λV a in case (a) the values of g = g n, n = 1, 2, …, N at which threshold energy bound state gets generated are shown to be the roots of Nth order polynomial D 1(N, g) in g. We present an algebraic recursive procedure to evaluate the polynomial D 1(N, g) for any given N. This method obviates the need for the tedious mathematical analysis described in our earlier work to generate D 1(N, g). A similar study is presented for case (b). Using the properties of D 1(N, g) we establish that in case (a) the critical minimum value of g which guarantees the generation of the maximum possible number of bound states is g = 4. The corresponding result for case (b) is g = 2. A typical set of numerical results showing the pattern of variation of g n as a function of n and several interesting features of the energy spectrum for different values of g and N are also described.