Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Elementary Particles”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 667 records · Page 37Linked to original sources

Microscopic optical model calculations of 4He, 12C-nucleus absorption cross sections.

Calculations of absorption cross sections using a microscopic first-order optical potential for heavy-ion scattering are compared with experiments. In-medium nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross sections were used to calculate the two-body scattering amplitude. A medium-modified first-order optical potential was obtained for heavy-ion scattering using the in-medium two-body scattering amplitude. A partial wave expansion of the Lippmann-Schwinger equation in momentum space was used to calculate the absorption cross sections for various systems. The results are presented for the absorption cross sections for 4He-nucleus and 12C-nucleus scattering systems and are compared with the experimental values in the energy range 18-83A MeV. The use of the in-medium NN cross sections is found to result in significant reduction of the free space absorption cross sections in agreement with experiment.

Carbon↗

Study of the dosimetric characteristics of cosmic radiation at civil aviation altitudes.

The dependence of the doses on solar activity for intermediate levels of the solar modulation parameter has been studied by means of simulations carried out by the Monte Carlo transport code FLUKA. The vertical cut-off rigidities investigated lie between 0.4 and 6.1 GV. The calculated results show that the linear dependence proposed in a previous work, for the effective dose rate as a function of the solar modulation parameter, can be considered as an acceptable approximation. In addition, some dosimetric characteristics of cosmic radiation and some properties of the dosemeters in use for monitoring in the cosmic ray environment have been analysed with a view to simplifying measurements. The depth-dose curves in the ICRU sphere and the response of a tissue-equivalent ionisation chamber have been determined by the FLUKA code for a number of cosmic ray spectra On the basis of the calculated results, it is concluded that a value of the depth. d, which would make the ambient dose equivalent a conservative predictor of the effective dose, cannot be specified for cosmic radiation. However, the operational quantity can be useful in order to verify the predictions of Monte Carlo calculations. It is demonstrated that a crude approximation of the ambient dose equivalent could be obtained by multiplying by 2 the absorbed dose measured by a tissue-equivalent ionisation chamber with wall thickness of 10 mm.

Aircraft↗

The Italian national survey of aircrew exposure: II. On-board measurements and results.

The Italian survey of aircrew exposure has been carried out with different advanced dosimetric systems, as described in part I of this paper. The key strategy of the survey was to obtain on-board comparison of measurements for both passive and real-time detectors flown together with passengers. The survey has been carried out in the period of solar minimum (1995-1997), in which the exposure to galactic cosmic rays reaches its maximum value. Even though carrying out the survey in the period of solar minimum was entirely coincidental, this circumstance has been used to good advantage to obtain a comprehensive set of data of the galactic cosmic radiation with little or no disturbance by the solar activity modulation. This comprehensive set of data covers flight routes between -20 degrees and 75 degrees geographic latitude at different civil aviation altitudes. The survey obtained with different advanced dosimetric systems has been supplemented by a large variety of data gathered with passive stacks on different short-range and long-range flights at supersonic and subsonic altitudes. Some of the most important conclusions which can be drawn from the survey are: (i) aircrew of civil aviation receive annual doses within the range of 1 mSv to 6 mSv; (ii) data from different periods of solar minimum agree well, since the discrepancies encountered seem mainly due to the different dosimetric systems used; (iii) repeated measurements on the same route are highly consistent.

Aircraft↗

Fluence to effective dose conversion coefficients for electrons with energy from 1 MeV to 100 GeV.

Fluence to organ dose and effective dose conversion coefficients have been calculated for electrons from 1 MeV to 100 GeV using an anthropomorphic phantom and the EGS4 code. The conversion coefficients were calculated for six typical irradiation geometries taking electromagnetic cascade shower and photonuclear reactions into account. The contribution to the absorbed dose due to the photonuclear reactions in energies up to 140 MeV was evaluated to be less than 0.2%. Even at energies above 140 MeV the dose contributions of the photonuclear reactions were insignificant.

Electrons↗

Dosimetry for occupational exposure to cosmic radiation.

In the course of their work, aircraft crew and frequent flyers are exposed to elevated levels of cosmic radiation of galactic and solar origin and secondary radiation produced in the atmosphere, aircraft structure, etc. This has been recognised for some time and estimates of the exposure of aircraft crew have been made previously and included in, for example, UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) publications. The recent increased interest has been brought about by several factors--the consideration that the relative biological effectiveness of the neutron component as being underestimated; the trend towards higher cruising altitudes for subsonic commercial aircraft and business jet aircraft; and, most importantly, the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in Publication 60, and the revision of the Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive (BSS). In 1992, the European Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) established a Working Group to consider the exposure to cosmic radiation of aircraft crew, and the scientific and technical problems associated with radiation protection dosimetry for this occupational group. The Working Group was composed of fifteen scientists (plus a corresponding member) involved in this field of study and with knowledge of radiation measurement at aviation altitudes. This paper is based on the findings of this Working Group. Where arrangements are made to take account of the exposure of aircraft crew to cosmic radiation, dose estimation procedures will not be necessary for persons for whom total annual doses are not liable to exceed 1 mSv, and therefore, in general, for crew on aircraft not routinely flying above 8 km. Where estimates of effective dose and, in the case of female staff who are pregnant, equivalent dose to the embryo or fetus, are required (for regulatory or other purposes), it was concluded that the preferred procedure was to determine route doses and fold these with data on staff rostering.

Aircraft↗

Evaluation of the influence of aircraft shielding on the aircrew exposure through an aircraft mathematical model.

In order to investigate the influence of aircraft shielding on the galactic component of cosmic rays, an aircraft mathematical model has been developed by the combinatorial geometry package of the Monte-Carlo transport code FLUKA. The isotropic irradiation of the aircraft in the cosmic ray environment has been simulated. Effective dose and ambient dose equivalent rates have been determined inside the aircraft at several locations along the fuselage, at a typical civil aviation altitude (10 580 m), for vertical cut-off rigidity of 0.4 GV (poles) and 17.6 GV (equator) and deceleration potential of 465 MV. The values of both quantities were generally lower than those in the free atmosphere. They depend, in an intricate manner, on the location within the aircraft, quantity of fuel, number of passengers, etc. The position onboard of crew members should be taken into account when assessing individual doses. Likewise due consideration must be taken when positioning detectors which are used to measure H*(10). Care would be needed to avoid ambiguity when comparing the results of calculation with the experimental data.

Aircraft↗

The response of a bonner sphere spectrometer to charged hadrons.

Bonner sphere spectrometers (BSSs) are employed in neutron spectrometry and dosimetry since many years. Recent developments have seen the addition to a conventional BSS of one or more detectors (moderator plus thermal neutron counter) specifically designed to improve the overall response of the spectrometer to neutrons above 10 MeV. These additional detectors employ a shell of material with a high mass number (such as lead) within the polyethylene moderator, in order to slow down high-energy neutrons via (n,xn) reactions. A BSS can be used to measure neutron spectra both outside accelerator shielding and from an unshielded target. Measurements were recently performed at CERN of the neutron yield and spectral fluence at various angles from unshielded, semi-thick copper, silver and lead targets, bombarded by a mixed proton/pion beam with 40 GeV per c momentum. These experiments have provided evidence that under certain circumstances, the use of lead-enriched moderators may present a problem: these detectors were found to have a significant response to the charged hadron component accompanying the neutrons emitted from the target. Conventional polyethylene moderators show a similar behaviour but less pronounced. These secondary hadrons interact with the moderator and generate neutrons, which are in turn detected by the counter. To investigate this effect and determine a correction factor to be applied to the unfolding procedure, a series of Monte Carlo simulations were performed with the FLUKA code. These simulations aimed at determining the response of the BSS to charged hadrons under the specific experimental situation. Following these results, a complete response matrix of the extended BSS to charged pions and protons was calculated with FLUKA. An experimental verification was carried out with a 120 GeV per c hadron beam at the CERF facility at CERN.

Computer Simulation↗

Fluence to effective dose conversion coefficients calculated for monoenergetic electrons up to 200 MeV in partial exposure geometries.

Organ doses and effective doses were calculated for monoenergetic electrons from 0.1 to 200 MeV using the EGS4 Monte Carlo simulation code and the MIRD-5 human phantom in various non-uniform exposure geometries: anterior-posterior (AP) and posterior-anterior (PA). Below 1 MeV, the skin is the main contributor to the effective dose conversion coefficients for each exposure geometry; however, above 1 MeV the calculations showed that the effective doses of partial exposures depended on the incident electron energy, the place and the size of the exposure on the body.

Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation↗

Comparison doses of secondary neutron with the heavy ions in a 75-Mev/n heavy ion beam.

The angular distributions for neutrons of energy >6 MeV that are induced by 75 MeV/n 12C6+ and 16O8+ ions were measured with the activation method of Al threshold detectors at the radiobiological terminal of HIRFL. The data were obtained by a high-purity Ge(HpGe) detector. The results show that the neutron angular distributions produced by heavy ion beams are strongly peaked in the forward direction and decreased exponentially with angles in experimental area. The experimental conditions for these measurements were similar to those for biological experiments, so the results should be representative of neutrons produced by heavy ions during the biological experiments and tumour therapy. Comparing with the neutron doses produced by the heavy ion beam, the heavy ion dose is the main factor in biological effects and tumour therapy response, so the contribution of neutron dose can be neglected.

Carbon↗

Comparative performance tests of the FLUKA-RQMD system and EPAX 2 previsions vs. experimental data.

This work describes the tests performed on the RQMD module (available in the FLUKA code), to support nucleus-nucleus interactions above 100 MeV u(-1). The RQMD-FLUKA system was used to simulate directly simple experimental set-ups to reproduce both secondary hadron production and residual nuclei distributions with ion beams ranging from 100 to 800 MeV u(-1). Recent measurements of residual nuclei distributions due to interaction of light ion beams on high-purity targets were used as reference for testing the RQMD-FLUKA prediction capability. Together with FLUKA, the EPAX 2 code was considered as a further reference in fragmentation cross sections. EPAX shows a general tendency to underestimate the experimental fragmentation cross sections for the considered projectile-target combinations. EPAX underestimations are generally close to 40%, whereas FLUKA predictions are within 20% on the average.

Computer Simulation↗

Interstitial 252Cf neutron therapy for glioblastoma multiforme.

252Cf brachytherapy has been combined with whole brain photon beam therapy to 6000 rads in 5-7 weeks. In early phase I studies, all patients selected for study tolerated the procedure and the subsequent photon beam therapy. All showed improvement in performance status and decreased tumor size by CT scan evaluation, but it became clear that these tumors are of large size and bulk, produce marked adjacent brain edema, and require individualized implant therapy as well as high-dose external beam irradiation if response is to occur.

Brachytherapy↗