[en] The radioactive materials in ''public'' locations are typically contained in small, stainless steel capsules known as sealed radiation sources (RS). These capsules seal in the radioactive materials, but not the radiation, because it is the radiation that is needed for a wide variety of applications at hospitals, medical clinics, manufacturing plants, universities, construction sites, and other facilities in the public sector. Radiation sources are readily available, and worldwide there are hundreds of thousands of RS. The IMPRSS Project is a cooperative development between the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA), Egyptian Ministry of Health (MOH), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), New Mexico Tech University (NMT), and Agriculture Cooperative Development International (ACDI/VOCA). SNL will coordinate the work scope between the participant organizations

[en] Purpose: To assess the performance of Varian’s real-time, Optical Surface Monitoring System (OSMS) by measuring relative regular and irregular surface detection accuracy in 6 degrees of motion (6DoM), across multiple installations. Methods: Varian’s Intracranial SRS Package includes OSMS, which utilizes 3 HD camera/projector pods to map a patient surface, track intra-fraction motion, and gate the treatment beam if motion exceeds a threshold. To evaluate motion-detection accuracy of OSMS, we recorded shifts of a cube-shaped phantom on a single Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator as known displacements were performed incrementally across 6DoM. A subset of these measurements was repeated on identical OSMS installations. Phantom motion was driven using the TrueBeam treatment couch, and incremented across ±2cm in steps of 0.1mm, 1mm, and 1cm in the cardinal planes, and across ±40° in steps of 0.1°, 1°, and 5° in the rotational (couch kick) direction. Pitch and Roll were evaluated across ±2.5° in steps of 0.1° and 1°. We then repeated this procedure with a frameless SRS setup with a head phantom in a QFix Encompass mask. Results: Preliminary data show OSMS is capable of detecting regular-surfaced phantom displacement within 0.03±0.04mm in the cardinal planes, and within 0.01±0.03° rotation across all planes for multiple installations. In a frameless SRS setup, OSMS is accurate to within 0.10±0.07mm and 0.04±0.07° across 6DoM. Additionally, a reproducible “thermal drift” was observed during the first 15min of monitoring each day, and characterized by recording displacement of a stationary phantom each minute for 25min. Drift settled after 15min to an average delta of 0.26±0.03mm and 0.38±0.03mm from the initial capture in the Y and Z directions, respectively. Conclusion: For both regular surfaces and clinical SRS situations, OSMS exceeds quoted detection accuracy. To reduce error, a warm-up period should be employed to allow camera/projector pod thermal stabilization.

[en] ¹⁰Be (t/sub 1/2) = 1.5 MY) is(formed in the upper atmosphere by cosmic ray spallation on nitrogen and oxygen. It is transported to the earth's surface via precipitation. In the oceans it is eventually associated with solid phases depositing on the ocean floor such as manganese nodules and deep-sea sediments. One of the assumptions that is normally made in analysis of such processes is that ¹⁰Be has been produced at a relatively uniform rate over the pat several million years. If we assume, in addition, that the initial specific concentration of ¹⁰Be as it precipitates with a solid phase is invariant with time, then we would expect that the decrease of the ¹⁰Be concentration as a function of depth in a deep-sea core or in a manganese nodule would provide a record of sediment accumulation rate in the former and of growth rate in the latter. The possibility of using cosmic-ray produced ¹⁰Be for the dating of marine deposits had been proposed 25 years ago by Arnold and Goel et al. The method of analysis used by these investigators, and those subsequently pursuing the problem, was low-level β counting. Though the potential of using ¹⁰Be for dating manganese nodules was explored more than a decade ago, only a few measurements of ¹⁰Be in nodules exist in date. This is largely because of the ¹⁰Be measurements in environmental samples have gained considerable momentum during the past 3 to 4 years, after the development of accelerator mass spectrometry for its determination

[en] The frequency of micronuclei assayed in lymphocytes obtained from 73 young adults increases significantly with the age, but not the sex, of the donor. The dose of medical X-rays absorbed by the lymphocytes in the 2 years before the examination has no significant effect on micronucleus frequency, provided the data are adjusted for age. However, a small significant increase in frequency is associated with X-ray examinations that involve the injection of contrast media into the blood. (author)

[en] The concentration profiles of ⁹Be, ¹⁰Be, ²³⁰Th, ²³²Th, ²³¹Pa (via ²²⁷Th) and ²³⁸U have been measured in three manganese nodules, one each from the North Pacific (A47-16(4)), the South Pacific (TF-5) and the Indian Ocean (R/V Vitiaz). In addition the ¹⁰Be concentration in deep water from the GEOSECS reoccupation station 500 of the North Pacific, and in box cores raised from the manganese nodule field in the North Pacific have been measured. The ¹⁰Be concentration in nodule and seawater samples was measured by the accelerator mass spectrometric technique employing the Yale Tandem Van de Graaff accelerator. The concentrations of ¹⁰Be, ²³⁰Thsub(exc) and ²³¹Pasub(exc) and ratios of ¹⁰Be/⁹Be and ²³⁰Thsub(exc)/²³²Th all decrease with depth in the nodules. This decrease, interpreted in terms of nodule growth, yields 'average' growth rates of a few millimeters per million years for the nodules. The growth rates of the nodules exhibit temporal variations, both on short time (approx. equal to 50,000 years) and long time (several million years) scales. (orig./ME)

[en] We have measured the proton recoil polarization in the ⁴He(polarized-e, e-prime, p)³H reaction at Q² = 0.5, 1.0, 1.6, and 2.6 (GeV/c)². The measured ratio of polarization transfer coefficients differs from a fully relativistic calculation, favoring the inclusion of a predicted medium modification of the proton form factors based on a quark-meson coupling model. In contrast, the measured induced polarizations agree reasonably well with the fully relativistic calculation indicating that the treatment of final-state interactions is under control

[en] The quasielastic (e,e[prime]p) reaction was studied on targets of deuterium, carbon, and iron up to a value of momentum transfer Q2 of 8.1 (GeV/c)2. A nuclear transparency was determined by comparing the data to calculations in the plane-wave impulse approximation. The dependence of the nuclear transparency on Q2 and the mass number A was investigated in a search for the onset of the color transparency phenomenon. We find no evidence for the onset of color transparency within our range of Q2. A fit to the world's nuclear transparency data reflects the energy dependence of the free-proton-nucleon cross section

[en] The first measurements of the d(gamma,p)n differential cross section at forward angles and photon energies above 4 GeV were performed at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). The results indicate evidence of an angular dependent scaling threshold. Results at theta_cm = 37^o are consistent with the constituent counting rules for E_gamma∼> 4 GeV, while those at 70^o are consistent with the constituent counting rules for E_gamma ∼> 1.5 GeV

[en] The A(e,eiK+)YX reaction on H, D, ³He, and ⁴He was investigated in Hall C at CEBAF. Data were obtained for Q² ∼ 0.35 and 0.5 GeV² at 3.245 GeV. The missing mass spectra for both H and D are fitted with Monte-Carlo simulations incorporating peaks corresponding to Lambda production on the proton and Sigma production on both the proton and neutron. For D, the cross section ratio Sigma⁰/Sigma^- ∼ 2, and excess yield close to the thresholds for Lambda and Sigma production can be attributed to final-state interactions; models are compared to the data. The analysis of the data for the He targets is in a more preliminary state with broader quasi-free peaks resulting from the higher Fermi momenta. Evidence for bound Lambda-hypernuclear states is seen and other structure may be present

[en] Kaon electroproduction on hydrogen, deuterium and helium targets has been measured at a beam energy of 3.245 GeV and four-momentum transfer, Q², ranging from 0.34 to 0.5 GeV². Associated hyperon production off a nucleon in the deuteron exhibits a quasifree production mechanism. Excess yield close to the respective thresholds for Λ and Σ production is observed. This can be accounted for by final-state interaction between the electroproduced hyperon and the spectator nucleon. The effects predicted from three different hyperon-nucleon potentials are compared to the data. The measurement on the helium targets is the first ever performed. Very preliminary results are presented