156 research outputs found

    Estratégia de implementação do REACH

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    O regulamento (CE) nº1907/2006 do Parlamento estabelece o registo, avaliação autorização e restrição das substâncias químicas (REACH - Registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals) (1) e tem como principais objetivos introduzir restrições quanto à exposição a substâncias químicas com vista a proteção da saúde humana e do ambiente e melhorar a competitividade da indústria química na União Europeia, bem como dar conhecimento dos produtos que circulam (2). O REACH é aplicado não só às substâncias químicas, mas também aos produtos e artigos que as comportam. É direcionado com maior impacto aos fabricantes e importadores de substâncias químicas, no entanto abrange todas as categorias da cadeia de abastecimento das substâncias, misturas ou artigos, incluindo distribuidores e utilizadores a jusante. Importa referir que cada cadeia de abastecimento é distinta e cada categoria pode ter um ou mais agentes. A aplicação do Regulamento está a cargo das empresas associadas a cada substância abrangida, tendo a obrigação de atribuir a cada substância os riscos associados ao seu uso, as aplicações para as quais são criadas e qualquer informação importante para o seu manuseamento. Para casos em que a previsão de riscos possa não ser fiável a substância pode estar sujeita a restrições ou autorização. Após a validação do registo, é partilhada a informação em fóruns, de modo a criar uma partilha de informação entre empresas associadas às mesmas substâncias, incluindo as várias categorias da cadeia de abastecimento (2) . Este trabalho pretende ser um contributo para facilitar a implementação do REACH nas empresas, sendo importante conhecer os vários passos que o Regulamento impõe de acordo com as diversas funções de fabricante, importador ou utilizador à jusante

    Muon-induced neutron production and detection with GEANT4 and FLUKA

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    We report on a comparison study of the Monte Carlo packages GEANT4 and FLUKA for simulating neutron production by muons penetrating deep underground. GEANT4 is found to generate fewer neutrons at muon energies above ~100 GeV, by at most a factor of 2 in some materials, which we attribute mainly to lower neutron production in hadronic cascades. As a practical case study, the muon-induced neutron background expected in a 250 kg liquid-xenon WIMP dark matter detector was calculated and good agreement was found for the recoil event rates. The detailed model of neutron elastic scattering in GEANT4 was also shown to influence the nuclear recoil spectrum observed in the target, which is presently a shortcoming of FLUKA. We conclude that both packages are suited for this type of simulation, although further improvements are desirable in both cases.Comment: (23 pages, 14 figures) To appear in Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A v2: Changes to format only; v3: Corrected typo in front matter; v4: Looked up additional experimental data for comparison with simulation

    Detailed Calculation of Test-Mass Charging in the LISA Mission

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    The electrostatic charging of the LISA test masses due to exposure of the spacecraft to energetic particles in the space environment has implications in the design and operation of the gravitational inertial sensors and can affect the quality of the science data. Robust predictions of charging rates and associated stochastic fluctuations are therefore required for the exposure scenarios expected throughout the mission. We report on detailed charging simulations with the Geant4 toolkit, using comprehensive geometry and physics models, for Galactic cosmic-ray protons and helium nuclei. These predict positive charging rates of 50 +e/s (elementary charges per second) for solar minimum conditions, decreasing by half at solar maximum, and current fluctuations of up to 30 +e/s/Hz^{1/2}. Charging from sporadic solar events involving energetic protons was also investigated. Using an event-size distribution model, we conclude that their impact on the LISA science data is manageable. Several physical processes hitherto unexplored as potential charging mechanisms have also been assessed. Significantly, the kinetic emission of very low-energy secondary electrons due to bombardment of the inertial sensors by primary cosmic rays and their secondaries can produce charging currents comparable with the Monte Carlo rates.Comment: 31 pages, 18 figures, 4 tables. to be published in Astroparticle Physics. Changed due to error found in normalisation of the simulation result

    Geometric approach to nonvariational singular elliptic equations

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    In this work we develop a systematic geometric approach to study fully nonlinear elliptic equations with singular absorption terms as well as their related free boundary problems. The magnitude of the singularity is measured by a negative parameter (γ1)(\gamma -1), for 0<γ<10 < \gamma < 1, which reflects on lack of smoothness for an existing solution along the singular interface between its positive and zero phases. We establish existence as well sharp regularity properties of solutions. We further prove that minimal solutions are non-degenerate and obtain fine geometric-measure properties of the free boundary F={u>0}\mathfrak{F} = \partial \{u > 0 \}. In particular we show sharp Hausdorff estimates which imply local finiteness of the perimeter of the region {u>0}\{u > 0 \} and Hn1\mathcal{H}^{n-1} a.e. weak differentiability property of F\mathfrak{F}.Comment: Paper from D. Araujo's Ph.D. thesis, distinguished at the 2013 Carlos Gutierrez prize for best thesis, Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis 201

    Muon-induced background in a next-generation dark matter experiment based on liquid xenon

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    Muon-induced neutrons can lead to potentially irreducible backgrounds in rare event search experiments. We have investigated the implication of laboratory depth on the muon-induced background in a future dark matter experiment capable of reaching the so-called neutrino floor. Our simulation study focused on a xenon-based detector with 70 tonnes of active mass, surrounded by additional veto systems plus a water shield. Two locations at the Boulby Underground Laboratory (UK) were analysed as examples: an experimental cavern in salt at a depth of 2850 m w. e. (similar to the location of the existing laboratory), and a deeper laboratory located in polyhalite rock at a depth of 3575 m w. e. Our results show that no cosmogenic background events are likely to survive standard analysis cuts for 10 years of operation at either location. The largest background component we identified comes from beta-delayed neutron emission from 17 N which is produced from 19 F in the fluoropolymer components of the experiment. Our results confirm that a dark matter search with sensitivity to the neutrino floor is viable (from the point of view of cosmogenic backgrounds) in underground laboratories at these levels of rock overburden. This work was conducted in 2019–21 in the context of a feasibility study to investigate the possibility of developing the Boulby Underground Laboratory to host a next-generation dark matter experiment; however, our findings are also relevant for other underground laboratories

    Simulation of neutrons produced by high-energy muons underground

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    This article describes the Monte Carlo simulation used to interpret the measurement of the muon-induced neutron flux in the Boulby Underground Laboratory (North Yorkshire, UK), recently performed using a large scintillator veto deployed around the ZEPLIN-II WIMP detector. Version 8.2 of the GEANT4 toolkit was used after relevant benchmarking and validation of neutron production models. In the direct comparison between Monte Carlo and experimental data, we find that the simulation produces a 1.8 times higher neutron rate, which we interpret as over-production in lead by GEANT4. The dominance of this material in neutron production allows us to estimate the absolute neutron yield in lead as (1.31 +/- 0.06) x 10^(-3) neutrons/muon/(g/cm^2) for a mean muon energy of 260 GeV. Simulated nuclear recoils due to muon-induced neutrons in the ZEPLIN-II target volume (~1 year exposure) showed that, although a small rate of events is expected from this source of background in the energy range of interest for dark matter searches, no event survives an anti-coincidence cut with the veto.Comment: 13 Pages, 11 Figures, 3 Tables. To appear in Astroparticle Physics. Version 2 has minor corrections and clarifications. Figures 1 and 3 now include neutron yields obtained with FLUKA-200

    Measurement of single electron emission in two-phase xenon

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    We present the first measurements of the electroluminescence response to the emission of single electrons in a two-phase noble gas detector. Single ionization electrons generated in liquid xenon are detected in a thin gas layer during the 31-day background run of the ZEPLIN-II experiment, a two-phase xenon detector for WIMP dark matter searches. Both the pressure dependence and magnitude of the single-electron response are in agreement with previous measurements of electroluminescence yield in xenon. We discuss different photoionization processes as possible cause for the sample of single electrons studied in this work. This observation may have implications for the design and operation of future large-scale two-phase systems.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

    Diabetes as an independent predictor of high atherosclerotic burden assessed by coronary computed tomography angiography: The coronary artery disease equivalent revisited

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    (1) To study the prevalence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) in diabetic patients. (2) To provide a detailed characterization of the coronary atherosclerotic burden, including the localization, degree of stenosis and plaque composition by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Single center prospective registry including a total of 581 consecutive stable patients (April 2011-March 2012) undergoing CCTA (Dual-source CT) for the evaluation of suspected CAD without previous myocardial infarction or revascularization procedures. Different coronary plaque burden indexes and plaque type and distribution patterns were compared between patients with (n = 85) and without diabetes (n = 496). The prevalence of CAD (any plaque; 74.1 vs. 56 %; p = 0.002) and obstructive CAD (≥50 % stenosis; 31.8 vs. 10.3 %; p<0.001) were significantly higher in diabetic patients. The remaining coronary atherosclerotic burden indexes evaluated (plaque in LM-3v-2v with prox. LAD; SIS; SSS; CT-LeSc) were also significantly higher in diabetic patients. In the per segment analysis, diabetics had a higher percentage of segments with plaque in every vessel (2.6/13.1/7.5/10.5 % for diabetics vs. 1.4/7.1/3.3/4.4 % for nondiabetics for LM, LAD, LCx, RCA respectively; p<0.001 for all) and of both calcified (19.3 vs. 9.2 %, p<0.001) and noncalcified or mixed types (14.4 vs. 7.0 %; p<0.001); the ratio of proximal-to-distal relative plaque distribution (calculated as LM/proximal vs. mid/distal/branches) was lower for diabetics (0.75 vs. 1.04; p = 0.009). Diabetes was an independent predictor of CAD and was also associated with more advanced CAD, evaluated by indexes of coronary atherosclerotic burden. Diabetics had a significantly higher prevalence of plaques in every anatomical subset and for the different plaque composition. In this report, the relative geographic distribution of the plaques within each subgroup, favored a more mid-to-distal localization in the diabetic patients
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