Nuclear physics for cultural heritage

We report about the expert review, published by the Nuclear Physics Division of the European Physical Society (NPD EPS), which aims to provide the public with a popular and accessible account of the latest developments in the field of nuclear physics application for cultural heritage. The contributions from a range of leading specialists explain how applied atomic and nuclear techniques can be used to obtain information that can help us to understand the way of life in ancient times and how they can be used to conserve cultural heritage treasures. This topical review draws heavily on European work and is extensively illustrated with important discoveries and examples from archaeology, pre-history, history, geography, culture, religion and curation. It outlines key advances in a wide range of cross-disciplinary techniques and has been written with the minimum of technical detail so as to be accessible by as wide as possible audience. The large number of groups and laboratories working in the study and preservation of cultural heritage using mainly nuclear physics methods across Europe indicates the enormous effort and importance paid by society to this activity

Body Composition, Food Intake, Cardirespiratory Fitness, Blood Lipids and Psychological Development in Highly Active and Inactive Preschool Children

The relationship between spontaneous physical activity, physical fitness and serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration (HDL-C), triglycerides and creatine kinase activity was examined in a group of 3-5 year old children. Their somatic development, skinfold thickness, modified step test performance, psychological development and fine motor control were within the limits of values observed in previous studies. Food intake corresponded to recoimmended allowances except for fat intake, which appeared higher by 10%. The activity of creatine kinase in the blood was about half of the adult value. No significant differences in the above-mentioned characteristics were found between boys and girls except for body weight. A significant relationship was established between the index of lean body mass kg/10 cm body height on one side, and the index of cardiac efficiency, or the activity of creatine kinase, or fat intake on the other side. Cholesterol, HDL-C and LDL-C, and triglyceride blood levels corresponded to values found in other child populations of comparable age. Children characterized by the permanently highest level of spontaneous physical activity tended to have lower weight and fatness, smaller arm circumference, higher ectomorphy, better step test performance and cardiac efficiency indices, higher energy, fat and carbohydrate intakes, a slightly higher level of psychological development and fine motor control, and a significantly higher level of HDL-C (n = 8; 1.38 ± 0.20) as compared to inactive children (n = 9; 1.1 ± 0.25 mmole/1, p \u3c 0.05)

Author's personal copy Au implantation into various types of silicate glasses

a b s t r a c t The implantation of gold ions into three types of silicate glass was studied. The energies of the implanted Au + ions were 1701 keV, and the fluences of the ions were 1 Â 10 14 , 1 Â 10 15 , 3 Â 10 15 and 1 Â 10 16 cm À2 . The as-implanted samples were annealed in air at two temperatures (400 and 600°C). The Au concentration depth profiles were investigated using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and compared to simulated profiles from the SRIM. The structural changes were studied by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The obtained mono-mode waveguides were characterised using Dark Mode Spectroscopy at 671 nm to yield information on the refractive index changes. The results showed interesting differences depending on the type of glass and the post-implantation treatment. The obtained data were evaluated on the basis of the structure of the glass matrix, and the relations between the structural changes, waveguide properties and absorption, which are important for photonics applications, were formulated

Trust in alternative and professional media: The case of the youth news audiences in three European countries

This exploratory paper applying cross-cultural and developmental perspective analyses and discusses trust in alternative media and its relation to trust in professional media, seeking to identify the national specifics of media trust and its developmental patterns. Employing 2016 survey data of Czech, Estonian and Greek youth (aged 14–25, N = 3654) collected as part of the international CATCH-EyoU project (Horizon 2020), the study outlines the typology of media trust, comprising trust in alternative and professional media, and compares social and political predictors influencing media trust in the three countries. The study illustrates the diversity of relations between the two types of media trust, concluding that differences in selected predictors of media trust and the distribution of media trust types across national sub-samples illuminate the strong role national context plays, illustrating the varying pathways development of media trust follows in these varied contexts along socioeconomic and cultural lines. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group