The Status of Natural Radioactivity and Heavy Metals Pollution on Marine Sediments Red Sea Coast, At Safaga, Egypt

Natural 226Ra, 232Th and 40K radio nuclides concentration in beach Sediments along Safaga coast of Red sea, Egypt has been carried out using a NaI (Tl) gamma ray spectrometric technique. The total average concentrations of radionuclides ± uncertainty of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were 22.2 ± 1.7, 19.2 ± 2.5, and 477.6 ± 27.6 Bqkg-1, respectively. The total average absorbed dose rate is found to be 41.4 nGyh-1, whereas the annual effective dose rate has an average value of 54 μSvy-1. The total organic matter (TOC), carbonates (CaCo3) and Heavy metals distribution have been measured at some locations, the concentration for the investigated heavy metals overtake the allowable limits recommended by the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines, this assigned to the ratio of metals pollution is caused by anthropogenic activities (phosphate shipment as in Abu Tartour harbor and navigation as in Touristic harbor) and or by natural impacts such in mangrove interment. Statistical analyses were carried out between the parameters obtained from the radioactivity to know the existing relations and to study the spatial distribution of radionuclide

Photon parameters for gamma-rays sensing properties of some oxide of lanthanides

In the present research work, the mass attenuation coefficients (μm) representing the interaction of gamma photons with some oxide of lanthanides (Lu2O3Yb2O3, Er2O3, Sm2O3, Dy2O3, Eu2O3, Nd2O3, Pr6O11, La2O3 and Ce2O3) were investigated using WinXCom software in the wide energy range of 1 keV–100 GeV. The calculated values of μm afterwards were used to evaluate some gamma rays sensing properties as effective atomic effective atomic numbers (Zeff), effective electron densities (Nel), half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP). The computed data observes that, the Lu2O3 shown excellent γ-rays sensing response in the broad energy range. At the absorption edges of the high elements present in the lanthanide compounds, more than a single value of Zeff were found due to the non-uniform variation of µm. Comparisons with experiments wherever possible have been achieved for the calculated µm and Zeff values. The calculated properties are beneficial expanded use of designing in radiation shielding, gas sensors, glass coloring agent and in electronic sensing devices

Notable changes in geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of different phases of episyenitization: insights on the radioactive and shielding of the late phase

Kab Amiri granites are submitted to post-magmatic hydrothermal solutions through fracture and faults, causing several alteration processes. The most common processes are episyenitization, saussuritization, hematitization, sericitization, kaolinization, albitization, chloritization, silicification, and muscovitization. Kab Amiri granites are vuggy, with the vugs partially to completely refilled with new constituents. The least episyenitized granites have elevated amounts of Fe, P, Zr, Ni, U, Th, Ba, Y, Hf, Nb, and As, which are correlated with their mobilization from biotite, k-feldspar, plagioclase and metamict zircon. These elemental changes are related the partial albitization, muscovitization, desilicification and chloritizatiom, which lead to the mobilization of these elements and forming of specific mineral association in the least altered granites such as autonite, tripiolite, columbite, Zircon and galena. On the second stage, granites were subjected to intense alteration processes by mineralizing fluids, causing wholly muscovitization of biotite and feldspar, albitization of plagioclase, carbonitization and apatitization. Many elements were mobilized from these altered minerals, including Ti, Al, Mn, Mg, Ca, Na, K, Mo, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Co, Sr, V, Cr, Sn, Rb, Ta, Li, Sc, W, S, In, and Tl, leading to definite mineralization as kaslite, monazite, xenotime, polycrase and apatite. The mineralizing fluids in the least and highly episyenitized granites are incorporated in some ore minerals like uranophane, fergusonite, bazzite and garnet. Notably, the presence of elements such as U, Th, and other heavy metals in Kab Amiri granites highlights the potential for these rocks in radiation shielding applications. The unique combination of elements and minerals resulting from the alteration processes can be leveraged for developing new materials or enhancing existing materials used in radiation shielding

Utilization of artificial intelligence approach for prediction of DLP values for abdominal CT scans: A high accuracy estimation for risk assessment

PurposeThis study aimed to evaluate Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modeling to estimate the significant dose length product (DLP) value during the abdominal CT examinations for quality assurance in a retrospective, cross-sectional study.MethodsThe structure of the ANN model was designed considering various input parameters, namely patient weight, patient size, body mass index, mean CTDI volume, scanning length, kVp, mAs, exposure time per rotation, and pitch factor. The aforementioned examination details of 551 abdominal CT scans were used as retrospective data. Different types of learning algorithms such as Levenberg-Marquardt, Bayesian and Scaled-Conjugate Gradient were checked in terms of the accuracy of the training data.ResultsThe R-value representing the correlation coefficient for the real system and system output is given as 0.925, 0.785, and 0.854 for the Levenberg-Marquardt, Bayesian, and Scaled-Conjugate Gradient algorithms, respectively. The findings showed that the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm comprehensively detects DLP values for abdominal CT examinations. It can be a helpful approach to simplify CT quality assurance.ConclusionIt can be concluded that outcomes of this novel artificial intelligence method can be used for high accuracy DLP estimations before the abdominal CT examinations, where the radiation-related risk factors are high or risk evaluation of multiple CT scans is needed for patients in terms of ALARA. Likewise, it can be concluded that artificial learning methods are powerful tools and can be used for different types of radiation-related risk assessments for quality assurance in diagnostic radiology

A Comprehensive Study on Gamma Rays and Fast Neutron Sensing Properties of GAGOC and CMO Scintillators for Shielding Radiation Applications

The WinXCom program has been used to calculate the mass attenuation coefficients (μm), effective atomic numbers (Zeff), effective electron densities (Nel), half-value layer (HVL), and mean free path (MFP) in the energy range 1 keV–100 GeV for Gd3Al2Ga3O12Ce (GAGOC) and CaMoO4 (CMO) scintillator materials. The geometrical progression (G-P) method has been used to compute the exposure buildup factors (EBF) and gamma ray energy absorption (EABF) in the photon energy range 0.015–15 MeV and up to a 40 penetration depth (mfp). In addition, the values of the removal cross section for a fast neutron ∑R have been calculated. The computed data observes that GAGOC showed excellent γ-rays and neutrons sensing a response in the broad energy range. This work could be useful for nuclear radiation sensors, detectors, nuclear medicine applications (medical imaging and mammography), nuclear engineering, and space technology

The effective contribution of PbO on nuclear shielding properties of xPbO-(100-x)P2O5 glass system: a broad range investigation

The radiation shielding properties for glass system with the composition of xPbO-(100 - x)P2O5 (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 mol%) were studied. For that purpose, 3 x 3 inch NaI(Tl) scintillation detector was designed to detect the photons using simulation code of MCNPX program. Consequently, the mass attenuation coefficients (mu/rho) were calculated. The predestined (mu/rho) values using MCNPX code for twelve glass samples were checked together with the XMuDat and XCOM software outcomes. The half value layer (HVL), proton mass stopping power (MSP), exposure buildup factor (EBF) and proton projected range were estimated in a broad energy zone of 0.015-15 MeV. In addition, the neutron radiation shielding parameters i.e. mass removal cross section for neutron ( n-ary sumation (R)), Coherent neutron scattering length (b(co)), incoherent neutron scattering length (b(inc)), coherent neutron scattering cross section (sigma(co)), incoherent neutron scattering cross section (sigma(inc)), total neutron scattering cross section (sigma(tot)) and absorption neutron scattering cross section (sigma(abs)) of glasses were computed. The addition of PbO has an impact on the radiation protection properties of phosphate glass systems improve the radiation shielding properties of phosphate glass samples, where (mu/rho), n-ary sumation (R) and effective atomic number (Z(eff)) values increase when the chemical composition of lead oxide increase while HVL, EBF MSP and projected range values decrease. That underlines our research in that way that it appears that the addition of lead oxide has an impact on the radiation protection properties of phosphate glass systems

Influence of sintering duration on crystal phase and optical band gap of Mn3+ -doped willemite-based glass-ceramics

A conventional melt quenching technique was used to successfully fabricate Mn2O3 -doped willemite glass-ceramics (Zn2SiO4:Mn3+) produced from the ZnO-SLS glasses. The results from XRD revealed that willemite crystallization is improved by increasing the sintering duration. It was revealed that, as the sintering duration progressed, the phase formation shifted from amorphous to α-Zn2SiO4 crystal. In addition, the structural growth of willemite phases can be seen using FTIR spectroscopy. The results of UV-Vis spectroscopy indicated that the intense absorption occurs in the UV zone, with wavelengths ranging from 250 nm to 400 nm, while the optical band gap showed a decreasing trend from 3.61 eV to 2.52 eV. These results perfectly established that Mn3+ dopant is potentially beneficial for producing willemite glass-ceramics for optoelectronic applications