Evaluation of forest decontamination using radiometric measurements

An experiment has been conducted to evaluate the additional dose reduction by clear felling contaminated forestry in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, and using the timber to cover the areas with wood chips. A portable gamma spectrometry system, comprising a backpack containing a 3x3” NaI(Tl) detector with digital spectrometer and GPS receiver, has been used to map dose rate and radionuclide activity concentrations before, after and at stages during this experiment. The data show the effect of the different stages of the experiment on dose rate at different locations around the site. The spectrometric data have allowed the assessment of the contributions of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides to the dose rate at different parts of the site before and after the experiment. This has clearly demonstrated the value of radiometric methods in evaluating remediation, and the effect of other environmental processes. The value of spectrometric methods which directly measure radionuclide concentrations has also been shown, especially through the identification of the contribution of natural and anthropogenic activity to the measured dose rate. The experiment has shown that clearing trees and applying wood chips can reduce dose rates by 10-15% beyond that achieved by just clearing the forest litter and natural redistribution of radiocaesium

Preparation and Characterization of Ti(2)O(3) Films Deposited on Sapphire Substrate by Activated Reactive Evaporation Method

(001)-oriented Ti(2)O(3) films were epitaxially grown on a(001)-face of sapphire single-crystalline substrate by an activated reactive evaporation method. The formation ranges of stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric Ti(2)O(3) films were determined as a function of the substrate temperature (Ts), the oxygen pressure (Po(2)) and the deposition rate. Stoichiometric Ti(2)O(3) films were grown at Ts≧673K under Po(2)≧1.0×10(-4)Torr, which showed the metal-insulator transition with a sharp change in electrical resistivity from 3.5×10(-2) to 2.6×10(-3)Ωcm at 361K. Nonstoichiometric films prepared under less oxidized conditions did not exhibit the transition. The nonstoichiometry of the Ti(2)O(3)films was discussed in terms of excess Ti ions

Pressure Tuning of an Ionic Insulator into a Heavy Electron Metal: An Infrared Study of YbS

Optical conductivity [$\sigma(\omega)$] of YbS has been measured under pressure up to 20 GPa. Below 8 GPa, $\sigma(\omega)$ is low since YbS is an insulator with an energy gap between fully occupied 4$f$ state and unoccupied conduction ($c$) band. Above 8 GPa, however, $\sigma(\omega)$ increases dramatically, developing a Drude component due to heavy carriers and characteristic infrared peaks. It is shown that increasing pressure has caused an energy overlap and hybridization between the $c$ band and 4$f$ state, thus driving the initially ionic and insulating YbS into a correlated metal with heavy carriers

Consideration for the correlation between basicity of oxide glasses and chemical shift of O1s binding energy in XPS

Binding energy of O1s core electron measured in XPS is a candidate to determine new scale of Lewis basicity of oxide ion in glass. Some mathematical expressions for the basicity or XPS chemical shift, such as charge parameter and optical basicity, are compared with experimental O1s binding energy in binary alkali oxide glasses. The expressions so far in use need some modification in parameters. A new empirical expression introduced in this paper gives new concept and universal scale of basicity

Investigation of Organizational Factors for Achieving Nurse Retention: Literature Review

Aim：In order to identify the organizational factors which influence leaving intention of nurses, this study aims to review literature and prior research from two major perspectives 1） job satisfaction and 2） organizational commitment.Review method: Literature review of articles which focus on relationships between various factors and employee retention. A special emphasis is given on employees’ behavior in health sector. A literature search was undertaken using two major healthcare related databases PubMed and Google scholar. The keywords a） organizational factor b） nursing turnover c） organizational commitment d） organizational satisfaction and e） nursing management were used for the search. English language materials published in the last 10 years were considered in this study.Results：Four papers were found to have reported a strong positive relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. There were two papers which reported job satisfaction resulting in organizational commitment. Eight studies, on the other hand, revealed the presence of a significant relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intention. In addition, four research papers indicated that among the three components of the organizational commitment, affective commitment had the strongest positive relationship with the turnover intention.Conclusions：The study has revealed that organizational commitment is a stronger predictor of nursing turnover than job satisfaction. Several factors are found to be essential for a） increasing employees’ affective commitment to their organization b） reducing their intention to leave and c） increasing their job performance

鉛フリー光学ガラスとしてのSnO-B(2)O(3)ガラスの光学特性

The preparation of SnO-B(2)O(3) and SnO-SiO(2) glasses by melting in Ar atomosphere was performed. The prepared SnO-B(2)O(3) glasses were large enough to measure optical properties whereas the vitrification in SnO-SiO(2) system was very difficult. PbO-B(2)O(3) and BiO1.5-B(2)O(3) glasses were also prepared for comparison with SnO-B(2)O(3) glasses. The densities, glass transition temperatures, and optical properties such as refractive indices, dispersion, and transmission spectra of SnO-B(2)O(3), PbO-B(2)O(3), and BiO(1.5)-B(2)O(3) glasses were measured. On the basis of the obtained results, the potential for SnO-B(2)O(3) glasses as lead-free glasses is particularly discussed from the viewpoint of optical properties

Interaksi AtMEK1-EXGT Pada Arabidopsis Thaliana Pada Saat Terjadi Pelukaan

Proteininteractions occur within cellular level of stimulated plantcells to relay signals from receptors to production of response.AtMEK1-EXGT interaction had been detected in nontreatedArabidopsis. In this research, interaction betweenAtMEK1, a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase ofArabidopsis thaliana, and EXGT, endoxyloglucan transferase,after the plant was wounded was examined usingco-immunoprecipitation and in vitro phosphorylation assay.The results demonstrated that EXGT interact with AtMEK1soon after and 10 minutes after wounding. In addition,AtMEK1 phosphorylation activity increased when increasedlevel of EXGT was incorporated into the reaction mixture.These indicate that EXGT amplifies wound-caused phosphorylationactivity of AtMEK1. The results elucidate part ofthe AtMEKK1-AtMEK1-AtMPK4 cascade which is stimulatedby wounding. How the complex interaction between EXGT,AtMEK1 and AtMPK4 fits within the cascade is remained tobe uncovered