The FIRST large-scale mapping of radon concentration in soil gas and water in Romania

In the framework of the last Council Directive 2013/59 (Euratom, 2014) laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionizing radiation, the problem of radon was assumed in Romania at national level by responsible authorities through the design and development of a National Radon Action Plan and an adequate legislation (HG nr. 526/2018). In order to identify radon risk areas, however, it is necessary to perform systematic radon measurements in different environmental media (soil gas, water, indoor air) and to map the results. This paper presents an atlas of up-to-date radon in soil and water levels for central and western part of Romania. The radon in soil map includes data from 2564 measurements carried out on-site, using Luk3C radon detector. The Luk-VR system was used to measure radon activity concentration from 2452 samples of drinking water. The average radon activity concentration was 29.3?kBq?m-3 for soil gas, respectively 9.8?Bq?l-1 for water dissolved air. Mapping of radon can be a useful tool to implement radon policies at both the national and local levels, defining priority areas for further study when land-use decisions must be made.This work was supported by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNCS-UEFISCDI, by the project ”Radon map (residential, geogenic, water) for center, west and north-west regions from Romania (RAMARO), PN-II-PCCA-PT-73/2012 and by the project ID P_37_229, Contract No. 22/01.09.2016, with the title „Smart Systems for Public Safety through Control and Mitigation of Residential Radon linked with Energy Efficiency Optimization of Buildings in Romanian Major Urban Agglomerations SMARTRAD-EN” of the POC Programme

Metastable chaos in the ammonia ring laser

We report experimental studies of metastable chaos in the far-infrared ammonia ring: laser. When the laser pump power is switched from above chaos threshold to slightly below, chaotic intensity pulsations continue for a varying time afterward before decaying to either periodic or cw emission. The behavior is in good qualitative agreement with that predicted by the Lorenz equations, previously used to describe this laser. The statistical distribution of the duration of the chaotic transient is measured and shown to be in excellent agreement with the Lorenz equations in showing a modified exponential distribution. We also give a brief numerical analysis and graphical visualization of the Lorenz equations in phase space illustrating the boundary between the metastable chaotic and the stable fixed point basins of attraction. This provides an intuitive understanding of the metastable dynamics of the Lorenz equations and the experimental system

The Ginninderra CH4 and CO2 release experiment: An evaluation of gas detection and quantification techniques

A methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) release experiment was held from April to June 2015 at the Ginninderra Controlled Release Facility in Canberra, Australia. The experiment provided an opportunity to compare different emission quantification techniques against a simulated CH4 and CO2 point source release, where the actual release rates were unknown to the participants. Eight quantification techniques were assessed: three tracer ratio techniques (two mobile); backwards Lagrangian stochastic modelling; forwards Lagrangian stochastic modelling; Lagrangian stochastic (LS) footprint modelling; atmospheric tomography using point and using integrated line sensors. The majority of CH4 estimates were within 20% of the actual CH4 release rate (5.8 g/min), with the tracer ratio technique providing the closest estimate to both the CH4 and CO2 release rates (100 g/min). Once the release rate was known, the majority of revised estimates were within 10% of the actual release rate. The study illustrates the power of measuring the emission rate using multiple simultaneous methods and obtaining an ensemble median or mean. An ensemble approach to estimating the CH4 emission rate proved successful with the ensemble median estimate within 16% for the actual release rate for the blind release experiment and within 2% once the release rate was known. The release also provided an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of stationary and mobile ground and aerial CH4 detection technologies. Sensor detection limits and sampling rates were found to be significant limitations for CH4 and CO2 detection. A hyperspectral imager’s capacity to image the CH4 release from 100 m, and a Boreal CH4 laser sensor’s ability to track moving targets suggest the future possibility to map gas plumes using a single laser and mobile aerial reflector

Category spanning, evaluation, and performance: revised theory and test on the corporate law market

Studies suggest that category-spanning organizations receive lower evaluation and perform worse than organizations focused on a single category. We propose that (1) these effects are contingent on clients' theory of value and that as clients expect more sophisticated services, they tend to value category spanners more positively and (2) the evaluation of producers mediates the relationship between category spanning and performance. We test our hypotheses using original data on corporate legal services in three markets (London, New York City, and Paris) over the decade 2000-2010. We find that (1) category spanners receive a better evaluation, and more so when their categorical combination is more inclusive and (2) evaluation mediates significantly the relationship between category spanning and performance. This study enriches our understanding of how audiences apprehend a whole market category system and why organizations span categories.The HEC Foundation and the Society & Organizations Research Center provided financial support for this research

Methane emission from natural gas seeps and mud volcanoes in Transylvania (Romania)

Gas seepage from petroleum basins is the second largest natural source of methane to the atmosphere, after wetlands. The uncertainty in global emission estimates should be reduced by extending the flux database which is fundamental for defining the emission factors and the actual area of seepage adopted for up-scaling. As a contribution to this goal, we report a new seepage data-set for the Transylvanian Basin, one of the largest natural gas producing regions of Europe, that is characterized by the widespread occurrence of natural leakages of gas at the surface, including at least 73 mud volcanoes and gas seeps. In this study, methane flux was measured using closed-chambers, from 12 seepage sites, in correspondence with focused gas vents (mud volcano craters, bubbling pools, and flammable gas leaks), in the soil surrounding the vents, and at 15 sites located far from macroseep zones but close to gas fields. Fluxes from individual vents (macro-seeps) were found to reach orders of kg CH4 m)2 day)1 (up to 12 kg m)2 day)1) and diffuse fluxes from soils (miniseepage) were found to be up to a few g CH4 m)2 day)1. Far from seep zones, positive CH4 fluxes (microseepage) may occur locally, typically on the order of tens to hundreds of mg m)2 day)1. The values, as well as the occurrence of seepage even far from vent zones and in mud volcanoes that are apparently extinct, are coherent with results obtained in other countries. Gas fluxes from macro-seeps and soils may change seasonally, but the interannual variation of the average emission factor was found to be minimal. The total CH4 output for Transylvania macro-seeps is estimated conservatively to be around 680 t year)1; the total geo-CH4 seepage emission from the Transylvania petroleum system could be approximately 40 · 103 t year)1, and at least 100 · 103 t year)1 for all Romanian petroleum systems, that is roughly 10% of the total anthropogenic CH4 emission in the country.Published463-4754.5. Studi sul degassamento naturale e sui gas petroliferiJCR Journalrestricte

Methane emission from natural gas seeps and mud volcanoes in Transylvania (Romania)

Gas seepage from petroleum basins is the second largest natural source of methane to the atmosphere, after wetlands. The uncertainty in global emission estimates should be reduced by extending the flux database which is fundamental for defining the emission factors and the actual area of seepage adopted for up-scaling. As a contribution to this goal, we report a new seepage data-set for the Transylvanian Basin, one of the largest natural gas producing regions of Europe, that is characterized by the widespread occurrence of natural leakages of gas at the surface, including at least 73 mud volcanoes and gas seeps. In this study, methane flux was measured using closed-chambers, from 12 seepage sites, in correspondence with focused gas vents (mud volcano craters, bubbling pools, and flammable gas leaks), in the soil surrounding the vents, and at 15 sites located far from macroseep zones but close to gas fields. Fluxes from individual vents (macro-seeps) were found to reach orders of kg CH4 m)2 day)1 (up to 12 kg m)2 day)1) and diffuse fluxes from soils (miniseepage) were found to be up to a few g CH4 m)2 day)1. Far from seep zones, positive CH4 fluxes (microseepage) may occur locally, typically on the order of tens to hundreds of mg m)2 day)1. The values, as well as the occurrence of seepage even far from vent zones and in mud volcanoes that are apparently extinct, are coherent with results obtained in other countries. Gas fluxes from macro-seeps and soils may change seasonally, but the interannual variation of the average emission factor was found to be minimal. The total CH4 output for Transylvania macro-seeps is estimated conservatively to be around 680 t year)1; the total geo-CH4 seepage emission from the Transylvania petroleum system could be approximately 40 · 103 t year)1, and at least 100 · 103 t year)1 for all Romanian petroleum systems, that is roughly 10% of the total anthropogenic CH4 emission in the country

Vortex streets in a cavity with higher-order standing waves

Recently a laser analog of vortex generation behind an obstacle in a flow was demonstrated. Vortex generation occurs when tilted waves of different transverse structures are simultaneously excited in a laser. We have generalized this phenomenon to higher-order standing waves. Here typical phenomena expected for optical vortices, such as the excitation and disappearance of single vortices out of and into dark lines and dark areas, as well as vortex-pair creation and annihilation become apparent

Three-dimensional representation of two-dimensional vortex dynamics in lasers

We observe that the dynamics of vortices in paraxial optics, including vortex pair-creation and pair-annihilation, can be represented in a simplified manner by the motion of a locus obtained from the complex optical field, for which the real and imaginary parts of the field are equal. When the locus lies within the transverse plane a dark line is present in the optical field with a phase change of π across. When the locus intersects the transverse plane, a vortex exists at the intersection point. Thus the locus line appears like a three-dimensional vortex line. Examples are given ranging from emission in low order laser mode families to patterns calculated for plane mirror resonators

Optical-vortex pair creation and annihilation and helical astigmatism of a nonplanar ring resonator

The creation and annihilation of pairs of optical vortices have been studied in transitions between patterns produced in a photorefractive oscillator. Smooth metamorphosis between stable patterns occurs through pair creation or annihilation but can be modeled using superposition of modes taking into account lifting of degeneracy of helical modes by helical astigmatism of the resonator