Synthesis and Characterization of LiAlO₂for Passive Dosimetry

Lithium aluminate (LiAlO2) powder was synthesized by sol-gel with EDTA method. The resultant powders were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) techniques. In addition, several thermoluminescence properties of synthesized LiAlO2 powder were reported. The results from X-ray diffraction (XRD), the powder prepared by sol-gel with EDTA method showed pure γ-phase when it was calcined at >900°C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show that the size of the lithium aluminate particles depended strongly on calcination temperature. The linearity is observed of synthesized LiAlO2 powder by sol-gel with EDTA with regression coefficient (R2) is 0.9971.

Dry eye rate and its relationship with disease stage in patients with primary hypertension:a cross-sectional study in Vietnam

AIM:To determine the dry eye(DE)rate and its relationship with disease stage in patients with primary hypertension.METHODS:A cross-sectional study included 432 patients with primary hypertension(with an equal number of patients in each group:144 in stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,and Ⅲ hypertension)and 144 healthy subjects as a control group.The Ocular Surface Disease Index(OSDI)and Schirmer Ⅰ test without anesthetics were conducted on all 576 subjects.Subjects with OSDI scores<13 and Schirmer Ⅰ values equal to or under 10 mm were diagnosed with DE.RESULTS:The ratio of DE in hypertension patients was higher than in the control group(41.7%versus 18.8%;P<0.001).The proportion of patients with DE increased gradually according to the hypertension stage:27.1% in stage Ⅰ,40.3% in stage Ⅱ,and 57.6% in stage Ⅲ,P<0.001.Age,duration of hypertension,plasma urea,creatinine,and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(CRP-hs)levels in hypertension patients with DE were higher than those without DE,P<0.001.Advanced age,a long duration of hypertension,diabetes mellitus,elevated plasma creatinine,and CRP-hs levels were independent factors associated with DE in primary hypertension patients,P<0.001.CONCLUSION:DE is a common disorder associated with advanced age,a long duration of hypertension,diabetes mellitus,elevated plasma CRP-hs,and creatinine levels in patients with primary hypertension.

Assessment of Radiation Dose Caused by Radioactive Gaseous Effluent Released from Nuclear Power Plant Ninh Thuan 1 under Scenario of Normal Working Conditions

Based on guides RG 1.109, RG 1.111 published by United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), our research concentrates in assessing radiation doses caused by radioactive substances released from the nuclear power plant (NPP) Ninh Thuan 1 under the scenario of normal operation using software package NRCDose72 provided by the USNRC. The database including the released radioactive nuclides, meteorology, terrain, population and agricultural production activities have been collected and processed to build the input data for the model calculation. The wind rose distribution obtained from the meteorological data in a five-year period from 2009-2013 showed that the radioactive nuclides released to environment spread in two main wind directions which are North East and South West. The X/Q (s/m3) and D/Q (s/m2) qualities which are, respectively, the ratio of activity concentration to release rate and that of deposition density of radioactive nuclides to release rate were calculated within an area of 80 km radius from the NPP site using XOQDOQ. Population doses were calculated using GASPAR. The XOQDOQ and GASPAR are two specific softwares in NRCDose72 package.