Assessment of Occupational Radiation Exposure for Radiotherapy Healthcare Workers at Kenyatta National Hospital Using Thermoluminescence Dosimeter LiF:Mg,Ti

Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) is the largest public referral hospital with a comprehensive cancer treatment facility in East and Central Africa. Occupational radiation monitoring is a significant technique for demonstrating compliance of radiation regulatory limits. The objective of the study was to carry out assessment of occupational radiation exposure among radiotherapy personnel at KNH using thermoluminescence dosimeter, TLD. KNH staff were monitored using dosimeter type TLD-100 made of LiF:Mg,Ti, on monthly basis. The reader system used for analysis was Harshaw 8800. The measurement established the average monthly accumulated occupational personnel dose for KNH to be 0.21 mSv and 0.29 mSv for Hp (10) and Hp (0.07) respectively. The accumulated dose results were within the maximum acceptable dose of 1.67 mSv/month and 41.6 mSv/month for Hp (10) and Hp (0.07) respectively. The investigation results were higher than the acceptable public limit of 0.08 mSv/month. Moreover, incidences were noted where the fetus dose limit 0.42 was also exceeded. Evaluation of statistical dose exposure among doctors, nurses and radiographers’ measurement results were within ±0.02 mSv. The study established the average KNH occupational radiation exposure levels for both Hp (10) and Hp (0.07) were within the ICRU recommendation, validating radiation protection safe practice. Data analysis of healthcare workers did not indicate exposure trend biased to any healthcare profession. Hence radiation risk cut across all professional categories. It is recommended that Radiation Monitoring program be reviewed to include non-clinical staff who access the facility. Radiation reporting should not be limited to one facility, but reflect cases where workers are involved in multiple multiple jobs.

Photoluminescence and thermoluminescence properties of dysprosium doped zinc metaborate phosphors

Polycrystalline powder samples of dysprosium doped Zn（BO2）2 phosphors were prepared by solid state reaction in air at high temperature and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction. The IR, Photoluminescence （PL）, diffuse reflectance and three-dimensional （3D） thermoluminescence （TL） emission spectrum after 60^Co gamma ray irradiation were investigated. The characteristic 3D TL emission bands at about 425, 481 and 573 um with a main emission band of around 573 um were attributed to the host emission, 4^F9/2→6H15/2 and F9/2→6^H13/2 f-f transitions of Dy^3＋ ions. No emission from Dy^2＋ ions was observed in the measurement wavelength range. The TL-dose response of the Zn（BO2）2：Dy polycrystalline powder sample to gamma ray radiation in the range from 1 to 100 Gy at clinical dose levels was almost linear. The experimental results showed that Zn（BO2）2：Dy had potential use as the materials of gamma-ray thermoluminescence dosimeter （TLD） for clinical dosimetry.

Thermoluminescence studies on γ-irradiated CaF_2:Dy:Pb:Na single crystals

Therrnoluminescence （TL） glow, thermoluminescence emission （TLE） and thermal decay （TD） of optical absorption （OA） bands were studied on γ-irradiated CaF2：Dy （0.010at.%）：Pb （0.188at.%）：Na （0.026at.%） single crystals （hereafter called crystal-I）. The TL glow exhibited four glow peaks in the temperature region 300-500 K. The TL response with dose was studied up to -7.5 kGy. The total glow showed linear, supra linear and exponential growth with dose. The TLE showed bands characteristic of Dy^3＋ ions （around 1.65, 1.87, 2.18 and 2.63 eV） and sodium associated （SA） colour centres （CCs） such as MNa （around 1.67 eV） and XNa （a new SA CC, with an emission band around 2.63 eV）. The OA bands of MNa CC around 3.23 and 2.07 eV were found to decrease with temperature almost in accordance with the TL glow. The R＋A centre absorption around 2.48 eV was found to grow with temperature initially and then decayed. The formation/growth of the CCs R＋A and XNa might be from the conversion of the irradiation produced CC MNa. An attempt was made to explain the TL mechanism in the present system.

Natural thermoluminescence of fossil foraminiferals as a potential proxy for deep-sea temperature changes

Foraminiferal shells from two piston cores separately located at the Ninetyeast Ridge and the Bengal Fan of the Indian Ocean were selected and purified for measurements of natural thermoluminescence （NTL） intensity by a high precision thermoluminescence meter （RGD-3）. Variations of the NTL intensity along the two core sequences both spanning the last two glacial--interglacial cycles displayed a strong, identical signal of the global ice volume cycles, which matched well with their corresponding oxygen isotope data. As higher NTL intensity occurred within interglacial periods and changes in an NTL signal were most likely influenced by the temperature of ambient seawater in which the planktonic foraminiferal shells long existed, the NTL signal could be considered as a potential proxy for orbital scale temperature changes of bottom seawater in the tropical Indian Ocean.

A preliminary study on thermoluminescence characteristics of sediments from the North Pacific

Thirty-eight surficial deposit samples were collected from the equatorial North Pacific, and the natural thermoluminescence （TL） characteristics of both bulk and clay fraction samples （ 〈 2μm fractions） were studied by the FJ427 - AI automatic TL Dosimeter for the first time. With the measurements of clay mineral composition, element composition by XRD and ICP, the correlations between TL intensity and sedimentary environment proxies were analyzed, such as water depth, ratio of FeO to Fe2 O3 contents, LOI, and major clay mineral concentration, and it was found the bulk sample＇ s TL signal was stronger than the clay ones. Usually, increase in the clay components may result in the decrease of TL intensity. From the shape of TL curves, the pelagic sediments can be divided into two groups： the majority group has two glow peaks, in general, the first peak is broad and flat, but the second narrow and sharp; the minority group only has a single peak because the first is absent. The peak centers of TL curves are almost fixed, falling in the temperature sections 230 ~ 260 and 390 ~ 405℃ respectively. Lorentz model packed in the Origin 7.5 was chosen to deal with the TL curves. From the processing results, three parameters （H, C and A ） , corresponding to the height, center, and kurtosis of TL curve, were obtained to describe the curve characteristics. The correlations between TL curve parameters and sedimentary environment proxies were also calculated. On the basis of the above work, the relationship between TL characteristics and sediment type, mineral composition, sedimentary environment of surface sediments was discussed in the study area, and a conclusion is： sediments from the environment of shallower water, higher organic contents and weaker reductivity have stronger TL signals.

ALPHA THERMOLUMINESCENCE DOSIMETRY IN DATING OF POTTERY

This article describes the measurement of internal alpha dose-rate in pottery using ultrathin CaSO4: Tin thermoluminescence dosimeter. Among the advantages ofthe techllique are not only convenience, accuracy, lowcost, but also the beta dose--ratefrom pottery can be obtained at the same time.

大尺寸NaI(Tl)生长结晶炉设计

NaI(Tl)闪烁体因具有探测效率高、时间特性好、受温度影响小等特点而被广泛使用。为满足高探测效率的核辐射探测器需求,需要大尺寸、高能量分辨率的NaI(Tl)闪烁体。依据NaI(Tl)晶体的生长特点,本文对大尺寸NaI(Tl)生长结晶炉的主炉体、温场系统、坩埚、加热电源等部件进行研究及设计,配合大尺寸NaI(Tl)生长结晶炉控制系统,采用创新的熔生法生长出直径超300 mm的NaI(Tl)闪烁体,为后续国内生长大尺寸NaI(Tl)晶体提供了方向与解决方案。

基于TLS引入局部密度因子的落叶松削度方程构建

将局部密度因子引入削度方程,通过地基激光雷达对黑龙江省佳木斯市桦南县孟家岗林场5块落叶松人工林进行扫描,采集的点云数据用于提取落叶松树高、胸径以及不同相对高度处直径,基于Kozak可变指数削度方程构建引入局部密度因子的削度方程,削度方程拟合结果为调整决定系数R^(2)_(adj)=0.935,均方根差RMSE=0.7356,平均偏差Bias=0.8693。研究表明,引入局部密度因子的削度方程具有良好的拟合精度;对比传统Kozak削度方程和引入全局密度因子的削度方程,引入局部密度因子的削度方程拟合效果更好;落叶松的削度方程其局部密度因子的计算范围与树高和胸径呈正相关。试验结果可以为孟家岗林场科学合理的造材提供理论依据,初步揭示了局部密度因子对于落叶松树干干形的影响。

The conversion factor of K_(eff) to K_(3.7) in thermoluminescence dating

In the fine-grain TL dating the full o dose must be converted into the equivalent P dose. The conversion is finished by Keff-value, which is an effective or effectiveness. But the Keff can not be measured directly for each sample and only the external radiative efficiency K3.7 can be measured. In order to obtain the Keff a special study for the conversion factor of Keff to K3.t has been made using the ultrathin TLD. The results show that the conversion factor of tile TLD for archaeological samples is 0.847, which is in agreement with calculated value 0.85.

Identification of radiation treatment of wheat (Triticum aestivum.L) and rice (Oryza sativa.L) samples using thermoluminescence of contaminating minerals

Food irradiation is gaining popularity worldwide and this technology is important to improve quality and reduce the post harvest losses of food.Because of the rapid commercialization of irradiated foods throughout the world,compliance of different regulations relating to use of technology in different countries and demand of consum- ers for clear labelling of irradiated foods,there is need for the development of analytical methods to detect radiation treatment of food.Among several methods studied so far,thermoluminescence (TL) is an important method that can be used to find out the irradiation history of food that contain even a very minute amount of dust particles.In this study,the irradiated and unirradiated wheat and rice samples were analyzed using the TL method.The samples were purchased from the local market of Peshawar and irradiated to radiation doses of 0.5 and 1.0 kGy using Co-60 gamma irradiator at the Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA),Peshawar.The mineral contaminants were isolated by jet water,ultrasonic treatment,and density gradient.TL glow curves of the isolated minerals from irradiated and unirradiated samples were recorded between the temperature ranges of 50—500℃using a TL reader.Generally,the glow curves for irradiated samples showed much higher TL intensities (TL_1) than the unirradiated samples.The results were normalized by re-irradiation of mineral samples to gamma-ray dose of 1.0 kGy followed by determination of the second glow curves (TL_2).The ratio of the area of first glow curve to that of second glow curve (TL_1/TL_2) was calcu- lated for selected temperature intervals and compared with the recommended values for unirradiated and irradiated samples.Finally,the shapes of the glow curves for irradiated and unirradiated samples were also analyzed.On the ba- sis of these results (comparison of TL-intensities,TL_1/TL_2 ratios and shapes of the glow curves),all the irradiated and unirradiated samples of wheat and rice were unequivocally identified.

Thermoluminescence Characteristics of SrB_6O_(10)∶Tb

SrB6010：Tb phosphor was synthesized by high-temperature solid state reaction. The influences of Ce or Li as a co-dopant, Tb concentration and irradiation dose exposure on TL of SrB6010 ： Tb were investigated. Results show that Ce or Li as a co-dopant can not improve the sensitivity of SrB6010：Tb phosphor. TL response depends on Tb concentration and 0.02 is the optimum in the concentration range from 0.01 to 0.10. Using the optimum Tb concentration, we calculated the kinetic parameters of SrB6010：Tb employing the peak shape method, and suggested the phosphor obeying the second order kinetics. TL emission intensity is linearly dependent on the irradiation dose within the dose range of 50 - 200 Gy. The characteristic Tb^3＋ ion emission was observed in TL emission spectrum.

Thermoluminescence characteristics of NaSr_4(BO_3)_3:Ce^(3+) under β-ray irradiation

The thermoluminescence （TL） properties of Ce3＋ doped NaSr4（BO3）3 phosphor under the β-ray irradiation were reported. The polycrystalline sample was synthesized by high temperature solid-state reaction. The TL glow curve of NaSr4（BO3）3：Ce3＋ phosphor was composed of only one peak. TL kinetic parameters of NaSr4（BO3）3：Ce3＋ were deduced by the peak shape method, the activation energy （E） was 0.590 eV and the frequency factor was 1.008×10^6S^-1. TL dose response was linear in the range of measurement. The 3-dimensional （3D） TL emission spectrum was also recorded, the emission spectrum consisted of two bands located at 441 and 479 nm respectively, corresponding to the characteristic 4f^05d^1→2F（5/2,7/2） transitions of the Ce3＋ ion. The fading behavior of the NaSr4（BO3）3：Ce3＋ phosphor over a period of 15 d was also studied.

The fluorescence and thermoluminescence characteristics of α-Al_2O_3:C ceramics

This paper reports that polycrystalline （α-Al2O3：C ceramics are fabricated by conventional ceramics process. The excitation, emission spectra, thermoluminescence （TL） and optical stimulated luminescence （OSL） of α-Al2O3：C polycrystalline ceramics are investigated. There exists 410nm maximum emission peak which is caused by recombination of an electron with F＋ centre to produce an excited F centre. The samples show three clear TL glow peaks at 405, 493 and 610 K. The attenuation constant of exponentially decaying fast component （τ1） and slow component（τ2） of OSL curve are 8.43s and 41.73s, respectively. Those fluorescence and thermoluminescence characteristics are similar with α-Al2O3：C crystal.

Thermoluminescence of BaFCl_xBr_（1－x）：Sm System and Assignment of Their Glow Peaks

Through the study of the thermoluminescence(TL) of BaFClxBr1-x: Sm(0<x<1) system, it is found that former assignment of the glow peaks of BaFX(X = Cl, Br) is plausible. Through detailed study by several methods and techniques, a correct assignment is given in this paper, i.e. the first, second, and third glow peaks of BaFClxBr1-xSm are assigned to F(F-), F(Cl-), F(Br-) centers respectively, and the first andsecond glow peaks of BaFX are assigned to F(F-) and F(X-) centers respectively. This results are confirmed by theoretical consideration. Possible reasons for former plausible assignment are also pointed out here.

Thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence disadvantages of α-Al_2O_3:C crystal grown by the temperature gradient technique

Recently, α-Al2O3：C crystal with highly sensitive thermoluminescence （TL） and optically stimulated luminescence （OSL） has been successfully grown by the temperature gradient technique. This paper investigates the heating rate dependence of TL sensitivity, light-induced fading of TL signals and thermal stability of OSL of α-Al2O3：C crystals. As the heating rate increases, the integral TL response decreases and the dosimetric glow peak shifts to higher temperatures in α-Al2O3：C crystals. Light-induced fading of TL increases with the irradiation dose, and TL response decreases as the exposure time increases, especially in the first 15 minutes. With the increasing intensity of the exposure light, the TL fading of α-Al2O3：C crystal increases sharply. The OSL response of as-grown α-Al2O3：C crystal is quite stable below 373 K and decreases sharply for higher temperatures.

Intercomparison of Environmental Gamma doses Measured with A NaI(Tl) Survey Meter and Thermoluminescent Dosimeters(TLDs) in the Poonch Division of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan

This study presents the intercomparison of the outdoor environmental gamma dose rates measured using a Nal （TI） based survey meter along with thermoluminescent dosimeters （TLDs） and estimation of excess lifetime cancer risk （ELCR）, for the inhabitants of Poonch division of the Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. CaF2： Dy （TLD-200） card dosimeters were installed at height of 1 m from ground at fifteen different locations covering the entire Poonch division comprising of three districts.

基于图神经网络的SSL/TLS加密恶意流量检测算法研究

为实现SSL/TLS加密恶意流量的精准检测,针对传统机器学习方法过分依赖专家经验的问题,提出一种基于图神经网络的恶意加密流量检测模型。通过对SSL/TLS加密会话进行分析,利用图结构对流量会话交互信息进行表征,将恶意加密流量检测问题转化为图分类问题。生成的模型基于分层图池化架构,通过多层卷积池化的聚合,结合注意力机制,充分挖掘图中节点特征和图结构信息,实现了端到端的恶意加密流量检测方法。基于公开数据集CICAndMal2017进行验证,实验结果表明,所提模型在加密恶意流量二分类检测中,准确率高达97.1%,相较于其他模型,准确率、召回率、精确率、F1分数分别提升了2.1%,3.2%,1.6%,2.1%,说明所提方法对于恶意加密流量的表征能力和检测能力优于其他方法。

Thermoluminescence Energy Response of Copper and Magnesium Oxide Doped Lithium Potassium Borate Using a Monte Carlo N-Particle Code Simulation

The energy absorption coefficient of Cu-doped lithium potassium borate (LKB) dosimeter and TLD 100 was reported theoretically and checked by simulation of Monte Carlo n-particle code version 5 (MCNP5). The response of LKB:Cu for various photon energies (20 keV to 10 MeV) were determined by calculation, experiment and simulation. The obtained results were discussed and compared with TLD 100. For more precise results, the geometry specification, the source information, the material information and tallies were identified and fully described. The results obtained by simulation were determined based on the tally F6, which exhibited the response as energy-dependant on heating function instead of flux. The current results showed that the prepared dosimeter has a greater response than TLD 100 in the lower energy range and a flat response in the higher energy ranges (≥100 keV).

基于NaI(Tl)伽马谱仪的反演分析法在海水放射性探测中的应用

伴随着核能的快速发展和应用,海洋放射性环境安全监测受到了越来越多的关注。因具有成本低、功耗低、探测效率高等优点,NaI(Tl)伽马谱仪成为海洋放射性自动连续监测主要应用的仪器。但是,该谱仪探测分辨能力尚存在不足,导致核素甄别和定量检测存在困难。为了解决该困难,本研究采用理论计算、仿真模拟和实验测量等技术手段,开展基于反演分析的海水伽马能谱处理分析方法研究。研究结果表明:仿真实验中经过反演分析法计算的重构谱线的分辨率得到大幅改善,与仿真能谱中核素的道址和活度的参考值相比,重构谱线的^(134)Cs、^137Cs、^(60)Co和^(40)K核素峰的道址误差在2道以内,活度计算误差在4%以内。在位于青岛的海洋科学实验站进行的海水现场实验结果表明反演分析法对_(40)K核素的活度分析结果为1.218×10^(4) Bq·m^(-3)。该方法能够有效解决NaI(Tl)伽马谱仪探测分辨能力不足的问题,实现准确的海水放射性核素分析。

低温对NaI(Tl)探测器的性能影响研究

本研究详细测试了在-40~20℃温度变化下,NaI(Tl)探测器对^(60)Co的能谱响应的峰位移和能量分辨率的变化,以及探测器输出脉冲信号的性能参数的变化。在从20℃下降至0℃的过程中,能谱呈现向右的漂移,随后从0℃继续下降时,表现为向左漂移。在-20~20℃的范围内,^(60)Co能谱的1.33MeV峰位偏移量较小,不超过3.2%。然而,当温度低于-20℃时,峰位明显向左移动,在-40℃时,偏移量最大,达到24.86%。与此同时,温度下降导致NaI(Tl)探测器的能谱能量分辨率变差,从20℃下降至-40℃,^(60)Co能谱的1.33MeV峰的能量分辨率从5.20%上升至8.67%。此外,输出脉冲的脉宽随温度下降呈现逐渐增加的趋势,探测器的计数率上限随着温度下降逐渐降低。最后通过采用相对峰位校正的方法,成功对低温下的温度漂移进行了校正,确保了在不同温度下γ射线特征峰位置的一致性。这些研究结果对于提升NaI(Tl)探测器在低温环境中的性能和应用具有重要意义。