Inhalation dose assessment of indoor radon progeny using biokinetic and dosimetric modeling and its application to Jordanian population

High indoor radon concentrations in Jordan result in internal exposures of the residents due to the inhalation of radon and its short-lived progeny. It is therefore important to quantify the annual effective dose and further the radiation risk to the radon exposure. This study describes the methodology and the biokinetic and dosimetric models used for calculation of the inhalation doses exposed to radon progeny. The regional depositions of aerosol particles in the human respiratory tract were firstly calculated. For the attached progeny, the activity median aerodynamic diameters of 50 nm, 230 nm and 2500 nm were chosen to represent the nucleation, accumulation and coarse modes of the aerosol particles, respectively. For the unattached progeny, the activity median thermodynamic diameter of 1 nm was chosen to represent the free progeny nuclide in the room air. The biokinetic models developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) were used to calculate the nuclear transformations of radon progeny in the human body, and then the dosimetric model was applied to estimate the organ equivalent doses and the effective doses with the specific effective energies derived from the mathematical anthropomorphic phantoms. The dose conversion coefficient estimated in this study was 15 mSv WLM⁻¹ which was in the range of the values of 6-20 mSv WLM⁻¹ reported by other investigators. Implementing the average indoor radon concentration in Jordan, the annual effective doses were calculated to be 4.1 mSv y⁻¹ and 0.08 mSv y⁻¹ due to the inhalation of radon progeny and radon gas, respectively. The total annual effective dose estimated for Jordanian population was 4.2 mSv y⁻¹. This high annual effective dose calculated by the dosimetric approach using ICRP biokinetic and dosimetric models resulted in an increase of a factor of two in comparison to the value by epidemiological study. This phenomenon was presented by the ICRP in its new published statement on radon.     

基于变异系数法的安徽省节能减排评价研究

以行政区域为单位进行节能减排评价研究,分析其中的影响因素,便于因地制宜地采取措施开展节能减排工作。本文以安徽省为研究对象,运用变异系数法对节能减排作评价研究。研究表明,节能减排总体成效显著,但减排问题突出,其中污染物排放与产业结构存在密切关系,进一步的关联分析得出影响减排的主要行业因素。据此,提出从调整产业结构、加强科技创新、完善法规政策方面推进节能减排。     

构建湘江流域生态补偿机制的探讨

本文以湘江水质和水文数据为基础,首次结合各地市社会经济发展情况,引入补偿标准系数,以湘江流域所在区域为例进行生态补偿资金测算,提出湘江流域生态补偿机制构建初步设想和存在的主要问题,以期为湘江流域水资源保护提供指导,最终实现湘江流域区域共赢。     

水环境质量评价3种方法的应用对比

从众多水质评价方法中选取单项指数法、加权均值型指数法、模糊数学法进行介绍,并通过运用这3种方法对大汶河某年监测数据的平均值进行评价.经对比分析发现,加权均值型指数法是一种比较实用的水质评价方法,模糊数学法可以作为必要的补充.     

二维相关地震动作用下结构的随机反应

假定两水平方向的地震动为平稳随机过程,基于地震动主轴模型的假设,讨论了二维地震动分量的空间相关性,在单分量平稳模型的基础上给出了二维水平地震动随机模型的相关函数矩阵。该相关函数模型可以为二维地震下结构随机反应分析提供地震动输入。利用状态空间方法和随机振动理论建立了线性多自由度体系在二维地震激励下的随机反应分析方法,导出了结构的位移反应相关函数和速度反应相关函数,可在时域内直接计算结构的二维随机地震反应的统计特征。最后,通过一个二层框架结构计算实例,说明了这种方法的运用,讨论了地震动强度以及地震动主轴方位角对结构反应的影响。该方法可以为结构抗震可靠性评估提供基础。     

基于分形理论的矿区生态系统稳定性评价

引入非线性理论对矿区生态系统的稳定性进行研究.通过相空间重构的方法确定各混沌吸引子的关联维数,对矿区生态系统的稳定性进行评价.研究表明:焦作矿区矿产资源保有指数、矿产资源回收指数和矿产资源综合利用指数3个指标的分维值都较小,说明自然资源支持度的脆弱性是造成矿区生态系统不稳定性的主要原因.     

基于物元模型的煤自燃危险性分析

为探索判断煤自燃的危险性新方法,在煤低温氧化试验的基础上,基于可拓理论构建了煤自燃危险性熵权和经验权的物元综合分析模型。采用该方法对4个不同煤样低温氧化试验数据进行自燃危险性分析,得出各煤样自燃危险性的等级及差异程度,并提出相应的防范对策。结果表明:4号煤样比其他煤样更具自燃危险性,需要重点防范。该方法的预测结果与实际情况相吻合。     

Plant/soil concentration ratios for paired field and garden crops, with emphasis on iodine and the role of soil adhesion

In the effort to predict the risks associated with contaminated soils, considerable reliance is placed on plant/soil concentration ratio (CR) values measured at sites other than the contaminated site. This inevitably results in the need to extrapolate among the many soil and plant types. There are few studies that compare CR among plant types that encompass both field and garden crops. Here, CRs for 40 elements were measured for 25 crops from farm and garden sites chosen so the grain crops were in close proximity to the gardens. Special emphasis was placed on iodine (I) because data for this element are sparse. For many elements, there were consistent trends among CRs for the various crop types, with leafy crops > root crops ≥ fruit crops ≈ seed crops. Exceptions included CR values for As, K, Se and Zn which were highest in the seed crops. The correlation of CRs from one plant type to another was evident only when there was a wide range in soil concentrations. In comparing CRs between crop types, it became apparent that the relationships differed for the rare earth elements (REE), which also had very low CR values. The CRs for root and leafy crops of REE converged to a minimum value. This was attributed to soil adhesion, despite the samples being washed, and the average soil adhesion for root crops was 500 mg soil kg⁻¹ dry plant and for leafy crops was 5 g kg⁻¹. Across elements, the log CR was negatively correlated with log Kd (the soil solid/liquid partition coefficient), as expected. Although, this correlation is expected, measures of correlation coefficients suitable for stochastic risk assessment are not frequently reported. The results suggest that r ≈ −0.7 would be appropriate for risk assessment.     

Use of co-combustion bottom ash to design an acoustic absorbing material for highway noise barriers

The present study aims to determine and evaluate the applicability of a new product consisting of coal bottom ash mixed with Portland cement in the application of highway noise barriers. In order to effectively recycle the bottom ash, the influence of the grain particle size of bottom ash, the thickness of the panel and the combination of different layers with various particle sizes have been studied, as well as some environmental properties including leachability (EN-12457-4, NEN-7345) and radioactivity tests. Based on the obtained results, the acoustic properties of the final composite material were similar or even better than those found in porous concrete used for the same application. According to this study, the material produced presented no environmental risk.     

IS IT REALISTIC TO DEFINE A 100-YEAR DROUGHT FOR WATER MANAGEMENT?1

ABSTRACT: The concept of recurrence interval has been used for years in engineering designs. Can the same concept be applied to the drought analysis? This paper uses the plotting position method to define drought of various recurrence intervals based on stream-flow data. The method of truncation level was applied to the same data to examine the defined drought. Based on the method of truncation level, drought duration and its corresponding flow deficit were investigated. Eighteen flow gage stations from the Scioto River Basin in Ohio were selected for the study. The results show that flows of 100-year droughts using the plotting position method are practically nil. On the other hand, flows of droughts using the truncation method are gradually decreasing with an increase in truncation level, where flows of 95 percent are approximately equal to those of two-year droughts defined by the plotting position. It is also shown that there is a strung correlation between drought duration and deficit.