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Radiation monitoring at high energy proton accelerators poses a considerable challenge due to the complexity of the encountered stray radiation fields. These environments comprise a wide variety of different particle types and span from fractions of electron-volts up to several terra electron-volts. As a consequence the use of Monte Carlo simulation programs like FLUKA is indispensable to obtain appropriate field-specific calibration factors. At many locations of the LHC a large contribution to the particle fluence is expected to originate from high-energy neutrons and thus, benchmark experiments with mono-energetic neutron beams are of high importance to verify the aforementioned detector response calculations. This paper summarizes the results of a series of benchmark experiments with quasi mono-energetic neutrons of 100, 140, 200, 250 and 392 MeV that have been carried out at RCNP - Osaka University, during several campaigns between 2006 and 2014.

Introduction: Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease are neurodegenerative disorders with life limiting conditions. The symptomatic pharmacological therapeutic strategies unfortunately are also related to undesirable side effects. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors administered to Alzheimer's disease patients increase cholinergic transmission in cortex and hippocampus. Antiparkinsonian drugs increase dopaminergic system activity, to compensate for dopaminergic neurons' degeneration in  corpus striatum, t herefore supplying the imbalance of these neurotransmitters in these degenerative areas.But undesirable the increase of these neurotransmitters in other cerebral and peripheral areas brings us important side effects Objectives: To study Alzheimer's cholinergic drugs and Parkinson's dopaminergic drugs' side effects Methods: This retrospective study included 107 geriatric patients enrolled in a private long-term care institution. 79 patients with Alzheimer's disease had mean age of 88.11 ± 5,78 years old, mean weight of 61.62 ± 13.10 kg. 28 patients with Parkinson's disease had mean age of 84.93 ± 5.71 years old, weight mean 66.36 ± 2.83 kg. Results: Alzheimer's disease patients 41.77% (33) received. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (Donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine) Psychomotor agitation and aggressive behavior 63.666% and nausea (15%) were observed in the patients treated with these drugs. The association of L-DOPA and DOPA decarboxylase inhibitors (benserazide) were administered to 53%(15) of the Parkinson's disease patients in doses between 2.0-19.0 mg/kg/day. L-DOPA associated to catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor (entacapone) 3 mg/kg/day were given to 7.14% (2) patients. Bromocriptine 0.04 mg/kg/day was given to 3.57% (1) patients. Mental confusion and hallucination side effects were observed in 53.33% (8) patients treated with L-DOPA associated with the DOPA decarboxylase inhibitor (benserazide). Conclusions: The increase of cholinergic activity due to the acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in the Nigro- striatal pathway could be related to psychomotor agitation in Alzheimer's disease patients in a similar way to akathisia induced by neuroleptics. The increase of dopamine levels due to the administration of L-DOPA, in  corpus striatum  improved Parkinson's disease symptoms although the increase of dopaminergic activity at mesocortical pathways may be related to confusion and hallucination observed in these patients. Adjustments in dosage of these drugs could provide improvement in these patients' daily life conditions. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave penetration distance into powder mixtures of FeO(OH)/graphite (C) and tricalciumphosphate/ C was studied by changing the fraction of graphite powder and the degree of the compression. They are combined into a parameter of carbon volume fraction [Pct. Vc]. Experimentally, it was shown that the penetration distance decreased at high [Pct. Vc]. Measurement of permittivity became impossible at certain [Pct. Vc], which is related with the abrupt increase in DC conductivity (occurrence of percolation). In this study, dependence of DC conductivity of the mixture on [Pct. Vc] was expressed using generalized effective medium approximation. And then, average permittivity of the mixture below percolation threshold was measured and analyzed using a mixing rule based on effective medium approximation. In this procedure, permittivity of carbon was estimated to fit the data of the measured average permittivity. Transition from the dielectric to the conductive nature of the powder mixture influences the penetration distance; however, it was shown that the predicted penetration distances by equations using conductivity (σ) or complex permittivity (ε) of the mixtures are consistent with each other, namely, their extrapolations are continuous across the transition region of the percolation threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface oxide layer of Fe–Cr–Al alloy was modified for use as the metal support of SOFCs. The Fe–Cr–Al alloy was firstly coated with LSCF and pre-heat-treated in a vacuum at 1000 °C for 1 h. In comparison with heat treatment at 700 °C, in which the surface oxide was identified as columnar γ-Al2O3/Sr3Al2O6, durability was greatly improved while maintaining electric conductivity at the same level. High-resolution STEM/TEM analysis revealed that the morphology was a similar columnar structure arranged in the same direction. The primary component was α-Al2O3 polycrystal (>80%) and the secondary component was Sr3Al2O6 (~15%). After the formation of columnar γ-Al2O3/Sr3Al2O6 in the low temperature range (<800 °C), γ-Al2O3 was transformed to a more stable α-Al2O3 by increasing the temperature to 1000 °C. Ionic diffusion paths, which cause growth of the oxide during operation, were reduced in the columnar structure. Electronic conduction similarly occurred for both γ-Al2O3/Sr3Al2O6 and α-Al2O3/Sr3Al2O6, which was enhanced along the interface between Al2O3 and Sr3Al2O6. Thus, we obtained a stable semiconductive Al2O-based surface oxide layer with a columnar α-Al2O3/Sr3Al2O6 structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]