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Here we present the cascade converter (CC), which provides real-time imaging of ionizing radiation (IoR) distribution. It was designed and manufactured with the simplest architecture, utilizing liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. Based on two merged substrates with transparent electrodes, armed with functional layers, with the cell filled with nematic liquid crystal, a display-like, IoR-stimulated CC was achieved. The CC comprises low-absorbing polymer substrates (made of polyethylene terephthalate—PET) armed with a transparent ITO electrode covered with a thin semipermeable membrane of polymer (biphenylperfluorocyclobutyl: BP-PFCB) doped with functional nanoparticles (NPs) of Lu2O3:Eu. This stack was covered with a photoconductive layer of α-Se and finally with a thin polyimide (PI) layer for liquid crystal alignment. The opposite substrate was made of LCD-type glass with ITO and polyimide aligning layers. Both substrates form a cell with a twisted structure of nematic liquid crystal (TN) driven with an effective electric field E e f f . An effective electric field driving TN structure is generated with a sum of (1) a bias voltage V B I A S applied to ITO transparent electrodes and (2) the photogenerated additional voltage V X r a y induced between ITO and α-Se layers with a NPs-doped BP-PFCB polymer layer in-between. The IoR (here, X-ray) conversion into real imaging of the IoR distribution was achieved in the following stages: (1) conversion of IoR distribution into non-ionizing red light emitted with functional NPs, (2) transformation of red light into an electric charge distributed in a layer of the photoconductive α-Se, which is what results in the generation of distributed voltage V X r a y , and (3) a voltage-mediated, distributed switching of the TN structure observed with the naked eye. The presented imaging device is characterized by a simple structure and a simple manufacturing process, with the potential for use as a portable element of IoR detection and as a dosimeter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the occurrence of crisis situations on public roads caused by landslides and the issue of ensuring traffic safety in crisis situations. Particular attention has been paid to structural errors, which often represent the root cause of road structure failures, and the possibilities of eliminating such errors at the design stage. The article analyses the methods of calculating the stability of road embankments and presents example calculations of the factor of safety for a road embankment without and with reinforcement with geosynthetics. It has been demonstrated that the application of geosynthetics makes it possible to design road structures with the factor of safety of the embankment slope for which the probability of a sliding failure is very low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]