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At the Museo Campano (Capua, Italy), eight double‐relief silver coins belonging to southern Italian poleis and dated between the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 3rd century BC were analysed. These coins are of great interest to historians and archaeologists because they provide extensive evidence on the monetary history and circulation of coins since the earliest times in the Campania region. Non‐invasive in situ analyses were performed using point XRF and MA‐XRF measurements and digital microscope photos. These coins were of high fineness. Data analysis methods using ROI imaging, deconvoluted maps, NMF (nonnegative matrix factorization), and k‐means were applied on the elemental maps to study the critical surface areas and to compare the effectiveness of different methods not commonly used for coins. These results combined with numismatic studies provided information on the historical context, the alloy used, and cases such as subaerati and restored coins. Important data were obtained on the currencies of the period under review, which will be useful to integrate with the analysis of further samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous monitoring of natural gamma radiation in air has been carried out, during December 2014 – January 2018, with 1-min cyclic measurement in Prague, Czech Republic using a NaI(Tl) probe. The 214Bi/214Pb ratio as a tracer in rainwater has been investigated to study its variations related to both the ambient dose equivalent rate per hour and the amount of rainfall. A hybrid methodology for time series analysis, composed of the aggregation of two signal decomposition methods (multiple linear regression and empirical mode decomposition) and one forecasting method (support vector regression), has been applied to identify the anomalies in the studied signals in order to better find correlations among them. The results show a strong correlation between the ambient dose equivalent rate and the 214Bi/214Pb ratio values and between both these signals and rainfall amount ≥5 mm/h. Furthermore, the considered descendants of radon are mainly responsible for the overall ambient dose equivalent rate.

In the framework of the PREDIS EU project, a wireless battery-operated gamma-ray detection system was developed in order to provide a medium-to-long-term monitoring system for radioactive waste drums. It was initially proposed to monitor the gamma radioactivity outcoming from steel drums containing cemented radwaste, even though it could be usefully employed in a wider range of applications. Gamma rays are penetrating and convey information from the drum's internal structure, as the count rate measured on the surface depends on the thickness and density of the crossed materials. A number of sensors arranged around a drum, typically four units, provide indications of the emission anisotropy, and any sensitive change in the measured count rate would hint at some anomaly, thus triggering a suitable inspection by operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, a map of the 222Rn gas has been produced in the Campania region, the southern part of Italy, based on the activity concentration measured in indoor environments. This work is part of the radon mitigation policy and complies with the recent Italian Legislative Decree 101/2020, which implements the European Basic Safety Standards, Euratom Directive 59/2013, where Member States must declare areas with elevated levels of indoor radon concentration. The obtained map, divided by Campania municipalities, identifies priority areas with activity concentration values exceeding the reference level of 300 Bq m–3. In addition, an effective statistical analysis of the dataset has been carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Monte Carlo (with Geant4) and COMSOL simulations, the authors have defined a useful tool to reproduce the alpha spectroscopy of 222Rn, 220Rn and their ionized daughters by measurement systems based on electrostatic collection on a silicon detector, inside a metallic chamber. Several applications have been performed: (i) simulating commercial devices worldwide used, and comparing them with experimental theoretical results; (ii) studying of realization of new measurement systems through investigation of the detection efficiency versus different chamber geometries. New considerations and steps forward have been drawn. The present work is a novelty in the literature concerning this research framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stromboli (Italy) is an open-vent volcano with persistent explosive activity producing up to five hundred mild explosions per day. Fluctuations in explosion intensity, varying even by orders of magnitude in terms of emitted volume and their subsequent impact on the surrounding regions, sometimes occur abruptly. Consequently, identifying precursors of larger eruptive activities, particularly for more intense (paroxysmal) explosions, is challenging. In order to search for anomalies in the pre-paroxysm activity related to the summer 2019 eruption, we applied a hybrid method to the automatic analysis of geophysical and geochemical time series. This approach is based on the combination of two methods: 1. the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and 2. the Support Vector Regression (SVR). The aggregation of these two methods allowed us to identify anomalies in the patterns of the geophysical and geochemical parameters measured on Stromboli in a ten-month period including the July–August 2019 eruption. The results of this study are encouraging for an improvement of the monitoring systems and for volcano early warning applications. • Empirical Mode Decomposition combined with Support Vector Regression is suitable for discovering geophysical anomalies. • The EMD + SVR hybrid method is able to detect the anomalies that preceded the 2019 Stromboli paroxysmal phase. • The hybrid EMD + SVR method can easily be implemented for automatic analysis of monitoring data from other volcanoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scanning macro‐XRF, XRF point measurements and hyperspectral reflectance imaging in the visible and near‐infrared range were combined to characterize the pigments of a Tibetan painting. The complementary use of the different investigation techniques allowed us to (a) clearly identify the pigments used by the artist, (b) strengthen the few data present in historical and contemporary sources and (c) provide data necessary for any accurate conservation treatment of the painting. The proposed methodology allows an in‐depth characterization of the materials used in thangkas, with the identification of all the pigments used by Tibetan artists, as shown by the analyses of reference samples. In the present study traditional pigments, commonly cited in historical sources, were identified such as vermilion, minium, orpiment and azurite, but also more unusual compounds such as brochantite and antlerite (in blue/green areas). Elemental distribution images confirmed that some parts of the thangka were restored, without taking into account the original pigments or the original design. Underlying annotations and a carbon black under‐drawing were highlighted by the application of near‐infrared hyperspectral imaging technique, which proved to be particularly useful for the study of such paintings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study concerns the analysis of 220Rn (thoron) recorded in the surface soil in two sites of the Campi Flegrei caldera (Naples, Southern Italy) characterized by phases of volcanic unrest in the seven-year period 1 July 2011–31 December 2017. Thoron comes only from the most surface layer, so the characteristics of its time series are strictly connected to the shallow phenomena, which can also act at a distance from the measuring point in these particular areas. Since we measured 220Rn in parallel with 222Rn (radon), we found that by using the same analysis applied to radon, we obtained interesting information. While knowing the limits of this radioisotope well, we highlight only the particular characteristics of the emissions of thoron in the surface soil. Here, we show that it also shows some clear features found in the radon signal, such as anomalies and signal trends. Consequently, we provide good evidence that, in spite of the very short life of 220Rn compared to 222Rn, both are related to the carrier effect of CO2, which has significantly increased in the last few years within the caldera. The hydrothermal alterations, induced by the increase in temperature and pressure of the caldera system, occur in the surface soils and significantly influence thoron's power of exhalation from the surface layer. The effects on the surface thoron are reflected in both sites, but with less intensity, the same behavior of 222Rn following the increasing movements and fluctuations of the geophysical and geochemical parameters (CO2 flux, fumarolic tremor, background seismicity, soil deformation). An overall linear correlation was found between the 222−220Rn signals, indicating the effect of the CO2 vector. The overall results represent a significant step forward in the use and interpretation of the thoron signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous monitoring of natural gamma radiation in air has been carried out, during December 2014 – January 2018, with 1-min cyclic measurement in Prague, Czech Republic using a NaI(Tl) probe. The 214Bi/214Pb ratio as a tracer in rainwater has been investigated to study its variations related to both the ambient dose equivalent rate per hour and the amount of rainfall. A hybrid methodology for time series analysis, composed of the aggregation of two signal decomposition methods (multiple linear regression and empirical mode decomposition) and one forecasting method (support vector regression), has been applied to identify the anomalies in the studied signals in order to better find correlations among them. The results show a strong correlation between the ambient dose equivalent rate and the 214Bi/214Pb ratio values and between both these signals and rainfall amount ≥5 mm/h. Furthermore, the considered descendants of radon are mainly responsible for the overall ambient dose equivalent rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]