This review provides a comprehensive evaluation of the state-of-knowledge of radiation effects in crystalline ceramics that may be used for the immobilization of high-level nuclear waste and plutonium. The current understanding of radiation damage processes, defect generation, microstructure development, theoretical methods, and experimental methods are reviewed. Fundamental scientific and tech...

The relationship between exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation (<100 mSv) and the risk of leukemia has perplexed researchers for decades. The recent accident in Fukushima, Japan has led to a renewed interest in better understanding this relationship, which has significant implications for government-outlined safety procedures for individuals working in occupations, such as the nuclear ind...

The statistical feature of occurrence of multiple tropical cyclone (MTC) events in the western North Pacific (WNP) is examined during summer (June–September) for the period of 1979–2006. The number of MTC events ranged from one to eight per year, experiencing a marked interannual variation. The spatial distance between the TCs associated with MTC events is mostly less than 3000 km, which accoun...

Objective: Nuclear medicine technologists work under sig­ nificant radiation protection constraints. These constraints are based on the linear no-threshold (LNl) radiation para­ digm, which was developed in the 1960s and was based largely on the deleterious effects of radiation as they were understood at the time. More recently, the theory of radia­ tion hormesis, or a beneficial effect of low-...

XTE J1739–302 is a transient X-ray source with unusually short outbursts, lasting on the order of hours. Here we give a summary of X-ray observations we have made of this object in outburst with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and at a low level of activity with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, as well as observations made by other groups. Visible and infrared spectroscopy of the mass dono...

Laser Phototherapy (LPT) is an effective tool to stimulate bone. A series of promising protocols developed by our group are presented. Our results show that the use of IR laser results on increased bone neorformation. LPT effect depends not only on the total dose, but also on both irradiation time and mode. Energy density and intensity are biologically independent and accounts for the success a...

The MediaEval 2012 Affect Task challenged participants to automatically find violent scenes in a set of Hollywood movies. We propose to first predict a set of mid-level concept annotations from low-level visual and auditory features, then fuse the concept predictions and features to detect violent content. Instead of engineering features suitable for the task, we deliberately restrict ourselves...

Nuclear analyses have been performed for the baseline design of the Fusion Ignition Research Experiment (FIRE). Nuclear heating, structural radiation damage, and magnet insulator dose were evaluated. Critical issues requiring additional R&D effort include low-temperature embrittlement of copper and identifying insulators that can handle a dose as high as 1.5x10 Rads under the FIRE load conditio...

IGR J17544−2619 and XTE J1739−302 are considered the prototypical sources of the new class of High Mass X–ray Binaries, the Supergiant Fast X–ray Transients (SFXTs). These sources were observed during bright outbursts on 2008 March 31 and 2008 April 8, respectively, thanks to an on-going monitoring campaign we are performing with Swift, started in October 2007. Simultaneous observations with XR...

A probabilistic safety assessment model has been developed for assessing the performance of near surface disposal facilities for low-level radioactive waste. Two modes of disposal such as single dump and multiple dump are considered in the model. The model is composed of four components: source term, repository failure, geosphere transport and radiological assessment. The source term contains l...