Thermal and epithermal neutron flux distributions measurement in thermal column of TRR using an experimental-simulation method.
For designing an appropriate neutron beam, the determination of neutron flux at any irradiation facility is an important key factor. Due to the importance of determining the thermal and epithermal neutron fluxes in a typical thermal column of a reactor, a simple and accurate technique is introduced in this study. Absolute thermal and epithermal fluxes were measured experimentally at a certain point using the foil activation method by neutron bombardment of bare and cadmium covered Au foils. The relative neutron fluxes were also derived simply by means of Monte Carlo simulation by accurate modelling of the reactor components. Finally, by normalization of the relative distribution flux with regard to information about the absolute neutron flux, the accurate thermal and epithermal neutron distributions were derived, separately.
Radiologic findings in patients treated with boron neutron capture therapy for glioblastoma multiforme within EORTC trial 11961.
PURPOSE
To assess the occurrence and development of cerebral radiologic changes (cerebral atrophy and white matter lesions) in patients treated with boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) for primary supratentorial glioblastoma multiforme within the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) trial 11961.


METHODS AND MATERIALS
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed before and after surgery and at 1 week and 2, 4.5, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months after BNCT. For the current study, MRI scans of all assessable patients were analyzed, with emphasis on cerebral atrophy and white matter abnormalities.


RESULTS
Twenty-six patients had been treated with BNCT according to the EORTC trial 11961, of whom 24 were assessable for the current study. The development of possible BNCT-related cerebral changes was observed in 12 patients (50%), 10 of whom had cerebral atrophy (42%) and 10 white matter changes (42%) after a median interval of 7.5 and 4.5 months, respectively.


CONCLUSION
In this study, cerebral radiologic changes appeared in 50% of patients within the first year after BNCT. Although a clear correlation between the BNCT dose and the development of cerebral changes could not be demonstrated, a relationship between the occurrence of these radiologic abnormalities and BNCT seems likely.
Resonant Auger decay study of C1s -> pi* core-excited OCS
The present work aims at characterizing short-lived C1s((-1)) pi*((1)) core-excited states of the OCS molecule based on the analysis of the vibrational fine structure and lineshape profiles of the high-resolution resonant Auger decay spectra recorded at the excitation energies along the C1s -> pi* resonance in the binding energy region 15-19eV. Very different behavior in terms of lineshape and resonant enhancement is observed for the (A) over tilde, (B) over tilde and (C) over tilde final states. This is explained by (1) the variation in the C-O bond lengths for the states involved in the electronic relaxation and (2) different contributions in terms of Mulliken population to the molecular orbitals determining the electronic character of the corresponding states. Since the final-state geometries are known from a number of previous experiments and ab initio calculations, the geometry of the C1s((-1)) pi*((1)) intermediate states can be predicted in analogy with e.g. the N-2, CO2 and N2O molecules. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)