Editorial: CORROSION Welcomes New Associate Editor

Ingrid Milošev has been named to the CORROSION Editorial Board as an Associate Editor. Dr. Milošev is currently a scientific advisor and the Head of the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry at Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where she has worked since 1987. She is also a scientific advisor for Valdoltra Orthopaedic Hospital, where she previously worked for 18 years as the assistant manager for research and education.

First person – Mirjana Malnar

ABSTRACT First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Mirjana Malnar is first author on ‘SFPQ regulates the accumulation of RNA foci and dipeptide repeat proteins from the expanded repeat mutation in C9orf72’, published in JCS. Mirjana is a PhD student in the lab of Boris Rogelj at Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia, investigating RNA biology and the involvement of non-coding RNAs in various diseases.

Implementation of a Savvy Mobile ECG Sensor for Heart Rhythm Disorder Screening at the Primary Healthcare Level: An Observational Prospective Study

Introduction: The Jozef Stefan Institute developed a personal portable electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor Savvy that works with a smartphone, and this was used in our study. This study aimed to analyze the usefulness of telecardiology at the primary healthcare level using an ECG personal sensor. Methods: We included 400 patients with a history of suspected rhythm disturbance who visited their family physician at the Healthcare Center Ljubljana and Healthcare Center Murska Sobota from October 2016 to January 2018. Results: The study found that there was no statistically significant difference between the test and control groups in the number of present rhythm disorders and actions taken to treat patients with either observation or administration of a new drug. However, in the test group, there were significantly fewer patients being referred to a cardiologist than in the control group (p < 0.001). Discussion: The use of an ECG sensor helps family physicians to distinguish between patients who need to be referred to a cardiologist and those who can be treated by them. This method is useful for both physicians and patients because it shortens the time taken to start treatment, can be used during pandemics such as COVID-19, and reduces unnecessary cost.

CEA-JSI Experimental Benchmark for validation of the modeling of neutron and gamma-ray detection instrumentation used in the JSI TRIGA reactor

Constant improvements of the computational power and methods as well as demands of accurate and reliable measurements for reactor operation and safety require a continuous upgrade of the instrumentation. In particular, nuclear sensors used in nuclear fission reactors (research or power reactors) or in nuclear fusion facilities are operated under intense mixed neutron and gamma-ray fields, and need to be calibrated and modeled to provide selective and accurate neutron and gamma-ray measurements. The French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) and the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) have started an experimental program dedicated to a detailed experimental benchmark with analysis using Monte Carlo particle transport calculations and a series of neutron and gamma-ray sensor types used in the JSI TRIGA Mark II reactor. CEA has setup a simplified TRIPOLI-4® modeling scheme of the JSI TRIGA reactor based on the information available in the IRPhEP benchmark in order to facilitate analysis of future neutron and gamma-ray measurements. These allow the CEA to perform a TRIPOLI-4 instrumentation calculation scheme benchmarked with the JSI MCNP model. This paper presents the main results of this CEA calculation scheme application and the analysis of their comparison to the JSI results obtained in 2012 with the MCNP5 & ENDF/B-VII.0 calculation scheme. This paper will conclude with some information about the new experimental program to be carried out in 2022 in the TRIGA reactor core.

On teaching experimental reactor physics in times of pandemic

The COVID-19 induced restrictions have prevented reactor physics students from attending in-person reactor physics exercises which are a vital part of their education. Jožef Stefan Institute has organized remote exercises with the help of off-the-shelf technology, including multiple videoconferencing setups, remote desktop software, portable cameras, a dome camera, shared spreadsheets, and a common whiteboard. The students were encouraged to actively participate in the exercises by giving instructions to the reactor operator, asking and answering questions, logging data, operating digital acquisition systems, and performing analysis during the exercise. The first remote exercises were organized as a five-day course of experimental reactor physics for students from Uppsala University. The feedback was collected after the course using an anonymous online form and was generally positive but has revealed some problems with sound quality which were resolved later. The Jožef Stefan Institute can also organize a remote course during a full lockdown when the reactor is not able to operate using the in-house developed Research Reactor Simulator based on a point kinetics approximation and a simple thermohydraulic module.

Determination of backscattered neutrons/gammas from open beam port of a research reactor

Neutron and gamma dose rate calculations were carried out around horizontal beam tube no. 5 at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) TRIGA Mark II research reactor. Results were compared to the experimental measurements in order to verify the computation model. In addition, another set of calculations and measurements was carried out, where an additional shield made out of concrete and paraffin was installed. With that configuration, we were able to study neutron and gamma scattering.

Acoustic instrumentation of the new generation of MTR: effect of nuclear radiation on modified Bismuth Titanate piezoelectric elements

In this article we present a first part of the results obtained during an irradiation campaign conducted at the Jozef Stefan Institute to observe the behaviour of piezoelectric materials under gamma and neutron flux. Specific instrumentation has been developed and has enabled the monitoring throughout the irradiation of several materials such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) or modified Bismuth Titanate (BiT) in either massive or thick film form. Various parameters such as resonance frequency, electromechanical coupling coefficient, electrical capacitance, dielectric losses were measured as a function of the flow and dose received. The results obtained confirm that the samples work up to doses of 10 18 n°/cm2 and that the behaviour of the samples varies according to their composition and form.

A New Project dedicated to developing International MOBILity of APPrentices in the Master’s Degree in Instrumentation, Measurement and Metrology (MOBIL-APP project)

The project concerns the outgoing international mobility of block-release apprentices preparing the Master's degree in Instrumentation, Measurement, Metrology of the Filière Instrumentation (Physics Department of the Science Faculty). It targets universities and research centers involved in nuclear energy and is based on ongoing partnerships with CFA Epure–Méditerranée (apprenticeship center), EDF, and CEA thanks to on a solid research background in the LIMMEX laboratory run jointly by CEA and AMU (IM2NP) and dedicated to Instrumentation and Measurements under EXtreme conditions, on the ANIMMA international conference and the EFMMIN Franco-Moroccan school. This has led to the development of a useful network of operators (partners involved in the project) in priority geographical areas for AMU’s international strategy: Nuclear Reactor Laboratory at MIT, Moroccan Nuclear Center and Mohammed V University, Polish Nuclear Center, Slovenian Jožef Stefan Institute, Belgian Nuclear Center. The project will consist in sending a group of block-release apprentices for one week per year to a partner site who will propose visits to reactors, laboratories and companies, and participation in seminars, short courses, experimental projects and workshops together with local students. They will visit cultural places and prepare an activity report in English. When the project is completed its possible extension to other block-release courses at AMU will be examined because international mobility is a real advantage in terms of employability for young-people.

Producing Useful Chemicals Using a Nuclear Reactor

In this paper, the irradiation of glycerol and ethylene glycol by either mixed (neutron-γ) or γ-only (γ) fields at the TRIGA reactor of the Jožef Stefan Institute is described. This is highly relevant to future applications of fission reactor systems to produce useful feedstock derivatives from organic waste, beyond the production of heat and power. Samples of glycerol and ethyl glycol have been exposed to neutron-gamma radiation with fast neutron fluxes ranging from 7.7×1010 to 3×1012 cm−2s−1 and gamma-only irradiation at maximum dose-rates of 492 and 10 kGy hr−1, respectively. A study of the dependence of product yield versus absorbed dose has been conducted, for total dose ranges of 1 to 100 kGy. The products of these exposures have been identified through Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. Analysis comparing neutron-gamma irradiated samples of ethylene glycol and glycerol with gamma-irradiated samples shows no detectable qualitative difference between either irradiation type. Although, additional radiolysis products were detected when compared with available literature; ethyl acetate from ethylene glycol and solketal from glycerol. Quantitatively, neutron-gamma irradiation seems to be less effective at producing acetaldehyde from ethylene glycol, compared with gamma-only which can be explained through neutron moderation and consequent heating effects due to the borosilicate vials.