Global atmospheric pollution from chlorofluorocarbons has the
potential of causing significant reductions in the concentrations of
stratospheric ozone. If the production of chlorofluorocarbons were
to continue into the future at the rate prevalent in 1977, the
steady state reduction in total global ozone could be between five
percent to ten...
Radiation studies were performed on compound semiconductor heterostructure devices. The objective was to understand the degradation processes caused by the exposure of these devices to radiation. Preliminary experiments were focussed on studying the degradation phenomenon in single heterojunctions and single quantum wells. It was found that ionizing radiation like gamma...
Exposure to moderately high levels of ionizing radiation (<20 Gy) has in some instances shown a hormetic effect in numerous vegetable-type crops. Past experiments performed in outdoor cultivars have shown a somewhat unpredictable increase in growth rate with a higher overall yield in a specified time when the seeds are...
Gamma irradiation survival curves of Salmonella enteriditis,
Salmonella paratyphi A, Salmonella cholerasuis, Salmonella
pullorum and Streptococcus pyogenes were determined in crabmeat
and in Hartsell's broth. The survival pattern of Staphylococcus
aureus in crabmeat was also determined.
A "tailing off" was found in the survival patterns of
Salmonella paratyphi A, Salmonella...
The focus of this thesis is to determine the biological impact of dose from
brachytherapy sources commonly used in cancer treatment. To achieve this goal, the
Monte Carlo code PENELOPE was used to simulate point sources of four different
isotopes (¹⁰³Pd, ¹²⁵I, ¹³⁷Cs, and ⁹⁰Sr) in an infinite medium of...
Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) has been suggested as a factor contributing to global amphibian population declines. While ambient UV-B levels damage the eggs and embryos of some amphibian species, few studies have addressed how UV-B affects other life history stages or sublethal responses. My dissertation focuses on (1) investigations of sublethal...
The electron, gamma and neutron radiation degradation of III-V semiconductors
and heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) is investigated in this thesis.
Particular attention is paid to InP and InGaAs materials and InP/InGaAs
abrupt single HBTs (SHBTs). Complete process sequences for fabrication of
InP/InGaAs HBTs are developed and subsequently employed to produce...
Many experiments are being conducted to find compounds that offer radioprotection against radiation damage and that are also non-toxic. It is hopeful that in the future, research for this technology will benefit patients undergoing cancer treatment by reducing radiation damage to normal cells and therefore reducing short and long term...
Global increases in ultraviolet-B radiation (UVBR:290-
320 nm) resulting from decreases in stratospheric ozone
concentration have the potential to alter marine primary
production and affect global climate and marine trophic
dynamics. Effects of UVBR on phytoplankton carbon fixation
were determined from open ocean exposure studies conducted
off the coast of...