Effects of Ultra-Weak Fractal Electromagnetic Signals on .

spp. are dimorphic, lipophilic fungi that are part of the normal human cutaneous commensal microbiome. However, under adverse conditions, these fungi can be involved in various cutaneous diseases.

Effective half-lives for Cs in dairy milk from alpine ecosystems and the controlling factors.

Alpine regions in the federal state of Salzburg (Austria) have been intensively contaminated by Chernobyl fallout, necessitating long-term monitoring programs. The sites predominately affected are those in areas with soil developed on silicate bedrock, as these soils tend to be acidic, favouring high transfer factors for Cs. In addition, nutrient deficiency, low mineral and high organic matter content, and tough climatic conditions are causing the slow migration of Cs in the soil, which are associated with long effective half-lives in the biosphere.

Imprecise prediction of implant sizes with preoperative 2D digital templating in total knee arthroplasty.

Purpose: To analyze the match between preoperatively determined implant size (2D templating) and intraoperatively used implant size in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Also examined were the factors that might influence templating accuracy (gender, surgeon experience, obesity, etc.).

Vegetation induced distinctions between radionuclide distribution in soils (Austria).

In 2019 and 2020, the layers - down to a maximum depth of 30 cm - of 43 soil samples from different regions in Austria were measured gamma-spectrometrically to determine their activity concentration (in Bq/kg and Bq/m³) of Th, Pb, Bi, Pb, Ac and K. Cs activity concentration (in Bq/m³) will be found in the supplementary data file only. A basic statistical analysis was carried out and explained variances for distinctions primarily between meadows and forests.

Dosimetric Comparison of Exposure Pathways to Human Organs and Tissues in Radon Therapy.

Three therapeutic applications are presently prescribed in the radon spas in Gastein, Austria: exposure to radon in a thermal bath, exposure to radon vapor in an exposure chamber (vapor bath), and exposure to radon in the thermal gallery, a former mine. The radiological exposure pathways to human organs and tissues in these therapeutic radon applications are inhalation of radon and radon progeny via the lungs, radon transfer from water or air through the skin, and radon-progeny deposition on the skin in water or air. The objectives of the present study were to calculate radon and radon-progeny doses for selected organs and tissues for the different exposure pathways and therapeutic applications.

Radon transfer from thermal water to human organs in radon therapy: exhalation measurements and model simulations.

The transfer of radon from thermal water via the skin to different human organs in radon therapy can experimentally be determined by measuring the radon activity concentration in the exhaled air. In this study, six volunteers were exposed to radon-rich thermal water in a bathtub, comprising eleven measurements. Exhaled activity concentrations were measured intermittently during the 20 min bathing and 20 min resting phases.

Cryoconites from Alpine glaciers: Radionuclide accumulation and age estimation with Pu and Cs isotopes and Pb.

Cryoconites ("cold dust", derived from the Greek) are aeolian sediments accumulated on glacier surfaces. In cryoconites from the surface of the Stubacher Sonnblickkees, a temperate Austrian glacier, extremely high activity concentrations of artificial and natural radionuclides were found. Artificial radionuclides stem from two clearly distinguishable sources, global fallout from the nuclear weapons testing era deposited over a period of years until roughly 1966 and the fallout from Chernobyl in 1986, which was essentially deposited as a single input during one week.

Radon in the Exhaled Air of Patients in Radon Therapy.

In the Gastein valley, numerous facilities use radon for the treatment of various diseases either by exposure to radon in air or in radon rich thermal water. In this study, six test persons were exposed to radon thermal water in a bathtub and the time-dependent radon activity concentration in the exhaled air was recorded. At temperatures between 38°C and 40°C, the radon activity concentration in the water was about 900 kBq/m3 in a total volume of 600 l, where the patients were exposed for 20 min, while continuously sampling the exhaled air during the bathing and 20 min thereafter.

Real-time analysis of endogenous protoporphyrin IX fluorescence from δ-aminolevulinic acid and its derivatives reveals distinct time- and dose-dependent characteristics in vitro.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodiagnosis based on the intracellular production of the photosensitizer protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) by administration of its metabolic precursor -aminolevulinic acid (ALA) achieved their breakthrough upon the clinical approval of MAL (ALA methyl ester) and HAL (ALA hexyl ester). For newly developed ALA derivatives or application in new tumor types, in vitro determination of PPIX formation involves multiparametric experiments covering variable pro-drug concentrations, medium composition, time points of analysis, and cell type(s). This study uses a fluorescence microplate reader with a built-in temperature and atmosphere control to investigate the high-resolution long-term kinetics (72 h) of cellular PPIX fueled by administration of either ALA, MAL, or HAL for each 10 different concentrations.

Deposition of radon progeny on skin surfaces and resulting radiation doses in radon therapy.

In the Gastein valley, Austria, radon-rich thermal water and air have been used for decades for the treatment of various diseases. To explore the exposure pathway of radon progeny adsorbed to the skin, progeny activities on the skin of patients exposed to thermal water (in a bathtub) and hot vapour (in a vapour chamber) were measured by alpha spectrometry. Average total alpha activities on the patients' skin varied from 1.

Accumulation of anthropogenic radionuclides in cryoconites on Alpine glaciers.

Cryoconites are airborne sediments which accumulate on the surface of glaciers. In samples of cryoconites a temperate Austrian glacier high activity concentrations of anthropogenic radionuclides were found, which stem from global and Chernobyl fallouts. Radionuclides identified were (137)Cs, (134)Cs, (238)Pu, (239+240)Pu, (90)Sr, (241)Am, (60)Co, (154)Eu, (207)Bi, and (125)Sb.

Determination of (137)Cs in the water system of a pre-Alpine lake.

The aim of this study was to measure the (137)Cs activity derived from the Chernobyl accident in the water system of Lake Wallersee, a pre-Alpine lake in Austria within an area highly contaminated by the Chernobyl fallout. For this purpose, water and sediment samples of the inflows and the outflow of Lake Wallersee and lake water at different depths were collected in 2005. The obtained (137)Cs activity depth profile in the water body shows an exponential increase of (137)Cs activity in the lake water with increasing depth.

Effective and ecological half-lives of 137Cs in cow's milk in alpine agriculture.

In the mountainous "Hohe Tauern" region of Salzburg (Austria), milk samples have been collected in a long-term montitoring programme since 1988, at eight alpine sites used for extensive, seasonal stock farming. For this alpine environment with its acidic soils developed on silicate bedrock, high soil-to-plant transfer factors and long-lasting (137)Cs contamination levels in milk--the main product of seasonal agriculture at elevated altitudes--are characteristic features. The decrease in (137)Cs concentration in milk measured since 1988 turned out to be best described by one or two effective half-lives.

Determining the Chernobyl impact on sediments of a pre-Alpine lake with a very comprehensive set of data.

Man-made and natural radionuclides in Lake Wallersee were determined in the pre-Alpine environment at the northern slope of the Alps, which was heavily affected by the Chernobyl fallout in May 1986. The objective of this study was to get knowledge of location and quantity of man-made radionuclide input (especially (137)Cs) generated in the Chernobyl accident to lake sediments. Eleven sediment cores were sampled and activity depth profiles of (137)Cs and (210)Pb were determined with 5mm depth-resolution.

137Cs and 90Sr transfer to milk in Austrian alpine agriculture.

The alpine regions of Austria were among the most contaminated territories outside of the former USSR after the Chernobyl accident. In the investigated province of Salzburg the median (137)Cs surface deposition was 31.4 kBq m(-2) with maximum values exceeding 90 kBq m(-2) (May 1986).

Investigations on indoor radon in Austria, Part 1: Seasonality of indoor radon concentration.

In general, indoor radon concentration is subject to seasonal variability. The reasons are to be found (1) in meteorological influence on the transport properties of soil, e.g.

Activity ratios of 137Cs, 90Sr and 239+240Pu in environmental samples.

Both global and Chernobyl fallout have resulted in environmental contamination with radionuclides such as 137Cs, 90Sr and 239+240Pu. In environmental samples, 137Cs and 239+240Pu can be divided into the contributions of either source, if also the isotopes 134Cs and 238Pu are measurable, based on the known isotopic ratios in global and Chernobyl fallout. No analogous method is available for 90Sr.

Process development for the production of prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides from lactose using beta-galactosidase from Lactobacillus sp.

Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are formed from lactose in discontinuous mode of conversion using beta-galactosidase from Lactobacillus sp. (beta-gal). The discontinuous process was optimized for technical application with regard to GOS yield, enzyme preparation, reaction temperature and substrate source.

A note on 207Bi in environmental samples.

Traces of the radionuclide (207)Bi were identified in soil and cryoconite (glacier sediment) samples from Alpine regions of Austria. This nuclide has been produced in thermonuclear explosions mainly in the early 1960s and subsequently dispersed in the atmosphere. Activity concentrations up to 22 Bq/kg d.

Purification and characterization of two novel beta-galactosidases from Lactobacillus reuteri.

The intracellular beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) enzymes from two strains of Lactobacillus reuteri, L103 and L461, were purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, hydrophobic interaction, and affinity chromatography. Both enzymes are heterodimers with a molecular mass of 105 kDa, consisting of a 35 kDa subunit and a 72 kDa subunit. Active staining of L.

Altitude dependent 137Cs concentrations in different plant species in alpine agricultural areas.

The Gastein valley in the Central Part of the Austrian Alps was one of the regions most heavily affected by fallout of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, depositing (137)Cs inventory up to 70 kBq/m(2) in May 1986. In many studies dealing with the uptake of (137)Cs by vegetation used for farming, a significant correlation between (137)Cs concentration in the plants and altitude a.s.

Radiocaesium in flowing waters of highly contaminated Austrian alpine areas.

In this study the runoff of (137)Cs, mainly originated from the Chernobyl fallout, from highly contaminated alpine regions in Salzburg (Austria) is discussed. Twenty-five water-samples and 25 sediment-samples were taken from creeks of different size to determine the runoff of dissolved (137)Cs and Cs-binding characteristics to different particle size classes in the sediments. The hypothesis, that specific activity of the sediments depended on particle size and the surface of the particle, was proved with some modifications.

Radiocesium storage in soil microbial biomass of undisturbed alpine meadow soils and its relation to 137Cs soil-plant transfer.

This study focuses on radiocesium storage in soil microbial biomass of undisturbed alpine meadow sites and its relation to the soil-to-plant transfer. Soil and plant samples were taken in August 1999 from an altitude transect (800-1600m.a.

Results and conclusions of the Austrian radon mitigation project 'SARAH'.

The Austrian radon mitigation joint research project SARAH (supported by the Austrian Ministry of Economy and the Government of Upper Austria), a 2-year follow-up study of the Austrian National Radon Project (ONRAP), was started in 1996. The objectives of the research project were to find simple, cost-effective experimental methods for the characterisation of the radon situation in dwellings and to evaluate technically and economically the implementation of state of the art remedial actions for Austrian house types. After an intercomparison exercise of the assigned radon measuring instruments and detectors five houses were closely examined in regions with elevated radon levels in the federal state of Upper Austria.

Chromosomal aberrations of blood lymphocytes induced in vitro by radon-222 daughter alpha-irradiation.

Blood samples were irradiated in vitro with alpha-rays emitted from short-lived radon decay products dissolved in the culture medium at doses between 0.03 and 41.4 mGy.