Dung Manh Ho

This study presents a dual method for neutron flux self-monitoring and quality control in the k0-based neutron activation analysis (k0-NAA) using the Synthetic Multi-Element Standards (SMELS). SMELS comprise three distinct types, designated as Type I for short-lived, Type II for medium-lived, and Type III for long-lived radionuclides, all of which...

Nanoparticles, due to their extensive production and application, can have significant consequences for the environment, including soil and plant pollution. Therefore, it is very important to assess how nanoparticles will affect plants depending on the exposure pathways. The effect of gold nanoparticles in a concentration range of 1–100 mg/L on Men...

The use of nuclear techniques for elemental analysis has been successfully developed in many laboratories in the IAEA Member States, including Vietnam. Nuclear techniques have also been proven to be extremely powerful in provenancing samples relevant to forensics. In the framework of the CRP project on Enhancing Nuclear Analytical Techniques to Mee...

In this study, the k0 factors of 7 short and medium-lived radionuclides (i.e. 66Cu, 52V, 38Cl, 134mCs, 128I, 140La and 56Mn) were experimentally determined at the Dalat nuclear research reactor (DNRR). The synthetic multi-element standard (SMELS) samples were irradiated at Channel 7-1 installed at the DNRR. SMELS Type III contains Au and Zr, thus a...

The k0-based neutron activation analysis (k0-NAA) and Particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) have been performed for 48 automobile window glass samples in forensic applications. A total of 29 elements determined by both k0-NAA and PIXE techniques in the glass are: Al, Ba, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cs, Cu, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Rb, S, Sc, Si, Sm,...

Narrow spectrum series from N-40 to N-120 were established according to ISO 4037:2019. This study was made through experimental measurements and the software modeling toolkit SpekPy v2.0. Experiments were performed to determine Inherent filtration (0.332 & 0.492 mm Al at 100 cm & 250 cm, respectively). The maximum deviation compared to ISO 4037:201...

Epithermal Neutron Activation Analysis (ENAA) in which the resonance reactions are utilised by using a cadmium filter to remove thermal neutrons from the reactor spectrum and measuring decay gamma rays leads to an improved detection limit for a number of elements with the resonance integrals higher than the thermal cross-sections. A computer progra...

In order to establish the variation between results in mass fractions due to software implementation, as measured by the k0-method for INAA, the IAEA has organized a software intercomparison. A complete set of test spectra and associated information was assembled. Efficiency curves, neutron spectrum parameters, correction factors and mass fractions...

To keep the accredited category for the gamma spectrometry test in our laboratory, the efficiency curves of a HPGe detector for soil sample in Marinelli geometry were determined by “efficiency transfer” principle via the ANGLE3 commercial software and Monte Carlo simulations via MCNP5 and GEANT4. The efficiency obtained from experimental measuremen...

The k0-based internal mono-standard (IM) method was first proposed for the concentration analysis of samples of non-standard geometry in the 2000s. The method has demonstrated several advantages such as the elimination of gamma-ray self-attenuation and geometrical effects. On the other hand, the accuracy of the method principally depends on the in...

A PC-based real-time interactive transient simulator of Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR), namely DalatSim, based on the best-estimate thermal-hydraulic code RELAP5/MOD3.3 has been currently building at Center for Nuclear Technologies (CNT). This paper presents the study on developing the physics core, control module, and human-machine interfac...

Sixty-two subjects (31 men with colon cancer) participated in this study. The analysis of elements in the nails was performed by total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) technique. The results showed that fifteen elements were quantified, including the following: S, P, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, and Br. We have found that there...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of cancer treatment with chemotherapy for the trace elements in nails of patients with colorectal cancer. The contents of trace elements in the nails of 102 patients with colorectal cancer (including treated and untreated) and 60 healthy subjects were analyzed using k0-standardization method of neut...

Selenium (Se) is a trace element that plays an important role in the biological functions of the human body. Toenails are considered as suitable materials for finding the relationship between trace element content with human diseases. The goal of this study is to analyze and evaluate the Se content in the toenails of colorectal cancer patients in o...

Nails are considered as suitable biological materials for the diagnosis of diseases by measuring trace element levels. This study aimed to evaluate the role of trace elements in detecting the risk of colorectal cancer. Evaluating the effects of cancer treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy was also the aim of this study. The levels of trace el...

The k0-based internal monostandard INAA method (IM-NAA) has been investigated for the determination of elemental concentrations in non-standard geometry samples at the Dalat research reactor (DRR). The experiments were implemented at the rotary specimen rack of the DRR which the thermal neutron flux was (3.61 ± 0.11) × 1012 n cm−2 s−1. In this work...

The aim of this study was to find trace elements that increase risk of breast cancer based on the deviation of the concentration of trace elements in the fingernail collected from the women with breast cancer and the normal women. The study was conducted with 10 elements (As, Au, Br, Co, Cr, Fe, Sb, Sc, Se, and Zn) using k0-INAA and statistical ana...

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer resulting in death. Trace elements of Fe, Se and Zn can play a key role in the onset and prevention of breast cancer. Trace elements in the fingernails may be used as bioindicators for breast cancer diagnosis. The purpose of this work is to determine the concentrations of Fe, Se, and Zn...

Nuclear data for the k0-based neutron activation analysis (k0-NAA) including: k0-factors – combination of nuclear constants (atomic mass, isotopic abundance, gamma-ray yield and thermal neutron capture cross section); Q0 – the ratio of the resonance integral to thermal neutron capture cross section; and Er – effective resonance energy, along with t...

The cyclic neutron activation analysis (CNAA) facility based on a pneumatic transfer system for short irradiation and rapid counting has recently been upgraded at the Dalat research reactor. The original facility was only designed for single irradiation. Therefore, this work has aimed to upgrade both hardware and software for the cyclic irradiation...

Quality evaluation of the k 0-standardized neutron activation analysis (k 0-NAA) at Dalat research reactor (DRR) has been implemented by analyzing the SMELS, a synthetic multi-element standard material as well as the certified reference materials for purposes of validation and verification of the method. The results revealed that the k 0-NAA establ...

The k 0-standardized neutron activation analysis (k 0-NAA) has been applied for determination of multiple elements (25 elements: Al, As, Ba, Br, Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Eu, Fe, Hg, K, La, Mg, Na, Rb, Sc, Se, Sm, Th, Ti, V and Zn) in marine sediment and tuna fish. About 50 marine sediment and 9 tuna fish samples were collected in two coastal areas o...

The combination and optimization of the cyclic modes in neutron activation analysis (NAA) at the Dalat research reactor were performed to determine short-lived nuclides. This work focused on determination of selenium in biological materials using 77mSe (T 1/2 = 17.4 s) as a case in point. The detection limit was significantly improved by a factor o...

The k0-based neutron activation analysis (k0-NAA) has been applied for determination of trace multi-element in 5 fruits: Orange, tomato, persimmon, pear and apple. The samples were collected in Vietnam and Korea, and dried-frozen in laboratory at a temperature of -650C, weighed approximately 50 mg or 100 mg each sample, and put in clean polyethylen...

In this study, 55 samples of stone artifacts at some prehistory monuments in Lam Ha District. The concentration of 24 elements: Al, V, Mn, Cl, Na, K, As, La, Sm, Sc, Cr, Fe, Co, Rb, Sb, Cs, Ce, Nd, Eu, Tb, Yb, Hf, Ta, Th in these stone artifacts were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The elements’ concentration of the sto...

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was applied for the accurate and precise determination of minor and trace elements in small-sized aliquants (1 to 2 mg) of two certified reference materials (CRM), NIES No. 8 and NIST 1632c. Four laboratories used either comparative- or k0-INAA, or both, and repeated the analysis more than ten times f...

Size segregated suspended particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM2.5-10) were collected using Gent low-volume air sampler at four different receptor site-classes in Lagos Mega City, Nigeria. The particulate mass loading was quantified and the concentration was analyzed to examine the pattern and variation from one receptor site-class to another. The PM2.5...

The main objective of this study is the elemental characterization of geomaterial samples (‘‘soils’’ and Ran˜as), collected between 2007 and 2008, in the Morais Massif, (NE Mainland of Portugal) by using two complementary techniques: instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and high resolution gamma spectrometry. Samples granulometric fracti...

Native plant species, lichens and tailings, sampled from a copper–sulphide mining area located in southern–eastern Portugal, were analysed by neutron activation analysis (INAA) for determination of rare earth elements (REEs). Values of RREEs and individual REEs concentration of tailing samples are higher than those of natural background concentrati...

One Plus Sequential Air Sampler—Partisol was placed in a small village (Foros de Arrão) in central Portugal to collect PM10 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter below 10μm), during the winter period for 3months (December 2009–March 2010). Particles masses were gravimetrically determined and the filters were analyzed by instrumental neutron activ...

The present study aims the identification and quantification of trace elements in two types of honey samples: Orchard honey and Wild honey from mainland Portugal. Chemical elements content was assessed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Concentrations were determinated for Ag, As, Br, Ca, Cl, Cs, Cu, Fe, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb,...

In this study, the results of chemical concentrations inside and outside of a Lisbon (Portugal) traffic tunnel were compared, during one week. They were obtained by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). The tunnel values largely exceed the Air Ambient legislated values and the Pearson Correlations Coefficients point out to soil re-suspen...

Airborne particulate matters with particles £ 10 mm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) were collected on quartz-fibre filters from 7 August 2008 to 18 June 2009 at Pico Mountain, Azores Island (Portugal). The samples were analyzed by the k0-based instrumental neutron activation analysis (k0-INAA) technique at the Portuguese research reactor. A total of...

The k 0-based cyclic neutron activation analysis (k 0-CNAA) technique has been studied to explore the applicability at the Portuguese research reactor (RPI). In particular, for the determination of elements which form short-lived radionuclides, particularly fluorine (20F, 11.16 s half-life) and selenium (77mSe, 17.36 s half-life) in polymer, biolog...

This work aimed at developing methodologies to characterize the elemental composition of air particulate matter (APM) collected in Portugal, at an urban area (Lisboa, mainland Portugal) and at a remote location (Terceira island, Azores, Portugal). The Azores' collections were based on quartz filters; Teflon™ filters were used at the urban area. The...

Introduction: The formation and composition of the soil depend mainly on the nature of initial rocks, weathering processes and further depositions, either natural or anthropogenic. There are 15 rare-earth elements (REEs) from La (Z = 57) to Lu (Z = 71), with physical and chemical properties specific to their Periodic Table group (lanthanoides). I...

This study aims to find out a vascular plant species that accumulate relatively high concentrations of arsenic (As) for its use as phytoremediator at abandoned and contaminated mining areas, such as São Domingos mines (Portugal). The assessment of As contamination levels in soils and plants of other similar sites in the north of the country (Castro...

The 1 MW pool-type Portuguese research reactor (RPI) was converted from using highly enriched uranium (HEU) to using low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel in September 2007. Although the new LEU core has the same number of fuel assemblies as the first HEU core, it has three assemblies less than the last HEU core and also has a different arrangement of th...

The quality control (QC) and performance evaluation for the k0-based neutron activation analysis (k0-NAA) at the Portuguese research reactor (RPI) has been developed with the intention of using the method to meet the demands of trace element analysis for the applications in environmental, epidemiological and nutritional studies amongst others. The...

The number of children reporting rhinitis by month is compared with air pollutant concentrations in Lisbon, where they live and attend school. INAA, ionic exchange chromatography and data accessed through the internet were statistically processed with the children rhinitis data. Association between rhinitis and atmospheric variables are processed u...

The goal of this research is to determine trends and sources of airborne particulates in the centre of Lisbon, by using speciated particulate-matter data and back-trajectory analyses. Results showed that, in 2007, the annual PM(2.5) concentration exceeded the World Health Organization recommended levels. PM(2.5) diurnal variability and the ratio be...

This study intended to demonstrate the use of k 0-IAEA software with the NAA#3 irradiation hole in the HANARO research reactor and the gamma-ray spectrometers at the NAA laboratory in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). NIST SRM 2586-Soil was chosen as a sample to validate the analytical protocol by using the k 0-IAEA software. Twen...

Recent health studies evidence that epidemiological studies must be combined with accurate analyses of the physico-chemical properties of the particles in order to determine the effects of atmospheric aerosols on human health. The project "Atmospheric Aerosol Impacts on Human Health" focuses on the chemical characterization of PM2.5 aerosols with t...

A new Compton suppression system (CSS) for the gamma-ray spectrometer portion of the neutron activation analysis (NAA) was set up at the RPI/ITN. The pneumatic transfer system, SIPRA, for short-lived nuclides and cyclic irradiations was improved. A full calibration procedure of the CSS and SIPRA systems was performed. Two certified reference materi...

Air particulate matter (APM) samples (PM2.5 and PM10–2.5) were collected at 13 sampling points in 8 Asian countries and their chemical compositions were determined by using neutron activation analysis (NAA) with the k 0-standardization method in addition to conventional comparative method of NAA. Analytical data showed that mass concentration and e...

Different methodologies of neutron activation analysis (NAA) are now available at the Technological and Nuclear Institute (Sacavém, Portugal), namely Compton suppression, epithermal activation, replicate and cyclic activation, and low energy photon measurement. Prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) will be implemented soon. Results by instrumenta...

Chemical elements were determined in epiphytic lichens from Terceira and Santa Maria islands (Azores, Portugal), by k 0-standardized, instrumental neutron activation analysis. Abundance ranges were generally below those in mainland Portugal, except for Br (Terceira), Cl (Santa Maria), Na (Santa Maria), and Se (both islands). Elemental (averaged) co...

The NAA#3 irradiation hole in the 30 MW HANARO research reactor of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), with a thermal neutron flux of 1.26×1014 cm−2 s−1, has been regarded as suitable for the application of k0-based neutron activation analysis (k0-NAA). The objectives of the present work were: (a) to characterize the NAA#3 irradiati...

The Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at MINT is using the NAA technique since 1980s and is the only laboratory in Malaysia equipped with a research reactor, namely the TRIGA MARK II. Throughout the years the development of NAA technique has been very encouraging and was made applicable to a wide range of samples. At present, the k0 method has become...

The a term is a primary parameter that is used to indicate the deviation of the epithermal neutron distribution in the k 0-standardization method of neutron activation analysis, k 0-NAA. The calculation of a using a mathematical procedure is a challenge for some researchers. The calculation of a by the "bare-triple monitor" method is possible using...

In recent years the k 0-NAA method has been applied and developed at the 500 kW Dalat research reactor, which includes (1) the establishment of a PC database of k 0-NAA-related nuclear parameters, e.g., radionuclide produced, half-lives, k 0-factors, Q 0, r, E g, etc; the access to the database is able by a k 0-NAA software or by manual; (2) the de...

At the irradiation sites in a research reactor where neutrons are well thermalized, the "bare" irradiation methods for a and f determinations that are incorporated in the KAYZERO®/SOLCOI® v4.0 package seem to be unworkable. It is a fact that when carrying out the determination of a and f at the PN-3 irradiation site of the JRR-3M research reactor (...

In recent years the k0-NAA method has been applied and developed at the 500 kW Dalat research reactor, which includes (1) the establishment of a PC database of k0-NAA-related nuclear parameters, e.g., radionuclide produced, half-lives, k0-factors, Q0, r, Eg, etc; the access to the database is able by a k0-NAA software or by manual; (2) the detectio...

Neutron activation analysis based on -standardization method# (o-NAA) is Com as one of the most remarkable progresses of the NAA with advantages of experimental simplicity, high accuracy, excellent flexibility with respect to irradiation and counting conditions, and suitability for computerization. This study was carried out to determine the reacto...

In an intercomparison organized by the IAEA, 12 PC-based programs for gamma-ray spectrum analysis were tested using seven reference spectra and a sum of squared differences method. It was found that all programs yield peak areas without bias, relative to each other. Most of the programs could analyze a spectrum containing only singlets in reasonabl...