Katerina Pachnerova Brabcova

• The Czech Academy of Sciences

Na podzim roku 2024 si připomínáme 600. výročí úmrtí Jana Žižky z Trocnova. Zároveň brzy uplyne 114 let od doby, kdy byly v čáslavském kostele sv. Petra a Pavla za podezřelých okolností nalezeny zazděné ostatky, o kterých se řadu desetiletí vedla bouřlivá debata, nakolik je možné o části z nich uvažovat jako o autentických ostatcích slavného tábors...

Illegal poaching brought elephant species to the brink of extinction; therefore, international trade in ivory has become regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES). However, the trade is still allowed for antique items, standing for ivory from a period before 1947 within the European Union. T...

Radiocarbon dating is a critical tool in archaeology and Quaternary Earth science, providing absolute age estimates. Established in 2004, the Czech Radiocarbon Laboratory (CRL) has advanced from radiometric methods requiring large sample sizes to using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, which allows for the dating of microsamples. Since 2018, CRL has u...

Boron has been suggested to enhance the biological effectiveness of proton beams in the Bragg peak region via the p + ¹¹B → 3α nuclear capture reaction. However, a number of groups have observed no such enhancement in vitro or questioned its proposed mechanism recently. To help elucidate this phenomenon, we irradiated DU145 prostate cancer or U-87...

The article presents the assemblage of finds from a sunken hut in Nižbor opposite the Stradonice oppidum on the other bank of the Berounka River. The inventory from the sunken hut, which testifies to its contemporaneity with one of the phases of settlement at the oppidum in the Late La Tène period, was composed of common settlement finds of pottery...

Kyrgyzstan can be represented, geomorphologically-speaking, by a transect between the Fergana lowlands and the Tien Shan highlands and is an outstanding area for the study of paleoclimatic conditions relating to climatic changes. These changes have been crucial for the behaviour of past cultures in this area, especially due to the presence of the S...

Hydroxyapatite, major component of all organic solid tissues, can be used as a sensitive biodosimeter based on the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. However, the dosimetric signal of biohydroxyapatite overlaps with the so-called parasitic signals due to the close g factor values and broadening of the resonance line at room tempera...

Quicklime samples were collected from six vertical layers (L1–L6) of a feedstock calcined in a traditional single-batch wood-fired kiln and assessed. Three samples were well-burned and three under-burned. The quicklime was slaked in an excess of water and the presence of unburned particles was investigated after settling it into putty. The putty wa...

Hydroxyapatite is a major component of all organic solid tissues and has a wide range of applications. Biohydroxyapatite (bHAP) dosimetry is used to determine doses from artificial radiation exposure or archaeology to determine the age of remains. EPR dosimetry of dental enamel is considered the gold standard of retrospective dosimetry. Despite dec...

The fifth season of excavations of Oponice Castle in 2020 was located in the lower castle’s courtyard. The research led to discovery of an original clay floor being heavily burned with charred plank and a rectangular stone-brick construction. The construction has collapsed upper part with a fallen low brick arch. The whole area was covered with num...

Nitra-Lupka is an important site from the Great Moravian period in Slovakia. A fortified hillfort which was supposed to be from this period, a battery of pottery kilns, and an Early Medieval cemetery were found on the site and researched during 1959–1975. Further, a few small-range excavations took place on the site at the beginning of the 21st cen...

Dating organic inclusions in mortars such as charcoals is a useful alternative or complementary method to dating mortars themselves, helping to estimate the building age. To assess the limitations of this dating approach, organic inclusions were searched for in surface mortar layers of six early to late medieval buildings in the Czech Republic with...

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) allows quantitative and qualitative study of electron traps in materials. Due to its sensitivity, accuracy and non-destructiveness, EPR is considered the gold standard in retrospective dosimetry, i.e. radiation exposures where no man-made detector is present. The same principle can be applied in many branches....

The first accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratory in the Czech Republic has been established and put into routine operation in February 2022. Here we briefly describe the facilities available, namely a 300 kV multi-isotope low-energy AMS system (MILEA) capable of determination 10 Be, 14 C, 26 Al, 41 Ca, 129 I, isotopes of U, especially 236 U...

An archaeological excavation conducted on U Kasáren St. in the Prague Castle area (Czech Republic) in 2020 revealed the remains of a medieval settlement consisting of houses of different constructions (pit dwelling, masonry construction), pyrotechnical (possibly metallurgical) features and unspecified pits. The excavation also revealed evidence of...

Compound-specific radiocarbon analysis has played important role in the methodology applied in radiocarbon dating since the development of modern analytical instrumentation. Thank to this evolution it is nowadays possible to radiocarbon date samples which would be normally considered as undatable due to their heterogenous nature or secondary contam...

The history of radiocarbon dating is defined by several major milestones – its own discovery, the forced revision of basic principles, the discovery of accelerator mass spectrometry and anthropogenic influences. The current capabilities of the method are demonstrated through two forensic applications in the field of crime against humans and endange...

The authors regret the missing affiliation to Faculty of Nuclear Sciencesand Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Břehová 7 115 19 Praha, Czech Republic in the original article. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Rýzmburk Castle is one of the largest and most important medieval castles in Bohemia, documented since 1250 AD. Its North tower is assumed to be built in 1260–1300 AD. To test this assumption, the surface layers of mortar were inspected for the presence of charcoals suitable for radiocarbon dating, and 10 charcoals were found. The charcoals probabl...

Modeling ionizing radiation interaction with biological matter is a major scientific challenge, especially for protons that are nowadays widely used in cancer treatment. That presupposes a sound understanding of the mechanisms that take place from the early events of the induction of DNA damage. Herein, we present results of irradiation-induced com...

The Southern Corridor of bishopric district was uncovered in early 1920s as the first Romanesque remains in the 3rd Courtyard of the Prague Castle. Based on historical context it likely originates from 11th − 12th century. To benchmark this estimate, radiocarbon dating of charcoals found in its mortars was performed. The results support the previou...

Radiocarbon dating of charcoals and small pieces of wood collected from mortar in the torso of bergfried and buttress of the medieval Pyšolec castle was performed using accelerator mass spectrometers. Altogether, 37 samples were collected, of which 33 samples passed pre-processing criteria and chemical treatment and were dated. Two of them were Pal...

Coal petrology data and vitrinite reflectance modelling were combined with micro-geochemical and fluid inclusion analyses of coal mineralization and apatite fission track analysis (AFTA) of coal-bearing sediments to constrain the thermal history of the Blanice Graben, a narrow, nearly 150-km long, late-Variscan strike-slip basin filled with Permo-C...

Elektronová paramagnetická rezonance, někdy též označovaná jako elektronová spinová rezonance, je unikátní metoda měření charakteristik paramagnetických struktur. Již desetiletí se využívá např. v havarijní dozimetrii pro rekonstrukce ozáření obětí radiačních nehod či obětí nasazení jaderných zbraní. EPR měření dávek v zubní sklovině je někdy dokon...

Při radiouhlíkovém datování vzorků z některých specifických období může být výsledek zatížený vysokými nejistotami. Známým problematickým obdobím je zhruba polovina 17. až polovina 20. století, kdy bez ohledu na přesnost analýzy zastoupení radiouhlíku, výsledek je téměř vždy souborem řady intervalů přes celé toto období. Následkem atmosférických te...

Boron derivatives have great potential in cancer diagnostics and treatment. Borocaptates are used in boron neutron capture therapy and potentially in proton boron fusion therapy. This work examines modulation effects of two borocaptate compounds on radiation-induced DNA damage. Aqueous solutions of pBR322 plasmid containing increasing concentration...

Carbon cycle receives growing attention, in particular in connection with the climate change. Radiocarbon (14C) serves not only as the well-known basis of a dating technique but also as a tracer of the global carbon cycle, enabling one to assess the sizes of diverse compartments, fluxes between them and the related characteristic times. Mathematica...

Organic inclusions in lime binders provide useful samples for radiocarbon dating of historical objects. Two Czech castles Týřov and Pyšolec from Late Middle Ages were explored, and tens of charcoals were found in their walls. The radiocarbon content of the charcoals was measured with accelerator mass spectrometry. The dating results showed that non...

Proton radiotherapy for the treatment of cancer offers an excellent dose distribution. Cellular experiments have shown that in terms of biological effects, the sharp dose distribution is further amplified, by as much as 75%, in the presence of boron. It is a matter of debate whether the underlying physical processes involve the nuclear reaction of...

Elephants are on the verge of extinction due to extensive poaching to obtain ivory and illegal income. According to international law, the trade in ivory of African elephants is outlawed, with a few exceptions, as for example in European Union for antique ivory obtained before 1947. There is basically only one physical method for determining the ag...

The performance of a new Multi-Isotope Low-Energy AMS (MILEA) system developed in a cooperation of Ionplus AG and ETH Zurich, Switzerland for determination of 10Be, 14C, 26Al, 41Ca, 129I, and actinoids (233U and 236U) is described based on results of factory- and on-site acceptance tests carried out at the producer and customer sites, respectively....

Five case studies are reported on the use of neutron and photon activation analysis (NAA and PAA, respectively), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, ion beam analysis (IBA), and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for the elemental characterization or dating of various objects of cultural heritage, such as building materials, pottery, metallic artef...

Twenty-five samples of ivory artefacts were analysed using a radiocarbon dating method. These artefacts were part of a collection of 77 items seized during a wildlife law enforcement operation targeting online illegal ivory trade. Based on the opinion of a qualified expert, 14 of the 25 samples were declared antique, meaning their presumed origin i...

Gothic arch calcite, a specific crystallographic variety of calcite known from some hot springs and tufa streams, has been newly recognized in the Koněprusy Caves. The gothic-arch calcite occurs on the exteriors of exotic coralloid speleothems where it coexists with scalenohedral (dogtooth) spar crystals. The crystals exhibit microscopic ultrastruc...

The article reports on a new sampling method and the archaeological context of cave drawings, which include the oldest currently known graffiti in the Czech Republic. Between 2016 and 2020, samples with a small amount of charcoal were taken from drawings found in Kateřinská Cave (Catherine’s Cave) of the Moravian Karst in the Czech Republic. A new...

Exotic carbonate – siliceous coralloid speleothems of the Koněprusy Caves, which consist of dominant aggregates of feather‐like, radial fibrous, dogtooth and gothic‐arch calcite crystals, contain a diversity of petrified fossil microbes entombed in siliceous parts of the speleothems. Although a complete diagenetic continuum of SiO2 polymorphs, rang...

Nowadays, the irradiation methodology in proton therapy is switching from the use of passively scattered beams to active pencil beams due to the possibility of more conformal dose distributions. The dose rates of active pencil beams are much higher than those of passive beams. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is any differ...

Given the nature of medieval artifacts and resulting research requirements, a precise temporal classification is essential. It is especially important for the purposes of medieval archaeology in interpreting archaeological finds/finding situations and identifying them with a historical events or figures, for example, to identify skeletal remains of...

In order to study radiocarbon levels at a clean air location in Slovakia with no significant local anthropogenic effects, we took tree ring samples from a tree in the vicinity of Jasná recreational area in the Low Tatras region in the central part of Slovakia. There are no significant local fossil fuel emission sources, so these samples represent a...

THE BEST POSSIBLE TIME RESOLUTION: HOW PRECISE COULD A RADIOCARBON DATING METHOD BE? – ADDENDUM - I Svetlik, A J T Jull, M Molnár, P P Povinec, T Kolář, P Demján, K Pachnerova Brabcova, V Brychova, D Dreslerová, M Rybníček, P Simek

The dating of skeletal remains in archaeology is difficult, especially at findings without burial equipment. In this case, apart from literary and iconographic sources, anthropological and palaeopathological analyses, the radiocarbon dating method can also be used. We present an example where we used this procedure in the dating of the skeletal rem...

Plasmid DNA is commonly used as a simpler substitute for a cell in studies of early effects of ionizing radiation because it allows to determine yields of primary DNA lesions. Experimental studies often employ plasmids of different lengths, in different concentrations in the aqueous solution. Influence of these parameters on the heavy-ion induced y...

A comparison between breast cancer cell line MCF7 and human adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) after irradiation by the same doses of megavoltage X-rays was performed. The cell growth, the induction of apoptosis and the expression of selected genes were analyzed. Irradiated MCF7 related to its control sample grows slower than ADSC and it undergoes a...

Today, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) technology enables us to carry out very precise measurements of radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C). Unfortunately, due to fluctuations in the ¹⁴ C calibration curve, the resulting calibrated time intervals vary from decades up to centuries in calibrated age. Within a time scale of several decades, we can find several tim...

Track-etched detectors are commonly used also for radiation monitoring onboard International Space Station. To be registered in track-etched detectors, the particle needs to meet several criteria-it must have linear energy transfer above the detection threshold and strike the detector's surface under an angle higher than the so-called critical angl...

A compromised detection of radiation-induced plasmid DNA fragments results in underestimation of calculated damage yields. Electrophoretic methods are easy and cheap, but they can only detect a part of the fragments, neglecting the shortest ones. These can be detected with atomic force microscopy, but at the expense of time and price. Both methods...

Compromised detection of short DNA fragments can result in underestimation of radiation-induced clustered DNA damage. The fragments can be detected with atomic force microscopy (AFM), followed by image analysis to compute the length of plasmid molecules. Plasmid molecules imaged with AFM are represented by open or closed curves, possibly with cross...

Experimental radiobiological studies in which the effects of ionizing radiation on a biological model are examined often highlight the biological aspects while missing detailed descriptions of the geometry, sample and dosimetric methods used. Such omissions can hinder the reproducibility and comparability of the experimental data. An application ba...

Cosmic radiation consists of primary high-energy galactic and solar particles. When passing through spacecraft walls and astronauts' bodies, the spectrum becomes even more complex due to generating of secondary particles through fragmentation and nuclear interactions. Total radiation exposure is contributed by both these components. With an advanta...

A solid hydrogen thin ribbon, produced by the cryogenic system ELISE (Experiments on Laser Interaction with Solid hydrogEn) target delivery system, was experimentally used at the PALS kJ-laser facility to generate intense proton beams with energies in the MeV range. This sophisticated target system operating at cryogenic temperature (~ 10 K) contin...

In recent years, there is an increased interest in using scanning modes in proton therapy, due to the more conformal dose distributions, thanks to the spot-weighted dose delivery. The dose rate in each spot is however much higher than the dose rate when using passive irradiation modes, which could affect the cell response. The purpose of this work...

Thermoluminescent detectors are often employed in space dosimetry, characteristic with long duration and exposures to mixed radiation fields. Complementing advantages of this dosimeter type are two drawbacks - dependency of response on radiation quality and signal fading in time. This study investigates fading of the thermoluminescent CaSO4:Dy sign...

Cosmic radiation represents one of the main health issues for astronauts during space missions. To evaluate the impact of space radiation on human health and to reduce the uncertainty of related cancer risk, it is important to determine the exposure level as accurately as possible. Due to complexity of radiation environment in space and behind the...

The radiation environment encountered in space differs in nature from that on Earth, consisting mostly of highly energetic ions from protons up to iron, resulting in radiation levels far exceeding the ones present on Earth for occupational radiation workers. Since the beginning of the space era, the radiation exposure during space missions has been...

Secondary high-energy neutrons are produced when high-energy particles (of several GeV) interact with matter as it is the case for cosmic radiation impinging on the Earth’s atmosphere, during ionbeam therapy or on shielding at high-energy particle accelerators. Especially, after traversing a large amount of matter, the residual neutron energy spect...

Clustered DNA damage induced by 10, 20 and 30 MeV protons in pBR322 plasmid DNA was investigated. Besides determination of strand breaks, additional lesions were detected using base excision repair enzymes. The plasmid was irradiated in dry form, where indirect radiation effects were almost fully suppressed, and in water solution containing only mi...

Aircrew members and passengers are exposed to increased rates of cosmic radiation on-board commercial jet aircraft. The annual effective doses of crew members often exceed limits for public, thus it is recommended to monitor them. In general, the doses are estimated via various computer codes and in some countries also verified by measurements. Thi...

Protons are the dominant particles both in galactic cosmic rays and in solar particle events and, furthermore, proton irradiation becomes increasingly used in tumour treatment. It is believed that complex DNA damage is the determining factor for the consequent cellular response to radiation. DNA plasmid pBR322 was irradiated at U120-M cyclotron wit...

Track-etched detectors (TED) have been used as linear energy transfer (LET) spectrometers in heavy ion beams for many years. LET spectra and depth-dose distribution of a carbon ion beam were measured behind polymethylmethacrylate degraders at Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, Japan. The measurements were performed along monoenergetic beam wit...

Clustered DNA damages are induced by ionizing radiation, particularly of high linear energy transfer (LET). Compared to isolated DNA damage sites, their biological effects can be more severe. We investigated a clustered DNA damage induced by high LET radiation (C 290 MeV u−1 and Fe 500 MeV u−1) in pBR322 plasmid DNA. The plasmid is dissolved in pur...

Dose delivered outside the proton field during radiotherapy can potentially lead to secondary cancer development. Measurements with a 170-MeV proton beam were performed with passive detectors (track etched detectors and thermoluminescence dosemeters) in three different depths along the Bragg curve. The measurement showed an uneven decrease of the d...

In this paper we present a method for single track coincidence measurements using two different track detector materials. We employed plastic and fluorescent nuclear track detectors (PNTDs and FNTDs) in the entrance channel of a monoenergetic carbon ion beam covering the therapeutic energy range from 80 to 425 MeV/u. About 99% of all primary partic...

The annual effective doses of aircrew members often exceed the limit of 1 mSv for the public due to the increased level of cosmic radiation at the flight altitudes, and thus, it is recommended to monitor them [International Commission on Radiation Protection. 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. ICRP Publ...

Polyallyldiglycol carbonate-based track-etched detectors can measure linear energy transfer (LET) spectra of charged particles. Accuracy of the spectra is affected by many factors whose effects are difficult to quantify. Typically, only uncertainty arising from the randomness of particle detection is reported in scientific literature. The aim of th...

Radiocarbon has been used to define parameters for modeling past, recent, and future CO2/carbon amounts in the atmosphere and in other environmental compartments. In the present paper, we estimate the amount of C-14 in the atmosphere by calculating the molar activity of (CO2)-C-14 (quantity of (CO2)-C-14 molecules per mol of air). Data on the recon...

The purpose of this study was to analyse the cytogenetic effect of exposing human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) to a mixed beam of alpha particles and X-rays. Whole blood collected from one donor was exposed to different doses of alpha particles ((241)Am), X-rays and a combination of both. All exposures were carried out at 37 °C. Three indepen...

Exposure of humans to mixed fields of high- and low-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation occurs in many situations-for example, in urban areas with high levels of indoor radon as well as background gamma radiation, during airplane flights or certain forms of radiation therapy. From the perspective of health risk associated with exposure to mixed...

Active mobile dosimetry unit (Liulin), passive plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTD) and thermoluminescent detectors (TLD) were exposed in a C290 MeV/n beam at HIMAC–BIO (NIRS, Japan). Two different types of beam configuration were used—monoenergetic beam (MONO) and spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP); the detectors were placed at several depths from the...

This contribution is focused on the detailed description of the energy transfer of heavy ions to matter. The experiments were performed at the HIMAC facility in Japan in cooperation with NIRS staff. We employed measuring instruments that have been already been proven in this application; we believe that our specific combination of passive and activ...

To estimate the radiation risk of spacecraft crew during the mission, it is necessary to measure dose distribution at various compartments, on and inside the human body that can be simulated using various phantoms. Due to some convenient characteristics (especially small weight and dimensions), passive detectors are used to measure dosimetric quant...

This contribution describes the results of fragmentation of Ne ions with primary energy 400 MeV/u behind different shielding measured with plastic nuclear track detectors in the frame of experiments at HIMAC. The detectors were placed behind 6 different materials (PMMA, Teflon, graphite, Al, Fe, Cu) of various thicknesses, from the entrance up to t...

Five various materials employed as track-etched detectors (TEDs) were exposed in beams of carbon ions with energy 290 MeV. u−1 in the HIMAC-BIO facility in Japan. The exposures were performed behind various types of polymethyl methacrylate shielding. The beam had two possible set-ups—monoenergetic set-up and modulated spread-out Bragg peak set-up....

The main purpose of Liulin-type spectrometry-dosimetry instruments (LSDIs) is cosmic radiation monitoring at the workplaces. An LSDI functionally is a low mass, low power consumption or battery-operated dosemeter. LSDIs were calibrated in a wide range of radiation fields, including radiation sources, proton and heavy-ion accelerators and CERN-EC hi...

Silicon energy deposition spectrometer Liulin was primarily developed for cosmic radiation monitoring onboard spacecrafts. Nowadays, Liulin type detectors are also used to characterise radiation field on board aircraft, at alpine observatories and behind the shielding of heavy ion accelerators. In this work, experiments and calibrations performed i...

Individual monitoring of aircrew of airline operators registered in the Czech Republic has been performed since 1998. In this work, annual effective doses and annual collective effective doses of aircrew from occupational exposure in the period from 1998 to 2008 are presented, methods used for their evaluation and verification are described, and ge...

To estimate the radiation risk of astronauts during space missions, it is necessary to measure dose characteristics in various compartments of the spacecraft; this knowledge can be further used for estimating the health hazard in planned missions. This contribution presents results obtained during several missions on board the International Space S...

The contribution concerns with the results measured with passive detectors within the scope of MATROSHKA-R experiments. Total absorbed doses, dose equivalents, and quality factors were determined by combination of measurements with thermoluminescence (TLD) and plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTD). The detectors were placed inside and on the surfa...

There is still need to develop further methods able to characterize an external exposure to neutrons. This contribution presents results obtained with linear energy transfer spectrometer based on the chemically etched track detectors. There were employed two types of polyallyldiglycolcarbonates, Page and Tastrak, to obtain spectra of linear energy...

Track etch detectors (TED) and thermoluminescent detectors have been exposed onboard of International Space Station (ISS) in the period from May to October 2007 in SPD containers in the Russian module of the ISS. Three types of TED, all chemically polyallyldiglycolcarbonates (PADC), have been exposed and evaluated as spectrometers of the linear ene...