Radioactive Decay Research Articles

High-performance pure red perovskite light-emitting diodes utilizing conformational transformation of ionic liquid additive

The performance of perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) depends highly on the defect density and carrier transport properties of the perovskite layer. Some long-chain ligands are good at passivating the defects, but they hinder the charge injection into the perovskite because of their insulating nature. Notably, red PeLEDs suffer from spectral shift under bias caused by ion migration inside the mixed cation perovskite layer. This study proposes the use of silver bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (AgTFSI) a conducting ionic liquid as a multifunctional additive to the perovskite to overcome the aforementioned problems. The TFSI anion comprises strong electronegative -CF3 and Lewis base -SO2 groups. These functional groups interact with undercoordinated Pb2+, efficiently suppressing defects and reducing nonradiative recombination in the perovskite film. AgTFSI displays two distinct conformations: cisoid and transoid. The opposing orientations of the two functional groups enable the cisoid structure to exclusively engage with the perovskite through the -SO2 groups. In contrast, the semi-linear arrangement of the transoid structure provides accessibility to both -SO2 and -CF3 groups for interaction. Owing to their conformational flexibility, the TFSI anions in AgTFSI undergo a transition from the zigzag cisoid to a more linear transoid structure when added to the perovskite, enabling efficient packing and tight binding with the Pb defects. As a result, the perovskite film shows a twofold increase in photoluminescence quantum yield and decay lifetime. Consequently, the red PeLEDs achieve a maximum external quantum efficiency of 13.52%, nearly double that of the control device. This study confirms AgTFSI's potential as an effective additive for high-performance pure red PeLEDs.

Assessment of Environmental Background Gamma Radiation Variation in Minna Area of Nigeria

Radiation has been acknowledged to be responsible for deleterious conditions in living tissues. Hence, environmental background gamma radiation (BGR) measurement is crucial from an environmental and health perspective. In this study, due to the absence of comprehensive background gamma radiation data and the increasing numbers of anthropogenic activities that could increase the BGR level, such as where mining activities are active. The BGR in the Minna area of Niger State, Nigeria, was measured and analyzed in this study. In-situ measurement of the background gamma radiation level was carried out using a well-calibrated portable handheld GQ GMC-500 Plus nuclear radiation detector at an elevation of about 1.0 m above ground level. A global positioning system from Garmin (GPSmap 78s) was adopted for identifying geographical locations. A total of 1172 points were surveyed across the study area for background environmental radiation. The BGR values ranged from 0.102 to 0.147 μSv/h, with an overall mean value of 0.126 μSv/h. The average measured dose rate was more than twice the reported world average value of 0.059 μSv/h. The annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE) for the research area was calculated to be 0.221 mSv/y on average. The mean AEDE is lower than the ICRP recommended limit. This shows that the population of the Minna area is radiologically safe based on the estimated AEDE value. Similarly, the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) value ranged from 0.626 × 10−3 to 0.901 × 10−3 mSv/y with a mean value of 0.774 ± 0.09 × 10−3 mSv/y. The mean value of AEDE is below the 0.24 mSv/y permissible limits as recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The mean ELCR value exceeds the average world value of 0.29 × 10−3. Also, the mean organ dose values estimated for the whole body, liver, kidney, testes, bone marrow, ovaries, and lungs are 0.150 ± 0.02, 0.102 ± 0.01, 0.137 ± 0.02, 0.181 ± 0.02, 0.152 ± 0.02, 0.128 ± 0.02 and 0.141 ± 0.02 mSv/y respectively. The differences in the calculated mean of BGR were attributed to natural and human factors. Geological variation is a fundamental factor that influences the changes in BGR. Human activities, mining, building materials, and the use of phosphate fertilizers in agricultural practices are responsible for the differences in BGR. The ELCR implies that terrestrial gamma radiation does not pose any immediate radiological health effects on residents of the area, but there is a tendency for long-term health hazards in the future, such as cancer, due to the dose accumulated.

Evaluation of Optical and Radiation Protection Parameters of High Refractive Index Polymers

The optical properties of the prescription and non-prescription (plano) samples of the MR-8 high index lens were examined by UV/VIS spectrometry. The results showed that the light transmittance of the two MR-8 lens samples examined was over 90%, and the transmittance at the wavelength (~550nm) to which the human eye is most sensitive was 83.437% and 84.602% for the prescription and non-prescription samples, respectively. In terms of quality of vision, it is expected that the visible light transmittance will be high and the ultraviolet light transmittance will be minimal. It is very important that both the prescription and non-prescription organic MR-8 lenses tested have no transmittance below approximately 398nm. This means that this lens material protects against UVA and UVB rays, even though it is uncoated. It is also important to reduce the dose to the lens, which is a radiosensitive tissue. In the study, the mass absorption coefficients of MR-8 and Ormix lens materials in the 0.15-2.00 MeV energy range were calculated using the web-based XCOM programme. LAC, HVL, TVL, MFP, RPE and TF values were calculated from the MAC values obtained. At energies below 0.05 MeV, the maximum MAC value was 0.974 and 4.416 for the MR-8 and Ormix lenses, respectively. The RPE and TF values were 0.807-16.235%, 0.996-0.992% for the MR-8 lens and 0.862-55.233%, 0.448-0.991% for the Ormix lens. The results showed that the photon absorption ability of the Ormix lens is relatively better in the region where the photoelectric interaction is dominant. This research is also important in terms of determining the optical and nuclear radiation parameters of the material used in the manufacture of high index lenses and investigating its effectiveness in reducing the dose to the eyepiece.

Solving Problems of Physical or Basic Sciences via Rohit Transform

The problems such as evolution and withering of population, immersion of glucose by the body, escalation of epidemics and reversal of gross domestic product (GDP) over time, Law of heating or cooling given by Newton, radioactive disintegration law, and velocity of an object which is falling vertically downwards under the operation of gravity pull, in physical or basic sciences, are delineated by differential equations. These problems delineated by differential equations are generally solved by the calculus method which requires complicated computations. In the present article, an advanced integral transform-Rohit transform (RT) is conferred for solving the problems delineated by differential equations in physical or basic sciences. The results come by confirming that the RT is a simple and more effective scientific tool for dealing with such problems delineated by differential equations in physical or basic sciences than the ordinary calculus method.

Method for short-term prediction of ultradian and infradian rhythms based on the registration of fluctuations in the rates of radioactive decay of potassium-40

Observations of fluctuations in the rates of radioactive decay of potassium-40, a naturally occuring radioactive isotope of potassium, were made simultaneously in Moscow and Ulyanovsk. It was shown that variations of the count rates from sources in these geographic areas did not happen at the same time but were synchronized with local solar time. Based on this observation and taking into account that fluctuations in the rates of radioactive decay correlate with body temperature rhythms, a method for short-term prediction of ultradian rhythms of animal activity was developed and validated. The correlation analysis was conducted to see the relationship between the dynamics of the intensity of radioactive decay rates variability and the daily growth rates of the cell culture L-929. It was found that the maximum correlation coefficient can be observed after comparison of the indicator of the proliferative activity of the culture with the value of the intensity of radioactive decay rates variability as it was the day before the comparison. Thus, based on the data on fluctuations in the rates of radioactive decay of potassium-40, which is an indicator of the biotropic factor of the environment, it is possible to make short-term forecasts of ultradian and infradian biological rhythms.

A dentist’s perspective on scintigraphy about its applications as a diagnostic tool for a myriad of diseases affecting oral health

A "branch or specialty of medicine & medical imaging that uses radionuclides and relies on the process of radioactive decay in the diagnosis and treatment of disease" is known as nuclear medicine. Assessing physiologic change, which follows biochemical changes, is made easier with the use of radionuclide imaging, which is sometimes referred to as a functional imaging approach. Scintigraphy is a diagnostic procedure used in nuclear medicine where radioisotopes are administered internally into the body in liquid or gaseous forms, and the distinctive radiation that emerges is captured by external detectors known as gamma cameras, producing two-dimensional pictures. Bone scintigraphy, lymphoscintigraphy, salivary gland scintigraphy, and radio-immuno-scintigraphy are a few examples of scintigraphy techniques.Nuclear imaging has the advantage of giving extremely high levels of diagnostic sensitivity, which is successful in identifying even the smallest pathophysiological changes that are highlighted in the process of diagnosing early-stage to progressive diseases, making it the preferred diagnostic modality.

Photoluminescence and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Two Terpyridine-Based Hybrid Zn/Cd Halides.

Hybrid metal halides (HMHs) with low-dimensional structures have attracted increasing attention due to their striking optical properties. Herein, two new zero-dimensional HMHs have been fabricated by CdCl2/ZnCl2 and 4'-(4-pyridyl-phenyl)-2,2':6',2″-terpyridine (Tpy), including (TpyH3)[CdCl4][Cl] (Tpy-Cd) and (TpyH3)[ZnCl4][Cl] (Tpy-Zn). Their structures are consisted of a [TpyH3]3+ organic cation, an inorganic [ZnCl4] or [CdCl4] tetrahedron, and one isolated Cl- anion. Tpy-Cd crystallizes to a noncentrosymmetric structure and possesses a moderate second harmonic response of 0.72 × KH2PO4, while Tpy-Zn features a centrosymmetric space group. Though Tpy-Cd and Tpy-Zn crystallize into space groups of completely different symmetry due to distinct connection mode and molecular distortion, they display quite similar photoluminescence of bright green light emission under ultraviolet excitation, nearly identical in Stokes shift, photoluminescence quantum yield, decay lifetime, and energy. The photoluminescence quantum yields of green light emission were measured to be nearly 25%, outperforming most of the Cd/Zn low-dimensional HMHs.

Elucidating the influences of MoO3 in Na2O- ZnO - B2O3 - SiO2: Fabrication, optical, and γ-ray protection properties for the novel high-density glasses

The melt-quenching method was employed to synthesize glasses with varying compositions within the xMoO3-(30−x) Na2O- 5ZnO - 43.5B2O3 - 21.5SiO2 system, where (0 ≤x≤ 10) mol%. The densities increased from 2.93 to 3.67 g/cm3, while their molar volumes decreased from 22.48 to 20.18 cm3/mol. Based on the measurements, the optical band gap of the base glass was 3.53 eV. At its highest MoO3 content, this value decreased to 2.34 eV. The Urbach energy values for NaMo0, NaMo2, NaMo4, NaMo6, and NaMo10 glasses were 0.258, 0.323, 0.348, 0.37, and 0.435 eV, respectively. With an increase in molybdenum level, it was observed that the refractive index values also increased. These structural, optical, and radiation shielding behaviors were attributed to the structural modifications resulting from substituting Na2O with MoO3, leading to improved radiation shielding efficiency with the addition of MoO3. The Fast Neutron Removal Cross Section (FNRCS) (∑R) for the NaMo0, NaMo2, NaMo4, NaMo6, and NaMo10 glasses were 0.116 cm−1, 0.12 cm−1, 0.127 cm−1, 0.131 cm−1, and 0.135 cm−1, respectively. From the current work, we may conclude that NaMo glasses can serve as efficient shields in nuclear radiation environments. In general, it can be deduced that adding Na2O-ZnO-B2O3-SiO2 glasses improves their optical characteristics and enhances their capacity to absorb neutrons and photons for use in nuclear medicine applications.

The dynamics of Rn-222 cyclic flow within the shallow geological subsurface media as a daily temporal variated source for exhalation into the air

Extensive research on the dynamics of radon gas (Rn-222) originating from the radioactive decay of radium (Ra-226) in geological subsurface media, sheds light on its periodic release into the atmosphere. Radon is a product of the uranium-238 decay chain found within rock and soil grains. While only a fraction of the generated radon escapes (emanates) into porous spaces due to nuclear recoil, it serves as the source for subsurface gas flows and for cyclic exhalation into the soil-atmosphere interface.Ongoing study of radon movement in shallow and deep subsoil, and its emergence at the surface, reveals complete semi-diurnal, diurnal, and seasonal gas flow cycles in the subsoil. Complementary emissions occur nocturnally as radon is released into the atmosphere. Moreover, two natural driving forces govern complex semi-diurnal and diurnal flows below and above the surface. Subsurface gas movement in porous media exhibits nonlinear behavior influenced by surface temperature gradients, resulting in downward flow to depths of up to 100 m. This flow exhibits daily periodicity with depth-dependent time delays, correlating with the diurnal surface temperature cycle. Additionally, pore gas transport into and out of open boreholes responds linearly to semi-diurnal barometric pressure changes, known as barometric pumping.Beyond subsurface phenomena, Europe and Australia increasingly employ nocturnal radon measurements to study atmospheric stability and air quality, assuming that variations in local stationary near-surface radon concentrations reflect atmospheric mixing processes. Recognizing mechanisms governing radon's temporal changes within geological subsurface media highlights the need for continuous underground radon monitoring to validate variations in daily radon exhalation to the surface.On the other hand, monitoring radon at considerable depths minimizes climatic contributions and enhances the ability to discern non-periodic pre-seismic radon signals, independent of atmospheric compulsion. This research offers potential insights into seismic precursors and the complex interplay between subsurface geodynamics and atmospheric conditions.

Investigation of polarization mechanism in MSM TlBr crystal room-temperature nuclear radiation detector

Thallium Bromide (TlBr) single crystal detector is widely recognized as an excellent semiconductor nuclear radiation detector. And its detection performance has already reached commercial level of the majority semiconductor detector. However, the long-term stability of TlBr detector always exhibited a serious polarization effect and the commercial application of TlBr detector is heavily limited. In this paper, the polarization phenomenon, polarization mechanism and the influence of polarization effect on detection performance are systematic investigated. As the metal-semiconductor interface plays an important role in detector performance, two typical metal-semiconductor-metal structure, Au/TlBr/Au and Ti/TlBr/Ti detectors are designed and fabricated in this paper. The XPS in-situ analysis results reveal that different oxidation/reduction reactions would happen at the metal-semiconductor interface of Au/TlBr/Au and Ti/TlBr/Ti detectors. The serious polarization effect in Au/TlBr/Au detectors resulted from the aggregated [AuBr4]- ion at the Au/TlBr interface. Meanwhile, the relative weaken polarization effect in Ti/TlBr/Ti detectors is ascribed to the combined effects of oxidic titanium ions (Ti3+, Ti4+) and metallic Ti–Tl layer at the Ti/TlBr interface. Thus, the detector Ti/TlBr/Ti has a relative better energy resolution and long-term stability compared to detector Au/TlBr/Au. This paper systematic investigate the polarization mechanism and the influence of polarization effects on TlBr detector performance, and this will provide a potential solution to suppress the polarization problem by electrode architecture designing in the near future.

Greetings From the Chair of the JSME Power Energy Systems Division

Abstract I would like to extend New Year's greetings to the readers, reviewers and editors of the ASME Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science (NERS) as Chair of the Power and Energy Systems Division (PESD) of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME).

Editorial

Abstract The ASME Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science (NERS) (https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/nuclearengineering) celebrates its 10th year from the date of establishing (the Journal was established in 2014) and 9th year from our first issue (published in January of 2015). On this occasion, I would like to congratulate all members of our Journal Board, reviewers (their names are listed at the end of this greeting), authors, and readers with these dates! Also, our Journal, finally, have received a Journal Impact Factor in 2023.

Transdiagnostic inflexible learning dynamics explain deficits in depression and schizophrenia.

Deficits in reward learning are core symptoms across many mental disorders. Recent work suggests that such learning impairments arise by a diminished ability to use reward history to guide behaviour, but the neuro-computational mechanisms through which these impairments emerge remain unclear. Moreover, limited work has taken a transdiagnostic approach to investigate whether the psychological and neural mechanisms that give rise to learning deficits are shared across forms of psychopathology. To provide insight into this issue, we explored probabilistic reward learning in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (n = 33) or schizophrenia (n = 24) and 33 matched healthy controls by combining computational modelling and single-trial EEG regression. In our task, participants had to integrate the reward history of a stimulus to decide whether it is worthwhile to gamble on it. Adaptive learning in this task is achieved through dynamic learning rates that are maximal on the first encounters with a given stimulus and decay with increasing stimulus repetitions. Hence, over the course of learning, choice preferences would ideally stabilize and be less susceptible to misleading information. We show evidence of reduced learning dynamics, whereby both patient groups demonstrated hypersensitive learning (i.e. less decaying learning rates), rendering their choices more susceptible to misleading feedback. Moreover, there was a schizophrenia-specific approach bias and a depression-specific heightened sensitivity to disconfirmational feedback (factual losses and counterfactual wins). The inflexible learning in both patient groups was accompanied by altered neural processing, including no tracking of expected values in either patient group. Taken together, our results thus provide evidence that reduced trial-by-trial learning dynamics reflect a convergent deficit across depression and schizophrenia. Moreover, we identified disorder distinct learning deficits.

Modeling, analysis, and optimization of complex nuclear processes and facilities via computational methods: The HALEU process case study

Improving and adapting industrial systems to timely meet changing programmatic and market demands is an important goal to achieve, including when operating and maintaining complex nuclear processes and facilities. However, changes to these complex systems are costly, particularly when they are already in place and bounded to stringent requirements and constraints such as when handling radioactive material and contaminated equipment. These conditions often exist when treating spent nuclear fuel remotely within shielded nuclear radiation chambers, commonly referred as hot cells, to condition nuclear material and/or fabricate products for utilization in other nuclear enterprises such as in the manufacture of advanced nuclear fuel. The illustrative case considered here is the production of high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) products supporting the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors. For the HALEU program, resources invested were and are being systematically analyzed so that these investments are maximized in a facility that is nearly 60 years old. A methodology that has effectively enabled optimized and improvements in the Spent Fuel Treatment (SFT) program, and consequently the HALEU program, involves discrete event simulation as addressed in this article. The quantification of multiple productivity metrics, including material processing rates, cycle times, bottlenecks, number of material transfers as well as equipment, workstation, and material handling utilization, has resulted in a myriad of diverse discoveries and data-informed decisions regarding process layout and constituent, labor levels and schedules, selection of new process units, storage needs, and other critical process configurations. This article describes such a computational capability being applied for decision-making, illustrates its application to an actual process and program, provides illustrative results, and argues how computational methods for the modeling, analysis, and optimization of complex processes and facilities does lead to informed decisions derived from data and not only from intuition.

Cobalt exposure triggers impairments in cognitive and anxiety‐like behaviors, brain oxidative stress and inflammation, and hippocampo‐amygdala histomorphological alterations: Protective role of aqueous Prosopis africana seed extract

AbstractBackgroundCobalt toxicity has become a health concern in recent years, due to overexposure resulting in neurological impairments like dementia. With a growing interest in the therapeutic roles of herbs, in toxicity research, it’s worth looking into the curative effects of aqueous Prosopis africana seed extract, a plant rich in flavonoids on cobalt‐induced dementia‐like and anxiogenic behaviour.MethodWe treated rats with Cobalt (CoCl2) or CoCl2 in combination with aqueous Prosopis africana seed extract (PAE) orally for 14 days. Control rats received distilled water for the same period. Following treatments, behavioral experiments for cognition and anxiety, analysis for oxidative stress, inflammation, histological and immunohistochemical analysis were performed.ResultResults revealed that CoCl2 reduced the exploration time, recognition index in the novel object recognition test, percentage spontaneous alternation in the Y‐maze tests, and reduced open arm entry and duration in elevated plus‐maze. However, treatment with PAE improved these parameters to levels comparable with those of the control group. Furthermore, PAE therapy reduced CoCl2‐induced surge in hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, TNF‐α and IL‐1β levels in brain homogenate, while also increasing superoxide dismutase and reduced reduced‐glutathione activities. CoCl2 exposure resulted in obvious features of neurodegeneration like nuclear disintegration, nuclear shrinkage, and cytoplasmic vacuolations of the cells of the hippocampus and amygdala, with an increased expression of GFAP. The hippocampal and amygdala histology improved after PAE administration, while exacerbated GFAP expressions were attenuated.ConclusionThese findings imply that PAE may be anxiolytic and can help reduce cognitive impairments and hippocampal damage caused by CoCl2 neurotoxicity, via mechanisms that involve attenuation of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation.

Phenomenology of dark tensor currents

In this work we suggest a dark mediator model which extends the usual U(1) Lagrangian by including new degrees of freedom coupling to Standard Model fermions. Such dark particles can contribute to the neutral pion decay. For interaction constant and the dark particle mass consistent with the observed anomalies in the nuclear decays by the ATOMKI group we show that the dark tensor particles naturally incorporate lepton universality violation which introduces sizable effect on the muon anomalous magnetic moment.

Radiography students’ perceptions of the attributes required for clinical educators

IntroductionA clinical educator (CE) is responsible for the clinical training and supervising of students to acquire skills and knowledge during Work Integrated Learning (WIL). The CE can have a positive or negative influence on students depending on their clinical and interpersonal attributes. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory-descriptive and contextual study was to explore and describe students' perceptions regarding the attributes of their CEs upon the successful implementation of the degree programme at the HEI. MethodsEighteen radiography students studying at the HEI in South Africa, from 4 disciplines namely, diagnostic radiography, nuclear medicine technology, diagnostic ultrasound and radiation therapy participated in the study. The data collection tool was unstructured interviews. Data was collected through in depth in-person and online interviews and was analysed using thematic analysis. ResultsThe study revealed four themes highlighting the students need for CEs who possess personality traits that foster and enhance their performance. These CEs should establish an environment conducive to productive learning for students, encourage learning within the context of workplace-based learning, seamlessly integrate theoretical knowledge into clinical practice and consistently exhibit professional attributes. ConclusionThe findings from the study emphasize how the attributes and personality of CEs can significantly influence students experiential learning (WIL). The presence of a strong moral connection between students and CEs was considered a crucial aspect for successful clinical learning.

A Method of Short-Term Forecasting of Ultradian and Infradian Rhythms Based on the Recording of Fluctuations in the Rates of Radioactive Decay of Potassium-40

A Method of Short-Term Forecasting of Ultradian and Infradian Rhythms Based on the Recording of Fluctuations in the Rates of Radioactive Decay of Potassium-40

R&D of glass scintillator for nuclear radiation detection

In 2021, the Institute of High Energy Physics proposed a design of glass scintillator coupled with SiPM as a new solution for the next generation calorimeter, to explore the application of glass scintillators in high energy physics and nuclear radiation detection. The Large Area Glass Scintillator Collaboration Group was established to research and develop a glass scintillator with high density, high light yields and fast decay time. Through continuous optimization, the glasses have excellent scintillation performance with a light yield of 1000 ph/MeV and a density of 6 g/cm3. Moreover, the neutron response of the glasses was investigated, and different high-energy particles can be distinguished by signal amplitude. In addition, the radiation resistance of different glasses was tested under proton beam. All the glasses appeared opaque and produced a high radioactive background, because Gd element interacts with proton to produce radionuclides with high activity and long half-life.

A comprehensive microstructural and transmission analysis on oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloys: Impact of erbium oxide (Er2O3) concentration on physical, structural, gamma-ray, and neutron attenuation properties

This study explores the impact of integrating varying concentrations of Erbium Oxide (Er2O3) into Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) alloys, specifically focusing on gamma-ray and neutron attenuation properties. Utilizing a 316L stainless steel matrix, Er2O3 was methodically incorporated in concentrations ranging from 1 % to 21 % by weight. The structural and radiation attenuation properties of the resultant alloys were comprehensively analyzed using techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and experimental gamma-ray transmission studies. The results demonstrate a significant enhancement in gamma-ray shielding with increased Er2O3 content. This enhancement is quantitatively evidenced by increased linear attenuation coefficient, elevated effective Electron Density (Neff), reduced Half-Value Layers (HVL), and higher effective atomic numbers (Zeff). These findings are crucial for nuclear applications where efficient gamma-ray shielding is paramount. Conversely, a decrease in the effective removal cross section (ΣR) for neutron attenuation was observed with higher Er2O3 concentrations. This suggests a potential compromise in neutron shielding efficiency, attributed to the dilution of neutron-absorbing base elements in the alloy. Additionally, the study reveals notable changes in the microstructural properties of the alloys, including alterations in particle size, distribution, and agglomeration, influenced by varying Er2O3 concentrations. In conclusion, this research provides valuable insights into the design of ODS alloys for nuclear radiation shielding, highlighting the balance between gamma-ray attenuation and neutron shielding properties. The study's findings contribute to the development of advanced materials for safer and more efficient nuclear technology applications.