Determination of the surface temperature and emissivity of glossy materials is a complicated task due to the relatively wide range of emissivity values and the reflection of infrared radiation from surrounding objects. As a consequence, standard methods used in infrared thermography are not applicable. In this article, an alternative method is proposed for the measurement of the surface temperature and emissivity of glossy materials used in the external structures of buildings that is based on an external source of thermal radiation. It is shown that the method gives quite accurate values of emissivity of both low- and high-emissivity glossy materials, whereas the surface temperature of low-emissivity glossy materials is less accurate and strongly depends on the accuracy of the used thermal camera.

Collective structures in ¹⁸⁰Ta built on the meta-stable K^π=9⁻ high-spin isomer were investigated using two types of Coulomb excitation experiments. In-beam studies identify γ-vibrational bands with typical bandhead E2 excitation strengths of 6 Weisskopf units (W.u.). Coulomb activation of the ¹⁸⁰Ta ground state was measured with ³⁶S and ⁶⁴Ni projectiles using thin targets. The excitation functions and the ¹⁸⁰Ta recoil angular distributions favor a K^π=7⁺ octupole vibration at E_x=1155(40) keV as intermediate state in the population of the ground state.

Radium-bearing barytes (radiobarytes) have been known since the beginning of the 20th century. They are mainly found as precipitates of low-temperature hydrothermal solutions. In anthropogenic environments, they frequently occur as crusts on oil industry equipment used for borehole extraction, in leachates from uranium mill tailings, and as a by-product of phosphoric acid manufacturing. Recently, we recognized Ra-rich baryte as a precipitate in the water drainage system of a bituminous coal mine in the Czech part of the Upper Silesian Basin. The precipitate is a relatively pure baryte, with the empirical formula (Ba_0.934Sr_0.058Ca_0.051Mg_0.003)_Σ1.046S_0.985O_4.000. The mean specific activity of ²²⁶Ra was investigated by the two-sample method and it equals 39.62(22) Bq/g, a level that exceeds known natural occurrences. The values for ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁴Ra are 23.39(26) Bq/g and 11.03(25) Bq/g. The radium content in the baryte is 1.071 ng/g. It is clear that the Ra-rich baryte results from the mixing of two different mine waters—brines rich in Ba, Sr, and isotopes ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra and waters that are affected by sulfide weathering in mine works. When this mixing occurs in surface watercourses, it could present a serious problem due to the half-life of ²²⁶Ra, which is 1600 years. If such mixing spontaneously happens in a mine, then the environmental risks will be much lower and will be, to a great, extent eliminated after the closure of the mine.

The Texas Convention Method is a standard method used for relatively fast calibration and check of the 14 MeV neutron flux from DT neutron generators in laboratory and field applications. It is shown that the homogeneous gamma source approximation used in the Texas Convention Method overestimates the detection efficiency. To increase the accuracy of the method a careful examination of sources of uncertainties is necessary. To be able to measure neutron fluxes lower than approximately 10 4 neutrons/cm 2/s a proper modification of the copper foil dimensions is beneficial. The paper addresses both issues.