M.H. Repacholi – författare

The study of clay minerals is complex and yet central to disciplines such as geology, geotechnical engineering and agriculture. The main problem concerns the identification and characterization of what are usually fine-grained, complex mixtures of grains with varying physical and chemical properties. This book, looks at those advanced techniques which are gradually developing into routine methods - the spectroscopic and chemical methods. This book should be of interest to academic and industrial mineralogists, chemists and geochemists in earth sciences, soil science, geotechnical engineering, mineral exploration, agriculture, environmental monitoring and the oil industry; and advanced students in the above disciplines.

This volume contains the lectures presented at the International School of Radiation Damage and Protection at the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Sci­ entific Culture in Erice, Italy, September 6-15, 1985. The sixth course of the School, entitled "Advances in Applications, Biological Effects, and Dosimetry of Ultrasound," provided an in-depth review of all facets of ultra­ sound interactions and their biological effects on living systems, allowing an assessment of the hazard potential of the various applications of ultra­ sound. Particular reference was made to possible health risks associated with medical ultrasound exposure since this use is by far the most prevalent. Since the initial application of ultrasound to submarine detection, medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications have become predominant over the past 20 years. The question of safety of this physical agent is an extremely important one. In many industrialized countries most pregnant women receive at least one diagnostic ultrasound examination before the birth of the child. Thus, potential hazards to the fetus are of prime concern. This problem has been aggravated by the fact that the medical diagnostic applications of ultrasound have far outpaced research efforts on biological effects. A further compounding factor of concern to clinicians and scientists has been the use of higher and higher intensities by the manufacturers of ultrasound equipment, particularly higher peak pulse intensities.

This volume contains the lectures presented at the International School of Radiation Damage and Protection at the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Sci­ entific Culture in Erice, Italy, September 6-15, 1985. The sixth course of the School, entitled "Advances in Applications, Biological Effects, and Dosimetry of Ultrasound," provided an in-depth review of all facets of ultra­ sound interactions and their biological effects on living systems, allowing an assessment of the hazard potential of the various applications of ultra­ sound. Particular reference was made to possible health risks associated with medical ultrasound exposure since this use is by far the most prevalent. Since the initial application of ultrasound to submarine detection, medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications have become predominant over the past 20 years. The question of safety of this physical agent is an extremely important one. In many industrialized countries most pregnant women receive at least one diagnostic ultrasound examination before the birth of the child. Thus, potential hazards to the fetus are of prime concern. This problem has been aggravated by the fact that the medical diagnostic applications of ultrasound have far outpaced research efforts on biological effects. A further compounding factor of concern to clinicians and scientists has been the use of higher and higher intensities by the manufacturers of ultrasound equipment, particularly higher peak pulse intensities.

A knowledge of clay is important in many spheres of scientific endeav­ our, particularly in natural sciences such as geology, mineralogy and soil science, but also in more applied areas like environmental and mater­ ials science. Over the last two decades research into clay mineralogy has been strongly influenced by the development and application of a num­ ber of spectroscopic techniques which are now able to yield information about clay materials at a level of detail that previously would have seemed inconceivable. This information relates not only to the precise characterization of the individual clay components themselves, but also to the ways in which these components interact with a whole range of absorbate molecules. At present, however, the fruits of this research are to be found principally in a somewhat widely dispersed form in the scientific journals, and it was thus considered to be an appropriate time to bring together a compilation of these spectroscopic techniques in a way which would make them more accessible to the non-specialist. This is the primary aim of this book. The authors of the various chapters first describe the principles and instrumentation of the individual spectro­ scopic techniques, assuming a minimum of prior knowledge, and then go on to show how these methods have been usefully applied to clay mineralogy in its broadest context.