4,829 research outputs found
The reaction on p-shell nuclei
This letter is concerned with the study of the reaction in p-shell nuclei, i.e., , ,
and . The emission rates are
reported as a function of . These rates are discussed in comparison with
previous findings. The ratio in p-shell nuclei is
found to depart largely from that on hydrogen, which provides support for large
in-medium effects possibly generated by the sub-threshold . The
continuum momentum spectra of prompt pions and free sigmas are also discussed
as well as the missing mass behavior and the link with the
reaction mechanism. The apparatus used for the investigation is the FINUDA
spectrometer operating at the DANE -factory (LNF-INFN, Italy).Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.
The relevance of point defects in studying silica-based materials from bulk to nanosystems
The macroscopic properties of silica can be modified by the presence of local microscopic modifications at the scale of the basic molecular units (point defects). Such defects can be generated during the production of glass, devices, or by the environments where the latter have to operate, impacting on the devices’ performance. For these reasons, the identification of defects, their generation processes, and the knowledge of their electrical and optical features are relevant for microelectronics and optoelectronics. The aim of this manuscript is to report some examples of how defects can be generated, how they can impact device performance, and how a defect species or a physical phenomenon that is a disadvantage in some fields can be used as an advantage in others
29Si Hyperfine Structure of the E'_\alpha Center in Amorphous Silicon Dioxide
We report a study by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) on the E'_\alpha
point defect in amorphous silicon dioxide (a-SiO2). Our experiments were
performed on gamma-ray irradiated oxygen-deficient materials and pointed out
that the 29Si hyperfine structure of the E'_alpha consists in a pair of lines
split by 49 mT. On the basis of the experimental results a microscopic model is
proposed for the E'_alpha center, consisting in a hole trapped in an oxygen
vacancy with the unpaired electron sp3 orbital pointing away from the vacancy
in a back-projected configuration and interacting with an extra oxygen atom of
the a-SiO2 matrix.Comment: 4 page
Root Weevils
NYS IPM Type: Fruits IPM Fact SheetThere are more than 20 species of root weevils that attack strawberry in the United States. In New York, the three major species are the black vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (Fabricius), the strawberry root weevil, 0. ovatus L., and the rough strawberry weevil, 0. rugostriatus Goeze. Root weevils are also pests of raspberries and rhododendrons
Coulomb corrections to low energy antiproton annihilation cross sections on protons and nuclei
We calculate, in a systematic way, the enhancement effect on
antiproton-proton and antiproton-nucleus annihilation cross sections at low
energy due to the initial state electrostatic interaction between the
projectile and the target nucleus. This calculation is aimed at future
comparisons between antineutron and antiproton annihilation rates on different
targets, for the extraction of pure isospin channels.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures (latex format
Structural relaxation of E' gamma centers in amorphous silica
We report experimental evidence of the existence of two variants of the E'
gamma centers induced in silica by gamma rays at room temperature. The two
variants are distinguishable by the fine features of their line shapes in
paramagnetic resonance spectra. These features suggest that the two E' gamma
differ for their topology. We find a thermally induced interconversion between
the centers with an activation energy of about 34 meV. Hints are also found for
the existence of a structural configuration of minimum energy and of a
metastable state.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Intrinsic point defects in silica for fiber optics applications
Due to its unique properties, amorphous silicon dioxide (a-SiO2 ) or silica is a key material in many technological fields, such as high-power laser systems, telecommunications, and fiber optics. In recent years, major efforts have been made in the development of highly transparent glasses, able to resist ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. However the widespread application of many silica-based technologies, particularly silica optical fibers, is still limited by the radiation-induced formation of point defects, which decrease their durability and transmission efficiency. Although this aspect has been widely investigated, the optical properties of certain defects and the correlation between their formation dynamics and the structure of the pristine glass remains an open issue. For this reason, it is of paramount importance to gain a deeper understanding of the structure–reactivity relationship in a-SiO2 for the prediction of the optical properties of a glass based on its manufacturing parameters, and the realization of more efficient devices. To this end, we here report on the state of the most important intrinsic point defects in pure silica, with a particular emphasis on their main spectroscopic features, their atomic structure, and the effects of their presence on the transmission properties of optical fibers
Folic acid-functionalized graphene oxide nanosheets via plasma etching as a platform to combine NIR anticancer phototherapy and targeted drug delivery
PEGylated graphene oxide (GO) has shown potential as NIR converting agent to produce local heat useful in breast cancer therapy, since its suitable photothermal conversion, high stability in physiological fluids, biocompatibility and huge specific surface. GO is an appealing nanomaterial for potential clinical applications combining drug delivery and photothermal therapy in a single nano-device capable of specifically targeting breast cancer cells. However, native GO sheets have large dimensions (0.5-5 mu m) such that tumor accumulation after a systemic administration is usually precluded. Herein, we report a step-by-step synthesis of folic acid-functionalized PEGylated GO, henceforth named GO-PEG-Fol, with small size and narrow size distribution (similar to 30 +/- 5 nm), and the ability of efficiently converting NIR light into heat. GO-PEG-Fol consists of a nano-GO sheet, obtained by fragmentation of GO by means of non-equilibrium plasma etching, fully functionalized with folic acid-terminated PEG(2000) chains through amidic coupling and azide-alkyne click cycloaddition, which we showed as active targeting agents to selectively recognize breast cancer cells such as MCF7 and MDA-MB-231. The GO-PEG-Fol incorporated a high amount of doxorubicin hydrochloride (Doxo) (> 33%) and behaves as NIR-light-activated heater capable of triggering sudden Doxo delivery inside cancer cells and localized hyperthermia, thus provoking efficient breast cancer death. The cytotoxic effect was found to be selective for breast cancer cells, being the IC50 up to 12 times lower than that observed for healthy fibroblasts. This work established plasma etching as a cost-effective strategy to get functionalized nano-GO with a smart combination of properties such as small size, good photothermal efficiency and targeted cytotoxic effect, which make it a promising candidate as photothermal agent for the treatment of breast cancer
Analysis of an unmitigated 2-inch cold leg LOCA transient with ASTEC and MELCOR codes
The analyses of postulated severe accident sequences play a key role for the
international nuclear technical scientific community for the study of the effect of possible actions
to prevent significant core degradation and mitigate source term release. To simulate the
complexity of phenomena involved in a severe accident, computational tools, known as severe
accident codes, have been developed in the last decades. In the framework of NUGENIA TA-2
ASCOM project, the analysis of an unmitigated 2-inch cold leg LOCA transient, occurring in a
generic western three-loops PWR-900 MWe, has been carried out with the aim to give some
insights on the modelling capabilities of these tools and to characterize the differences in the
calculations results. The ASTEC V2.2b code (study carried out with ASTEC V2, IRSN all rights
reserved, [2021]), and MELCOR 2.2 code have been used in this code-to-code benchmark
exercise. In the postulated transient, the unavailability of all active injection coolant systems has
been considered and only the injection of accumulators has been assumed as accident mitigation
strategy
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