Gamma ray tracking with the AGATA demonstrator - A novel approach for in-beam spectroscopy

The Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) employs the novel method of gamma-ray tracking (GRT), where all locations of energy depositions within the Ge crystal detector volume are used by computer algorithms to reconstruct the various simultaneous interactions of the measured radiation. The interaction positions are determined by Pulse Shape Analysis (PSA) algorithms that compare the measured and digitized signals with the information of a signal database comprising position dependent calculated sets of detector signals. The result of a detailed comparison between measured and calculated signals yields the position of each interaction point. The GRT algorithms rely on this precise position of the deposited energy as an input to reconstruct the initial gamma-rays from the full sequence of the different interactions in the detector. Within this thesis a computer program library was developed, providing software routines to calculate the position dependent detector signals of the highly segmented HPGe detectors. The currently used signal databases of all AGATA detectors were generated by this software package and computer library. Part of the computing is based on individual detector properties which were deduced from detailed characterisation measurements. Details of the library, the used routines and the needed characteristics of the detector system are described, this includes a precise measurement of the crystal axis orientation of the AGATA HPGe crystals. The second part of this thesis is dealing with the analysis of one of the first in-beam experiments performed with the AGATA demonstrator setup at the LNL in Italy. The experiment aimed for a spectroscopic investigation of neutron rich actinides from Thorium to Plutonium produced after multi-nucleon transfer reactions. For this purpose a 136Xe beam with an energy of 1GeV bombarded onto a 238U target. The fast beam like particles after the transfer reactions were identified by the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA. The gamma-rays were detected with the AGATA demonstrator consisting of five AGATA triple cluster detectors. An additional micro channel plate detector for particle detection was mounted inside the scattering chamber in order to request kinematic coincidences. The analysis procedures for the two complex sub-detectors AGATA and PRISMA were extended and adapted to the specific requirements of this new approach for actinide spectroscopy. First the complex analysis of the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA and solutions for unexpected detector behaviour like time drifts and aberration corrections are described. As a result the individual isotopes of elements from Barium to Tellurium were identified confirming the very high quality of the PRISMA spectrometer and its design parameters. The analysis of the gamma-ray spectra comprised a detailed PSA and GRT analysis of the AGATA demonstrator. This analysis included also data analysis developments for the AGATA collaboration. The data of the AGATA demonstrator, the PRISMA spectrometer and the ancillary detectors were merged to obtain background free Doppler corrected spectra for the beam- and target-like reaction products. The simultaneous Doppler correction for beam and target-like ions included an elaborate optimization procedure for unobservable experimental parameters. The gamma-ray spectra for the individual isotopes is consistent with the isotope identification of the PRISMA analysis. For the beam like particles gamma-ray spectra of the isotopes 128-139Xe are presented and discussed. For the target like nuclei gamma-ray spectra of the isotopes 236-240U are deduced. By gating on the remaining excitation energy after the multi-nucleon transfer reaction the neutron evaporation and fission of the excited actinide nuclei were suppressed. Coincidences between AGATA and PRISMA were exploited for the first time together with the particle coincidence between beam- and target-like nuclei. These triple coincidences allowed further background reduction. The results for the individual Xenon and Uranium isotopes demonstrate the successful operation of the AGATA demonstrator coupled to the PRSIMA spectrometer. The quality of the gamma-ray spectra show clearly that the novel pulse shape analysis and gamma-ray tracking methods fulfil expectations also for demanding in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy experiments

Influence of tree hollow characteristics and forest structure on saproxylic beetle diversity in tree hollows in managed forests in a regional comparison

Tree hollows are among the rarest habitats in today's Central European managed forests but are considered key structures for high biodiversity in forests. To analyze and compare the effects of tree hollow characteristics and forest structure on diversity of saproxylic beetles in tree hollows in differently structured managed forests, we examined between 41 and 50 tree hollows in beech trees in each of three state forest management districts in Germany. During the two‐year study, we collected 283 saproxylic beetle species (5880 individuals; 22% threatened species), using emergence traps. At small spatial scales, the size of hollow entrance and the number of surrounding microhabitat structures positively influenced beetle diversity, while the stage of wood mould decomposition had a negative influence, across all three forest districts. We utilized forest inventory data to analyze the effects of forest structure in radii of 50–500 m around tree hollows on saproxylic beetle diversity in the hollows. At these larger spatial scales, the three forest management districts differed remarkably regarding the parameters that influenced saproxylic beetle diversity in tree hollows. In Ebrach, characterized by mostly deciduous trees, the amount of dead wood positively influenced beetle diversity. In the mostly coniferous Fichtelberg forest district, with highly isolated tree hollows, in contrast, only the proportion of beech trees around the focal tree hollows showed a positive influence on beetle diversity. In Kelheim, characterized by mixed forest stands, there were no significant relationships between forest structure and beetle diversity in tree hollows. In this study, the same local tree hollow parameters influenced saproxylic beetle diversity in all three study regions, while parameters of forest structure at larger spatial scales differed in their importance, depending on tree‐species composition

Immunosurveillance of lung melanoma metastasis in EBI-3-deficient mice mediated by CD8+ T cells.

EBV-induced gene 3 (EBI-3) codes for a soluble type I receptor homologous to the p40 subunit of IL-12 that is expressed by APCs following activation. In this study, we assessed the role of EBI-3 in a model of lung melanoma metastasis. Intravenous injection of the B16-F10 cell line resulted in a significant reduction of lung tumor metastasis in EBI-3(-/-) recipient mice compared with wild-type mice. The immunological finding accompanying this effect was the expansion of a newly described cell subset called IFN-gamma producing killer dendritic cells associated with CD8(+) T cell responses in the lung of EBI-3(-/-) mice including IFN-gamma release and TNF-alpha-induced programmed tumor cell death. Depletion of CD8(+) T cells as well as targeting T-bet abrogated the protective effects of EBI-3 deficiency on lung melanoma metastases. Finally, adoptive transfer of EBI-3(-/-) CD8(+) T cells into tumor bearing wild-type mice inhibited lung metastasis in recipient mice. Taken together, these data demonstrate that targeting EBI-3 leads to a T-bet-mediated antitumor CD8(+) T cell responses in the lung

Light and heavy transfer products in Xe 136 + U 238 multinucleon transfer reactions

A. Vogt et al.; 12 pags.; 14 figs.; PACS number(s): 24.10.−i, 25.70.Hi, 29.30.Aj, 29.40.Gx© 2015 American Physical Society. ©2015 American Physical Society. Background: Multinucleon transfer reactions (MNT) are a competitive tool to populate exotic neutron-rich nuclei in a wide region of nuclei, where other production methods have severe limitations or cannot be used at all. Purpose: Experimental information on the yields of MNT reactions in comparison with theoretical calculations are necessary to make predictions for the production of neutron-rich heavy nuclei. It is crucial to determine the fraction of MNT reaction products which are surviving neutron emission or fission at the high excitation energy after the nucleon exchange. Method: Multinucleon transfer reactions in Xe136+U238 have been measured in a high-resolution γ-ray/particle coincidence experiment. The large solid-angle magnetic spectrometer PRISMA coupled to the high-resolution Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) has been employed. Beamlike reaction products after multinucleon transfer in the Xe region were identified and selected with the PRISMA spectrometer. Coincident particles were tagged by multichannel plate detectors placed at the grazing angle of the targetlike recoils inside the scattering chamber. Results: Mass yields have been extracted and compared with calculations based on the grazing model for MNT reactions. Kinematic coincidences between the binary reaction products, i.e., beamlike and targetlike nuclei, were exploited to obtain population yields for nuclei in the actinide region and compared to x-ray yields measured by AGATA. Conclusions: No sizable yield of actinide nuclei beyond Z=93 is found to perform nuclear structure investigations. In-beam γ-ray spectroscopy is feasible for few-neutron transfer channels in U and the -2p channel populating Th isotopes.The research leading to these results has received funding from the German Bundesministerium fur Bildung ¨ und Forschung (BMBF) under Contract No. 05P12PKFNE TP4, the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant No. 262010-ENSAR, and the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion under Contract ´ No. FPA2011-29854-C04. A.V. thanks the Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy (BCGS) for financial support. One of the authors (A. Gadea) was supported by MINECO, Spain, under Grants No. FPA2011-29854-C04 and No. FPA2014-57196-C5, Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, under Grant No. PROMETEOII/2014/019, and EU under the FEDER program.Peer Reviewe

Protection from lethal septic peritonitis by neutralizing the biological function of interleukin 27

The immune response to bacterial infections must be tightly controlled to guarantee pathogen elimination while preventing tissue damage by uncontrolled inflammation. Here, we demonstrate a key role of interleukin (IL)-27 in regulating this critical balance. IL-27 was rapidly induced during murine experimental peritonitis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Furthermore, mice deficient for the EBI3 subunit of IL-27 were resistant to CLP-induced septic peritonitis as compared with wild-type controls, and this effect could be suppressed by injection of recombinant single-chain IL-27. EBI3−/− mice displayed significantly enhanced neutrophil migration and oxidative burst capacity during CLP, resulting in enhanced bacterial clearance and local control of infection. Subsequent studies demonstrated that IL-27 directly suppresses endotoxin-induced production of reactive oxygen intermediates by isolated primary granulocytes and macrophages. Finally, in vivo blockade of IL-27 function using a newly designed soluble IL-27 receptor fusion protein led to significantly increased survival after CLP as compared with control-treated mice. Collectively, these data identify IL-27 as a key negative regulator of innate immune cell function in septic peritonitis. Furthermore, in vivo blockade of IL-27 is a novel potential therapeutic target for treatment of sepsis

Impacts of Covid-19 on Norwegian salmon exports: A firm-level analysis

A rapidly growing literature investigates how the recent Covid-19 pandemic has affected international seafood trade along multiple dimensions, creating opportunities as well as challenges. This suggests that many of the impacts of the Covid measures are subtle and require disaggregated data to allow the impacts in different supply chains to be teased out. In aggregate, Norwegian salmon exports have not been significantly impacted by Covid-related measures. Using firm-level data to all export destinations to examine the effects of lockdowns in different destination countries in 2020, we show that the Covid-related lockdown measures significantly impacted trade patterns for four product forms of salmon. The results also illustrate how the Covid measures create opportunities, as increased stringency of the measures increased trade for two of the product forms. We also find significant differences among firms' responses, with large firms with larger trade networks reacting more strongly to the Covid measures. The limited overall impacts and the significant dynamics at the firm level clearly show the resiliency of the salmon supply chains.publishedVersio