Measurement of the 58Ni(α, γ) 62Zn reaction and its astrophysical impact

Funding Details: PHY 08-22648, NSF, National Science Foundation; PHY 0969058, NSF, National Science Foundation; PHY 1102511, NSF, National Science FoundationCross section measurements of the 58Ni(α,γ)62Zn reaction were performed in the energy range Eα=5.5to9.5 MeV at the Nuclear Science Laboratory of the University of Notre Dame, using the NSCL Summing NaI(Tl) detector and the γ-summing technique. The measurements are compared to predictions in the statistical Hauser-Feshbach model of nuclear reactions using the SMARAGD code. It is found that the energy dependence of the cross section is reproduced well but the absolute value is overestimated by the prediction. This can be remedied by rescaling the α width by a factor of 0.45. Stellar reactivities were calculated with the rescaled α width and their impact on nucleosynthesis in type Ia supernovae has been studied. It is found that the resulting abundances change by up to 5% when using the new reactivities. © 2014 American Physical Society.Peer reviewe

Nutraceuticals for peripheral vestibular pathology: Properties, usefulness, future perspectives and medico-legal aspects

Vestibular disorders may generate complex signs and symptoms, which may alter pa-tients’ balance and the quality of life. Dizziness and vertigo can strongly affect daily activities and relations. Despite the presence of conventional drugs, maneuvers, and surgery, another interesting therapeutic opportunity is offered by nutraceuticals. These molecules are often used in the treatment of dizziness and vertigo, but the rationale of their application is not always solidly demon-strated by the scientific evidence. Several substances have shown a variable level of efficacy/useful-ness in this field, but there is lack of important evidence for most of them. From a medico-legal point of view, specific information must be provided to the patient regarding the efficacy and possibilities that the use of these preparations can allow. Administering the right nutraceutical to the proper patient is a fundamental clinical skill. Integrating conventional drug treatment with nutraceutical administration seems to be easy, but it may be difficult considering the (in part unexplored) phar-macodynamics and pharmacokinetics of nutraceuticals. The aim of the scientific community should be to elevate nutraceuticals to the same law and technical dignity of conventional drugs

Quenching Measurements and Modeling of a Boron-Loaded Organic Liquid Scintillator

Organic liquid scintillators are used in a wide variety of applications in experimental nuclear and particle physics. Boron-loaded scintillators are particularly useful for detecting neutron captures, due to the high thermal neutron capture cross section of 10B. These scintillators are commonly used in neutron detectors, including the DarkSide-50 neutron veto, where the neutron may produce a signal when it scatters off protons in the scintillator or when it captures on 10B. Reconstructing the energy of these recoils is complicated by scintillation quenching. Understanding how nuclear recoils are quenched in these scintillators is an important and difficult problem. In this article, we present a set of measurements of neutron-induced proton recoils in a boron-loaded organic liquid scintillator at recoil energies ranging from 57–467 keV, and we compare these measurements to predictions from different quenching models. We find that a modified Birks’ model whose denominator is quadratic in dE/dx best describes the measurements, with χ 2 /NDF= 1.6. This result will help model nuclear recoil scintillation in similar detectors and can be used to improve their neutron tagging efficiency

Collectivity of 0\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e States in \u3csup\u3e160\u3c/sup\u3eGd

Excited 0+ states in 160Gd have been examined with the (n,n′γ) reaction at incident neutron energies up to 2.8 MeV. Gamma-ray excitation functions and angular distribution measurements allow the confirmation of the existence of 0+ states at 1379.70 keV and 1558.30 keV, but we reject the assignments of additional previously suggested 0+ candidates. Limits on the level lifetimes of the observed 0+ states permit an evaluation of the collectivity of these states

Lifetime Measurements of Low-Spin Negative-Parity Levels in \u3csup\u3e160\u3c/sup\u3eGd

160Gd(n,n′γ) experiments were performed with accelerator-produced monoenergetic neutrons. Excitation functions at neutron energies from 1.5 to 2.8 MeV aided in the placement of γ rays in the level scheme and angular distributions at three neutron energies resulted in the determination of 28 excited-level lifetimes or limits in 160Gd, including the lifetimes of several negative-parity levels attributed to octupole vibrations

Epi-mucosa fixation and autologous platelet-rich fibrin treatment in medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) frequently affects patients after treatments with bisphosphonates or denosumab, especially with high doses in patients with bone osteoporosis, neoplastic metastases, or possibly anti-angiogenic treatment for cancer. The aim of this article was to show a new treatment planning for stage 2 and stage 3 MRONJ using platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) at the surgical field to enhance healing in association with a new epi-mucosal fixation technique to prevent or treat mandibular fracture. Two cases were treated by epi-mucosa fixation and autologous PRF use for prevention of mandibular fracture risks related to necrotic bone resection or a narrow fracture reduction. Both cases were successfully treated by this new technique of epi-mucosa fixation combined with autologous PRF and achieved good results and good quality of life. Ability to wear prosthesis with good mastication in the absence of side effect such as infection, plate and screw mobilization, pain, and other disabilities or extension of necrosis was reported. After surgical removal of necrotic bone, no infection was detected without any extension of the necrosis

Lifetime measurements in 162^{162}Dy

International audienceBackground: The nature of oscillations or excitations around the equilibrium deformed nuclear shape remains an open question in nuclear structure. The Dy162 nucleus is one of the most extensively studied nuclei with the (n,γ), (n,e−), (α,2n) reactions and most recently the (p,t) pickup reaction adding 11 0+ states to an excitation energy of 2.8 MeV to an already-well-developed level scheme. However, a major shortfall for a better understanding of the nature of the plethora of bands and levels in this nucleus has been the lack of lifetime measurements. Purpose: To determine the character of the low-lying excited bands in this Dy162 nucleus, we set out to measure the level lifetimes. Method: Lifetimes were measured in the Dy162 nucleus following neutron capture using the Gamma-Ray-Induced Doppler (GRID) broadening technique at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. Results: In total, we have measured the lifetimes of 12 levels belonging to a number of excited positive- and negative-parity bands in the low-lying spectrum of the Dy162 nucleus. The lifetime of the Kπ=2+ bandhead at 888.16 keV was previously measured. We confirm this value and measure lifetimes of the 3+ and 4+ members of this band yielding B(E2) values that are consistent with a single γ-vibrational phonon of several Weisskopf units. The first excited Kπ=4+ band, with a bandhead at 1535.66 keV, is strongly connected to the Kπ=2+ band with enhanced collective B(E2) values and it is consistent with a double phonon vibrational (γγ) excitation. Lifetime of Kπ=0+ band members have also been measured, including the 4Kπ=02++ state at 1574.29 keV and the 2Kπ=03++ state at 1728.31 keV. This latter state also displays the characteristics of a double phonon excitation built on the Kπ=2+ band. Conclusions: We discuss our findings in terms of the presence or absence of collective quadrupole and octupole vibrational excitations. We find two positive-parity excited bands at 1535.66 keV (Kπ=4+) and the 1728.312-keV 2+ state of a Kπ=0+ band at 1666 keV connected with sizably collective B(E2) values to the (Kπ=2+)γ band at 888 keV

Advanced Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical modelling features for practical applications in energy geotechnics (Sur la modélisation Thermo-Hydro-Mécanique avancée pour des applications en Géo-énergie)

Thermal and Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) analysis is at the core of a broad range of geotechnical engineering applications. In this context, an implicit fully coupled formulation has been implemented in the Finite Element software PLAXIS to perform robustly THM analyses. Advanced constitutive models can be easily defined and implemented with the well-known User-Defined Soil Model (UDSM) module. Recently, another module of User-Defined Flow Model (UDFM) has been developed so that users can implement user-defined fluid and heat transfer models (permeability, thermal conductivity functions etc). These improvements allow to perform advanced research analyses in a practical and user-friendly way. In this paper, the aforementioned formulation and functionalities are briefly summarised. Different examples of benchmark numerical analyses of Engineered Barrier Systems (EBS) in radioactive waste disposals as well as geothermal foundation systems are then presented. The obtained numerical results are verified by comparisons with other simulators and/or experimental data.Accepted Author ManuscriptGeo-engineerin