The new neutron multiplicity filter NEDA and its first physics campaign with AGATA

A new neutron multiplicity filter NEDA, after a decade of design, R&D and construction, was employed in its first physics campaign with the AGATA spectrometer. Properties and performance of the array are discussed

Digital Front-End Electronics for the Neutron Detector NEDA

19th Real Time Conference (RT) -- MAY 26-30, 2014 -- Nara, JAPANWOS: 000356458000029This paper presents the design of the NEDA (Neutron Detector Array) electronics, a first attempt to involve the use of digital electronics in large neutron detector arrays. Starting from the front-end modules attached to the PMTs (PhotoMultiplier Tubes) and ending up with the data processing workstations, a comprehensive electronic system capable of dealing with the acquisition and pre-processing of the neutron array is detailed. Among the electronic modules required, we emphasize the front-end analog processing, the digitalization, digital pre-processing and communications firmware, as well as the integration of the GTS (Global Trigger and Synchronization) system, already used successfully in AGATA (Advanced Gamma Tracking Array). The NEDA array will be available for measurements in 2016.Osaka Univ, Res Nucl PhysGeneralitat Valenciana, Spain [PROMETEO/2010/101]; INFN, Italy; Spanish MINECO [AIC-D-2011-0746, FPA2011-29854, FPA2012-33650]; Swedish Research Council; Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK); UK STFC; Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/J000124/1, ST/L005735/1, ST/L005727/1]This work was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, under grant PROMETEO/2010/101. Some authors were supported in part by INFN, Italy, and by the Spanish MINECO under grants AIC-D-2011-0746, FPA2011-29854, and FPA2012-33650. The Swedish Research Council, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), and the UK STFC also provided support

Clinical imaging of choroid plexus in health and in brain disorders: a mini-review

The choroid plexuses (ChPs) perform indispensable functions for the development, maintenance and functioning of the brain. Although they have gained considerable interest in the last years, their involvement in brain disorders is still largely unknown, notably because their deep location inside the brain hampers non-invasive investigations. Imaging tools have become instrumental to the diagnosis and pathophysiological study of neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. This review summarizes the knowledge that has been gathered from the clinical imaging of ChPs in health and brain disorders not related to ChP pathologies. Results are discussed in the light of pre-clinical imaging studies. As seen in this review, to date, most clinical imaging studies of ChPs have used disease-free human subjects to demonstrate the value of different imaging biomarkers (ChP size, perfusion/permeability, glucose metabolism, inflammation), sometimes combined with the study of normal aging. Although very few studies have actually tested the value of ChP imaging biomarkers in patients with brain disorders, these pioneer studies identified ChP changes that are promising data for a better understanding and follow-up of diseases such as schizophrenia, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. Imaging of immune cell trafficking at the ChPs has remained limited to pre-clinical studies so far but has the potential to be translated in patients for example using MRI coupled with the injection of iron oxide nanoparticles. Future investigations should aim at confirming and extending these findings and at developing translational molecular imaging tools for bridging the gap between basic molecular and cellular neuroscience and clinical research

The 4 \u3c0 highly-efficient light-charged-particle detector EUCLIDES, installed at the GALILEO array for in-beam \u3b3 -ray spectroscopy

In a fusion-evaporation reaction, nuclei are produced by evaporating light-charged particles and neutrons from the compound nucleus. Typically, a nucleus of interest is produced as a result of a part of the total cross-section and, in order to guarantee a good channel discrimination, a particle detector, like the EUCLIDES $4\pi$ Si-ball array, is necessary. EUCLIDES has been quoted in more than a hundred publications resulting from many experiments performed in combination with the EUROBALL and GASP $\gamma$-ray spectrometers. The present paper reports on the upgraded version of EUCLIDES, that is presently coupled to the new GALILEO $\gamma$-ray spectrometer, installed at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, INFN. The design, characteristics and performance of the EUCLIDES array are presented and discussed

Pairing-quadrupole interplay in the neutron-deficient tin nuclei: First lifetime measurements of low-lying states in Sn-106,Sn-108

The lifetimes of the low-lying excited states 2(+) and 4(+) have been directly measured in the neutron-deficient Sn-106,Sn-108 isotopes. The nuclei were populated via a deep-inelastic reaction and the lifetime measurement was performed employing a differential plunger device. The emitted gamma rays were detected by the AGATA array, while the reaction products were uniquely identified by the VAMOS++ magnetic spectrometer. Large-Scale Shell-Model calculations with realistic forces indicate that, independently of the pairing content of the interaction, the quadrupole force is dominant in the B(E2; 2(1)(+) -> 0(g.s)(+)) values and it describes well the experimental pattern for Sn104-114 ; the B(E2;(+)(4) -> 2(1)(+)) values, measured here for the first time, depend critically on a delicate pairing-quadrupole balance, disclosed by the very precise results in Sn-108. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Pairing-quadrupole interplay in the neutron-deficient tin nuclei: First lifetime measurements of low-lying states in Sn-106,Sn-108

The lifetimes of the low-lying excited states 2(+) and 4(+) have been directly measured in the neutron-deficient Sn-106,Sn-108 isotopes. The nuclei were populated via a deep-inelastic reaction and the lifetime measurement was performed employing a differential plunger device. The emitted gamma rays were detected by the AGATA array, while the reaction products were uniquely identified by the VAMOS++ magnetic spectrometer. Large-Scale Shell-Model calculations with realistic forces indicate that, independently of the pairing content of the interaction, the quadrupole force is dominant in the B(E2; 2(1)(+) -> 0(g.s)(+)) values and it describes well the experimental pattern for Sn104-114 ; the B(E2;(+)(4) -> 2(1)(+)) values, measured here for the first time, depend critically on a delicate pairing-quadrupole balance, disclosed by the very precise results in Sn-108. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Pairing-quadrupole interplay in the neutron-deficient tin nuclei: First lifetime measurements of low-lying states in 106,108Sn

The lifetimes of the low-lying excited states 2+ and 4+ have been directly measured in the neutron-deficient 106,108Sn isotopes. The nuclei were populated via a deep-inelastic reaction and the lifetime measurement was performed employing a differential plunger device. The emitted γ rays were detected by the AGATA array, while the reaction products were uniquely identified by the VAMOS++ magnetic spectrometer. Large-Scale Shell-Model calculations with realistic forces indicate that, independently of the pairing content of the interaction, the quadrupole force is dominant in the B(E2;21+→0g.s.+) values and it describes well the experimental pattern for 104−114Sn; the B(E2;41+→21+) values, measured here for the first time, depend critically on a delicate pairing-quadrupole balance, disclosed by the very precise results in 108Sn

Lifetime measurements in 52,54^{52,54}Ti to study shell evolution toward N=32N=32

International audienceLifetimes of the excited states in the neutron-rich Ti52,54 nuclei, produced in a multinucleon-transfer reaction, were measured by employing the Cologne plunger device and the recoil-distance Doppler-shift method. The experiment was performed at the Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds facility by using the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array for the γ-ray detection, coupled to the large-acceptance variable mode spectrometer for an event-by-event particle identification. A comparison between the transition probabilities obtained from the measured lifetimes of the 21+ to 81+ yrast states in Ti52,54 and that from the shell-model calculations based on the well-established GXPF1A, GXPF1B, and KB3G fp shell interactions support the N=32 subshell closure. The B(E2) values for Ti52 determined in this work are in disagreement with the known data, but are consistent with the predictions of the shell-model calculations and reduce the previously observed pronounced staggering across the even-even titanium isotopes

Lifetime measurements in Ti-52,Ti-54 to study shell evolution toward N=32

Lifetimes of the excited states in the neutron-rich Ti-52,Ti-54 nuclei, produced in a multinucleon-transfer reaction, were measured by employing the Cologne plunger device and the recoil-distance Doppler-shift method. The experiment was performed at the Grand Accelerateur National d'Ions Lourds facility by using the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array for the gamma-ray detection, coupled to the large-acceptance variable mode spectrometer for an event-by-event particle identification. A comparison between the transition probabilities obtained from the measured lifetimes of the 2(1)(+) to 8(1)(+) yrast states in Ti-52,Ti-54 and that from the shell-model calculations based on the well-established GXPF1A, GXPF1B, and KB3G fp shell interactions support the N = 32 subshell closure. The B(E2) values for Ti-52 determined in this work are in disagreement with the known data, but are consistent with the predictions of the shell-model calculations and reduce the previously observed pronounced staggering across the even-even titanium isotopes