Calibration Measurements of the LHC Beam Dumping System Extraction Kicker Magnets

The LHC beam dumping system must protect the LHC machine from damage by reliably and safely extracting and absorbing the circulating beams when requested. Two sets of 15 extraction kicker magnets form the main active part of this system. They have been produced, tested and calibrated by measuring the integrated magnetic field and the magnet current at different beam energies. The calibration data have been analysed, and the critical parameters are compared with the specifications. Implications for the configuration, control and operation of the beam dumping system are discussed

Results from the LHC Beam Dump Reliability Run

The LHC Beam Dumping System is one of the vital elements of the LHC Machine Protection System and has to operate reliably every time a beam dump request is made. Detailed dependability calculations have been made, resulting in expected rates for the different system failure modes. A 'reliability run' of the whole system, installed in its final configuration in the LHC, has been made to discover infant mortality problems and to compare the occurrence of the measured failure modes with their calculations

Progress with the Upgrade of the SPS for the HL-LHC Era

The demanding beam performance requirements of the High Luminosity (HL-) LHC project translate into a set of requirements and upgrade paths for the LHC injector complex. In this paper the performance requirements for the SPS and the known limitations are reviewed in the light of the 2012 operational experience. The various SPS upgrades in progress and still under consideration are described, in addition to the machine studies and simulations performed in 2012. The expected machine performance reach is estimated on the basis of the present knowledge, and the remaining decisions that still need to be made concerning upgrade options are detailed.Comment: 3 p. Presented at 4th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC 2013

Heart Rate and Risk of Cancer Death in Healthy Men

BACKGROUND: Data from several previous studies examining heart-rate and cardiovascular risk have hinted at a possible relationship between heart-rate and non-cardiac mortality. We thus systematically examined the predictive value of heart-rate variables on the subsequent risk of death from cancer. METHODS: In the Paris Prospective Study I, 6101 asymptomatic French working men aged 42 to 53 years, free of clinically detectable cardiovascular disease and cancer, underwent a standardized graded exercise test between 1967 and 1972. Resting heart-rate, heart-rate increase during exercise, and decrease during recovery were measured. Change in resting heart-rate over 5 years was also available in 5139 men. Mortality including 758 cancer deaths was assessed over the 25 years of follow-up. FINDINGS: There were strong, graded and significant relationships between all heart-rate parameters and subsequent cancer deaths. After adjustment for age and tobacco consumption and, compared with the lowest quartile, those with the highest quartile for resting heart-rate had a relative risk of 2.4 for cancer deaths (95% confidence interval: 1.9-2.9, p<0.0001) This was similar after adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and was observed for the commonest malignancies (respiratory and gastrointestinal). Similarly, significant relationships with cancer death were observed between poor heart rate increase during exercise, poor decrease during recovery and greater heart-rate increase over time (p<0.0001 for all). INTERPRETATION: Resting and exercise heart rate had consistent, graded and highly significant associations with subsequent cancer mortality in men

Future circular collider injection and extraction kicker topologies and solid state generators

A 100 TeV center-of-mass energy frontier proton collider, in a new tunnel of 80–100 km circumference, is a central part of CERN’s Future Circular Colliders (FCC) design study. The designs of the injection and extraction systems of the FCC are initially based upon the parameters of the injection and extraction systems of the Large Hadron Collider and a preliminary study of the FCC beam optics and lattice. The injection and, in particular, the extraction systems of the FCC have to be highly reliable. In order to achieve high reliability, solid state switches will be used for the generators of the injection and extraction systems. This paper discusses topologies of these kicker systems, which are presently under consideration

2012 Activity Report of the Regional Research Programme on Hadrontherapy for the ETOILE Center

2012 is the penultimate year of financial support by the CPER 2007-2013 for ETOILE's research program, sustained by the PRRH at the University Claude Bernard. As with each edition we make the annual review of the research in this group, so active for over 12 years now. Over the difficulties in the decision-making process for the implementation of the ETOILE Center, towards which all our efforts are focussed, some "themes" (work packages) were strengthened, others have progressed, or have been dropped. This is the case of the eighth theme (technological developments), centered around the technology for rotative beam distribution heads (gantries) and, after being synchronized with the developments of ULICE's WP6, remained so by ceasing its activities, coinciding also with the retirement of its historic leader at IPNL, Marcel Bajard. Topic number 5 ("In silico simulations") has suffered the departure of its leader, Benjamin Ribba, although the work has still been provided by Branka Bernard, a former postdoctoral fellow in Lyon Sud, and now back home in Croatia, still in contract with UCBL for the ULICE project. Aside from these two issues (and the fact that the theme "Medico-economical simulations" is now directly linked to the first one ("Medical Project"), the rest of the teams are growing, as evidenced by the publication statistics at the beginning of this report. This is obviously due to the financial support of our always faithful regional institutions, but also to the synergy that the previous years, the European projects, the arrival of the PRIMES LabEx, and the national France Hadron infrastructure have managed to impulse. The Rhone-Alpes hadron team, which naturally includes the researchers of LPC at Clermont, should also see its influence result in a strong presence in France Hadron's regional node, which is being organized. The future of this regional research is not yet fully guaranteed, especially in the still uncertain context of ETOILE, but the tracks are beginning to emerge to allow past and present efforts translate into a long future that we all want to see established. Each of the researchers in PRRH is aware that 2013 will be (and already is) the year of great challenge : for ETOILE, for the PRRH, for hadron therapy in France, for French hadrontherapy in Europe (after the opening and beginning of treatments in the German [HIT Heidelberg, Marburg], Italian [CNAO, Pavia] and Austrian [MedAustron, Wien Neuerstadt]) centers. Let us meet again in early 2014 for a comprehensive review of the past and a perspective for the future ..

Incidence of Sarcoma Histotypes and Molecular Subtypes in a Prospective Epidemiological Study with Central Pathology Review and Molecular Testing

International audienceBACKGROUND: The exact overall incidence of sarcoma and sarcoma subtypes is not known. The objective of the present population-based study was to determine this incidence in a European region (Rhone-Alpes) of six million inhabitants, based on a central pathological review of the cases. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: From March 2005 to February 2007, pathology reports and tumor blocks were prospectively collected from the 158 pathologists of the Rhone-Alpes region. All diagnosed or suspected cases of sarcoma were collected, reviewed centrally, examined for molecular alterations and classified according to the 2002 World Health Organization classification. Of the 1287 patients screened during the study period, 748 met the criteria for inclusion in the study. The overall crude and world age-standardized incidence rates were respectively 6.2 and 4.8 per 100,000/year. Incidence rates for soft tissue, visceral and bone sarcomas were respectively 3.6, 2.0 and 0.6 per 100,000. The most frequent histological subtypes were gastrointestinal stromal tumor (18%; 1.1/100,000), unclassified sarcoma (16%; 1/100,000), liposarcoma (15%; 0.9/100,000) and leiomyosarcoma (11%; 0.7/100,000). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The observed incidence of sarcomas was higher than expected. This study is the first detailed investigation of the crude incidence of histological and molecular subtypes of sarcomas