Charge-changing cross section measurements of 300 MeV/nucleon 28^{28}Si on carbon and data analysis

Charge-changing cross section ($\sigma_{\text{cc}}$) measurements via the transmission method have made important progress recently aiming to determine the charge radii of exotic nuclei. In this work, we report a new $\sigma_{\text{cc}}$ measurement of 304(9) MeV/nucleon $^{28}$Si on carbon at the second Radioactive Ion Beam Line in Lanzhou (RIBLL2) and describe the data analysis procedure in detail. This procedure is essential to evaluate the systematic uncertainty in the transmission method. The determined $\sigma_{\mathrm{cc}}$ of 1125(11) mb is found to be consistent with the existing data at similar energies. The present work will serve as a reference in the $\sigma_{\text{cc}}$ determinations at RIBLL2.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Chinese Physics

Active target MAIKo to investigate cluster structures in unstable nuclei

Study on clustering of nucleons in nuclei is recently focusing on unstable nuclei where new kinds of structures, namely molecular structures with excess nucleons, are predicted. The Coulomb shift of energy in the mirror system is suggested to reflect the size of these structures. Although the missing mass spectroscopy is expected to give access to these structures even beyond particle decay thresholds without any biases in excitation energy spectra but the detection of very low energy particles is challenging. To satisfy the requirement, a new active target system MAIKo has been developed at RCNP. The detector was commissioned using a 13C beam under the same kinematical condition as that of RI beam experiments

The Precision nEDM Measurement with UltraCold Neutrons at TRIUMF

The TRIUMF Ultra-Cold Advanced Neutron (TUCAN) collaboration aims at a precision neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) measurement with an uncertainty of $10^{-27}\,e\cdot\mathrm{cm}$, which is an order-of-magnitude better than the current nEDM upper limit and enables us to test Supersymmetry. To achieve this precision, we are developing a new high-intensity ultracold neutron (UCN) source using super-thermal UCN production in superfluid helium (He-II) and a nEDM spectrometer. The current development status of them is reported in this article.Comment: Proceedings of the 24th International Spin Symposium (SPIN 2021), 18-22 October 2021, Matsue, Japa

Impact of primary kidney disease on the effects of empagliflozin in patients with chronic kidney disease: secondary analyses of the EMPA-KIDNEY trial

Background: The EMPA KIDNEY trial showed that empagliflozin reduced the risk of the primary composite outcome of kidney disease progression or cardiovascular death in patients with chronic kidney disease mainly through slowing progression. We aimed to assess how effects of empagliflozin might differ by primary kidney disease across its broad population. Methods: EMPA-KIDNEY, a randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial, was conducted at 241 centres in eight countries (Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the UK, and the USA). Patients were eligible if their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was 20 to less than 45 mL/min per 1·73 m2, or 45 to less than 90 mL/min per 1·73 m2 with a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) of 200 mg/g or higher at screening. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to 10 mg oral empagliflozin once daily or matching placebo. Effects on kidney disease progression (defined as a sustained ≥40% eGFR decline from randomisation, end-stage kidney disease, a sustained eGFR below 10 mL/min per 1·73 m2, or death from kidney failure) were assessed using prespecified Cox models, and eGFR slope analyses used shared parameter models. Subgroup comparisons were performed by including relevant interaction terms in models. EMPA-KIDNEY is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03594110. Findings: Between May 15, 2019, and April 16, 2021, 6609 participants were randomly assigned and followed up for a median of 2·0 years (IQR 1·5–2·4). Prespecified subgroupings by primary kidney disease included 2057 (31·1%) participants with diabetic kidney disease, 1669 (25·3%) with glomerular disease, 1445 (21·9%) with hypertensive or renovascular disease, and 1438 (21·8%) with other or unknown causes. Kidney disease progression occurred in 384 (11·6%) of 3304 patients in the empagliflozin group and 504 (15·2%) of 3305 patients in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·71 [95% CI 0·62–0·81]), with no evidence that the relative effect size varied significantly by primary kidney disease (pheterogeneity=0·62). The between-group difference in chronic eGFR slopes (ie, from 2 months to final follow-up) was 1·37 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year (95% CI 1·16–1·59), representing a 50% (42–58) reduction in the rate of chronic eGFR decline. This relative effect of empagliflozin on chronic eGFR slope was similar in analyses by different primary kidney diseases, including in explorations by type of glomerular disease and diabetes (p values for heterogeneity all >0·1). Interpretation: In a broad range of patients with chronic kidney disease at risk of progression, including a wide range of non-diabetic causes of chronic kidney disease, empagliflozin reduced risk of kidney disease progression. Relative effect sizes were broadly similar irrespective of the cause of primary kidney disease, suggesting that SGLT2 inhibitors should be part of a standard of care to minimise risk of kidney failure in chronic kidney disease. Funding: Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, and UK Medical Research Council

Initial design of automated latex cup robot collector on rough terrain

Despite the growing demand in rubber products, the world rubber production has declined in recent years. In this paper, a prototype of an automated latex cups collecting robot is constructed to assist the workers in the latex collection process. This robot is constructed on a mobile platform with a rear-wheel drive, double wishbone suspension, Ackermann’s steer transmission, motor-driven Four Degree of Freedom (DoF) manipulator arm and a latex storage tank. Ultrasonic sensors and camera are employed to locate the position of rubber trees and latex cups. The developed prototype robot has undergone the functional test to verify the control system, in which the robot can collecting the latex cup located at the height of 105 cm and 160 cm. In the mobility test, the robot can overcome obstacles of 15 mm height. While in the static test, the platform and the robotic arm can withstand the stress in the range of 107 N/m2. In the balance test, the topple angle is more than 40°, guaranteeing the stability of the robot platform. Those results showed that the prototype design is feasible to perform basic tasks automatically in the unstructured terrain of rubber plantation

A study on UUM students's perception towards green home

Buyer’s perception on green homes affects the development of various green concept in all new housing development projects.As the global warming and environment pollution issues are getting serious, it is crucial for us Malaysian to start looking at greener options which are more environmental friendly and less energy consumption to preserve our environment.In Malaysia, limited exposure to the knowledge about green homes has resulted in the lack of awareness in the view of importance and values of green homes.Majority of the house buyers do not have a good understanding towards green homes.As the result, a number of difficulties arise in implementation of green homes concept in Malaysia.This study examines the relationship between consumers’ awareness of green features, consumers’ behaviours towards environmental issues and financial consideration with their intention to purchase green home. This study is conducted through running a survey among students in UUM to gather their perceptions towards green homes.It is expected that the findings could contribute towards greater understanding in view of housing industry.This research is also expected to provide good insights on managerial applications

Exploration of grid scheme for Frisch-grid ionization chamber

A new Frisch-grid ionization chamber has been built to explore the appropriate choice of Frisch-grid. Detailed studies of the relationship between grid geometries and detector performance have been performed with an $$^{241}$$Am source. This paper describes and compares the energy resolution of ionization chambers with parallel-wire and mesh grids of different grid parameters. Some specific recommendations for grid selection are provided based on the data currently available. To obtain optimal energy resolution, the operating voltage of the chamber must satisfy the condition of minimum electron collection on the grid with distinct geometries and parameters, respectively. Since there is no established theory applicable to both types of grids, we have devised a careful simulation procedure incorporating the COMSOL and Garfield++ codes to search for the conditions of the minimum electron collection on the grid. The simulation results fit the experimental data well, suggesting that this simulation method successfully predicts the suitable voltage setting when using a mesh grid or parallel wires grid as the shielding electrode

New trapezoid-shaped Frisch-grid ionization chamber for low-energy particle measurements

A new trapezoid-shaped Frisch-grid ionization chamber (TFG-IC) has been built as a part of a $$\varDelta {E}-E$$ telescope system for the detection and identification of charged particles at energies down to a few MeV. To study the effect of the drift electric field uniformity, two types of sealed windows, namely a pair of SSA (split-strip aluminized mylar film) and a pair of DSA (double-sided aluminized mylar film) sealed windows have been investigated. The detector’s performances were studied using a standard $$^{241}$$Am source at different gas pressures, and the total energy-deposit resolution achieved is about 1.1%(FWHM). The $$\varDelta {E}-E$$ telescope, which was composed of TFG-IC and a DSSSD (double-sided silicon strip detector), has been tested using a three-component $$\alpha$$ source and the $$^{241}$$Am source under laboratory conditions. The results show that the energy resolution with the SSA sealed windows which provide uniform drift electric field has a smaller fluctuation than that with the DSA ones; the fluctuations are about 1% and 4% for the former and the latter, respectively. Simulations using the COMSOL software also confirmed the electric-field distortion at the edge of the detector with the DSA windows. A correlation curve between energy resolution and energy deposit of charged particles at various gas pressures and for two gas species is derived for TFG-IC with the SSA sealed windows using the measurement with the $$^{241}$$Am source. Incorporating the above results, we performed Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the particle-identification capability of the telescope. The results show that the telescope can be extended to the identification of low-energy particles