Prompt dipole radiation in fusion reactions

The prompt gamma ray emission was investigated in the 16A MeV energy region by means of the 36,40Ar+96,92Zr fusion reactions leading to a compound nucleus in the vicinity of 132Ce. We show that the prompt radiation, which appears to be still effective at such a high beam energy, has an angular distribution pattern consistent with a dipole oscillation along the symmetry axis of the dinuclear system. The data are compared with calculations based on a collective bremsstrahlung analysis of the reaction dynamics

Changes in rainfall patterns in Mediterranean ecosystems: the MIND project

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Evidence of dynamical dipole excitation in the fusion-evaporation of the 40Ca +152Sm heavy system

The excitation of the dynamical dipole mode along the fusion path was investigated for the first time in the formation of a heavy compound nucleus in the A ∼ 190 mass region. The compound nucleus was formed at identical conditions of excitation energy and spin from two entrance channels: the charge-asymmetric 40 Ca + 152 Sm and the nearly charge-symmetric 48 Ca + 144 Sm at E lab = 11 and 10.1 MeV / nucleon, respectively. High-energy γ rays and light charged particles were measured in coincidence with evaporation residues by means of the MEDEA multidetector array (Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Italy) coupled to four parallel plate avalanche counters. The charged particle multiplicity spectra and angular distributions were used to pin down the average excitation energy, the average mass, and the average charge of the compound nucleus. The γ -ray multiplicity spectrum and angular distribution related to the nearly charge-symmetric channel were employed to obtain new data on the giant dipole resonance in the compound nucleus. The dynamical dipole mode excitation in the charge-asymmetric channel was evidenced, in a model-independent way, by comparing the γ -ray multiplicity spectra and angular distributions of the two entrance channels with each other. Calculations of the dynamical dipole mode in the 40 Ca + 152 Sm channel, based on a collective bremsstrahlung analysis of the reaction dynamics, are presented. Possible interesting implications in the superheavy-element quest are discussed

PRISMA - a magnetic spectrometer for heavy ions at LNL

Abstract The heavy-ion magnetic spectrometer PRISMA was recently installed at Laboratori Naz. di Legnaro, in order to exploit the heavy-ion beams of the XTU Tandem-ALPI-PIAVE accelerator complex, with masses up to A≃200 at energies ≃5-10 MeV MeV A

Cambiamenti nel regime pluviometrico in ecosistemi mediterranei: il progetto MIND

Changes in rainfall patterns in Mediterranean ecosystems: the MIND project. Will Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems be affected by the expected changes in precipitation regimes? If so, by how much and in which direction? These questions are at the basis of the research performed in context of the EU MIND project, whose key objectives were: i) to investigate the potential effects of increasing drought on Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems at the process, ecosystem and regional scales and ii) to assess ecosystem vulnerability to changes in rainfall patterns. A network of experimental study sites has been created in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy, where field manipulations alter the amount of water available to the ecosystem. The most up-to-date methods of ecophysiology, micrometeorology, soil ecology and remote sensing have been used to elucidate the mechanisms that regulate the response of vegetation and soil to changes in water availability. This information is providing the basis for the implementation and validation of simulation models capable of predicting the drought response of Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems, and their vulnerability to future climate change, on a larger scale. The out-coming results are elucidating how water availability affects plant ecophysiological processes, the dynamics of soil carbon and the overall exchange of mass and energy between the land and the atmosphere. This paper focuses on some of the important, yet preliminary, results on C and energy fluxes that have been obtained at the large scale troughfall manipulation experiment (Tolfa, Italy), in a forest dominated by Arbutus unedo L

The Magnetic Spectrometer Prisma at Lnl

The magnetic spectrometer PRISMA [1,2,3] has been recently installed at LNL. It has been designed to be used with heavy-ion beams accelerated at energies up to E = 5-10 AMeV by means of the Tandem-ALPI accelerator complex of the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro. The next operation of the new superconductive injector PIAVE and its coupling with the ALPI Linac will allow to extend the nuclear physics studies in the A=100-200 mass region. Moreover, PRISMA i

Maternal source of variability in the embryo development of an annual killifish

Organisms inhabiting unpredictable environments often evolve diversified reproductive bethedging strategies, expressed as production of multiple offspring phenotypes, thereby avoiding complete reproductive failure. To cope with unpredictable rainfall, African annual killifish from temporary savannah pools lay drought-resistant eggs that vary widely in the duration of embryo development. We examined the sources of variability in the duration of individual embryo development, egg production and fertilization rate in Nothobranchius furzeri. Using a quantitative genetics approach (North Carolina Type II design) we found support for maternal effects rather than polyandrous mating as the primary source of the variability in the duration of embryo development. The number of previously laid eggs appeared to serve as an internal physiological cue initiating a shift from rapid to slow embryo developmental mode. In annual killifish extensive phenotypic variability in progeny traits is adaptive, as the conditions experienced by parents have limited relevance to the offspring generation. In contrast to genetic control, with high phenotypic expression and heritability, maternal control of traits under natural selection prevents standing genetic diversity from potentially detrimental effects of selection in fluctuating environments

Does the breakup process affect the reaction dynamics for the systems 17O, 17F + 58Ni at Coulomb barrier energies?

The scattering processes of two mirror projectiles, the well bound 17 O (Sn = 4.143 MeV) and the loosely bound radioactive 17 F (Sp = 0.600 MeV), on the proton closed shell target 58 Ni were measured at several energies around the Coulomb barrier. The experimental data were analyzed within the framework of the optical model to extract the reaction cross section and to investigate the role played by direct reaction channels at near-barrier energies. The comparison shows a similar behaviour for the two A = 17 projectiles despite their very different binding energies and suggests a rather small effect of the 17 F breakup channel on the reaction dynamics