50 research outputs found
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PICA95: An intranuclear-cascade code for 25-MeV to 3.5-GeV photon-induced nuclear reactions
PICA95, an intranuclear-cascade code for calculating photon-induced nuclear reactions for incident photon energies up to 3.5 GeV, is an extension of the original PICA code package that works for incident photon energies up to 400 MeV. The original code includes the quasi-deuteron breakup and single-pion production channels. The extension to an incident photon energy of 3.5 GeV requires the addition of multiple-pion production channels capable of emitting up to five pions. Relativistic phase-space relations are used to conserve energy and momentum in multi-body breakups. Fermi motion of the struck nucleon is included in the phase-space calculations as well as secondary nuclear collisions of the produced particles. Calculated doubly differential cross sections for the productions of protons, neutrons, {pi}{sup +}, {pi}{sup 0}, and {pi}{sup {minus}} for incident photon energies of 500 MeV, 1 GeV, and 2 GeV are compared with predictions by other codes. Due to the sparsity of experimental data, more experiments are needed in order to refine the gamma nuclear collision model
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Preliminary shielding estimates for the proposed National ISOL Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) Facility at Oak Ridge
ORNL built a first-generation Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facility for astrophysics and nuclear physics research; it was named Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) and is based on the Isotope Separator On Line (ISOL) technique. Planning is underway for a second- generation facility, the National ISOL RIB facility at Oak Ridge; it will build on the existing HRIBF and may utilize many existing components and shielded areas. Preliminary upgrade plan for the new facility includes: adding a superconducting booster for the tandem accelerator; replacing the 1960-vintage, 60-MeV proton, 50-microamp ORIC (Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron) with a modern 200-MeV proton, 200-microamp cyclotron; and building a high-power {sup 238}U fission target to accept the 200-MeV proton beam. This report summarizes the results of a preliminary 1-D shielding analysis of the proposed upgrade, to determine the shielding requirements for a 0.25 mrem/h dose rate at the external surface of the exclusion area. Steel shielding weights ranging from 60 to 100 metric tons, were considered manageable; these could be reduced by a factor of 2 to 3 if the orientation of the proposed target station was changed
Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses
To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1–11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely
Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease
One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood1. Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials
SARS-CoV-2-specific nasal IgA wanes 9 months after hospitalisation with COVID-19 and is not induced by subsequent vaccination
BACKGROUND: Most studies of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 focus on circulating antibody, giving limited insights into mucosal defences that prevent viral replication and onward transmission. We studied nasal and plasma antibody responses one year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, including a period when SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was introduced. METHODS: In this follow up study, plasma and nasosorption samples were prospectively collected from 446 adults hospitalised for COVID-19 between February 2020 and March 2021 via the ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. IgA and IgG responses to NP and S of ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Delta and Omicron (BA.1) variants were measured by electrochemiluminescence and compared with plasma neutralisation data. FINDINGS: Strong and consistent nasal anti-NP and anti-S IgA responses were demonstrated, which remained elevated for nine months (p < 0.0001). Nasal and plasma anti-S IgG remained elevated for at least 12 months (p < 0.0001) with plasma neutralising titres that were raised against all variants compared to controls (p < 0.0001). Of 323 with complete data, 307 were vaccinated between 6 and 12 months; coinciding with rises in nasal and plasma IgA and IgG anti-S titres for all SARS-CoV-2 variants, although the change in nasal IgA was minimal (1.46-fold change after 10 months, p = 0.011) and the median remained below the positive threshold determined by pre-pandemic controls. Samples 12 months after admission showed no association between nasal IgA and plasma IgG anti-S responses (R = 0.05, p = 0.18), indicating that nasal IgA responses are distinct from those in plasma and minimally boosted by vaccination. INTERPRETATION: The decline in nasal IgA responses 9 months after infection and minimal impact of subsequent vaccination may explain the lack of long-lasting nasal defence against reinfection and the limited effects of vaccination on transmission. These findings highlight the need to develop vaccines that enhance nasal immunity. FUNDING: This study has been supported by ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. ISARIC4C is supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council. Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre provided infrastructure support for this research. The PHOSP-COVD study is jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation and National Institute of Health and Care Research. The funders were not involved in the study design, interpretation of data or the writing of this manuscript
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HILO2K: A Coupled Neutron-Photon Transport Cross-Section Library for Neutron Energies up to 2000 MeV
User's guide and description of the perturbation code modules DGRAD and TPERT
Two code modules, TPERT and DGRAD, are described, which when used in conjunction with the DOT IV discrete ordinate neutron transport code provide the user with the capability of performing perturbation calculations. The modules and their input are described. A sample problem is presented to aid in executing these modules
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Preliminary shielding estimates for the proposed Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (RIBF)
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has proposed designing and implementing a new target-ion source for production and injection of negative radioactive ion beams into the Hollifield tandem accelerator. This new facility, referred to as the Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (RIBF), will primarily be used to advance the scientific communities` capabilities for performing state-of-the-art cross-section measurements. Beams of protons or other light, stable ions from the Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron (ORIC) will be stopped in the RIBF target ion source and the resulting radioactive atoms will be ionized, charge exchanged, accelerated, and injected into the tandem accelerator. The ORIC currently operates with proton energies up to 60 MeV and beam currents up to 100 microamps with a maximum beam power less than 2.0 kW. The proposed RIBF will require upgrading the ORIC to generate proton energies up to 200 MeV and beam currents up to 200 microamps for optimum performance. This report summarizes the results of a preliminary one-dimensional shielding analysis of the proposed upgrade to the ORIC and design of the RIBF. The principal objective of the shielding analysis was to determine the feasibility of such an upgrade with respect to existing shielding from the facility structure, and additional shielding requirements for the 200 MeV ORIC machine and RIBF target room