1,204 research outputs found
Search for correlations between solar flares and decay rate of radioactive nuclei
The deacay rate of three different radioactive sources 40K, 137Cs and natTh
has been measured with NaI and Ge detectors. Data have been analyzed to search
for possible variations in coincidence with the two strongest solar flares of
the years 2011 and 2012. No significant deviations from standard expectation
have been observed, with a few 10-4 sensitivity. As a consequence, we could not
find any effect like that recently reported by Jenkins and Fischbach: a few per
mil decrease in the decay rate of 54Mn during solar flares in December 2006.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Precise measurement of the 222Rn half-life: a probe to monitor the stability of radioactivity
We give the results of a study on the 222Rn decay we performed in the Gran
Sasso Laboratory (LNGS) by detecting the gamma rays from the radon progeny. The
motivation was to monitor the stability of radioactivity measuring several
times per year the half-life of a short lifetime (days) source instead of
measuring over a long period the activity of a long lifetime (tens or hundreds
of years) source. In particular, we give a possible reason of the large
periodical fluctuations in the count rate of the gamma rays due to radon inside
a closed canister which has been described in literature and which has been
attributed to a possible influence of a component in the solar irradiation
affecting the nuclear decay rates. We then provide the result of four half-life
measurements we performed underground at LNGS in the period from May 2014 to
January 2015 with radon diffused into olive oil. Briefly, we did not measure
any change of the 222Rn half-life with a 8*10^-5 precision. Finally, we provide
the most precise value for the 222Rn half-life: 3.82146(16){stat}(4){syst}
days.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics Letters B, 6 pages, 6 figure
LUNA: Nuclear Astrophysics Deep Underground
Nuclear astrophysics strives for a comprehensive picture of the nuclear
reactions responsible for synthesizing the chemical elements and for powering
the stellar evolution engine. Deep underground in the Gran Sasso laboratory the
cross sections of the key reactions of the proton-proton chain and of the
Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen (CNO) cycle have been measured right down to the
energies of astrophysical interest. The salient features of underground nuclear
astrophysics are summarized here. The main results obtained by LUNA in the last
twenty years are reviewed, and their influence on the comprehension of the
properties of the neutrino, of the Sun and of the Universe itself are
discussed. Future directions of underground nuclear astrophysics towards the
study of helium and carbon burning and of stellar neutron sources in stars are
pointed out.Comment: Invited review, submitted to Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Scienc
Search for time modulations in the decay rate of 40K and 232Th
Time modulations at per mil level have been reported to take place in the
decay constant of about 15 nuclei with period of one year (most cases) but also
of about one month or one day. In this paper we give the results of the
activity measurement of a 40K source and a 232Th one. The two experiments have
been done at the Gran Sasso Laboratory during a period of about 500 days, above
ground (40K) and underground (232Th) with a target sensitivity of a few parts
over 10^5. We also give the results of the activity measurement at the time of
the X-class solar flares which took place in May 2013. Briefly, our
measurements do not show any evidence of unexpected time dependence in the
decay rate of 40K and 232Th.Comment: version accepted for publication (Astroparticle Physics
Search for time modulations in the decay constant of 40K and 226Ra at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory
Time modulations at per mil level have been reported to take place in the
decay constant of several nuclei with period of one year (most cases) but also
of about one month or one day. On the other hand, experiments with similar or
better sensitivity have been unable to detect any modulation. In this letter we
give the results of the activity study of two different sources: 40K and 226Ra.
The two gamma spectrometry experiments have been performed underground at the
Gran Sasso Laboratory, this way suppressing the time dependent cosmic ray
background. Briefly, our measurements reached the sensitivity of 3.4 and 3.5
parts over 10^6 for 40K and 226Ra, respectively (1 sigma) and they do not show
any statistically significant evidence of time dependence in the decay
constant. We also give the results of the activity measurement at the time of
the two strong X-class solar flares which took place in September 2017. Our
data do not show any unexpected time dependence in the decay rate of 40K in
correspondence with the two flares. To the best of our knowledge, these are the
most precise and accurate results on the stability of the decay constant as
function of time.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics Letters B, 6 pages, 8 figures.
arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1311.704
The application of the Boolean Stochastic Generation Method to model seepage under levees in heterogeneous soils
Soil heterogeneity plays an important role in incrementing the uncertainty about the reliability of geotechnical engineering works, especially levees. The presence of thin layers of soils more permeable than the surrounding matrix significantly changes the seepage flow net below and within the dike. However, the detection of these layers is extremely difficult. Consequently, to evaluate the overall safety of dikes it may be useful to adopt stochastic computation methods. The paper presents the calibration of a seepage model of an operational river embankment subject to sand boils. The levee, located along the Adige River (South Tyrol, Italy), has been monitored since 2016. Piezometers and spot temperature sensors are installed in the lateral banks while a distributed fiber optic sensors (FOS), buried in a 350 m long trench at the toe of the levee, is used to check temperature distribution in the subground. The Boolean Stochastic Generation (BoSG) method addresses the influence of layers of material with different properties with respect of the surrounding soil. 360 soil configurations were generated for a two-dimensional groundwater flow model of the levee and confronted with the monitoring data of two piezometers. This analysis permits to identify the configuration that has effects more congruent with piezometers data, which in this case is a configuration with a major presence of lenses on the waterside respect the field-side. This evidence could guide strategies for remedial works
Is there any clinical relevant difference between non mosaic Klinefelter Syndrome patients with or without Androgen Receptor variations?
Klinefelter Syndrome (KS) is the most common chromosomal disorder in men leading to non-obstructive azoospermia. Spermatozoa can be found by TESE in about 50% of adults with KS despite severe testicular degeneration. We evaluated AR variations and polymorphism length in 135 non-mosaic KS patients, aimed to find possible correlation with clinical features, sex hormones and sperm retrieval. Among 135 KS patients we found AR variations in eight subjects (5.9%). All variations but one caused a single amino acid substitution. Four variations P392S, Q58L, L548F, A475V found in six patients had been previously described to be associated with different degrees of androgen insensitivity. Moreover we observed in two patients Y359F and D732D novel variations representing respectively a missense variation and a synonymous variation not leading to amino acid substitution. All the Klinefelter patients with AR gene variations were azoospermic. Spermatozoa were retrieved with TESE for two men (40%), sperm retrieval was unsuccessful in other 3 patients. This is the only study reporting AR variations in KS patients. Relevant clinical differences not emerged between AR mutated and not AR mutated KS patients, but does each variation play an important role in the trasmission to the offspring obtained by ART in this patients
A new FSA approach for in situ -ray spectroscopy
An increasing demand of environmental radioactivity monitoring comes both
from the scientific community and from the society. This requires accurate,
reliable and fast response preferably from portable radiation detectors. Thanks
to recent improvements in the technology, -spectroscopy with sodium
iodide scintillators has been proved to be an excellent tool for in-situ
measurements for the identification and quantitative determination of
-ray emitting radioisotopes, reducing time and costs. Both for
geological and civil purposes not only K, U, and Th have
to be measured, but there is also a growing interest to determine the
abundances of anthropic elements, like Cs and I, which are used
to monitor the effect of nuclear accidents or other human activities.
The Full Spectrum Analysis (FSA) approach has been chosen to analyze the
-spectra. The Non Negative Least Square (NNLS) and the energy
calibration adjustment have been implemented in this method for the first time
in order to correct the intrinsic problem related with the
minimization which could lead to artifacts and non physical results in the
analysis.
A new calibration procedure has been developed for the FSA method by using in
situ -spectra instead of calibration pad spectra. Finally, the new
method has been validated by acquiring -spectra with a 10.16 cm x 10.16
cm sodium iodide detector in 80 different sites in the Ombrone basin, in
Tuscany. The results from the FSA method have been compared with the laboratory
measurements by using HPGe detectors on soil samples collected in the different
sites, showing a satisfactory agreement between them. In particular, the
Cs isotopes has been implemented in the analysis since it has been
found not negligible during the in-situ measurements.Comment: accepted by Science of Total Environment: 8 pages, 10 figures, 3
table
A new study of Mg(,n)Si angular distributions at = 3 - 5 MeV
The observation of Al gives us the proof of active nucleosynthesis in
the Milky Way. However the identification of the main producers of Al is
still a matter of debate. Many sites have been proposed, but our poor knowledge
of the nuclear processes involved introduces high uncertainties. In particular,
the limited accuracy on the Mg(,n)Si reaction cross
section has been identified as the main source of nuclear uncertainty in the
production of Al in C/Ne explosive burning in massive stars, which has
been suggested to be the main source of Al in the Galaxy. We studied
this reaction through neutron spectroscopy at the CN Van de Graaff accelerator
of the Legnaro National Laboratories. Thanks to this technique we are able to
discriminate the (,n) events from possible contamination arising from
parasitic reactions. In particular, we measured the neutron angular
distributions at 5 different beam energies (between 3 and 5 MeV) in the
\ang{17.5}-\ang{106} laboratory system angular range. The presented results
disagree with the assumptions introduced in the analysis of a previous
experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures - accepted by EPJ
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