The evolution of the ISOLDE control system

The ISOLDE on-line mass separator facility is operating on a Personal Computer based control system since spring 1992. Front End Computers accessing the hardware are controlled from consoles running Microsoft WindowsTM through a Novell NetWare4TM local area network. The control system is transparently integrated in the CERN wide office network and makes heavy use of the CERN standard office application programs to control and to document the running of the ISOLDE isotope separators. This paper recalls the architecture of the control system, shows its recent developments and gives some examples of its graphical user interface

Predictive value of prostate specific antigen in a European HIV-positive cohort: does one size fit all?

Background: It is common practice to use prostate specific antigen (PSA) ≥4.0 ng/ml as a clinical indicator for men at risk of prostate cancer (PCa), however, this is unverified in HIV+ men. We aimed to describe kinetics and predictive value of PSA for PCa in HIV+ men. Methods: A nested case control study of 21 men with PCa and 40 matched-controls within EuroSIDA was conducted. Prospectively stored plasma samples before PCa (or matched date in controls) were measured for the following markers: total PSA (tPSA), free PSA (fPSA), testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Conditional logistic regression models investigated associations between markers and PCa. Mixed models were used to describe kinetics. Sensitivity and specificity of using tPSA >4 ng/ml to predict PCa was calculated. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to identify optimal cutoffs in HIV+ men for total PSA. Results: 61 HIV+ men were included with a median 6 (IQR 2–9) years follow-up. Levels of tPSA increased by 13.7% per year (95% CI 10.3, 17.3) in cases, but was stable in controls (-0.4%; 95% CI -2.5, 1.7). Elevated PSA was associated with higher odds of PCa at first (OR for twofold higher 4.7; 95% CI 1.7, 12.9; P4 ng/ml had 99% specificity and 38% sensitivity. The optimal PSA cutoff was 1.5 ng/ml overall (specificity =84%, sensitivity =81%). Conclusions: PSA was highly predictive of PCa in HIV+ men; however, the commonly used PSA>4 ng/ml to indicate high PCa risk was not sensitive in our population and use of the lower cutoff of PSA>1.5 ng/ml warrants consideration

Oxide Fiber Targets at ISOLDE

Many elements are rapidly released from oxide matrices. Some oxide powder targets show a fast sintering, thus losing their favorable release characteristics. Loosely packed oxyde fiber targets are less critical since they may maintain their open structure even when starting to fuse together at some contact points. The experience with various oxyde fiber targets (titania, zirconia, ceria and thoria) used in the last years at ISOLDE is reviewed. For short-lived isotopes of Cu, Ga and Xe the zirconia and ceria targets respectively provided significantly higher yields than any other target (metal foils, oxide powders, etc.) tested before. Titania fibers, which were not commercially available, were produced in a relic process by impregnation of a rayon felt in a titanium chloride solution and subsequent calcination by heating the dried felt in air. Thoria fibers were obtained either by the same process or by burning commercial gas lantern mantle cloth. In the future a beryllia fiber target could be used to produce very intense ^6He beams (order of 10^13 ions per s) via the ^9Be(n, alpha) reaction using spallation neutrons

Production yields of noble-gas isotopes from ISOLDE UCx_{x}/graphite targets

Yields of He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe isotopic chains were measured from UC$_{x}$/graphite and ThC$_{x}$/graphite targets at the PSB-ISOLDE facility at CERN using isobaric selectivity achieved by the combination of a plasma-discharge ion source with a water-cooled transfer line. %The measured half-lives allowed %to calculate the decay losses of neutron-rich isotopes in the %target and ion-source system, and thus to obtain information on the in-target %productions from the measured yields. The delay times measured for a UC$_x$/graphite target allow for an extrapolation to the expected yields of very neutron-rich noble gas isotopes, in particular for the ``NuPECC reference elements'' Ar and Kr, at the next-generation radioactive ion-beam facility EURISOL. \end{abstract} \begin{keyword} % keywords here, in the form: keyword \sep keyword radioactive ion beams \sep release \sep ion yields \sep ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) \sep uranium and thorium carbide targets. % PACS codes here, in the form: \PACS code \sep code \PACS 25.85.Ge \sep 28.60+S \sep 29.25.Rm

Is time-variant information stickiness state-dependent?

This paper estimates information stickiness with regard to inflation expectations in the United States and the Eurozone for the 1981/06–2015/12 and 1998/Q4–2015/Q2 periods, respectively, and further investigates whether such information stickiness is state- dependent. Based on a bootstrap sub-sample rolling-window estimation, we find that information stickiness varies over time, which contradicts the strict time dependency implied under sticky-information theory. We provide evidence that information stickiness depends on inflation volatility, which indicates that information stickiness is state-dependent and that it has a time trend. Using a threshold model, we estimate structural changes in the state- dependence and time-trend of information stickiness. The results show that information stickiness has been more dependent on inflation volatility and has had a higher time-trend in both regions following the 2008 financial crisis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio