"QUO VADIS EAST-WEST JOINT VENTURE?" Reflections on Selected Aspects of the Development of East-West Joint Ventures

This working paper is one of a series produced by TES-MTC project discussing the problems of East-West Joint Ventures located in the CMEA countries on a country basis. The paper gives an overview on the main features of the process of East-West joint ventures' establishment and operation. The author concentrates his efforts on analyzing the state-of-the-art, the recent problems and their possible solutions in the fields of joint ventures' establishment, management, technology related to joint ventures, joint ventures' effectiveness, bookkeeping and supply in a joint venture, consultancy for joint ventures. The paper also stresses other possible forms of East-West joint ventures in order to overcome some of the operational problems with respect to East-West payment options, supply, market opportunities, etc. At present discussions are going on in Czechoslovakia in connection with the latest legislation on enterprises with foreign property participation, as well as on the state-of-the-art of the joint venture practice in this country. The Management of Technological Change (MTC) project, part of the Technology, Economy & Society (TES) Program, has developed an international network which is performing an empirical study on practical problems of joint ventures located in various CMEA countries. This working paper is an intermediate report of the Czechoslovakian national group headed by the Research Institute of Economy in Electrotechnical Industries in Prague. The author is member of the international MTC network and works closely together with the project

Regulation of protein synthesis in mammary glands of lactating dairy cows by starch and amino acids

The objective of this study was to evaluate local molecular adaptations proposed to regulate protein synthesis in the mammary glands. It was hypothesized that AA and energy-yielding substrates independently regulate AA metabolism and protein synthesis in mammary glands by a combination of systemic and local mechanisms. Six primiparous mid-lactation Holstein cows with ruminal cannulas were randomly assigned to 4 treatment sequences in a replicated incomplete 4 x 4 Latin square design experiment. Treatments were abomasal infusions of casein and starch in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement. All animals received the same basal diet (17.6% crude protein and 6.61 MJ of net energy for lactation/kg of DM) throughout the study. Cows were restricted to 70% of ad libitum intake and abomasally infused for 36 h with water, casein (0.86 kg/d), starch (2 kg/d), or a combination (2 kg/d starch + 0.86 kg/d casein) using peristaltic pumps. Milk yields and composition were assessed throughout the study. Arterial and venous plasma samples were collected every 20 min during the last 8 h of infusion to assess mammary uptake. Mammary biopsy samples were collected at the end of each infusion and assessed for the phosphorylation state of selected intracellular signaling molecules that regulate protein synthesis. Animals infused with casein had increased arterial concentrations of AA, increased mammary extraction of AA from plasma, either no change or a trend for reduced mammary AA clearance rates, and no change in milk protein yield. Animals infused with starch had increased milk and milk protein yields, increased mammary plasma flow, reduced arterial concentrations of AA, and increased mammary clearance rates and net uptake of some AA. Infusions of starch increased plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor-I. Starch infusions increased phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 and endothelial nitric oxide synthase, consistent with changes in milk protein yields and plasma flow, respectively. Phosphorylation of the mammalian target of rapamycin was increased in response to starch only when casein was also infused. Thus, cell signaling molecules involved in the regulation of protein synthesis differentially responded to these nutritional stimuli. The hypothesized independent effects of casein and starch on animal metabolism and cell signaling were not observed, presumably because of the lack of a milk protein response to infused casein

The CERN n_TOF facility: a unique tool for nuclear data measurement

The study of the resonant structures in neutron-nucleus cross-sections, and therefore of the compoundnucleus reaction mechanism, requires spectroscopic measurements to determine with high accuracy the energy of the neutron interacting with the material under study. To this purpose, the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF has been operating since 2001 at CERN. Its characteristics, such as the high intensity instantaneous neutron flux, the wide energy range from thermal to few GeV, and the very good energy resolution, are perfectly suited to perform highquality measurements of neutron-induced reaction cross sections. The precise and accurate knowledge of these cross sections plays a fundamental role in nuclear technologies, nuclear astrophysics and nuclear physics. Two different measuring stations are available at the n_TOF facility, called EAR1 and EAR2, with different characteristics of intensity of the neutron flux and energy resolution. These experimental areas, combined with advanced detection systems lead to a great flexibility in performing challenging measurement of high precision and accuracy, and allow the investigation isotopes with very low cross sections, or available only in small quantities, or with very high specific activity. The characteristics and performances of the two experimental areas of the n_TOF facility will be presented, together with the most important measurements performed to date and their physics case. In addition, the significant upcoming measurements will be introduced.Postprint (published version

Radiative neutron capture cross-section measurement of ge isotopes at n_TOF CERN facility and its importance for stellar nucleosynthesis

This manuscript summarizes the results of radiative neutron capture cross-section measurements on two stable germanium isotopes, 70Ge and 73Ge. Experiments were performed at the n_TOF facility at CERN via the time-of-flight technique, over a wide neutron energy range, for all stable germanium isotopes (70,72,73,74, and 76). Results for 70Ge [Phys. Rev. C 100, 045804 (2019)] and 73Ge [Phys. Lett. B 790, 458 (2019)] are already published. In the field of nuclear structure, such measurements allow to study excited levels close to the neutron binding energy and to obtain information on nuclear properties. In stellar nucleosynthesis research, neutron induced reactions on germanium are of importance for nucleosynthesis in the weak component of the slow neutron capture processes.Peer ReviewedArticle signat per 134 autors/autores: A. Gawlik, C. Lederer-Woods, J. Andrzejewski, J. Perkowski, U. Battino, P. Ferreira, F. Gunsing, S. Heinitz, M. Krtička, C. Massimi, F. Mingrone, R. Reifarth, A. Tattersall, S. Valenta, C. Weiss, O. Aberle, L. Audouin, M. Bacak, J. Balibrea, M. Barbagallo, S. Barros, V. Bécares, F. Bečvář, C. Beinrucker, E. Berthoumieux, J. Billowes, D. Bosnar, M. Brugger, M. Caamaño, F. Calviño, M. Calviani, D. Cano-Ott, R. Cardella, A. Casanovas, D.M. Castelluccio, F. Cerutti, Y.H. Chen, E. Chiaveri, N. Colonna, G. Cortés, M.A. Cortés-Giraldo, L. Cosentino, L.A. Damone, M. Diakaki, M. Dietz, C. Domingo-Pardo, R. Dressler, E. Dupont, I. Durán, B. Fernández-Domínguez, A. Ferrari, P. Finocchiaro, V. Furman, K. Göbel, A.R. García, T. Glodariu, I.F. Gonçalves, E. González-Romero, A. Goverdovski, E. Griesmayer, C. Guerrero, H. Harada, T. Heftrich, J. Heyse, D.G. Jenkins, E. Jericha, F. Käppeler, Y. Kadi, T. Katabuchi, P. Kavrigin, V. Ketlerov, V. Khryachkov, A. Kimura, N. Kivel, I. Knapova, M. Kokkoris, E. Leal-Cidoncha, H. Leeb, J. Lerendegui-Marco, S. Lo Meo, S.J. Lonsdale, R. Losito, D. Macina, T. Martínez, P. Mastinu, M. Mastromarco, F. Matteucci, E.A. Maugeri, E. Mendoza, A. Mengoni, P.M. Milazzo, M. Mirea, S. Montesano, A. Musumarra, R. Nolte, A. Oprea, N. Patronis, A. Pavlik, J.I. Porras, J. Praena, J.M. Quesada, K. Rajeev, T. Rauscher, A. Riego-Perez, P.C. Rout, C. Rubbia, J.A. Ryan, M. Sabaté-Gilarte, A. Saxena, P. Schillebeeckx, S. Schmidt, D. Schumann, P. Sedyshev, A.G. Smith, A. Stamatopoulos, G. Tagliente, J.L. Tain, A. Tarifeño-Saldivia, L. Tassan-Got, A. Tsinganis, G. Vannini, V. Variale, P. Vaz, A. Ventura, V. Vlachoudis, R. Vlastou, A. Wallner, S. Warren, M. Weigand, C. Wolf, P.J. Woods, T. Wright, P. ŽugecObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No ContaminantPostprint (author's final draft

High accuracy, high resolution 235U(n,f) cross section from n_TOF (CERN) from 18 meV to 10 keV

he version of record os available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-022-00779-7U(n,f) cross section was measured in a wide energy range (18 meV–170 keV) at the n_TOF facility at CERN, relative to 6Li(n,t) and 10B(n,a) standard reactions, with high resolution and accuracy, with a setup based on a stack of six samples and six silicon detectors placed in the neutron beam. In this paper we report on the results in the region between 18 meV and 10 keV neutron energy. A resonance analysis has been performed up to 200 eV, with the code SAMMY. The resulting fission kernels are compared with the ones extracted on the basis of the resonance parameters of the most recent major evaluated data libraries. A comparison of the n_TOF data with the evaluated cross sections is also performed from thermal to 10 keV neutron energy for the energy-averaged cross section in energy groups of suitably chosen width. A good agreement, within 0.5%, is found on average between the new results and the latest evaluated data files ENDF/B-VIII.0 and JEFF-3.3, as well as with respect to the broad group average fission cross section established in the framework of the standard working group of IAEA (the so-called reference file). However, some discrepancies, of up to 4%, are still present in some specific energy regions. The new dataset here presented, characterized by a unique combination of high resolution and accuracy, low background and wide energy range, can help to improve the evaluations from the Resolved Resonance Region up to 10 keV, also reducing the uncertainties that affect this region.Peer ReviewedAquest article està escrit per 130 autors/autores: Simone Amaducci, Nicola Colonna, Luigi Cosentino, Sergio Cristallo, Paolo Finocchiaro, Milan Krtiˇcka, Cristian Massimi, Mario Mastromarco, Annamaria Mazzone, Alberto Mengoni, Stanislav Valenta, Oliver Aberle, Victor Alcayne, Józef Andrzejewski, Laurent Audouin, Victor Babiano-Suarez, Michael Bacak, Massimo Barbagallo, Samuel Bennett, Eric Berthoumieux, Jon Billowes, Damir Bosnar, Adam Brown, Maurizio Busso, Manuel Caamaño, Luis Caballero-Ontanaya, Francisco Calviño, Marco Calviani, Daniel Cano-Ott, Adria Casanovas, Francesco Cerutti, Enrico Chiaveri, Guillem Cortés, Miguel Cortés-Giraldo, Lucia-Anna Damone, Paul-John Davies, Maria Diakaki, Mirco Dietz, Cesar Domingo-Pardo, Rugard Dressler, Quentin Ducasse, Emmeric Dupont, Ignacio Durán, Zinovia Eleme, Beatriz Fernández-Domínguez, Alfredo Ferrari, Valter Furman, Kathrin Göbel, Ruchi Garg, Aleksandra Gawlik, Simone Gilardoni, Isabel Gonçalves, Enrique González-Romero, Carlos Guerrero, Frank Gunsing, Hideo Harada, Stephan Heinitz, Jan Heyse, David Jenkins, Arnd Junghans, Franz Käppeler, Yacine Kadi, Atsushi Kimura, Ingrid Knapova, Michael Kokkoris, Yuri Kopatch, Deniz Kurtulgil, Ion Ladarescu, Claudia Lederer-Woods, Helmut Leeb, Jorge Lerendegui-Marco, Sarah-Jane Lonsdale, Daniela Macina, Alice Manna, Trinitario Martínez, Alessandro Masi, Pierfrancesco Mastinu, Emilio-Andrea Maugeri, Emilio Mendoza, Veatriki Michalopoulou, Paolo Milazzo, Federica Mingrone, Javier Moreno-Soto, Agatino Musumarra, Alexandru Negret, Francisco Ogállar, Andreea Oprea, Nikolas Patronis, Andreas Pavlik, Jarosław Perkowski, Luciano Piersanti, Cristina Petrone, Elisa Pirovano, Ignacio Porras, Javier Praena, José-Manuel Quesada, Diego Ramos-Doval, Thomas Rauscher, René Reifarth, Dimitri Rochman, Carlo Rubbia, Marta Sabaté-Gilarte, Alok Saxena, Peter Schillebeeckx, DorotheaPostprint (published version

74 Ge(n, ¿) cross section below 70 keV measured at n_TOF CERN

The version of record os available online at:https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-022-00878-5Neutron capture reaction cross sections on 74Ge are of importance to determine 74Ge production during the astrophysical slow neutron capture process. We present new resonancedataon74Ge(n,¿)reactionsbelow70keVneutron energy. We calculate Maxwellian averaged cross sections, combining our data below 70 keV with evaluated cross sections at higher neutron energies. Our stellar cross sections are in agreement with a previous activation measurement performed at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe by Marganiec et al., once their data has been re-normalised to account for an update in the reference cross section used in that experimentPeer ReviewedArticle escrit per 123 autors/autores C. Lederer-Woods, O. Aberle, J. Andrzejewski, L. Audouin, V. Bécares, M. Bacak, J. Balibrea, M. Barbagallo, S. Barros, U. Battino, F. Bečvář, C. Beinrucker, E. Berthoumieux, J. Billowes, D. Bosnar, M. Brugger, M. Caamaño, F. Calviño, M. Calviani, D. Cano-Ott, R. Cardella, A. Casanovas, D. M. Castelluccio, F. Cerutti, Y. H. Chen, E. Chiaveri, N. Colonna, G. Cortés, M. A. Cortés-Giraldo, L. Cosentino, L. A. Damone, M. Diakaki, C. Domingo-Pardo, R. Dressler, E. Dupont, I. Durán, B. Fernández-Domínguez, A. Ferrari, P. Ferreira, P. Finocchiaro, V. Furman, K. Göbel, A. R. García, A. Gawlik-Ramięga, T. Glodariu, I. F. Gonçalves, E. González-Romero, A. Goverdovski, E. Griesmayer, C. Guerrero, F. Gunsing, H. Harada, T. Heftrich, S. Heinitz, J. Heyse, D. G. Jenkins, E. Jericha, F. Käppeler, Y. Kadi, T. Katabuchi, P. Kavrigin, V. Ketlerov, V. Khryachkov, A. Kimura, N. Kivel, M. Kokkoris, M. Krtička, E. Leal-Cidoncha, H. Leeb, J. Lerendegui-Marco, S. Lo Meo, S. J. Lonsdale, R. Losito, D. Macina, J. Marganiec, T. Martínez, C. Massimi, P. Mastinu, M. Mastromarco, F. Matteucci, E. A. Maugeri, E. Mendoza, A. Mengoni, P. M. Milazzo, F. Mingrone, M. Mirea, S. Montesano, A. Musumarra, R. Nolte, A. Oprea, N. Patronis, A. Pavlik, J. Perkowski, I. Porras, J. Praena, J. M. Quesada, K. Rajeev, T. Rauscher, R. Reifarth, A. Riego-Perez, P. C. Rout, C. Rubbia, J. A. Ryan, M. Sabaté-Gilarte, A. Saxena, P. Schillebeeckx, S. Schmidt, D. Schumann, P. Sedyshev, A. G. Smith, A. Stamatopoulos, G. Tagliente, J. L. Tain, A. Tarifeño-Saldivia, L. Tassan-Got, A. Tsinganis, S. Valenta, G. Vannini, V. Variale, P. Vaz, A. Ventura, V. Vlachoudis, R. Vlastou, A. Wallner, S. Warren, M. Weigand, C. Weiss, C. Wolf, P. J. Woods, T. Wright, P. ŽugecPostprint (published version

ENHANCEMENTS TO NATURAL ATTENUATION: SELECTED CASE STUDIES

In 2003 the US Department of Energy (DOE) embarked on a project to explore an innovative approach to remediation of subsurface contaminant plumes that focused on introducing mechanisms for augmenting natural attenuation to achieve site closure. Termed enhanced attenuation (EA), this approach has drawn its inspiration from the concept of monitored natural attenuation (MNA)

Cross section measurements of 155,157Gd(n, γ) induced by thermal and epithermal neutrons

© SIF, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019Neutron capture cross section measurements on 155Gd and 157Gd were performed using the time-of-flight technique at the n_TOF facility at CERN on isotopically enriched samples. The measurements were carried out in the n_TOF experimental area EAR1, at 185 m from the neutron source, with an array of 4 C6D6 liquid scintillation detectors. At a neutron kinetic energy of 0.0253 eV, capture cross sections of 62.2(2.2) and 239.8(8.4) kilobarn have been derived for 155Gd and 157Gd, respectively, with up to 6% deviation relative to values presently reported in nuclear data libraries, but consistent with those values within 1.6 standard deviations. A resonance shape analysis has been performed in the resolved resonance region up to 181 eV and 307 eV, respectively for 155Gd and 157Gd, where on average, resonance parameters have been found in good agreement with evaluations. Above these energies and up to 1 keV, the observed resonance-like structure of the cross section has been analysed and characterised. From a statistical analysis of the observed neutron resonances we deduced: neutron strength function of 2. 01 (28) × 10 - 4 and 2. 17 (41) × 10 - 4; average total radiative width of 106.8(14) meV and 101.1(20) meV and s-wave resonance spacing 1.6(2) eV and 4.8(5) eV for n + 155Gd and n + 157Gd systems, respectively.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Time-of-flight and activation experiments on 147Pm and 171Tm for astrophysics

The neutron capture cross section of several key unstable isotopes acting as branching points in the s-process are crucial for stellar nucleosynthesis studies, but they are very challenging to measure due to the difficult production of sufficient sample material, the high activity of the resulting samples, and the actual (n,γ) measurement, for which high neutron fluxes and effective background rejection capabilities are required. As part of a new program to measure some of these important branching points, radioactive targets of 147Pm and 171Tm have been produced by irradiation of stable isotopes at the ILL high flux reactor. Neutron capture on 146Nd and 170Er at the reactor was followed by beta decay and the resulting matrix was purified via radiochemical separation at PSI. The radioactive targets have been used for time-of-flight measurements at the CERN n-TOF facility using the 19 and 185 m beam lines during 2014 and 2015. The capture cascades were detected using a set of four C6D6 scintillators, allowing to observe the associated neutron capture resonances. The results presented in this work are the first ever determination of the resonance capture cross section of 147Pm and 171Tm. Activation experiments on the same 147Pm and 171Tm targets with a high-intensity 30 keV quasi-Maxwellian flux of neutrons will be performed using the SARAF accelerator and the Liquid-Lithium Target (LiLiT) in order to extract the corresponding Maxwellian Average Cross Section (MACS). The status of these experiments and preliminary results will be presented and discussed as well

Measurement of the Ge 70 (n,γ) cross section up to 300 keV at the CERN n-TOF facility

©2019 American Physical Society.Neutron capture data on intermediate mass nuclei are of key importance to nucleosynthesis in the weak component of the slow neutron capture processes, which occurs in massive stars. The (n,γ) cross section on Ge70, which is mainly produced in the s process, was measured at the neutron time-of-flight facility n-TOF at CERN. Resonance capture kernels were determined up to 40 keV neutron energy and average cross sections up to 300 keV. Stellar cross sections were calculated from kT=5 keV to kT=100 keV and are in very good agreement with a previous measurement by Walter and Beer (1985) and recent evaluations. Average cross sections are in agreement with Walter and Beer (1985) over most of the neutron energy range covered, while they are systematically smaller for neutron energies above 150 keV. We have calculated isotopic abundances produced in s-process environments in a 25 solar mass star for two initial metallicities (below solar and close to solar). While the low metallicity model reproduces best the solar system germanium isotopic abundances, the close to solar model shows a good global match to solar system abundances in the range of mass numbers A=60-80.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio