400 research outputs found
Final results of an experiment to search for 2beta processes in zinc and tungsten with the help of radiopure ZnWO4 crystal scintillators
A search for the double beta decay of zinc and tungsten isotopes has been
performed with the help of radiopure ZnWO4 crystal scintillators (0.1-0.7 kg)
at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN. The total exposure of the
low background measurements is 0.529 kg yr. New improved half-life limits on
the double beta decay modes of 64Zn, 70Zn, 180W, and 186W have been established
at the level of 10^{18}-10^{21} yr. In particular, limits on double electron
capture and electron capture with positron emission in 64Zn have been set:
T_{1/2}(2\nu 2K) > 1.1 10^{19} yr, T_{1/2} (0\nu 2\epsilon) > 3.2 10^{20} yr,
T_{1/2} (2\nu \epsilon \beta^+) > 9.4 10^{20} yr, and T_{1/2} (0\nu \epsilon
\beta^+) > 8.5 10^{20} yr, all at 90% C.L. Resonant neutrinoless double
electron capture in 180W has been restricted on the level of T_{1/2} (0\nu
2\epsilon) > 1.3 10^{18} yr. A new half-life limit on alpha transition of 183W
to the metastable excited level 1/2^- 375 keV of 179Hf has been established:
T_{1/2} > 6.7 10^{20} yr.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article
published in J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. IOP Publishing Ltd is not
responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or
any version derived from it. The definitive publisher authenticated version
is available online at doi: 10.1088/0954-3899/38/11/11510
Search for double beta decay of Ce and Ce with HPGe gamma detector
Search for double decay of Ce and Ce was realized
with 732 g of deeply purified cerium oxide sample measured over 1900 h with the
help of an ultra-low background HPGe detector with a volume of 465
cm at the STELLA facility of the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the
INFN (Italy). New improved half-life limits on double beta processes in the
cerium isotopes were set at the level of ~yr;
many of them are even two orders of magnitude larger than the best previous
results.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables; version accepted for publication on
Nucl. Phys.
Investigation of rare nuclear decays with BaF crystal scintillator contaminated by radium
The radioactive contamination of a BaF scintillation crystal with mass of
1.714 kg was measured over 101 hours in the low-background DAMA/R&D set-up deep
underground (3600 m w.e.) at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of INFN
(LNGS, Italy). The half-life of Po (present in the crystal scintillator
due to contamination by radium) was measured as Po) =
298.80.8(stat.)1.4(syst.) ns by analysis of the events' pulse
profiles. The Rn nuclide is known as 100% decaying via emission of
particle with = 3.82 d; however, its decay is also
energetically allowed with keV. Search for decay chains of
events with specific pulse shapes characteristic for or for
signals and with known energies and time differences allowed us
to set, for the first time, the limit on the branching ratio of Rn
relatively to decay as % at 90% C.L. (equivalent to
limit on partial half-life y). Half-life limits of
Pb, Rn and Ra relatively to decays are also
improved in comparison with the earlier results.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 2 table
Recommended from our members
Investigating the cultural and contextual determinants of antimicrobial stewardship programmes across low-, middle- and high-income countries—A qualitative study
Background
Most of the evidence on antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASP) to help sustain the effectiveness of antimicrobials is generated in high income countries. We report a study investigating implementation of ASP in secondary care across low-, middle- and high-income countries. The objective of this study was to map the key contextual, including cultural, drivers of the development and implementation of ASP across different resource settings.
Materials and methods
Healthcare professionals responsible for implementing ASP in hospitals in England, France, Norway, India, and Burkina Faso were invited to participate in face-to face interviews. Field notes from observations, documentary evidence, and interview transcripts were analysed using grounded theory approach. The key emerging categories were analysed iteratively using constant comparison, initial coding, going back the field for further data collection, and focused coding. Theoretical sampling was applied until the categories were saturated. Cross-validation and triangulation of the findings were achieved through the multiple data sources.
Results
54 participants from 24 hospitals (England 9 participants/4 hospitals; Norway 13 participants/4 hospitals; France 9 participants/7 hospitals; India 13 participants/ 7 hospitals; Burkina Faso 8 participants/2 hospitals) were interviewed. Across Norway, France and England there was consistency in ASP structures. In India and Burkina Faso there were country level heterogeneity in ASP. State support for ASP was perceived as essential in countries where it is lacking (India, Burkina Faso), and where it was present, it was perceived as a barrier (England, France). Professional boundaries are one of the key cultural determinants dictating involvement in initiatives with doctors recognised as leaders in ASP. Nurse and pharmacist involvement was limited to England. The surgical specialty was identified as most difficult to engage with in each country. Despite challenges, one hospital in India provided the best example of interdisciplinary ASP, championed through organisational leadership.
Conclusions
ASP initiatives in this study were restricted by professional boundaries and hierarchies, with lack of engagement with the wider healthcare workforce. There needs to be promotion of interdisciplinary team work including pharmacists and nurses, depending on the available healthcare workforce in different countries, in ASP. The surgical pathway remains a hard to reach, but critical target for ASP globally. There is a need to develop contextually driven ASP targeting the surgical pathway in different resource settings
Search for long-lived superheavy eka-tungsten with radiopure ZnWO crystal scintillator
The data collected with a radioactively pure ZnWO crystal scintillator
(699 g) in low background measurements during 2130 h at the underground (3600 m
w.e.) Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (INFN, Italy) were used to set a
limit on possible concentration of superheavy eka-W (seaborgium Sg, Z = 106) in
the crystal. Assuming that one of the daughters in a chain of decays of the
initial Sg nucleus decays with emission of high energy particle
( MeV) and analyzing the high energy part of the measured
spectrum, the limit N(Sg)/N(W) < 5.5 10 atoms/atom at
90% C.L. was obtained (for Sg half-life of 10 yr). In addition, a limit on
the concentration of eka-Bi was set by analysing the data collected with a
large BGO scintillation bolometer in an experiment performed by another group
[L. Cardani et al., JINST 7 (2012) P10022]: N(eka-Bi)/N(Bi) < 1.1
10 atoms/atom with 90% C.L. Both the limits are comparable with those
obtained in recent experiments which instead look for spontaneous fission of
superheavy elements or use the accelerator mass spectrometry.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures; in press on Physica Script
Cognitive function in peripheral autonomic disorders
aims of the current study were 1) to evaluate global cognitive function in patients with autonomic failure (AF) of peripheral origin and 2) to investigate the effect of a documented fall in blood pressure (BP) fulfilling the criteria for orthostatic hypotension (OH) on cognitive performances
First search for double-beta decay of 184Os and 192Os
A search for double-beta decay of osmium has been realized for the first time
with the help of an ultra-low background HPGe gamma detector at the underground
Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN (Italy). After 2741 h of data
taking with a 173 g ultra-pure osmium sample limits on double-beta processes in
184Os have been established at the level of T_{1/2} about 10^{14}-10^{17} yr.
Possible resonant double-electron captures in 184Os were searched for with a
sensitivity T_{1/2} about 10^{16} yr. A half-life limit T_{1/2} > 5.3 10^{19}
yr was set for the double-beta decay of 192Os to the first excited level of
192Pt. The radiopurity of the osmium sample has been investigated and
radionuclides 137Cs, 185Os and 207Bi were detected in the sample, while
activities of 40K, 60Co, 226Ra and 232Th were limited at the mBq/kg level.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 2 table
Search for 2\beta\ decays of 96Ru and 104Ru by ultra-low background HPGe gamma spectrometry at LNGS: final results
An experiment to search for double beta decay processes in 96Ru and 104Ru,
which are accompanied by gamma rays, has been realized in the underground Gran
Sasso National Laboratories of the I.N.F.N. (Italy). Ruthenium samples with
masses of about (0.5-0.7) kg were measured with the help of ultra-low
background high purity Ge gamma ray spectrometry. After 2162 h of data taking
the samples were deeply purified to reduce the internal contamination of 40K.
The last part of the data has been accumulated over 5479 h. New improved half
life limits on 2\beta+/\epsilon \beta+/2\epsilon\ processes in 96Ru have been
established on the level of 10^{20} yr, in particular for decays to the ground
state of 96Mo: T1/2(2\nu 2\beta+) > 1.4 10^{20} yr, T1/2(2\nu \epsilon\beta+) >
8.0 10^{19} yr and T1/2(0\nu 2K) > 1.0 10^{21} yr (all limits are at 90% C.L.).
The resonant neutrinoless double electron captures to the 2700.2 keV and 2712.7
keV excited states of 96Mo are restricted as: T1/2(0\nu KL) > 2.0 10^{20} yr
and T1/2(0\nu 2L) > 3.6 10^{20} yr, respectively. Various two neutrino and
neutrinoless 2\beta\ half lives of 96Ru have been estimated in the framework of
the QRPA approach. In addition, the T1/2 limit for 0\nu 2\beta- transitions of
104Ru to the first excited state of 104Pd has been set as > 6.5 10^{20} yr.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; version accepted for publication on
Phys. Rev.
Search for rare processes with ZnWO4 crystal scintillators
Radiopure ZnWO4 crystal scintillators with mass (0.1–0.7 kg) have been developed and put in measurement in the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN to search for rare processes. The radioactive contamination of the crystals have been estimated and the double beta decay of zinc and tungsten isotopes was searched for, reaching a sensitivity at the level of 1018 − 1021 yr; in addition a new half-life limit on alpha transition of 183W to the metastable excited level of 179Hf has also been obtained. The achieved radiopurity of the ZnWO4 crystals make them very promising detectors for ββ decay investigations while their anisotropic features make them very interesting detectors to investigate dark matter particles directionality
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