685 research outputs found
New Long-term Historical Data Recording and Failure Analysis System for the CERN Cryoplants
CERN uses several liquid helium cryoplants (total of 21) for cooling large variety of superconducting devices namely: accelerating cavities, magnets for accelerators and particle detectors. The cryoplants are remotely operated from several control rooms using industrial standard supervision systems, which allows the instant display of all plant data and the trends, over several days, for the most important signals. The monitoring of the cryoplant performance during transient conditions and normal operation over several months asks for a long-term recording of all plant parameters. An historical data recording system has been developed, which collects data from all cryoplants, stores them in a centralized database over a period of one year and allows an user-friendly graphical visualization. In particular, a novel tool was developed for debugging causes of plant failures by comparing selected reference data with the simultaneous evolution of all plant data. The paper describes the new system, already in operation with 11 cryoplants
Anti-aging activities of extracts from Tunisian medicinal halophytes and their aromatic constituents
Six medicinal halophytes widely represented in North Africa and commonly used in traditional
medicine were screened for pharmacological properties to set out new promising sources of natural
ingredients for cosmetic or nutraceutical applications. Thus, Citrullus colocynthis, Cleome
arabica, Daemia cordata, Haloxylon articulatum, Pituranthos scoparius and Scorzonera undulata were
examined for their in vitro antioxidant (DPPH scavenging and superoxide anion-scavenging,
ÎČ-carotene bleaching inhibition and iron-reducing tests), antibacterial (microdi- lution method,
against four human pathogenic bacteria) and anti-tyrosinase activities. Besides, their aromatic
com- position was determined by RP-HPLC. H. articulatum shoot extracts exhibited the strongest
antioxidant activity and inhibited efficiently the growth of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia
coli. P. scoparius and C. arabica inhibited slightly monophenolase, whereas H. articulatum was the
most efficient inhibitor of diphenolase activity. Furthermore, H. articulatum exhibited the highest
aromatic content (3.4 % DW), with dopamine as the major com- pound. These observations suggest that
shoot extract of H. articulatum, and to a lesser extent of C. arabica, could otic as well as new
natural skin lightening agents. Also, possible implication of aromatic compounds in anti-tyrosinase activity is discussed
Electron gas polarization effect induced by heavy H-like ions of moderate velocities channeled in a silicon crystal
We report on the observation of a strong perturbation of the electron gas
induced by 20 MeV/u U ions and 13 MeV/u Pb ions channeled in
silicon crystals. This collective response (wake effect) in-duces a shift of
the continuum energy level by more than 100 eV, which is observed by means of
Radiative Electron Capture into the K and L-shells of the projectiles. We also
observe an increase of the REC probability by 20-50% relative to the
probability in a non-perturbed electron gas. The energy shift is in agreement
with calculations using the linear response theory, whereas the local electron
density enhancement is much smaller than predicted by the same model. This
shows that, for the small values of the adiabaticity parameter achieved in our
experiments, the density fluctuations are not strongly localized at the
vicinity of the heavy ions
Experimental Determination of the Characteristics of a Positron Source Using Channeling
Numerical simulations and `proof of principle' experiments showed clearly the
interest of using crystals as photon generators dedicated to intense positron
sources for linear colliders. An experimental investigation, using a 10 GeV
secondary electron beam, of the SPS-CERN, impinging on an axially oriented
thick tungsten crystal, has been prepared and operated between May and August
2000. After a short recall on the main features of positron sources using
channeling in oriented crystals, the experimental set-up is described. A
particular emphasis is put on the positron detector made of a drift chamber,
partially immersed in a magnetic field. The enhancement in photon and positron
production in the aligned crystal have been observed in the energy range 5 to
40 GeV, for the incident electrons, in crystals of 4 and 8 mm as in an hybrid
target. The first results concerning this experiment are presented hereafter.Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Linac200
Overview of the Large Hadron Collider cryo-magnets logistics
More than 1700 superconducting cryo-magnets have to be installed in the Large Hadron Collider tunnel. The long, heavy and fragile LHC cryo-magnets are difficult to handle and transport in particular in the LEP tunnel environment originally designed for smaller, lighter LEP magnets. An installation rate of more than 20 cryo-magnets per week is needed to cope with the foreseen LHC installation end date. The paper gives an overview of the transport and installation sequence complexity, from the storage area at the surface to the cryo-magnet final position in the tunnel. The success of this task depends on a series of independent factors that have to be considered at the same time. The equipment needed for the transport and tunnel installation of the LHC cryo-magnets is briefly described. The manpower and equipment organisation as well as the challenges of logistics are then detailed. The paper includes conclusions and some of the lessons learned during the first phase of the LHC cryo-magnets installation
Real time monitoring of the Bragg-peak position in ion therapy by means of single photon detection
For real-time monitoring of the longitudinal position of the Bragg-peak during an ion therapy treatment, a novel non-invasive technique has been recently proposed that exploits the detection of prompt -rays issued from nuclear fragmentation. Two series of experiments have been performed at the GANIL and GSI facilities with 95 MeV/u and 305 MeV/u 12C6+ ion beams stopped in PMMA and water phantoms. In both experiments a clear correlation was obtained between the carbon ion range and the prompt photon profile. Additionally, an extensive study has been performed to investigate whether a prompt neutron component may be correlated with the carbon ion range. No such correlation was found. The present paper demonstrates that a collimated set-up can be used to detect single photons by means of time-of-flight measurements, at those high energies typical for ion therapy. Moreover, the applicability of the technique both at cyclotron and synchrotron facilities is shown. It is concluded that the detected photon count rates provide sufficiently high statistics to allow real-time control of the longitudinal position of the Bragg-peak under clinical conditions
Nuclear fission time measurements as a function of excitation energy - A crystal blocking experiment
CASFission times of lead and uranium nuclei have been measured at GANIL by the crystal blocking method. The inverse kinematics was used. Fragment atomic numbers and total excitation energies were determined. For data analysis, full Monte-Carlo trajectory calculations were used to simulate the blocking patterns. The effect of post-scission emissions, included in our simulations, is discussed. At high excitation energies, the scissions occur dominantly at times shorter than 10â19 s, whereas at low excitation energies (Eâ<250â300 MeV), scissions occurring at much longer times with sizeable probabilities are observed both for uranium and for lead nuclei, leading to average scission times much longer than those inferred from pre-scission emission
The structure of Chariklo's rings from stellar occultations
Two narrow and dense rings (called C1R and C2R) were discovered around the
Centaur object (10199) Chariklo during a stellar occultation observed on 2013
June 3. Following this discovery, we planned observations of several
occultations by Chariklo's system in order to better characterize the physical
properties of the ring and main body. Here, we use 12 successful occulations by
Chariklo observed between 2014 and 2016. They provide ring profiles (physical
width, opacity, edge structure) and constraints on the radii and pole position.
Our new observations are currently consistent with the circular ring solution
and pole position, to within the km formal uncertainty for the ring
radii derived by Braga-Ribas et al. The six resolved C1R profiles reveal
significant width variations from to 7.5 km. The width of the fainter
ring C2R is less constrained, and may vary between 0.1 and 1 km. The inner and
outer edges of C1R are consistent with infinitely sharp boundaries, with
typical upper limits of one kilometer for the transition zone between the ring
and empty space. No constraint on the sharpness of C2R's edges is available. A
1 upper limit of m is derived for the equivalent width of
narrow (physical width <4 km) rings up to distances of 12,000 km, counted in
the ring plane
Proton Interaction Vertex Imaging With Silicon-Pixel CMOS Telescope For Carbon Therapy Quality control
International audienceMonitoring of the dose deposition during carbon ion therapy is a crucial issue for the quality control of such treatments. Recent studies have demonstrated that an ion-range control with millimeter resolution is feasible on a pencil-beam basis in homogeneous targets with prompt gamma detection for proton beams [1] and with Proton Interaction Vertex Imaging (PIVI) for carbon beams [2]. The present communication aims at describing our experimental and Monte Carlo simulation results. [1] J. Smeets et al., Phys. Med. Biol. 57 (2012) 3371-3405 [2] P. Henriquet et al., Phys. Med. Biol. 57 (2012) 4655-466
Evidence of Z=120 compound nucleus formation from lifetime measurement in the U+Ni reaction at 6.62 MeV/nucleon
CAS NIMThe formation of compound nuclei with Z=120, followed by fission, has been evidenced in the 238U+Ni system at 6.62 MeV/nucleon by very long reaction times (t ~ 10-17s) measured by the blocking technique in single crystals
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