1,405 research outputs found
Kinetic modelling of runaway electron avalanches in tokamak plasmas
Runaway electrons (REs) can be generated in tokamak plasmas if the
accelerating force from the toroidal electric field exceeds the collisional
drag force due to Coulomb collisions with the background plasma. In ITER,
disruptions are expected to generate REs mainly through knock-on collisions,
where enough momentum can be transferred from existing runaways to slow
electrons to transport the latter beyond a critical momentum, setting off an
avalanche of REs. Since knock-on runaways are usually scattered off with a
significant perpendicular component of the momentum with respect to the local
magnetic field direction, these particles are highly magnetized. Consequently,
the momentum dynamics require a full 3-D kinetic description, since these
electrons are highly sensitive to the magnetic non-uniformity of a toroidal
configuration. A bounce-averaged knock-on source term is derived. The
generation of REs from the combined effect of Dreicer mechanism and knock-on
collision process is studied with the code LUKE, a solver of the 3-D linearized
bounce-averaged relativistic electron Fokker-Planck equation, through the
calculation of the response of the electron distribution function to a constant
parallel electric field. This work shows that the avalanche effect can be
important even in non-disruptive scenarios. RE formation through knock-on
collisions is found to be strongly reduced when taking place off the magnetic
axis, since trapped electrons cannot contribute to the RE population. The
relative importance of the avalanche mechanism is investigated as a function of
the key parameters for RE formation; the plasma temperature and the electric
field strength. In agreement with theoretical predictions, the simulations show
that in low temperature and E-field knock-on collisions are the dominant source
of REs and can play a significant role for RE generation, including in
non-disruptive scenarios.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure
Energy and angular momentum sharing in dissipative collisions
Primary and secondary masses of heavy reaction products have been deduced
from kinematics and E-ToF measurements, respectively, for the direct and
reverse collisions of 93Nb and 116Sn at 25 AMeV. Light charged particles have
also been measured in coincidence with the heavy fragments.
Direct experimental evidence of the correlation of energy-sharing with net
mass transfer has been found using the information from both the heavy
fragments and the light charged particles.
The ratio of Hydrogen and Helium multiplicities points to a further
correlation of angular momentum sharing with net mass transfer.Comment: 21 pages, 20 figures. Submitted to European Physics Journal
PND10 Predicting the long-term clinical effectiveness of daclizumab in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A new modeling framework using discrete event simulation
Evaluating the Potential of Commercial Forest Inventory Data to Report on Forest Carbon Stock and Forest Carbon Stock Changes for REDD+ under the UNFCCC
In the context of the adoption at the 16th Conference of the Parties in 2010 on the REDD+ mitigation mechanism, it is important to obtain reliable data on the spatiotemporal variation of forest carbon stocks and changes (called Emission Factor, EF). A re-occurring debate in estimating EF for REDD+ is the use of existing field measurement data. We provide an assessment of the use of commercial logging inventory data and ecological data to estimate a conservative EF (REDD+ phase 2) or to report on EF following IPCC Guidance and Guidelines (REDD+ phase 3). The data presented originate from five logging companies dispersed over Gabon, totalling 2,240 plots of 0.3 hectares.We distinguish three Forest Types (FTs) in the dataset based on floristic conditions. Estimated mean aboveground biomass (AGB) in the FTs ranges from 312 to 333 Mg ha-1. A 5% accuracy is reached with the number of plots put in place for the FTs and a low sampling uncertainty obtained (± 10 to 13 Mg ha-1). The data could be used to estimate a conservative EF in REDD+ phase 2 and only partially to report on EF following tier 2 requirements for a phase 3
Double di ffential fragmentation cross sections measurements of 95 MeV/u 12C on thin targets for hadrontherapy
During therapeutic treatment with heavy ions like carbon, the beam undergoes
nuclear fragmentation and secondary light charged particles, in particular
protons and alpha particles, are produced. To estimate the dose deposited into
the tumors and the surrounding healthy tissues, an accurate prediction on the
fluences of these secondary fragments is necessary. Nowadays, a very limited
set of double di ffential carbon fragmentation cross sections are being
measured in the energy range used in hadrontherapy (40 to 400 MeV/u).
Therefore, new measurements are performed to determine the double di ffential
cross section of carbon on di erent thin targets. This work describes the
experimental results of an experiment performed on May 2011 at GANIL. The
double di ffential cross sections and the angular distributions of secondary
fragments produced in the 12C fragmentation at 95 MeV/u on thin targets (C,
CH2, Al, Al2O3, Ti and PMMA) have been measured. The experimental setup will be
precisely described, the systematic error study will be explained and all the
experimental data will be presented.Comment: Submitted to PR
Tumour growth and resistance to gemcitabine of pancreatic cancer cells are decreased by AP-2α overexpression
International audienceBACKGROUND: Activator protein-2alpha (AP-2alpha) is a transcription factor that belongs to the family of AP-2 proteins that have essential roles in tumorigenesis. Indeed, AP-2alpha is considered as a tumour-suppressor gene in different tissues such as colonic, prostatic or breast epithelial cells. Moreover, AP-2alpha also participates in the control of colon and breast cancer cells sensitivity towards chemotherapeutic drugs. Despite its potential interest, very few data are available regarding the roles of AP-2alpha in pancreatic cancer. METHODS: We have developed a stable pancreatic CAPAN-1 cell line overexpressing AP-2alpha. Consequences of overexpression were studied in terms of in vivo cell growth, gene expression, migration capacity and chemosensitivity. RESULTS: In vivo tumour growth of CAPAN-1 cells overexpressing AP-2alpha was significantly decreased by comparison to control cells. An altered expression pattern of cell cycle-controlling factors (CDK-4, CDK-6, cyclin-G1, p27(kip1) and p57(kip2)) was observed in AP-2alpha-overexpressing clones by microarrays and western blot analysis. Promoter activity and ChIP analysis indicated that AP-2alpha induces p27(kip1) protein levels by direct binding to and transactivation of its promoter. Moreover, AP-2alpha overexpression increased the chemosensitivity of CAPAN-1 cells to low doses of gemcitabine and reduced their in vitro migration capacity. CONCLUSION: Our data suggested that AP-2alpha overexpression could be exploited to decrease in vivo tumour growth of pancreatic cancer cells and to increase their sensitivity to gemcitabine
Collapse of the N=28 shell closure in Si
The energies of the excited states in very neutron-rich Si and
P have been measured using in-beam -ray spectroscopy from the
fragmentation of secondary beams of S at 39 A.MeV. The low 2
energy of Si, 770(19) keV, together with the level schemes of
P provide evidence for the disappearance of the Z=14 and N=28
spherical shell closures, which is ascribed mainly to the action of
proton-neutron tensor forces. New shell model calculations indicate that
Si is best described as a well deformed oblate rotor.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. let
One-neutron removal reactions on neutron-rich psd-shell nuclei
A systematic study of high energy, one-neutron removal reactions on 23
neutron-rich, psd--shell nuclei (Z=5-9, A=12-25) has been carried out. The
longitudinal momentum distributions of the core fragments and corresponding
single-neutron removal cross sections are reported for reactions on a carbon
target. Extended Glauber model calculations, weighted by the spectroscopic
factors obtained from shell model calculations, are compared to the
experimental results. Conclusions are drawn regarding the use of such reactions
as a spectroscopic tool and spin-parity assignments are proposed for 15B, 17C,
19-21N, 21,23O, 23-25F. The nature of the weakly bound systems 14B and 15,17C
is discussed.Comment: 11 pages + 2 figure
Isotopic distribution of fission fragments in collisions between 238U beam and 9Be and 12C targets at 24 MeV/u
Inverse kinematics coupled to a high-resolution spectrometer is used to
investigate the isotopic yields of fission fragments produced in reactions
between a 238U beam at 24 MeV/u and 9Be and 12C targets. Mass, atomic number
and isotopic distributions are reported for the two reactions. These
informations give access to the neutron excess and the isotopic distribution
widths, which together with the atomic-number and mass distributions are used
to investigate the fusion-fission dynamics.Comment: Submitted to PR
- …