Local History Unbridled: Anecdotal Reflection in Bringing Digitized Microfilm to Digital Commons

When vinegar syndrome threatened to destroy microfilm containing a vast trove of history, Murray State University Libraries quickly responded. The microfilm--which included one of the broadest collections of local and regional newspapers in the Jackson Purchase area, as well as birth, marriage, and death certificates from Calloway and surrounding counties--was sent to a commercial vendor for digitization with the intention of archiving and making the contents accessible through the institutional repository, Digital Commons. Today, that microfilm is transitioning from moldering in closed stacks to becoming widely accessible to a global pool of researchers. Presenters will examine the history and logistics of our digitization process; delineate the staffing, workflow, progress and setbacks relating to creating and ingesting the metadata for each issue; and explore how collaboration across departments was key to the successful implementation of the project. Discussions will conclude with some of the unexpected benefits of the project, including classroom applications, the accessibility of the collection to historians and genealogists, and how the project might encourage deeper dives into other collections

Characterization of segmented HPGe detectors using Pulse Shape Comparison methods

In this work we present the first results of a detector characterization technique named Pulse Shape Comparison Scan (PSCS), applied to a large volume segmented HPGe detector of the AGATA array. The experimental data were collected with the Liverpool University scanning system. Processing two sets of singles scan data acquired with a 137Cs (662 keV) gamma collimated source (with the collimation lines perpendicular one in respect to the other), it has been possible to extract the position response of 4 detector segments. \ua9 2010 IEEE

Isospin dependence of electromagnetic transition strengths among an isobaric triplet

Electric quadrupole matrix elements, M, for the J=2→0, ΔT=0, T=1 transitions across the A=46 isobaric multiplet Cr-V-Ti have been measured at GSI with the FRS-LYCCA-AGATA setup. This allows direct insight into the isospin purity of the states of interest by testing the linearity of M with respect to T. Pairs of nuclei in the T=1 triplet were studied using identical reaction mechanisms in order to control systematic errors. The M values were obtained with two different methodologies: (i) a relativistic Coulomb excitation experiment was performed for Cr and Ti; (ii) a “stretched target” technique was adopted here, for the first time, for lifetime measurements in V and Ti. A constant value of M across the triplet has been observed. Shell-model calculations performed within the fp shell fail to reproduce this unexpected trend, pointing towards the need of a wider valence space. This result is confirmed by the good agreement with experimental data achieved with an interaction which allows excitations from the underlying sd shell. A test of the linearity rule for all published data on complete T=1 isospin triplets is presented.Peer Reviewe

Shell evolution approaching the N=20 island of inversion : Structure of 26Na

The levels in 26Na with single particle character have been observed for the first time using the d(25Na, pγ) reaction at 5 MeV/nucleon. The measured excitation energies and the deduced spectroscopic factors are in good overall agreement with (0+1)hω shell model calculations performed in a complete spsdfp basis and incorporating a reduction in the N=20 gap. Notably, the 1p3/2 neutron configuration was found to play an enhanced role in the structure of the low-lying negative parity states in 26Na, compared to the isotone 28Al. Thus, the lowering of the 1p3/2 orbital relative to the 0f7/2 occurring in the neighbouring Z=10 and 12 nuclei - 25,27Ne and 27,29Mg - is seen also to occur at Z=11 and further strengthens the constraints on the modelling of the transition into the island of inversion

Relative quadrupole moments of exotic shapes at ultrahigh spin in 154Er: Calibrating the TSD/SD puzzle

Transition quadrupole moments, Qt, of two ultrahigh-spin, collective structures in 154Er have been measured for the first time using the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method (DSAM). Data were acquired at the ATLAS accelerator facility of Argonne National Laboratory, using the Gammasphere detector array. A thick, gold-backed 110Pd foil was bombarded by a beam of 48Ti ions at 215 MeV. The Qt for each band was determined from the Doppler shift of gamma rays emitted by the resulting recoil nuclei. The extracted transition quadrupole moments are significantly different in magnitude, suggesting the two structures in 154Er represent distinct exotic nuclear shapes, namely axial superdeformed (SD) with Q t 20 eb, and triaxial strongly deformed (TSD) with Qt ≈ 11 eb. Indeed, the results calibrate the quadrupole moments of TSD bands recently measured in light erbium nuclei, 157,158Er

Quadrupole moments of coexisting collective shapes at high spin in 154Er

Four high-spin collective bands have been populated in 68154Er86 via the 110Pd(48Ti,4nγ)154Er reaction. Average transition quadrupole moments Qt have been measured for three of the bands by using the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The strongest band has a value of Q t=11.0±1.0eb, similar to values found recently for four triaxial strongly deformed (TSD) bands in 157,158Er. The second band has a value of Qt=19.5±3.2eb, consistent with a predicted axially symmetric superdeformed (SD) shape, similar in deformation to the 152Dy isotone, and is used as a calibration point. The third, new band has a value of Qt=9.9±2.2eb. The results confirm the unexpectedly large Qt moments for the favored TSD bands in light erbium isotopes

Observation of excited states in the near-drip-line nucleus 125Pr

High-spin states have been observed in the near-drip-line nucleus 125Pr following the reaction 64Zn(64Zn, p2n). The detection of charged particles and neutrons evaporated from the compound system, along with the M/q of the recoiling nucleus, have allowed the identification of excited states in 125Pr and the unambiguous assignment of five rotational structures to this nucleus. This is the most neutron-deficient Pr isotope in which excited states have been observed. The strongest band is identified as the h11/2 single-quasiproton configuration, and is observed to a maximum spin of I = (67/2hℏ). Another structure is interpreted as the g9/2 proton hole state, which is associated with bands of enhanced deformation observed in several nuclei in this mass region. These two bands are compared with analogous bands in the heavier odd-A Pr isotopes and changes in deformation are discussed

Core-excited smoothly terminating band in 114Xe

High-spin states have been studied in neutron-deficient 54114Xe, populated through the 58Ni(58Ni,2p) fusion-evaporation reaction at 230 MeV. The Gammasphere γ-ray spectrometer has been used in conjunction with the Microball charged-particle detector in order to select evaporation residues of interest. The yrast band has been greatly extended to a tentative spin of 52hℏ and shows features consistent with smooth band termination. This band represents the first evidence for a core-excited (six-particle, two-hole) proton configuration above Z = 53

νi13/2 structures in 155Sm and 159Gd: Supporting evidence of a Z=60 deformed subshell gap

Maximal ground-state deformation should occur when both proton and neutron Fermi surfaces are located at midshell. However, subshell gaps that stabilize large deformation can exist at proton or neutron values other than midshell. One such gap may occur at Z=60 in the rare-earth region, as the energy of the first 2+ states in even-even nuclei are often lowest in an isotonic chain for neodymium (Z=60) rather than the midshell isotopes of dysprosium (Z=66). Further evidence of this deformed gap has now been observed by investigating the signature splitting systematics of the νi13/2 bands found in the odd-N, rare-earth nuclei. These were aided by the present observation of the νi13/2 band in Gd159 and the confirmation of the same structure in Sm155 via the transfer of a neutron from a Gd160 beam to a Sm154 target