Clustering methods for Mode S stations: Evaluation and perspectives

Grouping of a set of Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) Mode S stations into functional entities called clusters has significant operational facets; it calls for a constrained optimization, an important significant constraint being the scarcity of Interrogation Identifier (II) codes. This clustering problem can be approached by two ways, i.e., integer programming methods and heuristic approaches. The definition of a general, usable decision support tool to build up and evaluate clustering strategies in any operational airspace, e.g. the one of a nation or, even more complicated, of a system such as the European one, is a very challenging task. This paper describes some steps toward this envisaged result proposing a mathematical formulation and a heuristic approach for the problem

Probing the statistical decay and alpha-clustering effects in 12c+12c and 14n+10b reactions

An experimental campaign has been undertaken at INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy, in order to progress in our understanding of the statistical properties of light nuclei at excitation energies above particle emission threshold, by measuring exclusive data from fusion-evaporation reactions. A first reaction 12C+12C at 7.9 AMeV beam energy has been measured, using the GARFIELD+Ring Counter experimental setup. Fusion-evaporation events have been exclusively selected. The comparison to a dedicated Hauser-Feshbach calculation allows us to give constraints on the nuclear level density at high excitation energy for light systems ranging from C up to Mg. Out-of-equilibrium emission has been evidenced and attributed both to entrance channel effects favoured by the cluster nature of reaction partners and, in more dissipative events, to the persistence of cluster correlations well above the 24Mg threshold for 6 alphas decay. The 24Mg compound nucleus has been studied with a new measurement 14N + 10B at 5.7 AMeV. The comparison between the two datasets would allow us to further constrain the level density of light nuclei. Deviations from a statistical behaviour can be analyzed to get information on nuclear clustering.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Contribution to conference proceedings of the 25th International Nuclear Physics Conference (INPC 2013

Micro-beam and pulsed laser beam techniques for the micro-fabrication of diamond surface and bulk structures

Micro-fabrication in diamond is involved in a wide set of emerging technologies, exploiting the exceptional characteristics of diamond for application in bio-physics, photonics, radiation detection. Micro ion-beam irradiation and pulsed laser irradiation are complementary techniques, which permit the implementation of complex geometries, by modification and functionalization of surface and/or bulk material, modifying the optical, electrical and mechanical characteristics of the material. In this article we summarize the work done in Florence (Italy) concerning ion beam and pulsed laser beam micro-fabrication in diamond.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Clustering effects in 48Cr composite nuclei produced via 24Mg + 24Mg reaction

In the framework of studying clustering effects in N=Z light nuclei, an experiment was carried out to get information on the properties of the 48 Cr composite nuclei produced via the 24 Mg +24 Mg reaction. In particular, the study regards the 48 Cr at 60 MeV of excitation energy where a resonance with a narrow width (170 KeV) has been found by measuring the elastic and anelastic channels. To determine the deformation of this state, evaporative Light Charged Particles (LCP) are measured and compared to the Statistical Model (SM) predictions, which are very sensitive to nuclear deformation. The experiment was performed at LNL using the 8ĒLP apparatus to select LCPs and a Parallel Plate Avalanche Counter (PPAC) system to detect the Evaporation Residues (ER). Preliminary results on the measurements of ER – LCP and LCP – LCP angular correlations are presented which indicate the presence of a very large deformation.The analysis will proceed with the extraction of the LCP energy spectra and with the angular correlations for high multiplicity channels to determine the deformation

Examination of isospin effects in multi-dimensional Langevin fission dynamics

Abstract One-dimensional and three-dimensional dynamical fission calculations based on Langevin equations are performed for the compound nuclei 194 Pb, 200 Pb, 206 Pb, 182 Hg, and 204 Hg to investigate the influence of the compound nucleus isospin on the prescission particle multiplicities and on the fission fragment mass–energy distribution. It is found that the prescission neutron, proton, and alpha particle multiplicities have approximately the same sensitivity to the dissipation strength for a given nucleus. This is at variance with conclusions of recent papers. The sensitivity of the calculated prescission particle multiplicities to the dissipation strength becomes higher with decreasing isospin of fissioning compound nucleus, and the increase of prescission particle multiplicities could reach 200%, when the reduction coefficient of one-body viscosity k s increases from 0.1 to 1, for the most neutron deficient nuclei considered. The variances of fission fragment mass and kinetic energy distributions are less sensitive to the change of dissipation strength than the prescission light particle multiplicities. A comparison to experimental data concerning 200 Pb nucleus is also presented

Response of microchannel plates in ionization mode to single particles and electromagnetic showers

Hundreds of concurrent collisions per bunch crossing are expected at future hadron colliders. Precision timing calorimetry has been advocated as a way to mitigate the pileup effects and, thanks to their excellent time resolution, microchannel plates (MCPs) are good candidate detectors for this goal. We report on the response of MCPs, used as secondary emission detectors, to single relativistic particles and to electromagnetic showers. Several prototypes, with different geometries and characteristics, were exposed to particle beams at the INFN-LNF Beam Test Facility and at CERN. Their time resolution and efficiency are measured for single particles and as a function of the multiplicity of particles. Efficiencies between 50% and 90% to single relativistic particles are reached, and up to 100% in presence of a large number of particles. Time resolutions between 20ps and 30ps are obtained.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures. Paper submitted to NIM

Usefulness of panoramic 344°-viewing in Crohn's disease capsule endoscopy : a proof of concept pilot study with the novel PillCam™ Crohn's system

Background: A new capsule endoscopy (CE) system featuring two advanced optics for 344\ub0-viewing and a prolonged operative time has been recently developed for Crohn's disease (CD) patients. Hence, we evaluated, for the first time, the performance of this novel CE and the add-on value of the 344\ub0-viewing in a multi-center real-life setting. Methods: Consecutive patients with suspected or established CD received the PillCam\u2122 Crohn's System as supplementary diagnostic work-up focused on the small-bowel between June 2017 and June 2018. Technical and clinical data, including the panenteric CE diagnostic yield, the Lewis score and the impact of small-bowel findings on clinical management during a 6-months follow-up (new diagnosis, staging or treatment upgrade) were collected, thereby evaluating the added value of the 344\ub0 panoramic-view (lesions detected by camera A and B) over the standard 172\ub0-view (lesions detected by one camera only). Results: Among 41 patients (aged 43 \ub1 20 years), 73% underwent CE for suspected CD and 27% for established CD. The rate of complete enteroscopy was 90%. No technical failure or retention occurred. Compared to the standard 172\ub0 view, the panoramic 344\ub0-view revealed a greater number of patients with a relevant lesion (56.1% vs. 39.0%; P = 0.023), resulting in higher Lewis score (222,8 vs. 185.7; P = 0.031), and improved clinical management (48.8% vs. 31.7%, P = 0.023). Conclusions: The panoramic 344\ub0-view increases small-bowel CE accuracy, thereby improving the clinical management of CD patients with mild small-bowel active disease. This system should be regarded as a new standard for both small-bowel diagnosis and monitoring in inflammatory bowel diseases

High-energy gamma rays emission in coincidence with light charged particles from the32S +74Ge reaction at 210 MeV

High-energyγ-rays from the32S+74Ge reaction at 210 MeV bombarding energy were measured in coincidence with light charged particles detected in a large area hodoscope. Experimental results show that energeticγ-rays in coincidence with light charged particles are essentially emitted in the compound nucleus decay. The parameters of the giant dipole resonance (GDR) have been extracted from alineshape analysis of the experimentalγ-ray spectrum. The derived values of mean energyED, widthΓ and strengthS are in good agreement with results from previous experiments on Sn isotopes obtained by using different experimental techniques

Response of microchannel plates to single particles and to electromagnetic showers

We report on the response of microchannel plates (MCPs) to single relativistic particles and to electromagnetic showers. Particle detection by means of secondary emission of electrons at the MCP surface has long been proposed and is used extensively in ion time-of-flight mass spectrometers. What has not been investigated in depth is their use to detect the ionizing component of showers. The time resolution of MCPs exceeds anything that has been previously used in calorimeters and, if exploited effectively, could aid in the event reconstruction at high luminosity colliders. Several prototypes of photodetectors with the amplification stage based on MCPs were exposed to cosmic rays and to 491 MeV electrons at the INFN-LNF Beam-Test Facility. The time resolution and the efficiency of the MCPs are measured as a function of the particle multiplicity, and the results used to model the response to high-energy showers.Comment: Paper submitted to NIM