a telescope proton recoil spectrometer for fast neutron beam lines

A telescope proton recoil spectrometer for fast neutron beam-lines C. Cazzaniga1,3,∗, M. Rebai2,3, M. Tardocchi3, G. Croci2,3, M. Nocente2,3, S. Ansell1, C. D. Frost1, and G. Gorini2,3 1ISIS Facility, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK 2Universita degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Dipartimento di Fisica, Piazza della Scienza 3, Milano, Italy 3Istituto di Fisica del Plasma "P. Caldirola", Associazione EURATOM-ENEA/CNR, Via Cozzi 53, Milano, Italy ∗E-mail: [email protected]

A Novel Approach to the Common Due-Date Problem on Single and Parallel Machines

This paper presents a novel idea for the general case of the Common Due-Date (CDD) scheduling problem. The problem is about scheduling a certain number of jobs on a single or parallel machines where all the jobs possess different processing times but a common due-date. The objective of the problem is to minimize the total penalty incurred due to earliness or tardiness of the job completions. This work presents exact polynomial algorithms for optimizing a given job sequence for single and identical parallel machines with the run-time complexities of $O(n \log n)$ for both cases, where $n$ is the number of jobs. Besides, we show that our approach for the parallel machine case is also suitable for non-identical parallel machines. We prove the optimality for the single machine case and the runtime complexities of both. Henceforth, we extend our approach to one particular dynamic case of the CDD and conclude the chapter with our results for the benchmark instances provided in the OR-library.Comment: Book Chapter 22 page

Paratesticular Liposarcoma: What is the Best Therapeutic Strategy?

Introduction: Liposarcomas are neoplasms of mesodermal origin derived from adipose tissue and correspond to 10–14% of all soft tissue sarcomas. Paratesticular liposarcoma is very rare.Case report: We report a 60-year old man who presented with a left testicular tumor 20 cm in diameter. Initial incisional biopsy was reported as fibromatosis. Chest and abdominal CT scan did not show distant metastases. Through an inguinal incision orchidectomy with homolateral inguinal node dissection was performed. Histopathological examination showed a paratesticular myxoid liposarcoma. Adjuvant radiotherapy without chemotherapy was administered. The patient remains well at 11 months followup, with no evidence of recurrence.Conclusion: Complete surgical extirpation reduces the risk of local recurrence. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy may reduce the tumor size, thus facilitating complete excision

Case report: Acute peritonitis from non-traumatic rupture of the bladder

Spontaneous bladder rupture (SBR) is rare. This entity occurs outside of any traumatic context. A 70 years-old man was admitted for acute peritonitis, acute urinary retention and hematuria. Laparotomy and exploration showed acute generalized peritonitis related to a centimeter hole in the bladder dome. Peritoneal lavage was done with biopsy of the perforation edges, a cystostomy and suturing of the bladder. The immediate postoperative course was uneventful. The etiological investigation revealed a locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer. The evolution was rapidly fatal and the patient’s death occurred two months later due to metastatic disease. The causes, diagnosis and treatment of SBR are reviewed by the authors

Neutron spectroscopy measurements of 14 MeV neutrons at unprecedented energy resolution and implications for deuterium-tritium fusion plasma diagnostics

An accurate calibration of the JET neutron diagnostics with a 14 MeV neutron generator was performed in the first half of 2017 in order to provide a reliable measurement of the fusion power during the next JET deuterium–tritium (DT) campaign. In order to meet the target accuracy, the chosen neutron generator has been fully characterized at the Neutron Metrology Laboratory of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington, United Kingdom. The present paper describes the measurements of the neutron energy spectra obtained using a highresolution single-crystal diamond detector (SCD). The measurements, together with a new neutron source routine ‘ad hoc’ developed for the MCNP code, allowed the complex features of the neutron energy spectra resulting from the mixed D/T beam ions interacting with the T/D target nuclei to be resolved for the first time. From the spectral analysis a quantitative estimation of the beam ion composition has been made. The unprecedented intrinsic energy resolution (<1% full width at half maximum (FWHM) at 14 MeV) of diamond detectors opens up new prospects for diagnosing DT plasmas, such as, for instance, the possibility to study non-classical slowing down of the beam ions by neutron spectroscopy on ITER.EURATOM 63305

Time-stability of a Single-crystal Diamond Detector for fast neutron beam diagnostic under alpha and neutron irradiation

Single-crystal Diamond Detectors (SDDs), due to their good charge carrier transport properties, low leakage and therefore good energy resolution, are good candidates for fast neutron measurement on pulsed spallation sources and fusion plasma experiments. Moreover, diamonds are known to be resistant to neutron irradiation. Nevertheless, measurements show transient effects during irradiation with ionizing particles, as the alpha particle calibration sources. The decrease of the detector counting rate of a counting chain and the pulse height are interpreted as due to a charge trapping inside the detector, which modifies the drift electric field. These instabilities are strongly dependent on the specific type of the interaction. Measurements have been carried out with both alpha particles in the laboratory and neutrons at the ISIS neutron spallation source. We show that these polarization effects are not permanent: the detector performances can be restored by simply inverting the detector bias high voltage. Prime Novelty Statement The measurements described in the paper were performed in order to study the polarization effect in Single-crystal Diamond Detector. This effect was observed under alpha particle and neutron irradiation. With the Transient Current Technique an interpretation of the effect is given

Single-crystal Diamond Detector for DT and DD plasmas diagnostic

Single-crystal Diamond Detectors (SDD) are good candidates as high-energy neutron detectors in the extreme conditions of the next generation thermonuclear fusion facilities like the ITER experiment, due to their high radiation hardness, fast response time and small size. Neutron detection in SDDs is based on the collection of electron-hole pairs produced by charged particles generated by neutron interaction on 12C. In this work the SDD response to neutrons with energies between 2.8 and 3.8MeV was determined at the Legnaro CN accelerator at the INFN Laboratories in Legnaro (PD, Italy). This work is relevant for the characterization of SDDs response functions, which are key points for Deuterium-Deuterium and Deuterium-Tritium plasma diagnostic

Diamond detector for high rate monitors of fast neutrons beams

A fast neutron detection system suitable for high rate measurements is presented. The detector is based on a commercial high purity single crystal diamond (SDD) coupled to a fast digital data acquisition system. The detector was tested at the ISIS pulsed spallation neutron source. The SDD event signal was digitized at 1 GHz to reconstruct the deposited energy (pulse amplitude) and neutron arrival time; the event time of flight (ToF) was obtained relative to the recorded proton beam signal t0. Fast acquisition is needed since the peak count rate is very high (~800 kHz) due to the pulsed structure of the neutron beam. Measurements at ISIS indicate that three characteristics regions exist in the biparametric spectrum: i) background gamma events of low pulse amplitudes; ii) low pulse amplitude neutron events in the energy range Edep = 1.5-7 MeV ascribed to neutron elastic scattering on 12C; iii) large pulse amplitude neutron events with En < 7 MeV ascribed to 12C(n,α)9Be and 12C(n,n')3α

Appendagite épiploïque primitive: à propos de cinq cas

La torsion de frange épiploïque (ou appendagite) est une pathologie rare qui survient principalement chez les adultes entre 20 et 50 ans.L'incidence de cette pathologie n'est pas réellement connue et elle varie de 2 à 7% chez les patients hospitalisés pour suspicion d'appendicite oude sigmoïdite. Nous rapportons cinq cas d'appendagites dont nous précisons les particularités cliniques, radiologiques et thérapeutiques. Il s'agit de 5 patients dont l'âge moyen est de 34.6 ans (24-55). Le sexe ratio est de 1.5. Le principal motif de consultation était un syndrome douloureux de l'abdomen principalement au niveau de la fosse iliaque droite. L'examen abdominal montrait toujours une sensibilité localisée. La fièvre était présente chez 3 patients. Le bilan biologique révèle un syndrome inflammatoire biologique chez trois patients. Les examens complémentaires radiologiques en particulier échographie abdominale et TDM abdominale ont éliminé formellement une urgence chirurgicale et ont évoqué le diagnostic d'appendagite dans trois cas. Trois patients ont bénéficié d'une coelioscopie diagnostique confirmant le diagnostic  d'appendagite. L'évolution était favorable chez tous les patients. Les appendagites épiploïques primitives sont des étiologies rares et  sous-estimées de syndrome abdominal aigu. Le diagnostic peut être affirmé par imagerie notamment avec le scanner hélicoïdal injecté,  permettant d'instaurer ainsi un traitement médical premier et d'éviter un traitement chirurgical et des hospitalisations excessives

Hybrid differential evolution algorithms for the optimal camera placement problem

Purpose – This paper investigates to what extent hybrid differential evolution (DE) algorithms can be successful in solving the optimal camera placement problem. Design/methodology/approach – This problem is stated as a unicost set covering problem (USCP) and 18 problem instances are defined according to practical operational needs. Three methods are selected from the literature to solve these instances: a CPLEX solver, a greedy algorithm, and a row weighting local search (RWLS). Then, it is proposed to hybridize these algorithms with two DE approaches designed for combinatorial optimization problems. The first one is a set-based approach (DEset) from the literature. The second one is a new similarity-based approach (DEsim) that takes advantage of the geometric characteristics of a camera in order to find better solutions. Findings – The experimental study highlights that RWLS and DEsim-CPLEX are the best proposed algorithms. Both easily outperform CPLEX, and it turns out that RWLS performs better on one class of problem instances, whereas DEsim-CPLEX performs better on another class, depending on the minimal resolution needed in practice. Originality/value – Up to now, the efficiency of RWLS and the DEset approach has been investigated only for a few problems. Thus, the first contribution is to apply these methods for the first time in the context of camera placement. Moreover, new hybrid DE algorithms are proposed to solve the optimal camera placement problem when stated as a USCP. The second main contribution is the design of the DEsim approach that uses the distance between camera locations in order to fully benefit from the DE mutation scheme