Projectile fragmentation of Kr-86 at 64 MeV/nucleon

We measured fragmentation cross sections produced using the primary beam of Kr-86 at 64 MeV/nucleon on Be-9 and Ta-181 targets. The cross sections were obtained by integrating the momentum distributions of isotopes with 25 <= Z <= 36 measured using the RIPS fragment separator at RIKEN. The cross-section ratios obtained with the Ta-181 and Be-9 targets depend on the fragment masses, contrary to the simple geometrical models. We compared the extracted cross sections to EPAX; an empirical parametrization of fragmentation cross sections. Predictions from current EPAX parametrization severely overestimate the production cross sections of very neutron-rich isotopes. Attempts to obtain another set of EPAX parameters specific to the reaction studied here to extrapolate the neutron-rich nuclei more accurately have not been very successful, suggesting that accurate predictions of production cross sections of nuclei far from the valley of stability require information of nuclear properties that are not present in EPAX.

PROJECTILE FRAGMENTATION OF Ar-36,Ar-40 INDUCED REACTIONS

Fragment yields for Z >= 5 from projectile fragmentation using primary beams of Ar-36,Ar-40 at 50 MeV/nucleon on Ni-64 target have been measured in RIBLL fragment separator. We compare the fragment cross sections with the predictions of the empirical EPAX parametrization of fragmentation cross-sections and Statistical Abration-Ablation model (SAA) by considering the RIBLL separator transmission rate. Isotope yield ratios between these two reactions were calculated and isoscaling parameters alpha and beta are extracted, their dependences on fragment atomic number Z and neutron number N were presented.

Discovery of Highly Excited Long-Lived Isomers in Neutron-Rich Hafnium and Tantalum Isotopes through Direct Mass Measurements

A study of cooled Au-197 projectile-fragmentation products has been performed with a storage ring. This has enabled metastable nuclear excitations with energies up to 3 MeV, and half-lives extending to minutes or longer, to be identified in the neutron-rich nuclides Hf-183,Hf-184,Hf-186 and Ta-186,Ta-187. The results support the prediction of a strongly favored isomer region near neutron number 116.

弹核碎裂反应中类弹碎片产生机制研究

远离稳定线核素的性质研究是当前核物理和天体物理研究的热点之一，作为推进这一研究的重要工具，放射性束产生装置却由于对相关反应机制的缺乏了解，在应用过程中受到很大制约。因而前角区类弹碎片的产生机制研究对于放射性束产生装置的改进和实验设计具有重要的意义。 本论文工作利用兰州重离子加速器国家实验室的次级束流产生装置RIBLL，对57AMeV的40Ar束流在9Be和181Ta靶上反应产生的前角区类弹碎片进行了研究。通过磁刚度扫描方法，实验测量得到了Z>8核区近百种核素的动量分布和截面信息。 实验结果表明，在这一能区，碎片的高能部分主要来源于弹核碎裂过程，而在低能端，存在弹核碎裂和核子转移等其它过程的竞争。实验测量得到的碎片产生截面同EPAX2经验公式和AA模型计算相比较，在稳定线附近符合较好，但在远离稳定线区域，特别是丰质子区域，计算结果过高的估计了碎片截面。研究表明，在这一能区，碎片产生截面同弹核能量无关，但同靶核种类的关系不同于“factorization”假设的预计。 本工作对系统同位旋对碎片截面的影响也进行了研究，发现除弹核同位旋外，靶核同位旋对碎片同位素分布也有影响，这种影响随弹核能量的提高而减小。这是核子-核子作用截面的能量相关性等多种因素共同起作用的结果

Isospin effect of projectile fragment yields

Isospin asymmetry is very important in the nuclear equation of state (EOS), isotope yield from the projectile fragments can give information of the reaction process. In this paper projectile fragment yields are measured in the collision Ar-36,Ar-40 + Ni-64 at incident energy 50 MeV/u with different isospin asymmetry project Ar-36,Ar-40, data analysis, particle identification and event selection are described. Isotope yields are compared in these two reactions, and axe also compared with the empirical parametrization of fragmentation cross-section calculated by EPAX.

Wave dynamic processes induced by a supersonic projectile discharging from a shock tube

A numerical study on wave dynamic processes occurring in muzzle blast flows, which are created by a supersonic projectile released from the open-end of a shock tube into ambient air, is described in this paper. The Euler equations, assuming axisymmetric flows, are solved by using a dispersion-controlled scheme implemented with moving boundary conditions. Three test cases are simulated for examining friction effects on the muzzle flow. From numerical simulations, the wave dynamic processes, including two blast waves, two jet flows, the bow shock wave and their interactions in the muzzle blasts, are demonstrated and discussed in detail. The study shows that the major wave dynamic processes developing in the muzzle flow remain similar when the friction varies, but some wave processes, such as shock-shock interactions, shock-jet interactions and the contact surface instability, get more intensive, which result in more complex muzzle blast flows.

Impact of laser-accelerated micron-size projectile on dense plasma

The impact of a laser-accelerated micron-size projectile on a dense plasma target is studied using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The projectile is first accelerated by an ultraintense laser. It then impinges on the dense plasma target and merges with the latter. Part of the kinetic energy of the laser-accelerated ions in the projectile is deposited in the fused target, and an extremely high concentration of plasma ions with a mean kinetic energy needed for fusion reaction is induced. The interaction is thus useful for laser-driven impact fusion and as a compact neutron source.

Fragmentation effects on diversity of wasp community and its impact on fig/fig wasp interaction in Ficus racemosa L.

Habitat fragmentation usually results in alteration of species composition or biological communities. However, little is known about the effect of habitat fragmentation on the fig/fig wasp system. In this study, we compared the structure of a fig wasp community and the interaction between figs and fig wasps of Ficus racemosa L. in a primary forest, a locally fragmented forest and a highly fragmented forest. Our results show that, in the highly fragmented forest, the proportion of pollinator wasps is lower and the proportion of non-pollinator wasps is higher compared with the primary forest and locally fragmented forest. The proportion of fruits without pollinator wasps in mature fruits is also greatly increased in the highly fragmented forest. The proportion of galls in all female flowers increases in the highly fragmented forest, whereas the proportion of viable seeds does not change considerably. The disruption of groups of fig trees results in a decrease in pollinator wasps and even might result in the extinction of pollinator wasps in some extreme cases, which may transform the reciprocal interaction between figs and fig wasps into a parasite/host system. Such an effect may lead to the local extinction of this keystone plant resource of rain forests in the process of evolution, and thereby, may change the structure and function of the tropical rain forest.

Communities of gastrointestinal helminths of fish in historically connected habitats: habitat fragmentation effect in a carnivorous catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco from seven lakes in flood plain of the Yangtze River, China

Background: Habitat fragmentation may result in the reduction of diversity of parasite communities by affecting population size and dispersal pattern of species. In the flood plain of the Yangtze River in China, many lakes, which were once connected with the river, have become isolated since the 1950s from the river by the construction of dams and sluices, with many larger lakes subdivided into smaller ones by road embankments. These artificial barriers have inevitably obstructed the migration of fish between the river and lakes and also among lakes. In this study, the gastrointestinal helminth communities were investigated in a carnivorous fish, the yellowhead catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, from two connected and five isolated lakes in the flood plain in order to detect the effect of lake fragmentation on the parasite communities. Results: A total of 11 species of helminths were recorded in the stomach and intestine of P. fulvidraco from seven lakes, including two lakes connected with the Yangtze River, i.e. Poyang and Dongting lakes, and five isolated lakes, i.e. Honghu, Liangzi, Tangxun, Niushan and Baoan lakes. Mean helminth individuals and diversity of helminth communities in Honghu and Dongting lakes was lower than in the other five lakes. The nematode Procamallanus fulvidraconis was the dominant species of communities in all the seven lakes. No significant difference in the Shannon-Wiener index was detected between connected lakes (0.48) and isolated lakes (0.50). The similarity of helminth communities between Niushan and Baoan lakes was the highest (0.6708), and the lowest was between Tangxun and Dongting lakes (0.1807). The similarity was low between Dongting and the other lakes, and the similarity decreased with the geographic distance among these lakes. The helminth community in one connected lake, Poyang Lake was clustered with isolated lakes, but the community in Dongting Lake was separated in the tree. Conclusion: The similarity in the helminth communities of this fish in the flood-plain lakes may be attributed to the historical connection of these habitats and to the completion of the life-cycles of this fish as well as the helminth species within the investigated habitats. The diversity and the digenean majority in the helminth communities can be related to the diet of this fish, and to the lacustrine and macrophytic characters of the habitats. The lake isolation from the river had little detectable effect on the helminth communities of the catfish in flood-plain lakes of the Yangtze River. The low similarities in helminth communities between the Dongting Lake and others may just be a reflection of its unique water environment and anthropogenic alterations or fragmentation in this lake.

Genetic variation of fish parasite populations in historically connected habitats: undetected habitat fragmentation effect on populations of the nematode Procamallanus fulvidraconis in the catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco

Habitat fragmentation may have some significant effects on population genetic structure because geographic distance and physical barriers may impede gene flow between populations. In this study, we investigated whether recent habitat fragmentation affected genetic structure and diversity of populations of the nematode Procamallanus fulvidraconis in the yellowhead catfish, Pelteobagrus fin't4draco. The nematode was collected from 12 localities in 7 floodplain lakes of the Yangtze River. Using I I intersirnple sequence repeat markers, analysis of molecular variance showed that genetic diversity occurred mainly within populations (70.26%). Expected heterozygosity (He) of P. fulvidraconis was barely different between connected (0.2105) and unconnected lakes (0.2083). Population subdivision (Fst) between connected lakes (0.2177) was higher than in unconnected lakes (0. 1676). However, the connected and unconnected lakes did not Cluster into 2 clades. A Mantel test revealed significant positive correlation between genetic and geographic distances (R = 0.5335, P < 0.01). These results suggest that habitat fragmentation did not cause genetic differentiation among populations or a reduction of diversity in isolated populations of P. fulvidraconis. At least 2 factors may increase the dispersal range of the nematode, i.e., flash flooding in summer and other species of fish that may serve as the definitive hosts. Moreover, lake fragmentation is probably a recent process; population size of the nematode in these lakes is large enough to maintain Population structure.