Survival and initial chromatid breakage in normal and tumour cells exposed in vitro to gamma rays and carbon ions at the HIRFL

Human hepatoma and normal liver cells were irradiated with C-12(6+) ion beams (linear energy transfer (LET) = 96 keV mu m(-1)) and gamma-rays at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). The numbers and types of chromatid breaks were detected using the premature chromosome condensation technique. Irradiation with C-12(6+) ions produced a majority of isochromatid break types, while chromatid breaks were dominant for irradiation with gamma-rays. Experimental results showed that the initial level of chromatid breaks is clearly related to the absorbed dose from C-12(6+), ions and gamma-rays. The (12)C(6+)ions are relatively more effective at inducing initial chromatid breaks when compared with the gamma-rays. A relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of about 2.5 resulted for the induction of initial chromatid breaks by C-12(6+) ions relative to gamma-rays in both cell lines.

beta(+)/EC-decay study of Ir-176 neutron-deficient isotope

The beta(+)/EC decay of doubly odd Ir-176 has been investigated using Nd-146(Cl-35, 5n gamma)Ir-176 heavy ion fusion evaporation reaction at 210MeV bombarding energy. With the aid of a helium-jet recoil fast tape transport system, the reaction products were transported to a low-background location for measurements. Based on the data analysis, the previously published gamma rays in Ir-176 decay were proved, moreover, 3 new levels and 10 new gamma rays were assigned to Ir-176 decay. The new level scheme of Os-176 with low excitation energy has been established. The time spectra of typical gamma rays clearly indicate a long-lived low-spin isomer in Ir-176 nuclide.

Monte Carlo simulation of the neutron detection wall at RIBLL II in HIRFL-CSR

With the construction of the new Radioactive Ion Beam Line in Lanzhou (RIBLL II) which connects the CSRm and the CSRe, an experimental setup for physics research is highly required. A large area neutron detection wall is the main part of the setup. This paper introduced the detection principle of the neutron detection wall and the Monte-Carlo simulation of its design under the environment of the Geant4 toolkit. We presented the final design with the optimized parameters and the performance of the wall.

FIRST ISOCHRONOUS MASS MEASUREMENTS AT CSRe

With the commissioning of the Cooler Storage Ring at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL-CSR), a pilot experiment operating the CSRe in isochronous mode to test the power of HIRFL-CSR for measuring the mass of the short-lived nucleus was performed in December of 2007. The transition point gamma t of CSRe in isochronous mode is 1.395 which corresponds to the energy about 368 MeV/u for the ions with atomic number-to-charge ratio A/q = 2. The fragments with A/q = 2 of Ar-36 were injected into CSRe and their revolution frequencies were measured with a fast time pick-up detector with a thin foil in the circulating path of the ions. A mass resolution of better than 105 for m/Delta m was achieved.

OVERVIEW ON THE HIRFL-CSR FACILITY

The status of the HIRFL (Heavy Ion Facility in Lanzhou) - Cooler Storage Ring (CSR) at the IMP is reported. The main physics goals at the HIRFL-CSR are the researches on nuclear structure and decay property, EOS of nuclear matter, hadron physics, highly charged atomic physics, high energy density physics, nuclear astrophysics, and applications for cancer therapy, space industries, materials and biology sciences. The HIRFL-CSR is the first ion cooler-storage-ring system in China, which consists of a main ring (CSRm), an experimental ring (CSRe) and a radioactive beamline (RIBLL2). The two existing cyclotrons SFC (K=70) and SSC (K=450) are used as its injectors. The 7MeV/u12C6+ ions were stored successfully in CSRm with the stripping injection in January 2006. After that, realized were the accelerations of C-12(6+), Ar-36(18+), Kr-78(28+) and Xe-129(27+) ions with energies of 1GeV/u, 1GeV/u, 450 MeV/u and 235 MeV/u, respectively, including accumulation, electron cooling and acceleration. In 2008, the first two isochronous mass measurement experiments with the primary beams of Ar-36(18+) and Kr-78(28+) were performed at CSRe with the Delta p/p similar to 10(-5).

High-efficiency transfer and expression of AdCMV-p53 in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells induced by low-dose carbon-ion radiation

Objective To investigate whether the irradiation with C-beam could enhance adenovirus-mediated transfer and expression of p53 in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Materials and methods HepG2 cells were exposed to C-beam or gamma-ray and then infected with replicationdeficient adenovirus recombinant vectors containing human wild-type p53 or green fluorescent protein, respectively. The transfer efficiency and expression level of the exogenous gene were detected by flow cytometric analysis. Cell survival fraction was detected by clonogenic assay. Results The transfer frequency in C-beam or gamma-irradiated groups increased by 50-83% and 5.7-38.0% compared with the control, respectively (P < 0.05). Compared with C-beam alone, p53 alone, and gamma-ray with p53, the percentages of p53 positive cells for 1 Gy C-beam with p53 increased by 56.0-72.0%, 63.5-82.0%, and 31.3-72.5% on first and third day after the treatments, respectively (P < 0.05). The survival fractions for the 2Gy C-bearn and AdCMV-p53 infection groups decreased to similar to 2%. Conclusion C-beam irradiation could significantly promote AdCMV-green fluorescent protein transfer and expression of p53.

Possible probe on the momentum dependent interaction in the equation of state of nuclear matter

The effects of momentum dependent interaction on the kinetic energy spectrum of the neutron-proton ratio r(b)(E-k) in the equation of state of nuclear matter was investigated. We found that the kinetic energy spectrum of the neutron-proton ratio r(b)(E-k) depends sensitively on the momentum dependent interaction and weakly on the in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section and symmetry potential so that the r(b) (E-k) is a sensitive physical probe for extracting the information of momentum dependent interaction in the heavy ion collisions. At the same time, the comparing investigate between r(b)(E-k) for the neutron-rich collision system and the same mass stable collision system gives a important judgment for extracting the information of momentum dependent interaction in the heavy ion collisions.

System size dependence of associated yields in hadron-triggered jets STAR Collaboration

We present results on the system size dependence of high transverse momentum di-hadron correlations at root s(NN) = 200 GeV as measured by STAR at RHIC. Measurements in d + Au, Cu + Cu and Au + Au collisions reveal similar jet-like near-side correlation yields (correlations at small angular separation Delta phi similar to 0, Delta eta similar to 0) for all systems and centralities. Previous measurements have shown Chat the away-side (Delta phi similar to pi) yield is suppressed in heavy-ion collisions. We present measurements of the away-side Suppression as a function of transverse momentum and centrality in Cu + Cu and Au + Au collisions. The suppression is found to be similar in Cu + Cu and An + An collisions at a similar number of participants. The results are compared to theoretical calculations based on the patron quenching model and the modified fragmentation model. The observed differences between data and theory indicate that the correlated yields presented here will further constrain dynamic energy loss models and provide information about the dynamic density profile in heavy-ion collisions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Production of Superheavy Nuclei in Massive fusion reactions

A master equation is constructed to treat the nucleon transfer process in heavy ion fusion reactions to form superheavy nucleus. The relative motion concerning the energy, the angular momentum and the fragment deformation relaxations is explicitly treated to couple with the diffusion process. The nucleon transition probabilities, which are derived microscopically, are thus time dependent. The calculated evaporation residue cross-sections for both cold and hot fusion are in good agreement with the known experimental data.

Spectra of identified high-p(T) pi(+/-) and p((p)over-bar ) in Cu + Cu collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

We report new results on identified (anti) proton and charged pion spectra at large transverse momenta (3 < p(T) < 10 GeV/c) from Cu + Cu collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). This study explores the system size dependence of two novel features observed at RHIC with heavy ions: the hadron suppression at high-p(T) and the anomalous baryon to meson enhancement at intermediate transverse momenta. Both phenomena could be attributed to the creation of a new form of QCD matter. The results presented here bridge the system size gap between the available pp and Au + Au data, and allow for a detailed exploration of the onset of the novel features. Comparative analysis of all available 200 GeV data indicates that the system size is a major factor determining both the magnitude of the hadron spectra suppression at large transverse momenta and the relative baryon to meson enhancement.

Identified particle production, azimuthal anisotropy, and interferometry measurements in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=9.2 GeV

We present the first measurements of identified hadron production, azimuthal anisotropy, and pion interferometry from Au + Au collisions below the nominal injection energy at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) facility. The data were collected using the large acceptance solenoidal tracker at RHIC (STAR) detector at root s(NN) = 9.2 GeV from a test run of the collider in the year 2008. Midrapidity results on multiplicity density dN/dy in rapidity y, average transverse momentum < p(T)>, particle ratios, elliptic flow, and Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) radii are consistent with the corresponding results at similar root s(NN) from fixed-target experiments. Directed flow measurements are presented for both midrapidity and forward-rapidity regions. Furthermore the collision centrality dependence of identified particle dN/dy, < p(T)>, and particle ratios are discussed. These results also demonstrate that the capabilities of the STAR detector, although optimized for root s(NN) = 200 GeV, are suitable for the proposed QCD critical-point search and exploration of the QCD phase diagram at RHIC.

Experimental Study on the Exotic Structure of N-12 in RIBLL

We measured the total reaction cross sections of N-12 in Si at 36.2 MeV/u. using Radioactive Ion Beam Line in Lanzhou (RIBLL) with a new method. The reaction target was installed at the intermediate focusing point T1 at RIBLL. This scheme allows us to identify particles before and after the reaction target unambiguously. The total reaction cross section (1760 +/- 78mb) of N-12 in Si is obtained. Assuming that N-12 consists of a core C-11 plus one halo proton, the excitation function of N-12 on the Si and C targets is calculated with the Glauber model and the Fermi-Fermi density distributions. It can fit the experimental data very well. A large diffusion of the protons density distribution supports the halo structure for N-12.

Emittance estimation by an ion optical element with variable focusing strength and a viewing target

The emittance of an extracted ion beam can be estimated to first order by a series of three linear independent profile measurements. This estimation is restricted to the evaluation of an upper limit of the emittance value for a homogeneous, nonfilamented beam. The beam is assumed to be round, respectively elliptical, without any structure of the intensity distribution, no space charge has been assumed for the drifting beam, and the optics is assumed to be linear. Instead of using three different drift sections, a linear focusing element with three different focusing strengths can be used. Plotting the beam radius as function of focusing strength, three independent solutions can be used to calculate the Twiss parameters alpha, beta, and gamma and furthermore the emittance epsilon. Here we describe the measurements which have been performed with the SECRAL ion source at Institute of Modern Physics Lanzhou.

Dissociative recombination of the acetaldehyde cation, CH3CHO+

The dissociative recombination of the acetaldehyde cation, CH3CHO+, has been investigated at the heavy ion storage ring CRYRING at the Manne Siegbahn Laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden. The dependence of the absolute cross section of the reaction on the relative kinetic energy has been determined and a thermal rate coefficient of k(T) = (1.5 +/- 0.2) x 10(-6) (T/300)(-0.70 +/- 0.02) cm(3) s(-1) has been deduced, which is valid for electron temperatures between similar to 10 and 1000 K. The branching fractions of the reaction were studied at similar to 0 eV relative kinetic energy and we found that breaking one of the bonds between two of the heavy atoms occurs in 72 +/- 2% of the reactions. In the remaining events the three heavy atoms stay in the same product fragment. While the branching fractions are fairly similar to the results from an earlier investigation into the dissociative recombination of the fully deuterated acetaldehyde cation, CD3CDO+, the thermal rate coefficient is somewhat larger for CH3CHO+. Astrochemical implications of the results are discussed.

Nuclear physics program at HIRFL

With the commissioning of HIRFL-CSR, HIRFL can provide heavy ion beams with energy covering the range of several MeV/u to 1 GeV/u. In this talk, the experiments on nuclear physics at different energies to be carried out with different experimental setups at HIRFL will be introduced.