Search results for " NEUTRON"

Maintenance Operation on AGN-201 “COSTANZA” Nuclear Research Reactor of Palermo University

2015

During operations with AGN-201 “COSTANZA” nuclear research reactor of Palermo University a failure of a compensated boron-lined ionization chamber provided with a measurement channel was highlighted. A maintenance program aimed to verify the operative conditions of all measurement systems was then started. It was easy to identify as cause of the malfunction a seepage of water inside the container of a Westinghouse WL 6377 ion chamber due to a lack of watertight closure. This can be attributed to corrosion of the container due to parasitic currents circulating between the container, the chamber and the reactor tank that acts as electrical ground of the system. In this work we refer over main…

Dosimetria a risonanza di spin elettronico (ESR) tramite composti organici (alanina e tartrato di ammonio) per campi misti neutroni-gamma

2014

Gamma component dosimetry in the thermal column of the TRIGA reactor in Pavia

2015

This presentation describes the assessment of the gamma rays spectrum and dose. Yhe result have been used to perform dosimetry in cell cultures for in-vitro BNCT studies.

The Boson Peak of Amyloid Fibrils: Probing the Softness of Protein Aggregates by Inelastic Neutron Scattering

2014

Proteins and polypeptides are characterized by low-frequency vibrations in the terahertz regime responsible for the so-called "boson peak". The shape and position of this peak are related to the mechanical properties of peptide chains. Amyloid fibrils are ordered macromolecular assemblies, spontaneously formed in nature, characterized by unique biological and nanomechanical properties. In this work, we investigate the effects of the amyloid state and its polymorphism on the boson peak. We used inelastic neutron scattering to probe low-frequency vibrations of the glucagon polypeptide in the native state and in two different amyloid morphologies in both dry and hydrated sample states. The dat…

Neutrino pair annihilation near accreting, stellar-mass black holes

2006

We investigate the energy-momentum deposition due to neutrino-antineutrino annihilation in the vicinity of axisymmetric, accreting black holes (BHs) by numerically ray-tracing neutrino trajectories in a Kerr space-time. Hyperaccreting stellar-mass BHs are widely considered as energy sources that can drive ultrarelativistic outflows with the potential to produce gamma-ray bursts. In contrast to earlier works, we provide an extensive and detailed parameter study of the influence of general relativistic (GR) effects and of different neutrinosphere geometries. These include idealized thin disks, tori, and spheres, or are constructed as non-selfgravitating equilibrium matter distributions for va…

On the timing properties of SAX J1808.4-3658 during its 2015 outburst

2017

We present a timing analysis of the 2015 outburst of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658, using non-simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuStar observations. We estimate the pulsar spin frequency and update the system orbital solution. Combining the average spin frequency from the previous observed, we confirm the long-term spin down at an average rate $\dot{\nu}_{\text{SD}}=1.5(2)\times 10^{-15}$ Hz s$^{-1}$. We also discuss possible corrections to the spin down rate accounting for mass accretion onto the compact object when the system is X-ray active. Finally, combining the updated ephemerides with those of the previous outbursts, we find a long-term orbital evolution compatibl…

Hyperbranched Polyglycerol-Based Lipids via Oxyanionic Polymerization: Toward Multifunctional Stealth Liposomes

2010

We describe the synthesis of linear-hyperbranched lipids for liposome preparation based on linear poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG). Molecular weights were adjusted to values around 3000 g/mol with varying degrees of polymerization of the linear and the branched segments in analogy to PEG-based stealth lipids; polydispersities were generally low and below 1.3. The hydrophobic anchors were introduced into the lipid structures as initiators for the anionic polymerization of ethylene oxide and are either based on cholesterol or on different aliphatic glyceryl ethers. Complete incorporation of the apolar initiators was evidenced by MALDI-ToF analysis at all stages …

Partitioning of macrocyclic compounds in a cationic and an anionic micellar solution: a small-angle neutron scattering study.

2004

Following a previous investigation on partitioning of some macrocycle compounds in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) aqueous solutions and their effect on the micellar structure, a small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) study has been performed at fixed surfactant content (0.20 mol/L) and varying macrocycle concentrations from 0.20 up to 1.0 mol/L. Conductivity measurements have been also performed in order to evaluate the effect of the presence of macrocycles on the critical micellar concentration (cmc) of the two surfactants. SANS experimental data were fitted successfully by means of a core-plus-shell monodisperse prolate ellipsoid model. It has been…

Application of the small-angle neutron scattering technique to the study of solubilization mechanisms of organic molecules by micellar systems

1996

Abstract We present the possible contribution of the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique to the molecular interpretation of the solubilization phenomena in simple micellar systems. We show for a few ternary micellar systems, that an appropriate analysis of SANS experimental data can provide information on modifications induced on micellar dimension, shape, number of monomer, and charge and on the partition coefficient of the additive and its localization inside the micellar aggregate. The influence of n -alcohols on the thermodynamics and on the structure of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) aqueous solution has been extensively investigated, so the agreement between the results obt…

Static and dynamic light scattering by aqueous polyelectrolyte solutions: effect of molecular weight, charge density and added salt

1990

Abstract Aqueous solutions of quaternized poly(2-vinylpyridine) were investigated by static (SLS) and dynamic (DLS) light scattering over a wide range of polyelectrolyte, c pe , and salt concentrations, c s (10 −3 ≤ c pe ≤ 10 2 gl −1 , 10 −5.5 ≤ c s ≤ 10 −1 moll −1 ). Using DLS the cooperative diffusion coefficient D was measured as a function of c pe and c s . D exhibits a characteristic behaviour in each of three different concentration regimes. In the ‘dilute lattice’ regime, where λ = c pe c s ⪡ 1 , one diffusion coefficient is observed. In the transition regime, where λ ≈ 1, D increases with increasing polyelectrolyte concentration and a slow diffusive mode gradually appears. For λ ⪢ 1…