Production of slow singly charged fragments in 200 GeV/c hadron nucleus interactions

Measurements of slow, singly charged fragments in the target rapidity region have been performed for proton and pion induced reactions with various nuclei at 200 GeV/c. Multiplicity, angular and energy distributions are examined and used to study the effects of rescattering in the nuclear medium. Data are compared to a geometric cascade model and to simulations with the VENUS 3.11 and the FRITIOF 1.7 Monte Carlo codes.     

Investigating the vortex melting phenomenon in BSCCO crystals using magneto-optical imaging technique

Using a novel differential magneto-optical imaging technique we investigate the phenomenon of vortex lattice melting in crystals of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈ (BSCCO). The images of melting reveal complex patterns in the formation and evolution of the vortex solid-liquid interface with varying field (H)/temperature (T). We believe that the complex melting patterns are due to a random distribution of material disorder/inhomogeneities across the sample, which create fluctuations in the local melting temperature or field value. To study the fluctuations in the local melting temperature/field, we have constructed maps of the melting landscape T _m(H, r), viz., the melting temperature (T _m) at a given location (r) in the sample at a given field (H). A study of these melting landscapes reveals an unexpected feature: the melting landscape is not fixed, but changes rather dramatically with varying field and temperature along the melting line. It is concluded that the changes in both the scale and shape of the landscape result from the competing contributions of different types of quenched disorder which have opposite effects on the local melting transition.     

Energy dependence of multiplicity in proton-nucleus collisions and models of multiparticle production

This is a continuation of our earlier investigation (Gurtuet al 1974Phys. Lett. 50 B 391) on multiparticle production in proton-nucleus collisions based on an exposure of emulsion stack to 200 GeV/c beam at the NAL. It is found that the ratioR _em = 〈n _s〉/〈n _ch〉, where 〈n _ch〉 is the charged particle multiplicity in pp-collisions, increases slowly from about 1 at 10 GeV/c to 1·6 at 68 GeV/c and attains a constant value of 1·71 ± 0·04 in the region 200 to 8000 GeV/c. Furthermore,R _em = 1·71 implies an effectiveA-dependence ofR _A =A ^0.18,i.e., a very weak dependence. Predictions ofR _em on various models are discussed and compared with the emulsion data. Data seem to favour models of hadron-nucleon collisions in which production of particles takes place through adouble step mechanism,e.g., diffractive excitation, hydrodynamical and energy flux cascade as opposed to models which envisage instantaneous production.     

Tri-partite complex for axonal transport drug delivery achieves pharmacological effect

Background

Targeted delivery of pharmaceutical agents into selected populations of CNS (Central Nervous System) neurons is an extremely compelling goal. Currently, systemic methods are generally used for delivery of pain medications, anti-virals for treatment of dermatomal infections, anti-spasmodics, and neuroprotectants. Systemic side effects or undesirable effects on parts of the CNS that are not involved in the pathology limit efficacy and limit clinical utility for many classes of pharmaceuticals. Axonal transport from the periphery offers a possible selective route, but there has been little progress towards design of agents that can accomplish targeted delivery via this intraneural route. To achieve this goal, we developed a tripartite molecular construction concept involving an axonal transport facilitator molecule, a polymer linker, and a large number of drug molecules conjugated to the linker, then sought to evaluate its neurobiology and pharmacological behavior.

Results

We developed chemical synthesis methodologies for assembling these tripartite complexes using a variety of axonal transport facilitators including nerve growth factor, wheat germ agglutinin, and synthetic facilitators derived from phage display work. Loading of up to 100 drug molecules per complex was achieved. Conjugation methods were used that allowed the drugs to be released in active form inside the cell body after transport. Intramuscular and intradermal injection proved effective for introducing pharmacologically effective doses into selected populations of CNS neurons. Pharmacological efficacy with gabapentin in a paw withdrawal latency model revealed a ten fold increase in half life and a 300 fold decrease in necessary dose relative to systemic administration for gabapentin when the drug was delivered by axonal transport using the tripartite vehicle.

Conclusion

Specific targeting of selected subpopulations of CNS neurons for drug delivery by axonal transport holds great promise. The data shown here provide a basic framework for the intraneural pharmacology of this tripartite complex. The pharmacologically efficacious drug delivery demonstrated here verify the fundamental feasibility of using axonal transport for targeted drug delivery.     

Accuracy of the multipole expansion applied to a sphere in a creeping flow parallel to a wall

An example system is studied to discuss precision of the multipoleexpansion, applied to determine forces exerted on particlesby a viscous low-Reynolds-number fluid flow. A single spherein an ambient flow (pure shear, quadratic, and modulated shear)parallel to a close plane wall is considered. Forces and torquesexerted by the ambient flow on a motionless sphere are evaluated.Their precision is determined and related to a multipole orderof the truncation. Similar analysis is performed for a movingsphere with no ambient flow and for a freely moving sphere.Relative motion of the sphere with respect to the wall givesrise to strong lubrication interactions. It is analysed howthese interactions affect accuracy of the pure multipole expansion,and what are the smallest distances where it becomes insufficient.An alternative precise method is applied, in which lubricationexpressions are subtracted from the hydrodynamic forces andtorques, and the residue is evaluated as a fast-convergent seriesof inverse powers of the distance between the sphere centreand the wall. The accuracy of this procedure is carefully analysed.     

Single transverse-spin asymmetry in very forward and very backward neutral particle production for polarized proton collisions at

In the 2001–2002 running period of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), transversely polarized protons were accelerated to 100 GeV for the first time, with collisions at . We present results from this run for single transverse-spin asymmetries for inclusive production of neutral pions, photons and neutrons of the energy region 20–100 GeV for forward and backward production for angles between 0.3 mrad and 2.2 mrad with respect to the polarized proton direction. An asymmetry of was observed for forward neutron production, where the errors are statistical and systematic, and the scale error is from the beam polarization uncertainty. The forward photon and π⁰, and backward neutron, photon, and π⁰ asymmetries were consistent with zero. The large neutron asymmetry indicates a strong interference between a spin–flip amplitude, such as one pion exchange which dominates lower energy neutron production, and remaining spin–non-flip amplitudes such as reggeon exchange.     

Multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles from32S induced heavy ion interactions at 200A GeV

Multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions have been measured for³²S+Al, Cu, Ag and Au at 200A GeV. The widths of the pseudorapidity distributions increase from central to peripheral collisions. The main contribution is assumed to come from the increasing fraction of charged particles stemming from the fragmentation of the target for peripheral collisions as compared to central collisions. On the average 170–180 charged particles per unit of pseudorapidity are attained for the most central³²S+Au events at the maximum of the distribution. The target dependence of the yield of charged particles for central collisions is investigated. In the target rapidity region the yield is directly proportional to the target mass. The transverse energy per charged particle has been studied as a function of centrality and pseudorapidity. The experimental results are compared to the results from the Monte-Carlo model VENUS 3.11 which includes rescattering among secondaries. A comparison between different centrality triggers is made.