[en] Cells from bovine lens epithelium (B26 line) were cultivated in vitro and examined to characterize their growth behaviour patterns. The question as to whether those cells would still show the ability of synthetizing crystallins was investigated on the basis of indirect immunofluorescene using both polyspecific and monospecific antisera. The findings revealed confirmed the results of former studies according to which dedifferentiation processes and marked reductions of crystallin synthesis occurred in rapidly proliferating epithelial cells cultivated in vitro. Inhibitions of proliferation were followed by a time-dependent reappearance of crystallins. The study described here was primarily focused on the arrest of cell proliferation after X-irradiation. It was found that an inhibition of cells during the G_o phase may be achieved through hydroxyurea, indomethacin and X-rays. Beta crystallins can better be expressed than alpha crystallins and the expression of gamma crystallins was seen to be rather poor. (orig./MG)

[en] The panel explores the prospects of several countries in Europe that plan to initiate or expand their nuclear energy programme with SMR designs, or consider to include it in their long term strategic programmes, will be explored and discussed. The member states requested the IAEA to help increase their capacity to make knowledgeable decisions, particularly to become capable to identify and perform technical assessments for SMRs commercially available for near term deployment. To address this request, in January 2018 the IAEA has launched the Regional TCEU Project 'RER/2/014 - Facilitating Capacity Building for Small Modular Reactors: Technology Developments, Safety Assessment, Licensing and Utilization' with the overall objective to contribute in a new way to fulfil the European demand for clean and emission-free flexible resources of electricity and heat. It should furthermore work in synergy with renewable energy technologies and decrease dependency on fossil fuel imports. The outcome of the project is to increase knowledge in all aspects of SMRs such as technology, licensing, safety assessment, economy and implementation. Sixteen Member States of the Europe Region expressed interest to participate in this two year project. During the panel just a few of these aspects will be elaborated with the focus on the technology readiness, SMRs as a flexible electricity and heat source, and member state studies into future strategic energy programmes that include SMRs.(author).

[en] Published in summary form only

[en] Full text: The neutron-rich Xe isotopes (Z=54) are located north-east of the doubly magic shell closures at Z=50 and N=82. In this region of the nuclear chart, the onset of octupole collectivity towards the 'magic' octupole numbers Z=56 and N=88 is expected too. The data presented here originate from two experimental campaigns performed at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in 2013 and the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) at the turn of the year 2015/2016. The investigated nuclei were populated by neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U and ²⁴¹Pu (ILL) or spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf (ANL). Prompt gamma-ray spectroscopy of the fission fragments was performed with combined arrays of high-resolution HPGe detectors and fast LaBr₃(Ce) detectors. The Xe isotopes of interest were tagged by gating in the HPGe detectors on one or more of its characteristic transitions. The lifetimes of excited states in the ps regime were determined from the LaBr₃(Ce) detectors applying the 'Generalized Centroid Difference' (GCD) method [1]. At ILL, the set-up consisted of 8 CLOVER detectors of EXILL combined with 16 LaBr₃(Ce) detectors from the FATIMA collaboration [2]. Several lifetimes in the yrast bands of ^138,140,142Xe were determined, most of them for the first time [3]. For the first time and more challenging, also two lifetimes in the odd isotopes ^139,141Xe were measured. At ANL, the set-up consisted of half of GammaSphere (51 HPGe detectors) and 25 LaBr₃(Ce) detectors from the NuSTAR-FATIMA collaboration [4]. The status of the ongoing analyses and selected results will be presented. References: [1] J.-M- Regis et al., NIM A 726, 191 (2013); [2] J.-M- Regis et al., NIM A 763, 210 (2014); [3] S. Ilieva et al., Phys. Rev. C 94, 034302 (2016); [4] E. Gamba et al., contribution to this workshop. This work is supported by the German BMBF under grant no. 05P12RDNUP (NuPNET), ILL, the EXILL and FATIMA collaborations, the TU Darmstadt - GSI cooperation contract and HIC for FAIR; the work at ANL is funded by the U.S. DOE contract n. DE-AC02-06CH11357 and used resources of the DOE's ATLAS facility. (authors)

[en] Published in summary form only

[en] The nature of low-lying 3^- levels in ¹⁴⁴Nd was investigated in the ¹⁴³Nd(n, γγ) cold neutron-capture reaction. The combination of the high neutron flux from the research reactor at the Institut Laue-Langevin and the high gamma-ray detection efficiency of the EXILL setup allowed the recording of gamma gamma coincidences. From the coincidence data precise branching ratios were extracted. Furthermore, the octagonal symmetry of the setup allowed angular-distribution measurements to determine multipole-mixing ratios. Additionally, in a second measurement the ultra-high resolution spectrometer GAMS6 was employed to conduct lifetime measurements using the gamma-ray induced Doppler-shift technique (GRID). The confirmed strong M1 component in the 3₃^- → 3₁^- decay strongly supports the assignment of the 3₃^- level at 2779 keV as low-lying isovector octupole excitation. Microscopic calculations within the quasiparticle phonon model confirm an isovector component in the wave function of the 3₃^- level, firmly establishing this fundamental mode of nuclear excitation in near-spherical nuclei. (authors)

[en] The characteristics and the working conditions of the new focal plane drift chambers at the magnetic spectrograph BIG KARL are described. One chamber was tested with an 1 GeV electron beam. The drift time spectrum, the efficiency and the position resolution are described. A gas supply system for an argon/ethane gas mixture was used. The composition of the detector was monitored by two proportional counters with a ⁵⁵Fe X-ray source. (author). 5 refs, 4 figs

[en] Near threshold two pion production via the reaction pd→³Heπ⁺π^- was measured kinematically complete with the MOMO experiment at COSY. A remarkable deviation of the obtained two pion invariant mass spectra from phase space as well as a predominant sidewise and back to back emission of the two mesons was observed

[en] Near threshold two meson production via the reactions pd→³Heπ⁺π^- and pd→³HeK⁺K^- was measured kinematically complete with the MOMO experiment at COSY. The obtained two pion invariant mass spectra and angular distributions depict a remarkable deviation from phase space. The two kaon data are consistent with phase space topped by a clear signal of the φ meson

[en] Two-kaon production in proton-deuteron collisions has been studied at three energies close to threshold using a calibrated magnetic spectrograph to measure the final ³He and a vertex detector to measure the K⁺K^- pair. Differential and total cross sections are presented for the production of φ-mesons, decaying through φ→K⁺K^-, as well as for prompt K⁺K^- production. The prompt production seems to follow phase space in both its differential distributions and in its energy dependence. The amplitude for the pd→³Heφ reaction varies little for excess energies below 22 MeV and the value is consistent with that obtained from a threshold measurement. The angular distribution of the K⁺K^- decay pair shows that near threshold the φ-mesons are dominantly produced with polarization m=0 along the initial proton direction. No conclusive evidence for f₀(980) production is found in the data