Non-invasive beam profile monitor for medical accelerators.

A beam profile monitor based on a supersonic gas-curtain is currently under development for transverse profile diagnostics of electron and proton beams in the High Luminosity LHC. This monitor uses a thin supersonic gas curtain that crosses the primary beam to be characterized under an angle of 45 degrees. The fluorescence caused by the interaction between the beam and gas-curtain is detected using a specially designed imaging system to determine the 2D transverse profile of the primary beam. Another prototype monitor based on beam induced ionization is installed at The Cockcroft Institute. This paper presents the design features of both the monitors, the gas-jet curtain formation and various experimental tests, including profile measurements of an electron beam, using helium, nitrogen and neon as gases. Such a non-invasive online beam profile monitor would be highly desirable also for medical LINAC's and storage rings as it can characterize the beam without stopping machine operation. The paper discusses opportunities for simplifying the monitor design for integration into a medical accelerator and expected monitor performance.

Commissioning of the PRIOR proton microscope.

Recently, a new high energy proton microscopy facility PRIOR (Proton Microscope for FAIR Facility for Anti-proton and Ion Research) has been designed, constructed, and successfully commissioned at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (Darmstadt, Germany). As a result of the experiments with 3.5-4.5 GeV proton beams delivered by the heavy ion synchrotron SIS-18 of GSI, 30 µm spatial and 10 ns temporal resolutions of the proton microscope have been demonstrated. A new pulsed power setup for studying properties of matter under extremes has been developed for the dynamic commissioning of the PRIOR facility. This paper describes the PRIOR setup as well as the results of the first static and dynamic proton radiography experiments performed at GSI.

Excimer laser pumped by an intense, high-energy heavy-ion beam.

High-energy heavy ions are an ideal tool to generate homogeneously excited, extended volumes of nonthermal plasmas. Here, the high-energy loss (dE/dx) and absolute power deposition of heavy ions interacting with matter has been used to pump an ultraviolet laser. A pulsed 70 MeV/u 238U beam with up to 2.5 x 10(9) particles in approximately 100 ns beam bunches was stopped in a 1.2 m long laser cell filled with a 1.6 bar Ar-Kr-F2 mixture (typically 50%:49.9%:0.1%). Laser effect on the 248 nm KrF* excimer transition is clearly demonstrated.

Proposal for the study of thermophysical properties of high-energy-density matter using current and future heavy-ion accelerator facilities at GSI Darmstadt.

The subject of high-energy-density (HED) states in matter is of considerable importance to numerous branches of basic as well as applied physics. Intense heavy-ion beams are an excellent tool to create large samples of HED matter in the laboratory with fairly uniform physical conditions. Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, is a unique worldwide laboratory that has a heavy-ion synchrotron, SIS18, that delivers intense beams of energetic heavy ions. Construction of a much more powerful synchrotron, SIS100, at the future international facility for antiprotons and ion research (FAIR) at Darmstadt will lead to an increase in beam intensity by 3 orders of magnitude compared to what is currently available. The purpose of this Letter is to investigate with the help of two-dimensional numerical simulations, the potential of the FAIR to carry out research in the field of HED states in matter.

Shaping of intense ion beams into hollow cylindrical form

A specifically tailored plasma lens could shape a high-energy, heavy-ion beam into the form of a hollow cylinder without loss of beam intensity. It has been experimentally confirmed that both a positive as well as a negative radial gradient of the current density in the active plasma lens can be the underlying principle. Calculations were performed that yield the ideal current density distribution for both cases. A numerical simulation of an experiment with an intense ion beam highlights that the shaping of the beam increases the achievable compression in a lead sample.

[The advantages of Reprimum therapy in pulmonary sarcoidosis and other granulomatous diseases]. / Avantajele terapiei cu Reprimum în sarcoidoza pulmonara si alte boli granulomatoase.

In sarcoidosis and other granulomatous non-caseous diseases, the election treatment is immunosuppressive, mainly with cortisones that ensure more than 70% lasting remissions. Continuous use of cortisones for a long time (8-30 months) in high doses leads to serious side effects: gastric and intestinal ulcers, obesity, osteoporosis, suprarenal dysfunction, sensitivity to infections. Good results and elimination of the important side effects were obtained by treatment with Reprimum--a semisynthetic antibiotic with a wide spectrum and immunosuppressive properties--administered alone or with prednisone in small doses (15-20 mg once) in 6 weeks' series: 2 weeks--Reprimum 10/mg/kg daily +/- prednisone and for other 4 weeks--Reprimum 15 mg/kg twice a week +/- prednisone followed by two weeks' break. In 75 patients with histopathologically confirmed sarcoidosis (of whom 7-9.3% with outside-the-lung situs, too), the treatment with Reprimum gave: 94.7% lasting remission, only 5.3% failures, reduction of the treatment period to 6-12 months and the absence of any important side reaction. In other 37 sarcoidosis cases, failures of cortisone therapy (of which 11-30% relapses after 2-6 years), the treatment with Reprimum together with prednisone allowed recovery of 29 patients (78.4%). The same treatment with Reprimum, used in 22 patients with immunosuppressive treatment indication (dermatomyositis, Kaposi's syndrome, thrombocytopenias, nodose periarteritis, silicosis), of whom 18 (81.8%) were failures of the cortisone therapy, healed 20 of these cases (90.9%). Reprimum immunosuppressive property acts at the level of T4+ lymphocyte, involved in sarcoidosis pathogenesis. The functional blockage of T4+ lymphocyte can be also achieved by cyclosporine A.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Advantages of treatment with Reprimun in sarcoidosis.

Favourable results were obtained by treatment with Reprimun alone or in association with low doses of Prednisone in 112 patients with sarcoidosis (59% with active sarcoidosis and 33% failures of a previous corticotherapy). Treatments were applied during 3-6 series each one of 6 weeks at intervals of 2 weeks between series. In comparison with the classical corticotherapy, treatment with Reprimun has better results, namely: absence of any major adverse reactions; reduction of the treatment period to 6-12 months (3-6 series); 95% lasting remissions in the sarcoidoses with initial treatment and 78% remissions in the case of failures of a previous corticotherapy.