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We performed the first direct mass measurements of neutron-rich scandium, titanium, and vanadium isotopes around the neutron number 40 at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory using the time-of-flight magnetic-rigidity technique. The atomic mass excesses of ^{58-60}Sc, ^{60-62}Ti, and ^{62-64}V were measured for the first time. The experimental results show that the two-neutron separation energies in the vicinity of ^{62}Ti increase compared to neighboring nuclei. This shows that the masses of Ti isotopes near N=40 are affected by the Jahn-Teller effect. Therefore, a development of Jahn-Teller stabilization appears below the Cr isotopes, and the systematics in Sc, Ti, and V isotopes suggest that ^{62}Ti is located close to the peak of the Jahn-Teller effect.

The structure of a neutron-rich ^{25}F nucleus is investigated by a quasifree (p,2p) knockout reaction at 270A MeV in inverse kinematics. The sum of spectroscopic factors of π0d_{5/2} orbital is found to be 1.0±0.3. However, the spectroscopic factor with residual ^{24}O nucleus being in the ground state is found to be only 0.36±0.13, while those in the excited state is 0.65±0.25. The result shows that the ^{24}O core of ^{25}F nucleus significantly differs from a free ^{24}O nucleus, and the core consists of ∼35% ^{24}O_{g.s.}. and ∼65% excited ^{24}O. The result may infer that the addition of the 0d_{5/2} proton considerably changes neutron structure in ^{25}F from that in ^{24}O, which could be a possible mechanism responsible for the oxygen dripline anomaly.

A high position resolution neutron detector for time-of-flight measurements is being developed to measure the ( p , p n ) reaction in inverse kinematics with an excitation energy resolution of 1 MeV at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory. In this study, a new method based on the segmentation of the neutron detector part is employed to achieve a position resolution on the order of mm with a prototype neutron detector. The prototype detector consists of 8 × 8 scintillating fibers, two multi-anode photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and two light guides. The scintillating fibers have a cross sectional area of 3 . 75 × 3 . 75 mm 2 . The prototype’s performance is studied using the neutron and proton beams provided at the Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center (CYRIC), Tohoku University and the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University. It is confirmed that the hit pattern analysis correctly recognizes the neutron detection position within the fiber size of 3.75 mm. The obtained TOF resolution of 350 ps (FWHM), lateral position resolution of 2.5 mm (FWHM), and longitudinal position resolution of 50–60 mm (FWHM) satisfy the requirements to achieve an excitation energy resolution of 1 MeV. The typical detection efficiency is ∼ 2.0% for a neutron with a kinetic energy of 50–200 MeV. The detailed investigation of the detection efficiency in conjunction with the neutron hit position reveals the existence of the non-uniformity of the efficiency. It is shown that the non-uniformity can be mitigated by reducing the threshold level, and by increasing the detector size. For a larger neutron detector, based on the design of the prototype detector, the non-uniformity will thus be negligible.

Background: Aurora B kinase plays an essential role in chromosome segregation and cytokinesis, and is dysregulated in many cancer types, making it an attractive therapeutic target. TAK-901 is a potent aurora B inhibitor that showed efficacy in both in vitro and in vivo oncology models. Materials and Methods: We conducted a synthetic lethal siRNA screening to identify the genes that, when silenced, can potentiate the cell growth-inhibitory effect of TAK-901. Results: B-cell lymphoma-extra large (BCL-xL) depletion by siRNA or chemical inhibition synergized with TAK-901 in cancer cell lines. As a mechanism of synthetic lethality, active BCL2 associated X, apoptosis regulator (BAX) was induced by TAK-901. BCL-xL protected cells from BAX-dependent apoptosis induction. Therefore, TAK-901 sensitizes cancer cells to BCL-xL inhibition. Conclusion: Polyploid cells induced by TAK-901 are vulnerable to BCL-xL inhibition. Our findings may have an impact on combination strategies with aurora B inhibitors in clinical studies.

We perform the first direct mass measurements of neutron-rich calcium isotopes beyond neutron number 34 at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory by using the time-of-flight magnetic-rigidity technique. The atomic mass excesses of ^{55-57}Ca are determined for the first time to be -18650(160), -13510(250), and -7370(990) keV, respectively. We examine the emergence of neutron magicity at N=34 based on the new atomic masses. The new masses provide experimental evidence for the appearance of a sizable energy gap between the neutron 2p_{1/2} and 1f_{5/2} orbitals in ^{54}Ca, comparable to the gap between the neutron 2p_{3/2} and 2p_{1/2} orbitals in ^{52}Ca. For the ^{56}Ca nucleus, an open-shell property in neutrons is suggested.

The (^{12}N, ^{12}C) charge-exchange reaction at 175 MeV/u was developed as a novel probe for studying the isovector spin giant monopole resonance (IVSMR), whose properties are important for better understanding the bulk properties of nuclei and asymmetric nuclear matter. This probe, now available through the production of ^{12}N as a secondary rare-isotope beam, is exothermic, is strongly absorbed at the surface of the target nucleus, and provides selectivity for spin-transfer excitations. All three properties enhance the excitation of the IVSMR compared to other, primarily light-ion, probes, which have been used to study the IVSMR thus far. The ^{90}Zr(^{12}N,^{12}C) reaction was measured and the excitation energy spectra up to about 70 MeV for both the spin-transfer and non-spin-transfer channels were deduced separately by tagging the decay by γ emission from the ^{12}C ejectile. Besides the well-known Gamow-Teller and isobaric analog transitions, a clear signature of the IVSMR was identified. By comparing with the results from light-ion reactions on the same target nucleus and theoretical predictions, the suitability of this new probe for studying the IVSMR was confirmed.

We observed the atomic 1s and 2p states of π^{-} bound to ^{121}Sn nuclei as distinct peak structures in the missing mass spectra of the ^{122}Sn(d,^{3}He) nuclear reaction. A very intense deuteron beam and a spectrometer with a large angular acceptance let us achieve a potential of discovery, which includes the capability of determining the angle-dependent cross sections with high statistics. The 2p state in a Sn nucleus was observed for the first time. The binding energies and widths of the pionic states are determined and found to be consistent with previous experimental results of other Sn isotopes. The spectrum is measured at finite reaction angles for the first time. The formation cross sections at the reaction angles between 0° and 2° are determined. The observed reaction-angle dependence of each state is reproduced by theoretical calculations. However, the quantitative comparison with our high-precision data reveals a significant discrepancy between the measured and calculated formation cross sections of the pionic 1s state.

Low-pressure multi-wire drift chambers have been developed to track high-intensity radioactive isotope beams at the energies of around 200 MeV/nucleon. In order to minimize the effect of multiple scattering by radioactive isotope beam, the thickness of the detectors were minimized by using isobutane gas at low pressure (10 kPa). The performance of the position resolution, the tracking efficiency, and the beam intensity capability were evaluated as a function of atomic number and applied voltage. As a result, an overall position resolution of 300 μm was achieved for radioactive isotope beams with an intensity of 1 MHz. The details of the design specifications and performances of the low-pressure multi-wire drift chambers are described.

The paper describes recent developments of diamond detector at CNS and discusses the timing signal transfer system suitable for optimizing its performance. The diamond detector is well known to have good properties as a radiation detector such as fast response and good radiation hardness. Consequently, it is an excellent candidate for serving as a high-resolution thin timing detector. CNS and NSCL/MSU started a collaboration to develop diamond detectors, and manufactured a detector with a size of 28 × 28 mm2 and thickness of 200 μm. An irradiation experiment of the detector was performed by using a 32-MeV α beam to check its basic performance. The CNS detector had almost 100% efficiency and a timing resolution of 27 ps ( σ ). Jitter in long optical-fiber signal-transfer lines was examined and found to be 10.7 ps ( σ ). Diamond detectors and signal transfer system using a optical fiber enable us to provide time-of-flight measurements with extremely high resolution.

We are presently working on a new project ‘pionic atom factory project’ at RIBF. The project aims at precision spectroscopy of the energy spectrum of the pionic atom for a wide range of elements, using missing-mass spectroscopy of the (d,3Hed,3He) reaction near the π-π- emission threshold. For this project, we developed a new ion optics for BigRIPS using the dispersion-matching method. In this optics the BigRIPS beam line is used as a high resolving-power forward angle spectrometer to momentum-analyze 3He. We are aiming for a spectral resolution of

The SHARAQ spectrometer and High-Resolution Beamline, which began operation in March 2009, have been put into use for six experiments using charge exchange reactions with radioactive isotope beams. For experiments at SHARAQ, detector developments and ion optics studies continue to improve performance in high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy. We have introduced improved timing resolution with CVD diamond detectors, high count-rate beamline tracking detectors and development of multi-particle detection by cathode-readout drift chambers. Ion-optics studies for the high-resolution achromatic (HA) and dispersion-matching (DM) transport modes are also reported here. Momentum tagging in the HA mode demonstrated an improvement in spectroscopic resolution with respect to the momentum spread of the radioactive beam. For the DM transportation mode, a momentum resolution of 1 / 8100 (FWHM) was achieved by taking into account the positions and angles of the beam at the third focal plane of BigRIPS.

Spectroscopy for neutron-rich nuclei 9He and 12Be has been performed by means of heavy-ion double charge exchange (HIDCX) (18O, 18Ne) reaction on stable target nuclei 9Be and 12C, respectively. Several clear peaks in 12Be at low excitation energy region even above neutron separation energy have been observed in one-shot measurement, whereas no prominent signals of 9He have been observed owing to the small cross section. It is shown that the HIDCX reaction is a new powerful spectroscopic tool for study of unstable neutron-rich nuclei.

A candidate resonant tetraneutron state is found in the missing-mass spectrum obtained in the double-charge-exchange reaction ^{4}He(^{8}He,^{8}Be) at 186 MeV/u. The energy of the state is 0.83±0.65(stat)±1.25(syst) MeV above the threshold of four-neutron decay with a significance level of 4.9σ. Utilizing the large positive Q value of the (^{8}He,^{8}Be) reaction, an almost recoilless condition of the four-neutron system was achieved so as to obtain a weakly interacting four-neutron system efficiently.

A rotational band from \(7/2^{ - }\) to \(19/2^{ - }\) was observed in ^35S. The half-life of the transition from the \(19/2^{ - }\) state to \(15/2^{ - }\) state was determined by using the residual Doppler shift of the \(\gamma \)-ray peak. The deduced half-life and the relative intensities of in-band transitions indicate the presence of superdeformed structure in ^35S. The shell model calculation showed that multi-particle multi-hole configurations including \(f_{7/2}\) orbitals are essential for superdeformation in ^35S.

More than 450 bacterial strains were examined for their ability to reduce ethyl 2-methyl-3-oxobutanoate (1) to ethyl 3-hydroxy-2-methylbutanoate. Nine strains of enteric bacteria were found to predominantly yield the product with a syn configuration. Of these strains, five gave ethyl (2R,3S) 3-hydroxy-2-methylbutanoate (2a) with more than 98% diastereoisomeric excess (d.e.) and over 99%. enantiomeric excess (e.e.) Klebsiella pneumoniae IFO 3319 was found to give the highest d.e., e.e., and chemical yield at a high concentration of 1. Reduction of 1 was then done with the bacterium in a 200-liter fermentor. Two kilograms of 1 was converted to 2a with 99 %d.e., >99% e.e., and 99% chemical yield.

An enzyme that catalyzes a reduction of ethyl 2-methyl-3-oxobutanoate (1) to ethyl (2R,3S) 3-hydroxy- 2-methylbutanoate was found in Klebsiella pneumoniae IFO 3319 cells. The enzyme was isolated from the cells and purified 250-fold by ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography, and gel filtration. The purified enzyme was found to be a monomer protein with a molecular weight of approximately 31,000 and an isoelectric point of 6.2. It was NADPH-dependent and had maximum activity at pH 7.0 and 45°C for the reduction and at pH 10.0 and 45°C for oxidation. The Km's at pH 7.0 were 5.6 mM for 1 and 12.5 mM for benzyl 2-methyl-3-oxobutanoate, respectively. Esters of 2-oxocycloalkane carboxylic acids as well as esters of 2-methyl-3-oxobutanoic acid served as substrates, and the corresponding reduced products were obtained with high stereoselectivity.

The double-differential cross sections for the (208)Pb and (90)Zr(t,(3)He) reactions at 300 MeV/u have been measured at the RI Beam Factory at RIKEN. This was the first physics experiment with the SHARAQ magnetic spectrometer. The combined analysis of the present (t,(3)He) data and previous (n,p) data provides the clearest identification for the β(+) isovector spin monopole resonance both in the (208)Tl and (90)Y nuclei, and puts the observations of this giant resonance on a firm foundation. The measured distributions of the (t,(3)He) monopole cross sections were well reproduced by the distorted-wave Born approximation calculation, where the target transition density was calculated with the self-consistent Hartree-Fock plus random-phase approximation using the T43 Skyrme interaction. A major part of the expected β(+) isovector spin monopole strength was found in the measured cross section spectra.

A novel enzyme, N-acylamino acid racemase, was purified to homogeneity from Streptomyces atratus Y-53 and characterized. This enzyme catalyzes the interconversion of optically active N-acylamino acids. The relative molecular mass (Mr) of the enzyme was estimated to be about 41 000 and 244 000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration, respectively, indicating that the enzyme is composed of six subunits with an equal Mr. The enzyme showed a broad substrate specificity toward N-acylamino acids, such as N-acetylmethionine, N-chloroacetylphenylalanine and N-chloroacetylvaline. The apparent Michaelis constant (Km) values for N-acetyl-l-methionine and N-acetyl-d-methionine were calculated to be 15.2 and 5.6 mm, respectively. Enzyme activity was markedly enhanced by divalent metal ions, such as Co2+, Mg2+ and Mn2+, and was inhibited by metal-chelating reagent, indicating that the enzyme is a metalloenzyme. We propose to name the enzyme N-acylamino acid racemase (acylamino acid racemase).

International audience; The high-resolution SHARAQ spectrometer and the dedicated high-resolution beamline have been constructed at RI beam factory and commissioned in 2009. Lateral and angular dispersion matching conditions were achieved simultaneously for a primay beam with a momentum spread of 0.1% and an emittance of 3pi mm·mrad (sigma). An overview of the spectrometer and the beam-line, preliminary results from the commissioning runs, and future experimental plan with the system are described.

14th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Cracow, Poland, 2 Jun 2016 - 7 Jun 2016; The European physical journal / Web of Conferences Web of Conferences : proceedings proceedings 130, 01017 (2016). doi:10.1051/epjconf/201613001017, We conduct an experimental project to make spectroscopy of deeply bound pionic atoms systematically over wide range of nuclei. We aim at studying the strong interaction in the low energy region, which has close connection to spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and its partial restoration in nuclear matter. First experimental results show improved spectral resolution and much better statistical sensitivity than previous experiments. Present status of the experiment is reported., Published by EDP Sciences, Les Ulis

The isovector spin monopole resonances (IVSMR) of the β+ type were observed via the 208Pb and 90Zr(t, 3He) reactions at 300 MeV/u. The experiment was performed at the RI Beam Factory (RIBF) at RIKEN by using the newly-constructed magnetic spectrometer SHARAQ. The double differential cross sections for the 208Pb and 90Zr(t, 3He) reactions were obtained at the excitation energy of 0 ≤ Ex ≤ 70 MeV and the scattering angles of 0° ≤ 9 ≤ 3°. The monopole component was obtained as a difference between the zero-degree and backward-angle spectra. The signatures for the IVSMR were discovered at excitation energies of 12 MeV and 20 MeV in 208Pb and 90Zr, respectively, and they show good correspondences to the theoretical predictions.

We introduce the recent development for increasing the performance of the SHARAQ spectrometer, which was operated at RI Beam Factory in RIKEN, Japan. The paper contains main achievements of our developments, which are detector developments, improvements of high-resolution performance at SHARAQ, and developments of new reaction probes to explore new kinds of nuclear responses. By using those new experimental technique, we recently performed various nuclear experiments at SHARAQ. We described here the preliminary results of the experiments together with their brief details.