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The commissioning of the EXCYT facility has been recently completed by delivering a post-accelerated radioactive beam to the users. Extensive tests of the whole installation have been accomplished over the last year. At the beginning the source and the mass separator were tested by producing a stable 7Li beam, then the charge exchange cell was tested with the same stable beam, and finally a 8Li beam was produced and transported through the mass separator to the Tandem for the post-acceleration. Acceleration tests at the Tandem have started and will be completed in the next few months. In the last year the upgrading programme of the Superconducting Cyclotron has also gone ahead: significant improvements have been introduced to the electrostatic deflector, in order to increase the extracted current of 13C, 45 AMeV beam, since it was chosen as a primary beam for the 8Li production. The project status is given here, along with a detailed description of the commissioning tests performed and the results obtained.

The EXCYT facility at the INFN-LNS is based on a K-800 superconducting cyclotron delivering stable ion beams on a Target Ion Source (TIS) assembly to produce the required nuclear species, and on a 15 MV Tandem for post-accelerating the radioactive beams. For some ion beams such as for Li, the extraction efficiency from the TIS is higher when obtained by positive ionisation, while the injection into the Tandem is possible only after a charge exchange to obtain negative ions. In this work we present the procedures together with the results of the production of 6,7,8,9Li beams extracted at EXCYT during the last year. The production of the radioactive elements was performed by sending a 13C4+primary beam of 45 MeV/u on a graphite target. The ionisation of the production species was achieved by a tungsten positive surface ioniser. The Li+has been extracted from TIS at different energies to cross-check the transmission and the charge exchange efficiency. To perform the conversion from positive to negative ions we employed a Charge Exchange Cell (CEC) containing Cs vapours. The Li beam interacts with the latter in a two-step reaction, thus converting its charge from +1 to –1. The CEC was already characterised during off-line tests; the results obtained at EXCYT confirmed both the isotopic shift effect and the efficiency values at several given extraction energies. Future improvements of the TIS and the CEC are discussed.

Life‐long hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) administration is a main component of prophylactic strategy to prevent hepatitis B virus (HBV) reinfection after liver transplantation (LT). Long‐term effects of HBIG treatment are known only for intravenous (IV) and intramuscular formulations. To evaluate safety and efficacy of self‐administered SC HBIG, 135 LT patients receiving a 48‐week treatment were analyzed. The dose of HBIG was 500 IU or 1000 IU if body weight was <75 kg or ≥75 kg, respectively. Patients were switched from the monthly IV HBIG treatment to weekly SC HBIG 2–3 weeks after the last IV dosage. All patients were able to SC self‐injection after a single training. The treatment was effective in maintaining trough anti‐HBs levels >100 IU/L. No severe drug‐related side effects occurred. Fifteen injection‐site small hematomas and four cases of mild itch occurred. At the end of the study, anti‐HBs median titer was 232 IU/L (115–566 IU/L) and 97.8% of patients had an anti‐HBs level >150 IU/L. Due to high mean level of anti‐HBs titers observed during this study, individualized treatment schedules should be further investigated. In conclusion, SC HBIG for long‐term prophylaxis of post‐LT HBV reinfection resulted safe, well accepted, and effective in maintaining adequate anti‐HBs levels.

Life-long hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) administration is a main component of prophylactic strategy to prevent hepatitis B virus (HBV) reinfection after liver transplantation (LT). Long-term effects of HBIG treatment are known only for intravenous (IV) and intramuscular formulations. To evaluate safety and efficacy of self-administered SC HBIG, 135 LT patients receiving a 48-week treatment were analyzed. The dose of HBIG was 500 IU or 1000 IU if body weight was <75 kg or ≥75 kg, respectively. Patients were switched from the monthly IV HBIG treatment to weekly SC HBIG 2–3 weeks after the last IV dosage. All patients were able to SC self-injection after a single training. The treatment was effective in maintaining trough anti-HBs levels >100 IU/L. No severe drug-related side effects occurred. Fifteen injection-site small hematomas and four cases of mild itch occurred. At the end of the study, anti-HBs median titer was 232 IU/L (115–566 IU/L) and 97.8% of patients had an anti-HBs level >150 IU/L. Due to high mean level of anti-HBs titers observed during this study, individualized treatment schedules should be further investigated. In conclusion, SC HBIG for long-term prophylaxis of post-LT HBV reinfection resulted safe, well accepted, and effective in maintaining adequate anti-HBs levels.

Abstract.: The EXCYT facility at the INFN-LNS is based on a K-800 superconducting cyclotron delivering stable ion beams on a Target Ion Source (TIS) assembly to produce the required nuclear species, and on a 15 MV Tandem for post-accelerating the radioactive beams. For some ion beams such as for Li, the extraction efficiency from the TIS is higher when obtained by positive ionisation, while the injection into the Tandem is possible only after a charge exchange to obtain negative ions. In this work we present the procedures together with the results of the production of 6,7,8,9Li beams extracted at EXCYT during the last year. The production of the radioactive elements was performed by sending a 13C4+ primary beam of 45 MeV/u on a graphite target. The ionisation of the production species was achieved by a tungsten positive surface ioniser. The Li+ has been extracted from TIS at different energies to cross-check the transmission and the charge exchange efficiency. To perform the conversion from positive to negative ions we employed a Charge Exchange Cell (CEC) containing Cs vapours. The Li beam interacts with the latter in a two-step reaction, thus converting its charge from +1 to –1. The CEC was already characterised during off-line tests; the results obtained at EXCYT confirmed both the isotopic shift effect and the efficiency values at several given extraction energies. Future improvements of the TIS and the CEC are discussed.

Abstract.: The commissioning of the EXCYT facility has been recently completed by delivering a post-accelerated radioactive beam to the users. Extensive tests of the whole installation have been accomplished over the last year. At the beginning the source and the mass separator were tested by producing a stable 7Li beam, then the charge exchange cell was tested with the same stable beam, and finally a 8Li beam was produced and transported through the mass separator to the Tandem for the post-acceleration. Acceleration tests at the Tandem have started and will be completed in the next few months. In the last year the upgrading programme of the Superconducting Cyclotron has also gone ahead: significant improvements have been introduced to the electrostatic deflector, in order to increase the extracted current of 13C, 45 AMeV beam, since it was chosen as a primary beam for the 8Li production. The project status is given here, along with a detailed description of the commissioning tests performed and the results obtained.

The commissioning of the EXCYT facility has been recently completed by delivering a post-accelerated radioactive beam to the users. Extensive tests of the whole installation have been accomplished over the last year. At the beginning the source and the mass separator were tested by producing a stable 7Li beam, then the charge exchange cell was tested with the same stable beam, and finally a 8Li beam was produced and transported through the mass separator to the Tandem for the post-acceleration. Acceleration tests at the Tandem have started and will be completed in the next few months. In the last year the upgrading programme of the Superconducting Cyclotron has also gone ahead: significant improvements have been introduced to the electrostatic deflector, in order to increase the extracted current of 13C, 45?AMeV beam, since it was chosen as a primary beam for the 8Li production. The project status is given here, along with a detailed description of the commissioning tests performed and the results obtained.

The EXCYT facility at the INFN-LNS is based on a K-800 superconducting cyclotron delivering stable ion beams on a Target Ion Source (TIS) assembly to produce the required nuclear species, and on a 15?MV Tandem for post-accelerating the radioactive beams. For some ion beams such as for Li, the extraction efficiency from the TIS is higher when obtained by positive ionisation, while the injection into the Tandem is possible only after a charge exchange to obtain negative ions. In this work we present the procedures together with the results of the production of 6,7,8,9Li beams extracted at EXCYT during the last year. The production of the radioactive elements was performed by sending a 13C4+primary beam of 45?MeV/u on a graphite target. The ionisation of the production species was achieved by a tungsten positive surface ioniser. The Li+has been extracted from TIS at different energies to cross-check the transmission and the charge exchange efficiency. To perform the conversion from positive to negative ions we employed a Charge Exchange Cell (CEC) containing Cs vapours. The Li beam interacts with the latter in a two-step reaction, thus converting its charge from +1 to ?1. The CEC was already characterised during off-line tests; the results obtained at EXCYT confirmed both the isotopic shift effect and the efficiency values at several given extraction energies. Future improvements of the TIS and the CEC are discussed.

Recently a bio-artificial liver (BAL) system has been developed at the Academic Medical Center (AMC) of Amsterdam to bridge patients with acute liver failure (ALF) to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). After successful testing of the AMC-BAL in rodents and pigs with ALF, a phase I study in ALF patients waiting for (OLT) was started in Italy. We present the safety outcome of the first 7 patients aged 21–56 years with coma grade III or IV. The total AMC-BAL treatment time ranged from 8 to 35 hours. Three patients received 2 treatments with two different BAL's within three days. Six of the 7 patients were successfully bridged to OLT. One patient showed improved liver function after two treatments and did not need OLT. No severe adverse events of the BAL treatment were noted.Conclusion Treatment of ALF patients with the AMC-BAL is a safe and feasible technique to bridge the waiting time for an adequate liver-graft.

The resonance scattering method in inverse kinematics on infinite target has been applied to two systems, 18O + α and 9Be + α, in order to test and to optimize an experimental apparatus in view of a set of resonance scattering experiments to be performed with 8Li and 9Li radioactive ion beams delivered by the facility EXCYT. The scattering excitation functions, deduced for the two systems, were compared with previous results reported in literature. Results show that reliable stopping power data are essential for the application of this technique.

Abstract.: The resonance scattering method in inverse kinematics on infinite target has been applied to two systems, 18O + α and 9Be + α, in order to test and to optimize an experimental apparatus in view of a set of resonance scattering experiments to be performed with 8Li and 9Li radioactive ion beams delivered by the facility EXCYT. The scattering excitation functions, deduced for the two systems, were compared with previous results reported in literature. Results show that reliable stopping power data are essential for the application of this technique.

The resonance scattering method in inverse kinematics on infinite target has been applied to two systems, 18O + ? and 9Be + ?, in order to test and to optimize an experimental apparatus in view of a set of resonance scattering experiments to be performed with 8Li and 9Li radioactive ion beams delivered by the facility EXCYT. The scattering excitation functions, deduced for the two systems, were compared with previous results reported in literature. Results show that reliable stopping power data are essential for the application of this technique.