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Objective. Corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) is a rapid and non-invasive ophthalmic imaging technique that can reveal corneal nerve fiber. The automatic segmentation of corneal nerve fiber in CCM images is vital for the subsequent abnormality analysis, which is the main basis for the early diagnosis of degenerative neurological systemic diseases such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Approach. In this paper, a U-shape encoder–decoder structure based multi-scale and local feature guidance neural network (MLFGNet) is proposed for the automatic corneal nerve fiber segmentation in CCM images. Three novel modules including multi-scale progressive guidance (MFPG) module, local feature guided attention (LFGA) module, and multi-scale deep supervision (MDS) module are proposed and applied in skip connection, bottom of the encoder and decoder path respectively, which are designed from both multi-scale information fusion and local information extraction perspectives to enhance the network’s ability to discriminate the global and local structure of nerve fibers. The proposed MFPG module solves the imbalance between semantic information and spatial information, the LFGA module enables the network to capture attention relationships on local feature maps and the MDS module fully utilizes the relationship between high-level and low-level features for feature reconstruction in the decoder path. Main results. The proposed MLFGNet is evaluated on three CCM image Datasets, the Dice coefficients reach 89.33%, 89.41%, and 88.29% respectively. Significance. The proposed method has excellent segmentation performance for corneal nerve fibers and outperforms other state-of-the-art methods.

An accurate target source position is sometimes useful for the pointing observation with the collimated telescopes of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT), which is determined by the reliability of the instrumental response. Insight-HXMT has the unique design that all three main payloads (LE, ME and HE) consist of detector groups with three fields of views (FOVs) whose orientations differ by 60°. As the point-spread functions are different at different positions in the FOV coordinates, the count rate ratios between the detector groups depend on the position of an X-ray source in the FOVs. Based on the multi-FOV design, we develop a localization method for an X-ray source in the pointing observation of Insight-HXMT. The accuracy of the method is investigated with the pointing observations of the Crab with different exposures. We find that the statistical error decreases with the exposure, and the systematic error is dominant for the exposure >128 s. With the exposure of 1024 s, the total error is 0.°015 for the Crab. This method can effectively distinguish the Rapid Burster H 1730–333 and Slow Burster GX 354–0, which are only 0.°5 apart and can both contribute to bursts in the light curve obtained by Insight-HXMT. We also apply the pointing observation localization method to locate the X-ray counterpart of FRB 200428 with high precision. The located position is consistent with SGR J1935+2154 within 1σ uncertainty of 10′, which provides important evidence that fast radio bursts can originate from magnetars.

Dielectronic recombination (DR) rate coefficients for carbon-like Kr30+ have been measured over the collision energy of 0–60 eV using the heavy-ion storage ring CSRe at the Institute of Modern Physics in Lanzhou, China. The present DR spectrum covers the resonances associated with the 2 s 2 2 p 2 [ 3 P 0 ] → 2 s 2 2 p 2 [ 3 P 1 , 2 ] , 2 s 2 p 3 and 2 p 4 ( Δ n = 0 ) core excitations. The corresponding DR resonance energies and strengths have been calculated by using the flexible atomic code (FAC) to understand the measured results. An overall agreement has been obtained between the experiment and theory, except for the data at the collision energies below 7 eV and in 35–38 eV, where the electronic correlation effect is strong. In particular, the resonances from the trielectronic recombination due to 2 s 2 2 p 2 + e − → 2 p 4 [ 1 D 2 ] 6 l have been identified with the help of the FAC calculation. Temperature-dependent plasma recombination rate coefficients were derived from the measured DR rate coefficients for the temperature range 103–107 K and compared with our FAC calculations as well as the previous AUTOSTRUCTURE calculations by Zatsarinny et al (2004 Astron. Astrophys. 417 1173–81). The FAC and AUTOSTRUCTURE calculations are in good agreement with the presently derived plasma rate coefficients. The present work provides the benchmark data for astrophysical and laboratory plasma modeling.

In Power cycling test, for low-voltage and low-power modules, it is generally considered that the saturation voltage drop VCE(sat) reaches 105% of the initial value or the thermal resistance Rth reaches 120% of the initial value as the basis for judging the failure of the IGBT module. However, since the high-voltage and high-power IGBT modules are connected in parallel with multiple chips, there are differences in the aging speed of the chips, and the degradation of individual chips has little influence on the parameters of the entire module, so the failure judgment standard may not be applicable. In order to obtain the degradation of the characteristic parameters of the high-voltage and high-power IGBT module in the power cycle test, this paper selects the 6500V/600A IGBT module as the research object, adopts the experimental method of constant junction temperature fluctuation, and tests the module parameters after every cycle 20,000 times until the module fails. Three failure modes were found through the test: GE failure, CE failure, GE and CE failure. And the degradation law of the parameters of the high-voltage and high-power IGBT module during the power cycling test was obtained.

The rate coefficients for dielectronic recombination (DR) of lithium-like 40Ca17+ ions with ∆n = 0 core excitations are derived from electron–ion recombination spectra measured with merged-beams method at the heavy-ion storage ring CSRm. The experimental DR spectrum, in the electron–ion collision energy range of 0 to 42 eV in the center-of-mass frame, comprises of all DR resonance peaks belong to the 2s 2 S 1/2 → 2p 2 P 1/2, 3/2 core excitations. The resonant energies and strengths for the resolved resonances in 2pjnl series are determined by fitting of the measured DR peaks. The further interpretation of the measured DR rate coefficients has been performed by calculating the DR rate coefficients with relativistic configuration-interaction method implemented in flexible atomic code (FAC) and compared with the experimental results. The experimental results and FAC calculations are found to be in a good agreement within the experimental uncertainties. Moreover, temperature dependent plasma rate coefficients were constructed from 4 × 103 to 1 × 107 K energy region by convoluting experimental and theoretical DR rate coefficients with the Maxwellian energy distribution function and then compared with previously available data. The plasma DR rate coefficient is found to be significantly underestimated by the early theoretical data calculated by Jacobs et al, and Mazotta et al in the low temperature. In contrast, a very good agreement has been found between the theoretical DR data of Gu and Colgan et al and the presently measured results at the low temperature region. Therefore, the results in this work composed of a bench-mark data set for plasma modeling at the photoionized temperature range. We have also provided a fit to our measured and theoretical plasma rate coefficients for low temperature plasma modeling.

The High Intensity heavy-ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) is under construction. The lattice of HIAF/BRing is the same for both heavy ion beams and proton beam. Since the proton beam will cross the transition energy during acceleration, a γt jump scheme with maximum Δ γt of 2 is designed to reduce the growth of momentum spread and influence of collective effects near transition. The broadband impedance of the ceramic-lined rings in the vacuum chamber has been significantly reduced by a 2 μm-copper coating. Thus, the impedance model has been updated for analyzing collective effects in the BRing. The longitudinal collective effects can be compensated by the multi-harmonic feedforward system. The transition energy crossing point should be optimized to reduce the bunch oscillations after transitions. In both two transverse planes, the normalized emittance growth given by the Simulation Platform for Collective Instabilities (CISP) are stopped by the broadband impedance near transition and there is no obvious transverse collective instability, which is quite different from the Vlasov results. More researches will be performed to find out the reason.

Recombination of Ar14+, Ar15+, Ca16+, and Ni19+ ions with electrons has been investigated at low energy range based on the merged-beam method at the main cooler storage ring CSRm in the Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou, China. For each ion, the absolute recombination rate coefficients have been measured with electron–ion collision energies from 0 meV to 1000 meV which include the radiative recombination (RR) and also dielectronic recombination (DR) processes. In order to interpret the measured results, RR cross sections were obtained from a modified version of the semi-classical Bethe and Salpeter formula for hydrogenic ions. DR cross sections were calculated by a relativistic configuration interaction method using the flexible atomic code (FAC) and AUTOSTRUCTURE code in this energy range. The calculated RR + DR rate coefficients show a good agreement with the measured value at the collision energy above 100 meV. However, large discrepancies have been found at low energy range especially below 10 meV, and the experimental results show a strong enhancement relative to the theoretical RR rate coefficients. For the electron–ion collision energy below 1 meV, it was found that the experimentally observed recombination rates are higher than the theoretically predicted and fitted rates by a factor of 1.5 to 3.9. The strong dependence of RR rate coefficient enhancement on the charge state of the ions has been found with the scaling rule of q 3.0, reproducing the low-energy recombination enhancement effects found in other previous experiments.

Synopsis At the main cooler storage ring (CSRm) of IMP, Lanzhou, we have measured merged-beams rate coefficients for dielectronic recombination (DR) of F-like Ni in the energy range 0-160 eV which comprises all DR resonances associated with ΔN = 0 core excitations. We compare our results with calculations by the flexible atomic code (FAC). Good agreement is found between calculated and measured resonance parameters except for the low-energy 2s 2p6 (2S1/2)61 resonances. In addition, we have also derived plasma rate-coefficients from our data for applications in astrophysics.

The new injector SSC-LINAC is under design and construction to improve the efficiency and intensity of beams for the Separated-Sector Cyclotron (SSC). This will be accomplished with a normal conducting radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator. To match with the SSC, the RFQ must be operated on Continuous Wave (CW) mode with a frequency of 53.667 MHz. A four-rod structure was adopted for small dimensions of the cavity. While, it was a huge challenge on CW mode. A multi-physics theoretical analysis, including RF, thermal, structural and frequency shift coupling analysis, have been completed in response to the safe and stable operation of the RFQ. The experimental measurement of frequency shift has been also completed, which is consistent with the simulation. In this paper, the results of theoretical analysis and experiment are reported in detail.

An accelerator complex for Space Environment Simulation and Research Infrastructure (SESRI) has been designed by Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) and will be constructed in Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). This accelerator consists of an ECR ion source, a linac injector, a synchrotron and 3 experiment terminals. As an important part of the complex, the linac injector should provide both proton and different kinds of heavy ions, from helium to bismuth, with energy of 5 MeV and 1 MeV/u respectively for the synchrotron. In order to provide beams with the mass to charge ratio (A/Q) range from 1 to 6.5 (for proton to 209Bi32+) by only one linac injector, a special solution of the main acceleration section DTL is carried out. The relevant dynamics calculations, such as beam matching, stripping process of the hydrogen molecule ion and beam energy spread reducing, are performed by Particle in Cell (PIC) method.

We model the evolution of the spin frequency's second derivative $\ddot\nu$ and the braking index $n$ of radio pulsars with simulations within the phenomenological model of their surface magnetic field evolution, which contains a long-term power-law decay modulated by short-term oscillations. For the pulsar PSR B0329+54, a model with three oscillation components can reproduce its $\ddot\nu$ variation. We show that the "averaged" $n$ is different from the instantaneous $n$, and its oscillation magnitude decreases abruptly as the time span increases, due to the "averaging" effect. The simulated timing residuals agree with the main features of the reported data. Our model predicts that the averaged $\ddot\nu$ of PSR B0329+54 will start to decrease rapidly with newer data beyond those used in Hobbs et al.. We further perform Monte Carlo simulations for the distribution of the reported data in $|\ddot\nu|$ and $|n|$ versus characteristic age $\tau_{\rm c}$ diagrams. It is found that the magnetic field oscillation model with decay index $\alpha=0$ can reproduce the distributions quite well. Compared with magnetic field decay due to the ambipolar diffusion ($\alpha=0.5$) and the Hall cascade ($\alpha=1.0$), the model with no long term decay ($\alpha=0$) is clearly preferred for old pulsars by the p-values of the two-dimensional Kolmogorov-Smirnov test., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in RAA. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1307.6413

The SSC-linac (a new injector for the Separated Sector Cyclotron) is being designed in the HIRFL (Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou) system to accelerate 238U34+ from 3.72 keV/u to 1.008 MeV/u. As a part of the SSC-linac injector, the HEBT (high energy beam transport) has been designed by using the TRACE-3D code and simulated by the 3D PIC (particle-in-cell) Track code. The total length of the HEBT is about 12 meters and a beam line of about 6 meters are shared with the exiting beam line of the HIRFL system. The simulation results show that the particles can be delivered efficiently in the HEBT and the particles at the exit of the HEBT well match the acceptance of the SSC for further acceleration. The dispersion is eliminated absolutely in the HEBT. The space-charge effect calculated by the Track code is inconspicuous. According to the simulation, more than 60 percent of the particles from the ion source can be transported into the acceptance of the SSC.

The tuning process of the three-dimensional electric field near the beam axis is very important in the optimization of the Interdigital H-mode Drift Tube Linac (IH-DTL). The tuning of the longitudinal field distribution, the Kilpatrik (Kp) factor, and the transverse dipole field have been discussed in detail, combined with the radio-frequency tuning process of the 53.667 MHz short IH-DTL cavity, which was designed to accelerate 238U34+ from 0.143 MeV/u to 0.289 MeV/u in the SSC-Linac injector project at the Institute of Modern Physics. The flatness criterion and the tube tuning method are discussed in order to meet the beam dynamics requirements. In the tube tuning process, the energy gain error in the cells should be reduced to less than ±2%, and the Kp factor should be reduced to 1.6. The transverse dipole field and the method that uses a "plunger" to dismiss this dipole field are evaluated. The experience gained from the first cavity optimization benefits the tuning process of the three remaining IH-DTL cavities in the SSC-Linac project.

A new linear accelerator system, called the SSC-Linac injector, is being designed at HIRFL (the heavy ion research facility of Lanzhou). As part of the SSC-Linac, the medium energy beam transport (MEBT) consists of seven magnetic quadrupoles, a re-buncher and a diagnose box. The total length of this segment is about 1.75 m. The beam dynamics simulation in MEBT has been studied using the TRACK 3D particle-in-cell code, and the simulation result shows that the beam accelerated from the radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) matches well with the acceptance of the following drift tube linac (DTL) in both the transverse and longitudinal phase spaces, and that most of the particles can be captured by the final sector focusing cyclotron for further acceleration. The longitudinal emittance of the RFQ and the longitudinal acceptance of the DTL was calculated in detail, and a multi-particle beam dynamics simulation from the ion source to the end of the DTL was done to verify the original design.

A new procedure for the design and simulation of a Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator has been developed at the Argonne National Laboratory. This procedure is integrated with the beam dynamics design code DESRFQ and the simulation code TRACK, which are based on three-dimensional field calculations and the particle-in-cell mode beam dynamics simulations. This procedure has been applied to the development of a 162.5 MHz CW RFQ which is capable of delivering a 10 mA proton beam for the Accelerator Driven System (ADS) of the CAS. The simulation results show that this RFQ structure is characterized by the stable values of the beam acceleration efficiency for both the zero current beam and space charge dominated beam. For an average beam current of 10 mA, there is no transverse rms emittance growth, the longitudinal rms emittance at the exit of RFQ is low enough and there is no halo formation. The beam accelerated in the RFQ could be accepted easily and smoothly by the following super-conducting linear accelerator.

The ABC code is an optimization program for the development of matching channels and dynamical matchers in radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) structures, and a new approach to this code to define the geometry of the radial matching section of the RFQ has been developed. This approach is based on the application of the numerical optimization step by step. This optimization is intended to search for the initial matching condition of a beam, the optimization of parameters of a cell of the channel on given characteristic parameters and traces of a beam in linear channels in both forward and backward directions. To further verify the results of the optimization, multi-particle beam dynamics simulations have been carried out using the BEAMPATH and TRACK codes. The result of the beam dynamics simulation shows that the optimization result of the ABC code is reasonable and this approach provides an opportunity to redesign the structure of the radial matching section of the RFQ.

A new SSC-linac system (injector into separated sector cyclotron) is being designed in the HIRFL (heavy ion research facility of Lanzhou). As part of SSC-Linac, the LEBT (low energy beam transport) consists of seven solenoids, four quadrupoles, a bending magnet and an extra multi-harmonic buncher. The total length of this segment is about 7 meters. The beam dynamics in this LEBT has been studied using three-dimensional PIC (particle-in-cell) code BEAMPATH. The simulation results show that the continuous beam from the ion source is first well analyzed by a charge-to-mass selection system, and the beam of the selected charge-to-mass ratio is then efficiently pre-bunched by a multi-harmonic buncher and optimally matched into the RFQ (radio frequency quadrupole) for further acceleration. The principles and effects of the solenoid collimation channel are discussed, and it could limit the beam emittance by changing the aperture size.

Particles in a storage ring oscillate in the longitudinal and transverse dimensions. Therefore, the signal that beam has generated can be analyzed in the frequency domain to extract many beam parameters, such as tune, momentum spread, emittance and their evolution with time and so on. In this paper, the transverse spectrum in HIRFL-CSR was simulated and analyzed under different conditions, including electron cooling, hollow electron beam, solenoid effect, the tune shift caused by power supply ripple and the misalignment between ion and electron beams. The result of the simulation shows that the longitudinal magnetic field of the electron cooling device should be compensated by a "compensation solenoid", and the power supply ripple must be controlled, otherwise the accumulation would be affected and the beam would be lost.

The accuracy of dielectronic recombination (DR) data for astrophysics related ions plays a key role in astrophysical plasma modeling. The measurement of the absolute DR rate coefficient of Fe17+ ions was performed at the main cooler storage ring at Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou, China. The experimental electron-ion collision energy range covers first Rydberg series up to n = 24 for the DR resonances associated with the 2P1/2--2P3/2 dn = 0 core excitations. A theoretical calculation was performed by using FAC code and compared with the measured DR rate coefficient. Overall reasonable agreement was found between the experimental results and calculations. Moreover, plasma rate coefficient was deduced from the experimental DR rate coefficient and compared with the available results from the literature. At the low energy range significant discrepancies were found therein and the measured resonances challenged state-of-the-art theory at the low collision energies., Comment: to be published in Chinese Physics C

A radio-frequency (rf) plasma sheath model in an oblique magnetic field is established and the energy distribution of ions (IED) incident on the rf sheath biased electrodes is numerically investigated. The simulation results reveal that the external magnetic field can have a decisive impact on the ion flux and energy distribution of the sheath. The ion energy can be transferred between the perpendicular and parallel components under the action of a magnetic field.

Electron-ion recombination of Be-like 40Ar14+ has been measured for the first time at the main Cooler Storage Ring (CSRm) at Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL), China. The absolute rate coefficients over 0-60 eV electron-ion energy were obtained and all the resonances associated with the Δn=0 dielectronic recombination channel (2s2→2s2p) were studied. In addition to radiative and dielectronic recombination, the recombination spectrum also shows strong contributions from trielectronic recombination channel (2s2→2p2). The experimental method and preliminary results are presented.

A semi-analytical method is introduced to study kink instability in cylindrical plasma with line-tied boundary conditions. The method is based on an expansion for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations in one-dimensional (1D) radial eigenvalue problems by using Fourier transforms. The MHD equations then become an ordinary differential equation. This method is applicable to both ideal and non-ideal MHD problem. The effect of plasma pressure (P0) on kink instability is studied in a cylindrical geometry. Complex discrete spectra are presented. Two-dimensional (2D) eigenfunctions with the line-tied boundary conditions are obtained. The growth rate and radial eigenfunctions are different in the two cases of P0 = 0 and P0 ≠ 0, which indicate that the effect of plasma pressure can not be ignored if it is large enough. This method allows us to understand the role of individual radial eigenfunctions, and is also computationally efficient compared to direct solutions of the MHD equations by the finite difference method.

A one-dimensional slab model of the plasma sheath in the stationary plasma thruster (SPT) chamber is developed in this study. It is considered that secondary electrons emitted from ceramic walls are partially trapped by the bulk plasma in the SPT chamber; some secondary electrons drift across the sheath where they are generated and the bulk and move towards the opposite sheath. Thus both the secondary electron emission (SEE) from one sheath and the partially trapped secondary electrons from the opposite sheath contribute to this sheath. The results indicate that both the SEE coefficient and trapping coefficient have a significant impact not only on the distributions of both electrons and ions of the SPT sheath but also on the energy flux loss to the SPT wall. When the trapping coefficient increases, the energy flux of electrons deposited to the walls will increase whereas that of ions will decrease. Besides, the critical electron temperature will decrease greatly with the increase of the trapping coefficient.