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We report a 47-year-old Japanese female with 10 previous treatments for multiple bilateral renal cell carcinoma (RCC) associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease. The 14-mm right lower pole renal tumor was in contact with the right ureter. Laparoscopic cryoablation was performed to protect the ureter wrapped with gauze. Computed tomography (CT) monitoring was used to confirm the precise ≥ 6 mm ice-ball margin. There was no local progression at 6-months post-surgery. The serum creatinine has been stable. This is apparently the first report of combined laparoscopic and CT monitoring of an ice-ball formation and its margin during cryoablation for RCC.

The change of the shell structure in atomic nuclei, so-called “nuclear shell evolution”, occurs due to changes of major configurations through particle-hole excitations inside one nucleus, as well as due to variation of the number of constituent protons or neutrons. We have investigated how the shell evolution affects Gamow-Teller (GT) transitions that dominate the β decay in the region below $^{132}$Sn using the newly obtained experimental data on a long-lived isomer in $^{127}$Ag. The T1/2=67.5(9) ms isomer has been identified with a spin and parity of (27/2+) at an excitation energy of 1942−20+14 keV, and found to decay via an internal transition of an E3 character, which competes with the dominant β-decay branches towards the high-spin states in $^{127}$Cd. The underlying mechanism of a strong GT transition from the $^{127}$Ag isomer is discussed in terms of configuration-dependent optimization of the effective single-particle energies in the framework of a shell-model approach.

12 pags., 6 figs., 3 tabs., Background: The evolution of shell structure around doubly magic exotic nuclei is of great interest in nuclear physics and astrophysics. In the 'southwest' region of Ni78, the development of deformation might trigger a major shift in our understanding of explosive nucleosynthesis. To this end, new spectroscopic information on key close-lying nuclei is very valuable. Purpose: We intend to measure the isomeric and β decay of Co75, with one-proton and two-neutron holes relative to Ni78, to access new nuclear structure information in Co75 and its β-decay daughters Ni75 and Ni74. Methods: The nucleus Co75 is produced in relativistic in-flight fission reactions of U238 at the Radioactive Ion Beam Factory in the RIKEN Nishina Center. Its isomeric and β decay are studied exploiting the BigRIPS and EURICA setups. Results: We obtain partial β-decay spectra for Ni75 and Ni74, and report a new isomeric transition in Co75. The energy [Eγ=1914(2)keV] and half-life [t1/2=13(6)μs] of the delayed γ ray lend support for the existence of a Jπ=(1/2-) isomeric state at 1914(2) keV. A comparison with PFSDG-U shell-model calculations provides a good account for the observed states in Ni75, but the first calculated 1/2- level in Co75, a prolate K=1/2 state, is predicted about 1 MeV below the observed (1/2-) level. Conclusions: The spherical-like structure of the lowest-lying excited states in Ni75 is proved. In the case of Co75, the results suggest that the dominance of the spherical configurations over the deformed ones might be stronger than expected below Ni78. Further experimental efforts to discern the nature of the Jπ=(1/2-) isomer are necessary., The excellent work of the RIKEN accelerator staff for providing a stable and high-intensity beam of 238U is acknowledged. This work was partially supported by KAKENHI (Grants No. 25247045, No. 23.01752, and No. 25800130); US DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-91ER-40609; Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Contracts No. FPA2009-13377-C02, No. FPA2011-29854-C04, No. PID2019-104714GB-C21 (AEI), and No. FPA2017-83946-C2-1-P (MCIU/AEI/FEDER), the Severo Ochoa Programme SEV-2016-0597 and Grant No. PGC-2018-94583; Subvenciones grupos de excelencia de la Generalitat Valenciana: PROMETEO/2019/007; Spanish Comunidad de Madrid via the “Atracción de Talento Investigador” Program No. 2019- T1/TIC-13194; European Regional Development Fund Contract No. GINOP-2.3.3-15-2016-00034; National Research, Development and Innovation Fund of Hungary via Project No. K128947; and the German BMBF Grant No. 05P19RDFN1. The authors acknowledge the EUROBALL Owners Committee for the loan of germanium detectors and the PreSpec Collaboration for the readout electronics of the cluster detectors. Part of the WAS3ABi was supported by the Rare Isotope Science Project which is funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) and National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea

13 pags., 11 figs., 3 tabs., Background: Detailed spectroscopy of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes is of great importance for studying the shell evolution in the region of Ni78. While there is experimental information on excited states in Cu69-73,77,79 isotopes, the information concerning Cu75 is very limited. Purpose: Experimentally observed single-particle, core-coupling, and proton-hole intruder states in Cu75, will complete the systematics of these states in the chain of isotopes. Method: Excited states in Cu75 were populated in the β decay of Ni75 isotopes. The Ni nuclei were produced by the in-flight fission of U238 projectiles, and were separated, identified, and implanted in a highly segmented Si detector array for the detection of the β-decay electrons. The β-delayed γ rays were detected in a HPGe cluster array. Monte Carlo shell model calculations were performed using the A3DA interaction built on the pfg9/2d5/2 model space for both neutrons and protons. Results: A level scheme of Cu75 was built up to ≈4 MeV by performing a γ-γ coincidence analysis. The excited states below 2 MeV were interpreted based on the systematics of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes and the results of the shell model calculations. Conclusions: The evolution of the single-particle, core-coupling, and proton-hole intruder states in the chain of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes is discussed in the present work, in connection with the newly observed level structure of Cu75., This work was carried out at the RIBF operated by RIKEN Nishina Center, RIKEN and CNS, University of Tokyo. The research leading to the results has received funding from the Research Council of Norway under project Grants No. 240104 and No. 213442 and from KAKENHI (under Grants No. 25247045, No. 23.01752, and No. 25800130); U.S. DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-91ER-40609; German BMBF Grant No. 05P19RDFN1 and DFG Grant No. SFB 1245; Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Contracts No. FPA2009-13377C02 and No. FPA2011-29854- C04; and GINOP-2.3.3-15-2016-00034 and the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund OTKA Contract No. K128947. The Monte Carlo shell-model calculations were performed on K computer at RIKEN AICS (hp140210, hp150224, hp160211). This work was supported in part by the HPCI Strategic Program (The Origin of Matter and the Universe), by “Priority Issue on Post-K computer” (Elucidation of the Fundamental Laws and Evolution of the Universe) (hp160211), and by CNS-RIKEN joint project for large-scale nuclear structure calculations. The authors acknowledge the EUROBALL Owners Committee for the loan of germanium detectors and the PreSpec Collaboration for the readout electronics of the cluster detectors. Part of the WAS3ABi was supported by the Rare Isotope Science Project which is funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) and National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea.

Background: Detailed spectroscopy of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes is of great importance for studying the shell evolution in the region of 78Ni. While there is experimental information on excited states in 69−73,77,79Cu isotopes, the information concerning 75Cu is very limited. Purpose: Experimentally observed single-particle, core-coupling, and proton-hole intruder states in 75Cu, will complete the systematics of these states in the chain of isotopes. Method: Excited states in 75Cu were populated in the β decay of 75Ni isotopes. The Ni nuclei were produced by the in-flight fission of 238U projectiles, and were separated, identified, and implanted in a highly segmented Si detector array for the detection of the β-decay electrons. The β-delayed γ rays were detected in a HPGe cluster array. Monte Carlo shell model calculations were performed using the A3DA interaction built on the pfg9/2d5/2 model space for both neutrons and protons. Results: A level scheme of 75Cu was built up to ≈4 MeV by performing a γ−γ coincidence analysis. The excited states below 2 MeV were interpreted based on the systematics of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes and the results of the shell model calculations. Conclusions: The evolution of the single-particle, core-coupling, and proton-hole intruder states in the chain of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes is discussed in the present work, in connection with the newly observed level structure of 75Cu.