G Paoluzzi

Exposure to 915 MHz radiation induces micronuclei in Vicia faba root tips

The increasing use of mobile phones and wireless networks raised a great debate about the real carcinogenic potential of radiofrequency-electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure associated with these devices. Conflicting results are reported by the great majority of in vivo and in vitro studies on the capability of RF-EMF exposure to induce DNA damage and mutations in mammalian systems. Aimed at understanding whether less ambiguous responses to RF-EMF exposure might be evidenced in plant systems with respect to mammalian ones, in the present work the mutagenic effect of RF-EMF has been studied through the micronucleus (MN) test in secondary roots of Vicia faba seedlings exposed to mobile phone transmission in controlled conditions, inside a transverse electro magnetic (TEM) cell. Exposure of roots was carried out for 72h using a continuous wave (CW) of 915 MHz radiation at three values of equivalent plane wave power densities (23, 35 and 46W/m(2)). The specific absorption rate (SAR) was measured with a calorimetric method and the corresponding values were found to fall in the range of 0.4-1.5W/kg. Results of three independent experiments show the induction of a significant increase of MN frequency after exposure, ranging from a 2.3-fold increase above the sham value, at the lowest SAR level, up to a 7-fold increase at the highest SAR. These findings are in agreement with the limited number of data on cytogenetic effects detected in other plant systems exposed to mobile phone RF-EMF frequencies and clearly show the capability of radiofrequency exposure to induce DNA damage in this eukaryotic cell system.

Status of the NA62 liquid krypton electromagnetic calorimeter Level 0 trigger processor

The NA62 experiment at CERN SPS aims to measure the Branching Ratio of the very rare kaon decay K⁺ → π⁺νν̄ collecting O(100) events with a 10% background to make a stringent test of the Standard Model. One of the main backgrounds to the proposed measurement is represented by the K⁺ → π⁺π⁰ decay. To suppress this background an efficient photo veto system is foreseen. In the 1–10 mrad angular region the NA48 high performance liquid krypton electromagnetic calorimeter is used. The design, implementation and current status of the Liquid Krypton Electromagnetic Calorimeter Level 0 Trigger are presented.

The NA62 Liquid Krypton Electromagnetic Calorimeter Level 0 Trigger

The NA62 experiment at CERN SPS aims to measure the Branching Ratio of the very rare kaon decay K+ → π+νν collecting O(100) events with a 10% background to make a stringent test of the Standard Model. One of the main backgrounds to the proposed measurement is represented by the K+ → π+π0 decay. To suppress this background an efficient photo veto system is foreseen. In the 1–10 mrad angular region the NA48 high performance liquid krypton electromagnetic calorimeter is used. The design, implementation and current status of the Liquid Krypton Electromagnetic Calorimeter Level 0 Trigger are presented.

Use of FPGA embedded processors for fast cluster reconstruction in the NA62 liquid krypton electromagnetic calorimeter

The goal of the NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS is the measurement of the Branching Ratio of the very rare kaon decay K+??+??? with a 10% accuracy by collecting 100 events in two years of data taking. An efficient photon veto system is needed to reject the K+??+??0 background and a liquid krypton electromagnetic calorimeter will be used for this purpose in the 1-10 mrad angular region. The L0 trigger system for the calorimeter consists of a peak reconstruction algorithm implemented on FPGA by using a mixed parallel architecture based on soft core Altera NIOS II embedded processors together with custom VHDL modules. This solution allows an efficient and flexible reconstruction of the energy-deposition peak. The system will be totally composed of 36 TEL62 boards, 108 mezzanine cards and 215 high-performance FPGAs. We describe the design, current status and the results of the first performance tests.

First operation of the level-0 trigger of the NA62 liquid krypton calorimeter

The NA62 experiment at CERN Super Proton Synchrotron aims at studying ultra-rare decays of charged kaons for precise tests of the Standard Model. The complete experimental setup is being commissioned for the first physics data taking in the autumn of 2014. This paper presents the final design and implementation of the Level-0 trigger system of the LKr calorimeter, acting as hermetic photon veto of the experiment in the 1-8.5 mrad region. The first on-field performance tests are presented.

Development and test results of a digital data transmission system for Liquid Krypton Calorimeter level 0 trigger system for the NA62 experiment at CERN

The NA62 experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) aims to measure the Branching Ratio of the very rare kaon decay K+ → π+νν, collecting O (100) events with a 10% background to make a stringent test of the Standard Model. One of the main backgrounds to the proposed measurement is represented by the K+ → π+π0, decay. To suppress this background an efficient photo veto system is foreseen with the Liquid Krypton (LKr) Electromagnetic Calorimeter Level 0 (L0) trigger. The development of a high-performance as well as reliable digital data system addresses this issue providing a mean to have the right bandwidth and efficiency to transmit experimental data to and from the counting room. This paper describes the LKr L0 trigger system, with particular emphasis for what concerns a LVDS digital data link used inside the system. Some aspects relative to the test set-up implementation as well as protocol test used to evaluate and qualify the digital data system are also part of the paper.

The Level-0 calorimetric trigger of the NA62 experiment

The NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS aims at measuring the branching ratio of the very rare kaon decay K+ → π+ ν (expected 10−10) with a 10% background. Since an high-intensity kaon beam is required to collect enough statistics, the Level-0 trigger plays a fundamental role in both the background rejection and in the particle identification. The calorimetric trigger collects data from various calorimeters and it is able to identify clusters of energy deposit and determine their position, fine-time and energy. This paper describes the complete hardware commisioning and the setup of the trigger for the 2015 physics data taking.

The Level 0 trigger processor of the NA62 liquid krypton electromagnetic calorimeter

The NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS aims to measure the Branching Ratio of the ultra-rare decay K+ → π+ νν̅, collecting about 100 events in two years of data taking with a signal to background ratio of 10:1. An hermetic photon veto system has been designed to efficiently reject the pi0 background, one of the main background sources, and the 20-ton liquid krypton calorimeter is a fundamental component of such system in the angular acceptance region 1-10 mrad. We present the design of the Level 0 trigger processor that identifies electromagnetic clusters in the calorimeter providing information on time, position and energy reconstruction for each cluster. It is composed of 36 readout boards (TEL62), organized in a three layer parallel system, 108 mezzanines and 215 high-performance FPGAs. It is designed to sustain an instantaneous hit rate of 30 MHz, to process data with a latency of about 100 μs, and to achieve a time resolution of 1.5 ns on the single cluster. Updated production and functionality test results of a trigger slice are presented.

The NA62 Calorimeter Level 0 Trigger Operation and Performances

The NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS aims to measure the branching ratio of the very rare kaon decay

Performance and operation of the calorimetric trigger processor of the NA62 experiment at CERN SPS

K^+ rightarrow pi^+ nu bar{nu}