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The experimental investigation of Heavy Ion reactions at Fermi energies requires an accurate measurement of observables, such as linear momentum and energy of the detected particles. In order to address this problem, dedicated and flexible correlator arrays are useful tools to be coupled with 4π detectors. One of these arrays is FARCOS, presently under construction at the INFN Sezione di Catania and Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS).

During the last four years, several measurements have been carried out where the capabilities of FARCOS array were tested. In some of this occasions, FARCOS was coupled to the 4π array CHIMERA, permanently placed at INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania in order to be tested in real experimental measurements. At the present situation, the FARCOS demonstrator is formed by 4 telescopes out of the originally 20 that will constitute the final array. Here are presented some preliminary results obtained with the new array, probing its qualities and showing the effectiveness of FARCOS telescopes. The initial encouraging results support the construction of the complete array.

A new front-end based on digital GET electronics has been adopted for the readout of the CsI(Tl) detectors of the CHIMERA 4π multi-detector and for the new modular Femtoscopy Array for Correlation and Spectroscopy (FARCOS). It is expected that the coupling of CHIMERA with the FARCOS array, featuring high angular and energy resolution, and the adoption of the new digital electronics will be well suited for improving specific future data analysis, with the full shape storage of the signals, in the field of heavy ion reactions with stable and exotic beams around the Fermi energies domain. Integration of the GET electronics with CHIMERA and FARCOS devices and with the local analog data acquisition will be briefly discussed. We present some results from previous experimental tests and from the first in-beam experiment (Hoyle-Gamma) with the coupled GET+CHIMERA data acquisition.

The XAFS beamline at Elettra Synchrotron in Trieste combines X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction to provide chemically specific structural information of materials. It operates in the energy range 2.4-27 keV by using a silicon double reflection Bragg monochromator. The fluorescence measurement is performed in place of the absorption spectroscopy when the sample transparency is too low for transmission measurements or the element to study is too diluted in the sample. We report on the development and on the preliminary tests of a new prototype detector based on Silicon Drift Detectors technology and the SIRIO ultra low noise front-end ASIC. The new system will be able to reduce drastically the time needed to perform fluorescence measurements, while keeping a short dead time and maintaining an adequate energy resolution to perform spectroscopy. The custom-made silicon sensor and the electronics are designed specifically for the beamline requirements.

Nuclear matter under extreme conditions can be studied in the laboratory with heavy-ion collisions. In this case one can indeed vary the incident energy and explore different impact parameter and rapidity regions to access densities that extend above and below saturation. This opportunity allows one to learn about the nuclear equation of state and its implications in astrophysics phenomena such as supernovae explosions and neutron stars properties. All these phenomena involve time scales that need to be accessed with two- and multi-particle correlation measurements. In this contribution a brief report of the FARCOS array will be presented. In particular, tests with alpha sources and beams and preliminary results from a recent experiment INKIISSY performed using a FARCOS prototype made of four telescopes will be presented.

We have recently evaluated the quality of γ-ray angular distributions that can be extracted in particle-gamma coincidence measurements using the CHIMERA detector at LNS. γ-rays have been detected using the CsI(Tl) detectors of the spherical part of the CHIMERA array. Very clean γ-rays angular distributions were extracted in reactions induced by different stable beams impinging on 12C thin targets. The results evidenced an effect of projectile spin flip on the γ-rays angular distributions. γ-particle coincidence measurements were also performed in reactions induced by neutron rich exotic beams produced through in-flight fragmentation at LNS. In recent experiments also the Farcos array was used to improve energy and angular resolution measurements of the detected charged particles. Results obtained with both stable and radioactive beams are reported.

ASTAROTH is a novel R&D project which aims at improving the physics reach of future direct dark matter detection experiments based on NaI(Tl) scintillating crystals. There is a strong need to test the long standing DAMA positive observation of an annual modulation that could be due to Dark Matter (DM), with the same target material and in a model independent way. ASTAROTH aim is the enhancement of the sensitivity to the annual modulation signal, compared with present technology, by lowering the detection energy threshold in order to observe sub-keV recoils for the first time. This can be achieved by reading the scintillation light from the NaI(Tl) crystals with arrays of Silicon PhotoMultipliers (SiPM), and placing the detectors in a cryogenic environment. SiPMs feature lower dark noise than Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) at T < 150 K and allow for higher light collection. The cooling medium is liquid Argon, as it is an excellent scintillator that can be instrumented to act as a veto against several backgrounds. Here we present the status of the ASTAROTH project, introducing the innovative design of the detector chamber that will be used for the demonstration of the technology. Then, we will show the preliminary results of our first ever measurements performed on a single NaI(Tl) crystal read out by one SiPM array in a cryogenic set-up cooled with liquid nitrogen.

MicroRNA-21 (miRNA-21) has been described as one of the most significantly upregulated miRNAs in human breast cancer. However, limited knowledge exists on miRNA-21 expression in breast cancer tissue after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The aim of this study was to assess miRNA-21 expression in the tumor tissues of Brazilian patients with breast cancer who underwent NAC and its correlation with clinicopathological variables. Utilizing qRT-PCR, miRNA-21 expression in tumor tissue was measured in a cohort of female patients with breast cancer who underwent NAC. The correlation of miRNA-21 expression with breast cancer molecular subtypes and other clinicopathological variables was also assessed. A total of 55 patients were included in the study, and 28 (50.9%) underwent NAC. miRNA-21 was upregulated in patients with breast cancer, regardless of previous exposure to chemotherapy, molecular subtypes, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging and lymph node status of the axilla. miRNA-21 expression did not differ between patients with breast cancer who achieved a pathologic complete response after NAC and healthy controls. miRNA-21 was upregulated in the tumor tissue of Brazilian patients with breast cancer regardless of NAC treatment, which reinforces its role as an \"oncomiR\" and a potential biomarker.

In past experiments, mass asymmetric projectile-target combinations124Sn+64Ni and 112Sn+58Ni were investigated at ELab(112'124Sn)=35 A.MeVbeam energybyusing the 4n multi-detector CHIMERA. From a quantitative comparison of cross sections associated to Statistical and Dynamical Fission of the Projectile-Like Fragments, it resulted that Dynamical Fission process is about two times more probable in the neutron rich 124Sn+64Ni system than in the 112 Sn +58 Ni neutron poor one. In contrast, no sizable difference was found for Statistical Fission mechanism. The observed difference in the strength of the Dynamical effects could arise from the difference in entrance channel Isospin (N/Z) content. In order to disentangle Isospin effects from effects due to the different masses of the two systems, a new experiment 124Xe+64Zn at 35 A.MeV beam energy has been recently carried out.

We propose a quality-of-transmission (QoT) aware heuristic algorithm for the placement of amplifiers in elastic metro-aggregation networks with the objective of minimizing their number while guaranteeing lightpaths' QoT. Results show that optimized amplifier placement can lead to significant reduction of amplifiers with respect to baseline approaches.