Synergistic effects of cryolipolysis and shock waves for noninvasive body contouring

Excess body fat, localized adiposity, and cellulite represent important social problems. To date, techniques using radiofrequencies, cavitation and noncavitation ultrasound, and carbon dioxide have been studied as treatments for noninvasive body contouring. Ice-Shock Lipolysis is a new noninvasive procedure for reducing subcutaneous fat volume and fibrous cellulite in areas that normally would be treated by liposuction. It uses a combination of acoustic waves and cryolipolysis. Shock waves, used normally in the treatment of renal calculi and musculoskeletal disorders, are focused on the collagen structure of cellulite-afflicted skin. When used on the skin and underlying fat, they cause a remodeling of the collagen fibers, improving the orange-peel appearance typical of the condition. Cryolipolysis, on the other hand, is a noninvasive method used for the localized destruction of subcutaneous adipocytes, with no effects on lipid or liver marker levels in the bloodstream. The combination of the two procedures causes the programmed death and slow resorption of destroyed adipocytes. METHODS: In this study, 50 patients with localized fat and cellulite were treated with a selective protocol for the simultaneous use of two transducers: a Freezing Probe for localized fatty tissue and a Shock Probe for fibrous cellulite. RESULTS: The procedure significantly reduced the circumference in the treated areas, significantly diminishing fat thickness. The mean reduction in fat thickness after treatments was 3.02 cm. Circumference was reduced by a mean of 4.45 cm. Weight was unchanged during the treatment, and no adverse effects were observed. Histologic and immunohistochemical analysis confirmed a gradual reduction of fat tissue by programmed cell death. Moreover, the reduction in fat thickness was accompanied by a significant improvement in microcirculation, and thus, the cellulite. The safety of the method also has been highlighted because it is accompanied by no significant increase in serum liver enzymes or serum lipids. CONCLUSION: The study aimed to observe the effects of the new technique in the treatment of localized fat associated with cellulite in order to assess adipose tissue alterations, cellular apoptosis, and levels of serum lipid or liver markers. The findings show that the action of Ice-Shock Lipolysis is a safe, effective, and well-tolerated noninvasive procedure for body contouring. In particular, the authors believe that this could be an ideal alternative to liposuction for patients who require only small or moderate amounts of adipose tissue and cellulite removal or are not suitable candidates for surgical approaches to body contouring

The current progress of the ALICE Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector

Recently, the last two modules (out of seven) of the ALICE High Momentum Particle Identification detector (HMPID) were assembled and tested. The full detector, after a pre-commissioning phase, has been installed in the experimental area, inside the ALICE solenoid, at the end of September 2006. In this paper we review the status of the ALICE/HMPID project and we present a summary of the series production of the CsI photo-cathodes. We describe the key features of the production procedure which ensures high quality photo-cathodes as well as the results of the quality assessment performed by means of a specially developed 2D scanner system able to produce a detailed map of the CsI photo-current over the entire photo-cathode surface. Finally we present our recent R&D efforts toward the development of a novel generation of imaging Cherenkov detectors with the aim to identify, in heavy ions collisions, hadrons up to 30 GeV/c.Comment: Presented at the Imaging-2006 Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, June 200

A RICH detector for strangeness physics in Hall A at Jefferson Lab

The high-resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy experiment at Jefferson Lab, Hall A (E94-107), needs unambiguous kaon identification. Due to the huge pion and proton background, the standard Hall A hadron particle identification, based on a time of flight and two aerogel threshold Cherenkov detectors, is not sufficient. For this task a proximity focusing C6F14/CsI RICH has been built. Recently, after some improvements to the mechanical structure of its wire chamber and to its electronics rate capability, the RICH has been tested with cosmic rays. This paper represents a status report of the RICH detector

Cadmium uptake, translocation and tolerance in the hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri

Arabidopsis halleri is a well-known zinc (Zn) hyperaccumulator, but its status as a cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulator is less certain. Here, we investigated whether A. halleri can hyperaccumulate Cd and whether Cd is transported via the Zn pathway. Growth and Cd and Zn uptake were determined in hydroponic experiments with different Cd and Zn concentrations. Short-term uptake and root-to-shoot transport were measured with radioactive Cd-109 and Zn-65 labelling. A. halleri accumulated > 1000 mg Cd kg(-1) in shoot dry weight at external Cd concentrations >= 5 mu m>, but the short-term uptake rate of Cd-109 was much lower than that of Zn-65. Zinc inhibited short-term Cd-109 uptake kinetics and root-to-shoot translocation, as well as long-term Cd accumulation in shoots. Uptake of Cd-109 and Zn-65 were up-regulated, respectively, by low iron (Fe) or Zn status. A. halleri was much less tolerant to Cd than to Zn. We conclude that A. halleri is able to hyperaccumulate Cd partly, at least, through the Zn pathway, but the mechanisms responsible for cellular Zn tolerance cannot detoxify Cd effectively

8-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxylic acid as possible molybdophore: A multi-technique approach to define its chemical speciation, coordination and sequestering ability in aqueous solution

8-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxylic acid (8-HQA) has been found in high concentrations (0.5–5.0 mmol·dm−3) in the gut of Noctuid larvae (and in a few other lepidopterans), in which it is proposed to act as a siderophore. Since it is known that many natural siderophores are also involved in the uptake and metabolism of other essential elements than iron, this study reports some results on the investigation of 8-HQA interactions with molybdate (MoO42−, i.e., the main molybdenum form in aqueous environments), in order to understand the possible role of this ligand as molybdophore. A multi-technique approach has been adopted, in order to derive a comprehensive set of information necessary to assess the chemical speciation of the 8-HQA/MoO42− system, as well as the coordination behavior and the sequestering ability of 8-HQA towards molybdate. Chemical speciation studies have been performed in KCl(aq) at I = 0.2 mol·dm−3 and T = 298.15 K by ISE-H+ (glass electrode) potentiometric and UV/Vis spectrophotometric titrations. CV (Cyclic Voltammetry), DP-ASV (Differential Pulse-Anodic Stripping Voltammetry), ESI-MS experiments and quantum mechanical calculations have been also performed to derive information about the nature and possible structure of species formed. These results are also compared with those reported for the 8-HQA/Fe3+ system in terms of chemical speciation and sequestering ability of 8HQA

Results from the ageing studies of large CsI photocathodes exposed to ionizing radiation in a gaseous RICH detector

We studied the ageing of large CsI photocathodes induced by ionizing particles (90Sr) by correlating the integrated charge dose of the ionic avalanches hitting the photocathode to the local changes of the Quantum Efficiency (QE). The drop of the QE of the irradiated CsI spots is reported as a function of the charge dose. It was found that the ageing process continues even in absence of irradiation

Production technique and quality evaluation of CsI photocathodes for the ALICE/HMPID detector

Abstract The ALICE/HMPID detector has been equipped with 42 large area CsI photocathodes providing a total of 11 m 2 of photosensitive area for the detection of Cherenkov light. This production summary reports on the CsI coating procedure and provides results of the quality monitoring measurements by means of a photocurrent scanner system. The importance of the heat enhancement of CsI PCs is stressed and difficulties due to variations in this process are presented, followed by a discussion of possible influences of production parameters on this process

Dark matter search in a Beam-Dump eXperiment (BDX) at Jefferson Lab

MeV-GeV dark matter (DM) is theoretically well motivated but remarkably unexplored. This Letter of Intent presents the MeV-GeV DM discovery potential for a 1 m$^3$ segmented plastic scintillator detector placed downstream of the beam-dump at one of the high intensity JLab experimental Halls, receiving up to 10$^{22}$ electrons-on-target (EOT) in a one-year period. This experiment (Beam-Dump eXperiment or BDX) is sensitive to DM-nucleon elastic scattering at the level of a thousand counts per year, with very low threshold recoil energies ($\sim$1 MeV), and limited only by reducible cosmogenic backgrounds. Sensitivity to DM-electron elastic scattering and/or inelastic DM would be below 10 counts per year after requiring all electromagnetic showers in the detector to exceed a few-hundred MeV, which dramatically reduces or altogether eliminates all backgrounds. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations are in progress to finalize the detector design and experimental set up. An existing 0.036 m$^3$ prototype based on the same technology will be used to validate simulations with background rate estimates, driving the necessary R$\&$D towards an optimized detector. The final detector design and experimental set up will be presented in a full proposal to be submitted to the next JLab PAC. A fully realized experiment would be sensitive to large regions of DM parameter space, exceeding the discovery potential of existing and planned experiments by two orders of magnitude in the MeV-GeV DM mass range.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, submitted to JLab PAC 4

Physics Projects for a Future CERN-LNGS Neutrino Programme

We present an overview of the future projects concerning the neutrino oscillation physics in Europe. Recently a joint CERN-LNGS scientific committee has reviewed several proposals both for the study of atmospheric neutrinos and for long (LBL) and short baseline (SBL) neutrino oscillation experiments. The committee has indicated the priority that the European high energy physics community should follows in the field of neutrino physics, namely a new massive, atmospheric neutrino detector and a nu_tau appearance campaign exploiting the new CERN-LNGS Neutrino Facility (NGS), freshly approved by CERN and INFN. The sensitivity and the discovery potential of the whole experimental program in the Super-Kamiokande allowed region are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the XVIII International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrphysics, Takayama, Japan, 199