MRI/TRUS data fusion for brachytherapy

BACKGROUND: Prostate brachytherapy consists in placing radioactive seeds for tumour destruction under transrectal ultrasound imaging (TRUS) control. It requires prostate delineation from the images for dose planning. Because ultrasound imaging is patient- and operator-dependent, we have proposed to fuse MRI data to TRUS data to make image processing more reliable. The technical accuracy of this approach has already been evaluated. METHODS: We present work in progress concerning the evaluation of the approach from the dosimetry viewpoint. The objective is to determine what impact this system may have on the treatment of the patient. Dose planning is performed from initial TRUS prostate contours and evaluated on contours modified by data fusion. RESULTS: For the eight patients included, we demonstrate that TRUS prostate volume is most often underestimated and that dose is overestimated in a correlated way. However, dose constraints are still verified for those eight patients. CONCLUSIONS: This confirms our initial hypothesis

Prospects for measuring the 229Th isomer energy using a metallic magnetic microcalorimeter

The Thorium-229 isotope features a nuclear isomer state with an extremely low energy. The currently most accepted energy value, 7.8 +- 0.5 eV, was obtained from an indirect measurement using a NASA x-ray microcalorimeter with an instrumental resolution 26 eV. We study, how state-of-the-art magnetic metallic microcalorimeters with an energy resolution down to a few eV can be used to measure the isomer energy. In particular, resolving the 29.18 keV doublet in the \gamma-spectrum following the \alpha-decay of Uranium-233, corresponding to the decay into the ground and isomer state, allows to measure the isomer transition energy without additional theoretical input parameters, and increase the energy accuracy. We study the possibility of resolving the 29.18 keV line as a doublet and the dependence of the attainable precision of the energy measurement on the signal and background count rates and the instrumental resolution.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures, eq. (3) correcte

Emerging frustration effects in ferromagnetic Ce_2[Pd_{1-x}Ag_x]_2In alloys

Magnetic and thermal properties of Ferromagnetic (FM) Ce_{2.15}(Pd_{1-x}Ag_x)_{1.95}In_{0.9} alloys were studied in order to determine the Quantum Critical Point (QCP) at T_C => 0. The increase of band electrons produced by Pd/Ag substitution depresses T_C(x) from 4.1K down to T_C(x=0.5)=1.1K, with a QCP extrapolated to x_{QCP}~ 0.6. Magnetic susceptibility from T>30K indicates an effective moment slightly decreasing from \mu_{eff}=2.56\mu_B to 2.4\mu_B at x=0.5. These values and the paramagnetic temperature \theta_P~ -10K exclude significant Kondo screening effects. The T_C(x) reduction is accompanied by a weakening of the FM magnetization and the emergence of a specific heat C_m(T) anomaly at T*~ 1K, without signs of magnetism detected from AC-susceptibility. The magnetic entropy collected around 4K (i.e. the T_C of the x=0 sample) practically does not change with Ag concentration: S_m(4K)~ 0.8 Rln2, suggesting a progressive transfer of FM degrees of freedom to the non-magnetic (NM) component. No antecedent was found concerning any NM anomaly emerging from a FM system at such temperature. The origin of this anomaly is attributed to an 'entropy bottleneck' originated in the nearly divergent power law dependence for T>T*.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Int. Conf. ICM 201

On the keV sterile neutrino search in electron capture

A joint effort of cryogenic microcalorimetry (CM) and high-precision Penning-trap mass spectrometry (PT-MS) in investigating atomic orbital electron capture (EC) can shed light on the possible existence of heavy sterile neutrinos with masses from 0.5 to 100 keV. Sterile neutrinos are expected to perturb the shape of the atomic de-excitation spectrum measured by CM after a capture of the atomic orbital electrons by a nucleus. This effect should be observable in the ratios of the capture probabilities from different orbits. The sensitivity of the ratio values to the contribution of sterile neutrinos strongly depends on how accurately the mass difference between the parent and the daughter nuclides of EC-transitions can be measured by, e.g., PT-MS. A comparison of such probability ratios in different isotopes of a certain chemical element allows one to exclude many systematic uncertainties and thus could make feasible a determination of the contribution of sterile neutrinos on a level below 1%. Several electron capture transitions suitable for such measurements are discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 2 table

Suppression of Shastry-Sutherland phase driven by electronic concentration reduction in magnetically frustrated Ce2Pd2Sn1−yIny alloys

Exploiting the possibility to switch from antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM) ground states (GSs) in out-stoichiometric branches of Ce2Pd2In alloys, the stability of Shastry-Sutherland (ShSu) phase of Ce2Pd2Sn as a function of Sn/In electron doping was studied. Magnetic and specific-heat measurements show that the Ce-rich compositions stabilize the FM-GS throughout the Sn/In-FM substitution, allowing to extend the formation of the ShSu phase up to its collapse in a tricritical point around ycr=0.5. On the other hand, this behavior is quite different from that reported in a recent investigation on the AFM branch where atomic disorder at intermediate Sn/In-AFM concentrations inhibits the formation of the ShSu phase.Fil: Sereni, Julian Gustavo Renzo. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Roberts, J.. Università degli Studi di Genova; ItaliaFil: Gastaldo, F.. Università degli Studi di Genova; ItaliaFil: Giovannini, M.. Università degli Studi di Genova; Itali

Non-magnetic Anomaly at 1K Arising in Ferromagnetic Ce2.15(Pd1-xAgx)1.95In0.9

Magnetic and thermal properties of Ferromagnetic (FM) Ce2.15(Pd1-xAgx)1.95In0.9 alloys were studied in order to determine the Quantum Critical Point (QCP) at TC \u2192 0. The in- crease of band electrons produced by Pd/Ag substitution depresses TC (x) from 4.1K down to TC (x = 0.5)=1.1K, with a QCP extrapolated to xQCP 65 0.5. Magnetic susceptibility from T > 30K indicates an effective moment slightly decreasing from \u3bceff =2.56\u3bcB to 2.4\u3bcB at x=0.5. These values and the paramagnetic temperature \u3b8P 48 -10K exclude significant Kondo screening effects. The TC (x) reduction is accompanied by a weakening of the FM magnetization and the emergence of a specific heat Cm(T) anomaly at T 17 48 1K, without signs of magnetism detected from AC-susceptibility. The magnetic entropy collected around 4K (i.e. the TC of the x = 0 sample) practically does not change with Ag concentration: Sm(4K) 48 0.8 Rln2, suggesting a progressive transfer of FM degrees of freedom to the non-magnetic (NM) compo- nent. No antecedent was found concerning any NM anomaly emerging from a FM system at such temperature. The origin of this anomaly is attributed to an entropy bottleneck originated in the nearly divergent power law dependence for T > T 17

Towards Smart Sensing Systems: A New Approach to Environmental Monitoring Systems by Using LoRaWAN

The proliferation of monitoring in unpredictable environments has aided the world in solving challenges that were previously thought to be insurmountable. Drastic advancement has been pinpointed in the way we live, work, and play; however, the data odyssey has yet started. From sensing to monitoring, the endless possibility enabled by LoRa, the long-range low power solution has made its mark on the technological world. With the adoption of the LoRaWAN, the long-range low power wide area network has appeared in existence to cope with the constraints associated with the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure. This paper presents a practical experiment for sensing the environmental condition using the LoRaWAN solution. The proposed work allows the users to check the environmental effects (temperature, and humidity) online. Furthermore, the signal behavior has been recorded and cross-verified by using MATLAB software implementation

Sidechain control of porosity closure in multiple peptide-based porous materials by cooperative folding

Porous materials find application in separation, storage and catalysis. We report a crystalline porous solid formed by coordination of metal centres with a glycylserine dipeptide. We prove experimentally that the structure evolves from a solvated porous into a non-porous state as result of ordered displacive and conformational changes of the peptide that suppress the void space in response to environmental pressure. This cooperative closure, which recalls the folding of proteins, retains order in three-dimensions and is driven by the hydroxyl groups acting as H-bond donors in the peptide sequence through the serine residue. This ordered closure is also displayed by multipeptide solid solutions in which the combination of different sequences of amino acids controls their guest response in a non-linear way. This functional control can be compared to the effect of single point mutations in proteins, where the exchange of single amino acids can radically alter structure and functio