Using negative muons as a probe for depth profiling silver Roman coinage

Debasement of silver Roman coins is a well-known phenomenon and understanding the quality of ancient silver coinages can provide an idea about the underlying fiscal condition of the issuing states. These coins are made from a silver-copper alloy, the surfaces of which were deliberately enhanced at the mints by a process of surface-enrichment to give them the appearance of being made of pure silver. Therefore, any surface analysis would provide a composition of the silver-copper alloy that would not be representative of the original alloy from which the coin blank was made; the result would be too high in silver. However, the bulk of the sample, the interior, should provide a composition that is true to the original alloy. Elemental analysis using negative muons has been used to provide a depth dependent compositional, completely non-destructive analysis of a silver-copper alloy denarius of the empress Julia Domna datable to 211–217 CE. The composition of the coin, beyond the surface enrichment layer, is 51 ± 1.8 % copper and 49 ± 1.9% silver, taken at a muon depth of 402 ± 61 µm. The surface enrichment layer is approximately 190 µm thick

Muonic atom X-ray spectroscopy for non-destructive analysis of archeological samples

The implementation in the RIKEN-RAL negative muons facility of a new muon beamline monitoring and novel digital data acquisition system for gamma and X-ray spectroscopy are presented. This work also shows the high potential of the muonic atoms X-ray spectroscopy technique in non-destructive elemental characterization of archaeological samples

High performance DAQ for muon spectroscopy experiments

The main features of the Data AcQuisition systems for the FAMU (on muonic atom physics) and CHNET_TANDEM (on the development of non destructive techniques to archaeometry) INFN projects will be described. Both the experiments exploit the RIKEN-RAL Muon Facility beam of (20; 120) MeV=c muons and the same experimental setup, which includes a wide range of detectors: HPGe detectors for high resolution spectroscopy; LaBr3 scintillators, with both PMT and SiPM readout, for fast and high time resolution spectroscopy; several layers of 32 SiPM readout scintillating fibers for beam monitoring with good spatial and time resolution. The performance of the DAQ in terms of conditioning and processing of such a large number of di_erent detector signals, data storage and analysis and a few examples of the results will be presented

Therapeutic Effect of SHI-219, A Novel Water Soluble Prodrug of EG626 (Phtalazinol), on Mouse Dextran Sodium Sulfate -Induced Colitis

Cytokines such as IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6 and IL-8 are increased, and leukotriene (LT)B4, thromboxane (TX)B2 and PGE2 participate in inflamed colonic mucosa after administration of mouse dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). EG626 (Phthalazinol), has been shown to inhibit cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase in arteries and platelets, has an effect of anti-inflammation. The effect of SHI-219, a novel water soluble prodrug of EG626, was examined in mouse DSS-induced colitis using drinking water containing 5% DSS. When SHI-219 was given everyday, the disease activity index (DAI) representing clinical symptoms improved and the histological score decreased; furthermore, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α concentrations in rectal mucosa were lower compared with the Control group. Also TXB2 and LTB4 concentrations in rectal mucosa were lower, but PGE2 concentrations in rectal mucosa were not inhibited. And then Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression also correlated with the degree of inflammation in the intestinal mucosa in the SHI-219 -treated group, indicating that SHI-219 did not inhibit COX-2 expression by immunohistochemical staining. These results suggest that administration of SHI-219 may be effective in ulcerative colitis