Early Localization of Bronchogenic Cancerous/Precancerous Lesions With Lung Imaging Fluorescence Endoscope

The result of the clinical trial using the lung imaging fluorescence endoscope (LIFE) was reported. A total of 77 biopsy confirmed sites from 30 patients were evaluated. The sensitivity for metaplasia detection by the LIFE system was 96% compared to 28% by conventional bronchoscopy. The LIFE system was found to be useful in detecting subtle cancerous/precancerous lesions

Measurement of γ\gamma-ray production via neutron-16^{16}O reaction using a 77 MeV quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam

Understanding of $\gamma$-ray production via neutron interactions on oxygen is essential for the study of neutrino neutral-current quasielastic interactions in water Cherenkov detectors. A measurement of $\gamma$-ray production from such reactions was performed using a 77~MeV quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam. Several $\gamma$-ray peaks, which are expected to come from neutron-${\rm ^{16}O}$ reactions, are observed and production cross sections are measured for nine $\gamma$-ray components of energies between 2 and 8~MeV. These are the first measurements at this neutron energy using a nearly monoenergitic beam.Comment: 16 pages, 20 figures, 4 table

Search for dinucleon decay into pions at Super-Kamiokande

A search for dinucleon decay into pions with the Super-Kamiokande detector has been performed with an exposure of 282.1 kiloton-years. Dinucleon decay is a process that violates baryon number by two units. We present the first search for dinucleon decay to pions in a large water Cherenkov detector. The modes $^{16}$O$(pp) \rightarrow$ $^{14}$C$\pi^{+}\pi^{+}$, $^{16}$O$(pn) \rightarrow$ $^{14}$N$\pi^{+}\pi^{0}$, and $^{16}$O$(nn) \rightarrow$ $^{14}$O$\pi^{0}\pi^{0}$ are investigated. No significant excess in the Super-Kamiokande data has been found, so a lower limit on the lifetime of the process per oxygen nucleus is determined. These limits are: $\tau_{pp\rightarrow\pi^{+}\pi^{+}} > 7.22 \times 10^{31}$ years, $\tau_{pn\rightarrow\pi^{+}\pi^{0}} > 1.70 \times 10^{32}$ years, and $\tau_{nn\rightarrow\pi^{0}\pi^{0}} > 4.04 \times 10^{32}$ years. The lower limits on each mode are about two orders of magnitude better than previous limits from searches for dinucleon decay in iron.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review D on March 30, 201