Total body calcium analysis using the Ca-12(n, alpha) Ar-37 reaction

A low dose neutron activation technique was developed to measure total body calcium in vivo. The effort had included development of irradiation and processing facilities and conduction of human studies to determine the accuracy and precision of measurement attainable with the systems

Total body calcium analysis

A technique to quantitate total body calcium in humans is developed. Total body neutron irradiation is utilized to produce argon 37. The radio argon, which diffuses into the blood stream and is excreted through the lungs, is recovered from the exhaled breath and counted inside a proportional detector. Emphasis is placed on: (1) measurement of the rate of excretion of radio argon following total body neutron irradiation; (2) the development of the radio argon collection, purification, and counting systems; and (3) development of a patient irradiation facility using a 14 MeV neutron generator. Results and applications are discussed in detail

Vanishing corrections on the intermediate scale and implications for unification of forces

In two-step breaking of a class of grand unified theories including SO(10),we prove a theorem showing that the scale $M_I$ where the Pati-Salam gauge symmetry with parity breaks down to the standard gauge group,has vanishing corrections due to all sources emerging from higher scales $\mu >M_I$ such as the one-loop and all higher loop effects,the GUT-threshold,gravitational smearing,and string threshold effects. Implications of such a scale for the unification of gauge couplings with small Majorana neutrino masses are discussed.In string inspired SO(10) we show that $M_I \simeq 5\times 10^{12}$,needed for neutrino masses,with the GUT scale $M_U \simeq M_{str}$ can be realized provided certain particle states in the predicted spectum are light.Comment: 21 pages, Late

A Classification of 3-Family Grand Unification in String Theory I. The SO(10) and E_6 Models

We give a classification of 3-family SO(10) and E_6 grand unification in string theory within the framework of conformal field theory and asymmetric orbifolds. We argue that the construction of such models in the heterotic string theory requires certain Z_6 asymmetric orbifolds that include a Z_3 outer-automorphism, the latter yielding a level-3 current algebra for the grand unification gauge group SO(10) or E_6. We then classify all such Z_6 asymmetric orbifolds that result in models with a non-abelian hidden sector. All models classified in this paper have only one adjoint (but no other higher representation) Higgs field in the grand unified gauge group. In addition, all of them are completely anomaly free. There are two types of such 3-family models. The first type consists of the unique SO(10) model with SU(2) X SU(2) X SU(2) as its hidden sector (which is not asymptotically-free at the string scale). This SO(10) model has 4 left-handed and 1 right-handed 16s. The second type is described by a moduli space containing 17 models (distinguished by their massless spectra). All these models have an SU(2) hidden sector, and 5 left-handed and 2 right-handed families in the grand unified gauge group. One of these models is the unique E_6 model with an asymptotically-free SU(2) hidden sector. The others are SO(10) models, 8 of them with an asymptotically free hidden sector at the string scale.Comment: 35 pages, Revtex 3.0, one eps figure (to appear in Phys. Rev. D

Classical Open String Models in 4-Dim Minkowski Spacetime

Classical bosonic open string models in fourdimensional Minkowski spacetime are discussed. A special attention is paid to the choice of edge conditions, which can follow consistently from the action principle. We consider lagrangians that can depend on second order derivatives of worldsheet coordinates. A revised interpretation of the variational problem for such theories is given. We derive a general form of a boundary term that can be added to the open string action to control edge conditions and modify conservation laws. An extended boundary problem for minimal surfaces is examined. Following the treatment of this model in the geometric approach, we obtain that classical open string states correspond to solutions of a complex Liouville equation. In contrast to the Nambu-Goto case, the Liouville potential is finite and constant at worldsheet boundaries. The phase part of the potential defines topological sectors of solutions.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, preprint TPJU-28-93 (the previous version was truncated by ftp...

Grand Unification with Three Generations in Free Fermionic String Models

We examine the problem of constructing three generation free fermionic string models with grand unified gauge groups. We attempt the construction of $G\times G$ models, where $G$ is a grand unified group realized at level 1. This structure allows those Higgs representations to appear which are necessary to break the symmetry down to the standard model gauge group. For $G=SO(10)$, we find only models with an even number of generations. However, for $G=SU(5)$ we find a number of 3 generation models.Comment: 22 pages, latex. References added to original versio

Validation of a small-animal PET simulation using GAMOS: a Geant4-based framework

onte Carlo-based modelling is a powerful tool to help in the design and optimization of positron emission tomography (PET) systems. The performance of these systems depends on several parameters, such as detector physical characteristics, shielding or electronics, whose effects can be studied on the basis of realistic simulated data. The aim of this paper is to validate a comprehensive study of the Raytest ClearPET small-animal PET scanner using a new Monte Carlo simulation platform which has been developed at CIEMAT (Madrid, Spain), called GAMOS (GEANT4-based Architecture for Medicine-Oriented Simulations). This toolkit, based on the GEANT4 code, was originally designed to cover multiple applications in the field of medical physics from radiotherapy to nuclear medicine, but has since been applied by some of its users in other fields of physics, such as neutron shielding, space physics, high energy physics, etc. Our simulation model includes the relevant characteristics of the ClearPET system, namely, the double layer of scintillator crystals in phoswich configuration, the rotating gantry, the presence of intrinsic radioactivity in the crystals or the storage of single events for an off-line coincidence sorting. Simulated results are contrasted with experimental acquisitions including studies of spatial resolution, sensitivity, scatter fraction and count rates in accordance with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU 4-2008 protocol. Spatial resolution results showed a discrepancy between simulated and measured values equal to 8.4% (with a maximum FWHM difference over all measurement directions of 0.5 mm). Sensitivity results differ less than 1% for a 250–750 keV energy window. Simulated and measured count rates agree well within a wide range of activities, including under electronic saturation of the system (the measured peak of total coincidences, for the mouse-sized phantom, was 250.8 kcps reached at 0.95 MBq mL−1 and the simulated peak was 247.1 kcps at 0.87 MBq mL−1). Agreement better than 3% was obtained in the scatter fraction comparison study. We also measured and simulated a mini-Derenzo phantom obtaining images with similar quality using iterative reconstruction methods. We concluded that the overall performance of the simulation showed good agreement with the measured results and validates the GAMOS package for PET applications. Furthermore, its ease of use and flexibility recommends it as an excellent tool to optimize design features or image reconstruction techniques

Planck-Scale Unification and Dynamical Symmetry Breaking

We explore the possibility of unification of gauge couplings near the Planck scale in models of extended technicolor. We observe that models of the form G X SU(3)_c X SU(2)_L X U(1)_Y cannot be realized, due to the presence of massless neutral Goldstone bosons (axions) and light charged pseudo-Goldstone bosons; thus, unification of the known forces near the Planck scale cannot be achieved. The next simplest possibility, G X SU(4)_{PS} X SU(2)_L X U(1)_{T_{3R}}, cannot lead to unification of the Pati-Salam and weak gauge groups near the Planck scale. However, superstring theory provides relations between couplings at the Planck scale without the need for an underlying grand-unified gauge group, which allows unification of the SU(4)$_{PS}$ and SU(2)$_L$ couplings.Comment: LaTeX, 12 pages, FERMILAB-PUB-93/262-

Twenty Years of SUGRA

A brief review is given of the developments of mSUGRA and its extensions since the formulation of these models in 1982. Future directions and prospects are also discussed.Comment: Invited talk at the International Conference BEYOND-2003, Schloss Ringberg, Germany, June 10-14, 2003; 21 pages, Late

GATE : a simulation toolkit for PET and SPECT

Monte Carlo simulation is an essential tool in emission tomography that can assist in the design of new medical imaging devices, the optimization of acquisition protocols, and the development or assessment of image reconstruction algorithms and correction techniques. GATE, the Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission, encapsulates the Geant4 libraries to achieve a modular, versatile, scripted simulation toolkit adapted to the field of nuclear medicine. In particular, GATE allows the description of time-dependent phenomena such as source or detector movement, and source decay kinetics. This feature makes it possible to simulate time curves under realistic acquisition conditions and to test dynamic reconstruction algorithms. A public release of GATE licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License can be downloaded at the address http://www-lphe.epfl.ch/GATE/