1,939 research outputs found
Water Soluble Melanin Derivatives for Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Photoacoustic Imaging of Tumor Vasculature and Response to Antiangiogenic Therapy
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A General MRI-CEST Ratiometric Approach for pH Imaging: Demonstration of in Vivo pH Mapping with Iobitridol
Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is a novel contrast mechanism for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). CEST MRI selectively saturates exchangeable protons that are transferred to MRI-detectable bulk water signal. MRI-CEST (pH)-responsive agents are probes able to map pH in the microenvironment in which they distribute. To minimize the confounding effects of contrast agent concentration, researchers have developed ratiometric CEST imaging, which investigates contrast agents containing multiple magnetically non-equivalent proton groups, whose prototropic exchange have different pH responses. However, conventional ratiometric CEST MRI imposes stringent requirements on the selection of CEST contrasts agents. In this study, a novel ratiometric pH MRI method based on the analysis of CEST effects under different radio frequency irradiation power levels was developed. The proposed method has been demonstrated using iobitridol, an X-ray contrast agent analog of iopamidol but containing a single set of amide protons, both in vitro and in vivo
Gleam: the GLAST Large Area Telescope Simulation Framework
This paper presents the simulation of the GLAST high energy gamma-ray
telescope. The simulation package, written in C++, is based on the Geant4
toolkit, and it is integrated into a general framework used to process events.
A detailed simulation of the electronic signals inside Silicon detectors has
been provided and it is used for the particle tracking, which is handled by a
dedicated software. A unique repository for the geometrical description of the
detector has been realized using the XML language and a C++ library to access
this information has been designed and implemented.Comment: 10 pages, Late
A population of gamma-ray emitting globular clusters seen with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
Globular clusters with their large populations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs)
are believed to be potential emitters of high-energy gamma-ray emission. Our
goal is to constrain the millisecond pulsar populations in globular clusters
from analysis of gamma-ray observations. We use 546 days of continuous
sky-survey observations obtained with the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi
Gamma-ray Space Telescope to study the gamma-ray emission towards 13 globular
clusters. Steady point-like high-energy gamma-ray emission has been
significantly detected towards 8 globular clusters. Five of them (47 Tucanae,
Omega Cen, NGC 6388, Terzan 5, and M 28) show hard spectral power indices and clear evidence for an exponential cut-off in the range
1.0-2.6 GeV, which is the characteristic signature of magnetospheric emission
from MSPs. Three of them (M 62, NGC 6440 and NGC 6652) also show hard spectral
indices , however the presence of an exponential cut-off
can not be unambiguously established. Three of them (Omega Cen, NGC 6388, NGC
6652) have no known radio or X-ray MSPs yet still exhibit MSP spectral
properties. From the observed gamma-ray luminosities, we estimate the total
number of MSPs that is expected to be present in these globular clusters. We
show that our estimates of the MSP population correlate with the stellar
encounter rate and we estimate 2600-4700 MSPs in Galactic globular clusters,
commensurate with previous estimates. The observation of high-energy gamma-ray
emission from a globular cluster thus provides a reliable independent method to
assess their millisecond pulsar populations that can be used to make
constraints on the original neutron star X-ray binary population, essential for
understanding the importance of binary systems in slowing the inevitable core
collapse of globular clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Corresponding authors: J.
Kn\"odlseder, N. Webb, B. Pancraz
Fermi Large Area Telescope Constraints on the Gamma-ray Opacity of the Universe
The Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) includes photons with wavelengths
from ultraviolet to infrared, which are effective at attenuating gamma rays
with energy above ~10 GeV during propagation from sources at cosmological
distances. This results in a redshift- and energy-dependent attenuation of the
gamma-ray flux of extragalactic sources such as blazars and Gamma-Ray Bursts
(GRBs). The Large Area Telescope onboard Fermi detects a sample of gamma-ray
blazars with redshift up to z~3, and GRBs with redshift up to z~4.3. Using
photons above 10 GeV collected by Fermi over more than one year of observations
for these sources, we investigate the effect of gamma-ray flux attenuation by
the EBL. We place upper limits on the gamma-ray opacity of the Universe at
various energies and redshifts, and compare this with predictions from
well-known EBL models. We find that an EBL intensity in the optical-ultraviolet
wavelengths as great as predicted by the "baseline" model of Stecker et al.
(2006) can be ruled out with high confidence.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figures, accepted version (24 Aug.2010) for publication
in ApJ; Contact authors: A. Bouvier, A. Chen, S. Raino, S. Razzaque, A.
Reimer, L.C. Reye
Sarcoma treatment in the era of molecular medicine
Sarcomas are heterogeneous and clinically challenging soft tissue and bone cancers. Although constituting only 1% of all human malignancies, sarcomas represent the second most common type of solid tumors in children and adolescents and comprise an important group of secondary malignancies. More than 100 histological subtypes have been characterized to date, and many more are being discovered due to molecular profiling. Owing to their mostly aggressive biological behavior, relative rarity, and occurrence at virtually every anatomical site, many sarcoma subtypes are in particular difficult-to-treat categories. Current multimodal treatment concepts combine surgery, polychemotherapy (with/without local hyperthermia), irradiation, immunotherapy, and/or targeted therapeutics. Recent scientific advancements have enabled a more precise molecular characterization of sarcoma subtypes and revealed novel therapeutic targets and prognostic/predictive biomarkers. This review aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in the molecular biology of sarcomas and their effects on clinical oncology; it is meant for a broad readership ranging from novices to experts in the field of sarcoma.Peer reviewe
TGF DETECTION BY AGILE
We report the detection by the Astrorivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero (AGILE) satellite of terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) obtained with the minicalorimeter (MCAL) detector operating in the ..
The AGILE Mission
AGILE is an Italian Space Agency mission dedicated to observing the gamma-ray Universe. The AGILE's very innovative instrumentation for the first time combines a gamma-ray imager (sensitive in the energy range 30 MeV-50 GeV), a hard X-ray imager (sensitive in the range 18-60 keV), a calorimeter (sensitive in the range 350 keV-100 MeV), and an anticoincidence system. AGILE was successfully launched on 2007 April 23 from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an equatorial orbit with very low particle background. Aims. AGILE provides crucial data for the study of active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, unidentified gamma-ray sources, galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing. Methods. An optimal sky angular positioning (reaching 0.1 degrees in gamma- rays and 1-2 arcmin in hard X-rays) and very large fields of view (2.5 sr and 1 sr, respectively) are obtained by the use of Silicon detectors integrated in a very compact instrument. Results. AGILE surveyed the gamma- ray sky and detected many Galactic and extragalactic sources during the first months of observations. Particular emphasis is given to multifrequency observation programs of extragalactic and galactic objects. Conclusions. AGILE is a successful high-energy gamma-ray mission that reached its nominal scientific performance. The AGILE Cycle-1 pointing program started on 2007 December 1, and is open to the international community through a Guest Observer Program
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