Intra-individual diagnostic image quality and organ-specific-radiation dose comparison between spiral cCT with iterative image reconstruction and z-axis automated tube current modulation and sequential cCT

AbstractObjectivesTo prospectively evaluate image quality and organ-specific-radiation dose of spiral cranial CT (cCT) combined with automated tube current modulation (ATCM) and iterative image reconstruction (IR) in comparison to sequential tilted cCT reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) without ATCM.Methods31 patients with a previous performed tilted non-contrast enhanced sequential cCT aquisition on a 4-slice CT system with only FBP reconstruction and no ATCM were prospectively enrolled in this study for a clinical indicated cCT scan. All spiral cCT examinations were performed on a 3rd generation dual-source CT system using ATCM in z-axis direction. Images were reconstructed using both, FBP and IR (level 1–5). A Monte-Carlo-simulation-based analysis was used to compare organ-specific-radiation dose. Subjective image quality for various anatomic structures was evaluated using a 4-point Likert-scale and objective image quality was evaluated by comparing signal-to-noise ratios (SNR).ResultsSpiral cCT led to a significantly lower (p<0.05) organ-specific-radiation dose in all targets including eye lense. Subjective image quality of spiral cCT datasets with an IR reconstruction level 5 was rated significantly higher compared to the sequential cCT acquisitions (p<0.0001). Consecutive mean SNR was significantly higher in all spiral datasets (FBP, IR 1–5) when compared to sequential cCT with a mean SNR improvement of 44.77% (p<0.0001).ConclusionsSpiral cCT combined with ATCM and IR allows for significant-radiation dose reduction including a reduce eye lens organ-dose when compared to a tilted sequential cCT while improving subjective and objective image quality

Properties of a random attachment growing network

In this study we introduce and analyze the statistical structural properties of a model of growing networks which may be relevant to social networks. At each step a new node is added which selects 'k' possible partners from the existing network and joins them with probability delta by undirected edges. The 'activity' of the node ends here; it will get new partners only if it is selected by a newcomer. The model produces an infinite-order phase transition when a giant component appears at a specific value of delta, which depends on k. The average component size is discontinuous at the transition. In contrast, the network behaves significantly different for k=1. There is no giant component formed for any delta and thus in this sense there is no phase transition. However, the average component size diverges for delta greater or equal than one half.Comment: LaTeX, 19 pages, 6 figures. Discussion section, comments, a new figure and a new reference are added. Equations simplifie

A multi-detector array for high energy nuclear e+e- pair spectrosocopy

A multi-detector array has been constructed for the simultaneous measurement of energy- and angular correlation of electron-positron pairs produced in internal pair conversion (IPC) of nuclear transitions up to 18 MeV. The response functions of the individual detectors have been measured with mono-energetic beams of electrons. Experimental results obtained with 1.6 MeV protons on targets containing $^{11}$B and $^{19}$F show clear IPC over a wide angular range. A comparison with GEANT simulations demonstrates that angular correlations of $e^+e^-$ pairs of transitions in the energy range between 6 and 18 MeV can be determined with sufficient resolution and efficiency to search for deviations from IPC due to the creation and subsequent decay into $e^+e^-$ of a hypothetical short-lived neutral boson.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure

Classical Conformal Blocks and Accessory Parameters from Isomonodromic Deformations

Classical conformal blocks naturally appear in the large central charge limit of 2D Virasoro conformal blocks. In the $AdS_{3}/CFT_{2}$ correspondence, they are related to classical bulk actions and are used to calculate entanglement entropy and geodesic lengths. In this work, we discuss the identification of classical conformal blocks and the Painlev\'e VI action showing how isomonodromic deformations naturally appear in this context. We recover the accessory parameter expansion of Heun's equation from the isomonodromic $\tau$-function. We also discuss how the $c = 1$ expansion of the $\tau$-function leads to a novel approach to calculate the 4-point classical conformal block.Comment: 32+10 pages, 2 figures; v3: upgraded notation, discussion on moduli space and monodromies, numerical and analytic checks; v2: added refs, fixed emai

Improved upper limits on the stochastic gravitational-wave background from 2009-2010 LIGO and Virgo data

Gravitational waves from a variety of sources are predicted to superpose to create a stochastic background. This background is expected to contain unique information from throughout the history of the Universe that is unavailable through standard electromagnetic observations, making its study of fundamental importance to understanding the evolution of the Universe. We carry out a search for the stochastic background with the latest data from the LIGO and Virgo detectors. Consistent with predictions from most stochastic gravitational-wave background models, the data display no evidence of a stochastic gravitational-wave signal. Assuming a gravitational-wave spectrum of ΩGW(f)=Ωα(f/fref)α, we place 95% confidence level upper limits on the energy density of the background in each of four frequency bands spanning 41.5-1726 Hz. In the frequency band of 41.5-169.25 Hz for a spectral index of α=0, we constrain the energy density of the stochastic background to be ΩGW(f)\u3c5.6×10-6. For the 600-1000 Hz band, ΩGW(f)\u3c0.14(f/900Hz)3, a factor of 2.5 lower than the best previously reported upper limits. We find ΩGW(f)\u3c1.8×10-4 using a spectral index of zero for 170-600 Hz and ΩGW(f)\u3c1.0(f/1300Hz)3 for 1000-1726 Hz, bands in which no previous direct limits have been placed. The limits in these four bands are the lowest direct measurements to date on the stochastic background. We discuss the implications of these results in light of the recent claim by the BICEP2 experiment of the possible evidence for inflationary gravitational waves

Search for gravitational radiation from intermediate mass black hole binaries in data from the second LIGO-Virgo joint science run

This paper reports on an unmodeled, all-sky search for gravitational waves from merging intermediate mass black hole binaries (IMBHB). The search was performed on data from the second joint science run of the LIGO and Virgo detectors (July 2009-October 2010) and was sensitive to IMBHBs with a range up to ∼200Mpc, averaged over the possible sky positions and inclinations of the binaries with respect to the line of sight. No significant candidate was found. Upper limits on the coalescence-rate density of nonspinning IMBHBs with total masses between 100 and 450M and mass ratios between 0.25 and 1 were placed by combining this analysis with an analogous search performed on data from the first LIGO-Virgo joint science run (November 2005-October 2007). The most stringent limit was set for systems consisting of two 88M black holes and is equal to 0.12Mpc-3Myr-1 at the 90% confidence level. This paper also presents the first estimate, for the case of an unmodeled analysis, of the impact on the search range of IMBHB spin configurations: the visible volume for IMBHBs with nonspinning components is roughly doubled for a population of IMBHBs with spins aligned with the binary\u27s orbital angular momentum and uniformly distributed in the dimensionless spin parameter up to 0.8, whereas an analogous population with antialigned spins decreases the visible volume by ∼20%. © 2014 American Physical Society

First all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from unknown sources in binary systems

We present the first results of an all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from unknown spinning neutron stars in binary systems using LIGO and Virgo data. Using a specially developed analysis program, the TwoSpect algorithm, the search was carried out on data from the sixth LIGO science run and the second and third Virgo science runs. The search covers a range of frequencies from 20 Hz to 520 Hz, a range of orbital periods from 2 to ∼2,254h and a frequency- and period-dependent range of frequency modulation depths from 0.277 to 100 mHz. This corresponds to a range of projected semimajor axes of the orbit from ∼0.6×10-3ls to ∼6,500ls assuming the orbit of the binary is circular. While no plausible candidate gravitational wave events survive the pipeline, upper limits are set on the analyzed data. The most sensitive 95% confidence upper limit obtained on gravitational wave strain is 2.3×10-24 at 217 Hz, assuming the source waves are circularly polarized. Although this search has been optimized for circular binary orbits, the upper limits obtained remain valid for orbital eccentricities as large as 0.9. In addition, upper limits are placed on continuous gravitational wave emission from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1 between 20 Hz and 57.25 Hz

Searches for continuous gravitational waves from nine young supernova remnants

science data run. The targets were nine young supernova remnants not associated with pulsars; eight of the remnants are associated with non-pulsing suspected neutron stars. One target’s parameters are uncertain enough to warrant two searches, for a total of ten. Each search covered a broad band of frequencies and first and second frequency derivatives for a fixed sky direction. The searches coherently integrated data from the two LIGO interferometers over time spans from 5.3–25.3 days using the matched-filtering F-statistic. We found no credible gravitational-wave signals. We set 95% confidence upper limits as strong (low) as 4 × 10−25 on intrinsic strain, 2 × 10−7 on fiducial ellipticity, and 4 × 10−5 on r-mode amplitude. These beat the indirect limits from energy conservation and are within the range of theoretical predictions for neutron-star ellipticities and r-mode amplitudes.Fil: Dominguez, Alfredo Eduardo. Ministerio de Defensa. Fuerza Aerea Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Ortega Larcher, Walter Emanuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estrategico Para la Defensa. Subsede Instituto Universitario Aeronautico | Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estrategico Para la Defensa. Subsede Instituto Universitario Aeronautico; ArgentinaFil: Aasi, J.. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Abbott, B. P.. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Abbott, R.. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Abbott, T.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Abernathy, M. R.. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Acernese, F.. Universita di Salerno; Italia. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare; ItaliaFil: Ackley, K.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Adams, C.. Livingston Observatory; Estados UnidosFil: Adams, T.. Cardiff University; Reino Unido. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université de Savoie; FranciaFil: Adams, T.. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université de Savoie; FranciaFil: Addesso, P.. University of Sannio at Benevento; Italia. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare; ItaliaFil: Adhikari, R. X.. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Adya, V.. Max Planck Institut für Gravitationsphysik; AlemaniaFil: Affeldt, C.. Max Planck Institut für Gravitationsphysik; AlemaniaFil: Agathos, M.. Nikhef; Países BajosFil: Agatsuma, K.. Nikhef; Países BajosFil: Aggarwal, N.. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Aguiar, O. D.. Centro de Previsao de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais; BrasilFil: Ain, A.. Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics; IndiaFil: Ajith, P.. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; IndiaFil: Alemic, A.. Syracuse University; Estados UnidosFil: Allen, B.. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Estados Unidos. Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik; AlemaniaFil: Allocca, A.. Università degli Studi di Siena; Italia. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare; ItaliaFil: Amariutei, D.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Anderson, S. B.. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Anderson, W. G.. University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Estados UnidosFil: Arai, K.. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Araya, M. C.. California Institute of Technology; Estados Unido