1,598 research outputs found
The contamination of the surface of Vesta by impacts and the delivery of the dark material
The Dawn spacecraft observed the presence of dark material, which in turn
proved to be associated with OH and H-rich material, on the surface of Vesta.
The source of this dark material has been identified with the low albedo
asteroids, but it is still a matter of debate whether the delivery of the dark
material is associated with a few large impact events, to micrometeorites or to
the continuous, secular flux of impactors on Vesta. The continuous flux
scenario predicts that a significant fraction of the exogenous material
accreted by Vesta should be due to non-dark impactors likely analogous to
ordinary chondrites, which instead represent only a minor contaminant in the
HED meteorites. We explored the continuous flux scenario and its implications
for the composition of the vestan regolith, taking advantage of the data from
the Dawn mission and the HED meteorites. We used our model to show that the
stochastic events scenario and the micrometeoritic flux scenario are natural
consequences of the continuous flux scenario. We then used the model to
estimate the amounts of dark and hydroxylate materials delivered on Vesta since
the LHB and we showed how our results match well with the values estimated by
the Dawn mission. We used our model to assess the amount of Fe and siderophile
elements that the continuous flux of impactors would mix in the vestan
regolith: concerning the siderophile elements, we focused our attention on the
role of Ni. The results are in agreement with the data available on the Fe and
Ni content of the HED meteorites and can be used as a reference frame in future
studies of the data from the Dawn mission and of the HED meteorites. Our model
cannot yet provide an answer to the fate of the missing non-carbonaceous
contaminants, but we discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on the
journal ICARUS, "Dark and Bright Materials on Vesta" special issu
A Multicentric, Single Arm, Prospective, Stratified Clinical Investigation to Confirm MammoWave’s Ability in Breast Lesions Detection
Novel techniques, such as microwave imaging, have been implemented in different prototypes and are under clinical validation, especially for breast cancer detection, due to their harmless technology and possible clinical advantages over conventional imaging techniques. In the prospective study presented in this work, we aim to investigate through a multicentric European clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT05300464) the effectiveness of the MammoWave microwave imaging device, which uses a Huygens-principle-based radar algorithm for image reconstruction and comprises dedicated image analysis software. A detailed clinical protocol has been prepared outlining all aspects of this study, which will involve adult females having a radiologist study output obtained using conventional exams (mammography and/or ultrasound and/or magnetic resonance imaging) within the previous month. A maximum number of 600 volunteers will be recruited at three centres in Italy and Spain, where they will be asked to sign an informed consent form prior to the MammoWave scan. Conductivity weighted microwave images, representing the homogeneity of the tissues’ dielectric properties, will be created for each breast, using a conductivity = 0.3 S/m. Subsequently, several microwave image parameters (features) will be used to quantify the images’ non-homogenous behaviour. A selection of these features is expected to allow for distinction between breasts with lesions (either benign or malignant) and those without radiological findings. For all the selected features, we will use Welch’s t-test to verify the statistical significance, using the gold standard output of the radiological study review
Superconducting gap anisotropy of LuNi2B2C thin films from microwave surface impedance measurements
Surface impedance measurements of LuNi2B2C superconducting thin films as a
function of temperature have been performed down to 1.5 K and at 20 GHz using a
dielectric resonator technique. The magnetic penetration depth closely
reproduces the standard B.C.S. result, but with a reduced value of the energy
gap at low temperature. These data provide evidence for an anisotropic s-wave
character of the order parameter symmetry in LuNi2B2C. From the evaluation of
the real part of complex conductivity, we have observed constructive (type II)
coherence effects in the electromagnetic absorption below Tc.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Performance of HPGe Detectors in High Magnetic Fields
A new generation of high-resolution hypernuclear gamma$-spectroscopy
experiments with high-purity germanium detectors (HPGe) are presently designed
at the FINUDA spectrometer at DAPhiNE, the Frascati phi-factory, and at PANDA,
the antiproton proton hadron spectrometer at the future FAIR facility. Both,
the FINUDA and PANDA spectrometers are built around the target region covering
a large solid angle. To maximise the detection efficiency the HPGe detectors
have to be located near the target, and therefore they have to be operated in
strong magnetic fields B ~ 1 T. The performance of HPGe detectors in such an
environment has not been well investigated so far. In the present work VEGA and
EUROBALL Cluster HPGe detectors were tested in the field provided by the ALADiN
magnet at GSI. No significant degradation of the energy resolution was found,
and a change in the rise time distribution of the pulses from preamplifiers was
observed. A correlation between rise time and pulse height was observed and is
used to correct the measured energy, recovering the energy resolution almost
completely. Moreover, no problems in the electronics due to the magnetic field
were observed.Comment: submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res. A, LaTeX, 19 pages, 9
figure
MammoWave Breast Imaging Device: Prospective Clinical Trial Results and AI Enhancement
Penalised PET image reconstruction algorithms are often accelerated during early iterations with the use of subsets. However, these methods may exhibit limit cycle behaviour at later iterations due to variations between subsets. Desirable converged images can be achieved for a subclass of these algorithms via the implementation of a relaxed step size sequence, but the heuristic selection of parameters will impact the quality of the image sequence and algorithm convergence rates. In this work, we demonstrate the adaption and application of a class of stochastic variance reduction gradient algorithms for PET image reconstruction using the relative difference penalty and numerically compare convergence performance to BSREM. The two investigated algorithms are: SAGA and SVRG. These algorithms require the retention in memory of recently computed subset gradients, which are utilised in subsequent updates. We present several numerical studies based on Monte Carlo simulated data and a patient data set for fully 3D PET acquisitions. The impact of the number of subsets, different preconditioners and step size methods on the convergence of regions of interest values within the reconstructed images is explored. We observe that when using constant preconditioning, SAGA and SVRG demonstrate reduced variations in voxel values between subsequent updates and are less reliant on step size hyper-parameter selection than BSREM reconstructions. Furthermore, SAGA and SVRG can converge significantly faster to the penalised maximum likelihood solution than BSREM, particularly in low count data
New detectors for the kaon and hypernuclear experiments with KaoS at MAMI and with PANDA at GSI
The KaoS spectrometer at the Mainz Microtron MAMI, Germany, is perceived as
the ideal candidate for a dedicated spectrometer in kaon and hypernuclei
electroproduction. KaoS will be equipped with new read-out electronics, a
completely new focal plane detector package consisting of scintillating fibres,
and a new trigger system. First prototypes of the fibre detectors and the
associated new front-end electronics are shown in this contribution. The Mainz
hypernuclei research program will complement the hypernuclear experiments at
the planned FAIR facility at GSI, Germany. At the proposed antiproton storage
ring the spectroscopy of double Lambda hypernuclei is one of the four main
topics which will be addressed by the PANDA Collaboration. The experiments
require the operation of high purity germanium (HPGe) detectors in high
magnetic fields (B= 1T) in the presence of a large hadronic background. The
performance of high resolution Ge detectors in such an environment has been
investigated.Comment: Presentation at International Symposium on the Development of
Detectors for Particle, Astroparticle and Synchrotron Radiation Experiments,
Stanford, Ca (SNIC06), 6 pages, LaTeX, 11 eps figure
Production of H and H with the (K,) reaction
The production of neutron rich -hypernuclei via the
(,) reaction has been studied using data collected with the
FINUDA spectrometer at the DANE -factory (LNF). The analysis of the
inclusive momentum spectra is presented and an upper limit for the
production of H and H from Li and Li, is
assessed for the first time.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in PL
Proton spectra from Non-Mesonic Weak Decay of p-shell Lambda-Hypernuclei and evidence for the two-nucleon induced process
New spectra from the FINUDA experiment of the Non Mesonic Weak Decay (NMWD)
proton kinetic energy for 9(Lambda)Be, 11(Lambda)B, 12(Lambda)C, 13(Lambda)C,
15 (Lambda)N and 16(Lambda)O are presented and discussed along with the
published data on 5(Lambda)He and 7(Lambda)Li. Exploiting the large mass number
range and the low energy threshold (15 MeV) for the proton detection of FINUDA,
an evaluation of both Final State Interactions (FSI) and the two nucleon
induced NMWD contributions to the decay process has been done. Based on this
evaluation, a linear dependence of FSI on the hypernuclear mass number A is
found and for the two nucleon stimulated decay rate the experimental value of
Gamma2/Gammap=0.43+-0.25 is determined for the first time. A value for the two
nucleon stimulated decay rate to the total decay rate
Gamma2/GammaNMWD=0.24+-0.10 is also extracted.Comment: 11 pages and 2 figure
A study of the proton spectra following the capture of in Li and C with FINUDA
Momenta spectra of protons emitted following the capture of in Li
and C have been measured with 1% resolution. The C spectrum is
smooth whereas for Li a well defined peak appears at about 500 MeV/. The
first observation of a structure in this region was identified as a strange
tribaryon or, possibly, a -nuclear state. The peak is correlated with a
coming from decay in flight, selected by setting momenta
larger than 275 MeV/. The could be produced, together with a 500
MeV/ proton, by the capture of a in a deuteron-cluster substructure of
the Li nucleus. The capture rate for such a reaction is (1.62\pm
0.23_{stat} ^{+0.71}_{-0.44}(sys))%/K^-_{stop}, in agreement with the existing
observations on He targets and with the hypothesis that the Li nucleus
can be interpreted as a cluster.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in NP
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