2,376 research outputs found
Detection of blood aspiration in deadly head gunshots comparing postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) and autopsy
BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to analyze the reliability of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) versus autopsy in detecting signs of blood aspiration in a distinct group of patients following deadly head, mouth or floor of mouth gunshot injuries. METHODS: In this study, in 41 cases PMCT was compared to autopsy reports, the gold standard of postmortem exams, regarding detection of blood aspiration. PMCT was evaluated for the presence and level of typical signs of blood aspiration in the major airways and lung using a semi-quantitative scale ranging from level 0 (no aspiration) to 3 (significant aspiration) also taking density values of the described potential aspiratory changes into account. RESULTS: Overall, in 29 (70.7%) of 41 enrolled cases PMCT and autopsy revealed the same level of aspiration. A difference of one level between PMCT and autopsy resulted for 5 (12.2%) of the remaining 12 cases. More than one level difference between both methods resulted for 7 cases (17.2%). Autopsy described no signs of aspiration in 10 cases, compared to 31 cases with reported blood aspiration. In contrast, PMCT revealed no signs of blood aspiration in 15 cases whereas 26 cases were rated as positive for signs of aspiration in the major airways. In 18 of these 26 cases considered positive for blood aspiration by autopsy and PMCT, clear signs of aspiration signs were also described bilaterally by both methods. CONCLUSIONS: The presented study provides evidence for the assumption that PMCT seems to be helpful in the detection of blood aspiration in cases of deadly head gunshots. In conclusion, it seems reasonable to suggest performing PMCT additionally to traditional postmortem exams in cases of suspected aspiration to rule out false-negative cases and to possibly allow for a more detailed and rather evidence based examination reconnoitering the cause of death. However, the adequate use of PMCT in this context needs further evaluation and the definition of an objective scale for aspiration detection on PMCT needs to be established in future studies
Generation of angular-momentum-dominated electron beams from a photoinjector
Various projects under study require an angular-momentum-dominated electron
beam generated by a photoinjector. Some of the proposals directly use the
angular-momentum-dominated beams (e.g. electron cooling of heavy ions), while
others require the beam to be transformed into a flat beam (e.g. possible
electron injectors for light sources and linear colliders). In this paper, we
report our experimental study of an angular-momentum-dominated beam produced in
a photoinjector, addressing the dependencies of angular momentum on initial
conditions. We also briefly discuss the removal of angular momentum. The
results of the experiment, carried out at the Fermilab/NICADD Photoinjector
Laboratory, are found to be in good agreement with theoretical and numerical
models.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beam
Chaos and the continuum limit in nonneutral plasmas and charged particle beams
This paper examines discreteness effects in nearly collisionless N-body
systems of charged particles interacting via an unscreened r^-2 force, allowing
for bulk potentials admitting both regular and chaotic orbits. Both for
ensembles and individual orbits, as N increases there is a smooth convergence
towards a continuum limit. Discreteness effects are well modeled by Gaussian
white noise with relaxation time t_R = const * (N/log L)t_D, with L the Coulomb
logarithm and t_D the dynamical time scale. Discreteness effects accelerate
emittance growth for initially localised clumps. However, even allowing for
discreteness effects one can distinguish between orbits which, in the continuum
limit, feel a regular potential, so that emittance grows as a power law in
time, and chaotic orbits, where emittance grows exponentially. For sufficiently
large N, one can distinguish two different `kinds' of chaos. Short range
microchaos, associated with close encounters between charges, is a generic
feature, yielding large positive Lyapunov exponents X_N which do not decrease
with increasing N even if the bulk potential is integrable. Alternatively,
there is the possibility of larger scale macrochaos, characterised by smaller
Lyapunov exponents X_S, which is present only if the bulk potential is chaotic.
Conventional computations of Lyapunov exponents probe X_N, leading to the
oxymoronic conclusion that N-body orbits which look nearly regular and have
sharply peaked Fourier spectra are `very chaotic.' However, the `range' of the
microchaos, set by the typical interparticle spacing, decreases as N increases,
so that, for large N, this microchaos, albeit very strong, is largely
irrelevant macroscopically. A more careful numerical analysis allows one to
estimate both X_N and X_S.Comment: 13 pages plus 17 figure
Generation of Relativistic Electron Bunches with Arbitrary Current Distribution via Transverse-to-Longitudinal Phase Space Exchange
We propose a general method for tailoring the current distribution of
relativistic electron bunches. The technique relies on a recently proposed
method to exchange the longitudinal phase space emittance with one of the
transverse emittances. The method consists of transversely shaping the bunch
and then converting its transverse profile into a current profile via a
transverse-to-longitudinal phase-space-exchange beamline. We show that it is
possible to tailor the current profile to follow, in principle, any desired
distributions. We demonstrate, via computer simulations, the application of the
method to generate trains of microbunches with tunable spacing and
linearly-ramped current profiles. We also briefly explore potential
applications of the technique.Comment: 13 pages, 17 figure
Chaotic Orbits in Thermal-Equilibrium Beams: Existence and Dynamical Implications
Phase mixing of chaotic orbits exponentially distributes these orbits through
their accessible phase space. This phenomenon, commonly called ``chaotic
mixing'', stands in marked contrast to phase mixing of regular orbits which
proceeds as a power law in time. It is operationally irreversible; hence, its
associated e-folding time scale sets a condition on any process envisioned for
emittance compensation. A key question is whether beams can support chaotic
orbits, and if so, under what conditions? We numerically investigate the
parameter space of three-dimensional thermal-equilibrium beams with space
charge, confined by linear external focusing forces, to determine whether the
associated potentials support chaotic orbits. We find that a large subset of
the parameter space does support chaos and, in turn, chaotic mixing. Details
and implications are enumerated.Comment: 39 pages, including 14 figure
Efficient computation of matched solutions of the Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij envelope equations for periodic focusing lattices
A new iterative method is developed to numerically calculate the periodic,
matched beam envelope solution of the coupled Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij (KV)
equations describing the transverse evolution of a beam in a periodic, linear
focusing lattice of arbitrary complexity. Implementation of the method is
straightforward. It is highly convergent and can be applied to all usual
parameterizations of the matched envelope solutions. The method is applicable
to all classes of linear focusing lattices without skew couplings, and also
applies to all physically achievable system parameters -- including where the
matched beam envelope is strongly unstable. Example applications are presented
for periodic solenoidal and quadrupole focusing lattices. Convergence
properties are summarized over a wide range of system parameters.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, Mathematica source code provide
Bosonization of current-current interactions
We discuss a generalization of the conventional bosonization procedure to the
case of current-current interactions which get their natural representation in
terms of current instead of fermion number density operators. A consistent
bosonization procedure requires a geometrical quantization of the hamiltonian
action of on its coadjoint orbits. An integrable example of a
nontrivial realization of this symmetry is presented by the Calogero-Sutherland
model. For an illustrative nonintegrable example we consider transverse gauge
interactions and calculate the fermion Green function.Comment: 15 pages, TeX, C Version 3.0, Princeton preprin
A method for high-energy, low-dose mammography using edge illumination x-ray phase-contrast imaging
Since the breast is one of the most radiosensitive organs, mammography is arguably the area where lowering radiation dose is of the uttermost importance. Phase-based x-ray imaging methods can provide opportunities in this sense, since they do not require x-rays to be stopped in tissue for image contrast to be generated. Therefore, x-ray energy can be considerably increased compared to those usually exploited by conventional mammography. In this article we show how a novel, optimized approach can lead to considerable dose reductions. This was achieved by matching the edge-illumination phase method, which reaches very high angular sensitivity also at high x-ray energies, to an appropriate image processing algorithm and to a virtually noise-free detection technology capable of reaching almost 100% efficiency at the same energies. Importantly, while proof-of-concept was obtained at a synchrotron, the method has potential for a translation to conventional sources
Convex optimization problem prototyping for image reconstruction in computed tomography with the Chambolle-Pock algorithm
The primal-dual optimization algorithm developed in Chambolle and Pock (CP),
2011 is applied to various convex optimization problems of interest in computed
tomography (CT) image reconstruction. This algorithm allows for rapid
prototyping of optimization problems for the purpose of designing iterative
image reconstruction algorithms for CT. The primal-dual algorithm is briefly
summarized in the article, and its potential for prototyping is demonstrated by
explicitly deriving CP algorithm instances for many optimization problems
relevant to CT. An example application modeling breast CT with low-intensity
X-ray illumination is presented.Comment: Resubmitted to Physics in Medicine and Biology. Text has been
modified according to referee comments, and typos in the equations have been
correcte
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