58 research outputs found
Monitoring of hadrontherapy treatments by means of charged particle detection
The interaction of the incoming beam radiation with the patient body in hadrontherapy
treatments produces secondary charged and neutral particles, whose detection can be
used for monitoring purposes and to perform an on-line check of beam particle range. In
the context of ion-therapy with active scanning, charged particles are potentially attractive
since they can be easily tracked with a high efficiency, in presence of a relatively low
background contamination. In order to verify the possibility of exploiting this approach
for in-beam monitoring in ion-therapy, and to guide the design of specific detectors, both
simulations and experimental tests are being performed with ion beams impinging on
simple homogeneous tissue-like targets (PMMA). From these studies, a resolution of the
order of few millimeters on the single track has been proven to be sufficient to exploit
charged particle tracking for monitoring purposes, preserving the precision achievable
on longitudinal shape. The results obtained so far show that the measurement of charged
particles can be successfully implemented in a technology capable of monitoring both
the dose profile and the position of the Bragg peak inside the target and finally lead to
the design of a novel profile detector. Crucial aspects to be considered are the detector
positioning, to be optimized in order to maximize the available statistics, and the capability
of accounting for the multiple scattering interactions undergone by the charged
fragments along their exit path from the patient body. The experimental results collected
up to now are also valuable for the validation of Monte Carlo simulation software tools
and their implementation in Treatment Planning Software packages
Gamma-Ray Burst observations by the high-energy charged particle detector on board the CSES-01 satellite between 2019 and 2021
In this paper we report the detection of five strong Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs)
by the High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD-01) mounted on board the China
Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES-01), operational since 2018 on a
Sun-synchronous polar orbit at a 507 km altitude and 97
inclination. HEPD-01 was designed to detect high-energy electrons in the energy
range 3 - 100 MeV, protons in the range 30 - 300 MeV, and light nuclei in the
range 30 - 300 MeV/n. Nonetheless, Monte Carlo simulations have shown HEPD-01
is sensitive to gamma-ray photons in the energy range 300 keV - 50 MeV, even if
with a moderate effective area above 5 MeV. A dedicated time correlation
analysis between GRBs reported in literature and signals from a set of HEPD-01
trigger configuration masks has confirmed the anticipated detector sensitivity
to high-energy photons. A comparison between the simultaneous time profiles of
HEPD-01 electron fluxes and photons from GRB190114C, GRB190305A, GRB190928A,
GRB200826B and GRB211211A has shown a remarkable similarity, in spite of the
different energy ranges. The high-energy response, with peak sensitivity at
about 2 MeV, and moderate effective area of the detector in the actual flight
configuration explain why these five GRBs, characterised by a fluence above
3 10 erg cm in the energy interval 300 keV - 50
MeV, have been detected.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ
Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age: Secondary Distance Indicators
The formal division of the distance indicators into primary and secondary leads to difficulties in description of methods which can actually be used in two ways: with, and without the support of the other methods for scaling. Thus instead of concentrating on the scaling requirement we concentrate on all methods of distance determination to extragalactic sources which are designated, at least formally, to use for individual sources. Among those, the Supernovae Ia is clearly the leader due to its enormous success in determination of the expansion rate of the Universe. However, new methods are rapidly developing, and there is also a progress in more traditional methods. We give a general overview of the methods but we mostly concentrate on the most recent developments in each field, and future expectations. © 2018, The Author(s)
Synthesis of Boron- and Silicon-Containing Amino Acids through Copper-Catalysed Conjugate Additions to Dehydroalanine Derivatives
A copper-based catalytic technique for the regioselective hydroboration and hydrosilylation of dehydroalanine derivatives has been developed. This method introduces synthetically versatile boron and silicon groups, while simultaneously performing a catalytic anti-Markovnikov hydrofunctionalization of dehydroalanines and dehydropeptides for the synthesis of amino acids and peptides bearing unnatural side-chains. The products obtained were expediently converted into valuable nonproteinogenic amino acid building blocks for polypeptide synthesis
A simple, modular synthesis of C4-substituted tryptophan derivatives
The modular and versatile synthesis of C4-substituted tryptophan derivatives by direct functionalization of easily available N-acetyl 4-boronate tryptophan methyl ester via transition metal-catalyzed and metal-mediated cross coupling reactions is described. The versatility of the chemistry is highlighted by the gram-scale synthesis of 4-boronated N-acetyl-tryptophan methyl ester and the rapid synthesis of C4-aryl, C4-alkyl, C4-cyano, C4-trifluoromethyl, C4-azido, and C4-hydroxy tryptophan derivatives. The utility of our methodology is illustrated through the quick approach to the tricyclic azepino indole skeleton embedded in many natural product
Direct, Regioselective, and Chemoselective Preparation of Novel Boronated Tryptophans by Friedel–Crafts Alkylation
A facile synthetic approach to the direct preparation of various novel unnatural boronated protected tryptophans using a regio- and chemoselective electrophilic substitution of 4- and 5-boronated indoles with N-protected dehydroalanine is described. The gram-scale synthesis of two free tryptophan boronic acids is also reported
Asymmetric Alkylation of Cyclic Ketones with Dehydroalanine via H-Bond-Directing Enamine Catalysis: Straightforward Access to Enantiopure Unnatural α-Amino Acids
The growing importance of structurally diverse and functionalized enantiomerically pure unnatural amino acids in the design of drugs, including peptides, has stimulated the development of new synthetic methods. This study reports the challenging direct asymmetric alkylation of cyclic ketones with dehydroalanine derivatives via a conjugate addition reaction for the synthesis of enantiopure ketone-based α-unnatural amino acids. The key to success was the design of a bifunctional primary amine-thiourea catalyst that combines H-bond-directing activation and enamine catalysis. The simultaneous dual activation of the two relatively unreactive partners, confirmed by mass spectrometry studies, results in high reactivity while securing high levels of stereocontrol. A broad substrate scope is accompanied by versatile downstream chemical modifications. The mild reaction conditions and consistently excellent enantioselectivities (>95 % ee in most cases) render this protocol highly practical for the rapid construction of valuable noncanonical enantiopure α-amino-acid building blocks
Observations concerning the synthesis of tryptamine homologues and branched tryptamine derivatives via the borrowing hydrogen process: synthesis of psilocin, bufotenin, and serotonin
Observations concerning the synthesis of substituted tryptamine derivatives starting from indoles and 1,n-amino alcohols via the borrowing hydrogen process are discussed. This catalytic, single-step, and modular approach to tryptamines and homotryptamines allows the synthesis of branched and non branched tryptamines as well as tryptamine-based natural products such as psilocin, bufotenin, and serotonin
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