The bismuth germanium oxide (BGO) electromagnetic calorimeter, which is characterized by a large detection energy range of 5 GeV–10 TeV for high-energy cosmic-ray electrons/positrons (CREs) and ...γ-rays, is the key sub-detector of the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE). A careful and comprehensive calibration is essential for conducting accurate detector energy measurement. In this study, we present a method based on the ATmospheric Muon Neutrino Calculation 3-dimensional version (ATMNC3) software package, which achieves a stable and homogeneous inter-calibration in orbit for the DAMPE calorimeter.
Satellite experiments employ plastic scintillators to discriminate charged from neutral particles and to identify charged nuclei. We have assembled and tested a prototype of Plastic Scintillator ...Detector (PSD) equipped with Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) for the High Energy Cosmic Radiation Detection facility (HERD) that will be installed onboard the future Chinese Space Station (CSS). The HERD experiment will provide high quality data on charged cosmic rays up to PeV energies and gamma rays above 100 MeV energies. In order to explore the capability of charge identification of nuclei up to iron, a beam test campaign was performed in 2022 at CERN to study the overall performance of the PSD. The PSD prototype is composed of 8 plastic scintillator trapezoidal bars of two different lengths. The PSD prototype was irradiated with an ion beam composed of particles of selected momentum of 150 GeV/n at CERN SPS H8 beam line. Along the beam line two 10× 10× 0.5 cm 3 squared plastic scintillator tiles were also placed to monitor the beam composition and the particle fragmentation upstream and downstream the beam line. In this work the main results of the SPS H8 beam test in terms of nuclei identification performances of the PSD ptototype detector will be shown.
A second level hospital must assure to the patients a 24 hours service of emergency endoscopy. Since 1989 in the Policlinico 'Umberto I' University 'La Sapienza' of Rome, a dedicated operative unit ...is active. The Authors present their experience of last five years (2001-2005). The endoscopic diagnosis for appropriate therapeutics reduced time and costs of the hospitalization. The Endoscopic Operative Unit resolved the emergency in two/four hours. Neverthless, in some cases, the referall to Unit was not appropriated.
More than a century after the performance of the oil drop experiment, the possible existence of fractionally charged particles FCP still remains unsettled. The search for FCPs is crucial for some ...extensions of the Standard Model in particle physics. Most of the previously conducted searches for FCPs in cosmic rays were based on experiments underground or at high altitudes. However, there have been few searches for FCPs in cosmic rays carried out in orbit other than AMS-01 flown by a space shuttle and BESS by a balloon at the top of the atmosphere. In this study, we conduct an FCP search in space based on on-orbit data obtained using the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) satellite over a period of five years. Unlike underground experiments, which require an FCP energy of the order of hundreds of GeV, our FCP search starts at only a few GeV. An upper limit of \(6.2\times 10^{-10}~~\mathrm{cm^{-2}sr^{-1} s^{-1}}\) is obtained for the flux. Our results demonstrate that DAMPE exhibits higher sensitivity than experiments of similar types by three orders of magnitude that more stringently restricts the conditions for the existence of FCP in primary cosmic rays.
Background: Post-operative delirium (POD) is a common complication, especially in elderly patients who underwent vascular surgery procedures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of ...inflammatory biochemical markers as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and systemic inflammation index (SII) with POD occurrence. Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective, observational study. We analyzed the perioperative data of patients who had undergone elective vascular surgery procedures. The occurrence of delirium after procedure was used to divide the population in two groups: POD-pos and POD-neg group. ROC curves were performed to find the appropriate cut-off values of NLR, PLR and SII. Multivariate analysis was used to identify the independent predictors for POD. Results: A total of 646 patients were enrolled. Mean age was 76.2± 9.8 years, 68.4% were male. Seventy-three patients (11.3%) developed POD. Mean hospital stay was significantly increased in the POD-pos group (6.1± 5.4 vs 3.2± 2.8 days, p=0.0001). In-hospital reinterventions were more frequent in the POD-pos group (8.2% vs 3.8%). Blood values analysis reported significant differences: Hb, NLR, PLR, SII, creatinine and RCP were strongly increased (p< 0.05) in the POD-pos group. ROC curves identified cut-off values for NLR> 3.57, PLR> 139.2 and SII> 676.4. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, Renal Failure, peripheral revascularization procedures, major amputation, general anesthesia, hospitalization in the previous month, NLR> 3.57 and SII> 676.4 were independent risk factors for POD. Conclusion: POD represents a common complication of vascular surgery patients. Our study demonstrated that NLR, PLR and SII are reliable and readily available laboratory predictors of POD in vascular surgery that could help in POD risk-stratification.
The authors analyzed the extent of right-to-left shunting in patients with migraine, patients with cryptogenic stroke, and controls. Patients with both migraine and stroke had larger shunts than did ...patients with migraine without stroke (p = 0.038), patients with no migraine with stroke (p = 0.007), and control patients (p < 0.0001). Patients with migraine have overall larger shunts than nonmigraineurs, particularly if they have had a stroke. Right-to-left shunting may be causally related to migraine and to the increased stroke risk of migraine.
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