Focal plane detector optical readout Gallo, G; Bonanno, D L; Bongiovanni, D G ...
Journal of physics. Conference series,
07/2018, Letnik:
1056, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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A preliminary study of an alternative solution for the optical detection and tracking of the ions in the MAGNEX focal plane detector for the NUMEN project is presented. The tracks of the ions are ...sampled by means of the light that they produce through a scintillating gas, which is collected by arrays of Silicon Photo Multiplier suitably arranged. A complete Geant4 simulation is under development in order to correlate detector geometry, characteristics of the gas and light collection efficiency. Fast timing performance could be achieved through a completely digital (on-off) read-out system of the light sensors and a position reconstruction algorithm.
Putting the “M” back in maternal–fetal medicine D'Alton, Mary E., MD; Bonanno, Clarissa A., MD; Berkowitz, Richard L., MD ...
American journal of obstetrics and gynecology,
06/2013, Letnik:
208, Številka:
6
Journal Article
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Although maternal death remains rare in the United States, the rate has not decreased for 3 decades. The rate of severe maternal morbidity, a more prevalent problem, is also rising. Rise in maternal ...age, in rates of obesity, and in cesarean deliveries as well as more pregnant women with chronic medical conditions all contribute to maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States. We believe it is the responsibility of maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) subspecialists to lead a national effort to decrease maternal mortality and morbidity. In doing so, we hope to reestablish the vital role of MFM subspecialists to take the lead in the performance and coordination of care in complicated obstetrical cases. This article will summarize our initial recommendations to enhance MFM education and training, to establish national standards to improve maternal care and management, and to address critical research gaps in maternal medicine.
The NUMEN Project, proposed at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania, has the aim to access the nuclear matrix elements, entering the expression of the life time of double beta decay, by ...relevant cross sections of double charge exchange reactions. The basic point, on which it is based this innovative technique, is the coincidence of the initial and final state wave-functions in the two classes of processes and the similarity of the transition operators. A key aspect of the Project is the use of MAGNEX large acceptance magnetic spectrometer, for the detection of the ejectiles, and of the INFN LNS K800 Superconducting Cyclotron (CS), for the acceleration of the required high resolution and low emittance heavy-ion beams.
The fabrication and characterization of a charged particle imaging system composed of a tracker and a residual range detector (RRD) is described. The tracker is composed of four layers of ...scintillating fibers (SciFi), 500μm side square section, arranged to form two planes orthogonal to each other. The fibers are coupled to two Multi-Pixel Photon Counter (MPPC) arrays by means of a channel reduction system patented by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) (Presti, 2015) 1. Sixty parallel layers of the same fibers used in the tracker compose the RRD. The various layers are optically coupled to a MPPC array by means of wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers. The sensitive area of the two detectors is 9×9cm2. The results of the measurements, acquired by the prototypes with CATANA (Cirrone, 2008) 2 proton beam, and a comparison with the simulations of the detectors are presented.
•A real time charged particle imaging system is described.•The system is composed of a position sensitive and a residual range detectors.•The sensitive area of the system is composed of submillimeter scintillating fibers.•The read-out is based on a patented channel reduction system.•The results of the measurements with proton beam are presented.
The design of a detector for tracking charged particles is presented together with the characterization techniques developed to extract the main design specifications. The goals for the final ...detector are to achieve real-time imaging performances, a large detection area, and a high spatial resolution, particularly suitable for medical imaging applications. This paper describes the prototype of the tracker plane, which has a 20 × 20 cm2 sensitive area consisting of two crossed ribbons of 500 μm square scintillating fibers. The information about the hit position extracted real-time tracker in an innovative way, using a reduced number of the read-out channels to obtain a very large detection area but with moderate costs and complexity. The performances of the tracker have been investigated using β sources, cosmic rays, and a 62 MeV proton beam.
Objective We examined predictors of massive blood loss for women with placenta accreta who had undergone hysterectomy. Study Design A retrospective review of women who underwent peripartum ...hysterectomy for pathologically confirmed placenta accreta was performed. Characteristics that are associated with massive blood loss (≥5000 mL) and large-volume transfusion (≥10 units packed red cells) were examined. Results A total of 77 patients were identified. The median blood loss was 3000 mL, with a median of 5 units of red cells transfused. There was no association among maternal age, gravidity, number of previous deliveries, number of previous cesarean deliveries, degree of placental invasion, or antenatal bleeding and massive blood loss or large-volume transfusion ( P > .05). Among women with a known diagnosis of placenta accreta, 41.7% had an estimated blood loss of ≥5000 mL, compared with 12.0% of those who did not receive the diagnosis antenatally with ultrasound scanning ( P = .01). Conclusion There are few reliable predictors of massive blood loss in women with placenta accreta.
•PCR assays to detect key mutations of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein are described•Discrimination of Variants of Concern (VOCs) and other variants is achieved•The assays detected key mutations of ...20I/501Y.V1 and 20 J/501Y.V3 in sewage in Italy•The method allows rapid and cost-effective detection of VOCs in sewage for WBE•The described approach can be used for rapid screening in clinical samples
New SARS-CoV-2 mutations are constantly emerging, raising concerns of increased transmissibility, virulence or escape from host immune response.
We describe a nested RT-PCR assay (~1500 bps) to detect multiple nucleotide changes resulting in key spike protein mutations distinctive of the major known circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the three Variants of Concern (VOCs) 20I/501Y.V1 (United Kingdom), 20H/501Y.V2 (South Africa), and 20 J/501Y.V3 (Brazil), as well as the 20E.EU1 variant (Spain), the CAL.20C recently identified in California, and the mink-associated variant (GR, lineage B.1.1.298). Prior to application to field samples, the discriminatory potential of this PCR assay was explored using GISAID and Nextclade. To extend variant detection to challenging matrices such as sewage, where the amplification of long fragments is problematic, two short nested RT-PCR assays (~300 bps) were also designed, targeting portions of the region spanned by the long nested assay.
The three newly-designed assays were then tested on field samples, including 31 clinical samples (7 fully-sequenced swab samples, and 24 uncharacterized ones) and 34 urban wastewater samples, some of which collected in areas where circulation of VOCs had been reported.
The long assay successfully amplified 29 of the 31 swabs (93%), allowing the correct identification of variants 20I/501Y.V1 and 20E.EU1 present in the panel of previously characterized samples. The Spanish variant was detected in 14/24 of the uncharacterized samples as well. The sequences obtained using the short assays were consistent with those obtained with the long assay. Mutations characteristic of VOCs (UK and Brazilian variant) and of other variant (Spanish) were detected in sewage samples. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of the presence of sequences harboring key mutations of 20I/501Y.V1 and 20 J/501Y.V3 in urban wastewaters, highlighting the potential contribution of wastewater surveillance to explore SARS-CoV-2 diversity.
The developed nested RT-PCR assays can be used as an initial rapid screening test to select clinical samples containing mutations of interest. This can speed up diagnosis and optimize resources since it allows full genome sequencing to be done only on clinically relevant specimens. The assays can be also employed for a rapid and cost-effective detection of VOCs or other variants in sewage for the purposes of wastewater-based epidemiology. The approach proposed here can be used to better understand SARS-CoV-2 variant diversity, geographic distribution and impact worldwide.
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OFFSET: Optical Fiber Folded Scintillating Extended Tracker Lo Presti, D.; Aiello, S.; Bonanno, D.L. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2014, Letnik:
737
Journal Article
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The OFFSET collaboration aims at the development of a novel system for tracking charged particles, designed to achieve real-time imaging, large detection areas, and a high spatial resolution ...especially suitable for use in medical diagnostics. This paper presents the first prototype of this tracker, having a 20×20cm2 sensitive area made by two crossed ribbons of 500μm square scintillating fibers. The track position information is extracted in real time using a reduced number of read-out channels to obtain very large detection area at moderate cost and complexity. The performance of the tracker was investigated using β sources, cosmic rays and a 62MeV proton beam.
The Summit Craters system represents the point of maximum expression of the persistent tectonic activity at Mount Etna Volcano. The Muography of Etna Volcano (MEV) Project began in 2016 as a pilot ...project for the successive installation of a permanent muographic observatory. It aims to demonstrate the detector's capability to observe density anomalies inside the volcanic edifice and monitor their time evolution. The first muon telescope built by the collaboration and installed at the base of the North-East Crater from August 2017 to October 2019 was already able to get significant results. This work describes the characteristics of the muon-telescope and summarizes the principal outcomes obtained, with a quick look at the current status of the project and future developments.
The outbreak of coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has rapidly spread throughout the world. Several studies ...have shown that detecting SARS-CoV-2 in untreated wastewater can be a useful tool to identify new outbreaks, establish outbreak trends, and assess the prevalence of infections. On 06 May 2021, over a year into the pandemic, we conducted a scoping review aiming to summarize research data on SARS-CoV-2 in sewage. Papers dealing with raw sewage collected at wastewater treatment plants, sewer networks, septic tanks, and sludge treatment facilities were included in this review. We also reviewed studies on sewage collected in community settings such as private or municipal hospitals, healthcare facilities, nursing homes, dormitories, campuses, airports, aircraft, and cruise ships. The literature search was conducted using the electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Web Science Core Collection. This comprehensive research yielded 1090 results, 66 of which met the inclusion criteria and are discussed in this review. Studies from 26 countries worldwide have investigated the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage of different origin. The percentage of positive samples in sewage ranged from 11.6 to 100%, with viral concentrations ranging from ˂LOD to 4.6 × 10
8
genome copies/L. This review outlines the evidence currently available on wastewater surveillance: (i) as an early warning system capable of predicting COVID-19 outbreaks days or weeks before clinical cases; (ii) as a tool capable of establishing trends in current outbreaks; (iii) estimating the prevalence of infections; and (iv) studying SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity. In conclusion, as a cost-effective, rapid, and reliable source of information on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants in the population, wastewater surveillance can enhance genomic and epidemiological surveillance with independent and complementary data to inform public health decision-making during the ongoing pandemic.
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