In recent decades, muon imaging has found a plethora of applications in many fields. This technique succeeds to infer the density distribution of big inaccessible structures where conventional ...techniques cannot be used. The requirements of different applications demand specific implementations of image reconstruction algorithms for either multiple scattering or absorption-transmission data analysis, as well as noise-suppression filters and muon momentum estimators. This paper presents successful results of image reconstruction techniques applied to simulated data of some representative applications. In addition to well-known reconstruction methods, a novel approach, the so-called μCT, is proposed for the inspection of spent nuclear fuel canisters. Results obtained based on both μCT and the maximum-likelihood expectation maximization reconstruction algorithms are presented.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.
A short description of the muon tomography demonstrator at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro near Padua, Italy, is given and the principal achievements owing to the data collected at that ...experimental facility are presented. In particular, the feasibility studies for several applications based on the muon-tomographic technology, within national and European projects, are discussed. The experimental problems and the procedures used to improve the performance are underlined. In addition, new activities and the related detector optimization are illustrated.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.
Summary
What is known
Spironolactone is used in paediatric patients with heart disease, yet few data are available regarding the impact on potassium supplementation.
Objective
We sought to determine ...the effect of spironolactone on potassium supplementation in paediatric cardiac intensive care patients.
Methods
A retrospective, propensity matched cohort study was designed. Patients were included in the study if they received furosemide therapy in the cardiac intensive care unit at our institution. Patients who received spironolactone were matched to patients who did not receive spironolactone. Data collection included patient demographics, diuretic data, potassium monitoring, and total milliequivalents of potassium administered during the cardiac intensive care unit stay.
Results and discussion
A total of 448 patients met study criteria median age 0.43 (IQR 0.06‐3.52) years, 58.9% male. Intensive care unit length of stay was 7 (IQR 3‐17) days, cardiovascular surgery occurred in 90.4%. Patients had a mean 4.6±2.6 potassium concentrations assessed per day (29.5%±19.4%<3.5 mmol/L, and 2.9%±6.5%>5.5 mmol/L). Patients received a median of 5.1 mEq/kg (0‐323.4 mEq/kg) of potassium. Spironolactone (n=224) was administered for 2 days (IQR 1‐4) at mean dose of 0.64±0.54 mg kg−1 d−1. Median total mEq/kg of potassium administered did not differ between groups (4.6 mEq/kg (IQR 0.66‐16.8) vs 6.5 mEq/kg (IQR 1.3‐18.3 mEq/kg), P=.13). Potassium laboratory values did not differ in hypokalemia (27.8%±19.1% vs 31.2%±19.5%, P=.06) or hyperkalemia (2.8%±5.4% vs 3.2%±7.5%, P=.49) between groups.
What is new
Spironolactone supplementation did not reduce the need for potassium supplementation in paediatric cardiac intensive care patients.
Conclusion
The routine use of spironolactone in the paediatric cardiac intensive care population may not be more efficacious than potassium supplementation for maintenance of serum potassium concentrations.
Applications of cosmic-ray muons Bonomi, G.; Checchia, P.; D’Errico, M. ...
Progress in particle and nuclear physics,
20/May , Letnik:
112
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Applications of cosmic-ray muons have grown in numbers in the last decades. This was possible thanks to the development of detectors and techniques employed in particle and nuclear physics. Indeed ...the first famous application, the scanning of the Chephren’s pyramid, was performed by L. W. Alvarez, that was a great expert in particle detectors and indeed was awarded a Nobel prize for his work on the hydrogen bubble chambers. After a first period in which the applications exploited mainly the absorption of the cosmic-ray muons when crossing a structure under investigation, more recently also the deflection of the muons has been used to design new applications. Nowadays more and more groups around the world are working on this research field. In the present review, after an introduction on cosmic-ray muons, the principles of the interaction of muons with matter will be briefly summarised. This description is important to classify the applications in three main categories: muon radiography, muon tomography and muon metrology. In the following, for each class, an overview of the basic ideas and a detailed description of the technologies will be presented along with a list of past and present applications.
A search is presented in proton-proton collisions at radicals = 7 TeV for fermionic triplet states expected in type III seesaw models. The search is performed using final states with three isolated ...charged leptons and an imbalance in transverse momentum. The data, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb super(?1). No excess of events is observed above the background predicted by the standard model, and the results are interpreted in terms of limits on production cross sections and masses of the heavy partners of the neutrinos in type III seesaw models. Depending on the considered scenarios, lower limits are obtained on the mass of the heavy partner of the neutrino that range from 180 to 210 GeV. These are the first limits on the production of type III seesaw fermionic triplet states reported by an experiment at the LHC.
Severe cardiac sequelae from Kawasaki disease include coronary ischemia and have been treated with a variety of coronary artery bypass procedures. There is only one published report of a child who ...underwent cardiac transplantation for severe Kawasaki disease-related cardiac complications. The purpose of this study was to gather the worldwide experience with cardiac transplantation for Kawasaki disease.
Data were obtained from the United Network for Organ Sharing Registry, the European transplant experience, and a phone survey of many Kawasaki disease investigators. Diagnostic and surgical reports as well as clinical records were reviewed. Results. We identified 13 Kawasaki disease patients who underwent cardiac transplantation and obtained data on 10. In these 10 patients, the timing of transplantation was within 6 months after diagnosis of Kawasaki disease (4 patients), 1 to 5 years after diagnosis (3 patients), and 9 to 12 years after diagnosis (3 patients). Indications for transplantation included severe myocardial dysfunction, severe ventricular arrhythmias including cardiac arrest, and severe distal multivessel occlusive coronary artery disease. Nine of the 10 patients remain alive and healthy, with up to 6 years' posttransplant follow-up. One patient died 10 months posttransplant after severe refractory rejection. In addition, 1 patient required retransplantation at 4 years for severe rejection.
Cardiac transplantation for severe ischemic heart disease as a sequela of Kawasaki disease is feasible and can benefit the small subgroup of patients who are not candidates for revascularization because of distal coronary stenosis or aneurysms and/or those with severe irreversible myocardial dysfunction.
No one set of characteristics has been consistently predictive of perioperative mortality and morbidity associated with the Norwood procedure. The purpose of the current study is to further validate ...a scoring system shown to be predictive of mortality following the Norwood procedure. We performed a retrospective review of all infants with the diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) who underwent the Norwood procedure at St. Louis Children's Hospital from July 1, 1994, to December 31, 2002. A weighted score for each of six factors comprised the scoring system. The factors included ventricular function, tricuspid regurgitation, ascending aortic diameter, atrial septal defect blood flow characteristics, blood type, and age. A score of > or = 7 points indicated lower reconstructive mortality risk, and a total score of < 7 points indicated a higher mortality risk. A total of 57 patients were analyzed. Twenty-five infants (44%) had a low risk score. These infants had a significantly greater survival at 48 hours compared to infants with a score of < 7 (92 vs 75%, p < 0.05). Infants with a high risk score had a significantly greater relative risk of mortality at 48 hours OR = 2.04; confidence interval (CI) 1.04-4.00; p = 0.036. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is 0.8534 (95% CI, 0.78-0.922). This suggests that the scoring system has a very good degree of discriminatory power in selecting children who did not survive. Based on the results of the ROC, a cutoff score of >7 gives the best sensitivity and specificity for survival. When applied retrospectively, the survival outcomes predicted by our scoring system significantly correlated with actual outcomes. This supports the conclusion that a specific population of HLHS patients may have a higher mortality risk independent of surgical technique and postoperative care based on factors that can be assessed preoperatively.
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