FLARES (a Flexible scintillation Light Apparatus for Rare Event Searches) is a project for an innovative detector technology to be applied to rare event searches, and in particular to neutrinoless ...double beta decay experiments. Its novelty is the enhancement and optimization of the collection of the scintillation light emitted by ultra-pure crystals through the use of arrays of high performance silicon photodetectors cooled to 120 K. This would provide scintillation detectors with ~1% level energy resolution, with the advantages of a technology offering relatively simple low cost mass scalability and powerful background reduction handles, as requested by future neutrinoless double beta decay experimental programs.
Background:
Obesity and insulin resistance predispose individuals to the development of both metabolic syndrome and non-toxic nodular thyroid diseases.
Aim:
The aim of this observational, ...cross-sectional study is to evaluate the relationship between metabolic syndrome and multinodular non-toxic goiter in an inpatient population from a geographic area with moderate iodine deficiency. Subjects and methods: We examined 1422 Caucasian euthyroid inpatients. Thyroid volume was determined by ultrasound of the neck. A fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed to evaluate single thyroid nodules and dominant nodules ≥15 mm in euthyroid multinodular goiter. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was made according to the criteria of the American Heart Associaion/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Results:
Of the sample, 277 patients had clinical evidence of multinodular non-toxic goiter, 461 met the criteria for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, and 132 were found to have both conditions. After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, nicotinism, parity, alcohol intake, thyroid function, and metabolic syndrome-related pharmacological treatment, metabolic syndrome was found to be an independent risk factor for the occurrence of multinodular non-toxic goiter. The relationship between metabolic syndrome and multinodular non-toxic goiter was apparent in both men and women.
Conclusions:
In this study of euthyroid inpatients, we demonstrate that metabolic syndrome is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of multinodular non-toxic goiter in a geographic area with moderate iodine deficiency. We propose that patients meeting the criteria for metabolic syndrome should be screened for the presence of multinodular non-toxic goiter.
Purpose
Diarrhea in relation to the lapatinib–capecitabine regimen is a common and debilitating side effect which may interfere with optimal treatment delivery. We performed a post hoc analysis in ...human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive advanced breast cancer patients treated with a modified schedule in its administration, aimed primarily to evaluate grade (G) ≥2 diarrhea incidence and, secondarily, treatment efficacy.
Patients and methods
Treatment schedule consisted of lapatinib 1,250 mg daily for the first 10 days, then in combination with capecitabine, 2,000 mg/m
2
, starting day 11 for the first cycle, and thereafter from day 8, for 14 days of a 21-day cycle, in 3 daily administrations. Lapatinib was dissolved in water, and cholestyramine was continuously given twice a day.
Results
Among 38 patients treated and analyzed, the incidence of G ≥ 2 diarrhea was 13.2 %. In 28 patients diarrhea was not observed, while G1–2 diarrhea was reported in 9 (23.7 %) patients; a single episode of G3 diarrhea was observed in 1 (2.6 %) patient. Overall response rate was 34.2 %, clinical benefit 55.3 %, and median progression-free survival 10 months.
Conclusion
The results of the present post hoc analysis are very encouraging, both in terms of tolerability and treatment efficacy, and all data compare favorably with previous reports of “conventional” administration of the lapatinib–capecitabine regimen.
Future space experiments dedicated to the observation of high-energy gamma and cosmic rays will increasingly rely on a highly performing calorimetry apparatus, and their physics performance will be ...primarily determined by the geometrical dimensions and the energy resolution of the calorimeter deployed. Thus it is extremely important to optimize its geometrical acceptance, the granularity, and its absorption depth for the measurement of the particle energy with respect to the total mass of the apparatus which is the most important constraint for a space launch. The proposed design tries to satisfy these criteria while staying within a total mass budget of about 1.6 tons. Calocube is a homogeneous calorimeter instrumented with Cesium iodide (CsI) crystals, whose geometry is cubic and isotropic, so as to detect particles arriving from every direction in space, thus maximizing the acceptance; granularity is obtained by filling the cubic volume with small cubic CsI crystals. The total radiation length in any direction is more than adequate for optimal electromagnetic particle identification and energy measurement, whilst the interaction length is at least suficient to allow a precise reconstruction of hadronic showers. Optimal values for the size of the crystals and spacing among them have been studied. The design forms the basis of a three-year R&D activity which has been approved and financed by INFN. An overall description of the system, as well as results from preliminary tests on particle beams will be described.
The main goal of the FAMU experiment is the measurement of the hyperfine splitting (hfs) in the 1S state of muonic hydrogen ΔEhfs (μ - p)1S. The physical process behind this experiment is the ...following: μp are formed in a mixture of hydrogen and a higher-Z gas. When absorbing a photon at resonance-energy ΔEhfs ≈ 0.182 eV, in subsequent collisions with the surrounding H 2 molecules, the μp is quickly de-excited and accelerated by ∼ 2/3 of the excitation energy. The observable is the time distribution of the K-lines X-rays emitted from the μZ formed by muon transfer (μp) + Z → (μZ)* + p, a reaction whose rate depends on the μp kinetic energy. The maximal response, to the tuned laser wavelength, of the time distribution of X-ray from K-lines of the (μZ)* cascade indicate the resonance. During the preparatory phase of the FAMU experiment, several measurements have been performed both to validate the methodology and to prepare the best configuration of target and detectors for the spectroscopic measurement. We present here the crucial study of the energy dependence of the transfer rate from muonic hydrogen to oxygen (Λ μp → μ0 ), precisely measured for the first time.
Despite the significant progress achieved in recent years, the physical mechanisms underlying the origin of solar energetic particles (SEPs) are still a matter of debate. The complex nature of both ...particle acceleration and transport poses challenges to developing a universal picture of SEP events that encompasses both the low-energy (from tens of keV to a few hundreds of MeV) observations made by space-based instruments and the GeV particles detected by the worldwide network of neutron monitors in ground-level enhancements (GLEs). The high-precision data collected by the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) satellite experiment offer a unique opportunity to study the SEP fluxes between ∼80 MeV and a few GeV, significantly improving the characterization of the most energetic events. In particular, PAMELA can measure for the first time with good accuracy the spectral features at moderate and high energies, providing important constraints for current SEP models. In addition, the PAMELA observations allow the relationship between low- and high-energy particles to be investigated, enabling a clearer view of the SEP origin. No qualitative distinction between the spectral shapes of GLE, sub-GLE and non-GLE events is observed, suggesting that GLEs are not a separate class, but are the subset of a continuous distribution of SEP events that are more intense at high energies. While the spectral forms found are to be consistent with diffusive shock acceleration theory, which predicts spectral rollovers at high energies that are attributed to particles escaping the shock region during acceleration, further work is required to explore the relative influences of acceleration and transport processes on SEP spectra.
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