Statistical Optimization of Tannase Production by Penicillium sp. EZ-ZH390 in Submerged Fermentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zohreh Hamidi-Esfahani

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Tannase has several important applications in food, feed, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In the present study, production of tannase by mutant strain, Penicillium sp. EZ-ZH390, was optimized in submerged fermentation utilizing two statistical approaches. At first step, a one factor at a time design was employed to screen the preferable nutriments (carbon and nitrogen sources of the medium to produce tannase. Screening of the carbon source resulted in the production of 10.74 U/mL of tannase in 72 h in the presence of 14% raspberry leaves powder. A 1.99-fold increase in tannase production was achieved upon further screening of the nitrogen source (in the presence of 1.2% ammonium nitrate. Then the culture condition variables were studied by the response surface methodology using a central composite design. The results showed that temperature of 30°C rotation rate of 85 rpm and fermentation time 24h led to increased tannase production. At these conditions, tannase activity reached to 21.77 U/mL, and tannase productivity was at least 3.55 times (0.26 U/mL.h in compare to those reported in the literature. The present study showed that, at the optimum conditions, Penicillium sp. EZ-ZH390 is an excellent strain for use in the efficient production of tannase.

From ZZ to ZH: How Low Can These Cross Sections Go or Everybody, Let's Cross Section Limbo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strauss, Emanuel Alexandre

2009-01-01

We report on two searches performed at the D0 detector at the Fermi National Laboratory. The first is a search for Z di-boson production with a theoretical cross section of 1.4 pb. The search was performed on 2.6 fb -1 of data and contributed to the first observation of ZZ production at a hadron collider. The second is a search for a low mass Standard Model Higgs in 4.2 fb -1 of data. The Higgs boson is produced in association with a Z boson where the Higgs decays hadronically and the Z decays to two leptons. The ZZ search was performed in both the di-electron and di-muon channels. For the ZH search, we will focus on the muonic decays where we expanded the traditional coverage by considering events in which one of the two muons fails the selection requirement, and is instead reconstructed as an isolated track. We consider Higgs masses between 100 and 150 GeV, with theoretical cross sections ranging from 0.17 to 0.042 pb, and set upper limits on the ZH production cross-section at 95% confidence level

From ZZ to ZH : How Low Can These Cross Sections Go or Everybody, Let's Cross Section Limbo!

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strauss, Emanuel Alexandre [Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)

2009-08-01

We report on two searches performed at the D0 detector at the Fermi National Laboratory. The first is a search for Z di-boson production with a theoretical cross section of 1.4 pb. The search was performed on 2.6 fb^-1 of data and contributed to the first observation of ZZ production at a hadron collider. The second is a search for a low mass Standard Model Higgs in 4.2 fb^-1 of data. The Higgs boson is produced in association with a Z boson where the Higgs decays hadronically and the Z decays to two leptons. The ZZ search was performed in both the di-electron and di-muon channels. For the ZH search, we will focus on the muonic decays where we expanded the traditional coverage by considering events in which one of the two muons fails the selection requirement, and is instead reconstructed as an isolated track. We consider Higgs masses between 100 and 150 GeV, with theoretical cross sections ranging from 0.17 to 0.042 pb, and set upper limits on the ZH production cross-section at 95% confidence level.

Combination of searches for heavy resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, and ZH boson pairs in proton-proton collisions at √{ s } = 8 and 13 TeV

Science.gov (United States)

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B.; Schäfer, C.; Schwick, C.; Seidel, M.; Sharma, A.; Silva, P.; Sphicas, P.; Steggemann, J.; Stoye, M.; Tosi, M.; Treille, D.; Triossi, A.; Tsirou, A.; Veckalns, V.; Veres, G. I.; Verweij, M.; Wardle, N.; Zagozdzinska, A.; Zeuner, W. D.; Bertl, W.; Deiters, K.; Erdmann, W.; Horisberger, R.; Ingram, Q.; Kaestli, H. C.; Kotlinski, D.; Langenegger, U.; Rohe, T.; Wiederkehr, S. A.; Bachmair, F.; Bäni, L.; Bianchini, L.; Casal, B.; Dissertori, G.; Dittmar, M.; Donegà, M.; Grab, C.; Heidegger, C.; Hits, D.; Hoss, J.; Kasieczka, G.; Lustermann, W.; Mangano, B.; Marionneau, M.; Martinez Ruiz del Arbol, P.; Masciovecchio, M.; Meinhard, M. T.; Meister, D.; Micheli, F.; Musella, P.; Nessi-Tedaldi, F.; Pandolfi, F.; Pata, J.; Pauss, F.; Perrin, G.; Perrozzi, L.; Quittnat, M.; Rossini, M.; Schönenberger, M.; Starodumov, A.; Tavolaro, V. R.; Theofilatos, K.; Wallny, R.; Aarrestad, T. K.; Amsler, C.; Caminada, L.; Canelli, M. F.; De Cosa, A.; Donato, S.; Galloni, C.; Hinzmann, A.; Hreus, T.; Kilminster, B.; Ngadiuba, J.; Pinna, D.; Rauco, G.; Robmann, P.; Salerno, D.; Seitz, C.; Yang, Y.; Zucchetta, A.; Candelise, V.; Doan, T. H.; Jain, Sh.; Khurana, R.; Konyushikhin, M.; Kuo, C. M.; Lin, W.; Pozdnyakov, A.; Yu, S. S.; Kumar, Arun; Chang, P.; Chang, Y. H.; Chao, Y.; Chen, K. F.; Chen, P. H.; Fiori, F.; Hou, W.-S.; Hsiung, Y.; Liu, Y. F.; Lu, R.-S.; Miñano Moya, M.; Paganis, E.; Psallidas, A.; Tsai, J. f.; Asavapibhop, B.; Kovitanggoon, K.; Singh, G.; Srimanobhas, N.; Adiguzel, A.; Boran, F.; Cerci, S.; Damarseckin, S.; Demiroglu, Z. S.; Dozen, C.; Dumanoglu, I.; Girgis, S.; Gokbulut, G.; Guler, Y.; Hos, I.; Kangal, E. E.; Kara, O.; Kayis Topaksu, A.; Kiminsu, U.; Oglakci, M.; Onengut, G.; Ozdemir, K.; Sunar Cerci, D.; Topakli, H.; Turkcapar, S.; Zorbakir, I. S.; Zorbilmez, C.; Bilin, B.; Karapinar, G.; Ocalan, K.; Yalvac, M.; Zeyrek, M.; Gülmez, E.; Kaya, M.; Kaya, O.; Yetkin, E. 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C.; Ricci-Tam, F.; Shin, Y. H.; Skuja, A.; Tonwar, S. C.; Abercrombie, D.; Allen, B.; Azzolini, V.; Barbieri, R.; Baty, A.; Bi, R.; Bierwagen, K.; Brandt, S.; Busza, W.; Cali, I. A.; D'Alfonso, M.; Demiragli, Z.; Gomez Ceballos, G.; Goncharov, M.; Hsu, D.; Iiyama, Y.; Innocenti, G. M.; Klute, M.; Kovalskyi, D.; Lai, Y. S.; Lee, Y.-J.; Levin, A.; Luckey, P. D.; Maier, B.; Marini, A. C.; Mcginn, C.; Mironov, C.; Narayanan, S.; Niu, X.; Paus, C.; Roland, C.; Roland, G.; Salfeld-Nebgen, J.; Stephans, G. S. F.; Tatar, K.; Velicanu, D.; Wang, J.; Wang, T. W.; Wyslouch, B.; Benvenuti, A. C.; Chatterjee, R. M.; Evans, A.; Hansen, P.; Kalafut, S.; Kao, S. C.; Kubota, Y.; Lesko, Z.; Mans, J.; Nourbakhsh, S.; Ruckstuhl, N.; Rusack, R.; Tambe, N.; Turkewitz, J.; Acosta, J. G.; Oliveros, S.; Avdeeva, E.; Bloom, K.; Claes, D. R.; Fangmeier, C.; Gonzalez Suarez, R.; Kamalieddin, R.; Kravchenko, I.; Monroy, J.; Siado, J. E.; Snow, G. R.; Stieger, B.; Alyari, M.; Dolen, J.; Godshalk, A.; Harrington, C.; Iashvili, I.; Kharchilava, A.; Parker, A.; Rappoccio, S.; Roozbahani, B.; Alverson, G.; Barberis, E.; Hortiangtham, A.; Massironi, A.; Morse, D. M.; Nash, D.; Orimoto, T.; Teixeira De Lima, R.; Trocino, D.; Wang, R.-J.; Wood, D.; Bhattacharya, S.; Charaf, O.; Hahn, K. A.; Mucia, N.; Odell, N.; Pollack, B.; Schmitt, M. H.; Sung, K.; Trovato, M.; Velasco, M.; Dev, N.; Hildreth, M.; Hurtado Anampa, K.; Jessop, C.; Karmgard, D. J.; Kellams, N.; Lannon, K.; Loukas, N.; Marinelli, N.; Meng, F.; Mueller, C.; Musienko, Y.; Planer, M.; Reinsvold, A.; Ruchti, R.; Rupprecht, N.; Smith, G.; Taroni, S.; Wayne, M.; Wolf, M.; Woodard, A.; Alimena, J.; Antonelli, L.; Bylsma, B.; Durkin, L. S.; Flowers, S.; Francis, B.; Hart, A.; Hill, C.; Ji, W.; Liu, B.; Luo, W.; Puigh, D.; Winer, B. L.; Wulsin, H. W.; Benaglia, A.; Cooperstein, S.; Driga, O.; Elmer, P.; Hardenbrook, J.; Hebda, P.; Lange, D.; Luo, J.; Marlow, D.; Mei, K.; Ojalvo, I.; Olsen, J.; Palmer, C.; Piroué, P.; Stickland, D.; Svyatkovskiy, A.; Tully, C.; Malik, S.; Norberg, S.; Barker, A.; Barnes, V. E.; Folgueras, S.; Gutay, L.; Jha, M. K.; Jones, M.; Jung, A. W.; Khatiwada, A.; Miller, D. H.; Neumeister, N.; Schulte, J. F.; Sun, J.; Wang, F.; Xie, W.; Cheng, T.; Parashar, N.; Stupak, J.; Adair, A.; Akgun, B.; Chen, Z.; Ecklund, K. M.; Geurts, F. J. M.; Guilbaud, M.; Li, W.; Michlin, B.; Northup, M.; Padley, B. P.; Roberts, J.; Rorie, J.; Tu, Z.; Zabel, J.; Betchart, B.; Bodek, A.; de Barbaro, P.; Demina, R.; Duh, Y. t.; Ferbel, T.; Galanti, M.; Garcia-Bellido, A.; Han, J.; Hindrichs, O.; Khukhunaishvili, A.; Lo, K. H.; Tan, P.; Verzetti, M.; Ciesielski, R.; Goulianos, K.; Mesropian, C.; Agapitos, A.; Chou, J. P.; Gershtein, Y.; Gómez Espinosa, T. A.; Halkiadakis, E.; Heindl, M.; Hughes, E.; Kaplan, S.; Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, R.; Kyriacou, S.; Lath, A.; Montalvo, R.; Nash, K.; Osherson, M.; Saka, H.; Salur, S.; Schnetzer, S.; Sheffield, D.; Somalwar, S.; Stone, R.; Thomas, S.; Thomassen, P.; Walker, M.; Foerster, M.; Heideman, J.; Riley, G.; Rose, K.; Spanier, S.; Thapa, K.; Bouhali, O.; Castaneda Hernandez, A.; Celik, A.; Dalchenko, M.; De Mattia, M.; Delgado, A.; Dildick, S.; Eusebi, R.; Gilmore, J.; Huang, T.; Kamon, T.; Mueller, R.; Pakhotin, Y.; Patel, R.; Perloff, A.; Perniè, L.; Rathjens, D.; Safonov, A.; Tatarinov, A.; Ulmer, K. A.; Akchurin, N.; Damgov, J.; De Guio, F.; Dragoiu, C.; Dudero, P. R.; Faulkner, J.; Gurpinar, E.; Kunori, S.; Lamichhane, K.; Lee, S. W.; Libeiro, T.; Peltola, T.; Undleeb, S.; Volobouev, I.; Wang, Z.; Greene, S.; Gurrola, A.; Janjam, R.; Johns, W.; Maguire, C.; Melo, A.; Ni, H.; Sheldon, P.; Tuo, S.; Velkovska, J.; Xu, Q.; Arenton, M. W.; Barria, P.; Cox, B.; Hirosky, R.; Ledovskoy, A.; Li, H.; Neu, C.; Sinthuprasith, T.; Sun, X.; Wang, Y.; Wolfe, E.; Xia, F.; Clarke, C.; Harr, R.; Karchin, P. E.; Sturdy, J.; Zaleski, S.; Belknap, D. A.; Buchanan, J.; Caillol, C.; Dasu, S.; Dodd, L.; Duric, S.; Gomber, B.; Grothe, M.; Herndon, M.; Hervé, A.; Hussain, U.; Klabbers, P.; Lanaro, A.; Levine, A.; Long, K.; Loveless, R.; Pierro, G. A.; Polese, G.; Ruggles, T.; Savin, A.; Smith, N.; Smith, W. H.; Taylor, D.; Woods, N.; CMS Collaboration

2017-11-01

A statistical combination of searches is presented for massive resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, and ZH boson pairs in proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The data were taken at centre-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to respective integrated luminosities of 19.7 and up to 2.7 fb-1. The results are interpreted in the context of heavy vector triplet and singlet models that mimic properties of composite-Higgs models predicting W‧ and Z‧ bosons decaying to WZ, WW, WH, and ZH bosons. A model with a bulk graviton that decays into WW and ZZ is also considered. This is the first combined search for WW, WZ, WH, and ZH resonances and yields lower limits on masses at 95% confidence level for W‧ and Z‧ singlets at 2.3 TeV, and for a triplet at 2.4 TeV. The limits on the production cross section of a narrow bulk graviton resonance with the curvature scale of the warped extra dimension k ˜ = 0.5, in the mass range of 0.6 to 4.0 TeV, are the most stringent published to date.

NLO qq -> ZH production and Effective Lagrangians for BSM Higgs Physics

CERN Document Server

Jomhari, Nur Zulaiha; CERN. Geneva. PH Department

2015-01-01

The naturalness issue is a compelling reason for the emergence of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Absence of hints in direct searches makes the model-independent Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach to Higgs physics interesting. It is important that to establish to which extent the new boson discovered at LHC is the scalar particle predicted by the SM. BSM physics can change the HZZ coupling that associated ZH production probes. Model-independent extensions of the SM can describe possible changes, described in a field-theoretical way, via an extended Lagrangian with the SM fields. In this project, Higgs boson is Attached to WeaK bosons (HAWK) and Madgraph5 are used as a Monte Carlo (MC) generator to distinguish higher-order SM corrections from actual BSM manifestations and this study attempts to address is whether one can “calibrate” EFT calculations to match the most accurate SM predictions.

Combination of searches for heavy resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, and ZH boson pairs in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 and 13 TeV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sirunyan, Albert M; et al.

2017-05-25

A statistical combination of searches is presented for massive resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, and ZH boson pairs in proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The data are taken at centre-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to respective integrated luminosities of 19.7 and up to 2.7 inverse femtobarns. The results are interpreted in the context of heavy vector triplet and singlet models that mimic properties of composite-Higgs models predicting W' and Z' bosons decaying to WZ, WW, WH, and ZH bosons. A model with a bulk graviton that decays into WW and ZZ is also considered. This is the first combined search for WW, WZ, WH, and ZH resonances and yields lower limits on masses at 95% confidence level for W' and Z' singlets at 2.3 TeV, and for a triplet at 2.4 TeV. The limits on the production cross section of a narrow bulk graviton resonance with the curvature scale of the warped extra dimension k = 0.5, in the mass range of 0.6 to 4.0 TeV, are the most stringent published to date.

Zilpaterol improves feeding performance and fabrication yield of concentrate-finished cull cows.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, T E; Gasch, C A; Hutcheson, J P; Hodgen, J M

2011-07-01

The objective of this study was to quantify the effects of zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) on feeding performance and fabrication yield of concentrate-finished cull cows. Three hundred twenty commercial cull cows (2 to 10 yr old) were obtained from ranches in Missouri and South Dakota and assigned to 1 of 2 treatments: 1) a control diet containing no ZH and 2) a diet that contained ZH. Cows were fed for 75, 88, or 110 d, and all received the control ration until ZH treatments were initiated. Twenty-four days before slaughter, ZH feeding began for the designated treatment pens; cows were fed ZH [8.33 mg/kg (100% DM basis)] for 20 d with a 4-d withdrawal period before slaughter. No differences (P>0.05) were detected between the 2 treatment groups for initial BW or DMI. Final BW (640.5 vs. 619.1 kg), ADG for the last 24 d (2.75 vs. 2.17 kg), and G:F for the last 24 d (0.160 vs. 0.126) were greater (P 0.05) were found for lean or skeletal maturity score, fat thickness, LM area, HCW, or calculated yield grade among the 2 treatment groups. Feeding ZH increased (P0.07) were found for the remaining fabrication yield attributes. The ZH-treated cows had greater (Pfeeding of ZH to concentrate-finished cull cows enhances production efficiencies and can add new value to the cull cow market. © 2011 American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved.

A Randomised Trial Evaluating the Safety and Immunogenicity of the Novel Single Oral Dose Typhoid Vaccine M01ZH09 in Healthy Vietnamese Children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tran, T.H.; Nguyen, T.D.; Nguyen, T.T.; Ninh, T.T.V.; Tran, N.B.C.; Nguyen, V.M.H.; Tran, T.T.N.; Cao, T.T.; Pham, V.M.; Nguyen, T.C.B.; Tran, T.D.H.; Pham, V.T.; To, S.D.; Campbell, J.I.; Stockwell, E.; Schultsz, C.; Simmons, C.P.; Glover, C.; Lam, W.; Marques, F.; May, J.P.; Upton, A.; Budhram, R.; Dougan, G.; Farrar, J.; Nguyen, V.V.C.; Dolecek, C.

2010-01-01

Background: The emergence of drug resistant typhoid fever is a major public health problem, especially in Asia. An oral single dose typhoid vaccine would have major advantages. M01ZH09 is a live oral single dose candidate typhoid vaccine containing Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (Ty2 aroC(-)

Sonar Image Enhancements for Improved Detection of Sea Mines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jespersen, Karl; Sørensen, Helge Bjarup Dissing; Zerr, Benoit

1999-01-01

In this paper, five methods for enhancing sonar images prior to automatic detection of sea mines are investigated. Two of the methods have previously been published in connection with detection systems and serve as reference. The three new enhancement approaches are variance stabilizing log...... transform, nonlinear filtering, and pixel averaging for speckle reduction. The effect of the enhancement step is tested by using the full prcessing chain i.e. enhancement, detection and thresholding to determine the number of detections and false alarms. Substituting different enhancement algorithms...... in the processing chain gives a precise measure of the performance of the enhancement stage. The test is performed using a sonar image database with images ranging from very simple to very complex. The result of the comparison indicates that the new enhancement approaches improve the detection performance....

Using Person Fit Statistics to Detect Outliers in Survey Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John M. Felt

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Context: When working with health-related questionnaires, outlier detection is important. However, traditional methods of outlier detection (e.g., boxplots can miss participants with “atypical” responses to the questions that otherwise have similar total (subscale scores. In addition to detecting outliers, it can be of clinical importance to determine the reason for the outlier status or “atypical” response.Objective: The aim of the current study was to illustrate how to derive person fit statistics for outlier detection through a statistical method examining person fit with a health-based questionnaire.Design and Participants: Patients treated for Cushing's syndrome (n = 394 were recruited from the Cushing's Support and Research Foundation's (CSRF listserv and Facebook page.Main Outcome Measure: Patients were directed to an online survey containing the CushingQoL (English version. A two-dimensional graded response model was estimated, and person fit statistics were generated using the Zh statistic.Results: Conventional outlier detections methods revealed no outliers reflecting extreme scores on the subscales of the CushingQoL. However, person fit statistics identified 18 patients with “atypical” response patterns, which would have been otherwise missed (Zh > |±2.00|.Conclusion: While the conventional methods of outlier detection indicated no outliers, person fit statistics identified several patients with “atypical” response patterns who otherwise appeared average. Person fit statistics allow researchers to delve further into the underlying problems experienced by these “atypical” patients treated for Cushing's syndrome. Annotated code is provided to aid other researchers in using this method.

A search for ZH → μμb(bar b) production at the Tevatron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ancu, Lucian-Stefan

2010-01-01

The Standard Model describes with a very good accuracy all interactions of the, so far, known elementary particles. However the Higgs mechanism, which gives rise to the observed mass of these particles, has not yet been confirmed. The Higgs particle has not yet been observed, and the observation or exclusion is an important test of the Standard Model. The Standard Model does not predict the mass of the Higgs particle, however it does impose some limits on the range in which this mass can lie. In direct searches a Higgs with a mass smaller than 114.4 GeV and within 162 GeV and 166 GeV has been excluded at 95% CL at the LEP and the Tevatron colliders. The analysis presented in this thesis is aimed to search for the ZH → μμb(bar b) events in 3.1 fb -1 of data collected with the D0 detector in p(bar p) collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV.

Radiative Corrections to e+e-→ Zh at Future Higgs Factory in the Minimal Dilaton Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heng Zhao-Xia; Li Dong-Wei; Zhou Hai-Jing

2015-01-01

The minimal dilaton model (MDM) extends the Standard Model by one singlet scalar called dilaton and one top quark partner called t'. In this work we investigate the t'-induced radiative correction to the Higgs-strahlung production process e + e − → Zh at future Higgs factory. We first present the analytical calculations in detail and show how to handle the ultraviolet divergence. Then we calculate the correction numerically by considering the constraints from precision electroweak data. We find that, for sinθ L = 0.2 and m t' = 1200 GeV, the correction is 0.26% and 2.1% for √s e + e - - 240 GeV, 1 TeV respectively, and a larger value can be achieved as sin θ L increases. (physics of elementary particles and fields)

The Utilization of Premix Flour with Sorghum Mutant Lines Zh-30 Based as Material For Dough Making And Dry Noodle Industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dwi Djoko Slamet Santosa

2009-01-01

Sorghum mutant line Zh-30 is a breeding line developed at the Center for the Application of Isotope and Radiation Technology, BATAN by using mutation techniques. Gamma irradiation with the dose of 300 Gy was used to induced plant genetic variability. Through selection processes on several generations, the mutant line Zh-30 was identified to have better agronomic characteristics, better grain quality and higher yield than the original variety. Research on flour quality of this mutant line was done to identify its potential use in dry noodle. Subsequent experiments, i.e. the effect of kansui (alkaline salt Na 2 CO 3 and K 2 CO 3 ) on rheological properties of dough, the effect of egg addition on rheological properties of dough and cooked noodles. Observations were done on dough which were premix flour I, II and III with 10.2 %, 14.5 % and 17.4 % protein content respectively. The influence of each alkaline salt and their mixture on dough rheology i.e., dough consistency and resistant to extension and extensibility. The kansui Concentration applied were 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 %. Obviously premix flour I + 0.5 % kansui gave optimal consistency, resistance and extensibility of the dough. The addition of five ml egg to premix I dough + 0.5 % kansui gave optimal results. The increase of egg mellowed the dough, and increase noodle texture and reduce stickiness. Addition of five ml egg already gave significant increase of elasticity, with the highest elasticity was reached by addition of 35 ml egg, although no difference was found for 5 - 35 ml.. (author)

Finding the Higgs boson of the standard model in the channel ZH → e⁺e^-b$\\bar{b}$ with the D0 detector at the Tevatron; Recherche du boson de Higgs du nideke standard dans le canal ZH → e⁺e^-b$\\bar{b}$ avec le detecteur DØ aupres du Tevatron

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calpas, Betty Constante [Univ. of the Mediterranean, Marseille (France)

2010-06-11

The organization of this thesis consists of three main ideas: the first presents the theoretical framework and experimental, as well as objects used in the analysis and the second relates to the various work tasks of service that I performed on the calorimeter, and the third is the search for the Higgs boson in the channel ZH → e⁺e^-b$\\bar{b}$. Thus, this thesis has the following structure: Chapter 1 is an introduction to the standard model of particle physics and the Higgs mechanism; Chapter 2 is an overview of the complex and the acceleration of the Tevatron at Fermilab DØ detector; Chapter 3 is an introduction to physical objects used in this thesis; Chapter 4 presents the study made on correcting the energy measured in the calorimeter; Chapter 5 describes the study of certification of electrons in the calorimeter; Chapter 6 describes the study of certification of electrons in the intercryostat region of calorimeter; Chapter 7 Detailed analysis on the search for Higgs production in the channel ZH → e⁺e^-b$\\bar{b}$; and Chapter 8 presents the final results of the calculations of upper limits to the production cross section of the Higgs boson on a range of low masses.

Finding the Higgs boson of the standard model in the channel ZH → e+e-b(bar b) with the D0 detector at the Tevatron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calpas, Betty Constante

2010-01-01

The organization of this thesis consists of three main ideas: the first presents the theoretical framework and experimental, as well as objects used in the analysis and the second relates to the various work tasks of service that I performed on the calorimeter, and the third is the search for the Higgs boson in the channel ZH → e + e - b(bar b). Thus, this thesis has the following structure: Chapter 1 is an introduction to the standard model of particle physics and the Higgs mechanism; Chapter 2 is an overview of the complex and the acceleration of the Tevatron at Fermilab D0 detector; Chapter 3 is an introduction to physical objects used in this thesis; Chapter 4 presents the study made on correcting the energy measured in the calorimeter; Chapter 5 describes the study of certification of electrons in the calorimeter; Chapter 6 describes the study of certification of electrons in the intercryostat region of calorimeter; Chapter 7 Detailed analysis on the search for Higgs production in the channel ZH → e + e - b(bar b); and Chapter 8 presents the final results of the calculations of upper limits to the production cross section of the Higgs boson on a range of low masses.

Characterization of cell-free extracts from fenpropathrin-degrading strain Bacillus cereus ZH-3 and its potential for bioremediation of pyrethroid-contaminated soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jie; Huang, Wenwen; Han, Haitao; She, Changchun; Zhong, Guohua

2015-08-01

Synthetic pyrethroid fenpropathrin has received increasing attention because of its environmental contamination and toxic effects on non-target organisms including human beings. Here we report the degradation characteristics of cell-free extracts from fenpropathrin-degrading strain Bacillus cereus ZH-3 and its potential for pyrethroid bioremediation in soils. 50mg·L(-1) of fenpropathrin was decreased to 20.6mg·L(-1) by the enzymatic extracts (869.4mg·L(-1)) within 30min. Kinetic constants Km and Vm were determined to be 1006.7nmol·L(-1) and 56.8nmol·min(-1), respectively. Degradation products were identified as 3-phenoxybenzaldehyde, α-hydroxy-3-phenoxy-benzeneacetonitrile and phenol by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In addition to degradation of fenpropathrin, the cell-free extracts could degrade other pyrethroids including beta-cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, deltamethrin and cypermethrin. Additionally, the reaction conditions were optimized. In the sterile and non-sterile soils, 50mg·kg(-1) of fenpropathrin was reduced to 15.3 and 13.9mg·L(-1) in 1d, respectively. Sprayed 100 and 300mg·kg(-1) of fenpropathrin emulsifiable concentrate (EC), up to 84.6% and 92.1% of soil fenpropathrin were removed from soils within 7d, respectively. Taken together, our results depict the biodegradation characteristics of cell-free extracts from B. cereus ZH-3, highlight its promising potential in bioremediation of pyrethroid-contaminated soils and also provide new insights into the utilization of degrading microbes. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Detectability of hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of Gd-DTPA-enhanced and SPIO-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwak, Hyo Sung; Lee, Jeong Min; Kim In Hwan; Kim, Chong Soo; Han, Hyeun Young; Yoon, Kwon ha; Shin, Kyung Sook

2000-01-01

To compare the detectability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE), SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted FISP, and dynamic Gd-DTPA-enhanced fast low-angle shot (FLASH) MR images. In order to assess their hepatic lesions, 25 patients (20 men and 5 women) with HCC were enrolled in an MR study in which both gadolinium and Spiro were used. Since the lesions were most conspicuous during the phase of dynamic arterial dominant phase of dynamic gadolinium-enhanced imaging, this was the phase used for analysis. Images were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, and to compare the diagnostic value of gadolinium-enhanced imaging with that of SPIO-enhanced imaging for the detection of HCCs, a receiver-operated characteristic curve was obtained. Qualitative analysis revealed a significantly higher percentage of signal loss and a higher liver-lesion contrast-to-noise ratio on SPIO-enhanced FISP imaging than on SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted TSE imaging (p less than 0.05). It also showed that the lesions were most clearly visible on SPIO-enhanced FISP imaging (and significantly so), followed by SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted TSE imaging, and dynamic gadolinium-enhanced imaging. Imaging artifacts were more prominent on SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted TSE than on SPIO-enhanced PISF imaging or dynamic gadolinium-enhanced imaging (p less than 0.05). According to ROC analysis, SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE) or SPIO-enhanced FISP imaging achieved higher accuracy than did dynamic gadolinium-enhanced FLASH imaging (p less than 0.05). For the detection of hepatocellular carcinomas, SPIO-enhanced MR imaging is better than gadolinium-enhanced FLASH imaging

Incidentally Detected Enhancing Breast Lesions on Chest Computed Tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Wen Chiung; Hsu, Hsian He; Yu, Jyh Cherng; Hsu, Giu Cheng; Yu, Cheng Ping; Chang, Tsun Hou; Huang, Guo Shu; Li, Chao Shiang

2011-01-01

To evaluate the nature and imaging appearance of incidental enhancing breast lesions detected on a routine contrast-enhanced chest CT. Twenty-three patients with incidental enhancing breast lesions on contrast-enhanced chest CT were retrospectively reviewed. The breast lesions were reviewed by unenhanced and enhanced CT, and evaluated by observing the shapes, margins, enhancement patterns and backgrounds of breast lesions. A histopathologic diagnosis or long-term follow-up served as reference standard. Sixteen (70%) patients had malignant breast lesions and seven (30%) had benign lesions. In 10 patients, the breast lesions were exclusively detected on contrast-enhanced CT. Using unenhanced CT, breast lesions with fi broglandular backgrounds were prone to be obscured (p < 0.001). Incidental primary breast cancer showed an non-significant trend of a higher percentage irregular margin (p = 0.056). All of the four incidental breast lesions with non-mass-like enhancement were proven to be malignant. Routine contrast-enhanced chest CT can reveal sufficient details to allow for the detection of unsuspected breast lesions, in which some cases may be proven as malignant. An irregular margin of incidental enhancing breast lesion can be considered a suggestive sign of malignancy

Measurement of Rayleigh wave Z/H ratio and joint inversion for a high-resolution S wave velocity model beneath the Gulf of Mexico passive margin

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, W.; Li, G.; Niu, F.

2016-12-01

Knowledge on the 3D sediment structure beneath the Gulf of Mexico passive margin is not only important to explore the oil and gas resources in the area, but also essential to decipher the deep crust and mantle structure beneath the margin with teleseismic data. In this study, we conduct a joint inversion of Rayleigh wave ellipticity and phase velocity at 6-40 s to construct a 3-D S wave velocity model in a rectangular area of 100°-87° west and 28°-37° north. We use ambient noise data from a total of 215 stations of the Transportable Array deployed under the Earthscope project. Rayleigh wave ellipticity, or Rayleigh wave Z/H (vertical to horizontal) amplitude ratio is mostly sensitive to shallow sediment structure, while the dispersion data are expected to have reasonably good resolution to uppermost mantle depths. The Z/H ratios measured from stations inside the Gulf Coastal Plain are distinctly lower in comparison with those measured from the inland stations. We also measured the phase velocity dispersion from the same ambient noise dataset. Our preliminary 3-D model is featured by strong low-velocity anomalies at shallow depth, which are spatially well correlated with Gulf Cost, East Texas, and the Lower Mississippi basins. We will discuss other features of the 3-D models once the model is finalized.

Temperature and orientation dependence of the short-term strength characteristics, Young's modulus, and linear expansion coefficient of ZhS6F alloy single crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Svetlov, I L; Sukhanov, N N; Krivko, A I; Roshchina, I N; Khatsinskaia, I M

1987-01-01

Experimental data are presented on the temperature dependence of the short- term strength characteristics, Young's modulus, and linear expansion coefficients of single crystals of a nickel alloy, ZhS6F, with crystallographic orientations along the 001, 111, 011, and 112 lines. It is found that the mechanical properties and Young's modulus of the alloy crystals exibit anisotropy in the temperature range 20-900 C. The linear thermal expansion coefficient is isotropic up to 900 C and equal to that of the equiaxed alloy. 10 references.

Enhancement of kalman filter single loss detection capability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrison, G.W.; Downing, D.J.; Pike, D.H.

1980-01-01

A new technique to significantly increase the sensitivity of the Kalman filter to detect one-time losses for nuclear marterial accountability and control has been developed. The technique uses the innovations sequence obtained from a Kalman filter analysis of a material balance area. The innovations are distributed as zero mean independent Gaussion random variables with known variance. This property enables an estimator to be formed with enhanced one time loss detection capabilities. Simulation studies of a material balance area indicate the new estimator greatly enhances the one time loss detection capability of the Kalman filter

Detection of hepatic metastasis: Manganese- and ferucarbotran-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Jin-Young; Kim, Myeong-Jin; Kim, Joo Hee; Kim, Seung Hyoung; Ko, Heung-Kyu; Lim, Joon Seok; Oh, Young Taik; Chung, Jae-Joon; Yoo, Hyung Sik; Lee, Jong Tae; Kim, Ki Whang

2006-01-01

Purpose: To compare the mangafodipir trisodium (MnDPDP)-enhanced and ferucarbotran-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the detection of hepatic metastases. Material and methods: Twenty patients with known hepatic metastasis underwent MR imaging using mangafodipir trisodium and ferucarbotran in at least 1-day intervals. Thirty-eight metastases were confirmed either histologically or clinically. Two radiologists independently reviewed the MnDPDP-enhanced and ferucarbotran-enhanced sets in a random order. The sensitivity and accuracy of lesion detection and the ability to distinguish a benign lesion from a malignant lesion were compared by the areas (Az) under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The lesion-liver contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were compared by paired t-test. Results: The overall accuracy for detecting metastases was not significantly different between the MnDPDP set (Az = 0.912 and 0.913 for reader 1 and 2, respectively) and the SPIO set (Az = 0.920 and 0.950). The CNR at the MnDPDP-enhanced images and the SPIO-enhanced images were not significantly different (P = 0.146). Conclusion: Both MnDPDP- and ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI have a comparable accuracy in detecting hepatic metastasis

Enhanced urinalysis in the detection of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Aigere, E O S; Okusanya, B O; Eigbefoh, J O; Okome, G B O

2013-01-01

Detection and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in pregnancy is important to avert the attendant maternal and fetal morbidity. Other than urine culture, no other screening test is unequivocal. The use of enhanced urinalysis test to detect ASB in pregnancy was investigated. This was a prospective observational study which compared enhanced urinalysis with dipstick tests and urine culture. Clean catch midstream urine specimen was collected from 150 consecutive asymptomatic pregnant women. Tests of validity were used for comparison. Enhanced urinalysis detected bacteriuria as much as urine culture (4% vs. 4.7%). Itwas 57.1% sensitive and 98.6% specific. It had a false negative rate of 42.9% and was 96.7% accurate when compared to urine culture. Enhanced urinalysis took 1-2 hours to be done and required skills to use the microscope and was more expensive than dipstick urinalysis. The accuracy of enhanced urinalysis and its ability to detect ASB as much as urine culture connotes that it can be used to detect asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy albeit only in secondary and tertiary health centres because of the cost and technicality involved.

Application of silver nanoparticles in the detection of SYBR Green I by surface enhanced Raman and surface-enhanced fluorescence

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Wei; Wu, Jian; Wang, Chunyan; Zhang, Tian; Chen, Tao

2018-05-01

Silver nanomaterials have remarkable application in biomedical detection due to their unique surface plasmon resonance (SPR) characteristics. It can be used for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF). Current research elaborates a technique for improvement of SYBR Green I detection obtained from surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF) by silver nanoparticles with the average size about 70 nm. Primarily, SYBR Green I is an important fluorescent dye used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It is found that both Raman and fluorescence can be used for detection of this dye. Furthermore, the enhanced efficiency of the Raman and fluorescence by SERS and SEF is observed in this study, the enhancement factor for Raman signals is 3.2 × 103, and the fluorescence intensity bincreased two times by SEF. The quantitative detection of SYBR Green I by SERS and SEF can be achieved. The present work can be used to improve the detection of SYBR Green I by SERS and SEF. It would also be employed for high-sensitive detection of other materials in the future.

Revisiting the Observability of the WH and ZH, H → b(dash b) Channel in 14 TeV pp and 2 TeV pp Collisions (lb(dash b) and llb(dash b) Final States)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richter-Was, E.; )

2000-01-01

A detailed study of the associated Standard Model Higgs boson production in 14 TeV pp (LHC) and 2 TeV p(anti p) (Tevatron) collisions, WH with W → lν and ZH with Z → ll, with Higgs boson decays to b(dash b) pair, is presented for Higgs masses of 100 and 120 GeV. Presently, WH with H → b(dash b) production is considered to be less promising than the t(dash t)H associated production for the Higgs searches at LHC. However, studies of Higgs searches at Tevatron indicate that this channel in combination with the WH/ZH channels leading to the E miss T + b(dash b) signature, offers good discovery potential in the mass range 90-140 GeV. The aim of this paper is to provide several details which lead to a quantitative comparison in a consistent framework of the physics potential for these channels in both colliding scenarios. The emphasis is put on the differences in the expected signal and background rates and compositions of the backgrounds. (author)

Multi-metal, Multi-wavelength Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Detection of Neurotransmitters.

Science.gov (United States)

Moody, Amber S; Sharma, Bhavya

2018-04-05

The development of a sensor for the rapid and sensitive detection of neurotransmitters could provide a pathway for the diagnosis of neurological diseases, leading to the discovery of more effective treatment methods. We investigate the use of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based sensors for the rapid detection of melatonin, serotonin, glutamate, dopamine, GABA, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. Previous studies have demonstrated SERS detection of neurotransmitters; however, there has been no comprehensive study on the effect of the metal used as the SERS substrate or the excitation wavelength used for detection. Here, we present the detection of 7 neurotransmitters using both silver and gold nanoparticles at excitation wavelengths of 532, 633, and 785 nm. Over the range of wavelengths investigated, the SERS enhancement on the silver and gold nanoparticles varies, with an average enhancement factor of 10 5 -10 6 . The maximum SERS enhancement occurs at an excitation wavelength of 785 nm for the gold nanoparticles and at 633 nm for the silver nanoparticles.

Z-H Bond Activation in (Di)hydrogen Bonding as a Way to Proton/Hydride Transfer and H2 Evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Belkova, Natalia V; Filippov, Oleg A; Shubina, Elena S

2018-02-01

The ability of neutral transition-metal hydrides to serve as a source of hydride ion H - or proton H + is well appreciated. The hydride ligands possessing a partly negative charge are proton accepting sites, forming a dihydrogen bond, M-H δ- ⋅⋅⋅ δ+ HX (M=transition metal or metalloid). On the other hand, some metal hydrides are able to serve as a proton source and give hydrogen bond of M-H δ+ ⋅⋅⋅X type (X=organic base). In this paper we analyse recent works on transition-metal and boron hydrides showing i) how formation of an intermolecular complex between the reactants changes the Z-H (M-H and X-H) bond polarity and ii) what is the implication of such activation in the mechanisms of hydrides reactions. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Optimal Noise Enhanced Signal Detection in a Unified Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ting Yang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new framework for variable detectors is formulated in order to solve different noise enhanced signal detection optimal problems, where six different disjoint sets of detector and discrete vector pairs are defined according to the two inequality-constraints on detection and false-alarm probabilities. Then theorems and algorithms constructed based on the new framework are presented to search the optimal noise enhanced solutions to maximize the relative improvements of the detection and the false-alarm probabilities, respectively. Further, the optimal noise enhanced solution of the maximum overall improvement is obtained based on the new framework and the relationship among the three maximums is presented. In addition, the sufficient conditions for improvability or non-improvability under the two certain constraints are given. Finally, numerous examples are presented to illustrate the theoretical results and the proofs of the main theorems are given in the Appendix.

Intelligent Agent-Based Intrusion Detection System Using Enhanced Multiclass SVM

Science.gov (United States)

Ganapathy, S.; Yogesh, P.; Kannan, A.

2012-01-01

Intrusion detection systems were used in the past along with various techniques to detect intrusions in networks effectively. However, most of these systems are able to detect the intruders only with high false alarm rate. In this paper, we propose a new intelligent agent-based intrusion detection model for mobile ad hoc networks using a combination of attribute selection, outlier detection, and enhanced multiclass SVM classification methods. For this purpose, an effective preprocessing technique is proposed that improves the detection accuracy and reduces the processing time. Moreover, two new algorithms, namely, an Intelligent Agent Weighted Distance Outlier Detection algorithm and an Intelligent Agent-based Enhanced Multiclass Support Vector Machine algorithm are proposed for detecting the intruders in a distributed database environment that uses intelligent agents for trust management and coordination in transaction processing. The experimental results of the proposed model show that this system detects anomalies with low false alarm rate and high-detection rate when tested with KDD Cup 99 data set. PMID:23056036

Discriminating between Higgs Boson models using e+e- → tt-bar h and Zh at the NLC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunion, J. F.; He, X. G.

1997-01-01

In extensions of the Standard Model (SM) there are multiple neutral Higgs bosons. Their masses and couplings are often dependent upon many parameters; CP-violating mixing of CP-even with CP-odd neutral Higgs fields is generally possible. It is demonstrated that the process e + e - → tt-bar h at the NLC provides a powerful tool for extracting the tt-bar (Yukawa) couplings of the h. In combination with the e + e - → Zh process, an accurate determination of the ZZ coupling of the H is also possible. The resulting ability to distinguish different models of the Higgs sector is illustrated by detailed studies for two-Higgs-doublet models, for which the masses and couplings of the three neutral Higgs bosons are all free parameters. It is concluded that it is very possible that the SM is not correct. In this case, and if there is a weakly-coupled Higgs sector, there will certainly be Higgs bosons that do not have SM-like couplings. 3 refs., 3 figs

Search for ZH → l+ l- bb production in 4.2 fb(-1) of pp collisions at sqrt[s] =1 .96 TeV.

Science.gov (United States)

Abazov, V M; Abbott, B; Abolins, M; Acharya, B S; Adams, M; Adams, T; Alexeev, G D; Alkhazov, G; Alton, A; Alverson, G; Alves, G A; Ancu, L S; Aoki, M; Arnoud, Y; Arov, M; Askew, A; Asman, B; Atramentov, O; Avila, C; BackusMayes, J; Badaud, F; Bagby, L; Baldin, B; Bandurin, D V; Banerjee, S; Barberis, E; Baringer, P; Barreto, J; Bartlett, J F; Bassler, U; Beale, S; Bean, A; Begalli, M; Begel, M; Belanger-Champagne, C; Bellantoni, L; Benitez, J A; Beri, S B; Bernardi, G; Bernhard, R; Bertram, I; Besançon, M; Beuselinck, R; Bezzubov, V A; Bhat, P C; Bhatnagar, V; Blazey, G; Blessing, S; Bloom, K; Boehnlein, A; Boline, D; Bolton, T A; Boos, E E; Borissov, G; Bose, T; Brandt, A; Brandt, O; Brock, R; Brooijmans, G; Bross, A; Brown, D; Brown, J; Bu, X B; Buchholz, D; Buehler, M; Buescher, V; Bunichev, V; Burdin, S; Burnett, T H; Buszello, C P; Calpas, B; Calvet, S; Camacho-Pérez, E; Carrasco-Lizarraga, M A; Carrera, E; Casey, B C K; Castilla-Valdez, H; Chakrabarti, S; Chakraborty, D; Chan, K M; Chandra, A; Chen, G; Chevalier-Théry, S; Cho, D K; Cho, S W; Choi, S; Choudhary, B; Christoudias, T; Cihangir, S; Claes, D; Clutter, J; Cooke, M; Cooper, W E; Corcoran, M; Couderc, F; Cousinou, M-C; Croc, A; Cutts, D; Cwiok, M; Das, A; Davies, G; De, K; de Jong, S J; De La Cruz-Burelo, E; Déliot, F; Demarteau, M; Demina, R; Denisov, D; Denisov, S P; Desai, S; DeVaughan, K; Diehl, H T; Diesburg, M; Dominguez, A; Dorland, T; Dubey, A; Dudko, L V; Duggan, D; Duperrin, A; Dutt, S; Dyshkant, A; Eads, M; Edmunds, D; Ellison, J; Elvira, V D; Enari, Y; Eno, S; Evans, H; Evdokimov, A; Evdokimov, V N; Facini, G; Ferapontov, A V; Ferbel, T; Fiedler, F; Filthaut, F; Fisher, W; Fisk, H E; Fortner, M; Fox, H; Fuess, S; Gadfort, T; Garcia-Bellido, A; Gavrilov, V; Gay, P; Geist, W; Geng, W; Gerbaudo, D; Gerber, C E; Gershtein, Y; Ginther, G; Golovanov, G; Goussiou, A; Grannis, P D; Greder, S; Greenlee, H; Greenwood, Z D; Gregores, E M; Grenier, G; Gris, Ph; Grivaz, J-F; Grohsjean, A; Grünendahl, S; Grünewald, M W; Guo, F; Guo, J; Gutierrez, G; Gutierrez, P; Haas, A; Hagopian, S; Haley, J; Han, L; Harder, K; Harel, A; Hauptman, J M; Hays, J; Hebbeker, T; Hedin, D; Hegab, H; Heinson, A P; Heintz, U; Hensel, C; Heredia-De La Cruz, I; Herner, K; Hesketh, G; Hildreth, M D; Hirosky, R; Hoang, T; Hobbs, J D; Hoeneisen, B; Hohlfeld, M; Hossain, S; Hubacek, Z; Huske, N; Hynek, V; Iashvili, I; Illingworth, R; Ito, A S; Jabeen, S; Jaffré, M; Jain, S; Jamin, D; Jesik, R; Johns, K; Johnson, M; Johnston, D; Jonckheere, A; Jonsson, P; Joshi, J; Juste, A; Kaadze, K; Kajfasz, E; Karmanov, D; Kasper, P A; Katsanos, I; Kehoe, R; Kermiche, S; Khalatyan, N; Khanov, A; Kharchilava, A; Kharzheev, Y N; Khatidze, D; Kirby, M H; Kohli, J M; Kozelov, A V; Kraus, J; Kumar, A; Kupco, A; Kurča, T; Kuzmin, V A; Kvita, J; Lammers, S; Landsberg, G; Lebrun, P; Lee, H S; Lee, S W; Lee, W M; Lellouch, J; Li, L; Li, Q Z; Lietti, S M; Lim, J K; Lincoln, D; Linnemann, J; Lipaev, V V; Lipton, R; Liu, Y; Liu, Z; Lobodenko, A; Lokajicek, M; Love, P; Lubatti, H J; Luna-Garcia, R; Lyon, A L; Maciel, A K A; Mackin, D; Madar, R; Magaña-Villalba, R; Malik, S; Malyshev, V L; Maravin, Y; Martínez-Ortega, J; McCarthy, R; McGivern, C L; Meijer, M M; Melnitchouk, A; Menezes, D; Mercadante, P G; Merkin, M; Meyer, A; Meyer, J; Mondal, N K; Muanza, G S; Mulhearn, M; Nagy, E; Naimuddin, M; Narain, M; Nayyar, R; Neal, H A; Negret, J P; Neustroev, P; Nilsen, H; Novaes, S F; Nunnemann, T; Obrant, G; Onoprienko, D; Orduna, J; Osman, N; Osta, J; Otero y Garzón, G J; Owen, M; Padilla, M; Pangilinan, M; Parashar, N; Parihar, V; Park, S K; Parsons, J; Partridge, R; Parua, N; Patwa, A; Penning, B; Perfilov, M; Peters, K; Peters, Y; Petrillo, G; Pétroff, P; Piegaia, R; Piper, J; Pleier, M-A; Podesta-Lerma, P L M; Podstavkov, V M; Pol, M-E; Polozov, P; Popov, A V; Prewitt, M; Price, D; Protopopescu, S; Qian, J; Quadt, A; Quinn, B; Rangel, M S; Ranjan, K; Ratoff, P N; Razumov, I; Renkel, P; Rich, P; Rijssenbeek, M; Ripp-Baudot, I; Rizatdinova, F; Rominsky, M; Royon, C; Rubinov, P; Ruchti, R; Safronov, G; Sajot, G; Sánchez-Hernández, A; Sanders, M P; Sanghi, B; Santos, A S; Savage, G; Sawyer, L; Scanlon, T; Schamberger, R D; Scheglov, Y; Schellman, H; Schliephake, T; Schlobohm, S; Schwanenberger, C; Schwienhorst, R; Sekaric, J; Severini, H; Shabalina, E; Shary, V; Shchukin, A A; Shivpuri, R K; Simak, V; Sirotenko, V; Skubic, P; Slattery, P; Smirnov, D; Smith, K J; Snow, G R; Snow, J; Snyder, S; Söldner-Rembold, S; Sonnenschein, L; Sopczak, A; Sosebee, M; Soustruznik, K; Spurlock, B; Stark, J; Stolin, V; Stoyanova, D A; Strauss, E; Strauss, M; Strom, D; Stutte, L; Svoisky, P; Takahashi, M; Tanasijczuk, A; Taylor, W; Titov, M; Tokmenin, V V; Tsybychev, D; Tuchming, B; Tully, C; Tuts, P M; Uvarov, L; Uvarov, S; Uzunyan, S; Van Kooten, R; van Leeuwen, W M; Varelas, N; Varnes, E W; Vasilyev, I A; Verdier, P; Vertogradov, L S; Verzocchi, M; Vesterinen, M; Vilanova, D; Vint, P; Vokac, P; Wahl, H D; Wang, M H L S; Warchol, J; Watts, G; Wayne, M; Weber, M; Wetstein, M; White, A; Wicke, D; Williams, M R J; Wilson, G W; Wimpenny, S J; Wobisch, M; Wood, D R; Wyatt, T R; Xie, Y; Xu, C; Yacoob, S; Yamada, R; Yang, W-C; Yasuda, T; Yatsunenko, Y A; Ye, Z; Yin, H; Yip, K; Yoo, H D; Youn, S W; Yu, J; Zelitch, S; Zhao, T; Zhou, B; Zhu, J; Zielinski, M; Zieminska, D; Zivkovic, L

2010-12-17

We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a Z boson in 4.2 fb(-1) of pp collisions, collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron at sqrt[s] =1 .96 TeV. Selected events contain one reconstructed Z → e+ e- or Z → μ+ μ- candidate and at least two jets, including at least one b-tagged jet. In the absence of an excess over the background expected from other standard model processes, limits on the ZH cross section multiplied by the branching ratios are set. The limit at M(H) = 115  GeV is a factor of 5.9 larger than the standard model prediction.

Gray-scale contrast-enhanced utrasonography in detecting sentinel lymph nodes: An animal study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yuexiang; Cheng Zhigang; Li Junlai; Tang Jie

2010-01-01

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for detecting sentinel lymph nodes. Methods: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was performed in five normal dogs (four female and one male) after subcutaneous administration of a sonographic contrast agent (Sonovue, Bracco, Milan, Italy). Four distinct regions in each animal were examined. After contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, 0.8 ml of blue dye was injected into the same location as Sonovue and the sentinel lymph nodes were detected by surgical dissection. The findings of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography were compared with those of the blue dye. Results: Twenty-one sentinel lymph nodes were detected by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography while 23 were identified by blue dye with surgical dissection. Compared with the blue dye, the detection rate of enhanced ultrasonography for the sentinel lymph nodes is 91.3% (21/23). Two patterns of enhancement in the sentinel lymph nodes were observed: complete enhancement (5 sentinel lymph nodes) and partial enhancement (16 sentinel lymph nodes). The lymphatic channels were demonstrated as hyperechoic linear structures leading from the injection site and could be readily followed to their sentinel lymph nodes. Histopathologic examination showed proliferation of lymphatic follicles or lymphatic sinus in partial enhanced sentinel lymph nodes while normal lymphatic tissue was demonstrated in completely enhanced sentinel lymph nodes. Conclusions: Sonovue combined with gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasonography may provide a feasible method for detecting sentinel lymph nodes.

Detection of breast abnormalities on enhanced chest CT: Correlation with breast composition on mammography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Eun Mi; Kang, Hee; Shin, Young Gyung; Yun, Jong Hyouk; Oh, Kyung Seung [Dept. of Radiology, Kosin University Gospel Hospital, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2017-02-15

To investigate the capability of enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) for detecting breast abnormalities and to assess the influence of breast composition on this detectability. From 2000 to 2013, 75 patients who underwent mammography, breast sonography, and enhanced chest CT within one month and had abnormalities on sonography were included. Detection rate of breast abnormality on enhanced chest CT was compared among 4 types of breast composition by the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System. Contribution of breast composition, size and enhancement of target lesions to detectability of enhanced chest CT was assessed using logistic regression and chi-square test. Of the 75 target lesions, 34 (45.3%) were detected on enhanced chest CT, corresponding with those on breast sonography; there were no significantly different detection rates among the 4 types of breast composition (p = 0.078). Breast composition [odds ratio (OR) = 1.07, p = 0.206] and enhancement (OR = 21.49, p = 0.998) had no significant effect, but size (OR = 1.23, p = 0.004) was a significant contributing factor influencing the detectability of enhanced chest CT for breast lesions. About half of the cases (45.3%) demonstrated breast lesions on chest CT corresponding with target lesions on sonography. Breast composition defined on mammography did not affect the detectability of enhanced chest CT for breast lesions.

Nanostructured surface enhanced Raman scattering substrates for explosives detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Michael Stenbaek; Olsen, Jesper Kenneth; Boisen, Anja

2010-01-01

Here we present a method for trace detection of explosives in the gas phase using novel surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy substrates. Novel substrates that produce an exceptionally large enhancement of the Raman effect were used to amplify the Raman signal of explosives...

Detection with Enhanced Energy Windowing Phase I Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bass, David A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Enders, Alexander L. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2016-12-01

This document reviews the progress of Phase I of the Detection with Enhanced Energy Windowing (DEEW) project. The DEEW project is the implementation of software incorporating an algorithm which reviews data generated by radiation portal monitors and utilizes advanced and novel techniques for detecting radiological and fissile material while not alarming on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. Independent testing indicated that the Enhanced Energy Windowing algorithm showed promise at reducing the probability of alarm in the stream of commerce compared to existing algorithms and other developmental algorithms, while still maintaining adequate sensitivity to threats. This document contains a brief description of the project, instructions for setting up and running the applications, and guidance to help make reviewing the output files and source code easier.

Off-site evaluation of liver lesion detection by Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gehl, H.B.; Bourne, M.; Grazioli, L.; Moeller, A.; Lodemann, K.P.

2001-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI in liver lesion detection in comparison with unenhanced MRI and dynamic CT. The image sets of 148 of 151 patients enrolled in a multicenter German phase-III trial were evaluated by two independent radiologists unaffiliated with the investigating centers. Patients underwent a routine MRI protocol comprising T2- and T1-weighted spin-echo and T1-weighted gradient-echo (GE) sequences pre and 1 h post 0.1 mmol/kg Gd-BOPTA (Bracco-Byk Gulden, Konstanz, Germany). Additionally, a serial T1-weighted GE scan was performed after administration of the first half of the dose. All patients underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced CT. The evaluation was performed with regard to the number and size of lesions detected per patient by each modality or sequence. Furthermore, all pre CM and pre + post CM image sets were analyzed for number of lesions per patient. Both readers detected significantly more lesions in the contrast-enhanced image set compared with the unenhanced image set (32 and 39 %, respectively; p < 0.0001). While contrast-enhanced CT detected a similar number of lesions to unenhanced MRI, it was clearly inferior to contrast-enhanced MRI (reader 1: p = 0.0117; reader 2: p = 0.0225). Of the T1-weighted scans performed, the dynamic and late T1-weighted GE exams contributed most to the increased lesion detection rate (reader 1: p = 0.0007; reader 2: p = 0.0037). The size of the smallest lesion detected by means of MRI was significantly larger in the pre-CM image sets than in the pre + post CM image sets (reader 1: p = 0.001; reader 2: p < 0.0001). Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI detected significantly smaller lesions than contrast-enhanced CT (reader 1: p = 0.0117; reader 2: p = 0.0925). Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging improves liver lesion detection significantly over unenhanced MRI and dynamic CT. (orig.)

Off-site evaluation of liver lesion detection by Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gehl, H.B. [Inst. of Diagnostic Radiology, Medical Univ. of Luebeck (Germany); Bourne, M. [Dept. of Radiology, Univ. Hospital of Wales, Cardiff (United Kingdom); Grazioli, L. [Dept. of Radiology, Univ. of Brescia (Italy); Moeller, A. [MEDIDATA GmbH, Konstanz (Germany); Lodemann, K.P. [BRACCO-BYK GULDEN GmbH, Konstanz (Germany)

2001-02-01

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI in liver lesion detection in comparison with unenhanced MRI and dynamic CT. The image sets of 148 of 151 patients enrolled in a multicenter German phase-III trial were evaluated by two independent radiologists unaffiliated with the investigating centers. Patients underwent a routine MRI protocol comprising T2- and T1-weighted spin-echo and T1-weighted gradient-echo (GE) sequences pre and 1 h post 0.1 mmol/kg Gd-BOPTA (Bracco-Byk Gulden, Konstanz, Germany). Additionally, a serial T1-weighted GE scan was performed after administration of the first half of the dose. All patients underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced CT. The evaluation was performed with regard to the number and size of lesions detected per patient by each modality or sequence. Furthermore, all pre CM and pre + post CM image sets were analyzed for number of lesions per patient. Both readers detected significantly more lesions in the contrast-enhanced image set compared with the unenhanced image set (32 and 39 %, respectively; p < 0.0001). While contrast-enhanced CT detected a similar number of lesions to unenhanced MRI, it was clearly inferior to contrast-enhanced MRI (reader 1: p = 0.0117; reader 2: p = 0.0225). Of the T1-weighted scans performed, the dynamic and late T1-weighted GE exams contributed most to the increased lesion detection rate (reader 1: p = 0.0007; reader 2: p = 0.0037). The size of the smallest lesion detected by means of MRI was significantly larger in the pre-CM image sets than in the pre + post CM image sets (reader 1: p = 0.001; reader 2: p < 0.0001). Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI detected significantly smaller lesions than contrast-enhanced CT (reader 1: p = 0.0117; reader 2: p = 0.0925). Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging improves liver lesion detection significantly over unenhanced MRI and dynamic CT. (orig.)

Subconscious detection of threat as reflected by an enhanced response bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Windmann, S; Krüger, T

1998-12-01

Neurobiological and cognitive models of unconscious information processing suggest that subconscious threat detection can lead to cognitive misinterpretations and false alarms, while conscious processing is assumed to be perceptually and conceptually accurate and unambiguous. Furthermore, clinical theories suggest that pathological anxiety results from a crude preattentive warning system predominating over more sophisticated and controlled modes of processing. We investigated the hypothesis that subconscious detection of threat in a cognitive task is reflected by enhanced "false signal" detection rather than by selectively enhanced discrimination of threat items in 30 patients with panic disorder and 30 healthy controls. We presented a tachistoscopic word-nonword discrimination task and a subsequent recognition task and analyzed the data by means of process-dissociation procedures. In line with our expectations, subjects of both groups showed more false signal detection to threat than to neutral stimuli as indicated by an enhanced response bias, whereas indices of discriminative sensitivity did not show this effect. In addition, patients with panic disorder showed a generally enhanced response bias in comparison to healthy controls. They also seemed to have processed the stimuli less elaborately and less differentially. Results are consistent with the assumption that subconscious threat detection can lead to misrepresentations of stimulus significance and that pathological anxiety is characterized by a hyperactive preattentive alarm system that is insufficiently controlled by higher cognitive processes. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Contrast-enhanced dedicated breast CT detection of invasive breast cancer preceding mammographic diagnosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolas D. Prionas, MD, PhD

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Dedicated breast computed tomography (bCT generates high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the pendent uncompressed breast. Intravenous iodinated contrast during bCT provides additional physiologic information. In this case, a 10.0-mm invasive ductal carcinoma was visualized using contrast-enhanced breast CT one year before mammographic detection. Mammography four months before bCT was negative. The bCT contrast enhancement pattern closely matched the dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI obtained after diagnosis. Lesion enhancement at contrast-enhanced breast CT matched previously published enhancement values of breast cancer. Contrast-enhanced dedicated bCT provided high-resolution tomographic images and physiologic contrast enhancement data that facilitated the detection of an early breast cancer.

Detection of hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of Gd-DTPA- and ferumoxides-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, G.; Link, T.M.; Daldrup-Link, H.; Settles, M.; Woertler, K.; Doebereiner, F.; Schulte-Frohlinde, E.; Rummeny, E.J.

2005-01-01

The aim was to compare the diagnostic performance of dynamic Gd-DTPA- and ferumoxides-enhanced MRI for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Twenty-five patients with chronic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis underwent both dynamic gadopentetate- and ferumoxides-enhanced MRI studies of the liver for HCC detection on the same day. MR data of both studies were retrospectively and independently analyzed. Two observers determined in consensus the grade of diffuse fibrotic liver changes (mild, moderate or severe) and the number of focal lesions. HCCs were confirmed by histology (n=22) and/or follow-up studies for at least six months (n=64). Differences in results obtained from both MR data sets were tested for significance with the McNemar's test (p 0.05) and Gd-DTPA-enhanced scans (94.2%). Gd-DTPA- and ferumoxides-enhanced MRI perform equally well for HCC detection. The majority of small hypervascular hepatic lesions, detected on dynamic Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI but not on ferumoxides-enhanced MRI, represent no HCCs. (orig.)

Nano-particle enhanced impedimetric biosensor for detection of foodborne pathogens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, G; Om, A S; Mun, J H

2007-01-01

Recent outbreaks of foodborne illness have been increased the need for rapid and sensitive methods for detection of these pathogens. Conventional methods for pathogens detection and identification involve prolonged multiple enrichment steps. Even though some immunological rapid assays are available, these assays still need enrichment steps result in delayed detection. Biosensors have shown great potential for rapid detection of foodborne pathogens. They are capable of direct monitoring the antigen-antibody reactions in real time. Among the biosensors, impedimetric biosensors have been widely adapted as an analysis tool for the study of various biological binding reactions because of their high sensitivity and reagentless operation. In this study a nanoparticle-enhanced impedimetric biosensor for Salmonella enteritidis detection was developed which detected impedance changes caused by the attachment of the cells to the anti-Salmonella antibodies immobilized on interdigitated gold electrodes. Successive immobilization of neutravidin followed by anti-Salmonella antibodies was performed to the sensing area to create a biological detection surface. To enhance the impedance responses generated by antigen-antibody reactions, anti-Salmonella antibody conjugated nanoparticles were introduced on the sensing area. Using a portable impedance analyzer, the impedance across the interdigital electrodes was measured after the series of antigen-antibody bindings. Bacteria cells present in solution attached to capture antibodies and became tethered to the sensor surface. Attached bacteria cells changed the dielectric constant of the media between the electrodes thereby causing a change in measured impedance. Optimum input frequency was determined by analyzing frequency characteristics of the biosensor over ranges of applied frequencies from 10 Hz to 400 Hz. At 100 Hz of input frequency, the biosensor was most sensitive to the changes of the bacteria concentration and this frequency

Origin and consequence of the supersymmetry breaking: -) phenomenology of neutralinos annihilation in Zh and WW, -) (0,1/2) representation and duality; Origine et manifestation de la brisure de supersymetrie: phenomenologie de l'annihilation de neutralinos en Zh et WW. Representation (0,1/2) et dualite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Labonne, B

2007-01-15

Supersymmetry is an interesting extension of the Standard Model. Hence, its formal and phenomenological aspects need to be understood before establishing it as realized in Nature. Supersymmetry offers a natural dark matter candidate. To check this hypothesis, a crucial point would be the indirect detection of neutralino annihilation products. Among annihilation channels, the one with a Z boson and a Higgs scalar, is of interest because of the hard spectrum it yields. However, the spectra needs to be weighted by branching ratios.The Zh channel is then known to be suppressed. We notice that the deeper broken the supersymmetry, the stronger the suppression. Thus the channel suppression has to be understood in terms of gauge independence of different diagrams involved, and high energy unitarity. A key element of the suppression for this channel is the Z boson polarization, which comes from the initial Majorana particles at rest. Finally, we investigate the role of polarization in the WW channel. Here, polarization does not suppress the channel but modifies the shape of the decay products spectra. This could be important from an experimental point of view. On a more formal side, we point out different kinds of representations of the (0,1/2) multiplet in superspace. First we focus on a new kind of superfield called X. Next we present a duality in 4 dimensions, before showing its extension to superspace. Without supersymmetry, this duality links a 3-form to a constant. In superspace, we find that the duality links a 3-form superfield to the new X superfield. It is essential to understand that some components of the 3-form and the X superfield seem to help supersymmetry breaking. Finally we try to transmit this breaking to usual chiral superfields. (author)

Detection of pericardial inflammation with late-enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: initial results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, Andrew M.; Dymarkowski, Steven; Bogaert, Jan; Verbeken, Eric K.

2006-01-01

To examine the value of late-enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detection of pericardial inflammation. Late-enhancement cardiac MRI was performed in 16 patients with clinical suspicion of pericardial disease. Pericardial effusion, pericardial thickening and pericardial enhancement were assessed. MRI findings were compared with those of definitive pericardial histology (n=14) or microbiology (n=2). A control group of 12 patients with no clinical evidence of pericardial disease were also imaged with the same MRI protocol. Sensitivity and specificity for late-enhancement MRI detection of pericardial inflammation was of 100%. There was MRI late enhancement of the pericardial layers in all five patients with histological/microbiological evidence of inflammatory pericarditis. MRI demonstrated no pericardial thickening and no MRI late enhancement with or without a pericardial effusion in any of the five patients with histological evidence of a normal pericardium. MRI detected pericardial thickening in the absence of both pericardial effusion and late enhancement in all six patients with histological evidence of chronic fibrosing pericarditis. The 12 control subjects showed no evidence of pericardial MRI late enhancement. These findings demonstrate that MRI late enhancement can be used to visualize pericardial inflammation in patients with clinical suspicion of pericardial disease. (orig.)

Entanglement enhanced thermometry in the detection of the Unruh effect

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tian, Zehua, E-mail: zehuatian@126.com [Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw (Poland); Wang, Jieci [Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081 (China); Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081 (China); Jing, Jiliang, E-mail: jljing@hunn.edu.cn [Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081 (China); Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081 (China); Dragan, Andrzej, E-mail: dragan@fuw.edu.pl [Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw (Poland)

2017-02-15

We show how the use of entanglement can enhance the precision of the detection of the Unruh effect with an accelerated probe. We use a two-level atom interacting relativistically with a quantum field as the probe, and treat it as an open quantum system to derive the master equation governing its evolution. By means of quantum state discrimination, we detect the accelerated motion of the atom by examining its time evolving state. It turns out that the optimal strategy for the detection of the Unruh effect, to which the accelerated atom is sensitive, involves letting the atom-thermometer equilibrate with the thermal bath. However, introducing initial entanglement between the detector and an external degree of freedom leads to an enhancement of the sensitivity of the detector. Also, the maximum precision is attained within finite time, before equilibration takes place.

Origin and consequence of the supersymmetry breaking: -) phenomenology of neutralinos annihilation in Zh and WW, -) (0,1/2) representation and duality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Labonne, B.

2007-01-01

Supersymmetry is an interesting extension of the Standard Model. Hence, its formal and phenomenological aspects need to be understood before establishing it as realized in Nature. Supersymmetry offers a natural dark matter candidate. To check this hypothesis, a crucial point would be the indirect detection of neutralino annihilation products. Among annihilation channels, the one with a Z boson and a Higgs scalar, is of interest because of the hard spectrum it yields. However, the spectra needs to be weighted by branching ratios.The Zh channel is then known to be suppressed. We notice that the deeper broken the supersymmetry, the stronger the suppression. Thus the channel suppression has to be understood in terms of gauge independence of different diagrams involved, and high energy unitarity. A key element of the suppression for this channel is the Z boson polarization, which comes from the initial Majorana particles at rest. Finally, we investigate the role of polarization in the WW channel. Here, polarization does not suppress the channel but modifies the shape of the decay products spectra. This could be important from an experimental point of view. On a more formal side, we point out different kinds of representations of the (0,1/2) multiplet in superspace. First we focus on a new kind of superfield called X. Next we present a duality in 4 dimensions, before showing its extension to superspace. Without supersymmetry, this duality links a 3-form to a constant. In superspace, we find that the duality links a 3-form superfield to the new X superfield. It is essential to understand that some components of the 3-form and the X superfield seem to help supersymmetry breaking. Finally we try to transmit this breaking to usual chiral superfields. (author)

Discrepancy detection in the retrieval-enhanced suggestibility paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Brendon Jerome; Loftus, Elizabeth F

2018-04-01

Retrieval-enhanced suggestibility (RES) refers to the finding that immediately recalling the details of a witnessed event can increase susceptibility to later misinformation. In three experiments, we sought to gain a deeper understanding of the role that retrieval plays in the RES paradigm. Consistent with past research, initial testing did increase susceptibility to misinformation - but only for those who failed to detect discrepancies between the original event and the post-event misinformation. In all three experiments, subjects who retrospectively detected discrepancies in the post-event narratives were more resistant to misinformation than those who did not. In Experiments 2 and 3, having subjects concurrently assess the consistency of the misinformation narratives negated the RES effect. Interestingly, in Experiments 2 and 3, subjects who had retrieval practice and detected discrepancies were more likely to endorse misinformation than control subjects who detected discrepancies. These results call attention to limiting conditions of the RES effect and highlight the complex relationship between retrieval practice, discrepancy detection, and misinformation endorsement.

A METALLICITY-SPIN TEMPERATURE RELATION IN DAMPED Lyα SYSTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanekar, Nissim; Smette, Alain; Briggs, Frank H.; Chengalur, Jayaram N.

2009-01-01

We report evidence for an anti-correlation between spin temperature T s and metallicity [Z/H], detected at 3.6σ significance in a sample of 26 damped Lyα absorbers (DLAs) at redshifts 0.09 s = (-0.68 ± 0.17) x [Z/H] + (2.13 ± 0.21) from a linear regression analysis. Our results indicate that the high T s values found in DLAs do not arise from differences between the optical and radio sightlines, but are likely to reflect the underlying gas temperature distribution. The trend between T s and [Z/H] can be explained by the larger number of radiation pathways for gas cooling in galaxies with high metal abundances, resulting in a high cold gas fraction, and hence, a low spin temperature. Conversely, low-metallicity galaxies have fewer cooling routes, yielding a larger warm gas fraction and a high T s . Most DLAs at z > 1.7 have low metallicities, [Z/H] s and [Z/H] is consistent with the presence of a mass-metallicity relation in DLAs, suggested by the tight correlation between DLA metallicity and the kinematic widths of metal lines. Most high-z DLAs are likely to arise in galaxies with low masses (M vir 10.5 M sun ), low metallicities ([Z/H] <-1), and low cold gas fractions.

Characterization of Probiotic Abilities of Lactobacilli Isolated from Iranian Koozeh Traditional Cheese

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tavakoli Mahmoud

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Eight lactic isolates including Lactobacillus plantarum (MT.ZH193, MT.ZH293, MT.ZH393 and MT.ZH593, L. casei (MT.ZH493, L. pentosus (MT.ZH693, and L. fermentum (MT.ZH893 and MT.ZH993 were identified from an Iranian traditional cheese “Koozeh Paneer” using the morphological, phenotypical, biochemical and molecular characterization and then their probiotic characteristics were compared. Results showed that the lactic isolates of L. plantarum (MT.ZH293 and L. fermentum (MT.ZH893 and MT.ZH993 were resistant to all the used bile salts up to concentrations of 0.3 to 2.0%. All the strains showed low sensitivity to the presence of conjugated bile salts. L. plantarum MT.ZH293 exhibited the highest enzymatic activity of β-galactosidase and survival rate in a simulated stomach duodenum passage. L. casei MT.ZH493 generated the highest amount of hydrogen peroxide, followed by L. fermentum MT.ZH993 and L. plantarum MT.ZH593. Although the most selected LAB isolates had a moderate cell surface hydrophobicity, L. plantarum MT. ZH593 expressed the highest cell surface hydrophobicity. L. fermentum MT.ZH893 had strong resistance to all the antibiotics tested such as amoxicillin, ceftriaxon, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamycin, streptomycin, tetracycline and vancomycin. Five lactic strains of L. plantarum (MT.ZH193, MT.ZH393 and MT.ZH593 and L. fermentum (MT.ZH893 and MT.ZH993 inhibited the growth of the tested foodborne pathogens including Escherichia coli PTCC5052, Salmonella enterica, Enetrococcus hirea, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Comparison of AMI-25 enhanced MRI and helical dynamic CT in the detection of hepatic lesions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saitou, Kazuhiro; Matsuda, Hiromichi; Fukushima, Hiroaki; Kanzaki, Hiroshi; Hirose, Takashi; Karizaki, Dai; Abe, Kimihiko; Amino, Saburou

1994-01-01

We performed AMI-25 enhanced MRI and helical dynamic CT in 12 cases of hepatic lesions. Nine of these were hepatocellular carcinomas. Two cases were metastatic liver tumors (the primary lesion was gastric in one and the other was gallbladder cancer). One case was suspected to be adenomatous hyperplasia. Thirty-two lesions were detected in T2-weighted SE images before AMI-25 administration, while 46 lesions were detected in AMI-25 enhanced MRI images. In particular, AMI-25 enhanced MRI was superior to plain MRI in lesions less than 10 mm in size. A total of 48 lesions were detected in helical dynamic CT. Although AMI-25 enhanced MRI almost equaled helical dynamic CT in the detection of liver tumors, helical dynamic CT was slightly superior to AMI-25 enhanced MRI in the detection of subphrenic lesions. It was possible to know the hemodynamics in each hepatic lesion by helical dynamic CT. AMI-25 enhanced MRI was useful to know the inclusion of reticuloendothelial system, and that yielded different diagnoses in adenomatous hyperplasia and well differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma. Helical dynamic CT was useful for qualitative diagnosis. Both AMI-25 enhanced MRI and helical dynamic CT contributed to the detection of liver tumor and qualitative diagnosis. (author)

Fusion and normalization to enhance anomaly detection

Science.gov (United States)

Mayer, R.; Atkinson, G.; Antoniades, J.; Baumback, M.; Chester, D.; Edwards, J.; Goldstein, A.; Haas, D.; Henderson, S.; Liu, L.

2009-05-01

This study examines normalizing the imagery and the optimization metrics to enhance anomaly and change detection, respectively. The RX algorithm, the standard anomaly detector for hyperspectral imagery, more successfully extracts bright rather than dark man-made objects when applied to visible hyperspectral imagery. However, normalizing the imagery prior to applying the anomaly detector can help detect some of the problematic dark objects, but can also miss some bright objects. This study jointly fuses images of RX applied to normalized and unnormalized imagery and has a single decision surface. The technique was tested using imagery of commercial vehicles in urban environment gathered by a hyperspectral visible/near IR sensor mounted in an airborne platform. Combining detections first requires converting the detector output to a target probability. The observed anomaly detections were fitted with a linear combination of chi square distributions and these weights were used to help compute the target probability. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) quantitatively assessed the target detection performance. The target detection performance is highly variable depending on the relative number of candidate bright and dark targets and false alarms and controlled in this study by using vegetation and street line masks. The joint Boolean OR and AND operations also generate variable performance depending on the scene. The joint SUM operation provides a reasonable compromise between OR and AND operations and has good target detection performance. In addition, new transforms based on normalizing correlation coefficient and least squares generate new transforms related to canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and a normalized image regression (NIR). Transforms based on CCA and NIR performed better than the standard approaches. Only RX detection of the unnormalized of the difference imagery in change detection provides adequate change detection performance.

Enhanced change detection performance reveals improved strategy use in avid action video game players.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Kait; Fleck, Mathias S; Mitroff, Stephen R

2011-01-01

Recent research has shown that avid action video game players (VGPs) outperform non-video game players (NVGPs) on a variety of attentional and perceptual tasks. However, it remains unknown exactly why and how such differences arise; while some prior research has demonstrated that VGPs' improvements stem from enhanced basic perceptual processes, other work indicates that they can stem from enhanced attentional control. The current experiment used a change-detection task to explore whether top-down strategies can contribute to VGPs' improved abilities. Participants viewed alternating presentations of an image and a modified version of the image and were tasked with detecting and localizing the changed element. Consistent with prior claims of enhanced perceptual abilities, VGPs were able to detect the changes while requiring less exposure to the change than NVGPs. Further analyses revealed this improved change detection performance may result from altered strategy use; VGPs employed broader search patterns when scanning scenes for potential changes. These results complement prior demonstrations of VGPs' enhanced bottom-up perceptual benefits by providing new evidence of VGPs' potentially enhanced top-down strategic benefits. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

As representações no "circuito das notícias": o movimento dos trabalhadores rurais sem-terra no jornal ZH

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Vilso Junior Chierentin Santi

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Estudar a representação do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-terra (MST e de suas ações no jornal Zero Hora (ZH, tendo como panorama o "Circuito das Notícias" e suas distintas fases é nosso objetivo central. Para tanto, procuramos mapear o movimento das representações e suas transformações ao longo da cadeia produção, texto e leitura, sem esquecer de suas intersecções e interrelações nos diferentes momentos. O estudo propõe uma aproximação analítica entre o "Circuito da Cultura" de Johnson (1999 e o que qualificamos como o "Circuito das Notícias" – uma tentativa de abordagem integral e integradora, que reivindica uma visão global sobre os processos jornalísticos. Tal aproximação parte das contribuições teórico-metodológicas dos Estudos Culturais Britânicos e busca entender e/ou explicar a dinâmica da cultura, dos produtos culturais e suas intersecções com o jornalismo, principalmente no que se refere às representações.

Novel polymeric biochips for enhanced detection of infectious diseases

CERN Document Server

Hosseini, Samira

2016-01-01

This book focuses on the creation and development of polymeric platforms (different compositions) from a specific polymer system. This system can be used as an adaptive technique for producing sensitive analytical devices, or for simple integration into existing bioanalytical tools in order to enhance the detection signal.

Making the invisible visible: verbal but not visual cues enhance visual detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lupyan, Gary; Spivey, Michael J

2010-07-07

Can hearing a word change what one sees? Although visual sensitivity is known to be enhanced by attending to the location of the target, perceptual enhancements of following cues to the identity of an object have been difficult to find. Here, we show that perceptual sensitivity is enhanced by verbal, but not visual cues. Participants completed an object detection task in which they made an object-presence or -absence decision to briefly-presented letters. Hearing the letter name prior to the detection task increased perceptual sensitivity (d'). A visual cue in the form of a preview of the to-be-detected letter did not. Follow-up experiments found that the auditory cuing effect was specific to validly cued stimuli. The magnitude of the cuing effect positively correlated with an individual measure of vividness of mental imagery; introducing uncertainty into the position of the stimulus did not reduce the magnitude of the cuing effect, but eliminated the correlation with mental imagery. Hearing a word made otherwise invisible objects visible. Interestingly, seeing a preview of the target stimulus did not similarly enhance detection of the target. These results are compatible with an account in which auditory verbal labels modulate lower-level visual processing. The findings show that a verbal cue in the form of hearing a word can influence even the most elementary visual processing and inform our understanding of how language affects perception.

Making the invisible visible: verbal but not visual cues enhance visual detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gary Lupyan

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Can hearing a word change what one sees? Although visual sensitivity is known to be enhanced by attending to the location of the target, perceptual enhancements of following cues to the identity of an object have been difficult to find. Here, we show that perceptual sensitivity is enhanced by verbal, but not visual cues. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Participants completed an object detection task in which they made an object-presence or -absence decision to briefly-presented letters. Hearing the letter name prior to the detection task increased perceptual sensitivity (d'. A visual cue in the form of a preview of the to-be-detected letter did not. Follow-up experiments found that the auditory cuing effect was specific to validly cued stimuli. The magnitude of the cuing effect positively correlated with an individual measure of vividness of mental imagery; introducing uncertainty into the position of the stimulus did not reduce the magnitude of the cuing effect, but eliminated the correlation with mental imagery. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Hearing a word made otherwise invisible objects visible. Interestingly, seeing a preview of the target stimulus did not similarly enhance detection of the target. These results are compatible with an account in which auditory verbal labels modulate lower-level visual processing. The findings show that a verbal cue in the form of hearing a word can influence even the most elementary visual processing and inform our understanding of how language affects perception.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering biosensor for DNA detection on nanoparticle island substrates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yuan, Scott Wu; Ho, Ho Pui; Lee, Rebecca K.Y.

2009-01-01

We present a study on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) properties of Ag nanoparticle island substrates (NIS) and their applications for target oligonucleotide (OND) detection. It has been found that the surface nanostructure of NIS samples can be controlled with a good degree of repro......We present a study on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) properties of Ag nanoparticle island substrates (NIS) and their applications for target oligonucleotide (OND) detection. It has been found that the surface nanostructure of NIS samples can be controlled with a good degree...

Jet Energy Scale Studies and the Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson in the Channel ZH → ν(bar ν)b(bar b) at D0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lobo, Lydia

2006-01-01

The D0 experiment is based at the Tevatron, which is currently the world's highest-energy accelerator. The detector comprises three major subsystems: the tracking system, the calorimeter and the muon detector. Jets, seen in the calorimeter, are the most common product of the proton-proton interactions at 2TeV. This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on jets and describes the derivation of a jet energy scale using p(bar p) → (Z + jets) events as a cross-check of the official D0 jet energy scale (Versions 4.2 and 5.1) which is derived using p(bar p) → γ + jets events. Closure tests were also carried out on the jet energy calibration as a further verification. Jets from b-quarks are commonly produced at D0, readily identified and are a useful physics tool. These require a special correction in the case where the b-jet decays via a muon and a neutrino. Thus a semileptonic correction was also derived as an addition to the standard energy correction for jets. The search for the Higgs boson is one of the largest physics programs at D0. The second part of this thesis describes a search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the ZH → ν(bar ν)b(bar b) channel in 52fb -1 of data. The analysis is based on a sequence of event selection criteria optimized on Monte Carlo event samples that simulate four light Higgs boson masses between 105 GeV and 135 GeV and the main backgrounds. For the first time, the data for the analysis are selected using new acoplanarity triggers and the b-quark jets are selected using the D0 neural net b-jet tagging tool. A limit is set for σ(p(bar p) → ZH) x Br(H → b(bar b))

Seeing Objects as Faces Enhances Object Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Kohske; Watanabe, Katsumi

2015-10-01

The face is a special visual stimulus. Both bottom-up processes for low-level facial features and top-down modulation by face expectations contribute to the advantages of face perception. However, it is hard to dissociate the top-down factors from the bottom-up processes, since facial stimuli mandatorily lead to face awareness. In the present study, using the face pareidolia phenomenon, we demonstrated that face awareness, namely seeing an object as a face, enhances object detection performance. In face pareidolia, some people see a visual stimulus, for example, three dots arranged in V shape, as a face, while others do not. This phenomenon allows us to investigate the effect of face awareness leaving the stimulus per se unchanged. Participants were asked to detect a face target or a triangle target. While target per se was identical between the two tasks, the detection sensitivity was higher when the participants recognized the target as a face. This was the case irrespective of the stimulus eccentricity or the vertical orientation of the stimulus. These results demonstrate that seeing an object as a face facilitates object detection via top-down modulation. The advantages of face perception are, therefore, at least partly, due to face awareness.

Seeing Objects as Faces Enhances Object Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kohske Takahashi

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The face is a special visual stimulus. Both bottom-up processes for low-level facial features and top-down modulation by face expectations contribute to the advantages of face perception. However, it is hard to dissociate the top-down factors from the bottom-up processes, since facial stimuli mandatorily lead to face awareness. In the present study, using the face pareidolia phenomenon, we demonstrated that face awareness, namely seeing an object as a face, enhances object detection performance. In face pareidolia, some people see a visual stimulus, for example, three dots arranged in V shape, as a face, while others do not. This phenomenon allows us to investigate the effect of face awareness leaving the stimulus per se unchanged. Participants were asked to detect a face target or a triangle target. While target per se was identical between the two tasks, the detection sensitivity was higher when the participants recognized the target as a face. This was the case irrespective of the stimulus eccentricity or the vertical orientation of the stimulus. These results demonstrate that seeing an object as a face facilitates object detection via top-down modulation. The advantages of face perception are, therefore, at least partly, due to face awareness.

Unexpected Coexisting Myocardial Infarction Detected by Delayed Enhancement MRI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edouard Gerbaud

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We report a case of an unexpected coexisting anterior myocardial infarction detected by delayed enhancement MRI in a 41-year-old man following a presentation with a first episode of chest pain during inferior acute myocardial infarction. This second necrotic area was not initially suspected because there were no ECG changes in the anterior leads and the left descending coronary artery did not present any significant stenoses on emergency coronary angiography. Unrecognised myocardial infarction may carry important prognostic implications. CMR is currently the best imaging technique to detect unexpected infarcts.

Search for the standard model higgs Boson in the ZH-->nunubb channel in 5.2 fb{-1} of pp collisions at sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV.

Science.gov (United States)

Abazov, V M; Abbott, B; Abolins, M; Acharya, B S; Adams, M; Adams, T; Aguilo, E; Alexeev, G D; Alkhazov, G; Alton, A; Alverson, G; Alves, G A; Ancu, L S; Aoki, M; Arnoud, Y; Arov, M; Askew, A; Asman, B; Atramentov, O; Avila, C; Backusmayes, J; Badaud, F; Bagby, L; Baldin, B; Bandurin, D V; Banerjee, S; Barberis, E; Barfuss, A-F; Baringer, P; Barreto, J; Bartlett, J F; Bassler, U; Bauer, D; Beale, S; Bean, A; Begalli, M; Begel, M; Belanger-Champagne, C; Bellantoni, L; Benitez, J A; Beri, S B; Bernardi, G; Bernhard, R; Bertram, I; Besançon, M; Beuselinck, R; Bezzubov, V A; Bhat, P C; Bhatnagar, V; Blazey, G; Blessing, S; Bloom, K; Boehnlein, A; Boline, D; Bolton, T A; Boos, E E; Borissov, G; Bose, T; Brandt, A; Brock, R; Brooijmans, G; Bross, A; Brown, D; Bu, X B; Buchholz, D; Buehler, M; Buescher, V; Bunichev, V; Burdin, S; Burnett, T H; Buszello, C P; Calfayan, P; Calpas, B; Calvet, S; Camacho-Pérez, E; Cammin, J; Carrasco-Lizarraga, M A; Carrera, E; Casey, B C K; Castilla-Valdez, H; Chakrabarti, S; Chakraborty, D; Chan, K M; Chandra, A; Cheu, E; Chevalier-Théry, S; Cho, D K; Cho, S W; Choi, S; Choudhary, B; Christoudias, T; Cihangir, S; Claes, D; Clutter, J; Cooke, M; Cooper, W E; Corcoran, M; Couderc, F; Cousinou, M-C; Cutts, D; Cwiok, M; Das, A; Davies, G; De, K; de Jong, S J; De La Cruz-Burelo, E; Devaughan, K; Déliot, F; Demarteau, M; Demina, R; Denisov, D; Denisov, S P; Desai, S; Diehl, H T; Diesburg, M; Dominguez, A; Dorland, T; Dubey, A; Dudko, L V; Duflot, L; Duggan, D; Duperrin, A; Dutt, S; Dyshkant, A; Eads, M; Edmunds, D; Ellison, J; Elvira, V D; Enari, Y; Eno, S; Evans, H; Evdokimov, A; Evdokimov, V N; Facini, G; Ferapontov, A V; Ferbel, T; Fiedler, F; Filthaut, F; Fisher, W; Fisk, H E; Fortner, M; Fox, H; Fuess, S; Gadfort, T; Galea, C F; Garcia-Bellido, A; Gavrilov, V; Gay, P; Geist, W; Geng, W; Gerbaudo, D; Gerber, C E; Gershtein, Y; Gillberg, D; Ginther, G; Golovanov, G; Gómez, B; Goussiou, A; Grannis, P D; Greder, S; Greenlee, H; Greenwood, Z D; Gregores, E M; Grenier, G; Gris, Ph; Grivaz, J-F; Grohsjean, A; Grünendahl, S; Grünewald, M W; Guo, F; Guo, J; Gutierrez, G; Gutierrez, P; Haas, A; Haefner, P; Hagopian, S; Haley, J; Hall, I; Han, L; Harder, K; Harel, A; Hauptman, J M; Hays, J; Hebbeker, T; Hedin, D; Hegeman, J G; Heinson, A P; Heintz, U; Hensel, C; Heredia-De La Cruz, I; Herner, K; Hesketh, G; Hildreth, M D; Hirosky, R; Hoang, T; Hobbs, J D; Hoeneisen, B; Hohlfeld, M; Hossain, S; Houben, P; Hu, Y; Hubacek, Z; Huske, N; Hynek, V; Iashvili, I; Illingworth, R; Ito, A S; Jabeen, S; Jaffré, M; Jain, S; Jamin, D; Jesik, R; Johns, K; Johnson, C; Johnson, M; Johnston, D; Jonckheere, A; Jonsson, P; Juste, A; Kajfasz, E; Karmanov, D; Kasper, P A; Katsanos, I; Kaushik, V; Kehoe, R; Kermiche, S; Khalatyan, N; Khanov, A; Kharchilava, A; Kharzheev, Y N; Khatidze, D; Kirby, M H; Kirsch, M; Kohli, J M; Kozelov, A V; Kraus, J; Kumar, A; Kupco, A; Kurca, T; Kuzmin, V A; Kvita, J; Lam, D; Lammers, S; Landsberg, G; Lebrun, P; Lee, H S; Lee, W M; Leflat, A; Lellouch, J; Li, L; Li, Q Z; Lietti, S M; Lim, J K; Lincoln, D; Linnemann, J; Lipaev, V V; Lipton, R; Liu, Y; Liu, Z; Lobodenko, A; Lokajicek, M; Love, P; Lubatti, H J; Luna-Garcia, R; Lyon, A L; Maciel, A K A; Mackin, D; Mättig, P; Magaña-Villalba, R; Mal, P K; Malik, S; Malyshev, V L; Maravin, Y; Martínez-Ortega, J; McCarthy, R; McGivern, C L; Meijer, M M; Melnitchouk, A; Mendoza, L; Menezes, D; Mercadante, P G; Merkin, M; Meyer, A; Meyer, J; Mommsen, R K; Mondal, N K; Moulik, T; Muanza, G S; Mulhearn, M; Mundal, O; Mundim, L; Nagy, E; Naimuddin, M; Narain, M; Nayyar, R; Neal, H A; Negret, J P; Neustroev, P; Nilsen, H; Nogima, H; Novaes, S F; Nunnemann, T; Obrant, G; Ochando, C; Onoprienko, D; Orduna, J; Osman, N; Osta, J; Otec, R; Otero Y Garzón, G J; Owen, M; Padilla, M; Padley, P; Pangilinan, M; Parashar, N; Parihar, V; Park, S-J; Park, S K; Parsons, J; Partridge, R; Parua, N; Patwa, A; Penning, B; Perfilov, M; Peters, K; Peters, Y; Pétroff, P; Piegaia, R; Piper, J; Pleier, M-A; Podesta-Lerma, P L M; Podstavkov, V M; Pol, M-E; Polozov, P; Popov, A V; Prewitt, M; Price, D; Protopopescu, S; Qian, J; Quadt, A; Quinn, B; Rangel, M S; Ranjan, K; Ratoff, P N; Razumov, I; Renkel, P; Rich, P; Rijssenbeek, M; Ripp-Baudot, I; Rizatdinova, F; Robinson, S; Rominsky, M; Royon, C; Rubinov, P; Ruchti, R; Safronov, G; Sajot, G; Sánchez-Hernández, A; Sanders, M P; Sanghi, B; Savage, G; Sawyer, L; Scanlon, T; Schaile, D; Schamberger, R D; Scheglov, Y; Schellman, H; Schliephake, T; Schlobohm, S; Schwanenberger, C; Schwienhorst, R; Sekaric, J; Severini, H; Shabalina, E; Shary, V; Shchukin, A A; Shivpuri, R K; Simak, V; Sirotenko, V; Skubic, P; Slattery, P; Smirnov, D; Snow, G R; Snow, J; Snyder, S; Söldner-Rembold, S; Sonnenschein, L; Sopczak, A; Sosebee, M; Soustruznik, K; Spurlock, B; Stark, J; Stolin, V; Stoyanova, D A; Strandberg, J; Strang, M A; Strauss, E; Strauss, M; Ströhmer, R; Strom, D; Stutte, L; Svoisky, P; Takahashi, M; Tanasijczuk, A; Taylor, W; Tiller, B; Titov, M; Tokmenin, V V; Tsybychev, D; Tuchming, B; Tully, C; Tuts, P M; Unalan, R; Uvarov, L; Uvarov, S; Uzunyan, S; van den Berg, P J; Van Kooten, R; van Leeuwen, W M; Varelas, N; Varnes, E W; Vasilyev, I A; Verdier, P; Vertogradov, L S; Verzocchi, M; Vesterinen, M; Vilanova, D; Vint, P; Vokac, P; Wahl, H D; Wang, M H L S; Warchol, J; Watts, G; Wayne, M; Weber, G; Weber, M; Wetstein, M; White, A; Wicke, D; Williams, M R J; Wilson, G W; Wimpenny, S J; Wobisch, M; Wood, D R; Wyatt, T R; Xie, Y; Xu, C; Yacoob, S; Yamada, R; Yang, W-C; Yasuda, T; Yatsunenko, Y A; Ye, Z; Yin, H; Yip, K; Yoo, H D; Youn, S W; Yu, J; Zeitnitz, C; Zelitch, S; Zhao, T; Zhou, B; Zhu, J; Zielinski, M; Zieminska, D; Zivkovic, L; Zutshi, V; Zverev, E G

2010-02-19

A search is performed for the standard model Higgs boson in 5.2 fb{-1} of pp collisions at sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV, collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The final state considered is a pair of b jets and large missing transverse energy, as expected from pp-->ZH-->nunubb production. The search is also sensitive to the WH-->lnubb channel when the charged lepton is not identified. For a Higgs boson mass of 115 GeV, a limit is set at the 95% C.L. on the cross section multiplied by branching fraction for [pp-->(Z/W)H](H-->bb) that is a factor of 3.7 larger than the standard model value, consistent with the factor of 4.6 expected.

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the process ZH → ℓ⁺ℓ^-b$\\bar{b}$ in 4.1 fb^-1 of CDF II data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shalhout, Shalhout Zaki [Wayne State Univ., Detroit, MI (United States)

2010-05-01

parameter in the theory. Experimental evidence suggests that the Higgs mass has a value between 114.4 and 186 GeV/c². Particles with a mass in this range can be produced in collisions of less massive particles accelerated to near the speed of light. Currently, one of only a few machines capable of achieving collision energies large enough to potentially produce a standard model Higgs boson is the Tevatron proton-antiproton collider located at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. This dissertation describes the effort to observe the standard model Higgs in Tevatron collisions recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) II experiment in the ZH →ℓ⁺ℓ^-b$\\bar{b}$ production and decay channel. In this process, the Higgs is produced along with a Z boson which decays to a pair of electrons or muons (Z →ℓ⁺ℓ^-), while the Higgs decays to a bottom anti-bottom quark pair (H → b$\\bar{b}$). A brief overview of the standard model and Higgs theory is presented in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 explores previous searches for the standard model Higgs at the Tevatron and elsewhere. The search presented in this dissertation expands upon the techniques and methods developed in previous searches. The fourth chapter contains a description of the Tevatron collider and the CDF II detector. The scope of the discussion in Chapter 4 is limited to the experimental components relevant to the current ZH →ℓ⁺ℓ^-b$\\bar{b}$ search. Chapter 5 presents the details of object reconstruction; the methods used to convert detector signals into potential electrons, muons or quarks. Chapter six describes the data sample studied for the presence of a ZH →ℓ⁺ℓ^-b$\\bar{b}$ signal and details the techniques used to model the data. The model accounts for both signal and non-signal processes (backgrounds) which are expected to contribute to the observed event sample. Chapters 7

Peptide separation by capillary electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection: Some simple approaches to enhance detection sensitivity and resolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Surugau, Noumie L.

2011-01-01

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is one of the leading separation technologies for analysis of water-soluble analytes. CE has many advantages over the more established methods such as liquid chromatography and gel electrophoresis particularly in rapid analysis, require very little sample, use less or no toxic organic solvent, high peak efficiency and ease of automation. Despite the many attractive advantages of CE, CE users continue to seek improvements particularly on detection sensitivity, resolution and selectivity. This paper presented several simple approaches to improve detection sensitivity using simple sample pre-concentration called field-enhanced sample injection (FESI) and chromatographic-based ZipTip C 18 pre-concentrator. Also, some improvements in the resolution of complex peptides mixture when using two strategies namely, capillary coating and manipulation of the hydrophobicity of peptides using perfluorinated acids as background electrolyte (BGE), which have anionic conjugate base forms with hydrophobic character. As test compounds, standard peptide mixture and proteins digests were used for these studies. The results showed that FESI has significantly enhanced the detection signal of peptide standards and bovine serum albumin (BSA) tryptic digests. As for the use of ZipTip C 18 pre-concentrator, selective enhancement in detection signal was particularly notable on the late migrating peptides. Coating the capillary proved to have little changes on the CE of peptides when used in conjunction with acidic BGE. Electropherograms of BSA tryptic peptides in pentafluoropropionic acid (PFPA) and heptafluorobutyric acid (HFBA) showed interesting profile, with notable resolution improvement for peptides with close similarity in electrophoretic mobilities. (author)

Hot-Volumes as Uniform and Reproducible SERS-Detection Enhancers in Weakly-Coupled Metallic Nanohelices

Science.gov (United States)

Caridad, José M.; Winters, Sinéad; McCloskey, David; Duesberg, Georg S.; Donegan, John F.; Krstić, Vojislav

2017-03-01

Reproducible and enhanced optical detection of molecules in low concentrations demands simultaneously intense and homogeneous electric fields acting as robust signal amplifiers. To generate such sophisticated optical near-fields, different plasmonic nanostructures were investigated in recent years. These, however, exhibit either high enhancement factor (EF) or spatial homogeneity but not both. Small interparticle gaps or sharp nanostructures show enormous EFs but no near-field homogeneity. Meanwhile, approaches using rounded and separated monomers create uniform near-fields with moderate EFs. Here, guided by numerical simulations, we show how arrays of weakly-coupled Ag nanohelices achieve both homogeneous and strong near-field enhancements, reaching even the limit forreproducible detection of individual molecules. The unique near-field distribution of a single nanohelix consists of broad hot-spots, merging with those from neighbouring nanohelices in specific array configurations and generating a wide and uniform detection zone (“hot-volume”). We experimentally assessed these nanostructures via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, obtaining a corresponding EF of ~107 and a relative standard deviation <10%. These values demonstrate arrays of nanohelices as state-of-the-art substrates for reproducible optical detection as well as compelling nanostructures for related fields such as near-field imaging.

Label-Free Ag+ Detection by Enhancing DNA Sensitized Tb3+ Luminescence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kimberly Kleinke

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In this work, the effect of Ag+ on DNA sensitized Tb3+ luminescence was studied initially using the Ag+-specific RNA-cleaving DNAzyme, Ag10c. While we expected to observe luminescence quenching by Ag+, a significant enhancement was produced. Based on this observation, simple DNA oligonucleotide homopolymers were used with systematically varied sequence and length. We discovered that both poly-G and poly-T DNA have a significant emission enhancement by Ag+, while the absolute intensity is stronger with the poly-G DNA, indicating that a G-quadruplex DNA is not required for this enhancement. Using the optimized length of the G7 DNA (an oligo constituted with seven guanines, Ag+ was measured with a detection limit of 57.6 nM. The signaling kinetics, G7 DNA conformation, and the binding affinity of Tb3+ to the DNA in the presence or absence of Ag+ are also studied to reveal the mechanism of emission enhancement. This observation is useful not only for label-free detection of Ag+, but also interesting for the rational design of new biosensors using Tb3+ luminescence.

Enzyme-enhanced fluorescence detection of DNA on etched optical fibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Shu-yan; Li, Quan-yi; Ren, Rui; Zhang, Shu-sheng

2009-05-15

A novel DNA biosensor based on enzyme-enhanced fluorescence detection on etched optical fibers was developed. The hybridization complex of DNA probe and biotinylated target was formed on the etched optical fiber, and was then bound with streptavidin labeled horseradish peroxidase (streptavidin-HRP). The target DNA was quantified through the fluorescent detection of bi-p,p'-4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (DBDA) generated from the substrate 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (p-HPA) under the catalysis of HRP, with a detection limit of 1 pM and a linear range from 1.69 pM to 169 pM. It is facile to regenerate this sensor through surface treatment with concentrated urea solution. It was discovered that the sensor can retain 70% of its original activity after three detection-regeneration cycles.

Enhanced terahertz detection using multiple GaAs HEMTs connected in series

KAUST Repository

Elkhatib, Tamer A.; Veksler, Dmitry B.; Salama, Khaled N.; Zhang, Xi-C.; Shur, Michael S.

2012-01-01

We report here, for the first time, on enhanced nonresonant detection of terahertz radiation using multiple InGaAs/GaAs high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) connected in series and biased by a direct drain current. A 1.63 THz (184 mum) response is proportional to the number of detecting transistors operating in saturation region at the same gate-source bias voltage. The experimental data are in agreement with the detection mechanism based on the rectification of overdamped plasma waves excited by radiation in channels of devices.

Enhanced terahertz detection using multiple GaAs HEMTs connected in series

KAUST Repository

Elkhatib, Tamer A.

2012-07-28

We report here, for the first time, on enhanced nonresonant detection of terahertz radiation using multiple InGaAs/GaAs high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) connected in series and biased by a direct drain current. A 1.63 THz (184 mum) response is proportional to the number of detecting transistors operating in saturation region at the same gate-source bias voltage. The experimental data are in agreement with the detection mechanism based on the rectification of overdamped plasma waves excited by radiation in channels of devices.

Sentinel node detection in melanomas using contrast-enhanced ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, K. Rue; Klyver, H.; Chakera, A. Hougaard

2009-01-01

in humans. PURPOSE: To investigate the possible use of CEUS in detecting SN in patients with malignant melanomas (MM), and to improve the method by using different concentrations of contrast agent and various positions of the extremity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten patients with MM on an extremity and one...... healthy volunteer were included. One milliliter of a contrast agent (Sonovue; Bracco, Milan, Italy) was injected subcutaneously on both sides of the scar from the excised tumor. Contrast-enhanced lymph channels and lymph nodes (LNs) were searched for using low-mechanical-index CEUS and by stimulated...... tissue damage, as the contrast agent was not registered for subcutaneous administration. RESULTS: In one patient, two contrast-enhanced inguinal LNs were visualized by CEUS, corresponding to two inguinal SNs found by scintigraphic imaging. No contrast-enhanced lymph channels or LNs were visualized in any...

Ultrasensitive detection of phenolic antioxidants by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Ornelas-Soto, N.; Aguilar-Hernández, I. A.; Afseth, N.; López-Luke, T.; Contreras-Torres, F. F.; Wold, J. P.

2017-08-01

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful surface-sensitive technique to study the vibrational properties of analytes at very low concentrations. In this study, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid and sinapic acid were analyzed by SERS using Ag colloids. Analytes were detected up to 2.5x10-9M. For caffeic acid and coumaric acid, this detection limit has been reached for the first time, as well as the SERS analysis of sinapic acid using silver colloids.

Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Martin Erland Vestergaard; Rishøj, Lars Søgaard; Steffensen, Henrik

2007-01-01

Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals is theoretically studied. Using a scattering-matrix approach and the Wigner–Smith delay time concept, we show that optical absorbance benefits both from slow-light phenomena as well as a high filling factor of the energy...... residing in the liquid. Utilizing strongly dispersive photonic crystal structures, we numerically demonstrate how liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals facilitate enhanced light–matter interactions, by potentially up to an order of magnitude. The proposed concept provides strong opportunities for improving...

Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced 3.0-Tesla MRI findings for the preoperative detection of focal liver lesions: Comparison with iodine-enhanced multi-detector computed tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hyong-Hu; Goo, Eun-Hoe; Im, In-Chul; Lee, Jae-Seung; Kim, Moon-Jib; Kwak, Byung-Joon; Chung, Woon-Kwan; Dong, Kyung-Rae

2012-12-01

The safety of gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic-acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) has been confirmed, but more study is needed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for whom surgical treatment is considered or with a metastatic hepatoma. Research is also needed to examine the rate of detection of hepatic lesions compared to multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT), which is used most frequently to localize and characterize a HCC. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI and iodine-enhanced MDCT imaging were compared for the preoperative detection of focal liver lesions. The clinical usefulness of each method was examined. The current study enrolled 79 patients with focal liver lesions who preoperatively underwent MRI and MDCT. In these patients, there was less than one month between the two diagnostic modalities. Imaging data were taken before and after contrast enhancement in both methods. To evaluate the images, we analyzed the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the lesions and the liver parenchyma. To compare the sensitivity of the two methods, we performed a quantitative analysis of the percentage signal intensity of the liver (PSIL) on a high resolution picture archiving and communication system (PACS) monitor (paired-samples t-test, p DTPA-enhanced MRI findings and the iodine-enhanced MDCT by using an adjusted x2 test. The SNRs, CNRs, and PSIL all had a greater detection rate in Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MRI than in iodine-enhanced MDCT. Hepatocyte-selective uptake was observed 20 minutes after the injection in the focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH, 9/9), adenoma (9/10), and highly-differentiated HCC (grade G1, 27/30). Rim enhancement was detected in all metastases (30/30). During the arterial and the delayed phases, good overall agreement between the gadoxetic-acid-enhanced MR and CT was observed (x2 test, p DTPA-enhanced MRI had a higher

Antibody-nanoparticle conjugates to enhance the sensitivity of ELISA-based detection methods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret M Billingsley

Full Text Available Accurate antigen detection is imperative for clinicians to diagnose disease, assess treatment success, and predict patient prognosis. The most common technique used for the detection of disease-associated biomarkers is the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA. In an ELISA, primary antibodies are incubated with biological samples containing the biomarker of interest. Then, detectible secondary antibodies conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP bind the primary antibodies. Upon addition of a color-changing substrate, the samples provide a colorimetric signal that directly correlates to the targeted biomarker concentration. While ELISAs are effective for analyzing samples with high biomarker content, they lack the sensitivity required to analyze samples with low antigen levels. We hypothesized that the sensitivity of ELISAs could be enhanced by replacing freely delivered primary antibodies with antibody-nanoparticle conjugates that provide excess binding sites for detectible secondary antibodies, ultimately leading to increased signal. Here, we investigated the use of nanoshells (NS decorated with antibodies specific to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR as a model system (EGFR-NS. We incubated one healthy and two breast cancer cell lines, each expressing different levels of EGFR, with EGFR-NS, untargeted NS, or unconjugated EGFR antibodies, as well as detectable secondary antibodies. We found that EGFR-NS consistently increased signal intensity relative to unconjugated EGFR antibodies, with a substantial 13-fold enhancement from cells expressing high levels of EGFR. Additionally, 40x more unconjugated antibodies were required to detect EGFR compared to those conjugated to NS. Our results demonstrate that antibody-nanoparticle conjugates lower the detection limit of traditional ELISAs and support further investigation of this strategy with other antibodies and nanoparticles. Owing to their enhanced sensitivity, we anticipate that

Formate detection by potassium permanganate for enhanced hydrogen production in Escherichia coli

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maeda, Toshinari [Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, 220 Jack E. Brown Building, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3122 (United States); Wood, Thomas K. [Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, 220 Jack E. Brown Building, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3122 (United States); Department of Biology, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3258 (United States); Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3136 (United States)

2008-05-15

Mutagenesis of Escherichia coli for hydrogen production is difficult since there is no high-throughput screen. Here we describe a method for rapid detection of enhanced hydrogen production by engineered strains by detecting formate via potassium permanganate; in E. coli, hydrogen is synthesized from formate using the formate hydrogen lyase system. (author)

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound features of hepatocellular carcinoma not detected during the screening procedure.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Yi; Wang, Wen-Ping; Mao, Feng; Dietrich, Christoph

2017-08-01

Aim  The aim of this retrospective study is to report on the characteristics of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of primarily not detected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during the screening procedure of patients at risk. Methods  Sixty-four patients with a finally solitary and histologically proven HCC not detected HCC during the screening procedure were retrospectively analyzed. Most of HCC lesions (90.6 %, 58/64) measured < 20 mm in diameter. All HCC lesions were not detected during the initial screening procedure but suspected using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. The final gold standard was biopsy or surgery with histological examination. Results  On CEUS, 62/64 (96.8 %) of HCC were characterized as an obviously hyperenhanced lesion in arterial phase, and 41/64 (64.1 %) of HCC were characterized as hypoenhancing lesions in the portal venous and late phases. During the arterial phase of CEUS, 96.8 % of HCC displayed homogeneous hyperenhancement. Knowing the CEUS and magnetic resonance imaging findings, 45/64 (70.3 %) could have been detected using B-mode ultrasound (BMUS). Conclusion  BMUS as a screening procedure is generally accepted. Contrast-enhanced imaging modalities have improved detection and characterization of HCC. Homogeneous hyperenhancement during the arterial phase and mild washout are indicative for HCC in liver cirrhosis. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Chondroitin sulfate iron colloid-enhanced MR imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma; Correlation between histologic grade and detectability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamba, Masayuki; Suto, Yuji; Kodama, Fumiko; Kato, Terumi; Ohta, Yoshio; Horie, Yasushi; Hamazoe, Ryuichi; Kawasaki, Hironaka (Tottori Univ., Yonago (Japan). School of Medicine)

1994-03-01

We applied chondroitin sulfate iron colloid (CSIC) as an MR contrast agent to detect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The MR and pathologic findings of 25 HCCs in 21 patients were analyzed. MR imaging was performed with a superconducting system operating at 1.5 T. Proton density-weighted (PDW), T[sub 2]-weighted (T[sub 2]W) and T[sub 1]-weighted (T[sub 1]W) images were obtained before and after an intravenous injection of 23.6 [mu]mol Fe/kg of CSIC. In moderately to poorly differentiated and moderately differentiated HCCs (n=15), all the lesions except a 5-mm satellite nodule were detectable with unenhanced T[sub 2]W images as well as CSIC-enhanced PDW, T[sub 2]W and T[sub 1]W images. In well to moderately differentiated HCCs (n=6), two to four lesions were detectable with unenhanced images. All the lesions except a 3-mm satellite nodule were detectable with CSIC-enhanced PDW, T[sub 2]W and T[sub 1]W images. In well differentiated HCCs (n=4), one or two lesions were detectable with unenhanced images. All the lesions were detectable with CSIC-enhanced T[sub 1]W images, while only two lesions were detectable with CSIC-enhanced PDW or T[sub 2]W images. CSIC administration improves detection rates, and is especially useful in detecting small foci of well to moderately or well differentiated HCC. (author).

Nanotextured thin films for detection of chemicals by surface enhanced Raman scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Korivi, Naga; Jiang, Li; Ahmed, Syed; Nujhat, Nabila; Idrees, Mohanad; Rangari, Vijaya

2017-11-01

We report on the development of large area, nanostructured films that function as substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of chemicals. The films are made of polyethylene terephthalate layers partially embedded with multi-walled carbon nanotubes and coated with a thin layer of gold. The films are fabricated by a facile method involving spin-coating, acid dip, and magnetron sputtering. The films perform effectively as SERS substrates when used in the detection of dye pollutants such as Congo red dye, with an enhancement factor of 1.1  ×  106 and a detection limit of 10-7 M which is the lowest reported for CR detection by freestanding SERS film substrates. The films have a long shelf life, and cost US0.20 per cm2 of active area, far less than commercially available SERS substrates. This is the first such work on the use of a polymer layer modified with carbon nanotubes to create a nano-scale texture and arbitrary ‘hot-spots’, contributing to the SERS effect.

Detection and light enhancement of glucose oxidase adsorbed on porous silicon microcavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palestino, Gabriela [GES-UMR 5650, CNRS-Universite Montpellier II, Montpellier (France); Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas, Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi (Mexico); Martin, Marta; Legros, Rene; Cloitre, Thierry; Gergely, Csilla [GES-UMR 5650, CNRS-Universite Montpellier II, Montpellier (France); Agarwal, Vivechana [CIICAP, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca (Mexico); Zimanyi, Laszlo [EA4203, Faculte d' Odontologie, Universite Montpellier I, Montpellier (France); Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Center, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged (Hungary)

2009-07-15

Porous silicon (PSi) structure is used as support material to detect protein infiltration and to induce fluorescence and second harmonic light enhancement from glucose oxidase (GOX). Functionalization and protein infiltration is monitored by specular reflectometry. Optical response enhancement of PSi microcavity structures compared to PSi single layers or Bragg mirrors is observed, when GOX is impregnated. Penetration of organic molecules along the PSi microcavity structure is demonstrated by energy dispersive X-ray profile. Enhanced fluorescence emission of GOX when adsorbed on PSi microcavity is evidenced by multi-photon microscopy (MPM). Second harmonic light generation is observed at some particular pores of PSi and subsequent resonance enhancement of the signal arising from the GOX adsorbed within the pores is detected. Our work evidences an improved device functionality of GOX-PSi microcavities due to strongly confined and localized light emission within these structures. This opens the way towards the application of PSi microcavity structures as amended biosensors based on their locally enhanced optical response. The second main achievement lies in the novelty of the used techniques. In contrast to the specular reflectometry used to monitor the macroscopic optical response of PSi structures, MPM presents a valuable alternative microscopic technique probing individual pores. (copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Results of vardenafil mediated power Doppler ultrasound, contrast enhanced ultrasound and systematic random biopsies to detect prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Morelli, Girolamo; Pagni, Riccardo; Mariani, Chiara; Minervini, Riccardo; Morelli, Andrea; Gori, Francesco; Ferdeghini, Ezio Maria; Paterni, Marco; Mauro, Eva; Guidi, Elisa; Armillotta, Nicola; Canale, Domenico; Vitti, Paolo; Caramella, Davide; Minervini, Andrea

2011-06-01

We evaluated the ability of the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor vardenafil to increase prostate microcirculation during power Doppler ultrasound. We also evaluated the results of contrast and vardenafil enhanced targeted biopsies compared to those of standard 12-core random biopsies to detect cancer. Between May 2008 and January 2010, 150 consecutive patients with prostate specific antigen more than 4 ng/ml at first diagnosis with negative digital rectal examination and transrectal ultrasound, and no clinical history of prostatitis underwent contrast enhanced power Doppler ultrasound (bolus injection of 2.4 ml SonoVue® contrast agent), followed by vardenafil enhanced power Doppler ultrasound (1 hour after oral administration of vardenafil 20 mg). All patients underwent standard 12-core transrectal ultrasound guided random prostate biopsy plus 1 further sampling from each suspected hypervascular lesion detected by contrast and vardenafil enhanced power Doppler ultrasound. Prostate cancer was detected in 44 patients (29.3%). Contrast and vardenafil enhanced power Doppler ultrasound detected suspicious, contrast enhanced and vardenafil enhanced areas in 112 (74.6%) and 110 patients (73.3%), and was diagnostic for cancer in 32 (28.5%) and 42 (38%), respectively. Analysis of standard technique, and contrast and vardenafil enhanced power Doppler ultrasound findings by biopsy core showed significantly higher detection using vardenafil vs contrast enhanced power Doppler ultrasound and standard technique (41.2% vs 22.7% and 8.1%, p power Doppler ultrasound was 10% and 11.7% (p not significant). Vardenafil enhanced power Doppler ultrasound enables excellent visualization of the microvasculature associated with cancer and can improve the detection rate compared to contrast enhanced power Doppler ultrasound and the random technique. Copyright © 2011 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stimuli-Responsive Nanodiamond-Based Biosensor for Enhanced Metastatic Tumor Site Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin; Gu, Mengjie; Toh, Tan Boon; Abdullah, Nurrul Lissa Binti; Chow, Edward Kai-Hua

2018-02-01

Metastasis is often critical to cancer progression and linked to poor survival and drug resistance. Early detection of metastasis, as well as identification of metastatic tumor sites, can improve cancer patient survival. Thus, developing technology to improve the detection of cancer metastasis biomarkers can improve both diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we investigated the use of nanodiamonds to develop a stimuli-responsive metastasis detection complex that utilizes matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) as a metastasis biomarker, as MMP9 increased expression has been shown to be indicative of metastasis. The nanodiamond-MMP9 biosensor complex consists of nanodiamonds functionalized with MMP9-specific fluorescent-labeled substrate peptides. Using this design, protease activity of MMP9 can be accurately measured and correlated to MMP9 expression. The nanodiamond-MMP9 biosensor also demonstrated an enhanced ability to protect the base sensor peptide from nonspecific serum protease cleavage. This enhanced peptide stability, combined with a quantitative stimuli-responsive output function, provides strong evidence for the further development of a nanodiamond-MMP9 biosensor for metastasis site detection. More importantly, this work provides the foundation for use of nanodiamonds as a platform for stimuli-responsive biosensors and theranostic complexes that can be implemented across a wide range of biomedical applications.

Enhancement of detectability by the use of coloured illumination for CT display

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warren, R.C.; Simpson, J.

1984-01-01

A study has been made of the effect of coloured illumination on the detectability of both natural and artificial low-contrast signals immersed in CT noise. Enhancement of detectability relative to white light was found to be related to variations in visual acuity at different wavelengths. These results, together with previously published observations, suggest that an increase of detectability by changing viewing conditions can usually be achieved only at the expense of a reduction in resolution. (author)

Detection of DNA hybridization based on SnO2 nanomaterial enhanced fluorescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu Cuiping; Huang Jiarui; Ni Ning; Li Minqiang; Liu Jinhuai

2008-01-01

In this paper, enhanced fluorescence emissions were firstly investigated based on SnO 2 nanomaterial, and its application in the detection of DNA hybridization was also demonstrated. The microarray of SnO 2 nanomaterial was fabricated by the vapour phase transport method catalyzed by patterned Au nanoparticles on a silicon substrate. A probe DNA was immobilized on the substrate with patterned SnO 2 nanomaterial, respectively, by covalent and non-covalent linking schemes. When a fluorophore labelled target DNA was hybridized with a probe DNA on the substrate, fluorescence emissions were only observed on the surface of SnO 2 nanomaterial, which indicated the property of enhancing fluorescence signals from the SnO 2 nanomaterial. By comparing the different fluorescence images from covalent and non-covalent linking schemes, the covalent method was confirmed to be more effective for immobilizing a probe DNA. With the combined use of SnO 2 nanomaterial and the covalent linking scheme, the target DNA could be detected at a very low concentration of 10 fM. And the stability of SnO 2 nanomaterial under the experimental conditions was also compared with silicon nanowires. The findings strongly suggested that SnO 2 nanomaterial could be extensively applied in detections of biological samples with enhancing fluorescence property and high stability

Ag/SiO2 surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate for plasticizer detection

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ming-Chung; Lin, Ming-Pin; Lin, Ting-Han; Su, Wei-Fang

2018-04-01

In this study, we demonstrated a simple method of fabricating a high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. Monodispersive SiO2 colloidal spheres were self-assembled on a silicon wafer, and then a silver layer was coated on it to obtain a Ag/SiO2 SERS substrate. The Ag/SiO2 SERS substrates were used to detect three kinds of plasticizer with different concentrations, namely, including bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). The enhancement of Raman scattering intensity caused by surface plasmon resonance can be observed using the Ag/SiO2 SERS substrates. The Ag/SiO2 SERS substrate with a 150-nm-thick silver layer can detect plasticizers, and it satisfies the detection limit of plasticizers at 100 ppm. The developed highly sensitive Ag/SiO2 SERS substrates show a potential for the design and fabrication of functional sensors to identify the harmful plasticizers that plastic products release in daily life.

Fast and sensitive detection of ochratoxin A in red wine by nanoparticle-enhanced SPR.

Science.gov (United States)

Karczmarczyk, Aleksandra; Reiner-Rozman, Ciril; Hageneder, Simone; Dubiak-Szepietowska, Monika; Dostálek, Jakub; Feller, Karl-Heinz

2016-09-21

Herein, we present a fast and sensitive biosensor for detection of Ochratoxin A (OTA) in a red wine that utilizes gold nanoparticle-enhanced surface plasmon resonance (SPR). By combining an indirect competitive inhibition immunoassay and signal enhancement by secondary antibodies conjugated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), highly sensitive detection of low molecular weight compounds (such as OTA) was achieved. The reported biosensor allowed for OTA detection at concentrations as low as 0.75 ng mL(-1) and its limit of detection was improved by more than one order of magnitude to 0.068 ng mL(-1) by applying AuNPs as a signal enhancer. The study investigates the interplay of size of AuNPs and affinity of recognition elements affecting the efficiency of the signal amplification strategy based on AuNP. Furthermore, we observed that the presence of polyphenolic compounds in wine samples strongly interferes with the affinity binding on the surface. To overcome this limitation, a simple pre-treatment of the wine sample with the binding agent poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) was successfully applied. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of zilpaterol hydrochloride supplementation on energy metabolism and nitrogen and carbon retention of steers fed at maintenance and fasting intake levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, L J; Cole, N A; Jennings, J S; Hutcheson, J P; Meyer, B E; Schmitz, A N; Reed, D D; Lawrence, T E

2016-10-01

An indirect calorimetry trial examined energy metabolism, apparent nutrient digestibility, C retention (CR), and N retention (NR) of cattle supplemented with zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH). Beef steers ( = 20; 463 ± 14 kg) blocked ( = 5) by weight and source were individually fed and adapted to maintenance energy intake for 21 d before allotment to ZH (90 mg/steer∙d) or no β-adrenergic agonist treatment (control [CONT]) for 20 d (455 ± 14 kg at the start of treatment). Respiration chambers = 4 were used to quantify heat production (HP) during maintenance (d 12 to 16 of the ZH period) and fasting heat production (FHP; d 19 to 20 of ZH period; total 4 d of fast). Steers were harvested after a 6-d ZH withdrawal and carcasses were graded 24 h after harvest. Control cattle lost more BW ( maintenance whereas the BW loss of ZH-treated steers was greater ( maintenance ( = 0.04; 23.6 L/kgBW for ZH-treated and 22.4 L/kg BW for CONT). Digestible energy and ME did not differ ( ≥ 0.19); however, urinary energy was greater ( = 0.05; 0.091 Mcal for CONT and 0.074 Mcal for ZH-treated) in CONT cattle. Steers treated with ZH tended to have greater HP ( = 0.09; 12.44 Mcal for ZH-treated and 11.69 Mcal for CONT), but the effect was reduced on a BW basis ( = 0.12; 0.126 Mcal/kg BW0.75 for ZH-treated and 0.120 Mcal/kg BW0.75 for CONT vs. 0.120 Mcal/kg BW). No treatment difference in FHP was observed ( ≥ 0.32) although CO production (L/steer) increased with ZH treatment ( = 0.04; 1,423 L/steer for ZH-treated and 1,338 L/steer for CONT). Control cattle excreted more ( = 0.05) N in urine (39.8 g/d for CONT and 32.4 g/d for ZH-treated); therefore, NR ( = 0.07; 22.14 g/d for ZH-treated and 14.12 g/d for CONT steers) tended to be greater for ZH-fed steers. Steers treated with ZH lost more C via CO ( = 0.04; 1,036.9 g/d for ZH-treated and 974.3 g/d for CONT) although total CR did not differ ( ≥ 0.23). Empty BW, HCW, and harvest yields (g/kg empty BW) were not different ( ≥ 0

Implementation of molecularly imprinted polymer beads for surface enhanced Raman detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamra, Tripta; Zhou, Tongchang; Montelius, Lars; Schnadt, Joachim; Ye, Lei

2015-01-01

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have a predesigned molecular recognition capability that can be used to build robust chemical sensors. MIP-based chemical sensors allow label-free detection and are particularly interesting due to their simple operation. In this work we report the use of thiol-terminated MIP microspheres to construct surfaces for detection of a model organic analyte, nicotine, by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The nicotine-imprinted microspheres are synthesized by RAFT precipitation polymerization and converted into thiol-terminated microspheres through aminolysis. The thiol groups on the MIP surface allow the microspheres to be immobilized on a gold-coated substrate. Three different strategies are investigated to achieve surface enhanced Raman scattering in the vicinity of the imprinted sites: (1) direct sputtering of gold nanoparticles, (2) immobilization of gold colloids through the MIP's thiol groups, and (3) trapping of the MIP microspheres in a patterned SERS substrate. For the first time we show that large MIP microspheres can be turned into selective SERS surfaces through the three different approaches of assembly. The MIP-based sensing surfaces are used to detect nicotine to demonstrate the proof of concept. As synthesis and surface functionalization of MIP microspheres and nanoparticles are well established, the methods reported in this work are handy and efficient for constructing label-free chemical sensors, in particular for those based on SERS detection.

Effect of surface density silver nanoplate films toward surface-enhanced Raman scattering enhancement for bisphenol A detection

Science.gov (United States)

Bakar, N. A.; Salleh, M. M.; Umar, A. A.; Shapter, J. G.

2018-03-01

This paper reports a study on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) phenomenon of triangular silver nanoplate (NP) films towards bisphenol A (BPA) detection. The NP films were prepared using self-assembly technique with four different immersion times; 1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, and 8 hours. The SERS measurement was studied by observing the changes in Raman spectra of BPA after BPA absorbed on the NP films. It was found that the Raman intensity of BPA peaks was enhanced by using the prepared SERS substrates. This is clearly indicated that these SERS silver substrates are suitable to sense industrial chemical and potentially used as SERS detector. However, the rate of SERS enhancement is depended on the distribution of NP on the substrate surface.

Three-dimensional hybrid silicon nanostructures for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy based molecular detection

Science.gov (United States)

Vendamani, V. S.; Nageswara Rao, S. V. S.; Venugopal Rao, S.; Kanjilal, D.; Pathak, A. P.

2018-01-01

Three-dimensional silver nanoparticles decorated vertically aligned Si nanowires (Si NWs) are effective surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates for molecular detection at low concentration levels. The length of Si NWs prepared by silver assisted electroless etching is increased with an increase in etching time, which resulted in the reduced optical reflection in the visible region. These substrates were tested and optimized by measuring the Raman spectrum of standard dye Rhodamine 6G (R6G) of 10 nM concentration. Further, effective SERS enhancements of ˜105 and ˜104 were observed for the cytosine protein (concentration of 50 μM) and ammonium perchlorate (oxidizer used in explosives composition with a concentration of 10 μM), respectively. It is established that these three-dimensional SERS substrates yielded considerably higher enhancement factors for the detection of R6G when compared to previous reports. The sensitivity can further be increased and optimized since the Raman enhancement was found to increase with an increase in the density of silver nanoparticles decorated on the walls of Si NWs.

Sensitive Detection of Biomolecules by Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering using Plant Leaves as Natural Substrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharma Vipul

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Detection of biomolecules is highly important for biomedical and other biological applications. Although several methods exist for the detection of biomolecules, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS has a unique role in greatly enhancing the sensitivity. In this work, we have demonstrated the use of natural plant leaves as facile, low cost and eco-friendly SERS substrates for the sensitive detection of biomolecules. Specifically, we have investigated the influence of surface topography of five different plant leaf based substrates, deposited with Au, on the SERS performance by using L-cysteine as a model biomolecule. In addition, we have also compared the effect of sputter deposition of Au thin film with dropcast deposition of Au nanoparticles on the leaf substrates. Our results indicate that L-cysteine could be detected with high sensitivity using these plant leaf based substrates and the leaf possessing hierarchical micro/nanostructures on its surface shows higher SERS enhancement compared to a leaf having a nearplanar surface. Furthermore, leaves with drop-casted Au nanoparticle clusters performed better than the leaves sputter deposited with a thin Au film.

Enhanced Detection of Human Plasma Proteins on Nanostructured Silver Surfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zuzana Orságová Králová

2013-08-01

enhancement factor of 3.6×102 was achieved for a band with a Raman shift of 2104cm‐1 for globulin deposited onto silver nanostructured film on unpolished stainless steel substrate. The detection limit was 400g/mL. Plasma or serum could present a preferable material for non‐ invasive cancer disease diagnosis using the SERS method.

Detection of Molecular Oxygen at Low Concentrations Using Quartz Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Pohlkötter

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Molecular oxygen is detected at low concentrations using photoacoustic spectroscopy despite its unfavorable photoacoustic properties. The system consists of a seed laser diode, a tapered amplifier and a quartz tuning fork based spectrophone, thus employing quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS. With this system a detection limit of 13 ppm is reached with a compact and long term stable setup. Further improvement of the detection limit is possible by adding suitable gases to the sample gas that promote the radiationless de-excitation of the oxygen molecules.

Local correlation detection with linearity enhancement in streaming data

KAUST Repository

Xie, Qing

2013-01-01

This paper addresses the challenges in detecting the potential correlation between numerical data streams, which facilitates the research of data stream mining and pattern discovery. We focus on local correlation with delay, which may occur in burst at different time in different streams, and last for a limited period. The uncertainty on the correlation occurrence and the time delay make it diff cult to monitor the correlation online. Furthermore, the conventional correlation measure lacks the ability of ref ecting visual linearity, which is more desirable in reality. This paper proposes effective methods to continuously detect the correlation between data streams. Our approach is based on the Discrete Fourier Transform to make rapid cross-correlation calculation with time delay allowed. In addition, we introduce a shape-based similarity measure into the framework, which ref nes the results by representative trend patterns to enhance the signif cance of linearity. The similarity of proposed linear representations can quickly estimate the correlation, and the window sliding strategy in segment level improves the eff ciency for online detection. The empirical study demonstrates the accuracy of our detection approach, as well as more than 30% improvement of eff ciency. Copyright 2013 ACM.

A PDMS-based cylindrical hybrid lens for enhanced fluorescence detection in microfluidic systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Bor-Shyh; Yang, Yu-Ching; Ho, Chong-Yi; Yang, Han-Yu; Wang, Hsiang-Yu

2014-02-13

Microfluidic systems based on fluorescence detection have been developed and applied for many biological and chemical applications. Because of the tiny amount of sample in the system; the induced fluorescence can be weak. Therefore, most microfluidic systems deploy multiple optical components or sophisticated equipment to enhance the efficiency of fluorescence detection. However, these strategies encounter common issues of complex manufacturing processes and high costs. In this study; a miniature, cylindrical and hybrid lens made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to improve the fluorescence detection in microfluidic systems is proposed. The hybrid lens integrates a laser focusing lens and a fluorescence collecting lens to achieve dual functions and simplify optical setup. Moreover, PDMS has advantages of low-cost and straightforward fabrication compared with conventional optical components. The performance of the proposed lens is first examined with two fluorescent dyes and the results show that the lens provides satisfactory enhancement for fluorescence detection of Rhodamine 6G and Nile Red. The overall increments in collected fluorescence signal and detection sensitivity are more than 220% of those without lens, and the detection limits of Rhodamine 6G and Nile red are lowered to 0.01 μg/mL and 0.05 μg/mL, respectively. The hybrid lens is further applied to the detection of Nile red-labeled Chlorella vulgaris cells and it increases both signal intensity and detection sensitivity by more than 520%. The proposed hybrid lens also dramatically reduces the variation in detected signal caused by the deviation in incident angle of excitation light.

Replica Node Detection Using Enhanced Single Hop Detection with Clonal Selection Algorithm in Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. S. Sindhuja

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Security of Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks is a vital challenge as the sensor nodes are deployed in unattended environment and they are prone to various attacks. One among them is the node replication attack. In this, the physically insecure nodes are acquired by the adversary to clone them by having the same identity of the captured node, and the adversary deploys an unpredictable number of replicas throughout the network. Hence replica node detection is an important challenge in Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks. Various replica node detection techniques have been proposed to detect these replica nodes. These methods incur control overheads and the detection accuracy is low when the replica is selected as a witness node. This paper proposes to solve these issues by enhancing the Single Hop Detection (SHD method using the Clonal Selection algorithm to detect the clones by selecting the appropriate witness nodes. The advantages of the proposed method include (i increase in the detection ratio, (ii decrease in the control overhead, and (iii increase in throughput. The performance of the proposed work is measured using detection ratio, false detection ratio, packet delivery ratio, average delay, control overheads, and throughput. The implementation is done using ns-2 to exhibit the actuality of the proposed work.

Enhanced oxidation and detection of toxic ractopamine using carbon nanotube film-modified electrode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Zhuan; Zhou Yikai; Wang Yanying; Cheng Qin; Wu Kangbing

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► The enhanced oxidation of ractopamine on MWCNT film surface was firstly studied. ► The oxidation occurred at phenolic hydroxyl groups and transferred two electrons. ► A sensitive and effective electrochemical sensor was developed for ractopamine. ► It was used to detect ractopamine in animal tissues, the recovery was satisfactory. - Abstract: Insoluble multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) was readily dispersed into water in the presence of dihexadecyl hydrogen phosphate, and then used to modify the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by means of solvent evaporation. Scanning electron microscopy test indicated that the GCE surface was coated with uniform MWCNT film. The resulting MWCNT film-modified GCE greatly enhanced the oxidation signal of ractopamine. The oxidation mechanism was studied, and it was found that the oxidation of ractopamine occurred at two phenolic hydroxyl groups, involving two protons and two electrons. Moreover, the influences of pH value, amount of MWCNT, accumulation potential and time were investigated on the oxidation signal of ractopamine. Based on the strong enhancement effect of MWCNT, a sensitive, rapid and simple electrochemical method was developed for the detection of ractopamine. The linear range was from 50 μg L −1 to 2 mg L −1 , and the detection limit was 20 μg L −1 . Finally, this method was successfully used to detect the content of ractopamine in pork and liver samples, and the recovery was in the range from 93.1% to 107.2%.

Three-dimensional black-blood contrast-enhanced MRI improves detection of intraluminal thrombi in patients with acute ischaemic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Won; Kwak, Hyo Sung; Chung, Gyung Ho; Hwang, Seung Bae

2018-03-19

This study evaluated the utility of three-dimensional (3D), black-blood (BB), contrast-enhanced, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the detection of intraluminal thrombi in acute stroke patients. Forty-seven patients with acute stroke involving the anterior circulation underwent MRI examination within 6 h of clinical onset. Cerebral angiography was used as the reference standard. In a blinded manner, two neuroradiologists interpreted the following three data sets: (1) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) + 3D BB contrast-enhanced MRI; (2) DWI + susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI); (3) DWI + 3D BB contrast-enhanced MRI + SWI. Of these patients, 47 had clots in the middle cerebral artery and four had clots in the anterior cerebral artery. For both observers, the area under the curve (Az) for data sets 1 and 3, which included 3D BB contrast-enhanced MRI, was significantly greater than it was for data set 2, which did not include 3D BB contrast-enhanced MR imaging (observer 1, 0.988 vs 0.904, p = 0.001; observer 2, 0.988 vs 0.894, p = 0.000). Three-dimensional BB contrast-enhanced MRI improves detection of intraluminal thrombi compared to conventional MRI methods in patients with acute ischaemic stroke. • BB contrast-enhanced MRI helps clinicians to assess the intraluminal clot • BB contrast-enhanced MRI improves detection of intraluminal thrombi • BB contrast-enhanced MRI for clot detection has a higher sensitivity.

Brightness-preserving fuzzy contrast enhancement scheme for the detection and classification of diabetic retinopathy disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Niladri Sekhar; Dutta, Himadri Sekhar; Majumder, Koushik

2016-01-01

The contrast enhancement of retinal image plays a vital role for the detection of microaneurysms (MAs), which are an early sign of diabetic retinopathy disease. A retinal image contrast enhancement method has been presented to improve the MA detection technique. The success rate on low-contrast noisy retinal image analysis shows the importance of the proposed method. Overall, 587 retinal input images are tested for performance analysis. The average sensitivity and specificity are obtained as 95.94% and 99.21%, respectively. The area under curve is found as 0.932 for the receiver operating characteristics analysis. The classifications of diabetic retinopathy disease are also performed here. The experimental results show that the overall MA detection method performs better than the current state-of-the-art MA detection algorithms.

Ultraviolet Resonant Raman Enhancements in the Detection of Explosives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Short Jr., Billy Joe [Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA (United States)

2009-06-01

Raman-based spectroscopy is potentially militarily useful for standoff detection of high explosives. Normal (non-resonance) and resonance Raman spectroscopies are both light scattering techniques that use a laser to measure the vibrational spectrum of a sample. In resonance Raman, the laser is tuned to match the wavelength of a strong electronic absorbance in the molecule of interest, whereas, in normal Raman the laser is not tuned to any strong electronic absorbance bands. The selection of appropriate excitation wavelengths in resonance Raman can result in a dramatic increase in the Raman scattering efficiency of select band(s) associated with the electronic transition. Other than the excitation wavelength, however, resonance Raman is performed experimentally the same as normal Raman. In these studies, normal and resonance Raman spectral signatures of select solid high explosive (HE) samples and explosive precursors were collected at 785 nm, 244 nm and 229 nm. Solutions of PETN, TNT, and explosive precursors (DNT & PNT) in acetonitrile solvent as an internal Raman standard were quantitatively evaluated using ultraviolet resonance Raman (UVRR) microscopy and normal Raman spectroscopy as a function of power and select excitation wavelengths. Use of an internal standard allowed resonance enhancements to be estimated at 229 nm and 244 nm. Investigations demonstrated that UVRR provided ~2000-fold enhancement at 244 nm and ~800-fold improvement at 229 nm while PETN showed a maximum of ~25-fold at 244 nm and ~190-fold enhancement at 229 nm solely from resonance effects when compared to normal Raman measurements. In addition to the observed resonance enhancements, additional Raman signal enhancements are obtained with ultraviolet excitation (i.e., Raman scattering scales as !4 for measurements based on scattered photons). A model, based partly on the resonance Raman enhancement results for HE solutions, is presented for estimating Raman enhancements for solid HE samples.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for detection of phenylketonuria for newborn screening

Science.gov (United States)

Javanmard, M.; Davis, R. W.

2014-02-01

Diagnosis of Phenylketonuria (PKU) in newborns is important because it can potentially help prevent mental retardation since it is treatable by dietary means. PKU results in phenylketonurics having phenylalanine levels as high as 2 mM whereas the normal upper limit in healthy newborns is 120 uM. To this end, we are developing a microfluidic platform integrated with a SERS substrate for detection of high levels of phenylalanine. We have successfully demonstrated SERS detection of phenylalanine using various SERS substrates fabricated using nanosphere lithography, which exhibit high levels of field enhancement. We show detection of SERS at clinically relevant levels.

Enhancement of sequential zymography technique for the detection of thermophilic lipases and proteases.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkesman, Jeff; Hernández, Zully; Fernández, Marleny; Contreras, Lellys M; Kurz, Liliana

2014-05-01

Analysis of lipases and proteases present in cell-free fractions of thermophilic Bacillus sp. cultures were performed in an enhanced sequential zymography method. After the PAGE run, the gel was electrotransferred to another polyacrylamide gel containing a mixture of glycerol tributyrate, olive oil and gelatin. After transference, this substrate-mix gel was incubated for lipase detection, until bands appeared, and later stained with CBB for protease detection. Assets are, besides detecting two enzymes on a single gel, time and material saving.

Detection of cavernous transformation of the portal vein by contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Misun; Thimm, Matthew A; Guerrerio, Anthony L

2018-06-01

Cavernous transformation of the portal vein can be missed on color Doppler exam or arterial phase cross-sectional imaging due to their slow flow and delayed enhancement. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) offers many advantages over other imaging techniques and can be used to successfully detect cavernous transformations of the portal vein. A 10-month-old female was followed for repeat episodes of hematemesis. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance arteriogram (MRA) and portal venography were performed. Color Doppler exam of the portal vein was performed followed by administration of Lumason, a microbubble US contrast agent. Magnetic resonance arteriogram, CTA, and color Doppler exam at the time of initial presentation was unremarkable without obvious vascular malformation within the limits of motion degraded exam. At 8-month follow-up, esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a vascular malformation in the distal esophagus which was sclerosed. At 6 month after sclerosis of the lesion, portal venography revealed occlusion of the portal vein with extensive collateralization. Color Doppler revealed subtle hyperarterialization and periportal collaterals. CEUS following color Doppler exam demonstrated extensive enhancement of periportal collaterals. Repeat color Doppler after contrast administration demonstrated extensive Doppler signal in the collateral vessels, suggestive of cavernous transformation. We describe a case of cavernous transformation of the portal vein missed on initial color Doppler, CTA and MRA, but detected with contrast-enhanced ultrasound technique.

The use of Nanotrap particles in the enhanced detection of Rift Valley fever virus nucleoprotein.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nazly Shafagati

Full Text Available Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV is a highly pathogenic arthropod-borne virus that has a detrimental effect on both livestock and human populations. While there are several diagnostic methodologies available for RVFV detection, many are not sensitive enough to diagnose early infections. Furthermore, detection may be hindered by high abundant proteins such as albumin. Previous findings have shown that Nanotrap particles can be used to significantly enhance detection of various small analytes of low abundance. We have expanded upon this repertoire to show that this simple and efficient sample preparation technology can drastically improve the detection of the RVFV nucleoprotein (NP, the most abundant and widely used viral protein for RVFV diagnostics.After screening multiple Nanotrap particle architectures, we found that one particle, NT45, was optimal for RVFV NP capture, as demonstrated by western blotting. NT45 significantly enhanced detection of the NP at levels undetectable without the technology. Importantly, we demonstrated that Nanotrap particles are capable of concentrating NP in a number of matrices, including infected cell lysates, viral supernatants, and animal sera. Specifically, NT45 enhanced detection of NP at various viral titers, multiplicity of infections, and time points. Our most dramatic results were observed in spiked serum samples, where high abundance serum proteins hindered detection of NP without Nanotrap particles. Nanotrap particles allowed for sample cleanup and subsequent detection of RVFV NP. Finally, we demonstrated that incubation of our samples with Nanotrap particles protects the NP from degradation over extended periods of time (up to 120 hours and at elevated temperatures (at 37ºC.This study demonstrates that Nanotrap particles are capable of drastically lowering the limit of detection for RVFV NP by capturing, concentrating, and preserving RVFV NP in clinically relevant matrices. These studies can be extended to

An enhanced narrow-band imaging method for the microvessel detection

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Feng; Song, Enmin; Liu, Hong; Wan, Youming; Zhu, Jun; Hung, Chih-Cheng

2018-02-01

A medical endoscope system combined with the narrow-band imaging (NBI), has been shown to be a superior diagnostic tool for early cancer detection. The NBI can reveal the morphologic changes of microvessels in the superficial cancer. In order to improve the conspicuousness of microvessel texture, we propose an enhanced NBI method to improve the conspicuousness of endoscopic images. To obtain the more conspicuous narrow-band images, we use the edge operator to extract the edge information of the narrow-band blue and green images, and give a weight to the extracted edges. Then, the weighted edges are fused with the narrow-band blue and green images. Finally, the displayed endoscopic images are reconstructed with the enhanced narrow-band images. In addition, we evaluate the performance of enhanced narrow-band images with different edge operators. Experimental results indicate that the Sobel and Canny operators achieve the best performance of all. Compared with traditional NBI method of Olympus company, our proposed method has more conspicuous texture of microvessel.

Liver metastases: Sulphur hexafluoride-enhanced ultrasonography for lesion detection: a systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cabassa, Paolo; Bipat, Shandra; Longaretti, Laura; Morone, Mario; Maroldi, Roberto

2010-01-01

This is a systematic review to evaluate the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) performed with "SonoVue" (sulphur hexafluoride) in the detection of hepatic metastases. The MEDLINE, EMBASE and COCHRANE Databases were searched, regardless of language, for relevant articles published

Image enhancement using thermal-visible fusion for human detection

Science.gov (United States)

Zaihidee, Ezrinda Mohd; Hawari Ghazali, Kamarul; Zuki Saleh, Mohd

2017-09-01

An increased interest in detecting human beings in video surveillance system has emerged in recent years. Multisensory image fusion deserves more research attention due to the capability to improve the visual interpretability of an image. This study proposed fusion techniques for human detection based on multiscale transform using grayscale visual light and infrared images. The samples for this study were taken from online dataset. Both images captured by the two sensors were decomposed into high and low frequency coefficients using Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT). Hence, the appropriate fusion rule was used to merge the coefficients and finally, the final fused image was obtained by using inverse SWT. From the qualitative and quantitative results, the proposed method is more superior than the two other methods in terms of enhancement of the target region and preservation of details information of the image.

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the ZH->vvbb channel in 5.2 fb-1 of p-pbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abazov, V.M.; /Dubna, JINR; Abbott, B.; /Oklahoma U.; Abolins, M.; /Michigan State U.; Acharya, B.S.; /Tata Inst.; Adams, M.; /Illinois U., Chicago; Adams, T.; /Florida State U.; Aguilo, E.; /Simon Fraser U. /York U., Canada; Alexeev, G.D.; /Dubna, JINR; Alkhazov, G.; /St. Petersburg, INP; Alton, A.; /Michigan State U.; Alverson, G.; /Northeastern U. /Rio de Janeiro, CBPF

2009-12-01

A search is performed for the standard model Higgs boson in 5.2 fb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV, collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The final state considered is a pair of b jets and large missing transverse energy, as expected from p{bar p} {yields} ZH {yields} {nu}{bar {nu}}b{bar b} production. The search is also sensitive to the WH {yields} {ell}{nu}b{bar b} channel when the charged lepton is not identified. For a Higgs boson mass of 115 GeV, a limit is set at the 95% C.L. on the cross section multiplied by branching fraction for (p{bar p} {yields} (Z/W)H) x (H {yields} b{bar b}) that is a factor of 3.7 larger than the standard model value, consistent with the factor of 4.6 expected.

Dual-energy CT for detection of contrast enhancement or leakage within high-density haematomas in patients with intracranial haemorrhage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Watanabe, Yoshiyuki; Tsukabe, Akio; Kunitomi, Yuki; Nishizawa, Mitsuo; Arisawa, Atsuko; Tanaka, Hisashi; Tomiyama, Noriyuki [Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Suita, Osaka (Japan); Yoshiya, Kazuhisa; Shimazu, Takeshi [Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Traumatology and Acute Critical Medicine, Osaka (Japan)

2014-04-15

Our study aimed to elucidate the diagnostic performance of dual-energy CT (DECT) in the detection of contrast enhancement in intracranial haematomas (ICrH) with early phase dual-energy computed tomography angiography (CTA) and compare the results with those obtained by delayed CT enhancement. Thirty-six patients with ICrH were retrospectively included in this study. All patients had undergone single-energy non-contrast CT and contrast-enhanced dual-source DECT. DECT images were post-processed with commercial software, followed by obtaining iodine images and virtual non-contrast images and generating combined images that created the impression of 120-kVp images. Two neuroradiologists, blinded to the patients' data, reviewed two reading sessions: session A (non-contrast CT and combined CT) and session B (non-contrast CT, combined CT, and iodine images) for detection of contrast enhancement in the haematomas. Contrast leakage or enhancement was detected in 23 (57.5 %) out of 40 haemorrhagic lesions in 36 patients on delayed CT. Three enhanced lesions were depicted only in the DECT iodine images. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of session A were 82.6, 94.1, 95.0, and 80.0 %, respectively, and those of session B were 95.7, 94.1, 95.7, and 94.1 %, respectively. DECT emphasised the iodine enhancement and facilitated the detection of contrast enhancement or leakage. (orig.)

Dual-energy CT for detection of contrast enhancement or leakage within high-density haematomas in patients with intracranial haemorrhage.

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Yoshiyuki; Tsukabe, Akio; Kunitomi, Yuki; Nishizawa, Mitsuo; Arisawa, Atsuko; Tanaka, Hisashi; Yoshiya, Kazuhisa; Shimazu, Takeshi; Tomiyama, Noriyuki

2014-04-01

Our study aimed to elucidate the diagnostic performance of dual-energy CT (DECT) in the detection of contrast enhancement in intracranial haematomas (ICrH) with early phase dual-energy computed tomography angiography (CTA) and compare the results with those obtained by delayed CT enhancement. Thirty-six patients with ICrH were retrospectively included in this study. All patients had undergone single-energy non-contrast CT and contrast-enhanced dual-source DECT. DECT images were post-processed with commercial software, followed by obtaining iodine images and virtual non-contrast images and generating combined images that created the impression of 120-kVp images. Two neuroradiologists, blinded to the patients' data, reviewed two reading sessions: session A (non-contrast CT and combined CT) and session B (non-contrast CT, combined CT, and iodine images) for detection of contrast enhancement in the haematomas. Contrast leakage or enhancement was detected in 23 (57.5 %) out of 40 haemorrhagic lesions in 36 patients on delayed CT. Three enhanced lesions were depicted only in the DECT iodine images. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of session A were 82.6, 94.1, 95.0, and 80.0 %, respectively, and those of session B were 95.7, 94.1, 95.7, and 94.1 %, respectively. DECT emphasised the iodine enhancement and facilitated the detection of contrast enhancement or leakage.

Dual-energy CT for detection of contrast enhancement or leakage within high-density haematomas in patients with intracranial haemorrhage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Yoshiyuki; Tsukabe, Akio; Kunitomi, Yuki; Nishizawa, Mitsuo; Arisawa, Atsuko; Tanaka, Hisashi; Tomiyama, Noriyuki; Yoshiya, Kazuhisa; Shimazu, Takeshi

2014-01-01

Our study aimed to elucidate the diagnostic performance of dual-energy CT (DECT) in the detection of contrast enhancement in intracranial haematomas (ICrH) with early phase dual-energy computed tomography angiography (CTA) and compare the results with those obtained by delayed CT enhancement. Thirty-six patients with ICrH were retrospectively included in this study. All patients had undergone single-energy non-contrast CT and contrast-enhanced dual-source DECT. DECT images were post-processed with commercial software, followed by obtaining iodine images and virtual non-contrast images and generating combined images that created the impression of 120-kVp images. Two neuroradiologists, blinded to the patients' data, reviewed two reading sessions: session A (non-contrast CT and combined CT) and session B (non-contrast CT, combined CT, and iodine images) for detection of contrast enhancement in the haematomas. Contrast leakage or enhancement was detected in 23 (57.5 %) out of 40 haemorrhagic lesions in 36 patients on delayed CT. Three enhanced lesions were depicted only in the DECT iodine images. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of session A were 82.6, 94.1, 95.0, and 80.0 %, respectively, and those of session B were 95.7, 94.1, 95.7, and 94.1 %, respectively. DECT emphasised the iodine enhancement and facilitated the detection of contrast enhancement or leakage. (orig.)

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for uranium detection and analysis in environmental samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruan Chuanmin; Luo Wensui; Wang Wei; Gu Baohua

2007-01-01

Techniques for rapid screening of uranium in environmental samples are needed, and this study entails the development of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for analyzing uranium in aqueous media with improved sensitivity and reproducibility. A new SERS substrate based on (aminomethyl)phosphonic acid (APA)-modified gold nanoparticles was found to give greater than three orders of magnitude SERS enhancement compared with unmodified bare gold nanoparticles. Intensities of uranyl band at about 830 cm -1 were proportional to the concentrations of uranium in solution, especially at relatively low concentrations ( -5 M). A detection limit of ∼8 x 10 -7 M was achieved with a good reproducibility since the measurement was performed directly in dispersed aqueous suspension. Without pretreatment, the technique was successfully employed for detecting uranium in a highly contaminated groundwater with a low pH, high dissolved salts (e.g., nitrate, sulfate, calcium and aluminum) and total organic carbon

Cross-modal enhancement of speech detection in young and older adults: does signal content matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Tye-Murray, Nancy; Spehar, Brent; Myerson, Joel; Sommers, Mitchell S; Hale, Sandra

2011-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of age and visual content on cross-modal enhancement of auditory speech detection. Visual content consisted of three clearly distinct types of visual information: an unaltered video clip of a talker's face, a low-contrast version of the same clip, and a mouth-like Lissajous figure. It was hypothesized that both young and older adults would exhibit reduced enhancement as visual content diverged from the original clip of the talker's face, but that the decrease would be greater for older participants. Nineteen young adults and 19 older adults were asked to detect a single spoken syllable (/ba/) in speech-shaped noise, and the level of the signal was adaptively varied to establish the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at threshold. There was an auditory-only baseline condition and three audiovisual conditions in which the syllable was accompanied by one of the three visual signals (the unaltered clip of the talker's face, the low-contrast version of that clip, or the Lissajous figure). For each audiovisual condition, the SNR at threshold was compared with the SNR at threshold for the auditory-only condition to measure the amount of cross-modal enhancement. Young adults exhibited significant cross-modal enhancement with all three types of visual stimuli, with the greatest amount of enhancement observed for the unaltered clip of the talker's face. Older adults, in contrast, exhibited significant cross-modal enhancement only with the unaltered face. Results of this study suggest that visual signal content affects cross-modal enhancement of speech detection in both young and older adults. They also support a hypothesized age-related deficit in processing low-contrast visual speech stimuli, even in older adults with normal contrast sensitivity.

Enhanced plasma wave detection of terahertz radiation using multiple high electron-mobility transistors connected in series

KAUST Repository

Elkhatib, Tamer A.; Kachorovskiǐ, Valentin Yu; Stillman, William J.; Veksler, Dmitry B.; Salama, Khaled N.; Zhang, Xicheng; Shur, Michael S.

2010-01-01

We report on enhanced room-temperature detection of terahertz radiation by several connected field-effect transistors. For this enhanced nonresonant detection, we have designed, fabricated, and tested plasmonic structures consisting of multiple InGaAs/GaAs pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistors connected in series. Results show a 1.63-THz response that is directly proportional to the number of detecting transistors biased by a direct drain current at the same gate-to-source bias voltages. The responsivity in the saturation regime was found to be 170 V/W with the noise equivalent power in the range of 10-7 W/Hz0.5. The experimental data are in agreement with the detection mechanism based on the rectification of overdamped plasma waves excited by terahertz radiation in the transistor channel. © 2010 IEEE.

Enhanced plasma wave detection of terahertz radiation using multiple high electron-mobility transistors connected in series

KAUST Repository

Elkhatib, Tamer A.

2010-02-01

We report on enhanced room-temperature detection of terahertz radiation by several connected field-effect transistors. For this enhanced nonresonant detection, we have designed, fabricated, and tested plasmonic structures consisting of multiple InGaAs/GaAs pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistors connected in series. Results show a 1.63-THz response that is directly proportional to the number of detecting transistors biased by a direct drain current at the same gate-to-source bias voltages. The responsivity in the saturation regime was found to be 170 V/W with the noise equivalent power in the range of 10-7 W/Hz0.5. The experimental data are in agreement with the detection mechanism based on the rectification of overdamped plasma waves excited by terahertz radiation in the transistor channel. © 2010 IEEE.

Plasmonically enhanced thermomechanical detection of infrared radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Fei; Zhu, Hai; Reed, Jason C; Cubukcu, Ertugrul

2013-04-10

Nanoplasmonics has been an attractive area of research due to its ability to localize and manipulate freely propagating radiation on the nanometer scale for strong light-matter interactions. Meanwhile, nanomechanics has set records in the sensing of mass, force, and displacement. In this work, we report efficient coupling between infrared radiation and nanomechanical resonators through nanoantenna enhanced thermoplasmonic effects. Using efficient conversion of electromagnetic energy to mechanical energy in this plasmo-thermomechanical platform with a nanoslot plasmonic absorber integrated directly on a nanobeam mechanical resonator, we demonstrate room-temperature detection of nanowatt level power fluctuations in infrared radiation. We expect our approach, which combines nanoplasmonics with nanomechanical resonators, to lead to optically controlled nanomechanical systems enabling unprecedented functionality in biomolecular and toxic gas sensing and on-chip mass spectroscopy.

Carbon Nanotube-based microelectrodes for enhanced detection of neurotransmitters

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Christopher B.

Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) is one of the common techniques used for rapid measurement of neurotransmitters in vivo. Carbon-fiber microelectrodes (CFMEs) are typically used for neurotransmitter detection because of sub-second measurement capabilities, ability to measure changes in neurotransmitter concentration during neurotransmission, and the small size electrode diameter, which limits the amount of damage caused to tissue. Cylinder CFMEs, typically 50 -- 100 microm long, are commonly used for in vivo experiments because the electrode sensitivity is directly related to the electrode surface area. However the length of the electrode can limit the spatial resolution of neurotransmitter detection, which can restrict experiments in Drosophila and other small model systems. In addition, the electrode sensitivity toward dopamine and serotonin detection drops significantly for measurements at rates faster than 10 Hz, limiting the temporal resolution of CFMEs. While the use of FSCV at carbon-fiber microelectrodes has led to substantial strides in our understanding of neurotransmission, techniques that expand the capabilities of CFMEs are crucial to fully maximize the potential uses of FSCV. This dissertation introduces new methods to integrate carbon nanotubes (CNT) into microelectrodes and discusses the electrochemical enhancements of these CNT-microelectrodes. The electrodes are specifically designed with simple fabrication procedures so that highly specialized equipment is not necessary, and they utilize commercially available materials so that the electrodes could be easily integrated into existing systems. The electrochemical properties of CNT modified CFMEs are characterized using FSCV and the effect of CNT functionalization on these properties is explored in Chapter 2. For example, CFME modification using carboxylic acid functionalized CNTs yield about a 6-fold increase in dopamine oxidation current, but modification with octadecylamine CNTs results in a

Detection of skeletal muscle metastasis: torso FDG PET-CT versus contrast-enhanced chest or abdomen CT.

Science.gov (United States)

So, Young; Yi, Jeong Geun; Song, Inyoung; Lee, Won Woo; Chung, Hyun Woo; Park, Jeong Hee; Moon, Sung Gyu

2015-07-01

Skeletal muscle metastasis (SMM) in cancer patients has not been sufficiently evaluated regarding prevalence and proper method of detection. To determine the prevalence of SMM and compare the diagnostic competencies for SMM of torso F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) and contrast-enhanced chest or abdomen CT. We investigated 18,225 PET-CT studies of 6359 cancer patients performed from 2005 to 2012. The PET-CT studies describing potential SMM were retrieved and the corresponding medical records were reviewed. The gold standard for SMM was histopathologically-proven SMM or imaging study-based disease progression. The detectability of SMM was compared between PET-CT and contrast-enhanced CT. Twenty-six patients had 84 SMM lesions, representing a SMM prevalence of 0.41%. Lung cancer was the most common SMM-associated malignancy (54%) and the gluteal/pelvic girdle muscle was the most frequently involved SMM site (37%). All 84 SMM lesions were visualized on PET-CT (100%). Of these PET-CT positive 84 SMM lesions, 51 lesions were in the CT field of view (FOV) (61%), whereas 33 lesions were out of the CT FOV (39%). Among these 51 lesions, 17 lesions showed rim-enhancing nodules/masses (33%), eight lesions showed homogeneously enhancing nodules (16%), three lesions showed heterogeneously enhancing nodules (6%), and 23 SMM lesions (45%) were non-diagnostic by CT. All 51 SMM lesions within CT FOV were detected on PET-CT (100%), whereas only 28 were visualized on CT (54.9%), resulting in a significant difference (P SMM was revealed by PET-CT. The prevalence of SMM was as low as 0.41% in the current large cohort of cancer patients. Torso PET-CT was a more competent modality than contrast-enhanced CT in the detection of SMM. © The Foundation Acta Radiologica 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Uranium Detection and Analysis in Environmental Samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruan, Chuanmin; Luo, Wensui; Wang, Wei; Gu, Baohua

2007-01-01

Techniques for rapid screening of uranium in environmental samples are needed, and this study entails the development of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for analyzing uranium in aqueous media with improved sensitivity and reproducibility. A new SERS substrate based on (aminomethyl)phosphonic acid (APA)-modified gold nanoparticles was found to give greater than three orders of magnitude SERS enhancement compared with unmodified bare gold nanoparticles. Intensities of uranyl band at about 830 cm-1 were proportional to the concentrations of uranium in solution, especially at relatively low concentrations (<10-5 M). A detection limit of ∼8 e10-7 M was achieved with a good reproducibility since the measurement was performed directly in dispersed aqueous suspension. Without pretreatment, the technique was successfully employed for the detection of uranium in a highly contaminated groundwater with a low pH, high dissolved salts (e.g., nitrate, sulfate, calcium and aluminum) and total organic carbon

Smart detection of microRNAs through fluorescence enhancement on a photonic crystal.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasquardini, L; Potrich, C; Vaghi, V; Lunelli, L; Frascella, F; Descrovi, E; Pirri, C F; Pederzolli, C

2016-04-01

The detection of low abundant biomarkers, such as circulating microRNAs, demands innovative detection methods with increased resolution, sensitivity and specificity. Here, a biofunctional surface was implemented for the selective capture of microRNAs, which were detected through fluorescence enhancement directly on a photonic crystal. To set up the optimal biofunctional surface, epoxy-coated commercially available microscope slides were spotted with specific anti-microRNA probes. The optimal concentration of probe as well as of passivating agent were selected and employed for titrating the microRNA hybridization. Cross-hybridization of different microRNAs was also tested, resulting negligible. Once optimized, the protocol was adapted to the photonic crystal surface, where fluorescent synthetic miR-16 was hybridized and imaged with a dedicated equipment. The photonic crystal consists of a dielectric multilayer patterned with a grating structure. In this way, it is possible to take advantage from both a resonant excitation of fluorophores and an angularly redirection of the emitted radiation. As a result, a significant fluorescence enhancement due to the resonant structure is collected from the patterned photonic crystal with respect to the outer non-structured surface. The dedicated read-out system is compact and based on a wide-field imaging detection, with little or no optical alignment issues, which makes this approach particularly interesting for further development such as for example in microarray-type bioassays. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel ship CFAR detection algorithm based on adaptive parameter enhancement and wake-aided detection in SAR images

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Siqi; Ren, Kan; Lu, Dongming; Gu, Guohua; Chen, Qian; Lu, Guojun

2018-03-01

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an indispensable and useful method for marine monitoring. With the increase of SAR sensors, high resolution images can be acquired and contain more target structure information, such as more spatial details etc. This paper presents a novel adaptive parameter transform (APT) domain constant false alarm rate (CFAR) to highlight targets. The whole method is based on the APT domain value. Firstly, the image is mapped to the new transform domain by the algorithm. Secondly, the false candidate target pixels are screened out by the CFAR detector to highlight the target ships. Thirdly, the ship pixels are replaced by the homogeneous sea pixels. And then, the enhanced image is processed by Niblack algorithm to obtain the wake binary image. Finally, normalized Hough transform (NHT) is used to detect wakes in the binary image, as a verification of the presence of the ships. Experiments on real SAR images validate that the proposed transform does enhance the target structure and improve the contrast of the image. The algorithm has a good performance in the ship and ship wake detection.

The detection of climate change due to the enhanced greenhouse effect

Science.gov (United States)

Schiffer, Robert A.; Unninayar, Sushel

1991-01-01

The greenhouse effect is accepted as an undisputed fact from both theoretical and observational considerations. In Earth's atmosphere, the primary greenhouse gas is water vapor. The specific concern today is that increasing concentrations of anthropogenically introduced greenhouse gases will, sooner or later, irreversibly alter the climate of Earth. Detecting climate change has been complicated by uncertainties in historical observations and measurements. Thus, the primary concern for the GEDEX project is how can climate change and enhanced greenhouse effects be unambiguously detected and quantified. Specifically examined are the areas of: Earth surface temperature; the free atmosphere (850 millibars and above); space-based measurements; measurement uncertainties; and modeling the observed temperature record.

The detection of climate change due to the enhanced greenhouse effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schiffer, R.A.; Unninayar, S.

1991-01-01

The greenhouse effect is accepted as an undisputed fact from both theoretical and observational considerations. In Earth's atmosphere, the primary greenhouse gas is water vapor. The specific concern today is that increasing concentrations of anthropogenically introduced greenhouse gases will, sooner or later, irreversibly alter the climate of Earth. Detecting climate change has been complicated by uncertainties in historical observations and measurements. Thus, the primary concern for the GEDEX project is how can climate change and enhanced greenhouse effects be unambiguously detected and quantified. Specifically examined are the areas of: Earth surface temperature; the free atmosphere (850 millibars and above); space-based measurements; measurement uncertainties; and modeling the observed temperature record

The use of contrast-enhanced post Mortem CT in the detection of cardiovascular deaths.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonas Christoph Apitzsch

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the diagnostic value of contrast enhanced post mortem computed tomography (PMCT in comparison to non-enhanced post mortem CT in the detection of cardiovascular causes of death (COD. BACKGROUND: As autopsy rates decline, new methods to determine CODs are necessary. So contrast enhanced PMCT shall be evaluated in comparison to established non-enhanced PMCT in order to further improve the method. METHODS: In a prospective study, 20 corpses were examined using a 64-row multisclice CT (MSCT before and after intraarterial perfusion with a newly developed, barium-bearing contrast agent and ventilation of the lungs. The cause of death was determined in enhanced and unenhanced scans and a level of confidence (LOC was given by three experienced radiologists on a scale between 0 and 4. Results were compared to autopsy results as gold standard. Autopsy was performed blinded to PMCT-findings. RESULTS: The method allowed visualization of different types of cause of death. There was a significant improvement in LOC in enhanced scans compared to unenhanced scans as well as an improvement in the detection of COD. The cause of death could be determined in 19 out of 20 patients. CONCLUSIONS: PMCT is feasible and appears to be robust for diagnosing cardiovascular causes of death. When compared with unenhanced post-mortem CT intraarterial perfusion and pulmonary ventilation significantly improve visualization and diagnostic accuracy. These promising results warrant further studies.

Detection of Surface-Linked Polychlorinated Biphenyls using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Spectroscopy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rindzevicius, Tomas; Barten, Jan; Vorobiev, Mikhail

2017-01-01

We present an improved procedure for analytical detection of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. A gold-capped silicon nanopillar substrate was utilized to concentrate PCB molecules within an area of high electromagnetic fields through...... formation of microsized nanopillar clusters, and consequently, so-called “hot spots” can be formed. In order to improve PCB detection limit, 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB77) compounds were chemically modified with a – SCH3 (PCB77-SCH3) group. Experimental and numerical analysis of vibrational modes...

Effect of Multi-condition Training and Speech Enhancement Methods on Spoofing Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yu, Hong; Sarkar, Achintya Kumar; Thomsen, Dennis Alexander Lehmann

2016-01-01

enhancement methods on a state of-the-art spoofing detection system based on the dynamic linear frequency cepstral coefficients (LFCC) feature and a Gaussian mixture model maximum-likelihood (GMM-ML) classifier. In the experiment part we consider three additive noise types, Cantine, Babble and white Gaussian......Many researchers have demonstrated the good performance of spoofing detection systems under clean training and testing conditions. However, it is well known that the performance of speaker and speech recognition systems significantly degrades in noisy conditions. Therefore, it is of great interest...... to investigate the effect of noise on the performance of spoofing detection systems. In this paper, we investigate a multi-conditional training method where spoofing detection models are trained with a mix of clean and noisy data. In addition, we study the effect of different noise types as well as speech...

A Dynamic Enhancement With Background Reduction Algorithm: Overview and Application to Satellite-Based Dust Storm Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Steven D.; Bankert, Richard L.; Solbrig, Jeremy E.; Forsythe, John M.; Noh, Yoo-Jeong; Grasso, Lewis D.

2017-12-01

This paper describes a Dynamic Enhancement Background Reduction Algorithm (DEBRA) applicable to multispectral satellite imaging radiometers. DEBRA uses ancillary information about the clear-sky background to reduce false detections of atmospheric parameters in complex scenes. Applied here to the detection of lofted dust, DEBRA enlists a surface emissivity database coupled with a climatological database of surface temperature to approximate the clear-sky equivalent signal for selected infrared-based multispectral dust detection tests. This background allows for suppression of false alarms caused by land surface features while retaining some ability to detect dust above those problematic surfaces. The algorithm is applicable to both day and nighttime observations and enables weighted combinations of dust detection tests. The results are provided quantitatively, as a detection confidence factor [0, 1], but are also readily visualized as enhanced imagery. Utilizing the DEBRA confidence factor as a scaling factor in false color red/green/blue imagery enables depiction of the targeted parameter in the context of the local meteorology and topography. In this way, the method holds utility to both automated clients and human analysts alike. Examples of DEBRA performance from notable dust storms and comparisons against other detection methods and independent observations are presented.

Nanodiamond-Manganese dual mode MRI contrast agents for enhanced liver tumor detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Weixin; Toh, Tan Boon; Abdullah, Lissa Nurrul; Yvonne, Tay Wei Zheng; Lee, Kuan J; Guenther, Ilonka; Chow, Edward Kai-Hua

2017-04-01

Contrast agent-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is critical for the diagnosis and monitoring of a number of diseases, including cancer. Certain clinical applications, including the detection of liver tumors, rely on both T1 and T2-weighted images even though contrast agent-enhanced MR imaging is not always reliable. Thus, there is a need for improved dual mode contrast agents with enhanced sensitivity. We report the development of a nanodiamond-manganese dual mode contrast agent that enhanced both T1 and T2-weighted MR imaging. Conjugation of manganese to nanodiamonds resulted in improved longitudinal and transverse relaxivity efficacy over unmodified MnCl 2 as well as clinical contrast agents. Following intravenous administration, nanodiamond-manganese complexes outperformed current clinical contrast agents in an orthotopic liver cancer mouse model while also reducing blood serum concentration of toxic free Mn 2+ ions. Thus, nanodiamond-manganese complexes may serve as more effective dual mode MRI contrast agent, particularly in cancer. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of neuroendocrine tumor detection and characterization using DOTATOC-PET in correlation with contrast enhanced CT and delayed contrast enhanced MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giesel, F.L.; Kratochwil, C.; Mehndiratta, A.; Wulfert, S.; Moltz, J.H.; Zechmann, C.M.; Kauczor, H.U.; Haberkorn, U.; Ley, S.

2012-01-01

Purpose: We evaluated the rate of successful characterization of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) present with an increased somatostatin receptor, comparing CE-CT with CE-MRI, each in correlation with DOTATOC-PET. Methods and materials: 8 patients with GEP-NET were imaged using CE-MRI (Gd-EOB-DTPA), CE-CT (Imeron 400) and DOTATOC-PET. Contrast-enhancement of normal liver-tissue and metastasis was quantified with ROI-technique. Tumor delineation was assessed with visual-score in blind-read-analysis by two experienced radiologists. Results: Out of 40 liver metastases in patients with NETs, all were detected by CE-MRI and the lesion extent could be adequately assessed, whereas CT failed to detect 20% of all metastases. The blind-read-score of CT in arterial and portal phase was median −0.65 and −1.4, respectively, and 2.7 for delayed-MRI. The quantitative ROI-analysis presented an improved contrast-enhancement-ratio with a median of 1.2, 1.6 and 3.3 for CE-CT arterial, portal-phase and delayed-MRI respectively. Conclusion: Late CE-MRI was superior to CE-CT in providing additionally morphologic characterization and exact lesion extension of hepatic metastases from neuroendocrine tumor detected with DOTATOC-PET. Therefore, late enhanced Gd-EOB-DTPA-MRI seems to be the adequate imaging modality for combination with DOTATOC-PET to provide complementary (macroscopic and molecular) tumor characterization in hepatic metastasized NETs

Enhancement of crack detection in stud bolts of nuclear reactor by ultrasonic technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Joon-Hyun; Choi, Sang-Woo; Oh, Won-Deok

2004-01-01

The stud bolt is one of crucial parts for safety of reactor vessels in nuclear power plants. Crack initiation and propagation were reported in stud bolts using closure of reactor vessel and head. Stud bolts are inspected by ultrasonic technique during overhaul periodically for the prevention of stud bolt failure and radioactive leakage from nuclear reactor. In conventional ultrasonic testing for inspection of stud bolts, crack was detected by using shadow effect. It takes too much time to inspect stud bolt by using conventional ultrasonic technique. In addition, there were numerous spurious signals reflected from every oblique surfaces of thread. In this study, the signal processing technique for enhancing conventional ultrasonic technique and the advanced ultrasonic phased array technique were introduced for inspect stud bolts. The signal processing technique provides removing spurious signal reflected from every oblique surfaces of thread and enhances detectability of defects. The phased array technique provides fast inspection and can be applied for structure of complex shape. There are sector scanning and linear scanning methods in phased array technique, and these scanning methods were applied to inspect stud bolt and detectability was investigated. (author)

The value and limitations of contrast-enhanced transrectal ultrasonography for the detection of prostate cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Han-Xue, E-mail: zhaohx861@163.com [Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Dong-Jiao-Min-Xiang, Dong Cheng District, Beijing 100730 (China); Xia, Chun-Xia, E-mail: star9901482@163.com [Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Dong-Jiao-Min-Xiang, Dong Cheng District, Beijing 100730 (China); Yin, Hong-Xia, E-mail: hongxia_yin79@yahoo.com.cn [Department of Radiology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Dong-Jiao-Min-Xiang, Dong Cheng District, Beijing 100730 (China); Guo, Ning, E-mail: ningguo99@sina.com.cn [Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Dong-Jiao-Min-Xiang, Dong Cheng District, Beijing 100730 (China); Zhu, Qiang, E-mail: qzhutrhos@gmail.com [Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Dong-Jiao-Min-Xiang, Dong Cheng District, Beijing 100730 (China)

2013-11-01

Objectives: To evaluate the role of contrast-enhanced transrectal ultrasonography (CE-TRUS) for detecting prostate carcinoma. Methods: Sixty-five patients with elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and/or abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE) were assessed using transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and CE-TRUS. In all the patients, CE-TRUS was performed with intravenous injection of contrast agent (SonoVue, 2.4 ml) before biopsy. The cancer detection rates of the two techniques were compared. False-positive and false-negative findings related to CE-TRUS were analyzed in comparison to the pathological results of biopsy or radical prostatectomy. The targeted biopsy to abnormal CE-TRUS areas was also compared to systematic biopsy. Results: Prostate cancer was detected in 29 of the 65 patients. CE-TRUS showed rapid focal enhancement or asymmetric vessels of peripheral zones in 28 patients; 23 of them had prostate cancer. CE-TRUS had 79.3% sensitivity, compared to 65.5% of TRUS (P < 0.05). There were five false-positive and six false-negative findings from CE-TRUS. Benign prostate hyperplasia, and acute and chronic prostatitis were important causes related to the false-positive results of CE-TRUS. Prostate cancer originating from the transition zone or peripheral zone with lower PSA levels, small-size foci, and moderately or well-differentiated tumor was missed by CE-TRUS. The cancer detection rate of targeted biopsy (75%, 33/44 cores) was significantly higher than one of systematic biopsy (48.2%, 162/336) in those 28 cases (P < 0.05). In addition, no significant correlation was found between the cancer detection rate with CE-TRUS and serum PSA levels. Conclusion: CE-TRUS may improve the detection rate of prostate cancer through targeted biopsy of contrast-enhanced abnormalities. Our findings indicate that systematic biopsies should not be eliminated on the basis of false-positive and false-negative findings related to CE-TRUS.

Using a silver-enhanced microarray sandwich structure to improve SERS sensitivity for protein detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Xuefang; Yan, Yuerong; Jiang, Guoqing; Adkins, Jason; Shi, Jian; Jiang, Guomin; Tian, Shu

2014-03-01

A simple and sensitive method, based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), for immunoassay and label-free protein detection is reported. A series of bowl-shaped silver cavity arrays were fabricated by electrodeposition using a self-assembled polystyrene spheres template. The reflection spectra of these cavity arrays were recorded as a function of film thickness, and then correlated with SERS enhancement using sodium thiophenolate as the probe molecule. The results reveal that SERS enhancement can be maximized when the frequency of both the incident laser and the Raman scattering approach the frequency of the localized surface plasmon resonance. The optimized array was then used as the bottom layer of a silver nanoparticle-protein-bowl-shaped silver cavity array sandwich. The second layer of silver was introduced by the interactions between the proteins in the middle layer of the sandwich architecture and silver nanoparticles. Human IgG bound to the surface of this microcavity array can retain its recognition function. With the Raman reporter molecules labeled on the antibody, a detection limit down to 0.1 ng mL(-1) for human IgG is easily achieved. Furthermore, the SERS spectra of label-free proteins (catalase, cytochrome C, avidin and lysozyme) from the assembled sandwich have excellent reproducibility and high quality. The results reveal that the proposed approach has potential for use in qualitative and quantitative detection of biomolecules.

A baseband circuit for wake-up receivers with double-mode detection and enhanced sensitivity robustness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Wenrui; Yang Haigang; Gao Tongqiang; Liu Fei; Cheng Xiaoyan; Zhang Dandan

2013-01-01

This paper proposes a baseband circuit for wake-up receivers with double-mode detection and enhanced sensitivity robustness for use in the electronic toll collection system. A double-mode detection method, including amplitude detection and frequency detection, is proposed to reject interference and reduce false wake-ups. An improved closed-loop band-pass filter and a DC offset cancellation technique are also newly introduced to enhance the sensitivity robustness. The circuit is fabricated in TSMC 0.18 μm 3.3 V CMOS technology with an area of 0.12 mm 2 . Measurement results show that the sensitivity is −54.5 dBm with only a ±0.95 dBm variation from the 1.8 to 3.3 V power supply, and that the temperature variation of the sensitivity is ±1.4 dBm from −50 to 100°C. The current consumption is 1.4 to 1.7 μA under a 1.8 to 3.3 V power supply. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Diagnostic value of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR cholangiography in non-invasive detection of postoperative bile leakage.

Science.gov (United States)

Kul, Melahat; Erden, Ayşe; Düşünceli Atman, Ebru

2017-04-01

To assess the diagnostic value of dynamic T 1 weighted (T1w) gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced MR cholangiography (MRC) for the detection of active bile leaks. A total of 28 patients with suspected biliary leakage who underwent routine T 2 weighted (T2w) MRC and T1w GD-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC at our institution from February 2013 to June 2016 were included in this study. The image sets were retrospectively analyzed in consensus by three radiologists. T1w Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC findings were correlated with clinical data, follow-up examinations and findings of invasive/surgical procedures. Patients with positive bile leak findings in Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC were divided into hepatobiliary phase (HBP) (20-30 min) and delayed phase (DP) (60-390 min) group according to elapsed time between Gd-EOB-DTPA injection and initial bile leak findings in MRC images. These groups were compared in terms of laboratory test results (total bilirubin, liver enzymes) and the presence of bile duct dilatation in T2w MRC images. In each patient, visualization of bile ducts was sufficient in the HBP. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of dynamic Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1w MRC in the detection of biliary leaks were 92.9%, 90.5% and 100%, respectively (p  0.05). Three patients, each of them in DP group, showed normal laboratory test results and bile duct diameters. Dynamic T1w Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRC is a useful non-invasive diagnostic tool to detect bile leak. Advances in knowledge: Prolonged DP imaging may be required for bile leak detection even if visualization of biliary tree is sufficient in HBP and liver function tests, total bilirubin levels and bile duct diameters are normal.

Does the degree of background enhancement in breast MRI affect the detection and staging of breast cancer?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uematsu, Takayoshi; Kasami, Masako; Watanabe, Junichiro

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of background enhancement on the detection and staging of breast cancer using MRI as an adjunct to mammography or ultrasound. One hundred forty-six bilateral breast MRI examinations were evaluated to assess the extent of a known primary tumour and to problem solve after mammography or ultrasound without adjusting for the phase in the patients' menstrual cycle. The background enhancement was classified into four categories by visual evaluation: minimal, mild, moderate and marked. In total, 131 histologically confirmed abnormal cases (104 malignant and 27 benign) and 15 normal cases were included in the analysis. There was no tumour size-related bias between the groups (p = 0.522). For the primary index tumour, the sensitivities of MRI with minimal/mild and moderate/marked background enhancement were 100% and 76% (p = 0.001), respectively. Thus, the degree of background enhancement did not affect the specificity. For evaluating tumour extent (n = 104), the accuracy of MRI with moderate/marked background enhancement (52%) was significantly lower than that with minimal/mild background enhancement (84%; p = 0.002). The degree of background enhancement affected the detection and staging of breast cancer using MRI. (orig.)

Enhancing collaborative intrusion detection networks against insider attacks using supervised intrusion sensitivity-based trust management model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Wenjuan; Meng, Weizhi; Kwok, Lam-For

2017-01-01

To defend against complex attacks, collaborative intrusion detection networks (CIDNs) have been developed to enhance the detection accuracy, which enable an IDS to collect information and learn experience from others. However, this kind of networks is vulnerable to malicious nodes which are utili......To defend against complex attacks, collaborative intrusion detection networks (CIDNs) have been developed to enhance the detection accuracy, which enable an IDS to collect information and learn experience from others. However, this kind of networks is vulnerable to malicious nodes which...... are utilized by insider attacks (e.g., betrayal attacks). In our previous research, we developed a notion of intrusion sensitivity and identified that it can help improve the detection of insider attacks, whereas it is still a challenge for these nodes to automatically assign the values. In this article, we...... of intrusion sensitivity based on expert knowledge. In the evaluation, we compare the performance of three different supervised classifiers in assigning sensitivity values and investigate our trust model under different attack scenarios and in a real wireless sensor network. Experimental results indicate...

Proton detection for signal enhancement in solid-state NMR experiments on mobile species in membrane proteins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, Meaghan E.; Ritz, Emily [University of Guelph, Department of Physics (Canada); Ahmed, Mumdooh A. M. [Suez University, The Department of Physics, Faculty of Science (Egypt); Bamm, Vladimir V.; Harauz, George [University of Guelph, Biophysics Interdepartmental Group (Canada); Brown, Leonid S.; Ladizhansky, Vladimir, E-mail: vladizha@uoguelph.ca [University of Guelph, Department of Physics (Canada)

2015-12-15

Direct proton detection is becoming an increasingly popular method for enhancing sensitivity in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Generally, these experiments require extensive deuteration of the protein, fast magic angle spinning (MAS), or a combination of both. Here, we implement direct proton detection to selectively observe the mobile entities in fully-protonated membrane proteins at moderate MAS frequencies. We demonstrate this method on two proteins that exhibit different motional regimes. Myelin basic protein is an intrinsically-disordered, peripherally membrane-associated protein that is highly flexible, whereas Anabaena sensory rhodopsin is composed of seven rigid transmembrane α-helices connected by mobile loop regions. In both cases, we observe narrow proton linewidths and, on average, a 10× increase in sensitivity in 2D insensitive nuclear enhancement of polarization transfer-based HSQC experiments when proton detection is compared to carbon detection. We further show that our proton-detected experiments can be easily extended to three dimensions and used to build complete amino acid systems, including sidechain protons, and obtain inter-residue correlations. Additionally, we detect signals which do not correspond to amino acids, but rather to lipids and/or carbohydrates which interact strongly with membrane proteins.

Enhanced UV light detection using wavelength-shifting properties of Silicon nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magill, S.; Xie, J.; Nayfeh, M.; Fizari, M.; Malloy, J.; Maximenko, Y.; Yu, H.

2015-01-01

Detection of UV photons is becoming increasingly necessary with the use of noble gases and liquids in elementary particle experiments. Cerenkov light in crystals and glasses, scintillation light in neutrino, dark matter, and rare decay experiments all require sensitivity to UV photons. New sensor materials are needed that can directly detect UV photons and/or absorb UV photons and re-emit light in the visible range measurable by existing photosensors. It has been shown that silicon nanoparticles are sensitive to UV light in a wavelength range around ∼ 200 nm. UV light is absorbed and re-emitted at wavelengths in the visible range depending on the size of the nanoparticles. Initial tests of the wavelength-shifting properties of silicon nanoparticles are presented here that indicate by placing a film of nanoparticles in front of a standard visible-wavelength detecting photosensor, the response of the sensor is significantly enhanced at wavelengths < 320 nm

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering based nonfluorescent probe for multiplex DNA detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Lan; Yu, Chenxu; Irudayaraj, Joseph

2007-06-01

To provide rapid and accurate detection of DNA markers in a straightforward, inexpensive, and multiplex format, an alternative surface-enhanced Raman scattering based probe was designed and fabricated to covalently attach both DNA probing sequence and nonfluorescent Raman tags to the surface of gold nanoparticles (DNA-AuP-RTag). The intensity of Raman signal of the probes could be controlled through the surface coverage of the nonfluorescent Raman tags (RTags). Detection sensitivity of these probes could be optimized by fine-tuning the amount of DNA molecules and RTags on the probes. Long-term stability of the DNA-AuP-RTag probes was found to be good (over 3 months). Excellent multiplexing capability of the DNA-AuP-RTag scheme was demonstrated by simultaneous identification of up to eight probes in a mixture. Detection of hybridization of single-stranded DNA to its complementary targets was successfully accomplished with a long-term goal to use nonfluorescent RTags in a Raman-based DNA microarray platform.

Detection of acute avascular necrosis with dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nadel, S.N.; Richardson, W.J.; Martinez, S.; Rizk, W.S.; Malizos, K.; Debatin, J.F.

1991-01-01

Early detection of avascular necrosis (AVN) may allow earlier intervention and lead to improved treatment success. This paper is designed to compare standard and dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging in the detection of acute AVN. A previously described animal model of AVN was used. Five anesthetized dogs underwent right femoral head devascularization, including placement of a supercooling coil around the femoral neck. Within 3 hours the dogs were imaged in a 1.5-T Signa magnet. Standard T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and STIR images were obtained through both hips. A DiGrass sequence with 30 sequential 3.2-second T1-weighted images was used, and 0.2 mmol/kg gadoteridol was injected intravenously at the start of the sequence at 2 mL/sec with an automated injector. Following imaging, oxytetracycline was given intravenously. After 3 days the dogs were killed, and their femoral heads were extracted, coronally sectioned, and analyzed for fluorescence. T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and STIR sequences showed no marrow abnormalities on either the normal or the operated-on side. With contrast material injection, all normal areas and the unoperated portion the femoral neck and diaphysis enhanced markedly 4-9 seconds following the bolus

Attenuation of pathogenic Rift Valley fever virus strain through the chimeric S-segment encoding sandfly fever phlebovirus NSs or a dominant-negative PKR.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishiyama, Shoko; Slack, Olga A L; Lokugamage, Nandadeva; Hill, Terence E; Juelich, Terry L; Zhang, Lihong; Smith, Jennifer K; Perez, David; Gong, Bin; Freiberg, Alexander N; Ikegami, Tetsuro

2016-11-16

Rift Valley fever is a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease affecting ruminants and humans. Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV: family Bunyaviridae, genus Phlebovirus) causes abortions and fetal malformations in ruminants, and hemorrhagic fever, encephalitis, or retinitis in humans. The live-attenuated MP-12 vaccine is conditionally licensed for veterinary use in the US. However, this vaccine lacks a marker for the differentiation of vaccinated from infected animals (DIVA). NSs gene is dispensable for RVFV replication, and thus, rMP-12 strains lacking NSs gene is applicable to monitor vaccinated animals. However, the immunogenicity of MP-12 lacking NSs was not as high as parental MP-12. Thus, chimeric MP-12 strains encoding NSs from either Toscana virus (TOSV), sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) or Punta Toro virus Adames strain (PTA) were characterized previously. Although chimeric MP-12 strains are highly immunogenic, the attenuation through the S-segment remains unknown. Using pathogenic ZH501 strain, we aimed to demonstrate the attenuation of ZH501 strain through chimeric S-segment encoding either the NSs of TOSV, SFSV, PTA, or Punta Toro virus Balliet strain (PTB). In addition, we characterized rZH501 encoding a human dominant-negative PKR (PKRΔE7), which also enhances the immunogenicity of MP-12. Study done on mice revealed that attenuation of rZH501 occurred through the S-segment encoding either PKRΔE7 or SFSV NSs. However, rZH501 encoding either TOSV, PTA, or PTB NSs in the S-segment uniformly caused lethal encephalitis. Our results indicated that the S-segments encoding PKRΔE7 or SFSV NSs are attenuated and thus applicable toward next generation MP-12 vaccine candidates that encode a DIVA marker.

Does the degree of background enhancement in breast MRI affect the detection and staging of breast cancer?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uematsu, Takayoshi [Shizuoka Cancer Center Hospital, Breast Imaging and Breast Intervention Section, Shizuoka (Japan); Kasami, Masako [Shizuoka Cancer Center Hospital, Department of Pathology, Naga-izumi, Shizuoka (Japan); Watanabe, Junichiro [Shizuoka Cancer Center Hospital, Division of Medical Oncology, Naga-izumi, Shizuoka (Japan)

2011-11-15

The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of background enhancement on the detection and staging of breast cancer using MRI as an adjunct to mammography or ultrasound. One hundred forty-six bilateral breast MRI examinations were evaluated to assess the extent of a known primary tumour and to problem solve after mammography or ultrasound without adjusting for the phase in the patients' menstrual cycle. The background enhancement was classified into four categories by visual evaluation: minimal, mild, moderate and marked. In total, 131 histologically confirmed abnormal cases (104 malignant and 27 benign) and 15 normal cases were included in the analysis. There was no tumour size-related bias between the groups (p = 0.522). For the primary index tumour, the sensitivities of MRI with minimal/mild and moderate/marked background enhancement were 100% and 76% (p = 0.001), respectively. Thus, the degree of background enhancement did not affect the specificity. For evaluating tumour extent (n = 104), the accuracy of MRI with moderate/marked background enhancement (52%) was significantly lower than that with minimal/mild background enhancement (84%; p = 0.002). The degree of background enhancement affected the detection and staging of breast cancer using MRI. (orig.)

Swarm Intelligence-Enhanced Detection of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Using Tumor-Educated Platelets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Best, Myron G.; Sol, Nik; In ‘t Veld, Sjors G.J.G.; Vancura, Adrienne; Muller, Mirte; Niemeijer, Anna Larissa N.; Fejes, Aniko V.; Tjon Kon Fat, Lee Ann; Huis in 't Veld, Anna E; Leurs, Cyra; Le Large, Tessa Y.; Meijer, Laura L.; Kooi, Irsan E.; Rustenburg, François; Schellen, Pepijn; Verschueren, Heleen; Post, Edward; Wedekind, Laurine E.; Bracht, Jillian; Esenkbrink, Michelle; Wils, Leon; Favaro, Francesca; Schoonhoven, Jilian D.; Tannous, Jihane; Meijers-Heijboer, Hanne; Kazemier, Geert; Giovannetti, Elisa; Reijneveld, Jaap C.; Idema, Sander; Killestein, Joep; Heger, Michal; de Jager, Saskia C.; Urbanus, Rolf T.; Hoefer, Imo E.; Pasterkamp, Gerard; Mannhalter, Christine; Gomez-Arroyo, Jose; Bogaard, Harm-Jan; Noske, David P.; Vandertop, W. Peter; van den Broek, Daan; Ylstra, Bauke; Nilsson, R. Jonas A; Wesseling, Pieter; Karachaliou, Niki; Rosell, Rafael; Lee-Lewandrowski, Elizabeth; Lewandrowski, Kent B.; Tannous, Bakhos A.; de Langen, Adrianus J.; Smit, Egbert F.; van den Heuvel, Michel M; Wurdinger, Thomas

2017-01-01

Blood-based liquid biopsies, including tumor-educated blood platelets (TEPs), have emerged as promising biomarker sources for non-invasive detection of cancer. Here we demonstrate that particle-swarm optimization (PSO)-enhanced algorithms enable efficient selection of RNA biomarker panels from

Enhancement of optic cup detection through an improved vessel kink detection framework

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Damon W. K.; Liu, Jiang; Tan, Ngan Meng; Zhang, Zhuo; Lu, Shijian; Lim, Joo Hwee; Li, Huiqi; Wong, Tien Yin

2010-03-01

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness. The presence and extent of progression of glaucoma can be determined if the optic cup can be accurately segmented from retinal images. In this paper, we present a framework which improves the detection of the optic cup. First, a region of interest is obtained from the retinal fundus image, and a pallor-based preliminary cup contour estimate is determined. Patches are then extracted from the ROI along this contour. To improve the usability of the patches, adaptive methods are introduced to ensure the patches are within the optic disc and to minimize redundant information. The patches are then analyzed for vessels by an edge transform which generates pixel segments of likely vessel candidates. Wavelet, color and gradient information are used as input features for a SVM model to classify the candidates as vessel or non-vessel. Subsequently, a rigourous non-parametric method is adopted in which a bi-stage multi-resolution approach is used to probe and localize the location of kinks along the vessels. Finally, contenxtual information is used to fuse pallor and kink information to obtain an enhanced optic cup segmentation. Using a batch of 21 images obtained from the Singapore Eye Research Institute, the new method results in a 12.64% reduction in the average overlap error against a pallor only cup, indicating viable improvements in the segmentation and supporting the use of kinks for optic cup detection.

Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson in ZH → v$\\bar{v}$b$\\bar{b}$ channel in p$\\bar{p}$ collisions at √s= 1.96 TeV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dubey, Abhinav [Univ. of Delhi, New Delhi (India)

2011-01-01

A search for the standard model Higgs boson is performed in 5.2 fb^-1 of p$\\bar{p}$ collisions at p √s = 1.96 TeV, collected with the DØ detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The final state considered is a pair of b jets with large missing transverse energy, as expected from p$\\bar{p}$→ ZH → v$\\bar{v}$b$\\bar{b}$ production. The search is also sensitive to the WH → ℓvb$\\bar{b}$ channel, where the charged lepton is not identified. Boosted decision trees are used to discriminate signal from background. Good agreement is observed between data and expected backgrounds, and, for a Higgs-boson mass of 115 GeV, a limit is set at 95% C.L. on the cross section multiplied by branching fraction of (p$\\bar{p}$ → (Z/W)H) × (H → b$\\bar{b}$) that is a factor 4.57 expected and 3.73 observed larger than the value expected from the standard model.

Detection of amino acid neurotransmitters by surface enhanced Raman scattering and hollow core photonic crystal fiber

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwari, Vidhu S.; Khetani, Altaf; Monfared, Ali Momenpour T.; Smith, Brett; Anis, Hanan; Trudeau, Vance L.

2012-03-01

The present work explores the feasibility of using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for detecting the neurotransmitters such as glutamate (GLU) and gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA). These amino acid neurotransmitters that respectively mediate fast excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission in the brain, are important for neuroendocrine control, and upsets in their synthesis are also linked to epilepsy. Our SERS-based detection scheme enabled the detection of low amounts of GLU (10-7 M) and GABA (10-4 M). It may complement existing techniques for characterizing such kinds of neurotransmitters that include high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or mass spectrography (MS). This is mainly because SERS has other advantages such as ease of sample preparation, molecular specificity and sensitivity, thus making it potentially applicable to characterization of experimental brain extracts or clinical diagnostic samples of cerebrospinal fluid and saliva. Using hollow core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) further enhanced the Raman signal relative to that in a standard cuvette providing sensitive detection of GLU and GABA in micro-litre volume of aqueous solutions.

A meta-analysis of diffusion-weighted and gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging for the detection of liver metastases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vilgrain, Valerie; Ronot, Maxime [University Hospitals Paris Nord Val de Seine, Beaujon, Department of Radiology, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine (France); University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); INSERM U1149, Centre de Recherche Biomedicale Bichat-Beaujon, CRB3, Paris (France); Esvan, Maxime; Caumont-Prim, Aurore [Hopital europeen Georges-Pompidou, Unite d' Epidemiologie et de Recherche Clinique, Paris (France); INSERM, Centre d' Investigation Clinique 1418, module Epidemiologie Clinique, Paris (France); Aube, Christophe [CHU d' Angers, Department of Radiology, Angers (France); Universite d' Angers, Laboratoire HIFIH, LUNAM, Angers (France); Chatellier, Gilles [Hopital europeen Georges-Pompidou, Unite d' Epidemiologie et de Recherche Clinique, Paris (France); INSERM, Centre d' Investigation Clinique 1418, module Epidemiologie Clinique, Paris (France); Universite Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Faculte de Medecine, Paris (France)

2016-12-15

To obtain the diagnostic performance of diffusion-weighted (DW) and gadoxetic-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the detection of liver metastases. A comprehensive search (EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane) was performed to identify relevant articles up to June 2015. Inclusion criteria were: liver metastases, DW-MR imaging and/or gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging, and per-lesion statistics. The reference standard was histopathology, intraoperative observation and/or follow-up. Sources of bias were assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool. A linear mixed-effect regression model was used to obtain sensitivity estimates. Thirty-nine articles were included (1,989 patients, 3,854 metastases). Sensitivity estimates for DW-MR imaging, gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging and the combined sequence for detecting liver metastases on a per-lesion basis was 87.1 %, 90.6 % and 95.5 %, respectively. Sensitivity estimates by gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging and the combined sequence were significantly better than DW-MR imaging (p = 0.0001 and p < 0.0001, respectively), and the combined MR sequence was significantly more sensitive than gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging (p < 0.0001). Similar results were observed in articles that compared the three techniques simultaneously, with only colorectal liver metastases and in liver metastases smaller than 1 cm. In patients with liver metastases, combined DW-MR and gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging has the highest sensitivity for detecting liver metastases on a per-lesion basis. (orig.)

THE EFFECT OF IMAGE ENHANCEMENT METHODS DURING FEATURE DETECTION AND MATCHING OF THERMAL IMAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Akcay

2017-05-01

Full Text Available A successful image matching is essential to provide an automatic photogrammetric process accurately. Feature detection, extraction and matching algorithms have performed on the high resolution images perfectly. However, images of cameras, which are equipped with low-resolution thermal sensors are problematic with the current algorithms. In this paper, some digital image processing techniques were applied to the low-resolution images taken with Optris PI 450 382 x 288 pixel optical resolution lightweight thermal camera to increase extraction and matching performance. Image enhancement methods that adjust low quality digital thermal images, were used to produce more suitable images for detection and extraction. Three main digital image process techniques: histogram equalization, high pass and low pass filters were considered to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, sharpen image, remove noise, respectively. Later on, the pre-processed images were evaluated using current image detection and feature extraction methods Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER and Speeded Up Robust Features (SURF algorithms. Obtained results showed that some enhancement methods increased number of extracted features and decreased blunder errors during image matching. Consequently, the effects of different pre-process techniques were compared in the paper.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Study of 4-ATP on Gold Nanoparticles for Basal Cell Carcinoma Fingerprint Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Quynh, Luu Manh; Nam, Nguyen Hoang; Kong, K.; Nhung, Nguyen Thi; Notingher, I.; Henini, M.; Luong, Nguyen Hoang

2016-05-01

The surface-enhanced Raman signals of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) attached to the surface of colloidal gold nanoparticles with size distribution of 2 to 5 nm were used as a labeling agent to detect basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin. The enhanced Raman band at 1075 cm-1 corresponding to the C-S stretching vibration in 4-ATP was observed during attachment to the surface of the gold nanoparticles. The frequency and intensity of this band did not change when the colloids were conjugated with BerEP4 antibody, which specifically binds to BCC. We show the feasibility of imaging BCC by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, scanning the 1075 cm-1 band to detect the distribution of 4-ATP-coated gold nanoparticles attached to skin tissue ex vivo.

RNA interference for performance enhancement and detection in doping control.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Maxie; Schänzer, Wilhelm; Thevis, Mario

2011-10-01

RNA interference represents a comparably new route of regulating and manipulating specific gene expression. Promising results were obtained in experimental therapies aim at the treatment of different kinds of diseases including cancer, diabetes mellitus or Dychenne muscular dystrophy. While studies on down-regulation efficiency are often performed by analyzing the regulated protein, the direct detection of small, interfering RNA molecules and antisense oligonucleotides is of great interest for the investigation of the metabolism and degradation and also for the detection of a putative misuse of these molecules in sports. Myostatin down-regulation was shown to result in increased performance and muscle growth and the regulation of several other proteins could be relevant for performance enhancement. This mini-review summarizes current approaches for the mass spectrometric analysis of siRNA and antisense oligonucleotides from biological matrices and the available data on biodistribution, metabolism, and half-life of relevant substances are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

SWI enhances vein detection using gadolinium in multiple sclerosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maggi, Pietro; Mazzoni, Lorenzo N; Moretti, Marco; Grammatico, Matteo; Chiti, Stefano; Massacesi, Luca

2015-01-01

Susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) combined with the FLAIR sequence provides the ability to depict in vivo the perivenous location of inflammatory demyelinating lesions – one of the most specific pathologic features of multiple sclerosis (MS). In addition, in MS white matter (WM) lesions, gadolinium-based contrast media (CM) can increase vein signal loss on SWI. This report focuses on two cases of WM inflammatory lesions enhancing on SWI images after CM injection. In these lesions in fact the CM increased the contrast between the parenchyma and the central vein allowing as well, in one of the two cases, the detection of a vein not visible on the same SWI sequence acquired before CM injection

Research on fiber-optic cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy for trace gas detection

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ke; Zhou, Xinlei; Gong, Zhenfeng; Yu, Shaochen; Qu, Chao; Guo, Min; Yu, Qingxu

2018-01-01

We demonstrate a new scheme of cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy, combining a sensitivity-improved fiber-optic cantilever acoustic sensor with a tunable high-power fiber laser, for trace gas detection. The Fabry-Perot interferometer based cantilever acoustic sensor has advantages such as high sensitivity, small size, easy to install and immune to electromagnetic. Tunable erbium-doped fiber ring laser with an erbium-doped fiber amplifier is used as the light source for acoustic excitation. In order to improve the sensitivity for photoacoustic signal detection, a first-order longitudinal resonant photoacoustic cell with the resonant frequency of 1624 Hz and a large size cantilever with the first resonant frequency of 1687 Hz are designed. The size of the cantilever is 2.1 mm×1 mm, and the thickness is 10 μm. With the wavelength modulation spectrum and second-harmonic detection methods, trace ammonia (NH3) has been measured. The gas detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio = 1) near the wavelength of 1522.5 nm is achieved to be 3 ppb.

Detection of nerve gases using surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates with high droplet adhesion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hakonen, Aron; Rindzevicius, Tomas; Schmidt, Michael Stenbæk

2016-01-01

Threats from chemical warfare agents, commonly known as nerve gases, constitute a serious security issue of increasing global concern because of surging terrorist activity worldwide. However, nerve gases are difficult to detect using current analytical tools and outside dedicated laboratories. Here...... adhesion and nanopillar clustering due to elasto-capillary forces, resulting in enrichment of target molecules in plasmonic hot-spots with high Raman enhancement. The results may pave the way for strategic life-saving SERS detection of chemical warfare agents in the field....

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection using plasmonic bimetallic nanogap substrate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wong, Chi Lok; Dinish, U. S.; Buddharaju, Kavitha Devi

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection with bimetallic nanogap structure substrate. Deep UV photolithography at the wavelength of 250 nm is used to pattern circular shape nanostructures. The nanogap between adjacent cir......-based VOCs detection platform for point-of-care breath analysis, homeland security, chemical sensing and environmental monitoring....

Enhancement of the conductivity detection signal in capillary electrophoresis systems using neutral cyclodextrins as sweeping agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Boublík, Milan; Riesová, Martina; Dubský, Pavel; Gaš, Bohuslav

2018-06-01

Conductivity detection is a universal detection technique often encountered in electrophoretic separation systems, especially in modern chip-electrophoresis based devices. On the other hand, it is sparsely combined with another contemporary trend of enhancing limits of detection by means of various preconcentration strategies. This can be attributed to the fact that a preconcentration experimental setup usually brings about disturbances in a conductivity baseline. Sweeping with a neutral sweeping agent seems a good candidate for overcoming this problem. A neutral sweeping agent does not hinder the conductivity detection while a charged analyte may preconcentrate on its boundary due to a decrease in its effective mobility. This study investigates such sweeping systems theoretically, by means of computer simulations, and experimentally. A formula is provided for the reliable estimation of the preconcentration factor. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the conductivity signal can significantly benefit from slowing down the analyte and thus the overall signal enhancement can easily overweight amplification caused solely by the sweeping process. The overall enhancement factor can be deduced a priori from the linearized theory of electrophoresis implemented in the PeakMaster freeware. Sweeping by neutral cyclodextrin is demonstrated on an amplification of a conductivity signal of flurbiprofen in a real drug sample. Finally, a possible formation of unexpected system peaks in systems with a neutral sweeping agent is revealed by the computer simulation and confirmed experimentally. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Search for the Higgs boson in the ZH → νν-bar bb-bar channel with the D0 experiment at the TeVatron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ochando, Ch.

2008-09-01

The origin of the electroweak symmetry breaking is one the pending questions at the beginning of the 21. century. Imagined in the 1960's, the Higgs mechanism offers a theoretical solution to this problem, while predicting a new particle, the Higgs boson, undiscovered up to now. This particle has been searched with the DO detector at the Tevatron hadronic collider, with a center of mass energy of 1,96 TeV. The analysis channel is ZH → νν-bar bb-bar. For this search, an optimization of the trigger conditions specific to signals with jets plus missing transverse energy final states has been performed. Moreover, a tool was designed to measure the corresponding efficiencies. A precise determination of the jet energies is also an essential ingredient for this analysis. A method was developed in order to correct the simulated jets for the differences observed in jet energy scale, energy resolution and reconstruction efficiency between data and simulation. The data analysis, performed with an integrated luminosity of 2.1 fb -1 , did not reveal any excess. For a Higgs boson mass of 115 GeV, a limit has been set at 95% C.L. on the cross section times branching fraction of (pp-barb → H(Z/W)) x (H → bar bb-bar), which is 7.5 times larger than the standard model value. (author)

Archaeological Feature Detection from Archive Aerial Photography with a Sfm-Mvs and Image Enhancement Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Peppa, M. V.; Mills, J. P.; Fieber, K. D.; Haynes, I.; Turner, S.; Turner, A.; Douglas, M.; Bryan, P. G.

2018-05-01

Understanding and protecting cultural heritage involves the detection and long-term documentation of archaeological remains alongside the spatio-temporal analysis of their landscape evolution. Archive aerial photography can illuminate traces of ancient features which typically appear with different brightness values from their surrounding environment, but are not always well defined. This research investigates the implementation of the Structure-from-Motion - Multi-View Stereo image matching approach with an image enhancement algorithm to derive three epochs of orthomosaics and digital surface models from visible and near infrared historic aerial photography. The enhancement algorithm uses decorrelation stretching to improve the contrast of the orthomosaics so as archaeological features are better detected. Results include 2D / 3D locations of detected archaeological traces stored into a geodatabase for further archaeological interpretation and correlation with benchmark observations. The study also discusses the merits and difficulties of the process involved. This research is based on a European-wide project, entitled "Cultural Heritage Through Time", and the case study research was carried out as a component of the project in the UK.

Detection of the ice assertion on aircraft using empirical mode decomposition enhanced by multi-objective optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Bagherzadeh, Seyed Amin; Asadi, Davood

2017-05-01

In search of a precise method for analyzing nonlinear and non-stationary flight data of an aircraft in the icing condition, an Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) algorithm enhanced by multi-objective optimization is introduced. In the proposed method, dissimilar IMF definitions are considered by the Genetic Algorithm (GA) in order to find the best decision parameters of the signal trend. To resolve disadvantages of the classical algorithm caused by the envelope concept, the signal trend is estimated directly in the proposed method. Furthermore, in order to simplify the performance and understanding of the EMD algorithm, the proposed method obviates the need for a repeated sifting process. The proposed enhanced EMD algorithm is verified by some benchmark signals. Afterwards, the enhanced algorithm is applied to simulated flight data in the icing condition in order to detect the ice assertion on the aircraft. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed EMD algorithm in aircraft ice detection by providing a figure of merit for the icing severity.

Semi-automated scar detection in delayed enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance images

Science.gov (United States)

Morisi, Rita; Donini, Bruno; Lanconelli, Nico; Rosengarden, James; Morgan, John; Harden, Stephen; Curzen, Nick

2015-06-01

Late enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance images (MRI) has the ability to precisely delineate myocardial scars. We present a semi-automated method for detecting scars in cardiac MRI. This model has the potential to improve routine clinical practice since quantification is not currently offered due to time constraints. A first segmentation step was developed for extracting the target regions for potential scar and determining pre-candidate objects. Pattern recognition methods are then applied to the segmented images in order to detect the position of the myocardial scar. The database of late gadolinium enhancement (LE) cardiac MR images consists of 111 blocks of images acquired from 63 patients at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UK). At least one scar was present for each patient, and all the scars were manually annotated by an expert. A group of images (around one third of the entire set) was used for training the system which was subsequently tested on all the remaining images. Four different classifiers were trained (Support Vector Machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbor (KNN), Bayesian and feed-forward neural network) and their performance was evaluated by using Free response Receiver Operating Characteristic (FROC) analysis. Feature selection was implemented for analyzing the importance of the various features. The segmentation method proposed allowed the region affected by the scar to be extracted correctly in 96% of the blocks of images. The SVM was shown to be the best classifier for our task, and our system reached an overall sensitivity of 80% with less than 7 false positives per patient. The method we present provides an effective tool for detection of scars on cardiac MRI. This may be of value in clinical practice by permitting routine reporting of scar quantification.

Contrast-enhanced swallow study sensitivity for anastomotic leak detection in post-esophagectomy patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Mejía-Rivera, S; Pérez-Marroquín, S A; Cortés-González, R; Medina-Franco, H

2018-03-07

Esophagectomy is a highly invasive surgery and one of its postoperative complications is anastomotic leakage, occurring in 53% of cases. The aim of the present study was to determine the sensitivity of the contrast-enhanced swallow study as a method for diagnosing anastomotic leak in patients that underwent esophagectomy. The present retrospective study included the case records of patients that underwent esophagectomy with reconstruction and cervical anastomosis at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán within the time frame of January 1, 2000 and May 31, 2006. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data emphasizing clinical and radiographic anastomotic leak detection were identified. Descriptive statistics were carried out and contrast-enhanced swallow study sensitivity for diagnosing leakage was calculated. Seventy patients were included in the analysis. The mean age of the patients was 50.6 years, 51 of the patients were men (72.86%), and 19 were women (27.14%). Indications for surgery were benign lesion in 29 patients (41.4%) and malignant lesion in 41 (58.6%). A total of 44.3% of the patients presented with a comorbidity, with diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure standing out. Thirty patients (42.85%) presented with anastomotic leak. Contrast-enhanced swallow study sensitivity for leak detection was 43.33%. The diagnostic sensitivity of the contrast-enhanced swallow study was very low. Therefore, we recommend the discontinuation of its routine use as a method for diagnosing anastomotic leaks. Copyright © 2018 Asociación Mexicana de Gastroenterología. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Enhancing early bladder cancer detection with fluorescence-guided endoscopic optical coherence tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Y. T.; Xie, T. Q.; Du, C. W.; Bastacky, S.; Meyers, S.; Zeidel, M. L.

2003-12-01

We report an experimental study of the possibility of enhancing early bladder cancer diagnosis with fluorescence-image-guided endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT). After the intravesical instillation of a 10% solution of 5-aminolevulinic acid, simultaneous fluorescence imaging (excitation of 380-420 nm, emission of 620-700 nm) and OCT are performed on rat bladders to identify the photochemical and morphological changes associated with uroepithelial tumorigenesis. The preliminary results of our ex vivo study reveal that both fluorescence and OCT can identify early uroepithelial cancers, and OCT can detect precancerous lesions (e.g., hyperplasia) that fluorescence may miss. This suggests that a cystoscope combining 5-aminolevulinic acid fluorescence and OCT imaging has the potential to enhance the efficiency and sensitivity of early bladder cancer diagnosis.

Enhancing early detection of exotic pests in agricultural and forest ecosystems using an urban-gradient framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Colunga-Garcia, Manuel; Magarey, Roger A; Haack, Robert A; Gage, Stuart H; Qi, Jiaquo

2010-03-01

Urban areas are hubs of international transport and therefore are major gateways for exotic pests. Applying an urban gradient to analyze this pathway could provide insight into the ecological processes involved in human-mediated invasions. We defined an urban gradient for agricultural and forest ecosystems in the contiguous United States to (1) assess whether ecosystems nearer more urbanized areas were at greater risk of invasion, and (2) apply this knowledge to enhance early detection of exotic pests. We defined the gradient using the tonnage of imported products in adjacent urban areas and their distance to nearby agricultural or forest land. County-level detection reports for 39 exotic agricultural and forest pests of major economic importance were used to characterize invasions along the gradient. We found that counties with more exotic pests were nearer the urban end of the gradient. Assuming that the exotic species we analyzed represent typical invaders, then early detection efforts directed at 21-26% of U.S. agricultural and forest land would likely be able to detect 70% of invaded counties and 90% of the selected species. Applying an urban-gradient framework to current monitoring strategies should enhance early detection efforts of exotic pests, facilitating optimization in allocating resources to areas at greater risk of future invasions.

Hypervascular hepatocellular carcinomas: detection with gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging and multiphasic multidetector CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Onishi, Hiromitsu; Kim, Tonsok; Hori, Masatoshi; Nakaya, Yasuhiro; Tsuboyama, Takahiro; Nakamoto, Atsushi; Tatsumi, Mitsuaki; Tomiyama, Noriyuki [Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Suita, Osaka (Japan); Imai, Yasuharu [Ikeda Municipal Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Ikeda, Osaka (Japan); Nagano, Hiroaki [Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Suita, Osaka (Japan); Kumano, Seishi; Okada, Masahiro; Murakami, Takamichi [Kinki University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Osakasayama, Osaka (Japan); Takamura, Manabu [Ikeda Municipal Hospital, Department of Radiology, Ikeda, Osaka (Japan); Wakasa, Kenichi [Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Osaka, Osaka (Japan)

2012-04-15

To retrospectively compare the accuracy of detection of hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by multiphasic multidetector CT and by gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging. After ethical approval, we analysed a total of 73 hypervascular HCC lesions from 31 patients suspected of having HCC, who underwent both gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging and multiphasic multidetector CT. Five blinded observers independently reviewed CT images, as well as dynamic MR images alone and combined with hepatobiliary phase MR images. Diagnostic accuracy (Az values), sensitivities and positive predictive values were compared by using the Scheffe post hoc test. The mean Az value for dynamic and hepatobiliary phase MR combined (0.81) or dynamic MR images alone (0.78) was significantly higher than that for CT images (0.67, P < 0.001, 0.005, respectively). The mean sensitivity of the combined MR images (0.67) was significantly higher than that of dynamic MR alone (0.52, P < 0.05) or CT images (0.44, P < 0.05). The mean positive predictive values were 0.96, 0.95 and 0.94, for CT, dynamic MR alone and combined MR images, respectively. Compared with multiphasic multidetector CT, gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging combining dynamic and hepatobiliary phase images results in significantly improved sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy for detection of hypervascular HCC. (orig.)

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound vs multidetector-computed tomography for detecting liver metastases in colorectal cancer: a prospective, blinded, patient-by-patient analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rafaelsen, S R; Jakobsen, A

2011-01-01

This study compared the sensitivity and specificity of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and multidetector-computed tomography (MDCT) in the detection of liver metastases in patients with colorectal cancer.......This study compared the sensitivity and specificity of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and multidetector-computed tomography (MDCT) in the detection of liver metastases in patients with colorectal cancer....

Improved focal liver lesion detection by increasing flip angle during gadoxetic acid-enhancement in MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Se Jy; Kim, Young Keun

2015-01-01

To study the differences of focal liver lesion image detection at 3 minute, 10 minute and 15 minute time points on gadoxetic acid (GA)’s enhanced MR imaging with a flip angle (FA) of 30° compared with a 11°. The subjects were 69 patients evaluated with GA enhanced MR imaging with 3.0T MR scanner. The patients are total 35(23 men and 7 women at the mean age of 60.4 years), hepatocellular carcinoma(23) and metastsis(12) except for normal, cyst and hemangioma. After GA was injected, FA 11° and 30° images were obtained at 3 minute, 10 minute and 15 minute time points respectively. After quantitative and qualitative assessment of each image was done, statistical analysis was performed by using the independent sample T-test. From both quantitative and qualitative assessment of 3 minute and 10 minute MR images after the injection of GA, FA 30° images was found to be superior than FA 11°, but there were no statistical significance. However, at 15 minute time point, Statistically significant FA 30° image(p<0.05) was better than FA 11° therefore, the FA 30° improves the focal liver lesion detection. FA 30° of MR image can detect liver lesion more sensitively than the existing FA11° image after GA contrast enhancement at 15 minute time point

A Simple Metallothionein-Based Biosensor for Enhanced Detection of Arsenic and Mercury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gordon W. Irvine

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Metallothioneins (MTs are a family of cysteine-rich proteins whose biological roles include the regulation of essential metal ions and protection against the harmful effects of toxic metals. Due to its high affinity for many toxic, soft metals, recombinant human MT isoform 1a was incorporated into an electrochemical-based biosensor for the detection of As3+ and Hg2+. A simple design was chosen to maximize its potential in environmental monitoring and MT was physically adsorbed onto paper discs placed on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs. This system was tested with concentrations of arsenic and mercury typical of contaminated water sources ranging from 5 to 1000 ppb. The analytical performance of the MT-adsorbed paper discs on SPCEs demonstrated a greater than three-fold signal enhancement and a lower detection limit compared to blank SPCEs, 13 ppb for As3+ and 45 ppb for Hg2+. While not being as low as some of the recommended drinking water limits, the sensitivity of the simple MT-biosensor would be potentially useful in monitoring of areas of concern with a known contamination problem. This paper describes the ability of the metal binding protein metallothionein to enhance the effectiveness of a simple, low-cost electrochemical sensor.

Combined gadoxetic acid and gadofosveset enhanced liver MRI for detection and characterization of liver metastases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bannas, Peter; Bookwalter, Candice A.; Ziemlewicz, Tim; Munoz del Rio, Alejandro; Potretzke, Theodora A.; Motosugi, Utaroh; Nagle, Scott K.; Reeder, Scott B.

2017-01-01

To compare gadoxetic acid alone and combined gadoxetic acid/gadofosveset trisodium-enhanced liver MRI for detection of metastases and differentiation of metastases from haemangiomas. Ninety-one patients underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver MRI before and after additional injection of gadofosveset. First, two readers retrospectively identified metastases on gadoxetic acid alone enhanced delayed hepatobiliary phase T1-weighted images together with all other MR images (dynamic images, T2-weighted images, diffusion-weighted images). Second, readers assessed additional T1-weighted images obtained after administration of gadofosveset trisodium. For both interpretations, readers rated lesion conspicuity and confidence in differentiating metastases from haemangiomas. Results were compared using alternative free-response receiver-operating characteristic (AFROC) and conventional ROC methods. Histology and follow-up served as reference standard. There were 145 metastases and 16 haemangiomas. Both readers detected more metastases using combined gadoxetic acid/gadofosveset (reader 1 = 130; reader 2 = 124) compared to gadoxetic acid alone (reader 1 = 104; reader 2 = 103). Sensitivity of combined gadoxetic acid/gadofosveset (reader 1 = 90 %; reader 2 = 86 %) was higher than that of gadoxetic acid alone (reader 1 = 72 %; reader 2 = 71 %, both P < 0.01). AFROC-AUC was higher for the combined technique (0.92 vs. 0.86, P < 0.001). Sensitivity for correct differentiation of metastases from haemangiomas was higher for the combined technique (reader 1 = 98 %; reader 2 = 99 % vs. reader 1 = 86 %; reader 2 = 91 %, both P < 0.01). ROC-AUC was significantly higher for the combined technique (reader 1 = 1.00; reader 2 = 1.00 vs. reader 1 = 0.87; reader 2 = 0.92, both P < 0.01). Combined gadoxetic acid/gadofosveset-enhanced MRI improves detection and characterization of liver metastases compared to gadoxetic acid alone. (orig.)

Combined gadoxetic acid and gadofosveset enhanced liver MRI for detection and characterization of liver metastases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bannas, Peter [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Radiology, Madison, WI (United States); University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Hamburg (Germany); Bookwalter, Candice A.; Ziemlewicz, Tim; Munoz del Rio, Alejandro; Potretzke, Theodora A. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Radiology, Madison, WI (United States); Motosugi, Utaroh [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Radiology, Madison, WI (United States); University of Yamanashi, Department of Radiology, Yamanashi (Japan); Nagle, Scott K. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Radiology, Madison, WI (United States); University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Medical Physics, Madison, WI (United States); University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Pediatrics, Madison, WI (United States); Reeder, Scott B. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Radiology, Madison, WI (United States); University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Medical Physics, Madison, WI (United States); University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Madison, WI (United States); University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Medicine, Madison, WI (United States); University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Emergency Medicine, Madison, WI (United States)

2017-01-15

To compare gadoxetic acid alone and combined gadoxetic acid/gadofosveset trisodium-enhanced liver MRI for detection of metastases and differentiation of metastases from haemangiomas. Ninety-one patients underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver MRI before and after additional injection of gadofosveset. First, two readers retrospectively identified metastases on gadoxetic acid alone enhanced delayed hepatobiliary phase T1-weighted images together with all other MR images (dynamic images, T2-weighted images, diffusion-weighted images). Second, readers assessed additional T1-weighted images obtained after administration of gadofosveset trisodium. For both interpretations, readers rated lesion conspicuity and confidence in differentiating metastases from haemangiomas. Results were compared using alternative free-response receiver-operating characteristic (AFROC) and conventional ROC methods. Histology and follow-up served as reference standard. There were 145 metastases and 16 haemangiomas. Both readers detected more metastases using combined gadoxetic acid/gadofosveset (reader 1 = 130; reader 2 = 124) compared to gadoxetic acid alone (reader 1 = 104; reader 2 = 103). Sensitivity of combined gadoxetic acid/gadofosveset (reader 1 = 90 %; reader 2 = 86 %) was higher than that of gadoxetic acid alone (reader 1 = 72 %; reader 2 = 71 %, both P < 0.01). AFROC-AUC was higher for the combined technique (0.92 vs. 0.86, P < 0.001). Sensitivity for correct differentiation of metastases from haemangiomas was higher for the combined technique (reader 1 = 98 %; reader 2 = 99 % vs. reader 1 = 86 %; reader 2 = 91 %, both P < 0.01). ROC-AUC was significantly higher for the combined technique (reader 1 = 1.00; reader 2 = 1.00 vs. reader 1 = 0.87; reader 2 = 0.92, both P < 0.01). Combined gadoxetic acid/gadofosveset-enhanced MRI improves detection and characterization of liver metastases compared to gadoxetic acid alone. (orig.)

Multifunctional silver nanoparticle-doped silica for solid-phase extraction and surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection

Science.gov (United States)

Markina, Natalia E.; Markin, Alexey V.; Zakharevich, Andrey M.; Gorin, Dmitry A.; Rusanova, Tatiana Yu.; Goryacheva, Irina Yu.

2016-12-01

Multifunctional silica gel with embedded silver nanoparticles (SiO2-AgNP) is proposed for application as sorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE) and simultaneously as substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) due to their high sorption properties and ability to enhance Raman signal (SERS-active sorbents). SiO2-AgNP was synthesized via alkaline hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate with simultaneous reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles (AgNP) within the SiO2 bulk. Synthesis of AgNP directly to the SiO2 matrix enables to exclude any additional stabilizers for the nanoparticles that educes signal-to-noise ratio during SERS measurement. Apart from Raman spectroscopy, obtained sorbents were also characterized by scanning electron microscopy and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The influence of AgNO3 concentration used during the SiO2-AgNP synthesis on its gelling time, color, diffuse reflectance spectra, and enhancement of Raman signal was investigated. A Raman enhancement factor of SiO2-AgNP with optimal composition was around 105. Finally, the sorbents were applied for SPE and subsequent SERS detection of model compounds (rhodamine 6G and folic acid). It was found that SPE enables to decrease detectable concentrations by two orders. Therefore, SPE combined with SERS has high potential for further analytical investigations.

Multifunctional silver nanoparticle-doped silica for solid-phase extraction and surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Markina, Natalia E.; Markin, Alexey V., E-mail: av-markin@mail.ru; Zakharevich, Andrey M.; Gorin, Dmitry A.; Rusanova, Tatiana Yu.; Goryacheva, Irina Yu. [Saratov State University (Russian Federation)

2016-12-15

Multifunctional silica gel with embedded silver nanoparticles (SiO{sub 2}–AgNP) is proposed for application as sorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE) and simultaneously as substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) due to their high sorption properties and ability to enhance Raman signal (SERS-active sorbents). SiO{sub 2}–AgNP was synthesized via alkaline hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate with simultaneous reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles (AgNP) within the SiO{sub 2} bulk. Synthesis of AgNP directly to the SiO{sub 2} matrix enables to exclude any additional stabilizers for the nanoparticles that educes signal-to-noise ratio during SERS measurement. Apart from Raman spectroscopy, obtained sorbents were also characterized by scanning electron microscopy and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The influence of AgNO{sub 3} concentration used during the SiO{sub 2}–AgNP synthesis on its gelling time, color, diffuse reflectance spectra, and enhancement of Raman signal was investigated. A Raman enhancement factor of SiO{sub 2}–AgNP with optimal composition was around 10{sup 5}. Finally, the sorbents were applied for SPE and subsequent SERS detection of model compounds (rhodamine 6G and folic acid). It was found that SPE enables to decrease detectable concentrations by two orders. Therefore, SPE combined with SERS has high potential for further analytical investigations.

A dual amplification strategy for DNA detection combining bio-barcode assay and metal-enhanced fluorescence modality.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Zhenpeng; Li, Tian; Huang, Hongduan; Chen, Yang; Liu, Feng; Huang, Chengzhi; Li, Na

2014-11-11

Silver-enhanced fluorescence was coupled with a bio-barcode assay to facilitate a dual amplification assay to demonstrate a non-enzymatic approach for simple and sensitive detection of DNA. In the assay design, magnetic nanoparticles seeded with silver nanoparticles were modified with the capture DNA, and silver nanoparticles were modified with the binding of ssDNA and the fluorescently labeled barcode dsDNA. Upon introduction of the target DNA, a sandwich structure was formed because of the hybridization reaction. By simple magnetic separation, silver-enhanced fluorescence of barcode DNAs could be readily measured without the need of a further step to liberate barcode DNAs from silver nanoparticles, endowing the method with simplicity and high sensitivity with a detection limit of 1 pM.

Ultra-Sensitive Lab-on-a-Chip Detection of Sudan I in Food using Plasmonics-Enhanced Diatomaceous Thin Film.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Xianming; Squire, Kenny; Chong, Xinyuan; Wang, Alan X

2017-09-01

Sudan I is a carcinogenic compound containing an azo group that has been illegally utilized as an adulterant in food products to impart a bright red color to foods. In this paper, we develop a facile lab-on-a-chip device for instant, ultra-sensitive detection of Sudan I from real food samples using plasmonics-enhanced diatomaceous thin film, which can simultaneously perform on-chip separation using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and highly specific sensing using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. Diatomite is a kind of nature-created photonic crystal biosilica with periodic pores and was used both as the stationary phase of the TLC plate and photonic crystals to enhance the SERS sensitivity. The on-chip chromatography capability of the TLC plate was verified by isolating Sudan I in a mixture solution containing Rhodamine 6G, while SERS sensing was achieved by spraying gold colloidal nanoparticles into the sensing spot. Such plasmonics-enhanced diatomaceous film can effectively detect Sudan I with more than 10 times improvement of the Raman signal intensity than commercial silica gel TLC plates. We applied this lab-on-a-chip device for real food samples and successfully detected Sudan I in chili sauce and chili oil down to 1 ppm, or 0.5 ng/spot. This on-chip TLC-SERS biosensor based on diatomite biosilica can function as a cost-effective, ultra-sensitive, and reliable technology for screening Sudan I and many other illicit ingredients to enhance food safety.

Detection of small surface defects using DCT based enhancement approach in machine vision systems

Science.gov (United States)

He, Fuqiang; Wang, Wen; Chen, Zichen

2005-12-01

Utilizing DCT based enhancement approach, an improved small defect detection algorithm for real-time leather surface inspection was developed. A two-stage decomposition procedure was proposed to extract an odd-odd frequency matrix after a digital image has been transformed to DCT domain. Then, the reverse cumulative sum algorithm was proposed to detect the transition points of the gentle curves plotted from the odd-odd frequency matrix. The best radius of the cutting sector was computed in terms of the transition points and the high-pass filtering operation was implemented. The filtered image was then inversed and transformed back to the spatial domain. Finally, the restored image was segmented by an entropy method and some defect features are calculated. Experimental results show the proposed small defect detection method can reach the small defect detection rate by 94%.

Enhancement and denoising of mammographic images for breast disease detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yazdani, S.; Yusof, R.; Karimian, A.; Hematian, A.; Yousefi, M.

2012-01-01

In these two decades breast cancer is one of the leading cause of death among women. In breast cancer research, Mammographic Image is being assessed as a potential tool for detecting breast disease and investigating response to chemotherapy. In first stage of breast disease discovery, the density measurement of the breast in mammographic images provides very useful information. Because of the importance of the role of mammographic images the need for accurate and robust automated image enhancement techniques is becoming clear. Mammographic images have some disadvantages such as, the high dependence of contrast upon the way the image is acquired, weak distinction in splitting cyst from tumor, intensity non uniformity, the existence of noise, etc. These limitations make problem to detect the typical signs such as masses and microcalcifications. For this reason, denoising and enhancing the quality of mammographic images is very important. The method which is used in this paper is in spatial domain which its input includes high, intermediate and even very low contrast mammographic images based on specialist physician's view, while its output is processed images that show the input images with higher quality, more contrast and more details. In this research, 38 mammographic images have been used. The result of purposed method shows details of abnormal zones and the areas with defects so that specialist could explore these zones more accurately and it could be deemed as an index for cancer diagnosis. In this study, mammographic images are initially converted into digital images and then to increase spatial resolution power, their noise is reduced and consequently their contrast is improved. The results demonstrate effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed methods. (authors)

Metal Nanoparticles/Porous Silicon Microcavity Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance Fluorescence for the Detection of DNA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiajia Wang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available A porous silicon microcavity (PSiMC with resonant peak wavelength of 635 nm was fabricated by electrochemical etching. Metal nanoparticles (NPs/PSiMC enhanced fluorescence substrates were prepared by the electrostatic adherence of Au NPs that were distributed in PSiMC. The Au NPs/PSiMC device was used to characterize the target DNA immobilization and hybridization with its complementary DNA sequences marked with Rhodamine red (RRA. Fluorescence enhancement was observed on the Au NPs/PSiMC device substrate; and the minimum detection concentration of DNA ran up to 10 pM. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR of the MC substrate; which is so well-positioned to improve fluorescence enhancement rather the fluorescence enhancement of the high reflection band of the Bragg reflector; would welcome such a highly sensitive in biosensor.

Metal Nanoparticles/Porous Silicon Microcavity Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance Fluorescence for the Detection of DNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jiajia; Jia, Zhenhong

2018-02-23

A porous silicon microcavity (PSiMC) with resonant peak wavelength of 635 nm was fabricated by electrochemical etching. Metal nanoparticles (NPs)/PSiMC enhanced fluorescence substrates were prepared by the electrostatic adherence of Au NPs that were distributed in PSiMC. The Au NPs/PSiMC device was used to characterize the target DNA immobilization and hybridization with its complementary DNA sequences marked with Rhodamine red (RRA). Fluorescence enhancement was observed on the Au NPs/PSiMC device substrate; and the minimum detection concentration of DNA ran up to 10 pM. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the MC substrate; which is so well-positioned to improve fluorescence enhancement rather the fluorescence enhancement of the high reflection band of the Bragg reflector; would welcome such a highly sensitive in biosensor.

Modeling the heterogeneous traffic correlations in urban road systems using traffic-enhanced community detection approach

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Feng; Liu, Kang; Duan, Yingying; Cheng, Shifen; Du, Fei

2018-07-01

A better characterization of the traffic influence among urban roads is crucial for traffic control and traffic forecasting. The existence of spatial heterogeneity imposes great influence on modeling the extent and degree of road traffic correlation, which is usually neglected by the traditional distance based method. In this paper, we propose a traffic-enhanced community detection approach to spatially reveal the traffic correlation in city road networks. First, the road network is modeled as a traffic-enhanced dual graph with the closeness between two road segments determined not only by their topological connection, but also by the traffic correlation between them. Then a flow-based community detection algorithm called Infomap is utilized to identify the road segment clusters. Evaluated by Moran's I, Calinski-Harabaz Index and the traffic interpolation application, we find that compared to the distance based method and the community based method, our proposed traffic-enhanced community based method behaves better in capturing the extent of traffic relevance as both the topological structure of the road network and the traffic correlations among urban roads are considered. It can be used in more traffic-related applications, such as traffic forecasting, traffic control and guidance.

Genome-Enhanced Detection and Identification (GEDI of plant pathogens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolas Feau

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Plant diseases caused by fungi and Oomycetes represent worldwide threats to crops and forest ecosystems. Effective prevention and appropriate management of emerging diseases rely on rapid detection and identification of the causal pathogens. The increase in genomic resources makes it possible to generate novel genome-enhanced DNA detection assays that can exploit whole genomes to discover candidate genes for pathogen detection. A pipeline was developed to identify genome regions that discriminate taxa or groups of taxa and can be converted into PCR assays. The modular pipeline is comprised of four components: (1 selection and genome sequencing of phylogenetically related taxa, (2 identification of clusters of orthologous genes, (3 elimination of false positives by filtering, and (4 assay design. This pipeline was applied to some of the most important plant pathogens across three broad taxonomic groups: Phytophthoras (Stramenopiles, Oomycota, Dothideomycetes (Fungi, Ascomycota and Pucciniales (Fungi, Basidiomycota. Comparison of 73 fungal and Oomycete genomes led the discovery of 5,939 gene clusters that were unique to the targeted taxa and an additional 535 that were common at higher taxonomic levels. Approximately 28% of the 299 tested were converted into qPCR assays that met our set of specificity criteria. This work demonstrates that a genome-wide approach can efficiently identify multiple taxon-specific genome regions that can be converted into highly specific PCR assays. The possibility to easily obtain multiple alternative regions to design highly specific qPCR assays should be of great help in tackling challenging cases for which higher taxon-resolution is needed.

Brain MR post-gadolinium contrast in multiple sclerosis: the role of magnetization transfer and image subtraction in detecting more enhancing lesions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gavra, M.M.; Gouliamos, A.D.; Vlahos, L.J. [Department of Radiology, ' ' Aretaieion' ' Hospital,University of Athens Medical School, Athens (Greece); Voumvourakis, C.; Sfagos, C. [Department of Neurology, ' ' Eginiteion' ' Hospital, University of Athens Medical School, Athens (Greece)

2004-03-01

Our purpose was to evaluate the role of magnetization transfer and image subtraction in detecting more enhancing lesions in brain MR imaging of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Thirty-one MS patients underwent MR imaging of the brain with T1-weighted spin echo sequences without and with magnetization transfer (MT) using a 1.5 T imager. Both sequences were acquired before and after intravenous injection of a paramagnetic contrast agent. Subtraction images in T1-weighted sequences were obtained by subtracting the pre-contrast images from the post-contrast ones. A significant difference was found between the numbers of enhanced areas in post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without and with MT (p=0.020). The post-gadolinium T1-weighted images with MT allowed the detection of an increased (13) number of enhancing lesions compared with post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without MT. A significant difference was also found between the numbers of enhanced areas in post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without MT and subtraction images without MT (p=0.020). The subtraction images without MT allowed the detection of an increased (10) number of enhancing lesions compared with post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without MT. Magnetization transfer contrast and subtraction techniques appear to be the simplest and least time-consuming applications to improve the conspicuity and detection of contrast-enhancing lesions in patients with MS. (orig.)

Brain MR post-gadolinium contrast in multiple sclerosis: the role of magnetization transfer and image subtraction in detecting more enhancing lesions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gavra, M.M.; Gouliamos, A.D.; Vlahos, L.J.; Voumvourakis, C.; Sfagos, C.

2004-01-01

Our purpose was to evaluate the role of magnetization transfer and image subtraction in detecting more enhancing lesions in brain MR imaging of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Thirty-one MS patients underwent MR imaging of the brain with T1-weighted spin echo sequences without and with magnetization transfer (MT) using a 1.5 T imager. Both sequences were acquired before and after intravenous injection of a paramagnetic contrast agent. Subtraction images in T1-weighted sequences were obtained by subtracting the pre-contrast images from the post-contrast ones. A significant difference was found between the numbers of enhanced areas in post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without and with MT (p=0.020). The post-gadolinium T1-weighted images with MT allowed the detection of an increased (13) number of enhancing lesions compared with post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without MT. A significant difference was also found between the numbers of enhanced areas in post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without MT and subtraction images without MT (p=0.020). The subtraction images without MT allowed the detection of an increased (10) number of enhancing lesions compared with post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without MT. Magnetization transfer contrast and subtraction techniques appear to be the simplest and least time-consuming applications to improve the conspicuity and detection of contrast-enhancing lesions in patients with MS. (orig.)

Comparison of triple dose versus standard dose gadolinium-DTPA for detection of MRI enhancing lesions in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Filippi, M; Campi, A; Martinelli, V; Colombo, B; Yousry, T; Canal, N; Scotti, G; Comi, G

1995-01-01

This study was performed to evaluate whether a triple dose of gadolinium-DTPA (Gd-DTPA) increases the sensitivity of brain MRI for detecting enhancing lesions in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). T1 weighted brain MRI was obtained for 10 patients with PPMS in two sessions. In the first session, one scan was obtained five to seven minutes after the injection of 0.1 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA (standard dose). In the second session, six to 24 hours later, one scan before and two scans five to seven minutes and one hour after the injection of 0.3 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA (triple dose) were obtained. Four enhancing lesions were detected in two patients when the standard dose of Gd-DTPA was used. The numbers of enhancing lesions increased to 13 and the numbers of patients with such lesions to five when the triple dose of Gd-DTPA was used and to 14 and six in the one hour delayed scans. The mean contrast ratio for enhancing lesions detected with the triple dose of Gd-DTPA was higher than those for lesions present in both the standard dose (P DTPA many more enhancing lesions can be detected in patients with PPMS. This is important both for planning clinical trials and for detecting the presence of inflammation in vivo in the lesions of such patients. Images PMID:8530944

Effect of background parenchymal enhancement on breast cancer detection with magnetic resonance imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Telegrafo, M; Rella, L; Stabile Ianora, A A; Angelelli, G; Moschetta, M

2016-03-01

To investigate whether background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) may influence the sensitivity of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (DCE-MR) imaging in breast cancer detection. A total of 180 consecutive women with 194 breast cancers underwent MR imaging examination. Women were assigned to two different groups depending on the degree of BPE. Group 1 consisted of women with minimal or mild BPE and group 2 of women with moderate or marked BPE. The distributions of histotypes of tumors within the two groups were compared using the χ(2) test. Difference in sensitivities of DCE-MR imaging for tumor detection between the two groups was searched for using the Student t-test. No differences in terms of distributions of histotypes of tumors between the two groups of women were found (P=0.5). The 11% difference in sensitivity of DCE-MR imaging for tumor detection between group 1 (91/92; 99%; 95% CI: 94-100%) and group 2 (90/102; 88%; 95% CI: 80-94%) was statistically significant (P=0.0058). The sensitivity of DCE-MR imaging is significantly lower in women with moderate and marked BPE as compared with women with minimal and mild BPE regardless of cancer histotype. BPE could represent a limitation for breast MR imaging interpretation and should be indicated in MR imaging reports. Copyright © 2015 Éditions françaises de radiologie. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Transplantation of Reprogrammed Autologous Stem Cells for Chronic Pain and Drug Abuse

Science.gov (United States)

2015-10-01

after infusion. Cells Tissues Organs. 2001;169:12–20. 41. Karp JM, Leng Teo GS. Mesenchymal stem cell homing: the devil is in the details. Cell Stem...LL, and ZH isolated and characterized MSCs. ZH, LL, JS, KC , AL, JY, and LW performed the transplantation and behavioral experiments. LL and ZH

Detection of brain metastasis. Comparison of Turbo-FLAIR imaging, T2-weighted imaging and double-dose gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okubo, Toshiyuki; Hayashi, Naoto; Shirouzu, Ichiro; Abe, Osamu; Ohtomo, Kuni; Sasaki, Yasuhito; Aoki, Shigeki; Wada, Akihiko

1998-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare Turbo-FLAIR imaging, T 2 -weighted imaging, and double-dose gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging in the detection of brain metastasis. Using the three sequences, 20 consecutive patients with brain metastases were prospectively studied with a 1.5-Tesla system. Three independent, blinded readers assessed the images for the presence, size, number, and location of metastatic lesions. In the detection of large lesions (>0.5 cm), Turbo-FLAIR imaging (38/48, 79%) was not significantly different from gadolinium-enhanced imaging (42/48, 88%) (p=0.273). T 2 -weighted imaging (31/48, 65%), however, was inferior to gadolinium-enhanced imaging (p<0.05). There was no difference between Turbo-FLAIR imaging and gadolinium-enhanced imaging in the accuracy of detecting solitary brain metastasis (4/4, 100%). In conclusion, Turbo-FLAIR imaging is a useful, noninvasive screening modality for brain metastasis. Its use may lead to cost savings in the diagnosis of brain metastases and may impact positively the cost-effectiveness of treatment. (author)

Curcumin-Based "Enhanced SNAr" Promoted Ultrafast Fluorescent Probe for Thiophenols Detection in Aqueous Solution and in Living Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Yongkang; Huo, Fangjun; Zhang, Yongbin; Chao, Jianbin; Martínez-Máñez, Ramón; Yin, Caixia

2016-11-01

We report herein a highly selective and sensitive turn-on fluorescent probe (compound 1) with a fast response time (less than 2 min) for thiophenol detection based on an "enhanced S N Ar" reaction between thiophenols and a sulfonyl-ester moiety covalently attach to curcumin. Reaction of 1 in Hepes-MeOH (1:1, v/v, pH 7.4) in the presence of 4-methylthiophenol (MTP) resulted in a remarkable enhancement of the fluorescence. A linear response in the presence of MTP of the relative fluorescent intensity (F - F 0 ) of 1 at 536 nm in the 0-40 μM MTP concentration range was found. A limit of detection (LOD) for the detection of MTP of 26 nM, based on the definition by IUPAC (C DL = 3 Sb/m), was calculated. Probe 1 was applied to monitor and imaging exogenous MTP in live cells and to the detection of MTP in real water samples.

Gas detection by means of surface plasmon resonance enhanced ellipsometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nooke, Alida

2012-11-01

This thesis investigated gas sensing by means of surface plasmon resonance enhanced ellipsometry. Surface plasmons were excited in a 40 - 50 nm gold layer by a He-Ne-laser using the Kretschmann configuration, which was arranged on a self-made copper measuring cell. A fixed angle of incidence and the ellipsometric parameter {Delta} as the measured value were used to monitor changes in the gas phase. Different types of gases were investigated: flammable (hydrocarbons and hydrogen), oxidising (oxygen and ozone), toxic (carbon monoxide) and inert (helium and nitrogen). The gas types can be distinguished by their refractive indices, whereas the sensor responds instantly relative to the reference gas with an increase or a decrease in {Delta}. Diluting the analyte gas with a reference gas (nitrogen or air) allowed the detection limits to be determined, these lay in the low % range. The sensor stability was also enhanced as well as the sensitivity by modifying the gold layers with a 3-10 nm additional layer. These additional layers consisted of the inorganic materials TiO{sub 2}, ZrO{sub 2}, MgF{sub 2} and Fe: SnO{sub 2} which were deposited by different coating processes. Surface investigations were made of every utilised layer: scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope measurements for surface topology and spectroscopic ellipsometry mapping to determine the optical constants and the layer thicknesses. All applied materials protected the gold layer from contaminations and thus prolonged the life span of the sensor. Furthermore, the detection limits were reduced significantly, to the low ppm range. The material Fe: SnO{sub 2} demonstrates a special behaviour in reaction with the toxic gas carbon monoxide: Due to the iron doping, the response to carbon monoxide is extraordinary and concentrations below 1 ppm were detected. In order to approach a future application in industry, the sensor system was adapted to a stainless steel tube. With this measuring

Combined use of vancomycin-modified Ag-coated magnetic nanoparticles and secondary enhanced nanoparticles for rapid surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chongwen; Gu, Bing; Liu, Qiqi; Pang, Yuanfeng; Xiao, Rui; Wang, Shengqi

2018-01-01

Pathogenic bacteria have always been a significant threat to human health. The detection of pathogens needs to be rapid, accurate, and convenient. We present a sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensor based on the combination of vancomycin-modified Ag-coated magnetic nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 @Ag-Van MNPs) and Au@Ag nanoparticles (NPs) that can effectively capture and discriminate bacterial pathogens from solution. The high-performance Fe 3 O 4 @Ag MNPs were modified with vancomycin and used as bacteria capturer for magnetic separation and enrichment. The modified MNPS were found to exhibit strong affinity with a broad range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. After separating and rinsing bacteria, Fe 3 O 4 @Ag-Van MNPs and Au@Ag NPs were synergistically used to construct a very large number of hot spots on bacteria cells, leading to ultrasensitive SERS detection. The dominant merits of our dual enhanced strategy included high bacterial-capture efficiency (>65%) within a wide pH range (pH 3.0-11.0), a short assay time (<30 min), and a low detection limit (5×10 2 cells/mL). Moreover, the spiked tests show that this method is still valid in milk and blood samples. Owing to these capabilities, the combined system enabled the sensitive and specific discrimination of different pathogens in complex solution, as verified by its detection of Gram-positive bacterium Escherichia coli , Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus , and methicillin-resistant S. aureus . This method has great potential for field applications in food safety, environmental monitoring, and infectious disease diagnosis.

Higgs decay to bottom quarks at the Tevatron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stange, A.; Marciano, W.; Willenbrock, S.

1993-10-01

We study the production and detection of the standard-model Higgs boson at the Fermilab Tevatron. The most promising mode is WH and ZH associated production followed by leptonic decay of the weak vector bosons and H → b bar b. It may be possible to detect a Higgs boson of mass m H = 60--80 GeV with 1000 pb -1 of integrated luminosity

Resonantly enhanced nonlinear optics in semiconductor quantum wells: An application to sensitive infrared detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yelin, S.F.; Hemmer, P.R.

2002-01-01

A novel class of coherent nonlinear optical phenomena, involving induced transparency in semiconductor quantum wells, is considered in the context of a particular application to sensitive long-wavelength infrared detection. It is shown that the strongest decoherence mechanisms can be suppressed or mitigated, resulting in substantial enhancement of nonlinear optical effects in semiconductor quantum wells

Automated Detection of Healthy and Diseased Aortae from Images Obtained by Contrast-Enhanced CT Scan

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Michael Gayhart

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. We developed the next stage of our computer assisted diagnosis (CAD system to aid radiologists in evaluating CT images for aortic disease by removing innocuous images and highlighting signs of aortic disease. Materials and Methods. Segmented data of patient’s contrast-enhanced CT scan was analyzed for aortic dissection and penetrating aortic ulcer (PAU. Aortic dissection was detected by checking for an abnormal shape of the aorta using edge oriented methods. PAU was recognized through abnormally high intensities with interest point operators. Results. The aortic dissection detection process had a sensitivity of 0.8218 and a specificity of 0.9907. The PAU detection process scored a sensitivity of 0.7587 and a specificity of 0.9700. Conclusion. The aortic dissection detection process and the PAU detection process were successful in removing innocuous images, but additional methods are necessary for improving recognition of images with aortic disease.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) for Detection in Immunoassays: applications, fundamentals, and optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeremy Daniel Driskell

2006-01-01

Immunoassays have been utilized for the detection of biological analytes for several decades. Many formats and detection strategies have been explored, each having unique advantages and disadvantages. More recently, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been introduced as a readout method for immunoassays, and has shown great potential to meet many key analytical figures of merit. This technology is in its infancy and this dissertation explores the diversity of this method as well as the mechanism responsible for surface enhancement. Approaches to reduce assay times are also investigated. Implementing the knowledge gained from these studies will lead to a more sensitive immunoassay requiring less time than its predecessors. This dissertation is organized into six sections. The first section includes a literature review of the previous work that led to this dissertation. A general overview of the different approaches to immunoassays is given, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each. Included is a detailed review of binding kinetics, which is central for decreasing assay times. Next, the theoretical underpinnings of SERS is reviewed at its current level of understanding. Past work has argued that surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the enhancing substrate influences the SERS signal; therefore, the SPR of the extrinsic Raman labels (ERLs) utilized in our SERS-based immunoassay is discussed. Four original research chapters follow the Introduction, each presented as separate manuscripts. Chapter 2 modifies a SERS-based immunoassay previously developed in our group, extending it to the low-level detection of viral pathogens and demonstrating its versatility in terms of analyte type, Chapter 3 investigates the influence of ERL size, material composition, and separation distance between the ERLs and capture substrate on the SERS signal. This chapter links SPR with SERS enhancement factors and is consistent with many of the results from theoretical treatments

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) for Detection in Immunoassays. Applications, fundamentals, and optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Driskell, Jeremy Daniel [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

2006-08-09

Immunoassays have been utilized for the detection of biological analytes for several decades. Many formats and detection strategies have been explored, each having unique advantages and disadvantages. More recently, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been introduced as a readout method for immunoassays, and has shown great potential to meet many key analytical figures of merit. This technology is in its infancy and this dissertation explores the diversity of this method as well as the mechanism responsible for surface enhancement. Approaches to reduce assay times are also investigated. Implementing the knowledge gained from these studies will lead to a more sensitive immunoassay requiring less time than its predecessors. This dissertation is organized into six sections. The first section includes a literature review of the previous work that led to this dissertation. A general overview of the different approaches to immunoassays is given, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each. Included is a detailed review of binding kinetics, which is central for decreasing assay times. Next, the theoretical underpinnings of SERS is reviewed at its current level of understanding. Past work has argued that surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the enhancing substrate influences the SERS signal; therefore, the SPR of the extrinsic Raman labels (ERLs) utilized in our SERS-based immunoassay is discussed. Four original research chapters follow the Introduction, each presented as separate manuscripts. Chapter 2 modifies a SERS-based immunoassay previously developed in our group, extending it to the low-level detection of viral pathogens and demonstrating its versatility in terms of analyte type, Chapter 3 investigates the influence of ERL size, material composition, and separation distance between the ERLs and capture substrate on the SERS signal. This chapter links SPR with SERS enhancement factors and is consistent with many of the results from theoretical treatments

Real-time 3-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound in detecting hemorrhage of blunt renal trauma.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Rui-Xue; Li, Ye-Kuo; Li, Ting; Wang, Sha-Sha; Yuan, Gui-Zhong; Zhou, Qun-Fang; Zheng, Hai-Rong; Yan, Fei

2013-10-01

The objective of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of real-time 3-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the hemorrhage of blunt renal trauma. Eighteen healthy New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups. Blunt renal trauma was performed on each group by using minitype striker. Ultrasonography, color Doppler flow imaging, and contrast-enhanced 2-dimensional and real-time 3-dimensional ultrasound were applied before and after the strike. The time to shock and blood pressure were subjected to statistical analysis. Then, a comparative study of ultrasound and pathology was carried out. All the struck kidneys were traumatic. In the ultrasonography, free fluid was found under the renal capsule. In the color Doppler flow imaging, active hemorrhage was not identified. In 2-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound, active hemorrhage of the damaged kidney was characterized. Real-time 3-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound showed a real-time and stereoscopic ongoing bleeding of the injured kidney. The wider the hemorrhage area in 4-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound was, the faster the blood pressure decreased. Real-time 3-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound is a promising noninvasive tool for stereoscopically and vividly detecting ongoing hemorrhage of blunt renal trauma in real time. © 2013.

Enhancement of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) Detection limit using a low-pressure and short-pulse laser-induced plasma process.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhen Zhen; Deguchi, Yoshihiro; Kuwahara, Masakazu; Yan, Jun Jie; Liu, Ji Ping

2013-11-01

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technology is an appealing technique compared with many other types of elemental analysis because of the fast response, high sensitivity, real-time, and noncontact features. One of the challenging targets of LIBS is the enhancement of the detection limit. In this study, the detection limit of gas-phase LIBS analysis has been improved by controlling the pressure and laser pulse width. In order to verify this method, low-pressure gas plasma was induced using nanosecond and picosecond lasers. The method was applied to the detection of Hg. The emission intensity ratio of the Hg atom to NO (IHg/INO) was analyzed to evaluate the LIBS detection limit because the NO emission (interference signal) was formed during the plasma generation and cooling process of N2 and O2 in the air. It was demonstrated that the enhancement of IHg/INO arose by decreasing the pressure to a few kilopascals, and the IHg/INO of the picosecond breakdown was always much higher than that of the nanosecond breakdown at low buffer gas pressure. Enhancement of IHg/INO increased more than 10 times at 700 Pa using picosecond laser with 35 ps pulse width. The detection limit was enhanced to 0.03 ppm (parts per million). We also saw that the spectra from the center and edge parts of plasma showed different features. Comparing the central spectra with the edge spectra, IHg/INO of the edge spectra was higher than that of the central spectra using the picosecond laser breakdown process.

Quantitative electrical detection of immobilized protein using gold nanoparticles and gold enhancement on a biochip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lei, Kin Fong

2011-01-01

Electrical detection of the concentration of protein immobilized on a biochip is demonstrated. The concentration of the direct immobilized protein can be determined by the resistance values measured by an ohm-meter directly. Indium tin oxide interdigitated electrodes were utilized as the detection sites on the biochip. Protein, i.e. antibody, of certain concentration was first immobilized on the detection site. Gold nanoparticles were then applied to indicate the immobilized protein. Since the gold nanoparticles were tiny, a detectable electrical signal could not be generated. Hence, a gold enhancement process was performed for signal amplification. Gold nanoparticles were enlarged physically, such that a conductive metal layer was formed on the detection site. The presence and concentration of protein can be determined by the resistance value across the electrode measured by an ohm-meter. An immobilized protein concentration ranging from 50 to 1000 ng ml −1 can be detected quantitatively by the resistance values from 4300 to 1700 Ω. The proposed technique is potentially extended for the detection of immunoassay on the biochip. Since the protocol of the electrical detection does not involve sophisticated equipment, it can therefore be used for the development of a portable immunoassay device

Non-invasive optical detection of HBV based on serum surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Zuci; Wang, Qiwen; Weng, Cuncheng; Lin, Xueliang; Lin, Yao; Feng, Shangyuan

2016-10-01

An optical method of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was developed for non-invasive detection of hepatitis B surface virus (HBV). Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) is an established serological marker that is routinely used for the diagnosis of acute or chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection. Utilizing SERS to analyze blood serum for detecting HBV has not been reported in previous literature. SERS measurements were performed on two groups of serum samples: one group for 50 HBV patients and the other group for 50 healthy volunteers. Blood serum samples are collected from healthy control subjects and patients diagnosed with HBV. Furthermore, principal components analysis (PCA) combined with linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were employed to differentiate HBV patients from healthy volunteer and achieved sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 74.0%. This exploratory work demonstrates that SERS serum analysis combined with PCA-LDA has tremendous potential for the non-invasive detection of HBV.

Rapid detection of acetamiprid in foods using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).

Science.gov (United States)

Wijaya, Wisiani; Pang, Shintaro; Labuza, Theodore P; He, Lili

2014-04-01

Acetamiprid is a neonicotinoid pesticide that is commonly used in modern farming. Acetamiprid residue in food commodities can be a potential harm to human and has been implicated in the honey bee hive die off crisis. In this study, we developed rapid, simple, and sensitive methods to detect acetamiprid in apple juice and on apple surfaces using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). No pretreatment of apple juice sample was performed. A simple surface swab method was used to recover acetamiprid from the apple surface. Samples were incubated with silver dendrites for several minutes and SERS spectra were taken directly from the silver surface. Detection of a set of 5 apple juice samples can be done within 10 min. The swab-SERS method took 15 min for a set of 5 samples. Resulting spectral data were analyzed using principal component analysis. The highest acetamiprid peak at 634 cm(-1) was used to detect and quantify the amount of acetamiprid spiked in 1:1 water-methanol solvent, apple juice, and on apple surface. The SERS method was able to successfully detect acetamiprid at 0.5 μg/mL (0.5 ppm) in solvent, 3 μg/mL (3 ppm) in apple juice, and 0.125 μg/cm(2) on apple surfaces. The SERS methods provide simple, rapid, and sensitive ways to detect acetamiprid in beverages and on the surfaces of thick skinned fruits and vegetables. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

Surface-enhanced Raman detection of RNA and DNA bases following flow-injection analysis or HPLC separation

Science.gov (United States)

Cotton, Therese M.; Sheng, Rong-Sheng; Ni, Fan

1990-11-01

The goal of this study is to develop Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection methods for flow injection analysis (FIA) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Nucleic acid bases have been chosen for analysis because of their importance in life processes. The advantages to the use of SERS-based detection include its sensitivity, specificity and versatility. With the development of improved methodology, the detection limits should be comparable to UV spectroscopy. However, the specificity is considerably superior to that obtained with electronic spectroscopy in that the Raman spectrum provides a molecular fingerprint of the individual analytes. Raman spectroscopy is very versatile: aqueous samples, gases and solids can be analyzed with equal facility. The results presented here demonstrate that SERS can be used as a detection method for both FIA and HPLC detection. In the following experiments Ag sols have been used as the active substrate. The effect of various parameters such as temperature, pH, flow rate, and the nature of the interface between the HPLC system and the Raman spectrometer have been examined. One of the most significant findings is that the temperature of the Ag sol/HPLC effluent mixture has a dramatic effect on the SERS intensities. This effect is a result of increased colloid aggregation at higher temperatures. Aggregation is known to produce greater enhancement in SERS and proceeds much more rapidly at elevated temperatures. An increase in the temperature of the Ag sol enables SERS detection under flowing conditions and in real time. This is a substantial improvement over many of the previous attempts to interface SERS detection to FIA or HPLC. In most of the previous studies, it was necessary to stop the flow as the analyte eluted from the chromatogram and measure the SERS spectra under static conditions.

Swarm Intelligence-Enhanced Detection of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Using Tumor-Educated Platelets.

Science.gov (United States)

Best, Myron G; Sol, Nik; In 't Veld, Sjors G J G; Vancura, Adrienne; Muller, Mirte; Niemeijer, Anna-Larissa N; Fejes, Aniko V; Tjon Kon Fat, Lee-Ann; Huis In 't Veld, Anna E; Leurs, Cyra; Le Large, Tessa Y; Meijer, Laura L; Kooi, Irsan E; Rustenburg, François; Schellen, Pepijn; Verschueren, Heleen; Post, Edward; Wedekind, Laurine E; Bracht, Jillian; Esenkbrink, Michelle; Wils, Leon; Favaro, Francesca; Schoonhoven, Jilian D; Tannous, Jihane; Meijers-Heijboer, Hanne; Kazemier, Geert; Giovannetti, Elisa; Reijneveld, Jaap C; Idema, Sander; Killestein, Joep; Heger, Michal; de Jager, Saskia C; Urbanus, Rolf T; Hoefer, Imo E; Pasterkamp, Gerard; Mannhalter, Christine; Gomez-Arroyo, Jose; Bogaard, Harm-Jan; Noske, David P; Vandertop, W Peter; van den Broek, Daan; Ylstra, Bauke; Nilsson, R Jonas A; Wesseling, Pieter; Karachaliou, Niki; Rosell, Rafael; Lee-Lewandrowski, Elizabeth; Lewandrowski, Kent B; Tannous, Bakhos A; de Langen, Adrianus J; Smit, Egbert F; van den Heuvel, Michel M; Wurdinger, Thomas

2017-08-14

Blood-based liquid biopsies, including tumor-educated blood platelets (TEPs), have emerged as promising biomarker sources for non-invasive detection of cancer. Here we demonstrate that particle-swarm optimization (PSO)-enhanced algorithms enable efficient selection of RNA biomarker panels from platelet RNA-sequencing libraries (n = 779). This resulted in accurate TEP-based detection of early- and late-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (n = 518 late-stage validation cohort, accuracy, 88%; AUC, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.92-0.96; p swarm intelligence may also benefit the optimization of diagnostics readout of other liquid biopsy biosources. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison between immediate and delayed imaging after gadolinium chelate injection for detecting enhanced lesions in multiple sclerosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alizadeh, A.; Roudbari, A.; Heidarzadeh, A.; Kouhsari, M.

2010-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging is a noninvasive and valuable method in the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. Compared with other modalities, the sensitivity of Magnetic resonance imaging for detection of the lesion increases using magnetization transfer and delayed imaging. Our aim was to compare the two methods in detecting Multiple Sclerosis lesions. Patients and Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial, twenty-one patients with the definite diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis referred to Poursina Hospital, Rasht were included. Two radiologists evaluated all the images. First, images without contrast were conducted, then 0.1 mmol/kg contrast material (Dotarem, single dose) was injected and after 30 minutes, T1W and magnetization transfer images were obtained. Seventy-two hours later, T1W images were obtained immediately after injection of 0.2 mmol/kg contrast material (double dose). The data were analyzed using Fisher's and McNemar tests by SPSS for Windows. Results: Delayed magnetization transfer showed 44 enhanced lesions using magnetization transfer (69.84%) and 29 lesions using T1 (46.03%). In addition, the number of enhanced lesions in the delayed method were significantly more than those in the immediate method (p value=0.003). Conclusion: The use of single dose in combination with magnetization transfer and delayed images after 20-30 minutes enables us to detect more enhanced lesions.

Bioconversion of Ginsenosides in the American Ginseng (西洋參 Xī Yáng Shēn Extraction Residue by Fermentation with Lingzhi (靈芝 Líng Zhī, Ganoderma Lucidum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Yang Hsu

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Ginseng (人参 Rén Shēn has been widely employed in functional foods and traditional medicines in many Asian countries. Owing to the high consumer demand of ginseng products, a large amount of ginseng residue is generated after extraction of ginseng. However, the ginseng residue still contains many bioactive compounds such as ginsenosides. The objective of this research was to convert ginsenosides in American ginseng (西洋參 Xī Yáng Shēn extraction residue (AmR by fermentation with lingzhi (靈芝 Líng Zhī, Ganoderma lucidum and the fermentation products will be used for further hypoglycemic activity research. Thus, this study was primarily focused on the ginsenosides that have been reported to possess hypoglycemic activity. In this study, the changes in seven ginsenoside [Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rc, Rg3(S, compound K (CK, and Rh2(S] in the products as affected by fermentation were investigated. Our results showed that the levels of ginsenosides, namely, Rg1, Rg3(S, and CK increased, while the other ginsenosides (Re, Rb1, and Rc decreased during the fermentation process.

Rapid and sensitive phenotypic marker detection on breast cancer cells using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sangyeop; Chon, Hyangah; Lee, Jiyoung; Ko, Juhui; Chung, Bong Hyun; Lim, Dong Woo; Choo, Jaebum

2014-01-15

We report a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based cellular imaging technique to detect and quantify breast cancer phenotypic markers expressed on cell surfaces. This technique involves the synthesis of SERS nano tags consisting of silica-encapsulated hollow gold nanospheres (SEHGNs) conjugated with specific antibodies. Hollow gold nanospheres (HGNs) enhance SERS signal intensity of individual particles by localizing surface electromagnetic fields through pinholes in the hollow particle structures. This capacity to enhance imaging at the level of single molecules permits the use of HGNs to detect specific biological markers expressed in living cancer cells. In addition, silica encapsulation greatly enhances the stability of nanoparticles. Here we applied a SERS-based imaging technique using SEHGNs in the multiplex imaging of three breast cancer cell phenotypes. Expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF), ErbB2, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptors were assessed in the MDA-MB-468, KPL4 and SK-BR-3 human breast cancer cell lines. SERS imaging technology described here can be used to test the phenotype of a cancer cell and quantify proteins expressed on the cell surface simultaneously. Based on results, this technique may enable an earlier diagnosis of breast cancer than is currently possible and offer guidance in treatment. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In Situ Detection of Trace Furfural in Aqueous Solution Based on Au Nanoparticle/Au Film Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Qi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Furfural is an important chemical solvent and intermediate. Sensitive detection of this compound has attracted great interest in various fields. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS is a highly sensitive method for material detection because of its optical enhancement effect of plasmonic nanostructures. This study presents a simple and versatile method to synthesize a SERS substrate, where polyaminothiophenol (PATP was used to realize the stable combination of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs and Au film via self-assembly. The near-field electric field distribution was calculated using the finite difference time domain (FDTD simulation to determine the parameters responsible for electric field enhancement. The simulation results show that SERS enhanced factors are sensitive to interparticle spacing and materials for solid support but insensitive to particle size. Moreover, the experimental results show that the optimized substrates with the highest Raman activity were formed by six layers of 60 nm AuNPs decorated on a 30 nm thick Au film, thereby validating the simulation results. The SERS factor of the optimal substrates is approximately 5.57 × 103, and the in situ detection limit is 4.8 ppm. The 3D Raman spectra, relative standard deviation values for major peaks, and changes in signal intensity with time show the good reproducibility and stability of the substrates.

Fiber-Amplifier-Enhanced QEPAS Sensor for Simultaneous Trace Gas Detection of NH3 and H2S

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongpeng Wu

2015-10-01

Full Text Available A selective and sensitive quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS sensor, employing an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA, and a distributed feedback (DFB laser operating at 1582 nm was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of ammonia (NH3 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S. Two interference-free absorption lines located at 6322.45 cm−1 and 6328.88 cm−1 for NH3 and H2S detection, respectively, were identified. The sensor was optimized in terms of current modulation depth for both of the two target gases. An electrical modulation cancellation unit was equipped to suppress the background noise caused by the stray light. An Allan-Werle variance analysis was performed to investigate the long-term performance of the fiber-amplifier-enhanced QEPAS sensor. Benefitting from the high power boosted by the EDFA, a detection sensitivity (1σ of 52 parts per billion by volume (ppbv and 17 ppbv for NH3 and H2S, respectively, were achieved with a 132 s data acquisition time at atmospheric pressure and room temperature.

Fiber-Amplifier-Enhanced QEPAS Sensor for Simultaneous Trace Gas Detection of NH3 and H2S

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hongpeng; Dong, Lei; Liu, Xiaoli; Zheng, Huadan; Yin, Xukun; Ma, Weiguang; Zhang, Lei; Yin, Wangbao; Jia, Suotang

2015-01-01

A selective and sensitive quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor, employing an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), and a distributed feedback (DFB) laser operating at 1582 nm was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Two interference-free absorption lines located at 6322.45 cm−1 and 6328.88 cm−1 for NH3 and H2S detection, respectively, were identified. The sensor was optimized in terms of current modulation depth for both of the two target gases. An electrical modulation cancellation unit was equipped to suppress the background noise caused by the stray light. An Allan-Werle variance analysis was performed to investigate the long-term performance of the fiber-amplifier-enhanced QEPAS sensor. Benefitting from the high power boosted by the EDFA, a detection sensitivity (1σ) of 52 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) and 17 ppbv for NH3 and H2S, respectively, were achieved with a 132 s data acquisition time at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. PMID:26506351

Detection of eosinophilic myocarditis using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, N.; Murakami, Y.; Shimada, T.; Kashima, Y.; Nakamura, K.; Inoue, S.-I.; Sugamori, T.; Katoh, H.; Ishibashi, Y.; Maruyama, R.

2001-01-01

Hypereosinophilic syndrome is characterized by idiopathic eosinophilia in the peripheral blood and multiorgan dysfunction secondary to mature eosinophil infiltration. It is essential to diagnose myocardial involvement in the early stage of the disease when active myocarditis due to cardiotoxic substances from eosinophils is still taking place, but clinical tools for the diagnosis of myocardial lesions in patients without overt cardiac dysfunction are not yet available. We present a case of successful detection of myocarditis due to hypereosinophilic syndrome by gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaascetic acid (Gd-DTPA) enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (author)

Detection of eosinophilic myocarditis using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: case report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takahashi, N.; Murakami, Y.; Shimada, T.; Kashima, Y.; Nakamura, K.; Inoue, S.-I.; Sugamori, T.; Katoh, H.; Ishibashi, Y. [Shimane Medical Univ., The Fourth Dept. of Internal Medicine, Izumo City, Shimane (Japan); Maruyama, R. [Shimane Medical Univ., Dept. of Laboratory Medicine, Izumo City, Shimane (Japan)

2001-02-01

Hypereosinophilic syndrome is characterized by idiopathic eosinophilia in the peripheral blood and multiorgan dysfunction secondary to mature eosinophil infiltration. It is essential to diagnose myocardial involvement in the early stage of the disease when active myocarditis due to cardiotoxic substances from eosinophils is still taking place, but clinical tools for the diagnosis of myocardial lesions in patients without overt cardiac dysfunction are not yet available. We present a case of successful detection of myocarditis due to hypereosinophilic syndrome by gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaascetic acid (Gd-DTPA) enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (author)

Detection of tobacco-related biomarkers in urine samples by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy coupled with thin-layer chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Rongfu; Han, Sungyub; Li, Xiao Sheryl

2013-08-01

The nicotine metabolites, cotinine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine (3HC) are considered as superior biomarkers for identifying tobacco exposure. More importantly, the ratio of 3HC to cotinine is a good indicator to phenotype individuals for cytochrome P450 2A6 activity and to individualize pharmacotherapy for tobacco addiction. In this paper, a simple, robust and novel method based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy coupled with thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was developed to directly quantify the biomarkers in human urine samples. This is the first time surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used to detect cotinine and 3HC in urine samples. The linear dynamic range for the detection of cotinine is from 40 nM to 8 μM while that of 3HC is from 1 μM to 15 μM. The detection limits are 10 nM and 0.2 μM for cotinine and 3HC, respectively. The proposed method was further validated by quantifying the concentration of both cotinine and 3HC in smokers' urine samples. This TLC-SERS method allows the direct detection of cotinine in the urine samples of both active and passive smokers and the detection of 3HC in smokers.

Label-Free Detection of Glycan-Protein Interactions for Array Development by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Li, Xiuru; Martin, Sharon J H; Chinoy, Zoeisha S; Liu, Lin; Rittgers, Brandon; Dluhy, Richard A; Boons, Geert-Jan

2016-01-01

A glyco-array platform has been developed, in which glycans are attached to plasmonic nanoparticles through strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Glycan-protein binding events can then be detected in a label-free manner employing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). As proof of concept,

Use of a fractal-like gold nanostructure in surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy for detection of selected food contaminants.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Lili; Kim, Nam-Jung; Li, Hao; Hu, Zhiqiang; Lin, Mengshi

2008-11-12

The safety of imported seafood products because of the contamination of prohibited substances, including crystal violet (CV) and malachite green (MG), raised a great deal of concern in the United States. In this study, a fractal-like gold nanostructure was developed through a self-assembly process and the feasibility of using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) coupled with this nanostructure for detection of CV, MG, and their mixture (1:1) was explored. SERS was capable of characterizing and differentiating CV, MG, and their mixture on fractal-like gold nanostructures quickly and accurately. The enhancement factor of the gold nanostructures could reach an impressive level of approximately 4 x 10(7), and the lowest detectable concentration for the dye molecules was at approximately 0.2 ppb level. These results indicate that SERS coupled with fractal-like gold nanostructures holds a great potential as a rapid and ultra-sensitive method for detecting trace amounts of prohibited substances in contaminated food samples.

The added value of 68Ga-DOTA-TATE-PET to contrast-enhanced CT for primary site detection in CUP of neuroendocrine origin.

Science.gov (United States)

Kazmierczak, Philipp M; Rominger, Axel; Wenter, Vera; Spitzweg, Christine; Auernhammer, Christoph; Angele, Martin K; Rist, Carsten; Cyran, Clemens C

2017-04-01

To quantify the additional value of 68 Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT in comparison with contrast-enhanced CT alone for primary tumour detection in neuroendocrine cancer of unknown primary (CUP-NET). In total, 38 consecutive patients (27 men, 11 women; mean age 62 years) with histologically proven CUP-NET who underwent a contrast-enhanced 68 Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT scan for primary tumour detection and staging between 2010 and 2014 were included in this IRB-approved retrospective study. Two blinded readers independently analysed the contrast-enhanced CT and 68 Ga-DOTA-TATE PET datasets separately and noted from which modality they suspected a primary tumour. Consensus was reached if the results were divergent. Postoperative histopathology (24 patients) and follow-up 68 Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT imaging (14 patients) served as the reference standards and statistical measures of diagnostic accuracy were calculated accordingly. The majority of confirmed primary tumours were located in the abdomen (ileum in 19 patients, pancreas in 12, lung in 2, small pelvis in 1). High interobserver agreement was noted regarding the suspected primary tumour site (Cohen's k 0.90, p DOTA-TATE PET demonstrated a significantly higher sensitivity (94 % vs. 63 %, p = 0.005) and a significantly higher accuracy (87 % vs. 68 %, p = 0.003) than contrast-enhanced CT. Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT compared with contrast-enhanced CT alone provides an improvement in sensitivity of 50 % and an improvement in accuracy of 30 % in primary tumour detection in CUP-NET. • 68 Ga-DOTA-TATE PET augments the sensitivity of contrast-enhanced CT by 50 % • 68 Ga-DOTA-TATE PET augments the accuracy of contrast-enhanced CT by 30 % • Somatostatin receptor-targeted hybrid imaging optimizes primary tumour detection in CUP-NET.

Enhanced Peptide Detection Toward Single-Neuron Proteomics by Reversed-Phase Fractionation Capillary Electrophoresis Mass Spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sam B.; Lombard-Banek, Camille; Muñoz-LLancao, Pablo; Manzini, M. Chiara; Nemes, Peter

2018-05-01

The ability to detect peptides and proteins in single cells is vital for understanding cell heterogeneity in the nervous system. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) nanoelectrospray ionization (nanoESI) provides high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) with trace-level sensitivity, but compressed separation during CE challenges protein identification by tandem HRMS with limited MS/MS duty cycle. Here, we supplemented ultrasensitive CE-nanoESI-HRMS with reversed-phase (RP) fractionation to enhance identifications from protein digest amounts that approximate to a few mammalian neurons. An 1 to 20 μg neuronal protein digest was fractionated on a RP column (ZipTip), and 1 ng to 500 pg of peptides were analyzed by a custom-built CE-HRMS system. Compared with the control (no fractionation), RP fractionation improved CE separation (theoretical plates 274,000 versus 412,000 maximum, resp.), which enhanced detection sensitivity (2.5-fold higher signal-to-noise ratio), minimized co-isolation spectral interferences during MS/MS, and increased the temporal rate of peptide identification by up to 57%. From 1 ng of protein digest (organization. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Soy flour-derived carbon dots: facile preparation, fluorescence enhancement, and sensitive Fe{sup 3+} detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, Liyang; Xu, Qian [China University of Petroleum, State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing (China); Zheng, Xing [Bei Jing Sinen En-Tech Co., Ltd (China); Zhang, Weina; Zheng, Jingtang, E-mail: jtzheng03@163.com; Wu, Mingbo, E-mail: wumb@upc.edu.cn; Wu, Wenting, E-mail: wuwt@upc.edu.cn [China University of Petroleum, State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing (China)

2016-08-15

Soy flour-derived carbon quantum dots (C-dots) were successfully synthesized via a facile one-step hydrothermal approach. The as-prepared C-dots exhibit an average diameter of 2.5 nm and the crystalline lattices are consistent with graphitic carbons. Meanwhile, they show strong photoluminescence (quantum yield is 7.85 %), good water solubility, and high photostability. Importantly, structural defects of the C-dots were designed to obtain controllable fluorescence, which was achieved by changing the contents of N defects and O defects of C-dots. Our results indicate that N defects can more effectively enhance the fluorescence emission than O defects. As the preparation temperature increases, the N defects are fine-tuned by substituting for partial O defects, reducing nonradiative recombination and enhancing fluorescence intensity, which is further confirmed by surface passivation. Due to its fine photostability, high sensitivity, and good selectivity for Fe{sup 3+}, the as-prepared C-dots were used as fluorescence probes for detection of ferric ion. The detection limitation comes to 0.021 µM.

RF plasma deposition of thin Si{sub x}Ge{sub y}C{sub z}:H films using a combination of organometallic source materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rapiejko, C. [Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Technical University of LodzLz Stefanowskiego 1, 90-924 Lodz (Poland); Gazicki-Lipman, M. [Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Technical University of LodzLz Stefanowskiego 1, 90-924 Lodz (Poland)]. E-mail: gazickim@p.lodz.pl; Klimek, L. [Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Technical University of LodzLz Stefanowskiego 1, 90-924 Lodz (Poland); Szymanowski, H. [Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Technical University of LodzLz Stefanowskiego 1, 90-924 Lodz (Poland); Strojek, M. [Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Technical University of LodzLz Stefanowskiego 1, 90-924 Lodz (Poland)

2004-12-22

Elements of the IV group of periodic table have been strongly present in the fast development of PECVD techniques for the last two decades at least. As a result, deposition technologies of such materials as a-Si:H, a-C:H, m{mu}-C:H or DLC have been successfully established. What has followed is an ever growing interest in binary systems of the A{sub x}(IV)B{sub y}(IV):H kind. One possible way to deposit such systems is to use organosilicon compounds (to deposit Si{sub x}C{sub y}:H films) or organogermanium compounds (to deposit Ge{sub x}C{sub y}:H films), as source substances. The present paper reports on a RF plasma deposition of a Si{sub x}Ge{sub y}C{sub z}:H ternary system, using a combination of organosilicon and organogermanium compounds. Thin Si/Ge/C films have been fabricated in a small volume (ca. 2 dm{sup 3}) parallel plate RF plasma reactor using, as a source material, a combination of tetramethylsilane (TMS) and tetramethylgermanium (TMG) vapours carried by argon. SEM investigations reveal a continuous compact character of the coatings and their uniform thickness. The elemental composition of the films has been studied using EDX analysis. The results of the analysis show that the elemental composition of the films can be controlled by both the TMG/TMS ratio of the initial mixture and the RF power input. Ellipsometric measurements show good homogeneity of these materials. Chemical bonding in the films has been studied using the FTIR technique. Bandgap calculations have been carried out using ellipsometric data and by applying both the Tauc law and the Moss approach.

Label and label-free based surface-enhanced Raman scattering for pathogen bacteria detection: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yu; Zhou, Haibo; Hu, Ziwei; Yu, Guangxia; Yang, Danting; Zhao, Jinshun

2017-08-15

Rapid, accurate detection of pathogen bacteria is a highly topical research area for the sake of food safety and public health. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is being considered as a powerful and attractive technique for pathogen bacteria detection, due to its sensitivity, high speed, comparatively low cost, multiplexing ability and portability. This contribution aims to give a comprehensive overview of SERS as a technique for rapid detection of pathogen bacteria based on label and label-free strategies. A brief tutorial on SERS is given first of all. Then we summarize the recent trends and developments of label and label-free based SERS applied to detection of pathogen bacteria, including the relatively complete interpretation of SERS spectra. In addition, multifunctional SERS platforms for pathogen bacteria in matrix are discussed as well. Furthermore, an outlook of the work done and a perspective on the future directions of SERS as a reliable tool for real-time pathogen bacteria detection are given. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chinese medicine patterns in patients with post-stroke dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Nou-Ying; Liu, Chung-Hsiang; Liu, Hsu-Jan; Li, Tsai-Chung; Liu, Jui-Chen; Chen, Ping-Kun; Hsieh, Ching-Liang

2012-04-01

A stroke often results in post-stroke dementia, a rapid decline in memory and intelligence causing dysfunctions in daily life. The Chinese medicine doctor uses 4 examinations of inspection, listening, smelling, and feeling to determine the Chinese medicine pattern (CMP). Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the CMP in patients with post-stroke dementia. A total of 101 stroke patients were examined, consistent with the DSM IV diagnostic criteria of the American Psychiatric Association, as well as the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke-Association International pour Ia Recherche et I'Enseignement en Neurosciences vascular dementia diagnostic criteria of post-stroke dementia. 100 patients (99.0%) were KEDP (kidney essence deficiency pattern, shèn jīng kuī xū zhèng, ), 83 patients were AHLYP (ascendant hyperactivity of liver yang pattern, gān yáng shàng kàng zhèng, ), 83 patients were QBDP (qi-blood deficiency pattern, qì xuè kuī xū zhèng, ), 81 patients were SBOCP (static blood obstructing the collaterals pattern, yū xuè zǔ luò zhèng, ), 72 patients were BSTRP (bowels stagnation turbidity retention pattern, fǔ zhì zhuó liú zhèng, ), 50 patients were FHIEP (fire heat interior excess pattern, huǒ rè nèi sheng zhèng, ), and 39 participants (38.6%) were PTOOP (phlegm turbidity obstructing the orifices pattern, tán zhuó zǔ qiào zhèng, ); one to 31 patients have at least 2 CMPs simultaneously. In conclusion, the most CMP is KEDP CMP in the post-stroke dementia patients, and one patient may have one or at least 2 CMPs simultaneously.

Enhanced UV light detection using a p-terphenyl wavelength shifter

Science.gov (United States)

Joosten, S.; Kaczanowicz, E.; Ungaro, M.; Rehfuss, M.; Johnston, K.; Meziani, Z.-E.

2017-10-01

UV-glass photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) have poor photon detection efficiency for wavelengths below 300 nm due to the opaqueness of the window material. Costly quartz PMTs could be used to enhance the efficiency below 300 nm. A less expensive solution that dramatically improves this efficiency is the application of a thin film of a p-terphenyl (PT) wavelength shifter on UV-glass PMTs. This improvement was quantified for Photonis XP4500B PMTs for wavelengths between 200 nm and 400 nm. The gain factor ranges up to 5 . 4 ± 0 . 5 at a wavelength of 215 nm, with a material load of 110 ± 10 μg /cm2 (894 nm). The wavelength shifter was found to be fully transparent for wavelengths greater than 300 nm. The resulting gain in detection efficiency, when used in a typical C̆erenkov counter, was estimated to be of the order of 40%. Consistent coating quality was assured by a rapid gain testing procedure using narrow-band UV LEDs. Based on these results, 200 Photonis XP4500B PMTs were treated with PT for the upgraded low-threshold C̆erenkov counter (LTCC) to be used in the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer upgraded detector (CLAS12) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

Carcass fabrication yields of beef steers supplemented zilpaterol hydrochloride and offered ad libitum or maintenance energy intake.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitz, Angela N; Walter, Lee-Anne J; Nichols, Wade T; Hutcheson, John P; Lawrence, Ty E

2018-06-04

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the fabrication yields of carcasses from beef steers supplemented zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) and fed at maintenance (MA) or ad libitum (AB) intake levels. Beef steers (n = 56) from a common sire were blocked (n = 28 per block) by terminal growth implant and sorted into pairs by BW. Four pairs (n = 8) were harvested on day 0; the remaining 24 pairs (n = 48) were assigned to a dietary intake level (MA or AB) and days on feed (28 or 56 d). Within pairs of MA or AB intakes, steers harvested on day 56 were randomly assigned to supplementation of ZH (90 mg·d-1 per steer) for 20 d followed by a withdrawal period of 4 d or control (C). Steers (BW = 603.5 ± 48.1 kg) were harvested at a commercial processing facility. After a 24-h chill period, standard USDA grading procedures were used to derive a calculated yield grade and quality grade. Following grading, left carcass sides were transported to the West Texas A&M University Meat Laboratory for fabrication. Each side was fabricated into subprimals to determine individual red meat yield (RMY), trimmable fat yield (TFY), and bone yield (BY). A mixed model was used for analysis; fixed effects included treatment combinations and random effects included block and pairs. Single df contrasts tested day 0 vs. 28, day 0 vs. 56, day 28 vs. 56, MA vs. AB, and C vs. ZH. Yield of chuck eye roll differed (P = 0.05) by days on feed (0 d = 4.14, 28 d = 4.11, 56 d = 4.55%). Similarly, eye of round yield was impacted (P = 0.02) by days on feed (0 d = 1.51, 28 d = 1.37, 56 d = 1.36%). Additionally, brisket yield was altered (P < 0.01) by days on feed (0 d = 4.08, 28 d = 3.56, 56 d = 3.48%) and treatment (C = 3.34, ZH = 3.61%). For remaining subprimals, no differences (P ≥ 0.15) were detected. Furthermore, results indicated that RMY tended (P = 0.07) to differ by treatment (C = 61.35, ZH = 63.67%). Comparatively, TFY was impacted (P = 0.04) by intake (MA = 20.44, AB = 23.33%). Results from this

Detection of microcalcifications in television-enhanced nonmagnified screen-film mammograms compared with matching magnification unenhanced mammograms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimme-Smith, C.; Gormley, L.S.; Gold, R.H.; Bassett, L.W.

1988-01-01

The object of this investigation was to determine which imaging method was associated with greater accuracy in the interpretation of breast microcalcifications: 1.5X to 2.0X magnification with a microfocal spot or Damon DETECT-enhanced mammograms. The authors' test series consisted of matched pairs of images of 31 breasts, each containing a cluster of microcalcifications within a biopsy-proved benign (N = 21) or malignant (N =10) lesion. Three experienced mammographers and three senior radiology residents with 2 weeks of training in mammography interpreted the calcifications. On the basis of receiver operating characteristic analysis, the authors conclude that (1) inexperienced mammographers should not use television image enhancement alone to evaluate microcalcifications and (2) television-enhanced mammograms are not a substitute for microfocal spot magnification mammograms

Comparison of gadolinium-EOB-DTPA-enhanced and diffusion-weighted liver MRI for detection of small hepatic metastases.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimada, Kotaro; Isoda, Hiroyoshi; Hirokawa, Yuusuke; Arizono, Shigeki; Shibata, Toshiya; Togashi, Kaori

2010-11-01

To compare the accuracy of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced MRI with that of diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) in the detection of small hepatic metastases (2 cm or smaller). Forty-five patients underwent abdominal MRI at 3 T, including T1-weighted imaging (T1WI), T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), heavily T2WI (HASTE), DWI with a b-value of 500 s/mm(2) and contrast-enhanced MRI with Gd-EOB-DTPA. Two groups were assigned and compared: group A (T1WI, T2WI, HASTE and contrast-enhanced study with Gd-EOB-DTPA), and group B (T1WI, T2WI, HASTE and DWI). Two observers independently interpreted the images obtained in a random order. For all hepatic metastases, the diagnostic performance using each imaging set was evaluated by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. A total of 51 hepatic metastases were confirmed. The area under the ROC curve (Az) of group A was larger than that of group B, and the difference in the mean Az values between the two image sets was statistically significant, whereas, there were three metastases that lay near thin vessels or among multiple cysts and were better visualised in group B than in group A. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI showed higher accuracy in the detection of small metastases than DWI.

M13 Bacteriophage/Silver Nanowire Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensor for Sensitive and Selective Pesticide Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Koh, Eun Hye; Mun, ChaeWon; Kim, ChunTae; Park, Sung-Gyu; Choi, Eun Jung; Kim, Sun Ho; Dang, Jaejeung; Choo, Jaebum; Oh, Jin-Woo; Kim, Dong-Ho; Jung, Ho Sang

2018-03-28

A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor comprising silver nanowires (AgNWs) and genetically engineered M13 bacteriophages expressing a tryptophan-histidine-tryptophan (WHW) peptide sequence (BPWHW) was fabricated by simple mixing of BPWHW and AgNW solutions, followed by vacuum filtration onto a glass-fiber filter paper (GFFP) membrane. The AgNWs stacked on the GFFP formed a high density of SERS-active hot spots at the points of nanowire intersections, and the surface-coated BPWHW functioned as a bioreceptor for selective pesticide detection. The BPWHW-functionalized AgNW (BPWHW/AgNW) sensor was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The Raman signal enhancement and the selective pesticide SERS detection properties of the BPWHW/AgNW sensor were investigated in the presence of control substrates such as wild-type M13 bacteriophage-decorated AgNWs (BPWT/AgNW) and undecorated AgNWs (AgNW). The BPWHW/AgNW sensor exhibited a significantly higher capture capability for pesticides, especially paraquat (PQ), than the control SERS substrates, and it also showed a relatively higher selectivity for PQ than for other bipyridylium pesticides such as diquat and difenzoquat. Furthermore, as a field application test, PQ was detected on the surface of PQ-pretreated apple peels, and the results demonstrated the feasibility of using a paper-based SERS substrate for on-site residual pesticide detection. The developed M13 bacteriophage-functionalized AgNW SERS sensor might be applicable for the detection of various pesticides and chemicals through modification of the M13 bacteriophage surface peptide sequence.

Detection of motion artifacts in optical coherence tomography using the fundus enhancement system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaudig, U.; Skevas, C.; Scholz, F.

2007-01-01

Extensive artefacts due to major eye movements are detectable in optical coherence tomography images (OCT), but frequency and extent of small eye movements have not been studied. To investigate frequency and extent of irregularities in OCT imaging due to eye movements during the scanning process in OCT. A fundus enhancement system (FES) originally designed to improve retinal image quality in a conventional OCT device (Zeiss Stratus OCT) in order to integrate OCT images into fluorescence angiographies was used to record the scanning process and review OCT-scan acquisition in slow motion. A horizontal and a vertical single line scan of 5 mm length through the center of fixation were obtained in 40 eyes of 20 normal healthy subjects, all with a visual acuity of at least 20/20. Scans were investigated for loss of fixation and eye movements during the scanning process. Outcome measures were presence or absence of eye movements during the scanning process and mean deviation from the intended scan position, measured in millimeter. 7 of 20 patients showed no eye movements in both eyes. 4 of the remaining 13 patients showed eye movements only in one eye. In the eyes with detectable movements, the mean deviation from the intended scan position was 0.2 mm in the horizontal and 0.28 mm in the vertical scans. Fundus imaging in conventional systems can be enhanced to detect artifacts due to minimal eye movements during the scanning process. In this first series with normal healthy subjects, minimal eye movements were present in the over half of the investigations. Although the distances from the intended scan positions seem to be small in normal eyes, further investigations of the phenomenon are necessary. OCT is increasingly used as the primary tool for controlling therapy in macular diseases and the extent of motion artefacts is not known. (author) [de

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced analytical atomic spectrometry - NICE-AAS - A technique for detection of elements down to zeptogram amounts

Science.gov (United States)

Axner, Ove; Ehlers, Patrick; Hausmaninger, Thomas; Silander, Isak; Ma, Weiguang

2014-10-01

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS) is a powerful technique for detection of molecular compounds in gas phase that is based on a combination of two important concepts: frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) for reduction of noise, and cavity enhancement, for prolongation of the interaction length between the light and the sample. Due to its unique properties, it has demonstrated unparalleled detection sensitivity when it comes to detection of molecular constituents in the gas phase. However, despite these, it has so far not been used for detection of atoms, i.e. for elemental analysis. The present work presents an assessment of the expected performance of Doppler-broadened (Db) NICE-OHMS for analytical atomic spectrometry, then referred to as noise-immune cavity-enhanced analytical atomic spectrometry (NICE-AAS). After a description of the basic principles of Db-NICE-OHMS, the modulation and detection conditions for optimum performance are identified. Based on a previous demonstrated detection sensitivity of Db-NICE-OHMS of 5 × 10- 12 cm- 1 Hz- 1/2 (corresponding to a single-pass absorbance of 7 × 10- 11 over 10 s), the expected limits of detection (LODs) of Hg and Na by NICE-AAS are estimated. Hg is assumed to be detected in gas phase directly while Na is considered to be atomized in a graphite furnace (GF) prior to detection. It is shown that in the absence of spectral interferences, contaminated sample compartments, and optical saturation, it should be feasible to detect Hg down to 10 zg/cm3 (10 fg/m3 or 10- 5 ng/m3), which corresponds to 25 atoms/cm3, and Na down to 0.5 zg (zg = zeptogram = 10- 21 g), representing 50 zg/mL (parts-per-sextillion, pps, 1:1021) in liquid solution (assuming a sample of 10 μL) or solely 15 atoms injected into the GF, respectively. These LODs are several orders of magnitude lower (better) than any previous laser-based absorption technique previously demonstrated under atmospheric

Identification of mutations in the M RNA of a candidate vaccine strain of Rift Valley fever virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Takehara, K; Min, M K; Battles, J K; Sugiyama, K; Emery, V C; Dalrymple, J M; Bishop, D H

1989-04-01

The M RNA species of a candidate vaccine strain of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV ZH-548M12), derived by consecutive high level mutagenesis using 5-fluorouracil (H. Caplen, C. J. Peters, and D. H. L. Bishop, J. Gen. Virol., 66, 2271-2277, 1985), has been cloned and the cDNA sequenced. The data have been compared to those obtained for the parent virus strain RVFV ZH-548 as well as the previously published data for RVFV ZH-501 (M. S. Collett, A. F. Purchio, K. Keegan, S. Frazier, W. Hays, D. K. Anderson, M. D. Parker, C. Schmaljohn, J. Schmidt, and J. M. Dalrymple, Virology, 144, 228-245, 1985). Some eight nucleotide and three amino acid differences were identified between the M RNAs of ZH-501 and ZH-548. Between the M RNAs of ZH-548 and that of the M12 mutant there were 12 nucleotide and 7 amino acid changes. Unique to the mutant virus is a new AUG codon upstream of that which initiates the open reading frame of the RVFV M gene product (the viral glycoprotein precursor). The significance of this and other differences in the mutant RNA with regard to the derivation and potential attenuation of the candidate vaccine is discussed.

Optical resonance-enhanced absorption-based near-field immunochip biosensor for allergen detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Maier, Irene; Morgan, Michael R A; Lindner, Wolfgang; Pittner, Fritz

2008-04-15

An optical immunochip biosensor has been developed as a rapid method for allergen detection in complex food matrixes, and its application evaluated for the detection of the egg white allergens, ovalbumin and ovomucoid. The optical near-field phenomenon underlying the basic principle of the sensor design is called resonance-enhanced absorption (REA), which utilizes gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) as signal transducers in a highly sensitive interferometric setup. Using this approach, a novel, simple, and rapid colorimetric solid-phase immunoassay on a planar chip substrate was realized in direct and sandwich assay formats, with a detection system that does not require any instrumentation for readout. Semiquantitative immunochemical responses are directly visible to the naked eye of the analyst. The biosensor shows concentration-dependent color development by capturing antibody-functionalized Au NPs on allergen-coated chips and has a detection limit of 1 ng/mL. To establish a rapid method, we took advantage of the physicochemical microenvironment of the Au NP-antibody bioconjugate to be bound directly over an interacting poly(styrene-methyl methacrylate) interlayer by an immobilized antigen. In the direct assay format, a coating time with allergen of only 5 min under "soft" nondenaturing conditions was sufficient for accurate reproducibility and sensitivity. In conclusion, the REA-based immunochip sensor is easy to fabricate, is reproducible and selective in its performance, has minimal technical requirements, and will enable high-throughput screening of affinity binding interactions in technological and medical applications.

Enhancing the mathematical properties of new haplotype homozygosity statistics for the detection of selective sweeps.

Science.gov (United States)

Garud, Nandita R; Rosenberg, Noah A

2015-06-01

Soft selective sweeps represent an important form of adaptation in which multiple haplotypes bearing adaptive alleles rise to high frequency. Most statistical methods for detecting selective sweeps from genetic polymorphism data, however, have focused on identifying hard selective sweeps in which a favored allele appears on a single haplotypic background; these methods might be underpowered to detect soft sweeps. Among exceptions is the set of haplotype homozygosity statistics introduced for the detection of soft sweeps by Garud et al. (2015). These statistics, examining frequencies of multiple haplotypes in relation to each other, include H12, a statistic designed to identify both hard and soft selective sweeps, and H2/H1, a statistic that conditional on high H12 values seeks to distinguish between hard and soft sweeps. A challenge in the use of H2/H1 is that its range depends on the associated value of H12, so that equal H2/H1 values might provide different levels of support for a soft sweep model at different values of H12. Here, we enhance the H12 and H2/H1 haplotype homozygosity statistics for selective sweep detection by deriving the upper bound on H2/H1 as a function of H12, thereby generating a statistic that normalizes H2/H1 to lie between 0 and 1. Through a reanalysis of resequencing data from inbred lines of Drosophila, we show that the enhanced statistic both strengthens interpretations obtained with the unnormalized statistic and leads to empirical insights that are less readily apparent without the normalization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Detection of hepatocellular carcinoma: Comparison of gadoxetic acis-enhanced MIRI, diffusion-weighted imaging, and combined interpretation at 3 T MIRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Seung Hyun; Chung, Yong Eun; Kim, Ki Whang; Kim, Myeong Jin; Hong, Hye Suk

2013-01-01

To compare diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and gadoxetic acid-enhanced (Gdx) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), whether alone or in combination, for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by using 3 T. 84 HCCs in 66 patients (57 men, 9 women; mean age 69.2 years) were examined using 3 T MRI. DWI (b values 0, 50, and 800 sec/mm2) and dynamic gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI as well as hepatobiliary phase were performed. Images were retrospectively reviewed by two radiologists to compare the diagnostic performances of DWI and Gdx MRI alone and in combination for the detection of HCC. Alternative free response receiver operating characteristic analysis and comparison of sensitivities were used for statistical analysis. The sensitivity of Gdx set (73/84, 87%) was significantly higher than that of DWI set (60.5/84, 72%) for both observers. The Az values of DWI and Gdx MRI for the detection of HCC were not statistically significant for either observer (Az for DWI = 0.818 and 0.864, Az for Gdx MR = 0.902 and 0.842, respectively, p = 0.107 for observer 1 and p = 0.738 for observer 2). The combination of both techniques did not increase the sensitivities of detecting HCC in either observer. When lesions smaller than 2 cm were considered, the DWI set yielded a significantly lower sensitivity as compared with either the Gdx set alone or the combination set. Gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI was better than DWI for detection the HCC by using 3 T MRI. The combination of DWI and Gdx MRI did not contribute to the successful detection of HCC.

Structure-selective hot-spot Raman enhancement for direct identification and detection of trace penicilloic acid allergen in penicillin.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liying; Jin, Yang; Mao, Hui; Zheng, Lei; Zhao, Jiawei; Peng, Yan; Du, Shuhu; Zhang, Zhongping

2014-08-15

Trace penicilloic acid allergen frequently leads to various fatal immune responses to many patients, but it is still a challenge to directly discriminate and detect its residue in penicillin by a chemosensing way. Here, we report that silver-coated gold nanoparticles (Au@Ag NPs) exhibit a structure-selective hot-spot Raman enhancement capability for direct identification and detection of trace penicilloic acid in penicillin. It has been demonstrated that penicilloic acid can very easily link Au@Ag NPs together by its two carboxyl groups, locating itself spontaneously at the interparticle of Au@Ag NPs to form strong Raman hot-spot. At the critical concentration inducing the nanoparticle aggregation, Raman-enhanced effect of penicilloic acid is ~60,000 folds higher than that of penicillin. In particular, the selective Raman enhancement to the two carboxyl groups makes the peak of carboxyl group at C6 of penicilloic acid appear as a new Raman signal due to the opening of β-lactam ring of penicillin. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoparticle sensor reaches a sensitive limit lower than the prescribed 1.0‰ penicilloic acid residue in penicillin. The novel strategy to examine allergen is more rapid, convenient and inexpensive than the conventional separation-based assay methods. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Micro-array versus nano-array platforms: a comparative study for ODN detection based on SPR enhanced ellipsometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Celen, Burcu; Piskin, Erhan; Demirel, Goekhan

2011-01-01

The rapid and sensitive detection of DNA has recently attracted worldwide attention for a variety of disease diagnoses and detection of harmful bacteria in food and drink. In this paper, we carried out a comparative study based on surface plasmon resonance enhanced ellipsometry (SPREE) for the detection of oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) using micro- and nano-array platforms. The micro-arrayed surfaces were fabricated by a photolithography approach using different types of mask having varying size and shape. Well-ordered arrays of high aspect ratio polymeric nanotubes were also obtained using high molecular weight polystyrene (PS) and anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes having 200 nm pore diameters. The SPREE sensors were then prepared by direct coupling of thiolated probe-ODNs, which contain suitable spacer arms, on gold-coated micro- and nano-arrayed surfaces. We experimentally demonstrated that, for the first time, gold-coated free standing polymeric nano-arrayed platforms can easily be produced and lead to a significant sensor sensitivity gain compared to that of the conventional SPREE surfaces of about four times. We believe that such an enhancement in sensor response could be useful for next generation sensor systems.

Micro-array versus nano-array platforms: a comparative study for ODN detection based on SPR enhanced ellipsometry

Science.gov (United States)

Celen, Burcu; Demirel, Gökhan; Piskin, Erhan

2011-04-01

The rapid and sensitive detection of DNA has recently attracted worldwide attention for a variety of disease diagnoses and detection of harmful bacteria in food and drink. In this paper, we carried out a comparative study based on surface plasmon resonance enhanced ellipsometry (SPREE) for the detection of oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) using micro- and nano-array platforms. The micro-arrayed surfaces were fabricated by a photolithography approach using different types of mask having varying size and shape. Well-ordered arrays of high aspect ratio polymeric nanotubes were also obtained using high molecular weight polystyrene (PS) and anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes having 200 nm pore diameters. The SPREE sensors were then prepared by direct coupling of thiolated probe-ODNs, which contain suitable spacer arms, on gold-coated micro- and nano-arrayed surfaces. We experimentally demonstrated that, for the first time, gold-coated free standing polymeric nano-arrayed platforms can easily be produced and lead to a significant sensor sensitivity gain compared to that of the conventional SPREE surfaces of about four times. We believe that such an enhancement in sensor response could be useful for next generation sensor systems.

Comparative study of protoporphyrin IX fluorescence image enhancement methods to improve an optical imaging system for oral cancer detection

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Ching-Fen; Wang, Chih-Yu; Chiang, Chun-Ping

2011-07-01

Optoelectronics techniques to induce protoporphyrin IX fluorescence with topically applied 5-aminolevulinic acid on the oral mucosa have been developed to noninvasively detect oral cancer. Fluorescence imaging enables wide-area screening for oral premalignancy, but the lack of an adequate fluorescence enhancement method restricts the clinical imaging application of these techniques. This study aimed to develop a reliable fluorescence enhancement method to improve PpIX fluorescence imaging systems for oral cancer detection. Three contrast features, red-green-blue reflectance difference, R/B ratio, and R/G ratio, were developed first based on the optical properties of the fluorescence images. A comparative study was then carried out with one negative control and four biopsy confirmed clinical cases to validate the optimal image processing method for the detection of the distribution of malignancy. The results showed the superiority of the R/G ratio in terms of yielding a better contrast between normal and neoplastic tissue, and this method was less prone to errors in detection. Quantitative comparison with the clinical diagnoses in the four neoplastic cases showed that the regions of premalignancy obtained using the proposed method accorded with the expert's determination, suggesting the potential clinical application of this method for the detection of oral cancer.

Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound for Detection of Crohn's Disease Activity: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

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Serafin, Zbigniew; Białecki, Marcin; Białecka, Agnieszka; Sconfienza, Luca Maria; Kłopocka, Maria

2016-03-01

Reports on imaging of active Crohn's disease (aCD) using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) are encouraging. However, the statistical power of most published papers is limited due to the small size of the patient groups included. This study was performed to verify the diagnostic value of CEUS in detecting aCD. A systematic literature search was performed by two independent reviewers for articles on the test characteristics of CEUS for the identification of aCD. The quality of the analysed studies was evaluated using a quality assessment tool for diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS-2). Pooling was performed using a diagnostic random-effect model and bivariate analysis. Eight articles were included in the final analysis, with a total of 332 patients. There was no significant publication bias. Significant heterogeneity was found regarding CEUS methodology and sonographic definitions of aCD. In a bivariate analysis, pooled sensitivity was 0.94 (95% CI 0.87-0.97) and pooled specificity was 0.79 (95% CI 0.67-0.88). Spearman correlation statistics presented no significant diagnostic threshold effect (r = 0.12, p > 0.9). Subgroup analysis showed that relative intestine wall enhancement had the highest diagnostic value (area under the curve 94%), while the presence of enhancement and analysis of the slope were less useful (area under the curve 91 and 90%, respectively). CEUS presents good sensitivity and moderate specificity in the detection of the aCD. Large-scale randomized trials with quantitative evaluation of CEUS images are necessary to promote this technique in clinical practice. Copyright © 2015 European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Detection of hepatocellular carcinoma in gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and diffusion-weighted MRI with respect to the severity of liver cirrhosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ah Yeong; Kim, Young Kon; Lee, Min Woo; Park, Min Jung; Hwang, Jiyoung; Lee, Mi Hee; Lee, Jae Won

2012-01-01

Background As gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) have been widely used for the evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), it is clinically relevant to determine the diagnostic efficacy of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and DWI for detection of HCCs with respect to the severity of liver cirrhosis. Purpose To compare the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and DWI for detection of HCCs with respect to the severity of liver cirrhosis. Material and Methods A total of 189 patients with 240 HCCs (≤3.0 cm) (Child-Pugh A, 81 patients with 90 HCCs; Child-Pugh B, 65 patients with 85 HCCs; Child-Pugh C, 43 patients with 65 HCCs) underwent DWI and gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI at 3.0 T. A gadoxetic acid set (dynamic and hepatobiliary phase plus T2-weighted image) and DWI set (DWI plus unenhanced MRIs) for each Child-Pugh class were analyzed independently by two observers for detecting HCCs using receiver-operating characteristic analysis. The diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity were calculated. Results There was a trend toward decreased diagnostic accuracy for gadoxetic acid and DWI set with respect to the severity of cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A [mean 0.974, 0.961], B [mean 0.904, 0.863], C [mean 0.779, 0.760]). For both observers, the sensitivities of both image sets were highest in Child-Pugh class A (mean 95.6%, 93.9%), followed by class B (mean 83.0%, 77.1%), and class C (mean 60.6%, 60.0%) (P < 0.05). Conclusion In HCC detection, the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity for gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and DWI were highest in Child-Pugh class A, followed by Child-Pugh class B, and Child-Pugh class C, indicating a tendency toward decreased diagnostic capability with the severity of cirrhosis

Magnetically Assisted Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for the Detection of Staphylococcus aureus Based on Aptamer Recognition.

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Wang, Junfeng; Wu, Xuezhong; Wang, Chongwen; Shao, Ningsheng; Dong, Peitao; Xiao, Rui; Wang, Shengqi

2015-09-23

A magnetically assisted surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensor for single-cell detection of S. aureus on the basis of aptamer recognition is reported for the first time. The biosensor consists of two basic elements including a SERS substrate (Ag-coated magnetic nanoparticles, AgMNPs) and a novel SERS tag (AuNR-DTNB@Ag-DTNB core-shell plasmonic NPs or DTNB-labeled inside-and-outside plasmonic NPs, DioPNPs). Uniform, monodisperse, and superparamagnetic AgMNPs with favorable SERS activity and magnetic responsiveness are synthesized by using polymer polyethylenimine. AgMNPs use magnetic enrichment instead of repeated centrifugation to prevent sample sedimentation. DioPNPs are designed and synthesized as a novel SERS tag. The Raman signal of DioPNPs is 10 times stronger than that of the commonly used SERS tag AuNR-DTNB because of the double-layer DTNB and the LSPR position adjustment to match the given laser excitation wavelength. Consequently, a strong SERS enhancement is achieved. Under the optimized aptamer density and linker length, capture by aptamer-modified AgMNPs can achieve favorable bacteria arrest (up to 75%). With the conventional Raman spectroscopy, the limit of detection (LOD) is 10 cells/mL for S. aureus detection, and a good linear relationship is also observed between the SERS intensity at Raman peak 1331 cm(-1) and the logarithm of bacteria concentrations ranging from 10(1) to 10(5) cells/mL. With the help of the newly developed SERS mapping technique, single-cell detection of S. aureus is easily achieved.

Label-free aptamer-based sensor for specific detection of malathion residues by surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Yonghui; Teng, Yuanjie; Li, Pan; Liu, Wenhan; Shi, Qianwei; Zhang, Yuchao

2018-02-01

A novel label-free aptamer surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor for trace malathion residue detection was proposed. In this process, the binding of malathion molecule with aptamer is identified directly. The silver nanoparticles modified with positively charged spermine served as enhancing and capture reagents for the negatively charged aptamer. Then, the silver nanoparticles modified by aptamer were used to specifically capture the malathion. The SERS background spectra of spermine, aptamer, and malathion were recorded and distinguished with the spectrum of malathion-aptamer. To enhance the characteristic peak signal of malathion captured by the aptamer, the aggregate reagents (NaCl, KCl, MgCl2) were compared and selected. The selectivity of this method was verified in the mixed-pesticide standard solution, which included malathion, phosmet, chlorpyrifos-methyl, and fethion. Results show that malathion can be specifically identified when the mixed-pesticide interferences existed. The standard curve was established, presenting a good linear range of 5 × 10- 7 to 1 × 10- 5 mol·L- 1. The spiked experiments for tap water show good recoveries from 87.4% to 110.5% with a relative standard deviation of less than 4.22%. Therefore, the proposed label-free aptamer SERS sensor is convenient, specifically detects trace malathion residues, and can be applied for qualitative and quantitative analysis of other pesticides.

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced analytical atomic spectrometry — NICE-AAS — A technique for detection of elements down to zeptogram amounts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Axner, Ove; Ehlers, Patrick; Hausmaninger, Thomas; Silander, Isak; Ma, Weiguang

2014-01-01

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS) is a powerful technique for detection of molecular compounds in gas phase that is based on a combination of two important concepts: frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) for reduction of noise, and cavity enhancement, for prolongation of the interaction length between the light and the sample. Due to its unique properties, it has demonstrated unparalleled detection sensitivity when it comes to detection of molecular constituents in the gas phase. However, despite these, it has so far not been used for detection of atoms, i.e. for elemental analysis. The present work presents an assessment of the expected performance of Doppler-broadened (Db) NICE-OHMS for analytical atomic spectrometry, then referred to as noise-immune cavity-enhanced analytical atomic spectrometry (NICE-AAS). After a description of the basic principles of Db-NICE-OHMS, the modulation and detection conditions for optimum performance are identified. Based on a previous demonstrated detection sensitivity of Db-NICE-OHMS of 5 × 10 −12 cm −1 Hz −1∕2 (corresponding to a single-pass absorbance of 7 × 10 −11 over 10 s), the expected limits of detection (LODs) of Hg and Na by NICE-AAS are estimated. Hg is assumed to be detected in gas phase directly while Na is considered to be atomized in a graphite furnace (GF) prior to detection. It is shown that in the absence of spectral interferences, contaminated sample compartments, and optical saturation, it should be feasible to detect Hg down to 10 zg/cm 3 (10 fg/m 3 or 10 −5 ng/m 3 ), which corresponds to 25 atoms/cm 3 , and Na down to 0.5 zg (zg = zeptogram = 10 −21 g), representing 50 zg/mL (parts-per-sextillion, pps, 1:10 21 ) in liquid solution (assuming a sample of 10 μL) or solely 15 atoms injected into the GF, respectively. These LODs are several orders of magnitude lower (better) than any previous laser-based absorption technique previously demonstrated

Stochastic Resonance algorithms to enhance damage detection in bearing faults

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Castiglione Roberto

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Stochastic Resonance is a phenomenon, studied and mainly exploited in telecommunication, which permits the amplification and detection of weak signals by the assistance of noise. The first papers on this technique are dated early 80 s and were developed to explain the periodically recurrent ice ages. Other applications mainly concern neuroscience, biology, medicine and obviously signal analysis and processing. Recently, some researchers have applied the technique for detecting faults in mechanical systems and bearings. In this paper, we try to better understand the conditions of applicability and which is the best algorithm to be adopted for these purposes. In fact, to get the methodology profitable and efficient to enhance the signal spikes due to fault in rings and balls/rollers of bearings, some parameters have to be properly selected. This is a problem since in system identification this procedure should be as blind as possible. Two algorithms are analysed: the first exploits classical SR with three parameters mutually dependent, while the other uses Woods-Saxon potential, with three parameters yet but holding a different meaning. The comparison of the performances of the two algorithms and the optimal choice of their parameters are the scopes of this paper. Algorithms are tested on simulated and experimental data showing an evident capacity of increasing the signal to noise ratio.

A simple approach for ultrasensitive detection of bisphenols by multiplexed surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Bleye, C., E-mail: cdebleye@ulg.ac.be; Dumont, E.; Hubert, C.; Sacré, P.-Y.; Netchacovitch, L.; Chavez, P.-F.; Hubert, Ph.; Ziemons, E.

2015-08-12

Bisphenol A (BPA) is well known for its use in plastic manufacture and thermal paper production despite its risk of health toxicity as an endocrine disruptor in humans. Since the publication of new legislation regarding the use of BPA, manufacturers have begun to replace BPA with other phenolic molecules such as bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol B (BPB), but there are no guarantees regarding the health safety of these compounds at this time. In this context, a very simple, cheap and fast surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method was developed for the sensitive detection of these molecules in spiked tap water solutions. Silver nanoparticles were used as SERS substrates. An original strategy was employed to circumvent the issue of the affinity of bisphenols for metallic surfaces and the silver nanoparticles surface was functionalized using pyridine in order to improve again the sensitivity of the detection. Semi-quantitative detections were performed in tap water solutions at a concentrations range from 0.25 to 20 μg L{sup −1} for BPA and BPB and from 5 to 100 μg L{sup −1} for BPF. Moreover, a feasibility study for performing a multiplex-SERS detection of these molecules was also performed before successfully implementing the developed SERS method on real samples. - Highlights: • Development of a simple, fast and ultrasensitive SERS method to detect bisphenols. • Multiplexed-SERS detection of bisphenol A, bisphenol B and bisphenol F. • Implementation of the SERS developed method on real samples to detect bisphenols.

A simple approach for ultrasensitive detection of bisphenols by multiplexed surface-enhanced Raman scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Bleye, C.; Dumont, E.; Hubert, C.; Sacré, P.-Y.; Netchacovitch, L.; Chavez, P.-F.; Hubert, Ph.; Ziemons, E.

2015-01-01

Bisphenol A (BPA) is well known for its use in plastic manufacture and thermal paper production despite its risk of health toxicity as an endocrine disruptor in humans. Since the publication of new legislation regarding the use of BPA, manufacturers have begun to replace BPA with other phenolic molecules such as bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol B (BPB), but there are no guarantees regarding the health safety of these compounds at this time. In this context, a very simple, cheap and fast surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method was developed for the sensitive detection of these molecules in spiked tap water solutions. Silver nanoparticles were used as SERS substrates. An original strategy was employed to circumvent the issue of the affinity of bisphenols for metallic surfaces and the silver nanoparticles surface was functionalized using pyridine in order to improve again the sensitivity of the detection. Semi-quantitative detections were performed in tap water solutions at a concentrations range from 0.25 to 20 μg L −1 for BPA and BPB and from 5 to 100 μg L −1 for BPF. Moreover, a feasibility study for performing a multiplex-SERS detection of these molecules was also performed before successfully implementing the developed SERS method on real samples. - Highlights: • Development of a simple, fast and ultrasensitive SERS method to detect bisphenols. • Multiplexed-SERS detection of bisphenol A, bisphenol B and bisphenol F. • Implementation of the SERS developed method on real samples to detect bisphenols

An enhanced structure tensor method for sea ice ridge detection from GF-3 SAR imagery

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Zhu, T.; Li, F.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, S.; Spreen, G.; Dierking, W.; Heygster, G.

2017-12-01

In SAR imagery, ridges or leads are shown as the curvilinear features. The proposed ridge detection method is facilitated by their curvilinear shapes. The bright curvilinear features are recognized as the ridges while the dark curvilinear features are classified as the leads. In dual-polarization HH or HV channel of C-band SAR imagery, the bright curvilinear feature may be false alarm because the frost flowers of young leads may show as bright pixels associated with changes in the surface salinity under calm surface conditions. Wind roughened leads also trigger the backscatter increasing that can be misclassified as ridges [1]. Thus the width limitation is considered in this proposed structure tensor method [2], since only shape feature based method is not enough for detecting ridges. The ridge detection algorithm is based on the hypothesis that the bright pixels are ridges with curvilinear shapes and the ridge width is less 30 meters. Benefited from GF-3 with high spatial resolution of 3 meters, we provide an enhanced structure tensor method for detecting the significant ridge. The preprocessing procedures including the calibration and incidence angle normalization are also investigated. The bright pixels will have strong response to the bandpass filtering. The ridge training samples are delineated from the SAR imagery in the Log-Gabor filters to construct structure tensor. From the tensor, the dominant orientation of the pixel representing the ridge is determined by the dominant eigenvector. For the post-processing of structure tensor, the elongated kernel is desired to enhance the ridge curvilinear shape. Since ridge presents along a certain direction, the ratio of the dominant eigenvector will be used to measure the intensity of local anisotropy. The convolution filter has been utilized in the constructed structure tensor is used to model spatial contextual information. Ridge detection results from GF-3 show the proposed method performs better compared to the

Hydrophobicity-driven self-assembly of protein and silver nanoparticles for protein detection using surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

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Kahraman, Mehmet; Balz, Ben N; Wachsmann-Hogiu, Sebastian

2013-05-21

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising analytical technique for the detection and characterization of biological molecules and structures. The role of hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces in the self-assembly of protein-metallic nanoparticle structures for label-free protein detection is demonstrated. Aggregation is driven by both the hydrophobicity of the surface as well as the charge of the proteins. The best conditions for obtaining a reproducible SERS signal that allows for sensitive, label-free protein detection are provided by the use of hydrophobic surfaces and 16 × 10(11) NPs per mL. A detection limit of approximately 0.5 μg mL(-1) is achieved regardless of the proteins' charge properties and size. The developed method is simple and can be used for reproducible and sensitive detection and characterization of a wide variety of biological molecules and various structures with different sizes and charge status.

In situ Silver Spot Preparation and on-Plate Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Detection in Thin Layer Chromatography Separation

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, K.; Mircescu, N. E.; Szabo, L.; Leopold, L. F.; Chiş, V.; Leopold, N.

2013-05-01

An improved approach for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of mixture constituents after thin layer chromatography (TLC) separation is presented. A SERS active silver substrate was prepared under open air conditions, directly on the thin silica film by photo-reduction of silver nitrate, allowing the detection of binary mixtures of cresyl violet, bixine, crystal violet, and Cu(II) complex of 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol. The recorded SERS spectrum provides a unique spectral fingerprint for each molecule; therefore the use of analyte standards is avoided, thus rendering the presented procedure advantageous compared to the conventional detection methodology in TLC.

Detection of hepatic VX2 carcinomas with ferucarbotran-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in rabbits: Comparison of nine pulse sequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seong Hyun; Choi, Dongil; Lim, Hyo K.; Kim, Min Ju; Jang, Kyung Mi; Kim, Seung Hoon; Lee, Won Jae; Lee, Jongmee; Jeon, Yong Hwan; Lim, Jae Hoon

2006-01-01

Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of a variety of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences, in order to identify the most effective ferucarbotran-enhanced sequence for the detection of multiple small hepatic VX2 carcinomas in rabbits. Methods: Fifteen rabbits with experimentally induced 135 VX2 carcinomas in the liver underwent ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI using the following nine pulse sequences: a fat-suppressed fast spin-echo (FSE) sequence with two echo times (TE) (proton density- and T2-weighted images), four different T2*-weighted fast multiplanar GRASS (gradient-recalled acquisition in the steady state) (FMPGR) with the combination of three TEs (9, 12, 15 ms, respectively) and two flip angles (20 deg., 80 deg., respectively), T2*-weighted fast multiplanar spoiled GRASS (FMPSPGR), T1-weighted FMPSPGR, and dynamic T1-weighted FMPSPGR. All images were reviewed by three radiologists with quantitative and qualitative analysis. Results: Tumor-to-liver contrast-to-noise ratio of the proton density-weighted FSE sequence was significantly higher than those of the others (p o ) images were superior to those of the others and for the detection of very small hepatic tumors of less than 5 mm, the sensitivities of these sequences were less than 30%. Conclusion: Ferucarbotran-enhanced T2- and proton density-weighted FSE and T2*-weighed FMPGR (TE/flip angle, 12/20 o ) images were found to be the most effective pulse sequences for the detection of multiple small hepatic VX2 carcinomas but these sequences were limited in the detection of very small hepatic tumors of less than 5 mm in size

Highly selective and sensitive detection of Cu2+ with lysine enhancing bovine serum albumin modified-carbon dots fluorescent probe.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jia-Ming; Lin, Li-ping; Wang, Xin-Xing; Lin, Shao-Qin; Cai, Wen-Lian; Zhang, Li-Hong; Zheng, Zhi-Yong

2012-06-07

Based on the ability of lysine (Lys) to enhance the fluorescence intensity of bovine serum albumin modified-carbon dots (CDs-BSA) to decrease surface defects and quench fluorescence of the CDs-BSA-Lys system in the presence of Cu(2+) under conditions of phosphate buffer (PBS, pH = 5.0) at 45 °C for 10 min, a sensitive Lys enhancing CDs-BSA fluorescent probe was designed. The environment-friendly, simple, rapid, selective and sensitive fluorescent probe has been utilized to detect Cu(2+) in hair and tap water samples and it achieved consistent results with those obtained by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The mechanism of the proposed assay for the detection of Cu(2+) is discussed.

Quick detection of traditional Chinese medicine ‘Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma’ pieces by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

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Huang, Hao; Shi, Hong; Feng, Shangyuan; Lin, Juqiang; Chen, Weiwei; Yu, Yun; Lin, Duo; Xu, Qian; Chen, Rong

2013-01-01

A surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) method was developed for the analysis of traditional Chinese medicine ‘Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma’ pieces (AMRP) for the first time with the aim to develop a quick method for traditional Chinese medicine detection. Both Raman spectra and SERS spectra were obtained from AMRP, and tentative assignments of the Raman bands in the measured spectra suggested that only a few weak Raman peaks could be observed in the regular Raman spectra, while primary Raman peaks at around 536, 555, 619, 648, 691, 733, 790, 958, 1004, 1031, 1112, 1244, 1324, 1395, 1469, 1574 and 1632 cm-1 could be observed in the SERS spectra, with the strongest signals at 619, 733, 958, 1324, 1395 and 1469 cm-1. This was due to a strong interaction between the silver colloids and the AMRP, which led to an extraordinary enhancement in the intensity of the Raman scattering in AMRP. This exploratory study suggests the SERS technique has great potential for providing a novel non-destructive method for effectively and accurately detecting traditional Chinese medicine without complicated separation and extraction.

Gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and diffusion-weighted imaging for the detection of colorectal liver metastases after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Mi Hye; Lee, Jeong Min; Han, Joon Koo; Choi, Byung-Ihn; Hur, Bo Yun; Kim, Tae-You; Jeong, Seung-Yong; Yi, Nam-Joon; Suh, Kyung-Suk

2015-01-01

To investigate the diagnostic performance of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for the detection of colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Our study population comprised 77 patients with 140 CRLMs who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI within 1 month prior to surgery: group A (without NAC, n = 38) and group B (with NAC, n = 39). Two radiologists independently assessed all MR images and graded their diagnostic confidence for CRLM on a 5-point scale. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and positive predictive values (PPV) were calculated and compared between the two groups. Diagnostic accuracy of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI in group B was slightly lower than in group A, but a statistically significant difference was not observed (observer 1: A z , 0.926 in group A, 0.905 in group B; observer 2: A z , 0.944 in group A, 0.885 in group B; p > 0.05). Sensitivity and PPV of group B were comparable to those of group A (observer 1: sensitivity = 93.5 % vs. 93.6 %, PPV = 95.1 % vs. 86.9 %; observer 2: sensitivity = 96.8 % vs. 91.0 %; PPV = 90.0 % vs. 89.7 %; all p > 0.05). Gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI including DWI provided good diagnostic performance with high sensitivity (>90 %) for the detection of CRLMs, regardless of the influence of NAC. (orig.)

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of silver nanoparticles in environmental and biological samples

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Huiyuan [Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States); Xing, Baoshan, E-mail: bx@umass.edu [Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States); Hamlet, Leigh C.; Chica, Andrea [Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States); He, Lili, E-mail: lilihe@foodsci.umass.edu [Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States)

2016-06-01

Growing concerns over the potential release and threat of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to environmental and biological systems urge researchers to investigate their fate and behavior. However, current analytical techniques cannot meet the requirements for rapidly, sensitively and reliably probing AgNPs in complex matrices. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has shown great capability for rapid detection of AgNPs based on an indicator molecule that can bind on the AgNP surface. The objective of this study was to exploit SERS to detect AgNPs in environmental and biological samples through optimizing the Raman indicator for SERS. Seven indicator molecules were selected and determined to obtain their SERS signals at optimal concentrations. Among them, 1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethylene (BPE), crystal violet and ferric dimethyl-dithiocarbamate (ferbam) produced the highest SERS intensities. Further experiments on binding competition between each two of the three candidates showed that ferbam had the highest AgNPs-binding ability. The underlying mechanism lies in the strong binding affinity of ferbam with AgNPs via multiple sulfur atoms. We further validated ferbam to be an effective indicator for SERS detection of as low as 0.1 mg/L AgNPs in genuine surface water and 0.57 mg/L in spinach juice. Moreover, limited interference on SERS detection of AgNPs was found from environmentally relevant inorganic ions, organic matter, inorganic particles, as well as biologically relevant components, demonstrating the ferbam-assisted SERS is an effective and sensitive method to detect AgNPs in complex environmental and biological samples. - Graphical abstract: SERS signal intensity of ferbam indicates the concentration of AgNPs. - Highlights: • Ferbam was found to be the best indicator for SERS detection of AgNPs. • SERS was able to detect AgNPs in both environmental and biological samples. • Major components in the two matrices had limited effect on AgNP detection.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of silver nanoparticles in environmental and biological samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Huiyuan; Xing, Baoshan; Hamlet, Leigh C.; Chica, Andrea; He, Lili

2016-01-01

Growing concerns over the potential release and threat of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to environmental and biological systems urge researchers to investigate their fate and behavior. However, current analytical techniques cannot meet the requirements for rapidly, sensitively and reliably probing AgNPs in complex matrices. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has shown great capability for rapid detection of AgNPs based on an indicator molecule that can bind on the AgNP surface. The objective of this study was to exploit SERS to detect AgNPs in environmental and biological samples through optimizing the Raman indicator for SERS. Seven indicator molecules were selected and determined to obtain their SERS signals at optimal concentrations. Among them, 1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethylene (BPE), crystal violet and ferric dimethyl-dithiocarbamate (ferbam) produced the highest SERS intensities. Further experiments on binding competition between each two of the three candidates showed that ferbam had the highest AgNPs-binding ability. The underlying mechanism lies in the strong binding affinity of ferbam with AgNPs via multiple sulfur atoms. We further validated ferbam to be an effective indicator for SERS detection of as low as 0.1 mg/L AgNPs in genuine surface water and 0.57 mg/L in spinach juice. Moreover, limited interference on SERS detection of AgNPs was found from environmentally relevant inorganic ions, organic matter, inorganic particles, as well as biologically relevant components, demonstrating the ferbam-assisted SERS is an effective and sensitive method to detect AgNPs in complex environmental and biological samples. - Graphical abstract: SERS signal intensity of ferbam indicates the concentration of AgNPs. - Highlights: • Ferbam was found to be the best indicator for SERS detection of AgNPs. • SERS was able to detect AgNPs in both environmental and biological samples. • Major components in the two matrices had limited effect on AgNP detection.

Chinese Medicine Patterns in Patients with Post-Stroke Dementia

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Nou-Ying Tang

2012-04-01

Full Text Available A stroke often results in post-stroke dementia, a rapid decline in memory and intelligence causing dysfunctions in daily life. The Chinese medicine doctor uses 4 examinations of inspection, listening, smelling, and feeling to determine the Chinese medicine pattern (CMP. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the CMP in patients with post-stroke dementia. A total of 101 stroke patients were examined, consistent with the DSM IV diagnostic criteria of the American Psychiatric Association, as well as the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke-Association International pour Ia Recherche et I’Enseignement en Neurosciences vascular dementia diagnostic criteria of post-stroke dementia. Results: 100 patients (99.0% were KEDP (kidney essence deficiency pattern, shèn jīng kuī xū zhèng, 腎精虧虛證, 83 patients were AHLYP (ascendant hyperactivity of liver yang pattern, gān yáng shàng kàng zhèng, 肝陽上亢證, 83 patients were QBDP (qi-blood deficiency pattern, qì xuè kuī xū zhèng, 氣血虧虛證, 81 patients were SBOCP (static blood obstructing the collaterals pattern, yū xuè zǔ luò zhèng, 瘀血阻絡證, 72 patients were BSTRP (bowels stagnation turbidity retention pattern, fǔ zhì zhuó liú zhèng, 腑滯濁留證, 50 patients were FHIEP (fire heat interior excess pattern, huǒ rè nèi sheng zhèng, 火熱內盛證, and 39 participants (38.6% were PTOOP (phlegm turbidity obstructing the orifices pattern, tán zhuó zǔ qiào zhèng, 痰濁阻竅證; one to 31 patients have at least 2 CMPs simultaneously. In conclusion, the most CMP is KEDP CMP in the post-stroke dementia patients, and one patient may have one or at least 2 CMPs simultaneously.

Detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in simulated and true clinical throat swab specimens by nanorod array-surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzanne L Hennigan

Full Text Available The prokaryote Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a major cause of respiratory disease in humans, accounting for 20% of all community-acquired pneumonia and the leading cause of pneumonia in older children and young adults. The limitations of existing options for mycoplasma diagnosis highlight a critical need for a new detection platform with high sensitivity, specificity, and expediency. Here we evaluated silver nanorod arrays (NA as a biosensing platform for detection and differentiation of M. pneumoniae in culture and in spiked and true clinical throat swab samples by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS. Three M. pneumoniae strains were reproducibly differentiated by NA-SERS with 95%-100% specificity and 94-100% sensitivity, and with a lower detection limit exceeding standard PCR. Analysis of throat swab samples spiked with M. pneumoniae yielded detection in a complex, clinically relevant background with >90% accuracy and high sensitivity. In addition, NA-SERS correctly classified with >97% accuracy, ten true clinical throat swab samples previously established by real-time PCR and culture to be positive or negative for M. pneumoniae. Our findings suggest that the unique biochemical specificity of Raman spectroscopy, combined with reproducible spectral enhancement by silver NA, holds great promise as a superior platform for rapid and sensitive detection and identification of M. pneumoniae, with potential for point-of-care application.

On the possibility to detect the Higgs decay H → b anti b in the associated Z + b anti b production at the LHC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lipatov, A.V.; Zotov, N.P.

2015-01-01

We investigate the possibility to detect the scalar Higgs boson decay H → b anti b in the associated Z and b anti b production at the LHC using the k T -factorization QCD approach. Our consideration is based on the off-shell (i.e. depending on the transverse momenta of initial quarks and gluons) production amplitudes of q* anti q* → ZH → Zq' anti q', q* anti q* → Zq' anti q', and g*g* → Zq' anti q' partonic subprocesses supplemented with the Catani.Ciafoloni.Fiorani. Marchesini (CCFM) dynamics of parton densities in a proton. We argue that the H → b anti b signal could be observed at large transverse momenta near the Higgs boson peak despite the overwhelming QCD background, and we point out the important role of angular correlations between the produced Z boson and b-quarks. (orig.)

Mine detection using SF-GPR: A signal processing approach for resolution enhancement and clutter reduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karlsen, Brian; Jakobsen, Kaj Bjarne; Larsen, Jan

2001-01-01

Proper clutter reduction is essential for Ground Penetrating Radar data since low signal-to-clutter ratio prevent correct detection of mine objects. A signal processing approach for resolution enhancement and clutter reduction used on Stepped-Frequency Ground Penetrating Radar (SF-GPR) data is pr....... The clutter reduction method is based on basis function decomposition of the SF-GPR time-series from which the clutter and the signal are separated....

Detection of hepatic VX2 tumors in rabbits: comparison of conventional US and phase- inversion harmonic US during the liver- specific late phase of contrast enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jeong Min; Youk, Ji Hyun; Lee, Young Hwan; Kim, Young Kon; Kim, Chong Soo; Li, Chun Ai

2003-01-01

To compare phase-inversion sonography during the liver-specific phase of contrast enhancement using a microbubble contrast agent with conventional B-mode sonography for the detection of VX2 liver tumors. Twenty-three rabbits, 18 of which had VX2 liver tumor implants, received a bolus injection of 0.6 g of Levovist (200 mg/ml). During the liver-specific phase of this agent, they were evaluated using both conventional sonography and contrast-enhanced phase-inversion harmonic imaging (CEPIHI). Following sacrifice of the animals, pathologic analysis was performed and the reference standard thus obtained. The conspicuity, size and number of the tumors before and after contrast administration, as determined by a sonographer, were compared between the two modes and with the pathologic findings. CE-PIHI demonstrated marked hepatic parenchymal enhancement in all rabbits. For VX2 tumors detected at both conventional US and CE- PIHI, conspicuity was improved by contrast-enhanced PIHI. On examination of gross specimens, 52 VX2 tumors were identified. Conventional US correctly detected 18 of the 52 (34.6%), while PIHI detected 35 (67.3%) (p < 0.05). In particular, conventional US detected only three (8.3%) of the 36 tumors less than 10 mm in diameter, but CE-PIHI detected 19 such tumors (52.8%) (p < 0.05). Compared to conventional sonography, PIHI performed during the liver-specific phase after intravenous injection of Levovist is markedly better at detecting VX2 liver tumors

Comparison between gadolinium-enhanced 2D T1-weighted gradient-echo and spin-echo sequences in the detection of active multiple sclerosis lesions on 3.0T MRI

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Aymerich, F.X. [Hospital Universitari Vall d' Hebron, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, MR Unit. Department of Radiology (IDI), Barcelona (Spain); Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya - Barcelona Tech (UPC), Department of Automatic Control (ESAII), Barcelona (Spain); Auger, C.; Alcaide-Leon, P.; Pareto, D.; Huerga, E.; Corral, J.F.; Mitjana, R.; Rovira, A. [Hospital Universitari Vall d' Hebron, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, MR Unit. Department of Radiology (IDI), Barcelona (Spain); Sastre-Garriga, J.; Montalban, X. [Hospital Universitari Vall d' Hebron, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Centre d' Esclerosi Multiple de Catalunya (Cemcat), Department of Neurology/Neuroimmunology, Barcelona (Spain)

2017-04-15

To compare the sensitivity of enhancing multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions in gadolinium-enhanced 2D T1-weighted gradient-echo (GRE) and spin-echo (SE) sequences, and to assess the influence of visual conspicuity and laterality on detection of these lesions. One hundred MS patients underwent 3.0T brain MRI including gadolinium-enhanced 2D T1-weighted GRE and SE sequences. The two sets of contrast-enhanced scans were evaluated in random fashion by three experienced readers. Lesion conspicuity was assessed by the image contrast ratio (CR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). The intracranial region was divided into four quadrants and the impact of lesion location on detection was assessed in each slice. Six hundred and seven gadolinium-enhancing MS lesions were identified. GRE images were more sensitive for lesion detection (0.828) than SE images (0.767). Lesions showed a higher CR in SE than in GRE images, whereas the CNR was higher in GRE than SE. Most misclassifications occurred in the right posterior quadrant. The gadolinium-enhanced 2D T1-weighted GRE sequence at 3.0T MRI enables detection of enhancing MS lesions with higher sensitivity and better lesion conspicuity than 2D T1-weighted SE. Hence, we propose the use of gadolinium-enhanced GRE sequences rather than SE sequences for routine scanning of MS patients at 3.0T. (orig.)

Automatic detection of arterial input function in dynamic contrast enhanced MRI based on affinity propagation clustering.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Lin; Wang, Defeng; Liu, Wen; Fang, Kui; Wang, Yi-Xiang J; Huang, Wenhua; King, Ann D; Heng, Pheng Ann; Ahuja, Anil T

2014-05-01

To automatically and robustly detect the arterial input function (AIF) with high detection accuracy and low computational cost in dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). In this study, we developed an automatic AIF detection method using an accelerated version (Fast-AP) of affinity propagation (AP) clustering. The validity of this Fast-AP-based method was proved on two DCE-MRI datasets, i.e., rat kidney and human head and neck. The detailed AIF detection performance of this proposed method was assessed in comparison with other clustering-based methods, namely original AP and K-means, as well as the manual AIF detection method. Both the automatic AP- and Fast-AP-based methods achieved satisfactory AIF detection accuracy, but the computational cost of Fast-AP could be reduced by 64.37-92.10% on rat dataset and 73.18-90.18% on human dataset compared with the cost of AP. The K-means yielded the lowest computational cost, but resulted in the lowest AIF detection accuracy. The experimental results demonstrated that both the AP- and Fast-AP-based methods were insensitive to the initialization of cluster centers, and had superior robustness compared with K-means method. The Fast-AP-based method enables automatic AIF detection with high accuracy and efficiency. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Near-infrared incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (NIR-IBBCEAS) for detection and quantification of natural gas components.

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash, Neeraj; Ramachandran, Arun; Varma, Ravi; Chen, Jun; Mazzoleni, Claudio; Du, Ke

2018-06-28

The principle of near-infrared incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy was employed to develop a novel instrument for detecting natural gas leaks as well as for testing the quality of natural gas mixtures. The instrument utilizes the absorption features of methane, butane, ethane, and propane in the wavelength region of 1100 nm to 1250 nm. The absorption cross-section spectrum in this region for methane was adopted from the HITRAN database, and those for the other three gases were measured in the laboratory. A singular-value decomposition (SVD) based analysis scheme was employed for quantifying methane, butane, ethane, and propane by performing a linear least-square fit. The developed instrument achieved a detection limit of 460 ppm, 141 ppm, 175 ppm and 173 ppm for methane, butane, ethane, and propane, respectively, with a measurement time of 1 second and a cavity length of 0.59 m. These detection limits are less than 1% of the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) for each gas. The sensitivity can be further enhanced by changing the experimental parameters (such as cavity length, lamp power etc.) and using longer averaging intervals. The detection system is a low-cost and portable instrument suitable for performing field monitorings. The results obtained on the gas mixture emphasize the instrument's potential for deployment at industrial facilities dealing with natural gas, where potential leaks pose a threat to public safety.

Indirect glyphosate detection based on ninhydrin reaction and surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Meng-Lei; Gao, Yu; Li, Yali; Li, Xueliang; Zhang, Huanjie; Han, Xiao Xia; Zhao, Bing; Su, Liang

2018-05-01

Glyphosate is one of the most commonly-used and non-selective herbicides in agriculture, which may directly pollute the environment and threaten human health. A simple and effective approach to assessment of its damage to the natural environment is thus quite necessary. However, traditional chromatography-based detection methods usually suffer from complex pretreatment procedures. Herein, we propose a simple and sensitive method for the determination of glyphosate by combining ninhydrin reaction and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The product (purple color dye, PD) of the ninhydrin reaction is found to SERS-active and directly correlate with the glyphosate concentration. The limit of detection of the proposed method for glyphosate is as low as 1.43 × 10- 8 mol·L- 1 with a relatively wider linear concentration range (1.0 × 10- 7-1.0 × 10- 4 mol·L- 1), which demonstrates its great potential in rapid, highly sensitive concentration determination of glyphosate in practical applications for safety assessment of food and environment.

Comparison of the performance of the borax buffer-based HRP-enhanced reagent and the 'Lumi-Phos 530' chemiluminescence systems in the detection of biotinylated DNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Cercek, B; Roby, K; Siaw, M

1995-01-01

A comparison of two chemiluminescence methods, the borax buffer-based HRP-enhanced reagent and Lumi-Phos 530, applied to the detection of a biotinylated 30-mer DNA slot blotted onto a nylon membrane, is presented. A streptavidin-HRP and streptavidin-ALP mediated detection system was used. The HRP-enhanced system is up to 15-fold greater with respect to the signal/background ratios than the Lumi-Phos 530 system at 0.5 microgram biotinylated DNA with at least a two-fold improvement in detection sensitivity for 0.5 ng biotinylated DNA.

Rapid and sensitive detection of malachite green in aquaculture water by electrochemical preconcentration and surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Kai-Xuan; Guo, Mei-Hong; Huang, Yu-Ping; Li, Xiao-Dong; Sun, Jian-Jun

2018-04-01

A highly sensitive and rapid method of in-situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) combining with electrochemical preconcentration (EP) in detecting malachite green (MG) in aquaculture water was established. Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized and spread onto the surface of gold electrodes after centrifuging to produce SERS-active substrates. After optimizing the pH values, preconcentration potentials and times, in-situ EP-SERS detection was carried out. A sensitive and rapid analysis of the low-concentration MG was accomplished within 200s and the limit of detection was 2.4 × 10 -16 M. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detection of Biomolecular Binding Through Enhancement of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR by Gold Nanoparticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min-Gon Kim

2009-03-01

Full Text Available To amplify the difference in localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR spectra of gold nano-islands due to intermolecular binding events, gold nanoparticles were used. LSPR-based optical biosensors consisting of gold nano-islands were readily made on glass substrates using evaporation and heat treatment. Streptavidin (STA and biotinylated bovine serum albumin (Bio-BSA were chosen as the model receptor and the model analyte, respectively, to demonstrate the effectiveness of this detection method. Using this model system, we were able to enhance the sensitivity in monitoring the binding of Bio-BSA to gold nano-island surfaces functionalized with STA through the addition of gold nanoparticle-STA conjugates. In addition, SU-8 well chips with gold nano-island surfaces were fabricated through a conventional UV patterning method and were then utilized for image detection using the attenuated total reflection mode. These results suggest that the gold nano-island well chip may have the potential to be used for multiple and simultaneous detection of various bio-substances.

Enhancement of crack detection in stud bolts of nuclear reactor by ultrasonic signal processing technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J.H.; Oh, W.D.; Choi, S.W.; Park, M.H.

2004-01-01

'Full-text:' The stud bolts is one of the most critical parts for safety of reactor vessels in the nuclear power plants. However, in the application of ultrasonic technique for crack detection in stud bolt, some difficulties encountered are classification of crack signal from the signals reflected from threads part in stud bolt. In this study, shadow effect technique combined with new signal processing method is Investigated to enhance the detectability of small crack initiated from root of thread in stud bolt. The key idea of signal processing is based on the fact that the shape of waveforms from the threads is uniform since the shape of the threads in a bolt is same. If some cracks exist in the thread, the flaw signals are different to the reference signals. It is demonstrated that the small flaws are efficiently detected by novel ultrasonic technique combined with this new signal processing concept. (author)

Usefulness of the dynamic gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging with simultaneous acquisition of coronal and sagittal planes for detection of pituitary microadenomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Han Bee; Kim, Sung Tae; Kim, Hyung-Jin; Kim, Keon Ha; Jeon, Pyoung; Byun, Hong Sik; Choi, Jin Wook

2012-03-01

Does dynamic gadolinium-enhanced imaging with simultaneous acquisition of coronal and sagittal planes improve diagnostic accuracy of pituitary microadenomas compared with coronal images alone? Fifty-six patients underwent 3-T sella MRI including dynamic simultaneous acquisition of coronal and sagittal planes after gadolinium injection. According to conspicuity, lesions were divided into four scores (0, no; 1, possible; 2, probable; 3, definite delayed enhancing lesion). Additional information on supplementary sagittal images compared with coronal ones was evaluated with a 4-point score (0, no; 1, possible; 2, probable; 3, definite additional information). Accuracy of tumour detection was calculated. Average scores for lesion detection of a combination of two planes, coronal, and sagittal images were 2.59, 2.32, and 2.18. 6/10 lesions negative on coronal images were detected on sagittal ones. Accuracy of a combination of two planes, of coronal and of sagittal images was 92.86%, 82.14% and 75%. Six patients had probable or definite additional information on supplementary sagittal images compared with coronal ones alone (10.71%). Dynamic MRI with combined coronal and sagittal planes was more accurate for detection of pituitary microadenomas than routinely used coronal images. Simultaneous dynamic enhanced acquisition can make study time fast and costs low. We present a new dynamic MRI technique for evaluating pituitary microadenomas • This technique provides simultaneous acquisition of contrast enhanced coronal and sagittal images. • This technique makes the diagnosis more accurate and reduces the examination time. • Such MR imaging only requires one single bolus of contrast agent.

MOLEKULYaRNO-GENETIChESKIE MARKERY OSTEOPOROZA U ZhITELEY BLOKADNOGO LENINGRADA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O N Semenova

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of our study is researching influence of vitamin D and osteocalcin polymorphic gene markers in people, who lived in Blockaded Leningrad in 1941-1944 and detecting “critical age” of peak bone mass formation in these people. We included in our study 48 peoples, 13 males and 35 females. Osteodensitometry of lumbar spine (L1-L4 and proximal hip was used by dualenergy X-ray absorptiometer GE Lunar Prodigy Vision 6. Molecular diagnostic researching are: detecting ApaI, TagI vitamin D receptor (VDR and HindIII osteocalcin gene polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction with restriction assay. Women with osteopenia of hip neck had significantly higher age in the onset of Blockade, than women without osteopenia. Genotype ТТ and allele Т of TagI, aa genotype of ApaI VDR, genotype hh and allele h of HindIII osteocalcin gene polymorphism will be able as markers of genetic predisposing to osteoporosis in people, who lived in Blockaded Leningrad.

Narrow Band Imaging Enhances the Detection Rate of Penetration and Aspiration in FEES.

Science.gov (United States)

Nienstedt, Julie C; Müller, Frank; Nießen, Almut; Fleischer, Susanne; Koseki, Jana-Christiane; Flügel, Till; Pflug, Christina

2017-06-01

Narrow band imaging (NBI) is widely used in gastrointestinal, laryngeal, and urological endoscopy. Its original purpose was to visualize vessels and epithelial irregularities. Based on our observation that adding NBI to common white light (WL) improves the contrast of the test bolus in fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), we now investigated the potential value of NBI in swallowing disorders. 148 FEES images were analyzed from 74 consecutive patients with swallowing disorders, including 74 with and 74 without NBI. All images were evaluated by four dysphagia specialists. Findings were classified according to Rosenbek's penetration-aspiration scale modified for evaluating these FEES images. Intra- and inter-rater reliability was determined as well as observer confidence. A better visualization of the bolus is the main advantage of NBI in FEES. This generally leads to sharper optical contrasts and better detection of small bolus quantities. Accordingly, NBI enhances the detection rate of penetration and aspiration. On average, identification of laryngeal penetration increased from 40 to 73% and of aspiration from 13 to 24% (each p dysphagia evaluation and shortening FEES evaluation time. It leads to a markedly higher detection rate of pathological findings. The significantly better intra- and inter-rater reliability argues further for a better overall reproducibly of FEES interpretation.

The Fate of Inhaled Nanoparticles: Detection and Measurement by Enhanced Dark-field Microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercer, Robert R; Scabilloni, James F; Wang, Liying; Battelli, Lori A; Antonini, James M; Roberts, Jenny R; Qian, Yong; Sisler, Jennifer D; Castranova, Vincent; Porter, Dale W; Hubbs, Ann F

2018-01-01

Assessing the potential health risks for newly developed nanoparticles poses a significant challenge. Nanometer-sized particles are not generally detectable with the light microscope. Electron microscopy typically requires high-level doses, above the physiologic range, for particle examination in tissues. Enhanced dark-field microscopy (EDM) is an adaption of the light microscope that images scattered light. Nanoparticles scatter light with high efficiency while normal tissues do not. EDM has the potential to identify the critical target sites for nanoparticle deposition and injury in the lungs and other organs. This study describes the methods for EDM imaging of nanoparticles and applications. Examples of EDM application include measurement of deposition and clearance patterns. Imaging of a wide variety of nanoparticles demonstrated frequent situations where nanoparticles detected by EDM were not visible by light microscopy. EDM examination of colloidal gold nanospheres (10-100 nm diameter) demonstrated a detection size limit of approximately 15 nm in tissue sections. EDM determined nanoparticle volume density was directly proportional to total lung burden of exposed animals. The results confirm that EDM can determine nanoparticle distribution, clearance, transport to lymph nodes, and accumulation in extrapulmonary organs. Thus, EDM substantially improves the qualitative and quantitative microscopic evaluation of inhaled nanoparticles.

An Enhanced Satellite-Based Algorithm for Detecting and Tracking Dust Outbreaks by Means of SEVIRI Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Marchese

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Dust outbreaks are meteorological phenomena of great interest for scientists and authorities (because of their impact on the climate, environment, and human activities, which may be detected, monitored, and characterized from space using different methods and procedures. Among the recent dust detection algorithms, the RSTDUST multi-temporal technique has provided good results in different geographic areas (e.g., Mediterranean basin; Arabian Peninsula, exhibiting a better performance than traditional split window methods, in spite of some limitations. In this study, we present an optimized configuration of this technique, which better exploits data provided by Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI aboard Meteosat Second Generation (MSG satellites to address those issues (e.g., sensitivity reduction over arid and semi-arid regions; dependence on some meteorological clouds. Three massive dust events affecting Europe and the Mediterranean basin in May 2008/2010 are analysed in this work, using information provided by some independent and well-established aerosol products to assess the achieved results. The study shows that the proposed algorithm, christened eRSTDUST (i.e., enhanced RSTDUST, which provides qualitative information about dust outbreaks, is capable of increasing the trade-off between reliability and sensitivity. The results encourage further experimentations of this method in other periods of the year, also exploiting data provided by different satellite sensors, for better evaluating the advantages arising from the use of this dust detection technique in operational scenarios.

Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson in the $Z^+ H \\to \\mu + \\mu + b \\bar{b}$ Channel in $p \\bar{p}$ Collisions at $\\sqrt{s}$ = 1.96 TeV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dong, Hui-shi [State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook, NY (United States)

2007-05-01

This dissertation describes a search for the standard model Higgs boson (H) produced in association with a Z boson at the DØ experiment. This analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of L = 370 pb^-1 of data. The p$\\bar{p}$ → ZH → µ⁺µ^- + b$\\bar{b}$ channel is studied where the Z boson decays to µ⁺µ^- and the H decays to b$\\bar{b}$. In order to boost the the signal rate we first introduce the optimized di-muon isolation probability for separating the Z + 2j signal from the multi-jet background, then use the optimized b-jet identifier to enhance the double b-tag signal significance. The upper limits on the σ(p$\\bar{p}$ → ZH) × Br(H → b$\\bar{b}$) for Higgs masses between 105 GeV and 145 GeV are set at 95% C.L.

A novel technique with enhanced detection and quantitation of HPV-16 E1- and E2-mediated DNA replication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, Ewan R.; Morgan, Iain M.

2003-01-01

Transient DNA replication assays to detect papillomavirus E1/E2-mediated DNA replication have depended upon Southern blotting. This technique is hazardous (radioactive), labour intensive, semiquantitative, and physically limited in the number of samples that can be processed at any one time. We have overcome these problems by developing a real-time PCR protocol for the detection of E1/E2-mediated transient DNA replication. The results demonstrate detection of replication at levels not seen using Southern blotting demonstrating enhanced sensitivity. This technique is also, by definition, highly quantitative. Therefore, the real-time PCR technique is the optimal method for the detection of E1/E2-mediated DNA replication

Ergonomics for enhancing detection of machine abnormalities.

Science.gov (United States)

Illankoon, Prasanna; Abeysekera, John; Singh, Sarbjeet

2016-10-17

Detecting abnormal machine conditions is of great importance in an autonomous maintenance environment. Ergonomic aspects can be invaluable when detection of machine abnormalities using human senses is examined. This research outlines the ergonomic issues involved in detecting machine abnormalities and suggests how ergonomics would improve such detections. Cognitive Task Analysis was performed in a plant in Sri Lanka where Total Productive Maintenance is being implemented to identify sensory types that would be used to detect machine abnormalities and relevant Ergonomic characteristics. As the outcome of this research, a methodology comprising of an Ergonomic Gap Analysis Matrix for machine abnormality detection is presented.

Quick detection of traditional Chinese medicine ‘Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma’ pieces by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Hao; Shi, Hong; Chen, Weiwei; Yu, Yun; Lin, Duo; Xu, Qian; Feng, Shangyuan; Lin, Juqiang; Chen, Rong

2013-01-01

A surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) method was developed for the analysis of traditional Chinese medicine ‘Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma’ pieces (AMRP) for the first time with the aim to develop a quick method for traditional Chinese medicine detection. Both Raman spectra and SERS spectra were obtained from AMRP, and tentative assignments of the Raman bands in the measured spectra suggested that only a few weak Raman peaks could be observed in the regular Raman spectra, while primary Raman peaks at around 536, 555, 619, 648, 691, 733, 790, 958, 1004, 1031, 1112, 1244, 1324, 1395, 1469, 1574 and 1632 cm −1 could be observed in the SERS spectra, with the strongest signals at 619, 733, 958, 1324, 1395 and 1469 cm −1 . This was due to a strong interaction between the silver colloids and the AMRP, which led to an extraordinary enhancement in the intensity of the Raman scattering in AMRP. This exploratory study suggests the SERS technique has great potential for providing a novel non-destructive method for effectively and accurately detecting traditional Chinese medicine without complicated separation and extraction. (paper)

Rapid and sensitive detection of synthetic cannabinoids AMB-FUBINACA and α-PVP using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Syed K.; Cheng, Yin Pak; Birke, Ronald L.; Green, Omar; Kubic, Thomas; Lombardi, John R.

2018-04-01

The application of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been reported as a fast and sensitive analytical method in the trace detection of the two most commonly known synthetic cannabinoids AMB-FUBINACA and alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (α-PVP). FUBINACA and α-PVP are two of the most dangerous synthetic cannabinoids which have been reported to cause numerous deaths in the United States. While instruments such as GC-MS, LC-MS have been traditionally recognized as analytical tools for the detection of these synthetic drugs, SERS has been recently gaining ground in the analysis of these synthetic drugs due to its sensitivity in trace analysis and its effectiveness as a rapid method of detection. This present study shows the limit of detection of a concentration as low as picomolar for AMB-FUBINACA while for α-PVP, the limit of detection is in nanomolar concentration using SERS.

A new nano-enhanced technology proposed to quantify intracellular detection of radiation-induced metabolic processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Malak, Henryk; Richmond, Robert; Dicello, J F

2011-02-01

A new approach to intracellular detection and imaging of metabolic processes and pathways is presented that uses surface plasmon resonance to enhance interactions between photon-absorbing metabolites and metal nanoparticles in contact with cells in vitro or in vivo. Photon absorption in the nanoparticles creates plasmon fields, enhancing intrinsic metabolite fluorescence, thereby increasing absorption and emission rates, creating new spectral emission bands, shortening fluorescence lifetimes, becoming more photo-stable and increasing fluorescent resonance energy transfer efficiency. Because the cells remain viable, it is proposed that the method may be used to interrogate cells prior to and after irradiation, with the potential for automated analyses of intracellular interactive pathways associated with radiation exposures at lower doses than existing technologies. The design and concepts of the instrument are presented along with data for unexposed cells.

Plasmon enhanced fluoro-immunoassay using egg yolk antibodies for ultra-sensitive detection of herbicide diuron.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Priyanka; Kukkar, Manil; Ganguli, Ashok K; Bhasin, Aman; Suri, C Raman

2013-08-07

Plasmon enhanced fluorescence immunoassay (PEFI) format has been reported in developing a sensitive heterogeneous fluoroimmunoassay for monitoring the phenylurea herbicide diuron. Computer-assisted molecular modeling was carried out to study the conformational and electrostatic effects of synthesized hapten for producing highly specific egg yolk antibody against a phenyl urea herbicide diuron. The generated antibodies were labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate at different molar ratios and used as tracer in the developed fluorescence based immunoassay. The sensitivity of the assay format was enhanced by using silver nanoparticles tagged with bovine serum albumin as a new blocking reagent in the developed PEFI format. Enhancer treatment on the developed immunoassay showed a significant improvement of fluorescence signal intensity with approximately 10 fold increase in assay sensitivity. The immunoassay has a detection limit of 0.01 ng mL(-1) with good signal precision (~2%) in the optimum working concentration range between 1 pg mL(-1) to 10 μg mL(-1) of diuron. These findings facilitate high throughput fluorescence-based processes that could be useful in biology, drug discovery and compound screening applications.

Kernel-Based Relevance Analysis with Enhanced Interpretability for Detection of Brain Activity Patterns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andres M. Alvarez-Meza

2017-10-01

Full Text Available We introduce Enhanced Kernel-based Relevance Analysis (EKRA that aims to support the automatic identification of brain activity patterns using electroencephalographic recordings. EKRA is a data-driven strategy that incorporates two kernel functions to take advantage of the available joint information, associating neural responses to a given stimulus condition. Regarding this, a Centered Kernel Alignment functional is adjusted to learning the linear projection that best discriminates the input feature set, optimizing the required free parameters automatically. Our approach is carried out in two scenarios: (i feature selection by computing a relevance vector from extracted neural features to facilitating the physiological interpretation of a given brain activity task, and (ii enhanced feature selection to perform an additional transformation of relevant features aiming to improve the overall identification accuracy. Accordingly, we provide an alternative feature relevance analysis strategy that allows improving the system performance while favoring the data interpretability. For the validation purpose, EKRA is tested in two well-known tasks of brain activity: motor imagery discrimination and epileptic seizure detection. The obtained results show that the EKRA approach estimates a relevant representation space extracted from the provided supervised information, emphasizing the salient input features. As a result, our proposal outperforms the state-of-the-art methods regarding brain activity discrimination accuracy with the benefit of enhanced physiological interpretation about the task at hand.

Phosphodiesterase (PDE5) inhibition assay for rapid detection of erectile dysfunction drugs and analogs in sexual enhancement products.

Science.gov (United States)

Santillo, Michael F; Mapa, Mapa S T

2018-02-28

Products marketed as dietary supplements for sexual enhancement are frequently adulterated with phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors, which are erectile dysfunction drugs or their analogs that can cause adverse health effects. Due to widespread adulteration, a rapid screening assay was developed to detect PDE5 inhibitors in adulterated products. The assay employs fluorescence detection and is based on measuring inhibition of PDE5 activity, the pharmacological mechanism shared among the adulterants. Initially, the assay reaction scheme was established and characterized, followed by analysis of 9 representative PDE5 inhibitors (IC 50 , 0.4-4.0 ng mL -1 ), demonstrating sensitive detection in matrix-free solutions. Next, dietary supplements serving as matrix blanks (n = 25) were analyzed to determine matrix interference and establish a threshold value; there were no false positives. Finally, matrix blanks were spiked with 9 individual PDE5 inhibitors, along with several mixtures. All 9 adulterants were successfully detected (≤ 5 % false negative rate; n = 20) at a concentration of 1.00 mg g -1 , which is over 5 times lower than concentrations commonly encountered in adulterated products. A major distinction of the PDE5 inhibition assay is the ability to detect adulterants without prior knowledge of their chemical structures, demonstrating a broad-based detection capability that can address a continuously evolving threat of new adulterants. The PDE5 inhibition assay can analyze over 40 samples simultaneously within 15 minutes and involves a single incubation step and simple data analysis, all of which are advantageous for combating the widespread adulteration of sex-enhancement products. Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Enhanced leak detection risk model development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harron, Lorna; Barlow, Rick; Farquhar, Ted [Enbridge Pipelines Inc., Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)

2010-07-01

Increasing concerns and attention to pipeline safety have engaged pipeline companies and regulatory agencies to extend their approaches to pipeline integrity. The implementation of High Consequence Areas (HCAs) has especially had an impact on the development of integrity management protocols (IMPs) for pipelines. These IMPs can require that a risk based assessment of integrity issues be applied to specific HCA risk factors. This paper addresses the development of an operational risk assessment approach for pipeline leak detection requirements for HCAs. A detailed risk assessment algorithm that includes 25 risk variables and 28 consequence variables was developed for application to all HCA areas. This paper describes the consultative process that was used to workshop the development of this algorithm. Included in this description is how the process addressed various methods of leak detection across a wide variety of pipelines. The paper also looks at development challenges and future steps in applying operation risk assessment techniques to mainline leak detection risk management.

Electrochemical immunoassay for thyroxine detection using cascade catalysis as signal amplified enhancer and multi-functionalized magnetic graphene sphere as signal tag

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Jing; Zhuo, Ying, E-mail: yingzhuo@swu.edu.cn; Chai, Yaqin; Yu, Yanqing; Liao, Ni; Yuan, Ruo, E-mail: yuanruo@swu.edu.cn

2013-08-06

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •A reusable electrochemical immunosensor is developed for thyroxine detection. •Cascade catalysis as signal amplified enhancer. •Multi-functionalized magnetic graphene sphere as signal tag. •The novel strategy has the advantages of high sensitivity, good selectivity and reproducibility. -- Abstract: This paper constructed a reusable electrochemical immunosensor for the detection of thyroxine at an ultralow concentration using cascade catalysis of cytochrome c (Cyt c) and glucose oxidase (GOx) as signal amplified enhancer. It is worth pointing out that numerous Cyt c and GOx were firstly carried onto the double-stranded DNA polymers based on hybridization chain reaction (HCR), and then the amplified responses could be achieved by cascade catalysis of Cyt c and GOx recycling with the help of glucose. Moreover, multi-functionalized magnetic graphene sphere was synthesized and used as signal tag, which not only exhibited good mechanical properties, large surface area and an excellent electron transfer rate of graphene, but also possessed excellent redox activity and desirable magnetic property. With a sandwich-type immunoreaction, the proposed cascade catalysis amplification strategy could greatly enhance the sensitivity for the detection of thyroxine. Under the optimal conditions, the immunosensor showed a wide linear ranged from 0.05 pg mL{sup −1} to 5 ng mL{sup −1} and a low detection limit down to 15 fg mL{sup −1}. Importantly, the proposed method offers promise for reproducible and cost-effective analysis of biological samples.

The Right Hemisphere Planum Temporale Supports Enhanced Visual Motion Detection Ability in Deaf People: Evidence from Cortical Thickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiell, Martha M; Champoux, François; Zatorre, Robert J

2016-01-01

After sensory loss, the deprived cortex can reorganize to process information from the remaining modalities, a phenomenon known as cross-modal reorganization. In blind people this cross-modal processing supports compensatory behavioural enhancements in the nondeprived modalities. Deaf people also show some compensatory visual enhancements, but a direct relationship between these abilities and cross-modally reorganized auditory cortex has only been established in an animal model, the congenitally deaf cat, and not in humans. Using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, we measured cortical thickness in the planum temporale, Heschl's gyrus and sulcus, the middle temporal area MT+, and the calcarine sulcus, in early-deaf persons. We tested for a correlation between this measure and visual motion detection thresholds, a visual function where deaf people show enhancements as compared to hearing. We found that the cortical thickness of a region in the right hemisphere planum temporale, typically an auditory region, was greater in deaf individuals with better visual motion detection thresholds. This same region has previously been implicated in functional imaging studies as important for functional reorganization. The structure-behaviour correlation observed here demonstrates this area's involvement in compensatory vision and indicates an anatomical correlate, increased cortical thickness, of cross-modal plasticity.

Novel Semiconducting Polymers for Highly Efficient Solar Energy Harvesting

Science.gov (United States)

2014-03-11

we have developed an effective approach to enhance PCE and achieved an unprecedented high PCE value around 9.4%. S SS S X O O S SO OS S X S S X...Address: 128.135.225.61 Language: English (en-us,en;q=0.7,zh-cn;q=0.3) User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:27.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox /27.0 Http

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Will An Additional Observer Enhance Adenoma Detection During Colonoscopy?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin D Mullen

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Due to varied level of experience, the detection rate of adenoma on colonoscopy is different. In presence of both fellows and attending the incidence rates of adenoma are shown to increase in a small study reported by Rogart et al [4]. Based on similar hypothesis, a study was undertaken with much larger sample size to improve the power of the study. Aims and objective: To know if presence of additional observer will enhance adenoma detection during colonoscopy. Material and Methods: 2236 consecutive colonoscopies performed at Metro Health Medical Centre, Cleveland, Ohio were included in the study from July 2005 to August 2006. Cases with history of colorectal, surgical resection of colon, inflammatory bowel diseases and hereditary polyposis syndrome were excluded. Inpatient colonoscopies were also excluded. With all usual precautions for colonoscopy and after giving polyethylene glycol electrolyte (PEGEL colonoscopies were performed by one of the nine experienced staff attending using an Olympus colonoscope and Evis Exera processors. All colonoscopies performed by fellows were supervised by an attending throughout the procedure. Advanced adenomas were defined as adenomas greater than 1 cm size. Statistical analysis was done using Tall hassee, FL software; Fisher’s exact test, unpaired t test and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed. p-value of <0.05 is considered as statistically significant. Results: Of the total 2236 colonoscopies included in the study, 1527 were performed by fellows under supervision of attending and 709 by the attending. There was no significant difference in patient demographics, caecal intubation or poor preparation colonoscopies. The mean age of the group was 55 years in both of the groups. There was no statistically significant different in the polyp detection rate (35% Vs 36.8% as well as overall adenoma detection rate (28.4% Vs 27.7% between these two groups of performers. However

Contrast-enhanced transrectal ultrasonography for the detection of diffuse prostate cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Y.; Liao, X.H.; Lu, L.; Wang, L.; Ma, Y.; Qin, H.Z.; Yan, X.; Guo, P.

2016-01-01

Aim: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced transrectal ultrasonography (CE-TRUS) versus baseline TRUS (combination of grey-scale and colour Doppler imaging) for diffuse prostate cancer. Materials and methods: Forty-six patients without an obvious focal mass on baseline TRUS (grey-scale and colour Doppler), underwent additional CE-TRUS and TRUS-guided biopsy due to elevated levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA ≥4 ng/ml) and/or abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE). In all patients, CE-TRUS was performed with intravenous injection of a contrast agent (sulphur hexafluoride microbubble; SonoVue, 2.4 ml) before biopsy. TRUS-guided biopsy targeted suspicious areas detected on CE-TRUS imaging or sampled the outer gland of the normal prostate. The final diagnosis was based on results of the TRUS-guided biopsy. The diagnostic accuracy of baseline TRUS and CE-TRUS for diffuse prostatic lesions was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Diffuse prostate cancer was present in 32 (69.5%) patients and absent in 14 (30.5%) patients. Nineteen patients had diffuse prostate cancer that was not detected by baseline TRUS, whereas 15 cases were identified using CE-TRUS. Conversely, five patients had benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) that was diagnosed as cancer by CE-TRUS, and two of these patients were diagnosed with BPH by baseline TRUS. The combined sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 87.5%, 64.2%, and 80.4%, respectively, for CE-TRUS, and 40.6%, 78.5%, and 52.1%, respectively, for baseline TRUS. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) values for the diagnostic accuracy of baseline CE-TRUS versus TRUS for diffuse prostate cancer differed significantly at 0.904 and 0.667, respectively (Z=4.098, p<0.0001). Conclusion: CE-TRUS exhibited greater diagnostic accuracy for diffuse prostate cancer than baseline TRUS. CE-TRUS may improve cancer detection over baseline TRUS imaging for the diagnosis of diffuse

Transparent, flexible surface enhanced Raman scattering substrates based on Ag-coated structured PET (polyethylene terephthalate) for in-situ detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuo, Zewen; Zhu, Kai; Gu, Chuan; Wen, Yibing; Cui, Guanglei; Qu, Jun

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Transparent, flexible SERS substrates were prepared using techniques compatible with well-established silicon device technologies. • The SERS substrates exhibit high sensitivity and good reproducibility. • The high performance is related with the quasi-three-dimensional structure of the PET. • In-situ detection of analyte on irregular objects was achieved by this SERS substrate. - Abstract: Transparent, flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates were fabricated by metalization of structured polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets. The resultant Ag-coated structured PET SERS substrates were revealed to be highly sensitive with good reproducibility and stability, an enhancement factor of 3 × 10 6 was acquired, which can be attributed mainly to the presence of plentiful multiple-type hot spots within the quasi-three-dimensional surface of the structured PET obtained by oxygen plasma etching. In addition, detections of model molecules on fruit skin were also carried out, demonstrating the great potential of the Ag-coated structured PET in in-situ detection of analyte on irregular objects. Importantly, the technique used for the preparation of such substrate is completely compatible with well-established silicon device technologies, and large-area fabrication with low cost can be readily realized.

Transparent, flexible surface enhanced Raman scattering substrates based on Ag-coated structured PET (polyethylene terephthalate) for in-situ detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuo, Zewen, E-mail: zuozewen@mail.ahnu.edu.cn; Zhu, Kai; Gu, Chuan; Wen, Yibing; Cui, Guanglei; Qu, Jun

2016-08-30

Highlights: • Transparent, flexible SERS substrates were prepared using techniques compatible with well-established silicon device technologies. • The SERS substrates exhibit high sensitivity and good reproducibility. • The high performance is related with the quasi-three-dimensional structure of the PET. • In-situ detection of analyte on irregular objects was achieved by this SERS substrate. - Abstract: Transparent, flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates were fabricated by metalization of structured polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets. The resultant Ag-coated structured PET SERS substrates were revealed to be highly sensitive with good reproducibility and stability, an enhancement factor of 3 × 10{sup 6} was acquired, which can be attributed mainly to the presence of plentiful multiple-type hot spots within the quasi-three-dimensional surface of the structured PET obtained by oxygen plasma etching. In addition, detections of model molecules on fruit skin were also carried out, demonstrating the great potential of the Ag-coated structured PET in in-situ detection of analyte on irregular objects. Importantly, the technique used for the preparation of such substrate is completely compatible with well-established silicon device technologies, and large-area fabrication with low cost can be readily realized.

Detection of liver metastases in cancer patients with geographic fatty infiltration of the liver: the added value of contrast-enhanced sonography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartolotta, Tommaso Vincenzo; Taibbi, Adele; Picone, Dario; Anastasi, Andrea; Midiri, Massimo; Lagalla, Roberto

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to assess the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in the detection of liver metastases in cancer patients with geographic liver fatty deposition on greyscale ultrasonography (US). Thirty-seven consecutive cancer patients (24 women and 13 men; age, 33 to 80 years; mean, 58.1 years) with geographic liver fatty deposition, but without any detectable focal liver lesion on greyscale US, underwent sulphur hexafluoride-enhanced US. Two readers reported by consensus the presence, size, and location of any detected lesion. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a confirmatory study. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), and accuracy were calculated. Seven focal liver lesions (size, 4 to 10 mm; mean, 6.1 mm) were detected in 4/37 patients (10.8%): four metastases (size, 5 to 10 mm; mean, 6.7 mm) were detected both by CEUS and MRI, with one hemangioma and two cysts (size range, 4 to 6 mm; mean, 5.3 mm) detected by MRI only. In 1/37 patients (2.7%), CEUS misdiagnosed geographic fatty change as three metastases. In 32/37 patients (86.5%), no lesions were detected. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of CEUS were 100% (95% confidence Interval [CI], 1.000 to 1.000), 97.1% (95% CI, 0.914 to 1.027), 75%, 100%, and 97.3%, respectively. No statistically significant differences were found between CEUS and MRI in the detection of focal liver lesions (P=0.480), whereas both of them performed better than baseline US (P<0.001). CEUS improves the detection of liver metastases in cancer patients with geographic liver fatty deposition on greyscale US

Detection of liver metastases in cancer patients with geographic fatty infiltration of the liver: the added value of contrast-enhanced sonography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bartolotta, Tommaso Vincenzo; Taibbi, Adele; Picone, Dario; Anastasi, Andrea; Midiri, Massimo; Lagalla, Roberto [Dept. of Radiology-Di.Bi.Med., University of Palermo, Palermo (Italy)

2017-04-15

The aim of this study is to assess the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in the detection of liver metastases in cancer patients with geographic liver fatty deposition on greyscale ultrasonography (US). Thirty-seven consecutive cancer patients (24 women and 13 men; age, 33 to 80 years; mean, 58.1 years) with geographic liver fatty deposition, but without any detectable focal liver lesion on greyscale US, underwent sulphur hexafluoride-enhanced US. Two readers reported by consensus the presence, size, and location of any detected lesion. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a confirmatory study. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), and accuracy were calculated. Seven focal liver lesions (size, 4 to 10 mm; mean, 6.1 mm) were detected in 4/37 patients (10.8%): four metastases (size, 5 to 10 mm; mean, 6.7 mm) were detected both by CEUS and MRI, with one hemangioma and two cysts (size range, 4 to 6 mm; mean, 5.3 mm) detected by MRI only. In 1/37 patients (2.7%), CEUS misdiagnosed geographic fatty change as three metastases. In 32/37 patients (86.5%), no lesions were detected. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of CEUS were 100% (95% confidence Interval [CI], 1.000 to 1.000), 97.1% (95% CI, 0.914 to 1.027), 75%, 100%, and 97.3%, respectively. No statistically significant differences were found between CEUS and MRI in the detection of focal liver lesions (P=0.480), whereas both of them performed better than baseline US (P<0.001). CEUS improves the detection of liver metastases in cancer patients with geographic liver fatty deposition on greyscale US.

Effect of parameters in moving average method for event detection enhancement using phase sensitive OTDR

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Yong-Seok; Naeem, Khurram; Jeon, Min Yong; Kwon, Il-bum

2017-04-01

We analyze the relations of parameters in moving average method to enhance the event detectability of phase sensitive optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR). If the external events have unique frequency of vibration, then the control parameters of moving average method should be optimized in order to detect these events efficiently. A phase sensitive OTDR was implemented by a pulsed light source, which is composed of a laser diode, a semiconductor optical amplifier, an erbium-doped fiber amplifier, a fiber Bragg grating filter, and a light receiving part, which has a photo-detector and high speed data acquisition system. The moving average method is operated with the control parameters: total number of raw traces, M, number of averaged traces, N, and step size of moving, n. The raw traces are obtained by the phase sensitive OTDR with sound signals generated by a speaker. Using these trace data, the relation of the control parameters is analyzed. In the result, if the event signal has one frequency, then the optimal values of N, n are existed to detect the event efficiently.

Detection of vascularity in wrist tenosynovitis: power doppler ultrasound compared with contrast-enhanced grey-scale ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Klauser, Andrea S; Franz, Magdalena; Arora, Rohit; Feuchtner, Gudrun M; Gruber, Johann; Schirmer, Michael; Jaschke, Werner R; Gabl, Markus F

2010-01-01

We sought to assess vascularity in wrist tenosynovitis by using power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) and to compare detection of intra- and peritendinous vascularity with that of contrast-enhanced grey-scale ultrasound (CEUS). Twenty-six tendons of 24 patients (nine men, 15 women; mean age ± SD, 54.4 ± 11.8 years) with a clinical diagnosis of tenosynovitis were examined with B-mode ultrasonography, PDUS, and CEUS by using a second-generation contrast agent, SonoVue (Bracco Diagnostics, Milan, Italy) and a low-mechanical-index ultrasound technique. Thickness of synovitis, extent of vascularized pannus, intensity of peritendinous vascularisation, and detection of intratendinous vessels was incorporated in a 3-score grading system (grade 0 to 2). Interobserver variability was calculated. With CEUS, a significantly greater extent of vascularity could be detected than by using PDUS (P < 0.001). In terms of peri- and intratendinous vessels, CEUS was significantly more sensitive in the detection of vascularization compared with PDUS (P < 0.001). No significant correlation between synovial thickening and extent of vascularity could be found (P = 0.089 to 0.097). Interobserver reliability was calculated to be excellent when evaluating the grading score (κ = 0.811 to 1.00). CEUS is a promising tool to detect tendon vascularity with higher sensitivity than PDUS by improved detection of intra- and peritendinous vascularity.

Zlepšování limitů detekce spektroskopie laserem indukovaného plazmatu (LIBS) pomocí aplikace nanočástic

OpenAIRE

Képeš, Erik

2014-01-01

Bakalárska práca popisuje možnosti zlepšovania detekčných limít metódy spektroskopie laserom indukovanej plazmy (LIBS). Zhŕňa modifikácie klasickej aparatúry, ktoré využívajú metódy double-pulsed LIBS (DPLIBS), Townsend effect plasma sectroscopy (TEPS), resonance enhanced LIBS (RELIBS), spark discharge LIBS (SDLIBS), flame-enhanced LIBS (FELIBS) aj nové postupy pri príprave vzoriek, ktoré používa metóda nanoparticle enhanced LIBS (NELIBS). Popisuje mechanizmy, ktoré využívajú jednotlivé metód...

An ordered array of hierarchical spheres for surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of traces of pesticide

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaoye; Zheng, Peng; Meng, Guowen; Huang, Qing; Zhu, Chuhong; Han, Fangming; Huang, Zhulin; Li, Zhongbo; Wang, Zhaoming; Wu, Nianqiang

2016-09-01

An ordered array of hierarchically-structured core-nanosphere@space-layer@shell-nanoparticles has been fabricated for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. To fabricate this hierarchically-structured chip, a long-range ordered array of Au/Ag-nanospheres is first patterned in the nano-bowls on the planar surface of ordered nanoporous anodic titanium oxide template. A ultra-thin alumina middle space-layer is then conformally coated on the Au/Ag-nanospheres, and Ag-nanoparticles are finally deposited on the surface of the alumina space-layer to form an ordered array of Au/Ag-nanosphere@Al2O3-layer@Ag-nanoparticles. Finite-difference time-domain simulation shows that SERS hot spots are created between the neighboring Ag-nanoparticles. The ordered array of hierarchical nanostructures is used as the SERS-substrate for a trial detection of methyl parathion (a pesticide) in water and a limit of detection of 1 nM is reached, indicating its promising potential in rapid monitoring of organic pollutants in aquatic environment.

An Efficient Method for Detection of Outliers in Tracer Curves Derived from Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linning Ye

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Presence of outliers in tracer concentration-time curves derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging can adversely affect the analysis of the tracer curves by model-fitting. A computationally efficient method for detecting outliers in tracer concentration-time curves is presented in this study. The proposed method is based on a piecewise linear model and implemented using a robust clustering algorithm. The method is noniterative and all the parameters are automatically estimated. To compare the proposed method with existing Gaussian model based and robust regression-based methods, simulation studies were performed by simulating tracer concentration-time curves using the generalized Tofts model and kinetic parameters derived from different tissue types. Results show that the proposed method and the robust regression-based method achieve better detection performance than the Gaussian model based method. Compared with the robust regression-based method, the proposed method can achieve similar detection performance with much faster computation speed.

Gadolinium-DTPA enhanced MRI of the brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosten, N.; Felix, R.

1994-01-01

The text reviews MRI findings in a variety of cerebral diseases. Advantages of Gadolinium-DTPA (Gd-DTPA) enhanced MRI over plain MRI and enhanced CT are discussed. Enhanced MRI is far superior to enhanced CT in the detection of meningeal tumor spread, meningeal inflammation, inflammatory lesions of the optic nerve, brain lesions in multiple sclerosis and infarction. Enhanced MRI is today the most sensitive diagnostic tool in hypophaseal adenomas. Also enhancement of gliomas is detected by MRI with higher sensitivity than by CT. Use Gd-DTPA allow to separate of vital tumor tissue from necrosis and edema, improve delineation of tumor extension and improve detection of lesions localized in gray matter

An integrated circuit/microsystem/nano-enhanced four species radiation sensor for inexpensive fissionable material detection

Science.gov (United States)

Waguespack, Randy Paul

2011-12-01

Small scale radiation detectors sensitive to alpha, beta, electromagnetic, neutron radiation are needed to combat the threat of nuclear terrorism and maintain national security. There are many types of radiation detectors on the market, and the type of detector chosen is usually determined by the type of particle to be detected. In the case of fissionable material, an ideal detector needs to detect all four types of radiation, which is not the focus of many detectors. For fissionable materials, the two main types of radiation that must be detected are gamma rays and neutrons. Our detector uses a glass or quartz scintillator doped with 10B nanoparticles to detect all four types of radiation particles. Boron-10 has a thermal neutron cross section of 3,840 barns. The interaction between the neutron and boron results in a secondary charge particle in the form of an alpha particle to be emitted, which is detectable by the scintillator. Radiation impinging on the scintillator matrix produces varying optical pulses dependent on the energy of the particles. The optical pulses are then detected by a photomultiplier (PM) tube, creating a current proportional to the energy of the particle. Current pulses from the PM tube are differentiated by on-chip pulse height spectroscopy, allowing for source discrimination. The pulse height circuitry has been fabricated with discrete circuits and designed into an integrated circuit package. The ability to replace traditional PM tubes with a smaller, less expensive photomultiplier will further reduce the size of the device and enhance the cost effectiveness and portability of the detector.

Potential of non-invasive esophagus cancer detection based on urine surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Shaohua; Wang, Lan; Chen, Weisheng; Feng, Shangyuan; Lin, Juqiang; Huang, Zufang; Chen, Guannan; Li, Buhong; Chen, Rong

2014-11-01

Non-invasive esophagus cancer detection based on urine surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis was presented. Urine SERS spectra were measured on esophagus cancer patients (n = 56) and healthy volunteers (n = 36) for control analysis. Tentative assignments of the urine SERS spectra indicated some interesting esophagus cancer-specific biomolecular changes, including a decrease in the relative content of urea and an increase in the percentage of uric acid in the urine of esophagus cancer patients compared to that of healthy subjects. Principal component analysis (PCA) combined with linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was employed to analyze and differentiate the SERS spectra between normal and esophagus cancer urine. The diagnostic algorithms utilizing a multivariate analysis method achieved a diagnostic sensitivity of 89.3% and specificity of 83.3% for separating esophagus cancer samples from normal urine samples. These results from the explorative work suggested that silver nano particle-based urine SERS analysis coupled with PCA-LDA multivariate analysis has potential for non-invasive detection of esophagus cancer.

Potential of non-invasive esophagus cancer detection based on urine surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Shaohua; Wang, Lan; Feng, Shangyuan; Lin, Juqiang; Huang, Zufang; Chen, Guannan; Li, Buhong; Chen, Rong; Chen, Weisheng

2014-01-01

Non-invasive esophagus cancer detection based on urine surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis was presented. Urine SERS spectra were measured on esophagus cancer patients (n = 56) and healthy volunteers (n = 36) for control analysis. Tentative assignments of the urine SERS spectra indicated some interesting esophagus cancer-specific biomolecular changes, including a decrease in the relative content of urea and an increase in the percentage of uric acid in the urine of esophagus cancer patients compared to that of healthy subjects. Principal component analysis (PCA) combined with linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was employed to analyze and differentiate the SERS spectra between normal and esophagus cancer urine. The diagnostic algorithms utilizing a multivariate analysis method achieved a diagnostic sensitivity of 89.3% and specificity of 83.3% for separating esophagus cancer samples from normal urine samples. These results from the explorative work suggested that silver nano particle-based urine SERS analysis coupled with PCA–LDA multivariate analysis has potential for non-invasive detection of esophagus cancer. (letter)

Information-Aided Smart Schemes for Vehicle Flow Detection Enhancements of Traffic Microwave Radar Detectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan-Jan Ho

2016-07-01

Full Text Available For satisfactory traffic management of an intelligent transport system, it is vital that traffic microwave radar detectors (TMRDs can provide real-time traffic information with high accuracy. In this study, we develop several information-aided smart schemes for traffic detection improvements of TMRDs in multiple-lane environments. Specifically, we select appropriate thresholds not only for removing noise from fast Fourier transforms (FFTs of regional lane contexts but also for reducing FFT side lobes within each lane. The resulting FFTs of reflected vehicle signals and those of clutter are distinguishable. We exploit FFT and lane-/or time stamp-related information for developing smart schemes, which mitigate adverse effects of lane-crossing FFT side lobes of a vehicle signal. As such, the proposed schemes can enhance the detection accuracy of both lane vehicle flow and directional traffic volume. On-site experimental results demonstrate the advantages and feasibility of the proposed methods, and suggest the best smart scheme.

A Novel High-Performance Beam-Supported Membrane Structure with Enhanced Design Flexibility for Partial Discharge Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chenzhao Fu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A novel beam-supported membrane (BSM structure for the fiber optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI sensors showing an enhanced performance and an improved resistance to the temperature change was proposed for detecting partial discharges (PDs. The fundamental frequency, sensitivity, linear range, and flatness of the BSM structure were investigated by employing the finite element simulations. Compared with the intact membrane (IM structure commonly used by EFPI sensors, BSM structure provides extra geometrical parameters to define the fundamental frequency when the diameter of the whole membrane and its thickness is determined, resulting in an enhanced design flexibility of the sensor structure. According to the simulation results, it is noted that BSM structure not only shows a much higher sensitivity (increased by almost four times for some cases, and a wider working range of fundamental frequency to choose, but also an improved linear range, making the system development much easier. In addition, BSM structure presents a better flatness than its IM counterpart, providing an increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR. A further improvement of performance is thought to be possible with a step-forward structural optimization. The BSM structure shows a great potential to design the EFPI sensors, as well as others for detecting the acoustic signals.

Detection of mast cell secretion by using surface enhanced Raman scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Juan; Li, Ren; Zheng, Liqin; Wang, Yuhua; Xie, Shusen; Lin, Juqiang

2016-10-01

Acupuncture can cause a remarkable increase in degranulation of the mast cells, which has attracted the interest of researchers since the 1980s. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) could obtain biochemical information with high sensitivity and specificity. In this study, SERS was used to detect the degree of degranulation of mast cells according to different incubate time. Mast cells was incubated with culture medium for 0 h, 12 h and 24 h, then centrifuge the culture medium, decant the supernatant, and discard the mast cell. SERS was performed to obtain the biochemical fingerprinting signatures of the centrifuged medium. The spectra data are then analyzed by spectral peaks attribution and the principal component analysis (PCA). The measured Raman spectra of the two groups were separated well by PCA. It indicated that mast cells had secreted some substances into cultured medium though degranulation did not happen.

Improved galvanic replacement growth of Ag microstructures on Cu micro-grid for enhanced SERS detection of organic molecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Tian-Long; Li, Ji-Guang; Sun, Xudong; Sakka, Yoshio

2016-04-01

Galvanic growth of Ag nano/micro-structures on Cu micro-grid was systematically studied for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) applications. Detailed characterizations via FE-SEM and HR-TEM showed that processing parameters, (reaction time, Ag(+) concentration, and PVP addition) all substantially affect thermodynamics/kinetics of the replacement reaction to yield substrates of significantly different microstructures/homogeneities and thus varied SERS performances (sensitivity, enhancement factor, and reproducibility) of the Ag substrates in the detection of R6G analyte. PVP as an additive was shown to notably alter nucleation/growth behaviors of the Ag crystals and promote the deposition of dense and uniform Ag films of nearly monodisperse polyhedrons/nanoplates through suppressing dendrites crystallization. Under optimized synthesis (50mM of Ag(+), 30s of reaction, and 700 wt.% of PVP), Ag substrates exhibiting a high Raman signal enhancement factor of ~1.1 × 10(6) and a low relative standard deviation of ~0.13 in the repeated detection of 10 μM R6G were obtained. The facile deposition and excellent performance reported in this work may allow the Ag microstructures to find wider SERS applications. Moreover, growth mechanisms of the different Ag nano/micro-structures were discussed based on extensive FE-SEM and HR-TEM analysis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The added value of {sup 68}Ga-DOTA-TATE-PET to contrast-enhanced CT for primary site detection in CUP of neuroendocrine origin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kazmierczak, Philipp M. [Klinikum der Universitaet Muenchen, Institut fuer Klinische Radiologie, Muenchen (Germany); Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Institute for Clinical Radiology, Muenchen (Germany); Rominger, Axel; Wenter, Vera [Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Muenchen (Germany); Spitzweg, Christine; Auernhammer, Christoph [Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Department of Internal Medicine II, Muenchen (Germany); Angele, Martin K. [Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Department of General, Visceral, Transplantation, Vascular and Thoracic Surgery, Muenchen (Germany); Rist, Carsten; Cyran, Clemens C. [Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Institute for Clinical Radiology, Muenchen (Germany)

2017-04-15

To quantify the additional value of {sup 68}Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT in comparison with contrast-enhanced CT alone for primary tumour detection in neuroendocrine cancer of unknown primary (CUP-NET). In total, 38 consecutive patients (27 men, 11 women; mean age 62 years) with histologically proven CUP-NET who underwent a contrast-enhanced {sup 68}Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT scan for primary tumour detection and staging between 2010 and 2014 were included in this IRB-approved retrospective study. Two blinded readers independently analysed the contrast-enhanced CT and {sup 68}Ga-DOTA-TATE PET datasets separately and noted from which modality they suspected a primary tumour. Consensus was reached if the results were divergent. Postoperative histopathology (24 patients) and follow-up {sup 68}Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT imaging (14 patients) served as the reference standards and statistical measures of diagnostic accuracy were calculated accordingly. The majority of confirmed primary tumours were located in the abdomen (ileum in 19 patients, pancreas in 12, lung in 2, small pelvis in 1). High interobserver agreement was noted regarding the suspected primary tumour site (Cohen's k 0.90, p < 0.001). {sup 68}Ga-DOTA-TATE PET demonstrated a significantly higher sensitivity (94 % vs. 63 %, p = 0.005) and a significantly higher accuracy (87 % vs. 68 %, p = 0.003) than contrast-enhanced CT. Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT compared with contrast-enhanced CT alone provides an improvement in sensitivity of 50 % and an improvement in accuracy of 30 % in primary tumour detection in CUP-NET. (orig.)

Graphene Dendrimer-stabilized silver nanoparticles for detection of methimazole using Surface-enhanced Raman scattering with computational assignment

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Tawfik A.; Al-Shalalfeh, Mutasem M.; Al-Saadi, Abdulaziz A.

2016-08-01

Graphene functionalized with polyamidoamine dendrimer, decorated with silver nanoparticles (G-D-Ag), was synthesized and evaluated as a substrate with surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for methimazole (MTZ) detection. Sodium borohydride was used as a reducing agent to cultivate silver nanoparticles on the dendrimer. The obtained G-D-Ag was characterized by using UV-vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. The SEM image indicated the successful formation of the G-D-Ag. The behavior of MTZ on the G-D-Ag as a reliable and robust substrate was investigated by SERS, which indicated mostly a chemical interaction between G-D-Ag and MTZ. The bands of the MTZ normal spectra at 1538, 1463, 1342, 1278, 1156, 1092, 1016, 600, 525 and 410 cm-1 were enhanced due to the SERS effect. Correlations between the logarithmical scale of MTZ concentrations and SERS signal intensities were established, and a low detection limit of 1.43 × 10-12 M was successfully obtained. The density functional theory (DFT) approach was utilized to provide reliable assignment of the key Raman bands.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of ammonium nitrate samples fabricated using drop-on-demand inkjet technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrell, Mikella E; Holthoff, Ellen L; Pellegrino, Paul M

2014-01-01

The United States Army and the first responder community are increasingly focusing efforts on energetic materials detection and identification. Main hazards encountered in theater include homemade explosives and improvised explosive devices, in part fabricated from simple components like ammonium nitrate (AN). In order to accurately detect and identify these unknowns (energetic or benign), fielded detection systems must be accurately trained using well-understood universal testing substrates. These training substrates must contain target species at known concentrations and recognized polymorphic phases. Ammonium nitrate is an explosive precursor material that demonstrates several different polymorphic phases dependent upon how the material is deposited onto testing substrates. In this paper, known concentrations of AN were uniformly deposited onto commercially available surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates using a drop-on-demand inkjet printing system. The phase changes observed after the deposition of AN under several solvent conditions are investigated. Characteristics of the collected SERS spectra of AN are discussed, and it is demonstrated that an understanding of the exact nature of the AN samples deposited will result in an increased ability to accurately and reliably "train" hazard detection systems.

Visible wavelength surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy from In-InP nanopillars for biomolecule detection

Science.gov (United States)

Murdoch, B. J.; Portoles, J. F.; Tardio, S.; Barlow, A. J.; Fletcher, I. W.; Cumpson, P. J.

2016-12-01

Visible wavelength surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been observed from bovine serum albumin (BSA) using In-InP nanopillars synthesised by Ar gas cluster ion beam sputtering of InP wafers. InP provides a high local refractive index for plasmonic In structures, which increases the wavelength of the In surface plasmon resonance. The Raman scattering signal was determined to be up to 285 times higher for BSA deposited onto In-InP nanopillars when compared with Si wafer substrates. These substrates demonstrate the label-free detection of biomolecules by visible wavelength SERS, without the use of noble metal particles.

Improved galvanic replacement growth of Ag microstructures on Cu micro-grid for enhanced SERS detection of organic molecules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Tian-Long [Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials, School of Materials and Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Advanced Materials Processing Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki 1–1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Li, Ji-Guang, E-mail: LI.Jiguang@nims.go.jp [Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials, School of Materials and Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Advanced Materials Processing Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki 1–1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Sun, Xudong, E-mail: xdsun@mail.neu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials, School of Materials and Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Sakka, Yoshio [Advanced Materials Processing Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki 1–1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan)

2016-04-01

Galvanic growth of Ag nano/micro-structures on Cu micro-grid was systematically studied for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) applications. Detailed characterizations via FE-SEM and HR-TEM showed that processing parameters, (reaction time, Ag{sup +} concentration, and PVP addition) all substantially affect thermodynamics/kinetics of the replacement reaction to yield substrates of significantly different microstructures/homogeneities and thus varied SERS performances (sensitivity, enhancement factor, and reproducibility) of the Ag substrates in the detection of R6G analyte. PVP as an additive was shown to notably alter nucleation/growth behaviors of the Ag crystals and promote the deposition of dense and uniform Ag films of nearly monodisperse polyhedrons/nanoplates through suppressing dendrites crystallization. Under optimized synthesis (50 mM of Ag{sup +}, 30 s of reaction, and 700 wt.% of PVP), Ag substrates exhibiting a high Raman signal enhancement factor of ~ 1.1 × 10{sup 6} and a low relative standard deviation of ~ 0.13 in the repeated detection of 10 μM R6G were obtained. The facile deposition and excellent performance reported in this work may allow the Ag microstructures to find wider SERS applications. Moreover, growth mechanisms of the different Ag nano/micro-structures were discussed based on extensive FE-SEM and HR-TEM analysis. - Highlights: • A facile synthetic technique of growing SERS active Ag substrates onto Cu micro-grid has been systematically studied. • Changing processing parameters has yielded Ag crystals of various morphologies and SERS performances. • PVP additive was observed to suppress Ag dendrite crystallization for nearly monodispersed Ag polyhedrons/nanoplates. • PVP modified SERS substrate exhibits excellent EF and RSD values in the repeated detection of 10 μM R6G analyte.

Double-labeled donor probe can enhance the signal of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) in detection of nucleic acid hybridization

Science.gov (United States)

Okamura, Yukio; Kondo, Satoshi; Sase, Ichiro; Suga, Takayuki; Mise, Kazuyuki; Furusawa, Iwao; Kawakami, Shigeki; Watanabe, Yuichiro

2000-01-01

A set of fluorescently-labeled DNA probes that hybridize with the target RNA and produce fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) signals can be utilized for the detection of specific RNA. We have developed probe sets to detect and discriminate single-strand RNA molecules of plant viral genome, and sought a method to improve the FRET signals to handle in vivo applications. Consequently, we found that a double-labeled donor probe labeled with Bodipy dye yielded a remarkable increase in fluorescence intensity compared to a single-labeled donor probe used in an ordinary FRET. This double-labeled donor system can be easily applied to improve various FRET probes since the dependence upon sequence and label position in enhancement is not as strict. Furthermore this method could be applied to other nucleic acid substances, such as oligo RNA and phosphorothioate oligonucleotides (S-oligos) to enhance FRET signal. Although the double-labeled donor probes labeled with a variety of fluorophores had unexpected properties (strange UV-visible absorption spectra, decrease of intensity and decay of donor fluorescence) compared with single-labeled ones, they had no relation to FRET enhancement. This signal amplification mechanism cannot be explained simply based on our current results and knowledge of FRET. Yet it is possible to utilize this double-labeled donor system in various applications of FRET as a simple signal-enhancement method. PMID:11121494

Enhancing the Detection of Dysmorphic Red Blood Cells and Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells with a Modified Urinalysis Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu-Su, Yu; Shukuya, Kenichi; Yokoyama, Takashi; Lin, Wei-Chou; Chiang, Chih-Kang; Lin, Chii-Wann

2017-01-11

Urinary sediment is used to evaluate patients with possible urinary tract diseases. Currently, numerous protocols are applied to detect dysmorphic red blood cells (RBCs) and renal tubular epithelial cells (RTECs) in urinary sediment. However, distinct protocols are used by nephrologists and medical technologists for specimen concentration and observation, which leads to major discrepancies in the differential counts of formed elements such as dysmorphic RBCs and RTECs and might interfere with an accurate clinical diagnosis. To resolve these problems, we first tested a modified urinalysis protocol with an increased relative centrifuge force and concentration factor in 20 biopsy-confirmed glomerulonephritis patients with haematuria. We successfully improved the recovery ratio of dysmorphic RBCs in clinical specimens from 34.7% to 42.0% (P dysmorphic RBCs were detected using a bright field microscope, with results comparable to those using a standard phase contrast microscope. Finally, we applied Sternheimer stain to enhance the contrast of RTECs in the urinary sediments. We concluded that this modified urinalysis protocol significantly enhanced the quality of urinalysis.

Enhanced diffusometric immunosensing with grafted gold nanoparticles for detection of diabetic retinopathy biomarker tumor necrosis factor-α.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuang, Han-Sheng; Chen, Yu-Ju; Cheng, Hui-Pin

2018-03-15

Diffusometry is sensitive to geometric changes of particles. Target antigens can be detected through diffusivity changes resulting from their immunoreactions by functionalizing particle surface with a specific antibody. Considering that Brownian motion is a self-driven phenomenon, diffusometric immunosensing features several characteristics, such as no-washing steps, rapid detection, high flexibility, and high sensitivity. Until recently, this technique has been applied to many biomedical fields, such as monitoring of microorganism motility and diagnosis of diseases with biomarkers. Despite the abovementioned advantages, diffusivity changes in conventional diffusometry can be compromised at low-abundance antigens because proteins are much smaller than capture particles. To overcome such restriction, we present an improved diffusometric immunosensing technique by grafting additional gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to capture particles to enhance size changes. A diabetic retinopathy (DR) biomarker, tumor necrosis factor-α was selected to evaluate the proposed immunosensing technique. Spherical AuNPs showed better enhancement than rod-like AuNPs during measurement. Limit of detection was improved by at least 100-fold down to 10pg/mL. A dichotomous method was also developed to enable rapid detection and avoid tedious calibration. The relationship of concentrations between the two solutions used can be explicitly determined by comparing diffusivity of an unknown concentration of target molecules with that of a reference solution. Minimum discernible concentration reached as low as twofold higher or lower than basal concentration. Tear samples were collected from four volunteers, including three healthy subjects and one proliferative DR patient to prove the concept in diagnosis of the disease. All data showed good agreement with preset conditions. The technique eventually provides an insight into rapid diagnoses of diseases in the early stage. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B

Carbon-enhanced inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric detection of arsenic and selenium and its application to arsenic speciation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Erik Huusfeldt; Sturup, Stefan

1994-01-01

Addition of carbon as methanol or ammonium carbonate to the aqueous analyte solutions in combination with increased plasma power input enhanced the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) signal intensities of arsenic and selenium. In the presence of the optimum 3% v/v methanol...... (noise) was not increased. Therefore, the observed increase in analyte sensitivity led to a similar increase in signal-to-noise ratio. The addition of carbon as ammonium carbonate enhanced the arsenic signal by a similar factor but caused severe contamination of the ICP-MS instrument by carbon. In the 3....../nebulization efficiency. It is proposed that an increased population of carbon ions or carbon-containing ions in the plasma facilitates a more complete ionization of analytes lower in ionization energy than carbon itself. The enhanced detection power for arsenic was applied to arsenic speciation by high...

Detection of parenchymal abnormalities in experimentally induced acute pyelonephritis in rabbits using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, CT, and MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryu, Jeong Ah; Kim, Bo Hyun; Kim, Seung Kwon; Seo, Jin Won [Dept. of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jong Sung [Laboratory Animal Research Center, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-12-15

We evaluated the efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in detecting acute pyelonephritis (APN) using the rabbit kidney model and compared it with CT and MRI. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. In a total of 20 New Zealand White rabbits, APN was induced experimentally. CEUS, CT, and MRI were performed on the first, third, and seventh postoperative days. After imaging studies, the subjects were sacrificed and the pathological diagnosis of APN was confirmed in each animal by a pathologist. Imaging studies were obtained in eight animals, including eight CEUS, four computed tomography (CT), and four magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images. CEUS depicted diffuse renal enlargement (7), diffuse heterogeneous parenchymal enhancement (6), and focal areas of decreased parenchymal enhancement (6). These findings were well correlated with the CT and MRI findings in five cases in which these studies were available. CT and MRI showed diffuse renal enlargement, diffuse heterogeneous parenchymal enhancement, focal areas of decreased parenchymal enhancement, focal contour bulging, and the finding of perinephric spread of infection. In a rabbit model, CEUS could depict the parenchymal lesions of APN similar to CT or MRI; however, it was limited in depicting the perinephric extension of inflammation.

Enhancing community detection by using local structural information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiang, Ju; Bao, Mei-Hua; Tang, Liang; Li, Jian-Ming; Hu, Ke; Chen, Benyan; Hu, Jing-Bo; Zhang, Yan; Tang, Yan-Ni; Gao, Yuan-Yuan

2016-01-01

Many real-world networks, such as gene networks, protein–protein interaction networks and metabolic networks, exhibit community structures, meaning the existence of groups of densely connected vertices in the networks. Many local similarity measures in the networks are closely related to the concept of the community structures, and may have a positive effect on community detection in the networks. Here, various local similarity measures are used to extract local structural information, which is then applied to community detection in the networks by using the edge-reweighting strategy. The effect of the local similarity measures on community detection is carefully investigated and compared in various networks. The experimental results show that the local similarity measures are crucial for the improvement of community detection methods, while the positive effect of the local similarity measures is closely related to the networks under study and applied community detection methods. (paper: interdisciplinary statistical mechanics)

A new automated quantification algorithm for the detection and evaluation of focal liver lesions with contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Gatos, Ilias; Tsantis, Stavros; Spiliopoulos, Stavros; Skouroliakou, Aikaterini; Theotokas, Ioannis; Zoumpoulis, Pavlos; Hazle, John D; Kagadis, George C

2015-07-01

Detect and classify focal liver lesions (FLLs) from contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging by means of an automated quantification algorithm. The proposed algorithm employs a sophisticated segmentation method to detect and contour focal lesions from 52 CEUS video sequences (30 benign and 22 malignant). Lesion detection involves wavelet transform zero crossings utilization as an initialization step to the Markov random field model toward the lesion contour extraction. After FLL detection across frames, time intensity curve (TIC) is computed which provides the contrast agents' behavior at all vascular phases with respect to adjacent parenchyma for each patient. From each TIC, eight features were automatically calculated and employed into the support vector machines (SVMs) classification algorithm in the design of the image analysis model. With regard to FLLs detection accuracy, all lesions detected had an average overlap value of 0.89 ± 0.16 with manual segmentations for all CEUS frame-subsets included in the study. Highest classification accuracy from the SVM model was 90.3%, misdiagnosing three benign and two malignant FLLs with sensitivity and specificity values of 93.1% and 86.9%, respectively. The proposed quantification system that employs FLLs detection and classification algorithms may be of value to physicians as a second opinion tool for avoiding unnecessary invasive procedures.

A Nanosensor for TNT Detection Based on Molecularly Imprinted Polymers and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikella E. Hankus

2011-03-01

Full Text Available We report on a new sensor strategy that integrates molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs with surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS. The sensor was developed to detect the explosive, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT. Micron thick films of sol gel-derived xerogels were deposited on a SERS-active surface as the sensing layer. Xerogels were molecularly imprinted for TNT using non-covalent interactions with the polymer matrix. Binding of the TNT within the polymer matrix results in unique SERS bands, which allow for detection and identification of the molecule in the MIP. This MIP-SERS sensor exhibits an apparent dissociation constant of (2.3 ± 0.3 × 10−5 M for TNT and a 3 µM detection limit. The response to TNT is reversible and the sensor is stable for at least 6 months. Key challenges, including developing a MIP formulation that is stable and integrated with the SERS substrate, and ensuring the MIP does not mask the spectral features of the target analyte through SERS polymer background, were successfully met. The results also suggest the MIP-SERS protocol can be extended to other target analytes of interest.

Application of silver films with different roughness parameter for septic human serum albumin detection by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Zyubin, A. Y.; Konstantinova, E. I.; Matveeva, K. I.; Slezhkin, V. A.; Samusev, I. G.; Demin, M. V.; Bryukhanov, V. V.

2018-01-01

In this paper, the rough silver films parameters investigation, used as media for surface enhancement Raman spectroscopy for health and septic human serum albumin (HSA) study results have been presented. The detection of small concentrations of HSA isolated from blood serum and it main vibrational groups identification has been done.

Raman signal enhancement by multiple beam excitation and its application for the detection of chemicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Sakshi [Laser Science and Technology Centre, Metcalfe House, Delhi 110054 (India); Instrument Design and Development Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016 (India); Ahmad, Azeem; Mehta, Dalip S., E-mail: mehtads@physics.iitd.ac.in [Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016 (India); Gambhir, Vijayeta; Reddy, Martha N. [Laser Science and Technology Centre, Metcalfe House, Delhi 110054 (India)

2015-08-31

In a typical Raman based sensor, a single laser beam is used for exciting the sample and the backscattered or forward scattered light is collected using collection optics and is analyzed by a spectrometer. We have investigated that by means of exciting the sample with multiple beams, i.e., by dividing the same input power of the single beam into two or three or more beams and exciting the sample from different angles, the Raman signal enhances significantly. Due to the presence of multiple beams passing through the same volume of the sample, an interference pattern is formed and the volume of interaction of excitation beams with the sample increases. By means of this geometry, the enhancement in the Raman signal is observed and it was found that the signal strength increases linearly with the increase in number of excitation beams. Experimental results of this scheme for excitation of the samples are reported for explosive detection at a standoff distance.

Rapid, enhanced detection of Salmonella Typhimurium on fresh spinach leaves using micron-scale, phage-coated magnetoelastic biosensors

Science.gov (United States)

Horikawa, Shin; Vaglenov, Kiril A.; Gerken, Dana M.; Chai, Yating; Park, Mi-Kyung; Li, Suiqiong; Petrenko, Valery A.; Chin, Bryan A.

2012-05-01

In order to cost-effectively and rapidly detect bacterial food contamination in the field, the potential usefulness of phage-coated magnetoelastic (ME) biosensors has been recently reported. These biosensors are freestanding, mass-sensitive biosensors that can be easily batch-fabricated, thereby reducing the fabrication cost per sensor to a fraction of a cent. In addition, the biosensors can be directly placed on fresh produce surfaces and used to rapidly monitor possible bacterial food contamination without any preceding sample preparation. Previous investigations showed that the limit of detection (LOD) with millimeter-scale ME biosensors was fairly low for fresh produce with smooth surfaces (e.g., tomatoes and shell eggs). However, the LOD is anticipated to be dependent on the size of the biosensors as well as the topography of produce surfaces of interest. This paper presents an investigation into the use of micron-scale, phage-coated ME biosensors for the enhanced detection of Salmonella Typhimurium on fresh spinach leaves.

Value of contrast-enhanced sonographic micro flow imaging for prostate cancer detection with t-PSA level of 4–10 ng/mL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Yi-Fen; Li, Feng-Hua; Xie, Shao-Wei; Xia, Jian-Guo; Fang, Hua; Li, Hong-Li

2012-01-01

Objectives: To compare the efficiency of contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic micro flow imaging (MFI) with conventional transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) in detecting prostate cancer with serum total prostate-specific antigen (t-PSA) of 4.0–10.0 ng/mL. To evaluate the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic MFI in detecting prostate cancer with t-PSA in diagnostic gray zone. Methods: 47 patients with t-PSA 4.0–10.0 ng/mL underwent gray scale, power Doppler TRUS and MFI examinations before ultrasound guided biopsies. Biopsies were performed at twelve sites in the base, the mid-gland and the apex of the prostate in each patient, when there was no abnormal ultrasound finding. When an abnormality was present at MFI, the biopsy specimen from the corresponding site was directed toward the abnormal finding. With histological results of prostate biopsy as reference standards, we assessed the cancer detection of these three methods. Results: 564 specimens were collected in this study, in which 101 were prostate cancer confirmed histologically. 152 of 564 specimens were demonstrated abnormal on MFI images, in which 71 were malignant and 81 were benign confirmed histologically. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for MFI in detecting prostate caner were 70.3%, 82.5%, 80.3%, 46.7% and 92.7%, respectively. The sensitivity and NPV for MFI were significantly better than gray scale (38.6%, 86.9%) and power Doppler (32.7%, 86.0%) (P < 0.001) TRUS. Conclusions: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic MFI could significantly improve the detection rate of prostate cancer with t-PSA in diagnostic gray zone (4–10 ng/mL) than conventional ultrasound.

Effects feeding zilpaterol hydrochloride on growth performance, fillet yeild, and body composition of rainbow trout, nile, tilapia, and channel catfish

Science.gov (United States)

Zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) is a potent ß-adrenergic agonist (BAA) that has been used in feedlot cattle to increase average daily gain, feed efficiency, yield of trimmed cuts, and dress out percent. While positive effects of ZH have been observed in cattle, there have been no reports of this prod...

Therapeutic response assessment of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma: Utility of contrast-enhanced agent detection imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chan Kyo; Choi, Dongil; Lim, Hyo K.; Kim, Seung Hoon; Lee, Won Jae; Kim, Min Ju; Lee, Ji Yeon; Jeon, Yong Hwan; Lee, Jongmee; Lee, Soon Jin; Lim, Jae Hoon

2005-01-01

Purpose: To assess the utility of contrast-enhanced agent detection imaging (ADI) in the assessment of the therapeutic response to percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and methods: Ninety patients with a total of 97 nodular HCCs (mean, 2.1 ± 1.3 cm; range, 1.0-5.0 cm) treated with percutaneous RF ablation under the ultrasound guidance were evaluated with contrast-enhanced ADI after receiving an intravenous bolus injection of a microbubble contrast agent (SH U 508A). We obtained serial contrast-enhanced ADI images during the time period from 15 to 90 s after the initiation of the bolus contrast injection. All of the patients underwent a follow-up four-phase helical CT at 1 month after RF ablation, which was then repeated at 2-4 month intervals during a period of at least 12 months. The results of the contrast-enhanced ADI were compared with those of the follow-up CT in terms of the presence or absence of residual unablated tumor and local tumor progression in the treated lesions. Results: On contrast-enhanced ADI, technical success was obtained in 94 (97%) of the 97 HCCs, while residual unablated tumors were found in three HCCs (3%). Two of the three tumors that were suspicious (was not proven) for incomplete ablation were subjected to additional RF ablation. The remaining one enhancing lesion that was suspicious of a residual tumor on contrast-enhanced ADI was revealed to be reactive hyperemia at the 1-month follow-up CT. Therefore; the diagnostic concordance between the contrast-enhanced ADI and 1-month follow-up CT was 99%. Of the 94 ablated HCCs without residual tumors on both the contrast-enhanced ADI and 1-month follow-up CT after the initial RF ablation, five (5%) had CT findings of local tumor progression at a subsequent follow-up CT. Conclusion: Despite its limitations in predicting local tumor progression in the treated tumors, contrast-enhanced ADI is potentially useful for evaluating the

Enhancing the lateral-flow immunoassay for detection of proteins using an aqueous two-phase micellar system.

Science.gov (United States)

Mashayekhi, Foad; Le, Alexander M; Nafisi, Parsa M; Wu, Benjamin M; Kamei, Daniel T

2012-10-01

The lateral-flow (immuno)assay (LFA) has been widely investigated for the detection of molecular, macromolecular, and particle targets at the point-of-need due to its ease of use, rapid processing, and minimal power and laboratory equipment requirements. However, for some analytes, such as certain proteins, the detection limit of LFA is inferior to lab-based assays, such as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and needs to be improved. One solution for improving the detection limit of LFA is to concentrate the target protein in a solution prior to the detection step. In this study, a novel approach was used in the context of an aqueous two-phase micellar system comprised of the nonionic surfactant Triton X-114 to concentrate a model protein, namely transferrin, prior to LFA. Proteins have been shown to partition, or distribute, fairly evenly between the two phases of an aqueous two-phase system, which in turn results in their limited concentration in one of the two phases. Therefore, larger colloidal gold particles decorated with antibodies for transferrin were used in the concentration step to bind to transferrin and aid its partitioning into the top, micelle-poor phase. By manipulating the volume ratio of the two coexisting micellar phases and combining the concentration step with LFA, the transferrin detection limit of LFA was improved by tenfold from 0.5 to 0.05 μg/mL in a predictive manner. In addition to enhancing the sensitivity of LFA, this universal concentration method could also be used to improve other detection assays.

Contrast-enhanced MDCT gastrography for detection of early gastric cancer: Initial assessment of “wall-carving image”, a novel volume rendering technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komori, Masahiro; Kawanami, Satoshi; Tsurumaru, Daisuke; Matsuura, Shuji; Hiraka, Kiyohisa; Nishie, Akihiro; Honda, Hiroshi

2012-01-01

Objective: We developed a new volume rendering technique, the CT gastrography wall carving image (WC) technique, which provides a clear visualization of localized enhanced tumors in the gastric wall. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of the WC as an adjunct to conventional images in detecting early gastric cancer (EGC). Materials and methods: Thirty-nine patients with 43 EGCs underwent contrast-enhanced MDCT gastrography for preoperative examination. Two observers independently reviewed the images under three different conditions: term 1, Axial CT; term 2, Axial CT, MPR and VE; and term 3, Axial CT, MPR, VE and WC for the detection of EGC. The accuracy of each condition as reviewed by each of the two observers was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Interobserver agreement was calculated using weighted-κ statistics. Results: The best diagnostic performance and interobserver agreement were obtained in term 3. The AUCs of the two observers for terms 1, 2, and 3 were 0.63, 0.73, and 0.84, and 0.57, 0.73, and 0.76, respectively. The interobserver agreement improved from fair at term 1 to substantial at term 3. Conclusions: The addition of WC to conventional MDCT display improved the diagnostic accuracy and interobserver reproducibility for the detection of ECG. WC represents a suitable alternative for the visualization of localized enhanced tumors in the gastric wall.

Comparision between biphasic helical CT and dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR in the detection and characterization of focal hepatic lesions in cirrhotic patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Puig, J.; Martin, J.; Donoso, L.; Falco, J.; Rue, M.

1997-01-01

To assess the agreement between biphasic helical computerized tomography (BHCT) and dynamic gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) in the detection and characterization of focal hepatic lesions in a group of cirrhotic patients. A prospective study was done in 50 cirrhotic patients suspected of having hepatocarcinoma (HC) on the basis of ultrasonographic images evaluated by means of BHCT and dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR using fast low-angle shot (FLASH) sequences (110-135/4/90 degree centigree). The images were assessed jointly by four radiologists. Between the two techniques, a total of 83 lesions were detected. MR disclosed more lesions (n=79) than BHCT (n=67) (p<0.005). Moreover, 25 of the lesions that were visible by both techniques were more clearly evident in MR images (p<0.01). MR correctly classified 6 of 7 benign lesions (85%) and 49 of 66 malignant ones (74%). BHCT correctly classifed 2 of 7 benign lesions (28%) and 32 of 66 malignant ones (48%). The sensitivities of MR and BHCT for the characterization of these lesions were 74% and 48%, respectively (p=0.0009), while the respective specificities were 86% and 29% (P<0.001). Dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR with FLASH sequences is more efficient than BHCT in the detection and characterization of focal lesions in cirrhotic patients. (Author) 37 refs

Gd-EOB-DTPA-Enhanced MRI for Detection of Liver Metastases from Colorectal Cancer: A Surgeon’s Perspective!

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly J. Lafaro

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Colorectal cancer affects over one million people worldwide annually, with the liver being the most common site of metastatic spread. Adequate resection of hepatic metastases is the only chance for a cure in a subset of patients, and five-year survival increases to 35% with complete resection. Traditionally, computed tomographic imaging (CT was utilized for staging and to evaluate metastases in the liver. Recently, the introduction of hepatobiliary contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI agents including gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Eovist in the United States, Primovist in Europe, or Gd-EOB-DTPA has proved to be a sensitive method for detection of hepatic metastases. Accurate detection of liver metastases is critical for staging of colorectal cancer as well as preoperative planning.

Connection between Dynamically Derived Initial Mass Function Normalization and Stellar Population Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

McDermid, Richard M.; Cappellari, Michele; Alatalo, Katherine; Bayet, Estelle; Blitz, Leo; Bois, Maxime; Bournaud, Frédéric; Bureau, Martin; Crocker, Alison F.; Davies, Roger L.; Davis, Timothy A.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Duc, Pierre-Alain; Emsellem, Eric; Khochfar, Sadegh; Krajnović, Davor; Kuntschner, Harald; Morganti, Raffaella; Naab, Thorsten; Oosterloo, Tom; Sarzi, Marc; Scott, Nicholas; Serra, Paolo; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Young, Lisa M.

2014-09-01

We report on empirical trends between the dynamically determined stellar initial mass function (IMF) and stellar population properties for a complete, volume-limited sample of 260 early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D project. We study trends between our dynamically derived IMF normalization αdyn ≡ (M/L)stars/(M/L)Salp and absorption line strengths, and interpret these via single stellar population-equivalent ages, abundance ratios (measured as [α/Fe]), and total metallicity, [Z/H]. We find that old and alpha-enhanced galaxies tend to have on average heavier (Salpeter-like) mass normalization of the IMF, but stellar population does not appear to be a good predictor of the IMF, with a large range of αdyn at a given population parameter. As a result, we find weak αdyn-[α/Fe] and αdyn -Age correlations and no significant αdyn -[Z/H] correlation. The observed trends appear significantly weaker than those reported in studies that measure the IMF normalization via the low-mass star demographics inferred through stellar spectral analysis.

Limnimeter and rain gauge FDI in sewer networks using an interval parity equations based detection approach and an enhanced isolation scheme

OpenAIRE

Puig Cayuela, Vicenç; Blesa Izquierdo, Joaquim

2013-01-01

In this paper, a methodology for limnimeter and rain-gauge fault detection and isolation (FDI) in sewer networks is presented. The proposed model based FDI approach uses interval parity equations for fault detection in order to enhance robustness against modelling errors and noise. They both are assumed unknown but bounded, following the so-called interval (or set-membership) approach. On the other hand, fault isolation relies on an algorithm that reasons using several fault signature matrice...

Protein assisted fluorescence enhancement of a dansyl containing fluorescent reagent: detection of Hg+ ion in aqueous medium.

Science.gov (United States)

Srivastava, Priyanka; Shahid, Mohammad; Misra, Arvind

2011-07-21

Intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) based fluorescent reagents containing a dansyl fluorophore have been synthesized and characterized. The reagent 1 and its complex, 1+Hg(2+) in sodium acetate buffer (pH 6.7) revealed considerable fluorescence enhancement (switched-on) in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with 10 ppb detection sensitivity. (1)H NMR spectral analysis suggests complexation between 1 and Hg(2+) ion involving the N,N-dimethylamino and carboxylic functions.

Remote detection device and detection method therefor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kogure, Sumio; Yoshida, Yoji; Matsuo, Takashiro; Takehara, Hidetoshi; Kojima, Shinsaku.

1997-01-01

The present invention provides a non-destructive detection device for collectively, efficiently and effectively conducting maintenance and detection for confirming the integrity of a nuclear reactor by way of a shielding member for shielding radiation rays generated from an objective portion to be detected. Namely, devices for direct visual detection using an under water TV camera as a sensor, an eddy current detection using a coil as a sensor and each magnetic powder flow detection are integrated and applied collectively. Specifically, the visual detection by using the TV camera and the eddy current flaw detection are adopted together. The flaw detection with magnetic powder is applied as a means for confirming the results of the two kinds of detections by other method. With such procedures, detection techniques using respective specific theories are combined thereby enabling to enhance the accuracy for the evaluation of the detection. (I.S.)

Enhanced detection of a low-frequency signal by using broad squeezed light and a bichromatic local oscillator

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Jin, Yuanbin; Yu, Xudong; Zhang, Jing

2017-08-01

We experimentally study a protocol of using the broadband high-frequency squeezed vacuum to detect the low-frequency signal. In this scheme, the lower sideband field of the squeezed light carries the low-frequency modulation signal, and the two strong coherent light fields are applied as the bichromatic local oscillator in the homodyne detection to measure the quantum entanglement of the upper and lower sideband for the broadband squeezed light. The power of one of the local oscillators for detecting the upper sideband can be adjusted to optimize the conditional variance in the low-frequency regime by subtracting the photocurrent of the upper sideband field of the squeezed light from that of the lower sideband field. By means of the quantum correlation of the upper and lower sideband for the broadband squeezed light, the low-frequency signal beyond the standard quantum limit is measured. This scheme is appropriate for enhancing the sensitivity of the low-frequency signal by the aid of the broad squeezed light, such as gravitational waves detection, and does not need to directly produce the low-frequency squeezing in an optical parametric process.

Detection of mercury ions using silver telluride nanoparticles as a substrate and recognition element through surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chia-Wei eWang

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper we unveil a new sensing strategy for sensitive and selective detection of Hg2+ through surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS using Ag2Te nanoparticles (NPs as a substrate and recognition element and rhodamine 6G (R6G as a reporter. Ag2Te NPs prepared from tellurium dioxide and silver nitrate and hydrazine in aqueous solution containing sodium dodecyl sulfate at 90ºC with an average size of 26.8 ± 4.1 nm (100 counts have strong SERS activity. The Ag2Te substrate provides strong SERS signals of R6G with an enhancement factor of 3.6 × 105 at 1360 cm-1, which is comparable to Ag NPs. After interaction of Ag2Te NPs with Hg2+, some HgTe NPs are formed, leading to decreases in the SERS signal of R6G, mainly because HgTe NPs relative to Ag2Te NPs have weaker SERS activity. Under optimum conditions, this SERS approach using Ag2Te as substrates is selective for the detection of Hg2+, with a limit of detection of 3 nM and linearity over 10-150 nM. The practicality of this approach has been validated for the determination of the concentrations of spiked Hg2+ in a pond water sample.

A UNIFIED APPROACH FOR DETECTION AND PREVENTION OF DDOS ATTACKS USING ENHANCED SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINES AND FILTERING MECHANISMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Subbulakshmi

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS attacks were considered to be a tremendous threat to the current information security infrastructure. During DDoS attack, multiple malicious hosts that are recruited by the attackers launch a coordinated attack against one host or a network victim, which cause denial of service to legitimate users. The existing techniques suffer from more number of false alarms and more human intervention for attack detection. The objective of this paper is to monitor the network online which automatically initiates detection mechanism if there is any suspicious activity and also defense the hosts from being arrived at the network. Both spoofed and non spoofed IP’s are detected in this approach. Non spoofed IP’s are detected using Enhanced Support Vector Machines (ESVM and spoofed IP’s are detected using Hop Count Filtering (HCF mechanism. The detected IP’s are maintained separately to initiate the defense process. The attack strength is calculated using Lanchester Law which initiates the defense mechanism. Based on the calculated attack strength any of the defense schemes such as Rate based limiting or History based IP filtering is automatically initiated to drop the packets from the suspected IP. The integrated online monitoring approach for detection and defense of DDoS attacks is deployed in an experimental testbed. The online approach is found to be obvious in the field of integrated DDoS detection and defense.

Detection of hepatocellular carcinoma by Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced liver MRI: Comparison with triple phase 64 detector row helical CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akai, Hiroyuki; Kiryu, Shigeru; Matsuda, Izuru; Satou, Jirou; Takao, Hidemasa; Tajima, Taku; Watanabe, Yasushi; Imamura, Hiroshi; Kokudo, Norihiro; Akahane, Masaaki; Ohtomo, Kuni

2011-01-01

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic performance of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI with that of triple phase 64-MDCT in the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients and methods: Thirty-four patients with 52 surgically proven lesions underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI and triple phase 64-MDCT. Two observers independently evaluated MR and CT imaging on a lesion-by-lesion basis. Sensitivity, positive and negative predictive values and reproducibility were evaluated. The diagnostic accuracy of each modality was assessed with alternative-free response receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: Both observers showed higher sensitivity in detecting lesions with MRI compared to CT, however, only the difference between the two imaging techniques for observer 2 was significant (P = 0.034). For lesions 1 cm or smaller, MRI and CT showed equal sensitivity (both 62.5%) with one observer, and MRI proved superior to CT with the other observer (MRI 75% vs. CT 56.3%), but the latter difference was not significant (P = 0.083). The difference in positive and negative predictive value between the two imaging techniques for each observer was not significant (P > 0.05). The areas under the ROC curve for each observer were 0.843 and 0.861 for MRI vs. 0.800 and 0.833 for CT and the differences were not significant. Reproducibility was higher using MRI for both observers, but the result was not significant (MRI 32/33 vs. CT 29/33, P = 0.083). Conclusion: Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI tended to show higher diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and reproducibility compared to triple phase 64-MDCT in the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma, however statistical significance was not achieved.

Paper-based microfluidic approach for surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy and highly reproducible detection of proteins beyond picomolar concentration.

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Arindam; Jana, Nikhil R

2015-01-14

Although microfluidic approach is widely used in various point of care diagnostics, its implementation in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based detection is challenging. This is because SERS signal depends on plasmonic nanoparticle aggregation induced generation of stable electromagnetic hot spots and in currently available microfluidic platform this condition is difficult to adapt. Here we show that SERS can be adapted using simple paper based microfluidic system where both the plasmonic nanomaterials and analyte are used in mobile phase. This approach allows analyte induced controlled particle aggregation and electromagnetic hot spot generation inside the microfluidic channel with the resultant SERS signal, which is highly reproducible and sensitive. This approach has been used for reproducible detection of protein in the pico to femtomolar concentration. Presented approach is simple, rapid, and cost-effective, and requires low sample volume. Method can be extended for SERS-based detection of other biomolecules.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and spiral computed tomography in the detection and characterization of portal vein thrombosis complicating hepatocellular carcinoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rossi, Sandro; Ghittoni, Giorgia; Ravetta, Valentina; Torello Viera, Francesca; Rosa, Laura [Policlinico ' S. Matteo' Foundation, IRCCS, VI Department of Internal Medicine and Interventional Ultrasonography, Pavia (Italy); Serassi, Martina; Scabini, Mara; Vercelli, Alessandro; Calliada, Fabrizio [IRCCS Policlinico ' S. Matteo' , Department of Radiology, P.le Golgi n. 19, Pavia (Italy); Tinelli, Carmine [Biometrics Unit, IRCCS Policlinico ' S. Matteo' , Pavia (Italy); Dal Bello, Barbara [IRCCS Policlinico ' S. Matteo' , Department of Human Pathology, Pavia (Italy); Burns, Peter N. [University of Toronto, Department of Medical Biophysics, Toronto, ON (Canada); Imaging Research S660, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2008-08-15

The aim was to compare the performances of contrast-enhanced (CE) ultrasonography (US) and spiral computed tomography (CT) in the detection and characterization of portal vein thrombosis complicating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We studied 50 patients with HCC who had biopsy-proven portal vein thrombi that had been detected with US and color Doppler US. Thirteen of the thrombi involved the main portal trunk and 37 the segmental branches. CEUS and CT were performed within a week of thrombus biopsies. For each imaging technique, diagnoses of thrombosis (present/absent) and thrombus nature (malignancy/benignancy) were made by experienced readers under blinded conditions and compared with pathological findings to determine accuracy rates for thrombus detection and characterization. Forty-four of the 50 thrombi were pathologically diagnosed as malignant and the remaining six were benign. CEUS detected 50/50 (100%) thrombi and correctly characterized 49/50 (98%). CT detected 34/50 (68%) thrombi and correctly characterized 23 of these 34 (68%). CEUS outperformed CT in terms of both thrombus detection (P < 0.0001) and characterization (P = 0.0001). CEUS appears to be significantly superior to CT for detection and characterization of portal vein thrombosis complicating HCC, and it should be considered in the staging of these tumors. (orig.)

Chromatographic separation and detection of contaminants from whole milk powder using a chitosan-modified silver nanoparticles surface-enhanced Raman scattering device.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dan; Lv, Di Y; Zhu, Qing X; Li, Hao; Chen, Hui; Wu, Mian M; Chai, Yi F; Lu, Feng

2017-06-01

Methods for the on-site analysis of food contaminants are in high demand. Although portable Raman spectroscopy is commonly used to test food on-site, it can be challenge to achieve this goal with rapid detection and inexpensive substrate. In this study, we detected trace food contaminants in samples of whole milk powder using the methods that combined chromatography with surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection (SERS). We developed a simple and efficient technique to fabricate the paper with chitosan-modified silver nanoparticles as a SERS-active substrate. The soaking time of paper and the concentration of chitosan solution were optimized for chromatographic separation and SERS detection. We then studied the separation properties for real applications including complex sample matrices, and detected melamine at 1mg/L, dicyandiamide at 100mg/L and sodium sulfocyanate at 10mg/L in whole milk powder. As such, our methods have great potential for field-based detection of milk contaminants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Targeted Attack For Enhancing Resiliency of Intelligent Intrusion Detection Modules in Energy Cyber Physical Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Youssef, Tarek [Florida Intl Univ., Miami, FL (United States); El Hariri, Mohammad [Florida Intl Univ., Miami, FL (United States); Habib, Hani [Florida Intl Univ., Miami, FL (United States); Mohammed, Osama [Florida Intl Univ., Miami, FL (United States); Harmon, E [Florida Intl Univ., Miami, FL (United States)

2017-02-28

Abstract— Secure high-speed communication is required to ensure proper operation of complex power grid systems and prevent malicious tampering activities. In this paper, artificial neural networks with temporal dependency are introduced for false data identification and mitigation for broadcasted IEC 61850 SMV messages. The fast responses of such intelligent modules in intrusion detection make them suitable for time- critical applications, such as protection. However, care must be taken in selecting the appropriate intelligence model and decision criteria. As such, this paper presents a customizable malware script to sniff and manipulate SMV messages and demonstrates the ability of the malware to trigger false positives in the neural network’s response. The malware developed is intended to be as a vaccine to harden the intrusion detection system against data manipulation attacks by enhancing the neural network’s ability to learn and adapt to these attacks.

Detection of tissue coagulation by decorrelation of ultrasonic echo signals in cavitation-enhanced high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshizawa, Shin; Matsuura, Keiko; Takagi, Ryo; Yamamoto, Mariko; Umemura, Shin-Ichiro

2016-01-01

A noninvasive technique to monitor thermal lesion formation is necessary to ensure the accuracy and safety of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment. The purpose of this study is to ultrasonically detect the tissue change due to thermal coagulation in the HIFU treatment enhanced by cavitation microbubbles. An ultrasound imaging probe transmitted plane waves at a center frequency of 4.5 MHz. Ultrasonic radio-frequency (RF) echo signals during HIFU exposure at a frequency of 1.2 MHz were acquired. Cross-correlation coefficients were calculated between in-phase and quadrature (IQ) data of two B-mode images with an interval time of 50 and 500 ms for the estimation of the region of cavitation and coagulation, respectively. Pathological examination of the coagulated tissue was also performed to compare with the corresponding ultrasonically detected coagulation region. The distribution of minimum hold cross-correlation coefficient between two sets of IQ data with 50-ms intervals was compared with a pulse inversion (PI) image. The regions with low cross-correlation coefficients approximately corresponded to those with high brightness in the PI image. The regions with low cross-correlation coefficients in 500-ms intervals showed a good agreement with those with significant change in histology. The results show that the regions of coagulation and cavitation could be ultrasonically detected as those with low cross-correlation coefficients between RF frames with certain intervals. This method will contribute to improve the safety and accuracy of the HIFU treatment enhanced by cavitation microbubbles.

Vessel Wall Inflammation of Takayasu Arteritis Detected by Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Association with Disease Distribution and Activity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoko Kato

Full Text Available The assessment of the distribution and activity of vessel wall inflammation is clinically important in patients with Takayasu arteritis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI is a useful tool, but the clinical utility of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE in Takayasu arteritis has yet to be determined. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the utility of LGE in assessing vessel wall inflammation and disease activity in Takayasu arteritis.We enrolled 49 patients with Takayasu arteritis who had undergone 1.5 T MRI. Patients were divided into Active (n = 19 and Inactive disease (n = 30 groups. The distribution of vessel wall inflammation using angiography and LGE was assessed by qualitative analysis. In 79% and 63% of patients in Active and Inactive groups, respectively, greater distribution of vessel wall inflammation was observed with LGE than with conventional angiography. MRI values of pre- and post-contrast signal-to-noise ratios (SNR, SNR increment (post-SNR minus pre-SNR, pre- and post-contrast contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR, and CNR increment (post-CNR minus pre-CNR were evaluated at arterial wall sites with the highest signal intensity using quantitative analysis of post-contrast LGE images. No statistically significant differences in MRI parameters were observed between Active and Inactive groups. Contrast-enhanced MRI was unable to accurately detect active disease.Contrast-enhanced MRI has utility in detecting the distribution of vessel wall inflammation but has less utility in assessing disease activity in Takayasu arteritis.

Self-organizing neural networks for automatic detection and classification of contrast-enhancing lesions in dynamic MR-mammography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vomweg, T.W.; Teifke, A.; Kauczor, H.U.; Achenbach, T.; Rieker, O.; Schreiber, W.G.; Heitmann, K.R.; Beier, T.; Thelen, M.

2005-01-01

Purpose: Investigation and statistical evaluation of 'Self-Organizing Maps', a special type of neural networks in the field of artificial intelligence, classifying contrast enhancing lesions in dynamic MR-mammography. Material and Methods: 176 investigations with proven histology after core biopsy or operation were randomly divided into two groups. Several Self-Organizing Maps were trained by investigations of the first group to detect and classify contrast enhancing lesions in dynamic MR-mammography. Each single pixel's signal/time curve of all patients within the second group was analyzed by the Self-Organizing Maps. The likelihood of malignancy was visualized by color overlays on the MR-images. At last assessment of contrast-enhancing lesions by each different network was rated visually and evaluated statistically. Results: A well balanced neural network achieved a sensitivity of 90.5% and a specificity of 72.2% in predicting malignancy of 88 enhancing lesions. Detailed analysis of false-positive results revealed that every second fibroadenoma showed a 'typical malignant' signal/time curve without any chance to differentiate between fibroadenomas and malignant tissue regarding contrast enhancement alone; but this special group of lesions was represented by a well-defined area of the Self-Organizing Map. Discussion: Self-Organizing Maps are capable of classifying a dynamic signal/time curve as 'typical benign' or 'typical malignant'. Therefore, they can be used as second opinion. In view of the now known localization of fibroadenomas enhancing like malignant tumors at the Self-Organizing Map, these lesions could be passed to further analysis by additional post-processing elements (e.g., based on T2-weighted series or morphology analysis) in the future. (orig.)

Interactive effect of dietary protein level and zilpaterol hydrochloride ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bonsmara type steers were used to determine the effect of dietary zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) in combination with different dietary crude protein (CP) levels (100, 120 and 140 g CP/kg) on growth performance and meat quality. Treatment groups (T) consisted of 12 steers each. T1 – 100 g CP/kg + 0.15 mg ZH/kg live weight ...

Malignancy Detection on Mammography Using Dual Deep Convolutional Neural Networks and Genetically Discovered False Color Input Enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Teare, Philip; Fishman, Michael; Benzaquen, Oshra; Toledano, Eyal; Elnekave, Eldad

2017-08-01

Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in the US and the third highest cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Regular mammography screening has been attributed with doubling the rate of early cancer detection over the past three decades, yet estimates of mammographic accuracy in the hands of experienced radiologists remain suboptimal with sensitivity ranging from 62 to 87% and specificity from 75 to 91%. Advances in machine learning (ML) in recent years have demonstrated capabilities of image analysis which often surpass those of human observers. Here we present two novel techniques to address inherent challenges in the application of ML to the domain of mammography. We describe the use of genetic search of image enhancement methods, leading us to the use of a novel form of false color enhancement through contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE), as a method to optimize mammographic feature representation. We also utilize dual deep convolutional neural networks at different scales, for classification of full mammogram images and derivative patches combined with a random forest gating network as a novel architectural solution capable of discerning malignancy with a specificity of 0.91 and a specificity of 0.80. To our knowledge, this represents the first automatic stand-alone mammography malignancy detection algorithm with sensitivity and specificity performance similar to that of expert radiologists.

Specificity and Strain-Typing Capabilities of Nanorod Array-Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Mycoplasma pneumoniae Detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelley C Henderson

Full Text Available Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a cell wall-less bacterial pathogen of the human respiratory tract that accounts for > 20% of all community-acquired pneumonia (CAP. At present the most effective means for detection and strain-typing is quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR, which can exhibit excellent sensitivity and specificity but requires separate tests for detection and genotyping, lacks standardization between available tests and between labs, and has limited practicality for widespread, point-of-care use. We have developed and previously described a silver nanorod array-surface enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (NA-SERS biosensing platform capable of detecting M. pneumoniae with statistically significant specificity and sensitivity in simulated and true clinical throat swab samples, and the ability to distinguish between reference strains of the two main genotypes of M. pneumoniae. Furthermore, we have established a qualitative lower endpoint of detection for NA-SERS of < 1 genome equivalent (cell/μl and a quantitative multivariate detection limit of 5.3 ± 1 cells/μl. Here we demonstrate using partial least squares- discriminatory analysis (PLS-DA of sample spectra that NA-SERS correctly identified M. pneumoniae clinical isolates from globally diverse origins and distinguished these from a panel of 12 other human commensal and pathogenic mycoplasma species with 100% cross-validated statistical accuracy. Furthermore, PLS-DA correctly classified by strain type all 30 clinical isolates with 96% cross-validated accuracy for type 1 strains, 98% cross-validated accuracy for type 2 strains, and 90% cross-validated accuracy for type 2V strains.

Amalgamation of Anomaly-Detection Indices for Enhanced Process Monitoring

KAUST Repository

Harrou, Fouzi

2016-01-29

Accurate and effective anomaly detection and diagnosis of modern industrial systems are crucial for ensuring reliability and safety and for maintaining desired product quality. Anomaly detection based on principal component analysis (PCA) has been studied intensively and largely applied to multivariate processes with highly cross-correlated process variables; howver conventional PCA-based methods often fail to detect small or moderate anomalies. In this paper, the proposed approach integrates two popular process-monitoring detection tools, the conventional PCA-based monitoring indices Hotelling’s T2 and Q and the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA). We develop two EWMA tools based on the Q and T2 statistics, T2-EWMA and Q-EWMA, to detect anomalies in the process mean. The performances of the proposed methods were compared with that of conventional PCA-based anomaly-detection methods by applying each method to two examples: a synthetic data set and experimental data collected from a flow heating system. The results clearly show the benefits and effectiveness of the proposed methods over conventional PCA-based methods.

A simple way to synthesize large-scale Cu2O/Ag nanoflowers for ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Junyan; Song, Weijia; Xie, Weiguang; Huang, Bo; Yang, Huidong; Luo, Zhi

2018-03-01

Here, we report a simple strategy to prepare highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates based on Ag decorated Cu2O nanoparticles by combining two common techniques, viz, thermal oxidation growth of Cu2O nanoparticles and magnetron sputtering fabrication of a Ag nanoparticle film. Methylene blue is used as the Raman analyte for the SERS study, and the substrates fabricated under optimized conditions have very good sensitivity (analytical enhancement factor ˜108), stability, and reproducibility. A linear dependence of the SERS intensities with the concentration was obtained with an R 2 value >0.9. These excellent properties indicate that the substrate has great potential in the detection of biological and chemical substances.

Integrated and comparative proteomics of high-oil and high-protein soybean seeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiu Ping; Liu, Hui; Tian, Lihong; Dong, Xiang Bai; Shen, Shi Hua; Qu, Le Qing

2015-04-01

We analysed the global protein expression in seeds of a high-oil soybean cultivar (Jiyu 73, JY73) by proteomics. More than 700 protein spots were detected and 363 protein spots were successfully identified. Comparison of the protein profile of JY73 with that of a high-protein cultivar (Zhonghuang 13, ZH13) revealed 40 differentially expressed proteins, including oil synthesis, redox/stress, hydrolysis and storage-related proteins. All redox/stress proteins were less or not expressed in JY73, whereas the expression of the major storage proteins, nitrogen and carbon metabolism-related proteins was higher in ZH13. Biochemical analysis of JY73 revealed that it was in a low oxidation state, with a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E. Vitamin E was more active than antioxidant enzymes and protected the soybean seed in a lower oxidation state. The characteristics of high oil and high protein in soybean, we revealed, might provide a reference for soybean nutrition and soybean breeding. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection of latent prints by Raman imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Linda Anne [Andersonville, TN; Connatser, Raynella Magdalene [Knoxville, TN; Lewis, Sr., Samuel Arthur

2011-01-11

The present invention relates to a method for detecting a print on a surface, the method comprising: (a) contacting the print with a Raman surface-enhancing agent to produce a Raman-enhanced print; and (b) detecting the Raman-enhanced print using a Raman spectroscopic method. The invention is particularly directed to the imaging of latent fingerprints.

Optimal Hotspots of Dynamic Surfaced-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Drugs Quantitative Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Xiunan; Li, Pan; Zhou, Binbin; Tang, Xianghu; Li, Xiaoyun; Weng, Shizhuang; Yang, Liangbao; Liu, Jinhuai

2017-05-02

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a powerful qualitative analysis method has been widely applied in many fields. However, SERS for quantitative analysis still suffers from several challenges partially because of the absence of stable and credible analytical strategy. Here, we demonstrate that the optimal hotspots created from dynamic surfaced-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (D-SERS) can be used for quantitative SERS measurements. In situ small-angle X-ray scattering was carried out to in situ real-time monitor the formation of the optimal hotspots, where the optimal hotspots with the most efficient hotspots were generated during the monodisperse Au-sol evaporating process. Importantly, the natural evaporation of Au-sol avoids the nanoparticles instability of salt-induced, and formation of ordered three-dimensional hotspots allows SERS detection with excellent reproducibility. Considering SERS signal variability in the D-SERS process, 4-mercaptopyridine (4-mpy) acted as internal standard to validly correct and improve stability as well as reduce fluctuation of signals. The strongest SERS spectra at the optimal hotspots of D-SERS have been extracted to statistics analysis. By using the SERS signal of 4-mpy as a stable internal calibration standard, the relative SERS intensity of target molecules demonstrated a linear response versus the negative logarithm of concentrations at the point of strongest SERS signals, which illustrates the great potential for quantitative analysis. The public drugs 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and α-methyltryptamine hydrochloride obtained precise analysis with internal standard D-SERS strategy. As a consequence, one has reason to believe our approach is promising to challenge quantitative problems in conventional SERS analysis.

Using detergent to enhance detection sensitivity of African trypanosomes in human CSF and blood by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dennis J Grab

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP assay, with its advantages of simplicity, rapidity and cost effectiveness, has evolved as one of the most sensitive and specific methods for the detection of a broad range of pathogenic microorganisms including African trypanosomes. While many LAMP-based assays are sufficiently sensitive to detect DNA well below the amount present in a single parasite, the detection limit of the assay is restricted by the number of parasites present in the volume of sample assayed; i.e. 1 per µL or 10(3 per mL. We hypothesized that clinical sensitivities that mimic analytical limits based on parasite DNA could be approached or even obtained by simply adding detergent to the samples prior to LAMP assay.For proof of principle we used two different LAMP assays capable of detecting 0.1 fg genomic DNA (0.001 parasite. The assay was tested on dilution series of intact bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF or blood with or without the addition of the detergent Triton X-100 and 60 min incubation at ambient temperature. With human CSF and in the absence of detergent, the LAMP detection limit for live intact parasites using 1 µL of CSF as the source of template was at best 10(3 parasites/mL. Remarkably, detergent enhanced LAMP assay reaches sensitivity about 100 to 1000-fold lower; i.e. 10 to 1 parasite/mL. Similar detergent-mediated increases in LAMP assay analytical sensitivity were also found using DNA extracted from filter paper cards containing blood pretreated with detergent before card spotting or blood samples spotted on detergent pretreated cards.This simple procedure for the enhanced detection of live African trypanosomes in biological fluids by LAMP paves the way for the adaptation of LAMP for the economical and sensitive diagnosis of other protozoan parasites and microorganisms that cause diseases that plague the developing world.

Using detergent to enhance detection sensitivity of African trypanosomes in human CSF and blood by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).

Science.gov (United States)

Grab, Dennis J; Nikolskaia, Olga V; Inoue, Noboru; Thekisoe, Oriel M M; Morrison, Liam J; Gibson, Wendy; Dumler, J Stephen

2011-08-01

The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, with its advantages of simplicity, rapidity and cost effectiveness, has evolved as one of the most sensitive and specific methods for the detection of a broad range of pathogenic microorganisms including African trypanosomes. While many LAMP-based assays are sufficiently sensitive to detect DNA well below the amount present in a single parasite, the detection limit of the assay is restricted by the number of parasites present in the volume of sample assayed; i.e. 1 per µL or 10(3) per mL. We hypothesized that clinical sensitivities that mimic analytical limits based on parasite DNA could be approached or even obtained by simply adding detergent to the samples prior to LAMP assay. For proof of principle we used two different LAMP assays capable of detecting 0.1 fg genomic DNA (0.001 parasite). The assay was tested on dilution series of intact bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or blood with or without the addition of the detergent Triton X-100 and 60 min incubation at ambient temperature. With human CSF and in the absence of detergent, the LAMP detection limit for live intact parasites using 1 µL of CSF as the source of template was at best 10(3) parasites/mL. Remarkably, detergent enhanced LAMP assay reaches sensitivity about 100 to 1000-fold lower; i.e. 10 to 1 parasite/mL. Similar detergent-mediated increases in LAMP assay analytical sensitivity were also found using DNA extracted from filter paper cards containing blood pretreated with detergent before card spotting or blood samples spotted on detergent pretreated cards. This simple procedure for the enhanced detection of live African trypanosomes in biological fluids by LAMP paves the way for the adaptation of LAMP for the economical and sensitive diagnosis of other protozoan parasites and microorganisms that cause diseases that plague the developing world.

Development of a filter-based method for detecting silver nanoparticles and their heteroaggregation in aqueous environments by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Huiyuan; Xing, Baoshan; He, Lili

2016-01-01

The rising application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and subsequent release into aquatic systems have generated public concerns over their potential risk and harm to aquatic organisms and human health. Effective and practical analytical methods for AgNPs are urgently needed for their risk assessment. In this study we established an innovative approach to detect trace levels of AgNPs in environmental water through integrating a filtration technique into surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and compared it with previously established centrifuge-based method. The purpose of filtration was to trap and enrich salt-aggregated AgNPs from water samples onto the filter membrane, through which indicator was then passed and complexed with AgNPs. The enhanced SERS signals of indicator could reflect the presence and quantity of AgNPs in the samples. The most favorable benefit of filtration is being able to process large volume samples, which is more practical for water samples, and greatly improves the sensitivity of AgNP detection. In this study, we tested 20 mL AgNPs-containing samples and the filter-based method is able to detect AgNPs as low as 5 μg/L, which is 20 folds lower than the centrifuge-based method. In addition, the speed and precision of the detection were greatly improved. This approach was used to detect trace levels of AgNPs in real environmental water successfully. Meanwhile, the heteroaggregation of AgNPs with minerals in water was reliably monitored by the new method. Overall, a combination of the filtration-SERS approach provides a rapid, simple, and sensitive way to detect AgNPs and analyze their environmental behavior. - Highlights: • We developed a filtration-SERS method for analyzing AgNPs in water. • Detection limit can be improved by increasing sample volume for filtration. • Trace levels of AgNPs in natural water samples can be successfully detected. • Filtration-SERS is more efficient and precise than centrifugation-SERS. �

High quality gold nanorods and nanospheres for surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia Jinliang; Xu Hanhong; Zhang Guirong; Hu Zhun; Xu Boqing

2012-01-01

Nearly monodisperse Au nanorods (NRs) with different aspect ratios were separated from home-synthesized polydisperse samples using a gradient centrifugation method. The morphology, size and its distribution, and photo-absorption property were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and UV–visible spectroscopy. Subsequently, using colloidal Au NRs (36.2 nm ×10.7 nm) with 97.4% yield after centrifugation and Au nanospheres (NSs) (22.9 ± 1.0 nm in diameter) with 97.6% yield as Au substrates, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) were recorded using laser excitation at 632.8 nm. Results show that surface enhancement factors (EF) for Au NRs and NSs are 6.2 × 10 5 and 5.7 × 10 4 using 1.0 × 10 −6 M 2,4-D, respectively, illustrating that EF value is a factor of ∼10 greater for Au NRs substrates than for Au NSs substrates. As a result, large EF are a mainly result of chemical enhancement mechanisms. Thus, it is expected that Au NPs can find a comprehensive SERS application in the trace detection of pesticide residues. (paper)

Facile electrochemical pretreatment of multiwalled carbon nanotube - Polydimethylsiloxane paste electrode for enhanced detection of dopamine and uric acid

Science.gov (United States)

Buenaventura, Angelo Gabriel E.; Yago, Allan Christopher C.

2018-05-01

A facile electrochemical pretreatment via anodization was done on Carbon Paste Electrodes (CPEs) composed of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) binder to produce `anodized' CPEs (ACPE). Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) technique was used to anodize the CPEs. The anodization step, performed in various solutions (0.2 M NaOH(aq), 0.06 M BR Buffer at pH 7.0, and 0.2 M HNO3(aq)), were found to enhance the electrochemical properties of the ACPEs compared to non-anodized CPE. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements revealed a significantly lower charge transfer resistance (Rct) for the ACPEs (4.01-6.25 kΩ) as compared to CPE (25.9 kΩ). Comparison of the reversibility analysis for Fe(CN)63-/4- redox couple showed that the ACPEs have peak current ratio (Ia/Ic) at range of 0.97-1.10 while 1.92 for the CPE; this result indicated better electrochemical reversible behaviors for Fe(CN)63-/4- redox couple using the ACPEs. CV Anodization process was further optimized by varying solution and CV parameters (i.e. pH, composition, number of cycles, and potential range), and the resulting optimized ACPE was used for enhanced detection of Dopamine (DA) and Uric Acid (UA) in the presence of excess Ascorbic Acid (AA). Employing Differential Pulse Voltammetry technique, enhanced voltammetric signal for DA and significant peak separation between DA and UA was obtained. The anodic peak currents for the oxidation of DA and UA appeared at 0.263V and 0.414 V, respectively, and it was observed to be linearly increasing with increasing concentrations of biomolecules (25-100 µM). The detection limit was determined to be 3.86 µM for DA and 5.61 µM for UA. This study showed a quick and cost-effective pretreatment for CPEs based on MWCNT-PDMS composite which lead to significant enhancement on its electrochemical properties.

Detection of local recurrent prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy in terms of salvage radiotherapy using dynamic contrast enhanced-MRI without endorectal coil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rischke Hans Christian

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Purpose To evaluate the value of dynamic contrast enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-MRI without endorectal coil (EC in the detection of local recurrent prostate cancer (PC after radical prostatectomy (RP. Material and methods Thirty-three patients with recurrent PC underwent DCE-MRI without EC before salvage radiotherapy (RT. At median 15 (mean 16±4.9, range 12–27 months after completion of RT all patients showed complete biochemical response. Additional follow up post RT DCE-MRI scans were available. Prostate specific antigen (PSA levels at the time of imaging were correlated to the imaging findings. Results In 22/33 patients (67% early contrast enhancing nodules were detected in the post-prostatectomy fossa on pre-RT DCE-MRI images. The average pre-RT PSA level of the 22 patients with positive pre-RT DCE-MRI findings was significantly higher (mean, 0.74±0.64 ng/mL compared to the pre-RT PSA level of the 11 patients with negative pre-RT DCE-MRI (mean, 0.24±0.13 ng/mL (p Conclusions This is the first study that shows that DCE-MRI without EC can detect local recurrent PC with an estimated accuracy of 83% at low PSA levels. All false negative DCE-MRI scans were detected using a PSA cut-off of ≥0.54 ng/mL.

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of the Neonatal Bowel: Novel, Bedside, Noninvasive, and Radiation-Free Imaging for Early Detection of Necrotizing Enterocolitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Hamad, Suzanne; Hackam, David J; Goldstein, Seth D; Huisman, Thierry A G M; Darge, Kassa; Hwang, Misun

2018-05-31

Despite extensive research and improvements in the field of neonatal care, the morbidity and mortality associated with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) have remained unchanged over the past three decades. Early detection of ischemia and necrotic bowel is vital in improving morbidity and mortality associated with NEC; however, strategies for predicting and preventing NEC are lacking. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) are novel techniques in pediatrics that have been proven as safe modalities. CEUS has benefits over conventional ultrasound (US) by its improved real-time evaluation of the micro- and macrovascularities of normally and abnormally perfused tissue. US has been implemented as a useful adjunct to X-ray for earlier evaluation of NEC. NIRS is another noninvasive technique that has shown promise in improving early detection of NEC. The purpose of this article is to review the current understanding of changes in bowel perfusion in NEC, discuss the accuracy of abdominal US in detecting NEC, and explain how the use of CEUS and NIRS will enhance the precise and early detection of altered/pathological bowel wall perfusion in the initial development and course of NEC. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Three-dimensional contrast-enhanced MRI using an intravascular contrast agent for detection of traumatic intra-abdominal hemorrhage and abdominal parenchymal injuries: an experimental study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weishaupt, D.; Ruehm, S.G.; Patak, M.A.; Schmidt, M.; Debatin, J.F.; Hetzer, F.H.

2000-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare the performance of 3D MRI in conjunction with an intravascular contrast agent to spiral contrast-enhanced CT, regarding the detection of abdominal parenchymal injuries as well as peritoneal hemorrhage in an animal model. Liver and kidney injuries were created surgically in six female pigs under general anesthesia. All pigs underwent contrast-enhanced spiral CT and 3D MR imaging following administration of an intravascular contrast agent (NC100150 Injection). Two readers rated their confidence independently on MR and CT data sets using a five-point scale for the presence of organ injury and hemoperitoneum. Autopsy findings served as standard of reference. Sensitivity and specificity for MR in detecting hepatic and renal injuries as well as hemoperitoneum was 100 %. Computed tomography was less accurate with sensitivity and specificity values of 90 and 94 %, respectively. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis revealed a higher confidence when interpretation was based on MR images. In an animal model 3D MR imaging in conjunction with an intravascular contrast agent proved highly accurate in detecting and localizing parenchymal injuries to the upper abdomen as well as in detecting intraperitoneal blood collections. (orig.)

Enhanced sensing of dengue virus DNA detection using O_2 plasma treated-silicon nanowire based electrical biosensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, S.F.A.; Yusof, N.A.; Hashim, U.; Hushiarian, R.; Nuzaihan, M.N.M.; Hamidon, M.N.; Zawawi, R.M.; Fathil, M.F.M.

2016-01-01

Dengue Virus (DENV) has become one of the most serious arthropod-borne viral diseases, causing death globally. The existing methods for DENV detection suffer from the late stage treatment due to antibodies-based detection which is feasible only after five days following the onset of the illness. Here, we demonstrated the highly effective molecular electronic based detection utilizing silicon nanowire (SiNW) integrated with standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process as a sensing device for detecting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) related to DENV in an early stage diagnosis. To transform the fabricated devices as a functional sensing element, three-step procedure consist of SiNW surface modification, DNA immobilization and DNA hybridization were employed. The detection principle works by detecting the changes in current of SiNW which bridge the source and drain terminal to sense the immobilization of probe DNA and their hybridization with target DNA. The oxygen (O_2) plasma was proposed as an effective strategy for increasing the binding amounts of target DNA by modified the SiNW surface. It was found that the detection limit of the optimized O_2 plasma treated-SiNW device could be reduced to 1.985 × 10"−"1"4 M with a linear detection range of the sequence-specific DNA from 1.0 × 10"−"9 M to 1.0 × 10"−"1"3 M. In addition, the developed biosensor device was able to discriminate between complementary, single mismatch and non-complementary DNA sequences. This highly sensitive assay was then applied to the detection of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) product of DENV-DNA, making it as a potential method for disease diagnosis through electrical biosensor. - Highlights: • Molecular electronic detection of Dengue Virus (DENV) DNA using SiNW biosensor is presented. • Oxygen plasma surface treatment as an enhancer technique for device sensitivity is highlighted. • The limit of detection (LoD) as low as 1.985�

Diazonium Salt-Based Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Nanosensor: Detection and Quantitation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water Samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Tijunelyte, Inga; Betelu, Stéphanie; Moreau, Jonathan; Ignatiadis, Ioannis; Berho, Catherine; Lidgi-Guigui, Nathalie; Guénin, Erwann; David, Catalina; Vergnole, Sébastien; Rinnert, Emmanuel; Lamy de la Chapelle, Marc

2017-05-24

Here, we present a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) nanosensor for environmental pollutants detection. This study was conducted on three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), fluoranthene (FL), and naphthalene (NAP). SERS substrates were chemically functionalized using 4-dodecyl benzenediazonium-tetrafluoroborate and SERS analyses were conducted to detect the pollutants alone and in mixtures. Compounds were first measured in water-methanol (9:1 volume ratio) samples. Investigation on solutions containing concentrations ranging from 10 -6 g L -1 to 10 -3 g L -1 provided data to plot calibration curves and to determine the performance of the sensor. The calculated limit of detection (LOD) was 0.026 mg L -1 (10 -7 mol L -1 ) for BaP, 0.064 mg L -1 (3.2 × 10 -7 mol L -1 ) for FL, and 3.94 mg L -1 (3.1 × 10 -5 mol L -1 ) for NAP, respectively. The correlation between the calculated LOD values and the octanol-water partition coefficient (K ow ) of the investigated PAHs suggests that the developed nanosensor is particularly suitable for detecting highly non-polar PAH compounds. Measurements conducted on a mixture of the three analytes (i) demonstrated the ability of the developed technology to detect and identify the three analytes in the mixture; (ii) provided the exact quantitation of pollutants in a mixture. Moreover, we optimized the surface regeneration step for the nanosensor.

SPIO-enhanced MR imaging for HCC detection in cirrhotic patient : comparison of various techniques for optimal sequence selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, In Hwan; Lee, Jeong Min; Kwak, Hyo Sung; Kim, Chong Soo; Yu, Hee Chul; Kim, Tae Kon; Lee Soo Tiek

2000-01-01

To compare the efficacy of breathhold and non-breathhold sequences in the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic patients using superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced MR imaging, and to determine the optimal sequence combination. By means of unenhanced and iron-oxide-enhanced MRI, 29 patients with 49 nodular HCCs were evaluated for the presence of HCC nodules. Twenty-one were male and eight were female, and their ages ranged from 38 to 71 (mean, 56) years. Eight different MR sequences were used, including four non-breath-hold sequences and four breath-hold, and images were obtained before and after the administration of SPIO particles. Non-breath-hold sequences included T2-, proton density-weighted SE, and TSE imaging, while breath-hold sequences comprised T1-weighted fast low-angle shot (T1w FLASH), half-Fourier acquisition single shot turbo spine echo (HASTE), T2-weighted fast imaging with steady-state free precession (T2 * wFISP) and T2-weighted breath-hold TSE (T2wBHTSE). Image analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The quantitative parameters calculated were signal-to noise (S/N) ratios for livers and tumors, contrast to noise (C/N) ratios for tumors seen on precontrast and postcontrast images, and percentage of signal intensity loss (PSIL) after SPIO injection. Images were analysed qualitatively in terms of image artifacts and lesion conspicuity, and prior to calculating sensitivity, the number of lesions detected using various pulse sequences were counted. SPIO had a marked effect on liver S/N ratio but a minimal effect on tumor S/N ratio. PSIL was best in T2 * wFISP images, while T2wSE images showed the second-best results (p less than 0.05). Tumor-to-liver C/N values were also highest with T2 * wFISP, while T2wTSE and HASTE images were next. Qualitative study showed that non-breath hold images and FISP were better than breath hold images in terms of lesion conspicuity. The latter, however, were much better

INTEGRAL Galactic Plane Scans detect enhanced activity from the HMXBs IGR J19294+1816 and 4U 1909+07

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Drave, S. P.; Sguera, V.; Fiocchi, M.

2013-01-01

exposures of ~7.9 and ~2.9 ks respectively but neither were detected, with 6sigma flux upper limits of 6 mCrab and 8 mCrab in the 3-10 keV band respectively. 4U 1909+07 is a wind-fed SgXRB pulsar whose past variability is consistent with the enhanced flux detected in these observations. IGR J19294......+1816 is a likely BeXRB pulsar that displays recurrent outbursts, of an approximate duration of 2 months (Bozzo et al. 2011, A&A, 531, A65), modulated on the 117.2 day orbital period (Corbet and Krimm 2009, ATel #2008) along with additional fast flaring behaviour, more typical of Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients...

Utility of bolus dynamic CT for the detection of hypervascular malignant hepatic tumors. Mainly referring to the comparison with delayed phase contrast-enhanced CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, Hiromichi; Abe, Kimihiko; Freeny, P.C.

1996-01-01

In order to analyze the usefulness of dynamic contrast-enhanced CT, 84 patients who had hepatocellular carcinoma or suspected hypervascular metastases were studied with conventional incremental dynamic CT (CID-CT) or double helical CT (DH-CT). Delayed phase contrast-enhanced CT studies were consecutively performed in all patients. Thirty-six of 84 patients had malignant hepatic neoplasms; six had hepatocellular carcinoma and 30 had metastatic tumors. At first, the detectability of hepatic lesions was evaluated with bolus dynamic CT and delayed phase CT. Dynamic CT has detected more lesions than delayed CT. Some hepatic lesions described as isodensity were missed on CID-CT. Therefore, delayed phase CT cannot be eliminated when CID-CT is performed. Secondly, hepatic lesion detectability with CID-CT was compared with that of DH-CT. DH-CT did not miss the hepatic lesions picked up by delayed phase CT and was expected to provide excellent detectability of hypervascular hepatic neoplasms. In addition, first helical CT showed most hepatic lesions as areas of obvious hyperdensity, while CID-CT did not show their correct vascularities. So-called hypervascular hepatic tumors, however, were not always hypervascular and were demonstrated as areas of iso-hypodensity even on initial helical scanning. Second helical CT was useful to detect these so-called hypervascular, but actually hypovascular lesions. In conclusion, dynamic CT was helpful in detecting hypervascular hepatic malignant neoplasms, and DH-CT was more accurate than-CID-CT for the detection of hepatic lesions and the evaluation of vascular lesion. (author)

Enhancing the sensitivity of Dengue virus serotype detection by RT-PCR among infected children in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahamed, Syed Fazil; Vivek, Rosario; Kotabagi, Shalini; Nayak, Kaustuv; Chandele, Anmol; Kaja, Murali-Krishna; Shet, Anita

2017-06-01

Dengue surveillance relies on reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), for confirmation of dengue virus (DENV) serotypes. We compared efficacies of published and modified primer sets targeting envelope (Env) and capsid-premembrane (C-prM) genes for detection of circulating DENV serotypes in southern India. Acute samples from children with clinically-diagnosed dengue were used for RT-PCR testing. All samples were also subjected to dengue serology (NS1 antigen and anti-dengue-IgM/IgG rapid immunochromatographic assay). Nested RT-PCR was performed on viral RNA using three methods targeting 654bp C-prM, 511bp C-prM and 641bp Env regions, respectively. RT-PCR-positive samples were validated by population sequencing. Among 171 children with suspected dengue, 121 were dengue serology-positive and 50 were dengue serology-negative. Among 121 serology-positives, RT-PCR detected 91 (75.2%) by CprM654, 72 (59.5%) by CprM511, and 74 (61.1%) by Env641. Among 50 serology-negatives, 10 (20.0%) were detected by CprM654, 12 (24.0%) by CprM511, and 11 (22.0%) by Env641. Overall detection rate using three methods sequentially was 82.6% (100/121) among serology-positive and 40.0% (20/50) among serology-negative samples; 6.6% (8/120) had co-infection with multiple DENV serotypes. We conclude that detection of acute dengue was enhanced by a modified RT-PCR method targeting the 654bp C-prM region, and further improved by using all three methods sequentially. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantitative Detection of Trace Level Cloxacillin in Food Samples Using Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Extraction and Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Nanopillars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ashley, Jon; Wu, Kaiyu; Hansen, Mikkel Fougt

2017-01-01

There is an increasing demand for rapid, sensitive, and low cost analytical methods to routinely screen antibiotic residues in food products. Conventional detection of antibiotics involves sample preparation by liquid-liquid or solid-phase extraction, followed by analysis using liquid...... with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based detection for quantitative analysis of cloxacillin in pig serum. MMIP microspheres were synthesized using a core-shell technique. The large loading capacity and high selectivity of the MMIP microspheres enabled efficient extraction of cloxacillin, while...... using an internal standard. By coherently combining MMIP extraction and silicon nanopillar-based SERS biosensor, good sensitivity toward cloxacillin was achieved. The detection limit was 7.8 pmol. Cloxacillin recoveries from spiked pig plasma samples were found to be more than 80%....

Dye@bio-MOF-1 Composite as a Dual-Emitting Platform for Enhanced Detection of a Wide Range of Explosive Molecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chen; Tian, Li; Zhu, Wei; Wang, Shiqiang; Wang, Peng; Liang, Yun; Zhang, Wanlin; Zhao, Hongwei; Li, Guangtao

2017-06-14

By incorporating a cationic dye within a metal-organic framework (MOF) through an ion-exchange process, a responsive dye@bio-MOF-1 composite has been synthesized, serving as a dual-emitting platform for enhanced detection of different kinds of nitro-explosives, especially nitroalkanes, nitramines, and nitrate esters. The dye@bio-MOF-1 composite was constructed with free amines on their well-defined cavities, which is essential for the capture of explosives into their confined nanospace. It was observed that the encapsulation of explosives into the constructed dye@bio-MOF-1 composite could dramatically alter the luminescent properties of the dyes as well as the MOF skeletons owing to the size exclusivity and confinement-induced effect. For nitroaromatics, the dye@bio-MOF-1 composite exhibits turn-off responses via fluorescence quenching. Unexpectedly, the composite shows unique turn-on responses for aliphatic nitro-organics via confinement-induced enhancement, demonstrating enhanced ability to detecting different kinds of explosives selectively in aqueous solution. Furthermore, the dye@bio-MOF-1 film was facilely fabricated, making the chemical sensing more convenient and easier to realize the discrimination of the targeted explosives. The dual tunable responses indicate that dye@bio-MOF-1 composites are favorable materials for molecular sensing. On the basis of the host-guest properties of the constructed dye@bio-MOF-1 composite, our work can be further extended to sensing specific analytes with remarkable turn-on sensing properties, in particular those difficult to recognize with conventional methods.

Enhancing international radiation/nuclear detection training opportunities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Thomas L. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Bersell, Bridget M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Booker, Paul M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Anderson, Gerald E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Leitch, Rosalyn M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Meagher, John B. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Siefken, Rob R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Spracklen, James L. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2015-09-23

The United States has worked domestically to develop and provide radiological and nuclear detection training and education initiatives aimed at interior law enforcement, but the international community has predominantly focused efforts at border and customs officials. The interior law enforcement officials of a State play a critical role in maintaining an effective national-level nuclear detection architecture. To meet this vital need, DNDO was funded by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) to create and deliver a 1-week course at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Budapest, Hungary to inform interior law enforcement personnel of the overall mission, and to provide an understanding of how the participants can combat the threats of radiological and nuclear terrorism through detection efforts. Two courses, with approximately 20 students in each course, were delivered in fiscal year (FY) 2013, two were delivered in FY 2014 and FY 2015, and as of this report’s writing more are planned in FY 2016. However, while the ILEA courses produced measurable success, DNDO requested Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) research potential avenues to further increase the course impact.In a multi-phased approach, PNNL researched and analyzed several possible global training locations and venues, and other possible ways to increase the impact of the course using an agreed-to data-gathering format.

यूनिकोड: भाषा प्रोद्योगिकी में हिन्दी का नया औजार

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Sharma, R.

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Study of $(W/Z)H$ production and Higgs boson couplings using $H \\rightarrow WW^{\\ast}$ decays with the ATLAS detector

CERN Document Server

Aad, Georges; Abdallah, Jalal; Abdinov, Ovsat; Aben, Rosemarie; Abolins, Maris; AbouZeid, Ossama; Abramowicz, Halina; Abreu, Henso; Abreu, Ricardo; Abulaiti, Yiming; Acharya, Bobby Samir; Adamczyk, Leszek; Adams, David; Adelman, Jahred; Adomeit, Stefanie; Adye, Tim; Affolder, Tony; Agatonovic-Jovin, Tatjana; Aguilar-Saavedra, Juan Antonio; Ahlen, Steven; Ahmadov, Faig; Aielli, Giulio; Akerstedt, Henrik; Åkesson, Torsten Paul Ake; Akimoto, Ginga; Akimov, Andrei; Alberghi, Gian Luigi; Albert, Justin; Albrand, Solveig; Alconada Verzini, Maria Josefina; Aleksa, Martin; Aleksandrov, Igor; Alexa, Calin; Alexander, Gideon; Alexopoulos, Theodoros; Alhroob, Muhammad; Alimonti, Gianluca; Alio, Lion; Alison, John; Alkire, Steven Patrick; Allbrooke, Benedict; Allport, Phillip; Aloisio, Alberto; Alonso, Alejandro; Alonso, Francisco; Alpigiani, Cristiano; Altheimer, Andrew David; Alvarez Gonzalez, Barbara; Άlvarez Piqueras, Damián; Alviggi, Mariagrazia; Amadio, Brian Thomas; Amako, Katsuya; Amaral Coutinho, Yara; Amelung, Christoph; Amidei, Dante; Amor Dos Santos, Susana Patricia; Amorim, Antonio; Amoroso, Simone; Amram, Nir; Amundsen, Glenn; Anastopoulos, Christos; Ancu, Lucian Stefan; Andari, Nansi; Andeen, Timothy; Anders, Christoph Falk; Anders, Gabriel; Anders, John Kenneth; Anderson, Kelby; Andreazza, Attilio; Andrei, George Victor; Angelidakis, Stylianos; Angelozzi, Ivan; Anger, Philipp; Angerami, Aaron; Anghinolfi, Francis; Anisenkov, Alexey; Anjos, Nuno; Annovi, Alberto; Antonelli, Mario; Antonov, Alexey; Antos, Jaroslav; Anulli, Fabio; Aoki, Masato; Aperio Bella, Ludovica; Arabidze, Giorgi; Arai, Yasuo; Araque, Juan Pedro; Arce, Ayana; Arduh, Francisco Anuar; Arguin, Jean-Francois; Argyropoulos, Spyridon; Arik, Metin; Armbruster, Aaron James; Arnaez, Olivier; Arnal, Vanessa; Arnold, Hannah; Arratia, Miguel; Arslan, Ozan; Artamonov, Andrei; Artoni, Giacomo; Asai, Shoji; Asbah, Nedaa; Ashkenazi, Adi; Åsman, Barbro; Asquith, Lily; Assamagan, Ketevi; Astalos, Robert; Atkinson, Markus; Atlay, Naim Bora; Auerbach, Benjamin; Augsten, Kamil; Aurousseau, Mathieu; Avolio, Giuseppe; Axen, Bradley; Ayoub, Mohamad Kassem; Azuelos, Georges; Baak, Max; Baas, Alessandra; Bacci, Cesare; Bachacou, Henri; Bachas, Konstantinos; Backes, Moritz; Backhaus, Malte; Bagiacchi, Paolo; Bagnaia, Paolo; Bai, Yu; Bain, Travis; Baines, John; Baker, Oliver Keith; Balek, Petr; Balestri, Thomas; Balli, Fabrice; Banas, Elzbieta; Banerjee, Swagato; Bannoura, Arwa A E; Bansil, Hardeep Singh; Barak, Liron; Barberio, Elisabetta Luigia; Barberis, Dario; Barbero, Marlon; Barillari, Teresa; Barisonzi, Marcello; Barklow, Timothy; Barlow, Nick; Barnes, Sarah Louise; Barnett, Bruce; Barnett, Michael; Barnovska, Zuzana; Baroncelli, Antonio; Barone, Gaetano; Barr, Alan; Barreiro, Fernando; Barreiro Guimarães da Costa, João; Bartoldus, Rainer; Barton, Adam Edward; Bartos, Pavol; Basalaev, Artem; Bassalat, Ahmed; Basye, Austin; Bates, Richard; Batista, Santiago Juan; Batley, Richard; Battaglia, Marco; Bauce, Matteo; Bauer, Florian; Bawa, Harinder Singh; Beacham, James Baker; Beattie, Michael David; Beau, Tristan; Beauchemin, Pierre-Hugues; Beccherle, Roberto; Bechtle, Philip; Beck, Hans Peter; Becker, Anne Kathrin; Becker, Maurice; Becker, Sebastian; Beckingham, Matthew; Becot, Cyril; Beddall, Andrew; Beddall, Ayda; Bednyakov, Vadim; Bee, Christopher; Beemster, Lars; Beermann, Thomas; Begel, Michael; Behr, Janna Katharina; Belanger-Champagne, Camille; Bell, William; Bella, Gideon; Bellagamba, Lorenzo; Bellerive, Alain; Bellomo, Massimiliano; Belotskiy, Konstantin; Beltramello, Olga; Benary, Odette; Benchekroun, Driss; Bender, Michael; Bendtz, Katarina; Benekos, Nektarios; Benhammou, Yan; Benhar Noccioli, Eleonora; Benitez Garcia, Jorge-Armando; Benjamin, Douglas; Bensinger, James; Bentvelsen, Stan; Beresford, Lydia; Beretta, Matteo; Berge, David; Bergeaas Kuutmann, Elin; Berger, Nicolas; Berghaus, Frank; Beringer, Jürg; Bernard, Clare; Bernard, Nathan Rogers; Bernius, Catrin; Bernlochner, Florian Urs; Berry, Tracey; Berta, Peter; Bertella, Claudia; Bertoli, Gabriele; Bertolucci, Federico; Bertsche, Carolyn; Bertsche, David; Besana, Maria Ilaria; Besjes, Geert-Jan; Bessidskaia Bylund, Olga; Bessner, Martin Florian; Besson, Nathalie; Betancourt, Christopher; Bethke, Siegfried; Bevan, Adrian John; Bhimji, Wahid; Bianchi, Riccardo-Maria; Bianchini, Louis; Bianco, Michele; Biebel, Otmar; Bieniek, Stephen Paul; Biglietti, Michela; Bilbao De Mendizabal, Javier; Bilokon, Halina; Bindi, Marcello; Binet, Sebastien; Bingul, Ahmet; Bini, Cesare; Black, Curtis; Black, James; Black, Kevin; Blackburn, Daniel; Blair, Robert; Blanchard, Jean-Baptiste; Blanco, Jacobo Ezequiel; Blazek, Tomas; Bloch, Ingo; Blocker, Craig; Blum, Walter; Blumenschein, Ulrike; Bobbink, Gerjan; Bobrovnikov, Victor; Bocchetta, Simona Serena; Bocci, Andrea; Bock, Christopher; Boehler, Michael; Bogaerts, Joannes Andreas; Bogdanchikov, Alexander; Bohm, Christian; Boisvert, Veronique; Bold, Tomasz; Boldea, Venera; Boldyrev, Alexey; Bomben, Marco; Bona, Marcella; Boonekamp, Maarten; Borisov, Anatoly; Borissov, Guennadi; Borroni, Sara; Bortfeldt, Jonathan; Bortolotto, Valerio; Bos, Kors; Boscherini, Davide; Bosman, Martine; Boudreau, Joseph; Bouffard, Julian; Bouhova-Thacker, Evelina Vassileva; Boumediene, Djamel Eddine; Bourdarios, Claire; Bousson, Nicolas; Boveia, Antonio; Boyd, James; Boyko, Igor; Bozic, Ivan; Bracinik, Juraj; Brandt, Andrew; Brandt, Gerhard; Brandt, Oleg; Bratzler, Uwe; Brau, Benjamin; Brau, James; Braun, Helmut; Brazzale, Simone Federico; Brendlinger, Kurt; Brennan, Amelia Jean; Brenner, Lydia; Brenner, Richard; Bressler, Shikma; Bristow, Kieran; Bristow, Timothy Michael; Britton, Dave; Britzger, Daniel; Brochu, Frederic; Brock, Ian; Brock, Raymond; Bronner, Johanna; Brooijmans, Gustaaf; Brooks, Timothy; Brooks, William; Brosamer, Jacquelyn; Brost, Elizabeth; Brown, Jonathan; Bruckman de Renstrom, Pawel; Bruncko, Dusan; Bruneliere, Renaud; Bruni, Alessia; Bruni, Graziano; Bruschi, Marco; Bryngemark, Lene; Buanes, Trygve; Buat, Quentin; Buchholz, Peter; Buckley, Andrew; Buda, Stelian Ioan; Budagov, Ioulian; Buehrer, Felix; Bugge, Lars; Bugge, Magnar Kopangen; Bulekov, Oleg; Bullock, Daniel; Burckhart, Helfried; Burdin, Sergey; Burghgrave, Blake; Burke, Stephen; Burmeister, Ingo; Busato, Emmanuel; Büscher, Daniel; Büscher, Volker; Bussey, Peter; Butler, John; Butt, Aatif Imtiaz; Buttar, Craig; Butterworth, Jonathan; Butti, Pierfrancesco; Buttinger, William; Buzatu, Adrian; Buzykaev, Aleksey; Cabrera Urbán, Susana; Caforio, Davide; Cairo, Valentina; Cakir, Orhan; Calafiura, Paolo; Calandri, Alessandro; Calderini, Giovanni; Calfayan, Philippe; Caloba, Luiz; Calvet, David; Calvet, Samuel; Camacho Toro, Reina; Camarda, Stefano; Camarri, Paolo; Cameron, David; Caminada, Lea Michaela; Caminal Armadans, Roger; Campana, Simone; Campanelli, Mario; Campoverde, Angel; Canale, Vincenzo; Canepa, Anadi; Cano Bret, Marc; Cantero, Josu; Cantrill, Robert; Cao, Tingting; Capeans Garrido, Maria Del Mar; Caprini, Irinel; Caprini, Mihai; Capua, Marcella; Caputo, Regina; Cardarelli, Roberto; Carli, Tancredi; Carlino, Gianpaolo; Carminati, Leonardo; Caron, Sascha; Carquin, Edson; Carrillo-Montoya, German D; Carter, Janet; Carvalho, João; Casadei, Diego; Casado, Maria Pilar; Casolino, Mirkoantonio; Castaneda-Miranda, Elizabeth; Castelli, Angelantonio; Castillo Gimenez, Victoria; Castro, Nuno Filipe; Catastini, Pierluigi; Catinaccio, Andrea; Catmore, James; Cattai, Ariella; Caudron, Julien; Cavaliere, Viviana; Cavalli, Donatella; Cavalli-Sforza, Matteo; Cavasinni, Vincenzo; Ceradini, Filippo; Cerio, Benjamin; Cerny, Karel; Santiago Cerqueira, Augusto; Cerri, Alessandro; Cerrito, Lucio; Cerutti, Fabio; Cerv, Matevz; Cervelli, Alberto; Cetin, Serkant Ali; Chafaq, Aziz; Chakraborty, Dhiman; Chalupkova, Ina; Chang, Philip; Chapleau, Bertrand; Chapman, John Derek; Charlton, Dave; Chau, Chav Chhiv; Chavez Barajas, Carlos Alberto; Cheatham, Susan; Chegwidden, Andrew; Chekanov, Sergei; Chekulaev, Sergey; Chelkov, Gueorgui; Chelstowska, Magda Anna; Chen, Chunhui; Chen, Hucheng; Chen, Karen; Chen, Liming; Chen, Shenjian; Chen, Xin; Chen, Ye; Cheng, Hok Chuen; Cheng, Yangyang; Cheplakov, Alexander; Cheremushkina, Evgenia; Cherkaoui El Moursli, Rajaa; Chernyatin, Valeriy; Cheu, Elliott; Chevalier, Laurent; Chiarella, Vitaliano; Childers, John Taylor; Chiodini, Gabriele; Chisholm, Andrew; Chislett, Rebecca Thalatta; Chitan, Adrian; Chizhov, Mihail; Choi, Kyungeon; Chouridou, Sofia; Chow, Bonnie Kar Bo; Christodoulou, Valentinos; Chromek-Burckhart, Doris; Chu, Ming-Lee; Chudoba, Jiri; Chuinard, Annabelle Julia; Chwastowski, Janusz; Chytka, Ladislav; Ciapetti, Guido; Ciftci, Abbas Kenan; Cinca, Diane; Cindro, Vladimir; Cioara, Irina Antonela; Ciocio, Alessandra; Citron, Zvi Hirsh; Ciubancan, Mihai; Clark, Allan G; Clark, Brian Lee; Clark, Philip James; Clarke, Robert; Cleland, Bill; Clement, Christophe; Coadou, Yann; Cobal, Marina; Coccaro, Andrea; Cochran, James H; Coffey, Laurel; Cogan, Joshua Godfrey; Cole, Brian; Cole, Stephen; Colijn, Auke-Pieter; Collot, Johann; Colombo, Tommaso; Compostella, Gabriele; Conde Muiño, Patricia; Coniavitis, Elias; Connell, Simon Henry; Connelly, Ian; Consonni, Sofia Maria; Consorti, Valerio; Constantinescu, Serban; Conta, Claudio; Conti, Geraldine; Conventi, Francesco; Cooke, Mark; Cooper, Ben; Cooper-Sarkar, Amanda; Cornelissen, Thijs; Corradi, Massimo; Corriveau, Francois; Corso-Radu, Alina; Cortes-Gonzalez, Arely; Cortiana, Giorgio; Costa, Giuseppe; Costa, María José; Costanzo, Davide; Côté, David; Cottin, Giovanna; Cowan, Glen; Cox, Brian; Cranmer, Kyle; Cree, Graham; Crépé-Renaudin, Sabine; Crescioli, Francesco; Cribbs, Wayne Allen; Crispin Ortuzar, Mireia; Cristinziani, Markus; Croft, Vince; Crosetti, Giovanni; Cuhadar Donszelmann, Tulay; Cummings, Jane; Curatolo, Maria; Cuthbert, Cameron; Czirr, Hendrik; Czodrowski, Patrick; D'Auria, Saverio; D'Onofrio, Monica; Da Cunha Sargedas De Sousa, Mario Jose; Da Via, Cinzia; Dabrowski, Wladyslaw; Dafinca, Alexandru; Dai, Tiesheng; Dale, Orjan; Dallaire, Frederick; Dallapiccola, Carlo; Dam, Mogens; Dandoy, Jeffrey Rogers; Dang, Nguyen Phuong; Daniells, Andrew Christopher; Danninger, Matthias; Dano Hoffmann, Maria; Dao, Valerio; Darbo, Giovanni; Darmora, Smita; Dassoulas, James; Dattagupta, Aparajita; Davey, Will; David, Claire; Davidek, Tomas; Davies, Eleanor; Davies, Merlin; Davison, Peter; Davygora, Yuriy; Dawe, Edmund; Dawson, Ian; Daya-Ishmukhametova, Rozmin; De, Kaushik; de Asmundis, Riccardo; De Castro, Stefano; De Cecco, Sandro; De Groot, Nicolo; de Jong, Paul; De la Torre, Hector; De Lorenzi, Francesco; De Nooij, Lucie; De Pedis, Daniele; De Salvo, Alessandro; De Sanctis, Umberto; De Santo, Antonella; De Vivie De Regie, Jean-Baptiste; Dearnaley, William James; Debbe, Ramiro; Debenedetti, Chiara; Dedovich, Dmitri; Deigaard, Ingrid; Del Peso, Jose; Del Prete, Tarcisio; Delgove, David; Deliot, Frederic; Delitzsch, Chris Malena; Deliyergiyev, Maksym; Dell'Acqua, Andrea; Dell'Asta, Lidia; Dell'Orso, Mauro; Della Pietra, Massimo; della Volpe, Domenico; Delmastro, Marco; Delsart, Pierre-Antoine; Deluca, Carolina; DeMarco, David; Demers, Sarah; Demichev, Mikhail; Demilly, Aurelien; Denisov, Sergey; Derendarz, Dominik; Derkaoui, Jamal Eddine; Derue, Frederic; Dervan, Paul; Desch, Klaus Kurt; Deterre, Cecile; Deviveiros, Pier-Olivier; Dewhurst, Alastair; Dhaliwal, Saminder; Di Ciaccio, Anna; Di Ciaccio, Lucia; Di Domenico, Antonio; Di Donato, Camilla; Di Girolamo, Alessandro; Di Girolamo, Beniamino; Di Mattia, Alessandro; Di Micco, Biagio; Di Nardo, Roberto; Di Simone, Andrea; Di Sipio, Riccardo; Di Valentino, David; Diaconu, Cristinel; Diamond, Miriam; Dias, Flavia; Diaz, Marco Aurelio; Diehl, Edward; Dietrich, Janet; Diglio, Sara; Dimitrievska, Aleksandra; Dingfelder, Jochen; Dita, Petre; Dita, Sanda; Dittus, Fridolin; Djama, Fares; Djobava, Tamar; Djuvsland, Julia Isabell; Barros do Vale, Maria Aline; Dobos, Daniel; Dobre, Monica; Doglioni, Caterina; Dohmae, Takeshi; Dolejsi, Jiri; Dolezal, Zdenek; Dolgoshein, Boris; Donadelli, Marisilvia; Donati, Simone; Dondero, Paolo; Donini, Julien; Dopke, Jens; Doria, Alessandra; Dova, Maria-Teresa; Doyle, Tony; Drechsler, Eric; Dris, Manolis; Dubreuil, Emmanuelle; Duchovni, Ehud; Duckeck, Guenter; Ducu, Otilia Anamaria; Duda, Dominik; Dudarev, Alexey; Duflot, Laurent; Duguid, Liam; Dührssen, Michael; Dunford, Monica; Duran Yildiz, Hatice; Düren, Michael; Durglishvili, Archil; Duschinger, Dirk; Dyndal, Mateusz; Eckardt, Christoph; Ecker, Katharina Maria; Edgar, Ryan Christopher; Edson, William; Edwards, Nicholas Charles; Ehrenfeld, Wolfgang; Eifert, Till; Eigen, Gerald; Einsweiler, Kevin; Ekelof, Tord; El Kacimi, Mohamed; Ellert, Mattias; Elles, Sabine; Ellinghaus, Frank; Elliot, Alison; Ellis, Nicolas; Elmsheuser, Johannes; Elsing, Markus; Emeliyanov, Dmitry; Enari, Yuji; Endner, Oliver Chris; Endo, Masaki; Erdmann, Johannes; Ereditato, Antonio; Ernis, Gunar; Ernst, Jesse; Ernst, Michael; Errede, Steven; Ertel, Eugen; Escalier, Marc; Esch, Hendrik; Escobar, Carlos; Esposito, Bellisario; Etienvre, Anne-Isabelle; Etzion, Erez; Evans, Hal; Ezhilov, Alexey; Fabbri, Laura; Facini, Gabriel; Fakhrutdinov, Rinat; Falciano, Speranza; Falla, Rebecca Jane; Faltova, Jana; Fang, Yaquan; Fanti, Marcello; Farbin, Amir; Farilla, Addolorata; Farooque, Trisha; Farrell, Steven; Farrington, Sinead; Farthouat, Philippe; Fassi, Farida; Fassnacht, Patrick; Fassouliotis, Dimitrios; Faucci Giannelli, Michele; Favareto, Andrea; Fayard, Louis; Federic, Pavol; Fedin, Oleg; Fedorko, Wojciech; Feigl, Simon; Feligioni, Lorenzo; Feng, Cunfeng; Feng, Eric; Feng, Haolu; Fenyuk, Alexander; Fernandez Martinez, Patricia; Fernandez Perez, Sonia; Ferrando, James; Ferrari, Arnaud; Ferrari, Pamela; Ferrari, Roberto; Ferreira de Lima, Danilo Enoque; Ferrer, Antonio; Ferrere, Didier; Ferretti, Claudio; Ferretto Parodi, Andrea; Fiascaris, Maria; Fiedler, Frank; Filipčič, Andrej; Filipuzzi, Marco; Filthaut, Frank; Fincke-Keeler, Margret; Finelli, Kevin Daniel; Fiolhais, Miguel; Fiorini, Luca; Firan, Ana; Fischer, Adam; Fischer, Cora; Fischer, Julia; Fisher, Wade Cameron; Fitzgerald, Eric Andrew; Flechl, Martin; Fleck, Ivor; Fleischmann, Philipp; Fleischmann, Sebastian; Fletcher, Gareth Thomas; Fletcher, Gregory; Flick, Tobias; Floderus, Anders; Flores Castillo, Luis; Flowerdew, Michael; Formica, Andrea; Forti, Alessandra; Fournier, Daniel; Fox, Harald; Fracchia, Silvia; Francavilla, Paolo; Franchini, Matteo; Francis, David; Franconi, Laura; Franklin, Melissa; Fraternali, Marco; Freeborn, David; French, Sky; Friedrich, Felix; Froidevaux, Daniel; Frost, James; Fukunaga, Chikara; Fullana Torregrosa, Esteban; Fulsom, Bryan Gregory; Fuster, Juan; Gabaldon, Carolina; Gabizon, Ofir; Gabrielli, Alessandro; Gabrielli, Andrea; Gadatsch, Stefan; Gadomski, Szymon; Gagliardi, Guido; Gagnon, Pauline; Galea, Cristina; Galhardo, Bruno; Gallas, Elizabeth; Gallop, Bruce; Gallus, Petr; Galster, Gorm Aske Gram Krohn; Gan, KK; Gao, Jun; Gao, Yanyan; Gao, Yongsheng; Garay Walls, Francisca; Garberson, Ford; García, Carmen; García Navarro, José Enrique; Garcia-Sciveres, Maurice; Gardner, Robert; Garelli, Nicoletta; Garonne, Vincent; Gatti, Claudio; Gaudiello, Andrea; Gaudio, Gabriella; Gaur, Bakul; Gauthier, Lea; Gauzzi, Paolo; Gavrilenko, Igor; Gay, Colin; Gaycken, Goetz; Gazis, Evangelos; Ge, Peng; Gecse, Zoltan; Gee, Norman; Geerts, Daniël Alphonsus Adrianus; Geich-Gimbel, Christoph; Geisler, Manuel Patrice; Gemme, Claudia; Genest, Marie-Hélène; Gentile, Simonetta; George, Matthias; George, Simon; Gerbaudo, Davide; Gershon, Avi; Ghazlane, Hamid; Giacobbe, Benedetto; Giagu, Stefano; Giangiobbe, Vincent; Giannetti, Paola; Gibbard, Bruce; Gibson, Stephen; Gilchriese, Murdock; Gillam, Thomas; Gillberg, Dag; Gilles, Geoffrey; Gingrich, Douglas; Giokaris, Nikos; Giordani, MarioPaolo; Giorgi, Filippo Maria; Giorgi, Francesco Michelangelo; Giraud, Pierre-Francois; Giromini, Paolo; Giugni, Danilo; Giuliani, Claudia; Giulini, Maddalena; Gjelsten, Børge Kile; Gkaitatzis, Stamatios; Gkialas, Ioannis; Gkougkousis, Evangelos Leonidas; Gladilin, Leonid; Glasman, Claudia; Glatzer, Julian; Glaysher, Paul; Glazov, Alexandre; Goblirsch-Kolb, Maximilian; Goddard, Jack Robert; Godlewski, Jan; Goldfarb, Steven; Golling, Tobias; Golubkov, Dmitry; Gomes, Agostinho; Gonçalo, Ricardo; Goncalves Pinto Firmino Da Costa, Joao; Gonella, Laura; González de la Hoz, Santiago; Gonzalez Parra, Garoe; Gonzalez-Sevilla, Sergio; Goossens, Luc; Gorbounov, Petr Andreevich; Gordon, Howard; Gorelov, Igor; Gorini, Benedetto; Gorini, Edoardo; Gorišek, Andrej; Gornicki, Edward; Goshaw, Alfred; Gössling, Claus; Gostkin, Mikhail Ivanovitch; Goujdami, Driss; Goussiou, Anna; Govender, Nicolin; Grabas, Herve Marie Xavier; Graber, Lars; Grabowska-Bold, Iwona; Grafström, Per; Grahn, Karl-Johan; Gramling, Johanna; Gramstad, Eirik; Grancagnolo, Sergio; Grassi, Valerio; Gratchev, Vadim; Gray, Heather; Graziani, Enrico; Greenwood, Zeno Dixon; Gregersen, Kristian; Gregor, Ingrid-Maria; Grenier, Philippe; Griffiths, Justin; Grillo, Alexander; Grimm, Kathryn; Grinstein, Sebastian; Gris, Philippe Luc Yves; Grivaz, Jean-Francois; Grohs, Johannes Philipp; Grohsjean, Alexander; Gross, Eilam; Grosse-Knetter, Joern; Grossi, Giulio Cornelio; Grout, Zara Jane; Guan, Liang; Guenther, Jaroslav; Guescini, Francesco; Guest, Daniel; Gueta, Orel; Guido, Elisa; Guillemin, Thibault; Guindon, Stefan; Gul, Umar; Gumpert, Christian; Guo, Jun; Gupta, Shaun; Gutierrez, Phillip; Gutierrez Ortiz, Nicolas Gilberto; Gutschow, Christian; Guyot, Claude; Gwenlan, Claire; Gwilliam, Carl; Haas, Andy; Haber, Carl; Hadavand, Haleh Khani; Haddad, Nacim; Haefner, Petra; Hageböck, Stephan; Hajduk, Zbigniew; Hakobyan, Hrachya; Haleem, Mahsana; Haley, Joseph; Hall, David; Halladjian, Garabed; Hallewell, Gregory David; Hamacher, Klaus; Hamal, Petr; Hamano, Kenji; Hamer, Matthias; Hamilton, Andrew; Hamilton, Samuel; Hamity, Guillermo Nicolas; Hamnett, Phillip George; Han, Liang; Hanagaki, Kazunori; Hanawa, Keita; Hance, Michael; Hanke, Paul; Hanna, Remie; Hansen, Jørgen Beck; Hansen, Jorn Dines; Hansen, Maike Christina; Hansen, Peter Henrik; Hara, Kazuhiko; Hard, Andrew; Harenberg, Torsten; Hariri, Faten; Harkusha, Siarhei; Harrington, Robert; Harrison, Paul Fraser; Hartjes, Fred; Hasegawa, Makoto; Hasegawa, Satoshi; Hasegawa, Yoji; Hasib, A; Hassani, Samira; Haug, Sigve; Hauser, Reiner; Hauswald, Lorenz; Havranek, Miroslav; Hawkes, Christopher; Hawkings, Richard John; Hawkins, Anthony David; Hayashi, Takayasu; Hayden, Daniel; Hays, Chris; Hays, Jonathan Michael; Hayward, Helen; Haywood, Stephen; Head, Simon; Heck, Tobias; Hedberg, Vincent; Heelan, Louise; Heim, Sarah; Heim, Timon; Heinemann, Beate; Heinrich, Lukas; Hejbal, Jiri; Helary, Louis; Hellman, Sten; Hellmich, Dennis; Helsens, Clement; Henderson, James; Henderson, Robert; Heng, Yang; Hengler, Christopher; Henrichs, Anna; Henriques Correia, Ana Maria; Henrot-Versille, Sophie; Herbert, Geoffrey Henry; Hernández Jiménez, Yesenia; Herrberg-Schubert, Ruth; Herten, Gregor; Hertenberger, Ralf; Hervas, Luis; Hesketh, Gavin Grant; Hessey, Nigel; Hetherly, Jeffrey Wayne; Hickling, Robert; Higón-Rodriguez, Emilio; Hill, Ewan; Hill, John; Hiller, Karl Heinz; Hillier, Stephen; Hinchliffe, Ian; Hines, Elizabeth; Hinman, Rachel Reisner; Hirose, Minoru; Hirschbuehl, Dominic; Hobbs, John; Hod, Noam; Hodgkinson, Mark; Hodgson, Paul; Hoecker, Andreas; Hoeferkamp, Martin; Hoenig, Friedrich; Hohlfeld, Marc; Hohn, David; Holmes, Tova Ray; Homann, Michael; Hong, Tae Min; Hooft van Huysduynen, Loek; Hopkins, Walter; Horii, Yasuyuki; Horton, Arthur James; Hostachy, Jean-Yves; Hou, Suen; Hoummada, Abdeslam; Howard, Jacob; Howarth, James; Hrabovsky, Miroslav; Hristova, Ivana; Hrivnac, Julius; Hryn'ova, Tetiana; Hrynevich, Aliaksei; Hsu, Catherine; Hsu, Pai-hsien Jennifer; Hsu, Shih-Chieh; Hu, Diedi; Hu, Qipeng; Hu, Xueye; Huang, Yanping; Hubacek, Zdenek; Hubaut, Fabrice; Huegging, Fabian; Huffman, Todd Brian; Hughes, Emlyn; Hughes, Gareth; Huhtinen, Mika; Hülsing, Tobias Alexander; Huseynov, Nazim; Huston, Joey; Huth, John; Iacobucci, Giuseppe; Iakovidis, Georgios; Ibragimov, Iskander; Iconomidou-Fayard, Lydia; Ideal, Emma; Idrissi, Zineb; Iengo, Paolo; Igonkina, Olga; Iizawa, Tomoya; Ikegami, Yoichi; Ikematsu, Katsumasa; Ikeno, Masahiro; Ilchenko, Iurii; Iliadis, Dimitrios; Ilic, Nikolina; Inamaru, Yuki; Ince, Tayfun; Ioannou, Pavlos; Iodice, Mauro; Iordanidou, Kalliopi; Ippolito, Valerio; Irles Quiles, Adrian; Isaksson, Charlie; Ishino, Masaya; Ishitsuka, Masaki; Ishmukhametov, Renat; Issever, Cigdem; Istin, Serhat; Iturbe Ponce, Julia Mariana; Iuppa, Roberto; Ivarsson, Jenny; Iwanski, Wieslaw; Iwasaki, Hiroyuki; Izen, Joseph; Izzo, Vincenzo; Jabbar, Samina; Jackson, Brett; Jackson, Matthew; Jackson, Paul; Jaekel, Martin; Jain, Vivek; Jakobs, Karl; Jakobsen, Sune; Jakoubek, Tomas; Jakubek, Jan; Jamin, David Olivier; Jana, Dilip; Jansen, Eric; Jansky, Roland; Janssen, Jens; Janus, Michel; Jarlskog, Göran; Javadov, Namig; Javůrek, Tomáš; Jeanty, Laura; Jejelava, Juansher; Jeng, Geng-yuan; Jennens, David; Jenni, Peter; Jentzsch, Jennifer; Jeske, Carl; Jézéquel, Stéphane; Ji, Haoshuang; Jia, Jiangyong; Jiang, Yi; Jiggins, Stephen; Jimenez Pena, Javier; Jin, Shan; Jinaru, Adam; Jinnouchi, Osamu; Joergensen, Morten Dam; Johansson, Per; Johns, Kenneth; Jon-And, Kerstin; Jones, Graham; Jones, Roger; Jones, Tim; Jongmanns, Jan; Jorge, Pedro; Joshi, Kiran Daniel; Jovicevic, Jelena; Ju, Xiangyang; Jung, Christian; Jussel, Patrick; Juste Rozas, Aurelio; Kaci, Mohammed; Kaczmarska, Anna; Kado, Marumi; Kagan, Harris; Kagan, Michael; Kahn, Sebastien Jonathan; Kajomovitz, Enrique; Kalderon, Charles William; Kama, Sami; Kamenshchikov, Andrey; Kanaya, Naoko; Kaneda, Michiru; Kaneti, Steven; Kantserov, Vadim; Kanzaki, Junichi; Kaplan, Benjamin; Kapliy, Anton; Kar, Deepak; Karakostas, Konstantinos; Karamaoun, Andrew; Karastathis, Nikolaos; Kareem, Mohammad Jawad; Karnevskiy, Mikhail; Karpov, Sergey; Karpova, Zoya; Karthik, Krishnaiyengar; Kartvelishvili, Vakhtang; Karyukhin, Andrey; Kashif, Lashkar; Kass, Richard; Kastanas, Alex; Kataoka, Yousuke; Katre, Akshay; Katzy, Judith; Kawagoe, Kiyotomo; Kawamoto, Tatsuo; Kawamura, Gen; Kazama, Shingo; Kazanin, Vassili; Kazarinov, Makhail; Keeler, Richard; Kehoe, Robert; Keller, John; Kempster, Jacob Julian; Keoshkerian, Houry; Kepka, Oldrich; Kerševan, Borut Paul; Kersten, Susanne; Keyes, Robert; Khalil-zada, Farkhad; Khandanyan, Hovhannes; Khanov, Alexander; Kharlamov, Alexey; Khoo, Teng Jian; Khovanskiy, Valery; Khramov, Evgeniy; Khubua, Jemal; Kim, Hee Yeun; Kim, Hyeon Jin; Kim, Shinhong; Kim, Young-Kee; Kimura, Naoki; Kind, Oliver Maria; King, Barry; King, Matthew; King, Robert Steven Beaufoy; King, Samuel Burton; Kirk, Julie; Kiryunin, Andrey; Kishimoto, Tomoe; Kisielewska, Danuta; Kiss, Florian; Kiuchi, Kenji; Kivernyk, Oleh; Kladiva, Eduard; Klein, Matthew Henry; Klein, Max; Klein, Uta; Kleinknecht, Konrad; Klimek, Pawel; Klimentov, Alexei; Klingenberg, Reiner; Klinger, Joel Alexander; Klioutchnikova, Tatiana; Kluge, Eike-Erik; Kluit, Peter; Kluth, Stefan; Kneringer, Emmerich; Knoops, Edith; Knue, Andrea; Kobayashi, Aine; Kobayashi, Dai; Kobayashi, Tomio; Kobel, Michael; Kocian, Martin; Kodys, Peter; Koffas, Thomas; Koffeman, Els; Kogan, Lucy Anne; Kohlmann, Simon; Kohout, Zdenek; Kohriki, Takashi; Koi, Tatsumi; Kolanoski, Hermann; Koletsou, Iro; Komar, Aston; Komori, Yuto; Kondo, Takahiko; Kondrashova, Nataliia; Köneke, Karsten; König, Adriaan; König, Sebastian; Kono, Takanori; Konoplich, Rostislav; Konstantinidis, Nikolaos; Kopeliansky, Revital; Koperny, Stefan; Köpke, Lutz; Kopp, Anna Katharina; Korcyl, Krzysztof; Kordas, Kostantinos; Korn, Andreas; Korol, Aleksandr; Korolkov, Ilya; Korolkova, Elena; Kortner, Oliver; Kortner, Sandra; Kosek, Tomas; Kostyukhin, Vadim; Kotov, Vladislav; Kotwal, Ashutosh; Kourkoumeli-Charalampidi, Athina; Kourkoumelis, Christine; Kouskoura, Vasiliki; Koutsman, Alex; Kowalewski, Robert Victor; Kowalski, Tadeusz; Kozanecki, Witold; Kozhin, Anatoly; Kramarenko, Viktor; Kramberger, Gregor; Krasnopevtsev, Dimitriy; Krasny, Mieczyslaw Witold; Krasznahorkay, Attila; Kraus, Jana; Kravchenko, Anton; Kreiss, Sven; Kretz, Moritz; Kretzschmar, Jan; Kreutzfeldt, Kristof; Krieger, Peter; Krizka, Karol; Kroeninger, Kevin; Kroha, Hubert; Kroll, Joe; Kroseberg, Juergen; Krstic, Jelena; Kruchonak, Uladzimir; Krüger, Hans; Krumnack, Nils; Krumshteyn, Zinovii; Kruse, Amanda; Kruse, Mark; Kruskal, Michael; Kubota, Takashi; Kucuk, Hilal; Kuday, Sinan; Kuehn, Susanne; Kugel, Andreas; Kuger, Fabian; Kuhl, Andrew; Kuhl, Thorsten; Kukhtin, Victor; Kulchitsky, Yuri; Kuleshov, Sergey; Kuna, Marine; Kunigo, Takuto; Kupco, Alexander; Kurashige, Hisaya; Kurochkin, Yurii; Kurumida, Rie; Kus, Vlastimil; Kuwertz, Emma Sian; Kuze, Masahiro; Kvita, Jiri; Kwan, Tony; Kyriazopoulos, Dimitrios; La Rosa, Alessandro; La Rosa Navarro, Jose Luis; La Rotonda, Laura; Lacasta, Carlos; Lacava, Francesco; Lacey, James; Lacker, Heiko; Lacour, Didier; Lacuesta, Vicente Ramón; Ladygin, Evgueni; Lafaye, Remi; Laforge, Bertrand; Lagouri, Theodota; Lai, Stanley; Lambourne, Luke; Lammers, Sabine; Lampen, Caleb; Lampl, Walter; Lançon, Eric; Landgraf, Ulrich; Landon, Murrough; Lang, Valerie Susanne; Lange, J örn Christian; Lankford, Andrew; Lanni, Francesco; Lantzsch, Kerstin; Laplace, Sandrine; Lapoire, Cecile; Laporte, Jean-Francois; Lari, Tommaso; Lasagni Manghi, Federico; Lassnig, Mario; Laurelli, Paolo; Lavrijsen, Wim; Law, Alexander; Laycock, Paul; Le Dortz, Olivier; Le Guirriec, Emmanuel; Le Menedeu, Eve; LeBlanc, Matthew Edgar; LeCompte, Thomas; Ledroit-Guillon, Fabienne Agnes Marie; Lee, Claire Alexandra; Lee, Shih-Chang; Lee, Lawrence; Lefebvre, Guillaume; Lefebvre, Michel; Legger, Federica; Leggett, Charles; Lehan, Allan; Lehmann Miotto, Giovanna; Lei, Xiaowen; Leight, William Axel; Leisos, Antonios; Leister, Andrew Gerard; Leite, Marco Aurelio Lisboa; Leitner, Rupert; Lellouch, Daniel; Lemmer, Boris; Leney, Katharine; Lenz, Tatjana; Lenzi, Bruno; Leone, Robert; Leone, Sandra; Leonidopoulos, Christos; Leontsinis, Stefanos; Leroy, Claude; Lester, Christopher; Levchenko, Mikhail; Levêque, Jessica; Levin, Daniel; Levinson, Lorne; Levy, Mark; Lewis, Adrian; Leyko, Agnieszka; Leyton, Michael; Li, Bing; Li, Haifeng; Li, Ho Ling; Li, Lei; Li, Liang; Li, Shu; Li, Yichen; Liang, Zhijun; Liao, Hongbo; Liberti, Barbara; Liblong, Aaron; Lichard, Peter; Lie, Ki; Liebal, Jessica; Liebig, Wolfgang; Limbach, Christian; Limosani, Antonio; Lin, Simon; Lin, Tai-Hua; Linde, Frank; Lindquist, Brian Edward; Linnemann, James; Lipeles, Elliot; Lipniacka, Anna; Lisovyi, Mykhailo; Liss, Tony; Lissauer, David; Lister, Alison; Litke, Alan; Liu, Bo; Liu, Dong; Liu, Jian; Liu, Jianbei; Liu, Kun; Liu, Lulu; Liu, Miaoyuan; Liu, Minghui; Liu, Yanwen; Livan, Michele; Lleres, Annick; Llorente Merino, Javier; Lloyd, Stephen; Lo Sterzo, Francesco; Lobodzinska, Ewelina; Loch, Peter; Lockman, William; Loebinger, Fred; Loevschall-Jensen, Ask Emil; Loginov, Andrey; Lohse, Thomas; Lohwasser, Kristin; Lokajicek, Milos; Long, Brian Alexander; Long, Jonathan; Long, Robin Eamonn; Looper, Kristina Anne; Lopes, Lourenco; Lopez Mateos, David; Lopez Paredes, Brais; Lopez Paz, Ivan; Lorenz, Jeanette; Lorenzo Martinez, Narei; Losada, Marta; Loscutoff, Peter; Lösel, Philipp Jonathan; Lou, XinChou; Lounis, Abdenour; Love, Jeremy; Love, Peter; Lu, Nan; Lubatti, Henry; Luci, Claudio; Lucotte, Arnaud; Luehring, Frederick; Lukas, Wolfgang; Luminari, Lamberto; Lundberg, Olof; Lund-Jensen, Bengt; Lynn, David; Lysak, Roman; Lytken, Else; Ma, Hong; Ma, Lian Liang; Maccarrone, Giovanni; Macchiolo, Anna; Macdonald, Calum Michael; Machado Miguens, Joana; Macina, Daniela; Madaffari, Daniele; Madar, Romain; Maddocks, Harvey Jonathan; Mader, Wolfgang; Madsen, Alexander; Maeland, Steffen; Maeno, Tadashi; Maevskiy, Artem; Magradze, Erekle; Mahboubi, Kambiz; Mahlstedt, Joern; Maiani, Camilla; Maidantchik, Carmen; Maier, Andreas Alexander; Maier, Thomas; Maio, Amélia; Majewski, Stephanie; Makida, Yasuhiro; Makovec, Nikola; Malaescu, Bogdan; Malecki, Pawel; Maleev, Victor; Malek, Fairouz; Mallik, Usha; Malon, David; Malone, Caitlin; Maltezos, Stavros; Malyshev, Vladimir; Malyukov, Sergei; Mamuzic, Judita; Mancini, Giada; Mandelli, Beatrice; Mandelli, Luciano; Mandić, Igor; Mandrysch, Rocco; Maneira, José; Manfredini, Alessandro; Manhaes de Andrade Filho, Luciano; Manjarres Ramos, Joany; Mann, Alexander; Manning, Peter; Manousakis-Katsikakis, Arkadios; Mansoulie, Bruno; Mantifel, Rodger; Mantoani, Matteo; Mapelli, Livio; March, Luis; Marchiori, Giovanni; Marcisovsky, Michal; Marino, Christopher; Marjanovic, Marija; Marroquim, Fernando; Marsden, Stephen Philip; Marshall, Zach; Marti, Lukas Fritz; Marti-Garcia, Salvador; Martin, Brian Thomas; Martin, Tim; Martin, Victoria Jane; Martin dit Latour, Bertrand; Martinez, Mario; Martin-Haugh, Stewart; Martoiu, Victor Sorin; Martyniuk, Alex; Marx, Marilyn; Marzano, Francesco; Marzin, Antoine; Masetti, Lucia; Mashimo, Tetsuro; Mashinistov, Ruslan; Masik, Jiri; Maslennikov, Alexey; Massa, Ignazio; Massa, Lorenzo; Massol, Nicolas; Mastrandrea, Paolo; Mastroberardino, Anna; Masubuchi, Tatsuya; Mättig, Peter; Mattmann, Johannes; Maurer, Julien; Maxfield, Stephen; Maximov, Dmitriy; Mazini, Rachid; Mazza, Simone Michele; Mazzaferro, Luca; Mc Goldrick, Garrin; Mc Kee, Shawn Patrick; McCarn, Allison; McCarthy, Robert; McCarthy, Tom; McCubbin, Norman; McFarlane, Kenneth; Mcfayden, Josh; Mchedlidze, Gvantsa; McMahon, Steve; McPherson, Robert; Medinnis, Michael; Meehan, Samuel; Mehlhase, Sascha; Mehta, Andrew; Meier, Karlheinz; Meineck, Christian; Meirose, Bernhard; Mellado Garcia, Bruce Rafael; Meloni, Federico; Mengarelli, Alberto; Menke, Sven; Meoni, Evelin; Mercurio, Kevin Michael; Mergelmeyer, Sebastian; Mermod, Philippe; Merola, Leonardo; Meroni, Chiara; Merritt, Frank; Messina, Andrea; Metcalfe, Jessica; Mete, Alaettin Serhan; Meyer, Carsten; Meyer, Christopher; Meyer, Jean-Pierre; Meyer, Jochen; Middleton, Robin; Miglioranzi, Silvia; Mijović, Liza; Mikenberg, Giora; Mikestikova, Marcela; Mikuž, Marko; Milesi, Marco; Milic, Adriana; Miller, David; Mills, Corrinne; Milov, Alexander; Milstead, David; Minaenko, Andrey; Minami, Yuto; Minashvili, Irakli; Mincer, Allen; Mindur, Bartosz; Mineev, Mikhail; Ming, Yao; Mir, Lluisa-Maria; Mitani, Takashi; Mitrevski, Jovan; Mitsou, Vasiliki A; Miucci, Antonio; Miyagawa, Paul; Mjörnmark, Jan-Ulf; Moa, Torbjoern; Mochizuki, Kazuya; Mohapatra, Soumya; Mohr, Wolfgang; Molander, Simon; Moles-Valls, Regina; Mönig, Klaus; Monini, Caterina; Monk, James; Monnier, Emmanuel; Montejo Berlingen, Javier; Monticelli, Fernando; Monzani, Simone; Moore, Roger; Morange, Nicolas; Moreno, Deywis; Moreno Llácer, María; Morettini, Paolo; Morgenstern, Marcus; Morii, Masahiro; Morinaga, Masahiro; Morisbak, Vanja; Moritz, Sebastian; Morley, Anthony Keith; Mornacchi, Giuseppe; Morris, John; Mortensen, Simon Stark; Morton, Alexander; Morvaj, Ljiljana; Mosidze, Maia; Moss, Josh; Motohashi, Kazuki; Mount, Richard; Mountricha, Eleni; Mouraviev, Sergei; Moyse, Edward; Muanza, Steve; Mudd, Richard; Mueller, Felix; Mueller, James; Mueller, Klemens; Mueller, Ralph Soeren Peter; Mueller, Thibaut; Muenstermann, Daniel; Mullen, Paul; Munwes, Yonathan; Murillo Quijada, Javier Alberto; Murray, Bill; Musheghyan, Haykuhi; Musto, Elisa; Myagkov, Alexey; Myska, Miroslav; Nackenhorst, Olaf; Nadal, Jordi; Nagai, Koichi; Nagai, Ryo; Nagai, Yoshikazu; Nagano, Kunihiro; Nagarkar, Advait; Nagasaka, Yasushi; Nagata, Kazuki; Nagel, Martin; Nagy, Elemer; Nairz, Armin Michael; Nakahama, Yu; Nakamura, Koji; Nakamura, Tomoaki; Nakano, Itsuo; Namasivayam, Harisankar; Naranjo Garcia, Roger Felipe; Narayan, Rohin; Naumann, Thomas; Navarro, Gabriela; Nayyar, Ruchika; Neal, Homer; Nechaeva, Polina; Neep, Thomas James; Nef, Pascal Daniel; Negri, Andrea; Negrini, Matteo; Nektarijevic, Snezana; Nellist, Clara; Nelson, Andrew; Nemecek, Stanislav; Nemethy, Peter; Nepomuceno, Andre Asevedo; Nessi, Marzio; Neubauer, Mark; Neumann, Manuel; Neves, Ricardo; Nevski, Pavel; Newman, Paul; Nguyen, Duong Hai; Nickerson, Richard; Nicolaidou, Rosy; Nicquevert, Bertrand; Nielsen, Jason; Nikiforou, Nikiforos; Nikiforov, Andriy; Nikolaenko, Vladimir; Nikolic-Audit, Irena; Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos; Nilsen, Jon Kerr; Nilsson, Paul; Ninomiya, Yoichi; Nisati, Aleandro; Nisius, Richard; Nobe, Takuya; Nomachi, Masaharu; Nomidis, Ioannis; Nooney, Tamsin; Norberg, Scarlet; Nordberg, Markus; Novgorodova, Olga; Nowak, Sebastian; Nozaki, Mitsuaki; Nozka, Libor; Ntekas, Konstantinos; Nunes Hanninger, Guilherme; Nunnemann, Thomas; Nurse, Emily; Nuti, Francesco; O'Brien, Brendan Joseph; O'grady, Fionnbarr; O'Neil, Dugan; O'Shea, Val; Oakham, Gerald; Oberlack, Horst; Obermann, Theresa; Ocariz, Jose; Ochi, Atsuhiko; Ochoa, Ines; Ochoa-Ricoux, Juan Pedro; Oda, Susumu; Odaka, Shigeru; Ogren, Harold; Oh, Alexander; Oh, Seog; Ohm, Christian; Ohman, Henrik; Oide, Hideyuki; Okamura, Wataru; Okawa, Hideki; Okumura, Yasuyuki; Okuyama, Toyonobu; Olariu, Albert; Olivares Pino, Sebastian Andres; Oliveira Damazio, Denis; Oliver Garcia, Elena; Olszewski, Andrzej; Olszowska, Jolanta; Onofre, António; Onyisi, Peter; Oram, Christopher; Oreglia, Mark; Oren, Yona; Orestano, Domizia; Orlando, Nicola; Oropeza Barrera, Cristina; Orr, Robert; Osculati, Bianca; Ospanov, Rustem; Otero y Garzon, Gustavo; Otono, Hidetoshi; Ouchrif, Mohamed; Ouellette, Eric; Ould-Saada, Farid; Ouraou, Ahmimed; Oussoren, Koen Pieter; Ouyang, Qun; Ovcharova, Ana; Owen, Mark; Owen, Rhys Edward; Ozcan, Veysi Erkcan; Ozturk, Nurcan; Pachal, Katherine; Pacheco Pages, Andres; Padilla Aranda, Cristobal; Pagáčová, Martina; Pagan Griso, Simone; Paganis, Efstathios; Pahl, Christoph; Paige, Frank; Pais, Preema; Pajchel, Katarina; Palacino, Gabriel; Palestini, Sandro; Palka, Marek; Pallin, Dominique; Palma, Alberto; Pan, Yibin; Panagiotopoulou, Evgenia; Pandini, Carlo Enrico; Panduro Vazquez, William; Pani, Priscilla; Panitkin, Sergey; Pantea, Dan; Paolozzi, Lorenzo; Papadopoulou, Theodora; Papageorgiou, Konstantinos; Paramonov, Alexander; Paredes Hernandez, Daniela; Parker, Michael Andrew; Parker, Kerry Ann; Parodi, Fabrizio; Parsons, John; Parzefall, Ulrich; Pasqualucci, Enrico; Passaggio, Stefano; Pastore, Fernanda; Pastore, Francesca; Pásztor, Gabriella; Pataraia, Sophio; Patel, Nikhul; Pater, Joleen; Pauly, Thilo; Pearce, James; Pearson, Benjamin; Pedersen, Lars Egholm; Pedersen, Maiken; Pedraza Lopez, Sebastian; Pedro, Rute; Peleganchuk, Sergey; Pelikan, Daniel; Peng, Haiping; Penning, Bjoern; Penwell, John; Perepelitsa, Dennis; Perez Codina, Estel; Pérez García-Estañ, María Teresa; Perini, Laura; Pernegger, Heinz; Perrella, Sabrina; Peschke, Richard; Peshekhonov, Vladimir; Peters, Krisztian; Peters, Yvonne; Petersen, Brian; Petersen, Troels; Petit, Elisabeth; Petridis, Andreas; Petridou, Chariclia; Petrolo, Emilio; Petrucci, Fabrizio; Pettersson, Nora Emilia; Pezoa, Raquel; Phillips, Peter William; Piacquadio, Giacinto; Pianori, Elisabetta; Picazio, Attilio; Piccaro, Elisa; Piccinini, Maurizio; Pickering, Mark Andrew; Piegaia, Ricardo; Pignotti, David; Pilcher, James; Pilkington, Andrew; Pina, João Antonio; Pinamonti, Michele; Pinfold, James; Pingel, Almut; Pinto, Belmiro; Pires, Sylvestre; Pitt, Michael; Pizio, Caterina; Plazak, Lukas; Pleier, Marc-Andre; Pleskot, Vojtech; Plotnikova, Elena; Plucinski, Pawel; Pluth, Daniel; Poettgen, Ruth; Poggioli, Luc; Pohl, David-leon; Polesello, Giacomo; Policicchio, Antonio; Polifka, Richard; Polini, Alessandro; Pollard, Christopher Samuel; Polychronakos, Venetios; Pommès, Kathy; Pontecorvo, Ludovico; Pope, Bernard; Popeneciu, Gabriel Alexandru; Popovic, Dragan; Poppleton, Alan; Pospisil, Stanislav; Potamianos, Karolos; Potrap, Igor; Potter, Christina; Potter, Christopher; Poulard, Gilbert; Poveda, Joaquin; Pozdnyakov, Valery; Pralavorio, Pascal; Pranko, Aliaksandr; Prasad, Srivas; Prell, Soeren; Price, Darren; Price, Lawrence; Primavera, Margherita; Prince, Sebastien; Proissl, Manuel; Prokofiev, Kirill; Prokoshin, Fedor; Protopapadaki, Eftychia-sofia; Protopopescu, Serban; Proudfoot, James; Przybycien, Mariusz; Ptacek, Elizabeth; Puddu, Daniele; Pueschel, Elisa; Puldon, David; Purohit, Milind; Puzo, Patrick; Qian, Jianming; Qin, Gang; Qin, Yang; Quadt, Arnulf; Quarrie, David; Quayle, William; Queitsch-Maitland, Michaela; Quilty, Donnchadha; Raddum, Silje; Radeka, Veljko; Radescu, Voica; Radhakrishnan, Sooraj Krishnan; Radloff, Peter; Rados, Pere; Ragusa, Francesco; Rahal, Ghita; Rajagopalan, Srinivasan; Rammensee, Michael; Rangel-Smith, Camila; Rauscher, Felix; Rave, Stefan; Ravenscroft, Thomas; Raymond, Michel; Read, Alexander Lincoln; Readioff, Nathan Peter; Rebuzzi, Daniela; Redelbach, Andreas; Redlinger, George; Reece, Ryan; Reeves, Kendall; Rehnisch, Laura; Reisin, Hernan; Relich, Matthew; Rembser, Christoph; Ren, Huan; Renaud, Adrien; Rescigno, Marco; Resconi, Silvia; Rezanova, Olga; Reznicek, Pavel; Rezvani, Reyhaneh; Richter, Robert; Richter, Stefan; Richter-Was, Elzbieta; Ricken, Oliver; Ridel, Melissa; Rieck, Patrick; Riegel, Christian Johann; Rieger, Julia; Rijssenbeek, Michael; Rimoldi, Adele; Rinaldi, Lorenzo; Ristić, Branislav; Ritsch, Elmar; Riu, Imma; Rizatdinova, Flera; Rizvi, Eram; Robertson, Steven; Robichaud-Veronneau, Andree; Robinson, Dave; Robinson, James; Robson, Aidan; Roda, Chiara; Roe, Shaun; Røhne, Ole; Rolli, Simona; Romaniouk, Anatoli; Romano, Marino; Romano Saez, Silvestre Marino; Romero Adam, Elena; Rompotis, Nikolaos; Ronzani, Manfredi; Roos, Lydia; Ros, Eduardo; Rosati, Stefano; Rosbach, Kilian; Rose, Peyton; Rosendahl, Peter Lundgaard; Rosenthal, Oliver; Rossetti, Valerio; Rossi, Elvira; Rossi, Leonardo Paolo; Rosten, Rachel; Rotaru, Marina; Roth, Itamar; Rothberg, Joseph; Rousseau, David; Royon, Christophe; Rozanov, Alexandre; Rozen, Yoram; Ruan, Xifeng; Rubbo, Francesco; Rubinskiy, Igor; Rud, Viacheslav; Rudolph, Christian; Rudolph, Matthew Scott; Rühr, Frederik; Ruiz-Martinez, Aranzazu; Rurikova, Zuzana; Rusakovich, Nikolai; Ruschke, Alexander; Russell, Heather; Rutherfoord, John; Ruthmann, Nils; Ryabov, Yury; Rybar, Martin; Rybkin, Grigori; Ryder, Nick; Saavedra, Aldo; Sabato, Gabriele; Sacerdoti, Sabrina; Saddique, Asif; Sadrozinski, Hartmut; Sadykov, Renat; Safai Tehrani, Francesco; Saimpert, Matthias; Sakamoto, Hiroshi; Sakurai, Yuki; Salamanna, Giuseppe; Salamon, Andrea; Saleem, Muhammad; Salek, David; Sales De Bruin, Pedro Henrique; Salihagic, Denis; Salnikov, Andrei; Salt, José; Salvatore, Daniela; Salvatore, Pasquale Fabrizio; Salvucci, Antonio; Salzburger, Andreas; Sampsonidis, Dimitrios; Sanchez, Arturo; Sánchez, Javier; Sanchez Martinez, Victoria; Sandaker, Heidi; Sandbach, Ruth Laura; Sander, Heinz Georg; Sanders, Michiel; Sandhoff, Marisa; Sandoval, Carlos; Sandstroem, Rikard; Sankey, Dave; Sannino, Mario; Sansoni, Andrea; Santoni, Claudio; Santonico, Rinaldo; Santos, Helena; Santoyo Castillo, Itzebelt; Sapp, Kevin; Sapronov, Andrey; Saraiva, João; Sarrazin, Bjorn; Sasaki, Osamu; Sasaki, Yuichi; Sato, Koji; Sauvage, Gilles; Sauvan, Emmanuel; Savage, Graham; Savard, Pierre; Sawyer, Craig; Sawyer, Lee; Saxon, James; Sbarra, Carla; Sbrizzi, Antonio; Scanlon, Tim; Scannicchio, Diana; Scarcella, Mark; Scarfone, Valerio; Schaarschmidt, Jana; Schacht, Peter; Schaefer, Douglas; Schaefer, Ralph; Schaeffer, Jan; Schaepe, Steffen; Schaetzel, Sebastian; Schäfer, Uli; Schaffer, Arthur; Schaile, Dorothee; Schamberger, R~Dean; Scharf, Veit; Schegelsky, Valery; Scheirich, Daniel; Schernau, Michael; Schiavi, Carlo; Schillo, Christian; Schioppa, Marco; Schlenker, Stefan; Schmidt, Evelyn; Schmieden, Kristof; Schmitt, Christian; Schmitt, Sebastian; Schmitt, Stefan; Schneider, Basil; Schnellbach, Yan Jie; Schnoor, Ulrike; Schoeffel, Laurent; Schoening, Andre; Schoenrock, Bradley Daniel; Schopf, Elisabeth; Schorlemmer, Andre Lukas; Schott, Matthias; Schouten, Doug; Schovancova, Jaroslava; Schramm, Steven; Schreyer, Manuel; Schroeder, Christian; Schuh, Natascha; Schultens, Martin Johannes; Schultz-Coulon, Hans-Christian; Schulz, Holger; Schumacher, Markus; Schumm, Bruce; Schune, Philippe; Schwanenberger, Christian; Schwartzman, Ariel; Schwarz, Thomas Andrew; Schwegler, Philipp; Schwemling, Philippe; Schwienhorst, Reinhard; Schwindling, Jerome; Schwindt, Thomas; Schwoerer, Maud; Sciacca, Gianfranco; Scifo, Estelle; Sciolla, Gabriella; Scuri, Fabrizio; Scutti, Federico; Searcy, Jacob; Sedov, George; Sedykh, Evgeny; Seema, Pienpen; Seidel, Sally; Seiden, Abraham; Seifert, Frank; Seixas, José; Sekhniaidze, Givi; Sekhon, Karishma; Sekula, Stephen; Selbach, Karoline Elfriede; Seliverstov, Dmitry; Semprini-Cesari, Nicola; Serfon, Cedric; Serin, Laurent; Serkin, Leonid; Serre, Thomas; Sessa, Marco; Seuster, Rolf; Severini, Horst; Sfiligoj, Tina; Sforza, Federico; Sfyrla, Anna; Shabalina, Elizaveta; Shamim, Mansoora; Shan, Lianyou; Shang, Ruo-yu; Shank, James; Shapiro, Marjorie; Shatalov, Pavel; Shaw, Kate; Shaw, Savanna Marie; Shcherbakova, Anna; Shehu, Ciwake Yusufu; Sherwood, Peter; Shi, Liaoshan; Shimizu, Shima; Shimmin, Chase Owen; Shimojima, Makoto; Shiyakova, Mariya; Shmeleva, Alevtina; Shoaleh Saadi, Diane; Shochet, Mel; Shojaii, Seyedruhollah; Shrestha, Suyog; Shulga, Evgeny; Shupe, Michael; Shushkevich, Stanislav; Sicho, Petr; Sidiropoulou, Ourania; Sidorov, Dmitri; Sidoti, Antonio; Siegert, Frank; Sijacki, Djordje; Silva, José; Silver, Yiftah; Silverstein, Samuel; Simak, Vladislav; Simard, Olivier; Simic, Ljiljana; Simion, Stefan; Simioni, Eduard; Simmons, Brinick; Simon, Dorian; Simoniello, Rosa; Sinervo, Pekka; Sinev, Nikolai; Siragusa, Giovanni; Sisakyan, Alexei; Sivoklokov, Serguei; Sjölin, Jörgen; Sjursen, Therese; Skinner, Malcolm Bruce; Skottowe, Hugh Philip; Skubic, Patrick; Slater, Mark; Slavicek, Tomas; Slawinska, Magdalena; Sliwa, Krzysztof; Smakhtin, Vladimir; Smart, Ben; Smestad, Lillian; Smirnov, Sergei; Smirnov, Yury; Smirnova, Lidia; Smirnova, Oxana; Smith, Matthew; Smizanska, Maria; Smolek, Karel; Snesarev, Andrei; Snidero, Giacomo; Snyder, Scott; Sobie, Randall; Socher, Felix; Soffer, Abner; Soh, Dart-yin; Solans, Carlos; Solar, Michael; Solc, Jaroslav; Soldatov, Evgeny; Soldevila, Urmila; Solodkov, Alexander; Soloshenko, Alexei; Solovyanov, Oleg; Solovyev, Victor; Sommer, Philip; Song, Hong Ye; Soni, Nitesh; Sood, Alexander; Sopczak, Andre; Sopko, Bruno; Sopko, Vit; Sorin, Veronica; Sosa, David; Sosebee, Mark; Sotiropoulou, Calliope Louisa; Soualah, Rachik; Soueid, Paul; Soukharev, Andrey; South, David; Spagnolo, Stefania; Spalla, Margherita; Spanò, Francesco; Spearman, William Robert; Spettel, Fabian; Spighi, Roberto; Spigo, Giancarlo; Spiller, Laurence Anthony; Spousta, Martin; Spreitzer, Teresa; St Denis, Richard Dante; Staerz, Steffen; Stahlman, Jonathan; Stamen, Rainer; Stamm, Soren; Stanecka, Ewa; Stanescu, Cristian; Stanescu-Bellu, Madalina; Stanitzki, Marcel Michael; Stapnes, Steinar; Starchenko, Evgeny; Stark, Jan; Staroba, Pavel; Starovoitov, Pavel; Staszewski, Rafal; Stavina, Pavel; Steinberg, Peter; Stelzer, Bernd; Stelzer, Harald Joerg; Stelzer-Chilton, Oliver; Stenzel, Hasko; Stern, Sebastian; Stewart, Graeme; Stillings, Jan Andre; Stockton, Mark; Stoebe, Michael; Stoicea, Gabriel; Stolte, Philipp; Stonjek, Stefan; Stradling, Alden; Straessner, Arno; Stramaglia, Maria Elena; Strandberg, Jonas; Strandberg, Sara; Strandlie, Are; Strauss, Emanuel; Strauss, Michael; Strizenec, Pavol; Ströhmer, Raimund; Strom, David; Stroynowski, Ryszard; Strubig, Antonia; Stucci, Stefania Antonia; Stugu, Bjarne; Styles, Nicholas Adam; Su, Dong; Su, Jun; Subramaniam, Rajivalochan; Succurro, Antonella; Sugaya, Yorihito; Suhr, Chad; Suk, Michal; Sulin, Vladimir; Sultansoy, Saleh; Sumida, Toshi; Sun, Siyuan; Sun, Xiaohu; Sundermann, Jan Erik; Suruliz, Kerim; Susinno, Giancarlo; Sutton, Mark; Suzuki, Shota; Suzuki, Yu; Svatos, Michal; Swedish, Stephen; Swiatlowski, Maximilian; Sykora, Ivan; Sykora, Tomas; Ta, Duc; Taccini, Cecilia; Tackmann, Kerstin; Taenzer, Joe; Taffard, Anyes; Tafirout, Reda; Taiblum, Nimrod; Takai, Helio; Takashima, Ryuichi; Takeda, Hiroshi; Takeshita, Tohru; Takubo, Yosuke; Talby, Mossadek; Talyshev, Alexey; Tam, Jason; Tan, Kong Guan; Tanaka, Junichi; Tanaka, Reisaburo; Tanaka, Shuji; Tannenwald, Benjamin Bordy; Tannoury, Nancy; Tapprogge, Stefan; Tarem, Shlomit; Tarrade, Fabien; Tartarelli, Giuseppe Francesco; Tas, Petr; Tasevsky, Marek; Tashiro, Takuya; Tassi, Enrico; Tavares Delgado, Ademar; Tayalati, Yahya; Taylor, Frank; Taylor, Geoffrey; Taylor, Wendy; Teischinger, Florian Alfred; Teixeira Dias Castanheira, Matilde; Teixeira-Dias, Pedro; Temming, Kim Katrin; Ten Kate, Herman; Teng, Ping-Kun; Teoh, Jia Jian; Tepel, Fabian-Phillipp; Terada, Susumu; Terashi, Koji; Terron, Juan; Terzo, Stefano; Testa, Marianna; Teuscher, Richard; Therhaag, Jan; Theveneaux-Pelzer, Timothée; Thomas, Juergen; Thomas-Wilsker, Joshuha; Thompson, Emily; Thompson, Paul; Thompson, Ray; Thompson, Stan; Thomsen, Lotte Ansgaard; Thomson, Evelyn; Thomson, Mark; Thun, Rudolf; Tibbetts, Mark James; Ticse Torres, Royer Edson; Tikhomirov, Vladimir; Tikhonov, Yury; Timoshenko, Sergey; Tiouchichine, Elodie; Tipton, Paul; Tisserant, Sylvain; Todorov, Theodore; Todorova-Nova, Sharka; Tojo, Junji; Tokár, Stanislav; Tokushuku, Katsuo; Tollefson, Kirsten; Tolley, Emma; Tomlinson, Lee; Tomoto, Makoto; Tompkins, Lauren; Toms, Konstantin; Torrence, Eric; Torres, Heberth; Torró Pastor, Emma; Toth, Jozsef; Touchard, Francois; Tovey, Daniel; Trefzger, Thomas; Tremblet, Louis; Tricoli, Alessandro; Trigger, Isabel Marian; Trincaz-Duvoid, Sophie; Tripiana, Martin; Trischuk, William; Trocmé, Benjamin; Troncon, Clara; Trottier-McDonald, Michel; Trovatelli, Monica; True, Patrick; Truong, Loan; Trzebinski, Maciej; Trzupek, Adam; Tsarouchas, Charilaos; Tseng, Jeffrey; Tsiareshka, Pavel; Tsionou, Dimitra; Tsipolitis, Georgios; Tsirintanis, Nikolaos; Tsiskaridze, Shota; Tsiskaridze, Vakhtang; Tskhadadze, Edisher; Tsukerman, Ilya; Tsulaia, Vakhtang; Tsuno, Soshi; Tsybychev, Dmitri; Tudorache, Alexandra; Tudorache, Valentina; Tuna, Alexander Naip; Tupputi, Salvatore; Turchikhin, Semen; Turecek, Daniel; Turra, Ruggero; Turvey, Andrew John; Tuts, Michael; Tykhonov, Andrii; Tylmad, Maja; Tyndel, Mike; Ueda, Ikuo; Ueno, Ryuichi; Ughetto, Michael; Ugland, Maren; Uhlenbrock, Mathias; Ukegawa, Fumihiko; Unal, Guillaume; Undrus, Alexander; Unel, Gokhan; Ungaro, Francesca; Unno, Yoshinobu; Unverdorben, Christopher; Urban, Jozef; Urquijo, Phillip; Urrejola, Pedro; Usai, Giulio; Usanova, Anna; Vacavant, Laurent; Vacek, Vaclav; Vachon, Brigitte; Valderanis, Chrysostomos; Valencic, Nika; Valentinetti, Sara; Valero, Alberto; Valery, Loic; Valkar, Stefan; Valladolid Gallego, Eva; Vallecorsa, Sofia; Valls Ferrer, Juan Antonio; Van Den Wollenberg, Wouter; Van Der Deijl, Pieter; van der Geer, Rogier; van der Graaf, Harry; Van Der Leeuw, Robin; van Eldik, Niels; van Gemmeren, Peter; Van Nieuwkoop, Jacobus; van Vulpen, Ivo; van Woerden, Marius Cornelis; Vanadia, Marco; Vandelli, Wainer; Vanguri, Rami; Vaniachine, Alexandre; Vannucci, Francois; Vardanyan, Gagik; Vari, Riccardo; Varnes, Erich; Varol, Tulin; Varouchas, Dimitris; Vartapetian, Armen; Varvell, Kevin; Vazeille, Francois; Vazquez Schroeder, Tamara; Veatch, Jason; Veloso, Filipe; Velz, Thomas; Veneziano, Stefano; Ventura, Andrea; Ventura, Daniel; Venturi, Manuela; Venturi, Nicola; Venturini, Alessio; Vercesi, Valerio; Verducci, Monica; Verkerke, Wouter; Vermeulen, Jos; Vest, Anja; Vetterli, Michel; Viazlo, Oleksandr; Vichou, Irene; Vickey, Trevor; Vickey Boeriu, Oana Elena; Viehhauser, Georg; Viel, Simon; Vigne, Ralph; Villa, Mauro; Villaplana Perez, Miguel; Vilucchi, Elisabetta; Vincter, Manuella; Vinogradov, Vladimir; Vivarelli, Iacopo; Vives Vaque, Francesc; Vlachos, Sotirios; Vladoiu, Dan; Vlasak, Michal; Vogel, Marcelo; Vokac, Petr; Volpi, Guido; Volpi, Matteo; von der Schmitt, Hans; von Radziewski, Holger; von Toerne, Eckhard; Vorobel, Vit; Vorobev, Konstantin; Vos, Marcel; Voss, Rudiger; Vossebeld, Joost; Vranjes, Nenad; Vranjes Milosavljevic, Marija; Vrba, Vaclav; Vreeswijk, Marcel; Vuillermet, Raphael; Vukotic, Ilija; Vykydal, Zdenek; Wagner, Peter; Wagner, Wolfgang; Wahlberg, Hernan; Wahrmund, Sebastian; Wakabayashi, Jun; Walder, James; Walker, Rodney; Walkowiak, Wolfgang; Wang, Chao; Wang, Fuquan; Wang, Haichen; Wang, Hulin; Wang, Jike; Wang, Jin; Wang, Kuhan; Wang, Rui; Wang, Song-Ming; Wang, Tan; Wang, Xiaoxiao; Wanotayaroj, Chaowaroj; Warburton, Andreas; Ward, Patricia; Wardrope, David Robert; Warsinsky, Markus; Washbrook, Andrew; Wasicki, Christoph; Watkins, Peter; Watson, Alan; Watson, Ian; Watson, Miriam; Watts, Gordon; Watts, Stephen; Waugh, Ben; Webb, Samuel; Weber, Michele; Weber, Stefan Wolf; Webster, Jordan S; Weidberg, Anthony; Weinert, Benjamin; Weingarten, Jens; Weiser, Christian; Weits, Hartger; Wells, Phillippa; Wenaus, Torre; Wengler, Thorsten; Wenig, Siegfried; Wermes, Norbert; Werner, Matthias; Werner, Per; Wessels, Martin; Wetter, Jeffrey; Whalen, Kathleen; Wharton, Andrew Mark; White, Andrew; White, Martin; White, Ryan; White, Sebastian; Whiteson, Daniel; Wickens, Fred; Wiedenmann, Werner; Wielers, Monika; Wienemann, Peter; Wiglesworth, Craig; Wiik-Fuchs, Liv Antje Mari; Wildauer, Andreas; Wilkens, Henric George; Williams, Hugh; Williams, Sarah; Willis, Christopher; Willocq, Stephane; Wilson, Alan; Wilson, John; Wingerter-Seez, Isabelle; Winklmeier, Frank; Winter, Benedict Tobias; Wittgen, Matthias; Wittkowski, Josephine; Wollstadt, Simon Jakob; Wolter, Marcin Wladyslaw; Wolters, Helmut; Wosiek, Barbara; Wotschack, Jorg; Woudstra, Martin; Wozniak, Krzysztof; Wu, Mengqing; Wu, Miles; Wu, Sau Lan; Wu, Xin; Wu, Yusheng; Wyatt, Terry Richard; Wynne, Benjamin; Xella, Stefania; Xu, Da; Xu, Lailin; Yabsley, Bruce; Yacoob, Sahal; Yakabe, Ryota; Yamada, Miho; Yamaguchi, Yohei; Yamamoto, Akira; Yamamoto, Shimpei; Yamanaka, Takashi; Yamauchi, Katsuya; Yamazaki, Yuji; Yan, Zhen; Yang, Haijun; Yang, Hongtao; Yang, Yi; Yao, Liwen; Yao, Weiming; Yasu, Yoshiji; Yatsenko, Elena; Yau Wong, Kaven Henry; Ye, Jingbo; Ye, Shuwei; Yeletskikh, Ivan; Yen, Andy L; Yildirim, Eda; Yorita, Kohei; Yoshida, Rikutaro; Yoshihara, Keisuke; Young, Charles; Young, Christopher John; Youssef, Saul; Yu, David Ren-Hwa; Yu, Jaehoon; Yu, Jiaming; Yu, Jie; Yuan, Li; Yurkewicz, Adam; Yusuff, Imran; Zabinski, Bartlomiej; Zaidan, Remi; Zaitsev, Alexander; Zalieckas, Justas; Zaman, Aungshuman; Zambito, Stefano; Zanello, Lucia; Zanzi, Daniele; Zeitnitz, Christian; Zeman, Martin; Zemla, Andrzej; Zengel, Keith; Zenin, Oleg; Ženiš, Tibor; Zerwas, Dirk; Zhang, Dongliang; Zhang, Fangzhou; Zhang, Jinlong; Zhang, Lei; Zhang, Ruiqi; Zhang, Xueyao; Zhang, Zhiqing; Zhao, Xiandong; Zhao, Yongke; Zhao, Zhengguo; Zhemchugov, Alexey; Zhong, Jiahang; Zhou, Bing; Zhou, Chen; Zhou, Lei; Zhou, Li; Zhou, Ning; Zhu, Cheng Guang; Zhu, Hongbo; Zhu, Junjie; Zhu, Yingchun; Zhuang, Xuai; Zhukov, Konstantin; Zibell, Andre; Zieminska, Daria; Zimine, Nikolai; Zimmermann, Christoph; Zimmermann, Stephanie; Zinonos, Zinonas; Zinser, Markus; Ziolkowski, Michael; Živković, Lidija; Zobernig, Georg; Zoccoli, Antonio; zur Nedden, Martin; Zurzolo, Giovanni; Zwalinski, Lukasz

2015-08-27

A search for Higgs boson production in association with a $W$ or $Z$ boson, in the $H \\rightarrow WW^{\\ast}$ decay channel, is performed with a data sample collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies $\\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and 8 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 4.5 ${\\rm fb}^{-1}$ and 20.3 ${\\rm fb}^{-1}$, respectively. The $WH$ production mode is studied in two-lepton and three-lepton final states, while two-lepton and four-lepton final states are used to search for the $ZH$ production mode. The observed significance, for the combined $WH$ and $ZH$ production, is 2.5 standard deviations while a significance of 0.9 standard deviations is expected in the Standard Model Higgs boson hypothesis. The ratio of the combined $WH$ and $ZH$ signal yield to the Standard Model expectation, $\\mu_{VH}$, is found to be $\\mu_{VH} =3.0^{+1.3}_{-1.1}{\\, {(\\rm stat.)}}^{+1.0}_{-0.7}{\\,{(\\rm sys.)}}$ for the Higgs boson mass of 125.36 GeV. The $WH$ and $ZH$ produc...

Recent progress of research on medicinal mushrooms, foods, and other herbal products used in traditional Chinese medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuo-Hsiung Lee

2012-04-01

Full Text Available This article will review selected herbal products used in traditional Chinese medicine, including medicinal mushrooms (巴西蘑菇 bā xī mó gū; Agaricus blazei, 雲芝 yún zhī; Coriolus versicolor, 靈芝 líng zhī; Ganoderma lucidum, 香蕈 xiāng xùn; shiitake, Lentinus edodes, 牛樟芝 niú zhāng zhī; Taiwanofungus camphoratus, Cordyceps (冬蟲夏草 dōng chóng xià cǎo, pomegranate (石榴 shí liú; Granati Fructus, green tea (綠茶 lǜ chá; Theae Folium Non Fermentatum, garlic (大蒜 dà suàn; Allii Sativi Bulbus, turmeric (薑黃 jiāng huáng; Curcumae Longae Rhizoma, and Artemisiae Annuae Herba (青蒿 qīng hāo; sweet wormwood. Many of the discussed herbal products have gained popularity in their uses as dietary supplements for health benefits. The review will focus on the active constituents of the herbs and their bioactivities, with emphasis on the most recent progress in research for the period of 2003 to 2011.

Functionalized gold nanostars for label-free detection of PKA phosphorylation using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

He, Shuai; Kah, James C. Y.

2017-04-01

Protein phosphorylation controls fundamental biological processes. Dysregulation of protein kinase is associated with a series of human diseases including cancer. Protein kinase A (PKA) activity has been reported to serve as a potential prognostic marker for cancer. To this end, we developed a non-radioactive, rapid, cheap and robust scheme based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for label-free detection of PKA phosphorylation using gold nanostars (AuNS) functionalized with BSA-kemptide. While bovine serum albumin (BSA) proteins stabilized the AuNS, kemptide, which is a high affinity substrate peptide specific for PKA, were phosphorylated in vitro to generate Raman signals that were identified by performing principal component analysis (PCA) on the acquired SERS spectra.

Performance evaluation of 3-D enhancement filters for detection of lung cancer from 3-D chest X-ray CT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Akinobu; Hagai, Makoto; Toriwaki, Jun-ichiro; Hasegawa, Jun-ichi.

1995-01-01

This paper evaluates the performance of several three dimensional enhancement filters used in procedures for detecting lung cancer shadows from three dimensional (3D) chest X-ray CT images. Two dimensional enhancement filters such as Min-DD filter, Contrast filter and N-Quoit filter have been proposed for enhancing cancer shadows in conventional 2D X-ray images. In this paper, we extend each of these 2D filters to a 3D filter and evaluate its performance experimentally by using CT images with artificial and true lung cancer shadows. As a result, we find that these 3D filters are effective for determining the position of a lung cancer shadow in a 3D chest CT image, as compared with the simple procedure such as smoothing filter, and that the performance of these filters become lower in the hilar area due to the influence of the vessel shadows. (author)

Highly Sensitive Detection of Clenbuterol in Animal Urine Using Immunomagnetic Bead Treatment and Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Jie; Su, Xiao-Ou; Wang, Shi; Zhao, Yiping

2016-09-01

Combining surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of aggregated graphene oxide/gold nanoparticle hybrids with immunomagnetic bead sample preparation method, a highly sensitive strategy to determine the clenbuterol content in animal urine was developed. Based on a linear calibration curve of the SERS characteristic peak intensity of clenbuterol at Δv = 1474 cm-1 versus the spiked clenbuterol concentration in the range of 0.5-20 ng·mL-1, the quantity of clenbuterol in real animal urine samples can be determined and matches well with those determined by LC-MS/MS, while the detection time is significantly reduced to 15 min/sample. The limits of detection and quantification in the urine are 0.5 ng·mL-1 and 1 ng·mL-1, respectively, and the recovery clenbuterol rates are 82.8-92.4% with coefficients of variation farming.

A Data-Driven Monitoring Technique for Enhanced Fall Events Detection

KAUST Repository

Zerrouki, Nabil

2016-07-26

Fall detection is a crucial issue in the health care of seniors. In this work, we propose an innovative method for detecting falls via a simple human body descriptors. The extracted features are discriminative enough to describe human postures and not too computationally complex to allow a fast processing. The fall detection is addressed as a statistical anomaly detection problem. The proposed approach combines modeling using principal component analysis modeling with the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) monitoring chart. The EWMA scheme is applied on the ignored principal components to detect the presence of falls. Using two different fall detection datasets, URFD and FDD, we have demonstrated the greater sensitivity and effectiveness of the developed method over the conventional PCA-based methods.

Amalgamation of Anomaly-Detection Indices for Enhanced Process Monitoring

KAUST Repository

Harrou, Fouzi; Sun, Ying; Khadraoui, Sofiane

2016-01-01

Accurate and effective anomaly detection and diagnosis of modern industrial systems are crucial for ensuring reliability and safety and for maintaining desired product quality. Anomaly detection based on principal component analysis (PCA) has been

Enhancing Community Detection By Affinity-based Edge Weighting Scheme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, Andy [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Sanders, Geoffrey [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Henson, Van [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Vassilevski, Panayot [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2015-10-05

Community detection refers to an important graph analytics problem of finding a set of densely-connected subgraphs in a graph and has gained a great deal of interest recently. The performance of current community detection algorithms is limited by an inherent constraint of unweighted graphs that offer very little information on their internal community structures. In this paper, we propose a new scheme to address this issue that weights the edges in a given graph based on recently proposed vertex affinity. The vertex affinity quantifies the proximity between two vertices in terms of their clustering strength, and therefore, it is ideal for graph analytics applications such as community detection. We also demonstrate that the affinity-based edge weighting scheme can improve the performance of community detection algorithms significantly.

Influence of Mean Rooftop-Level Estimation Method on Sensible Heat Flux Retrieved from a Large-Aperture Scintillometer Over a City Centre

Science.gov (United States)

Zieliński, Mariusz; Fortuniak, Krzysztof; Pawlak, Włodzimierz; Siedlecki, Mariusz

2017-08-01

The sensible heat flux ( H) is determined using large-aperture scintillometer (LAS) measurements over a city centre for eight different computation scenarios. The scenarios are based on different approaches of the mean rooftop-level (zH) estimation for the LAS path. Here, zH is determined separately for wind directions perpendicular (two zones) and parallel (one zone) to the optical beam to reflect the variation in topography and building height on both sides of the LAS path. Two methods of zH estimation are analyzed: (1) average building profiles; (2) weighted-average building height within a 250 m radius from points located every 50 m along the optical beam, or the centre of a certain zone (in the case of a wind direction perpendicular to the path). The sensible heat flux is computed separately using the friction velocity determined with the eddy-covariance method and the iterative procedure. The sensitivity of the sensible heat flux and the extent of the scintillometer source area to different computation scenarios are analyzed. Differences reaching up to 7% between heat fluxes computed with different scenarios were found. The mean rooftop-level estimation method has a smaller influence on the sensible heat flux (-4 to 5%) than the area used for the zH computation (-5 to 7%). For the source-area extent, the discrepancies between respective scenarios reached a similar magnitude. The results demonstrate the value of the approach in which zH is estimated separately for wind directions parallel and perpendicular to the LAS optical beam.

Enhanced detection of nitrogen dioxide via combined heating and pulsed UV operation of indium oxide nano-octahedra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oriol Gonzalez

2016-10-01

Full Text Available We report on the use of combined heating and pulsed UV light activation of indium oxide gas sensors for enhancing their performance in the detection of nitrogen dioxide in air. Indium oxide nano-octahedra were synthesized at high temperature (900 °C via vapour-phase transport and screen-printed onto alumina transducers that comprised interdigitated electrodes and a heating resistor. Compared to the standard, constant temperature operation of the sensor, mild heating (e.g., 100 °C together with pulsed UV light irradiation employing a commercially available, 325 nm UV diode (square, 1 min period, 15 mA drive current signal, results in an up to 80-fold enhancement in sensitivity to nitrogen dioxide. Furthermore, this combined operation method allows for making savings in power consumption that range from 35% to over 80%. These results are achieved by exploiting the dynamics of sensor response under pulsed UV light, which convey important information for the quantitative analysis of nitrogen dioxide.

Enhanced detection of nitrogen dioxide via combined heating and pulsed UV operation of indium oxide nano-octahedra.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Oriol; Roso, Sergio; Vilanova, Xavier; Llobet, Eduard

2016-01-01

We report on the use of combined heating and pulsed UV light activation of indium oxide gas sensors for enhancing their performance in the detection of nitrogen dioxide in air. Indium oxide nano-octahedra were synthesized at high temperature (900 °C) via vapour-phase transport and screen-printed onto alumina transducers that comprised interdigitated electrodes and a heating resistor. Compared to the standard, constant temperature operation of the sensor, mild heating (e.g., 100 °C) together with pulsed UV light irradiation employing a commercially available, 325 nm UV diode (square, 1 min period, 15 mA drive current signal), results in an up to 80-fold enhancement in sensitivity to nitrogen dioxide. Furthermore, this combined operation method allows for making savings in power consumption that range from 35% to over 80%. These results are achieved by exploiting the dynamics of sensor response under pulsed UV light, which convey important information for the quantitative analysis of nitrogen dioxide.

Comparison of detection pattern of HCC by ferumoxide-enhanced MRI and intratumoral blood flow pattern

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itou, Naoki; Kotake, Fumio; Saitou, Kazuhiro; Abe, Kimihiko

2000-01-01

We compared the detection rate and pattern of ferumoxide-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (Fe-MRI) with the intratumoral blood flow pattern determined by CT angiography (CTA) and CT portography (CTAP) in 124 nodes (34 cases) diagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or borderline HCC, based on the clinical course. Sequences to obtain a T1-weighted images (T1W), proton density-weighted images (PDW), T2-weighted images (T2W), T2*-weighted images (T2*W) were used in Fe-MRI. In nodes shown to be hypervascular on CTA, the detection rate by Fe-MRI was 69.7%. In nodes shown to be avascular by CTAP, the detection rate by Fe-MRI was 67.3%. These rates were higher than with other flow patterns. In nodes showing high signal intensity (HSI) on any sequences, arterial blood flow was increased and portal blood flow decreased in comparison with nodes without high signal intensity. All nodes showing HSI, both on Fe-MRI T2W and T2*W, were hypervascular on CTA, and portal blood flow was absent on CTAP. Nodes showing HSI on both T2*W and T2W were considered to have greater arterial blood flow and decreased portal blood flow compared with nodes appearing as HSI on T2*W, but only as iso- or low signal intensity on T2W (Mann-Whitney U-test; p<0.05). (author)

Tip enhancement

CERN Document Server

Kawata, Satoshi

2007-01-01

This book discusses the recent advances in the area of near-field Raman scattering, mainly focusing on tip-enhanced and surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Some of the key features covered here are the optical structuring and manipulations, single molecule sensitivity, analysis of single-walled carbon nanotubes, and analytic applications in chemistry, biology and material sciences. This book also discusses the plasmonic materials for better enhancement, and optical antennas. Further, near-field microscopy based on second harmonic generation is also discussed. Chapters have been written by some of the leading scientists in this field, who present some of their recent work in this field.·Near-field Raman scattering·Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy·Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy·Nano-photonics·Nanoanalysis of Physical, chemical and biological materials beyond the diffraction limits·Single molecule detection

A new method for skin color enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Huanzhao; Luo, Ronnier

2012-01-01

Skin tone is the most important color category in memory colors. Reproducing it pleasingly is an important factor in photographic color reproduction. Moving skin colors toward their preferred skin color center improves the skin color preference on photographic color reproduction. Two key factors to successfully enhance skin colors are: a method to detect original skin colors effectively even if they are shifted far away from the regular skin color region, and a method to morph skin colors toward a preferred skin color region properly without introducing artifacts. A method for skin color enhancement presented by the authors in the same conference last year applies a static skin color model for skin color detection, which may miss to detect skin colors that are far away from regular skin tones. In this paper, a new method using the combination of face detection and statistical skin color modeling is proposed to effectively detect skin pixels and to enhance skin colors more effectively.

Photoluminescence light-up detection of zinc ion and imaging in living cells based on the aggregation induced emission enhancement of glutathione-capped copper nanoclusters.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Liyun; Hu, Yuefang; Zhang, Liangliang; Huang, Yong; Zhao, Shulin

2017-08-15

In this work, we prepared glutathione (GSH)-capped copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) with red emission by simply adjusting the pH of GSH/Cu 2+ mixture at room temperature. A photoluminescence light-up method for detecting Zn 2+ was then developed based on the aggregation induced emission enhancement of GSH-capped Cu NCs. Zn 2+ could trigger the aggregation of Cu NCs, inducing the enhancement of luminescence and the increase of absolute quantum yield from 1.3% to 6.2%. GSH-capped Cu NCs and the formed aggregates were characterized, and the possible mechanism was also discussed. The prepared GSH-capped Cu NCs exhibited a fast response towards Zn 2+ and a wider detection range from 4.68 to 2240μM. The detection limit (1.17μM) is much lower than that of the World Health Organization permitted in drinking water. Furthermore, taking advantages of the low cytotoxicity, large Stokes shift, red emission and light-up detection mode, we explored the use of the prepared GSH-capped Cu NCs in the imaging of Zn 2+ in living cells. The developed luminescence light-up nanoprobe may hold the potentials for Zn 2+ -related drinking water safety and biological applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy detection of biomolecules using EBL fabricated nanostructured substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Robert F; Gutierrez-Rivera, Luis; Dew, Steven K; Stepanova, Maria

2015-03-20

Fabrication and characterization of conjugate nano-biological systems interfacing metallic nanostructures on solid supports with immobilized biomolecules is reported. The entire sequence of relevant experimental steps is described, involving the fabrication of nanostructured substrates using electron beam lithography, immobilization of biomolecules on the substrates, and their characterization utilizing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Three different designs of nano-biological systems are employed, including protein A, glucose binding protein, and a dopamine binding DNA aptamer. In the latter two cases, the binding of respective ligands, D-glucose and dopamine, is also included. The three kinds of biomolecules are immobilized on nanostructured substrates by different methods, and the results of SERS imaging are reported. The capabilities of SERS to detect vibrational modes from surface-immobilized proteins, as well as to capture the protein-ligand and aptamer-ligand binding are demonstrated. The results also illustrate the influence of the surface nanostructure geometry, biomolecules immobilization strategy, Raman activity of the molecules and presence or absence of the ligand binding on the SERS spectra acquired.

Sensitive and fast detection of fructose in complex media via symmetry breaking and signal amplification using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Fang; Bai, Tao; Zhang, Lei; Ella-Menye, Jean-Rene; Liu, Sijun; Nowinski, Ann K; Jiang, Shaoyi; Yu, Qiuming

2014-03-04

A new strategy is proposed to sensitively and rapidly detect analytes with weak Raman signals in complex media using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) via detecting the SERS signal changes of the immobilized probe molecules on SERS-active substrates upon binding of the analytes. In this work, 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid (4-MPBA) was selected as the probe molecule which was immobilized on the gold surface of a quasi-three-dimensional plasmonic nanostructure array (Q3D-PNA) SERS substrate to detect fructose. The molecule of 4-MPBA possesses three key functions: molecule recognition and reversible binding of the analyte via the boronic acid group, amplification of SERS signals by the phenyl group and thus shielding of the background noise of complex media, and immobilization on the surface of SERS-active substrates via the thiol group. Most importantly, the symmetry breaking of the 4-MPBA molecule upon fructose binding leads to the change of area ratio between totally symmetric 8a ring mode and nontotally symmetric 8b ring mode, which enables the detection. The detection curves were obtained in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and in undiluted artificial urine at clinically relevant concentrations, and the limit of detection of 0.05 mM was achieved.

Meteorological and chemical impacts on ozone formation: A case study in Hangzhou, China

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Kangwei; Chen, Linghong; Ying, Fang; White, Stephen J.; Jang, Carey; Wu, Xuecheng; Gao, Xiang; Hong, Shengmao; Shen, Jiandong; Azzi, Merched; Cen, Kefa

2017-11-01

Regional ozone pollution has become one of the most challenging problems in China, especially in the more economically developed and densely populated regions like Hangzhou. In this study, measurements of O3, CO, NOx and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), together with meteorological data, were obtained for the period July 1, 2013-August 15, 2013 at three sites in Hangzhou. These sites included an urban site (Zhaohui ;ZH;), a suburban site (Xiasha ;XS;) and a rural site (Qiandaohu ;QDH;). During the observation period, both ZH and XS had a higher ozone level than QDH, with exceeding rates of 41.3% and 47.8%, respectively. Elevated O3 levels in QDH were found at night, which could be explained by less prominent NO titration effect in rural area. Detailed statistical analysis of meteorological and chemical impacts on ozone formation was carried out for ZH, and higher ozone concentration was observed when the wind direction was from the east. This is possibly due to emissions of VOCs from XS, a typical chemical industrial park located in 30 km upwind area of ZH. A comprehensive comparison between three ozone episode periods and one non-episode period were made in ZH. It was concluded that elevated concentrations of precursors and temperatures, low relative humidity and wind speed and easterly-dominated wind direction contribute to urban ozone episodes in Hangzhou. VOCs reactivity analysis indicated that reactive alkenes like isoprene and isobutene contributed most to ozone formation. Three methods were applied to evaluate O3-VOCs-NOx sensitivity in ZH: VOCs/NOx ratio method, Smog Production Model (SPM) and Relative Incremental Reactivity (RIR). The results show that summer ozone in urban Hangzhou mostly presents VOCs-limited and transition region alternately. Our study implies that the increasing automobiles and VOCs emissions from upwind area could result in ozone pollution in urban Hangzhou, and synergistic reduction of VOCs and NOx will be more effective.

Gold Nanoparticle-Based Detection of Hg(II) in an Aqueous Solution: Fluorescence Quenching and Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganbold, Erdene Ochir; Park, Jin Ho; Ock, Kwang Su; Joo, Sang Woo

2011-01-01

We studied the detection of the Hg(II) concentration in an aqueous solution using rhodamine dyes on citrate-reduced Au nanoparticles (NPs). The quenching effect from Au NPs was found to decrease as the Hg(II) concentration increased under our experimental conditions. As the fluorescence signals intensified, the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) intensities reduced on the contrary due to less rhodamine dyes on Au NPs as the Hg(II) concentration increased. The rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) and rhodamine 123 (Rh123) dyes were examined via fluorescence and SERS measurements depending on Hg(II) concentrations. Fast and easy fluorescence detection of an Hg (II) concentration as low as a few ppm could be achieved by naked eye using citrate-reduced Au NPs

Usefulness of fat-suppressed Gd-enhanced MR imaging of tongue cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, Shumei; Fuchihata, Hajime; Yoon, Sukja; Furukawa, Souhei; Kawai, Tadahiko; Kishino, Mitsunobu

1999-01-01

To evaluate the usefulness of the fat suppression technique for magnetic resonance imaging of oral tongue cancer. One hundred and fourteen patients underwent both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). All patients were clinically diagnosed as having oral tongue cancer shown to be squamous cell carcinoma histopathologically. We used two types of CT and six types of MRI scanning: plain CT, contrast enhanced CT, conventional T1w, conventional PDw, conventional T2w, fat-suppressed (FATS) T1w, Gd-enhanced conventional T1w, and Gd-enhanced FATS T1w images. The focus of our study was Gd-enhanced FATS T1w imaging. Tumor detection rates were as follows: Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI, 86.8%; conventional T2w MRI, 71.9%; conventional PDw MRI, 65.8%; Gd-enhanced conventional T1w MRI, 47.4%; contrast enhanced CT, 36.8%; T1w MRI, 20.2%; CT, 10.5%. There were 59 cases in which tumors were detected by Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI but not detected by contrast enhanced CT. Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI was the best for the tumor detection and Gd-enhanced conventional T1w MRI was not useful in the diagnosis of the tongue cancer. CT imaging must not be the first choice for tumor detection in tongue cancer patients. (author)

Enhancement of chitosan-graphene oxide SPR sensor with a multi-metallic layers of Au–Ag–Au nanostructure for lead(II) ion detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamaruddin, Nur Hasiba [Department of Electric, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Bakar, Ahmad Ashrif A., E-mail: ashrif@ukm.edu.my [Department of Electric, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Yaacob, Mohd Hanif; Mahdi, Mohd Adzir [Wireless and Photonic Network Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Zan, Mohd Saiful Dzulkefly [Department of Electric, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Shaari, Sahbudin [Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia)

2016-01-15

Highlights: • Tri-metallic Au–Ag–Au CS-GO SPR sensor was fabricated for the first time. • The tri-metallic nanostructure provided an enhanced evanescent field. • Successful functionalization of the CS-GO sensing layer. • Superior performance for lead(II) ion detection. - Abstract: We demonstrate the enhancement of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique by implementing a multi-metallic layers of Au–Ag–Au nanostructure in the chitosan-graphene oxide (CS-GO) SPR sensor for lead(II) ion detection. The performance of the sensor is analyzed via SPR measurements, from which the sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio and repeatability are determined. The nanostructure layers are characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We showed that the proposed structure has increased the shift in the SPR angle up to 3.5° within the range of 0.1–1 ppm due to the enhanced evanescent field at the sensing layer-analyte interface. This sensor also exhibits great repeatability which benefits from the stable multi-metallic nanostructure. The SNR value of 0.92 for 5 ppm lead(II) ion solution and reasonable linearity range up to that concentration shows that the tri-metallic CS-GO SPR sensor gives a good response towards the lead(II) ion solution. The CS-GO SPR sensor is also sensitive to at least a 10{sup −5} change in the refractive index. The results prove that our proposed tri-metallic CS-GO SPR sensor demonstrates a strong performance and reliability for lead(II) ion detection in accordance with the standardized lead safety level for wastewater.

Application of Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy to the Detection of Nitric Oxide, Carbonyl Sulphide, and Ethane—Breath Biomarkers of Serious Diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtas, Jacek

2015-01-01

The paper presents one of the laser absorption spectroscopy techniques as an effective tool for sensitive analysis of trace gas species in human breath. Characterization of nitric oxide, carbonyl sulphide and ethane, and the selection of their absorption lines are described. Experiments with some biomarkers showed that detection of pathogenic changes at the molecular level is possible using this technique. Thanks to cavity enhanced spectroscopy application, detection limits at the ppb-level and short measurements time (ethane, respectively. The conducted experiments show that this type of diagnosis would significantly increase chances for effective therapy of some diseases. Additionally, it offers non-invasive and real time measurements, high sensitivity and selectivity as well as minimizing discomfort for patients. For that reason, such sensors can be used in screening for early detection of serious diseases. PMID:26091398

Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography versus MRI: Initial results in the detection of breast cancer and assessment of tumour size.

Science.gov (United States)

Fallenberg, E M; Dromain, C; Diekmann, F; Engelken, F; Krohn, M; Singh, J M; Ingold-Heppner, B; Winzer, K J; Bick, U; Renz, D M

2014-01-01

To compare mammography (MG), contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the detection and size estimation of histologically proven breast cancers using postoperative histology as the gold standard. After ethical approval, 80 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer underwent MG, CESM, and MRI examinations. CESM was reviewed by an independent experienced radiologist, and the maximum dimension of suspicious lesions was measured. For MG and MRI, routine clinical reports of breast specialists, with judgment based on the BI-RADS lexicon, were used. Results of each imaging technique were correlated to define the index cancer. Fifty-nine cases could be compared to postoperative histology for size estimation. Breast cancer was visible in 66/80 MG, 80/80 CESM, and 77/79 MRI examinations. Average lesion largest dimension was 27.31 mm (SD 22.18) in MG, 31.62 mm (SD 24.41) in CESM, and 27.72 mm (SD 21.51) in MRI versus 32.51 mm (SD 29.03) in postoperative histology. No significant difference was found between lesion size measurement on MRI and CESM compared with histopathology. Our initial results show a better sensitivity of CESM and MRI in breast cancer detection than MG and a good correlation with postoperative histology in size assessment. • Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) is slowly being introduced into clinical practice. • Access to breast MRI is limited by availability and lack of reimbursement. • Initial results show a better sensitivity of CESM and MRI than conventional mammography. • CESM showed a good correlation with postoperative histology in size assessment. • Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography offers promise, seemingly providing information comparable to MRI.

Preoperative detection of hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of combined constrast-enhanced MR imaging and combined CT during arterial portography and CT hepatic arteriography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwak, H.S.; Kim, C.S.; Lee, J.M.; Seoul National University Medical Research Center

2004-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic MR images, superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced MR images, combined Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic and SPIO-enhanced MR images, vs combined CT arterial portography (CTAP) and CT hepatic arteriography (CTHA), in the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Twenty-four patients with 38 nodular HCCs (5-60 mm, mean 23.0 mm) were retrospectively analyzed. Image reviews were conducted on a liver segment-by-segment basis. A total of 192 segments, including 36 segments with 38 HCC, were reviewed independently by three radiologists. Each radiologist read four sets of images (set 1, unenhanced and Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic MR images; set 2, unenhanced and SPIO-enhanced MR images; set 3, combined Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic and SPIO-enhanced MR images; set 4, combined CTAP and CTHA). To minimize any possible learning bias, the reviewing order was randomized and the reviewing procedure was performed in four sessions at 2-week intervals. The diagnostic accuracy (Az values) for HCCs of combined CTAP and CTHA, combined Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic and SPIO-enhanced MR images, Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic MR images, and SPIO-enhanced MR images for all observers were 0.934, 0.963, 0.878, and 0.869, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of combined CTAP and CTHA and combined Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic and SPIO-enhanced MR images was significantly higher than Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic MR images or SPIO-enhanced MR images (p<0.005). The mean specificity of combined CTAP and CTHA (93%) and combined Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic and SPIO-enhanced MR images (95%) was significantly higher than Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic MR images (87%) or SPIO-enhanced MR images (88%; p<0.05). Combined Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic and SPIO-enhanced MR images may obviate the need for more invasive combined CTAP and CTHA for the preoperative evaluation of patients with HCC

Design Enhancements of the Fourier Kelvin Stellar Interferometer to Enable Detection of Earth Twins

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, Richard K.; Danchi, William C.; Lopez, Bruno; Rinehart, Stephan; Augereau, Jean-Charles; Beust, Herve; Bonfils, Xavier; Borde, Pascal; Kern, Pierre; Leger, Alain;

Big Data-Based Approach to Detect, Locate, and Enhance the Stability of an Unplanned Microgrid Islanding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Huaiguang; Li, Yan; Zhang, Yingchen; Zhang, Jun Jason; Gao, David Wenzhong; Muljadi, Eduard; Gu, Yi

2017-10-01

In this paper, a big data-based approach is proposed for the security improvement of an unplanned microgrid islanding (UMI). The proposed approach contains two major steps: the first step is big data analysis of wide-area monitoring to detect a UMI and locate it; the second step is particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based stability enhancement for the UMI. First, an optimal synchrophasor measurement device selection (OSMDS) and matching pursuit decomposition (MPD)-based spatial-temporal analysis approach is proposed to significantly reduce the volume of data while keeping appropriate information from the synchrophasor measurements. Second, a random forest-based ensemble learning approach is trained to detect the UMI. When combined with grid topology, the UMI can be located. Then the stability problem of the UMI is formulated as an optimization problem and the PSO is used to find the optimal operational parameters of the UMI. An eigenvalue-based multiobjective function is proposed, which aims to improve the damping and dynamic characteristics of the UMI. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach.

Detection of liver lesions with gadolinium-enhanced VIBE sequence in comparison with SPIO-enhanced MRI; Detektion von Leberlaesionen mit der Gadolinium-verstaerkten VIBE-Sequenz im Vergleich zur SPIO-verstaerkten MRT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heim, P.; Steiner, P.; Dieckmann, C.; Adam, G. [Universitaetsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany). Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie; Schoder, V. [Universitaetsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany). Inst. fuer Medizinische Biometrie und Epidemiologie; Kuhlencordt, R. [Universitaetsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany). Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Allgemein-, Viszeral-, und Thoraxchirurgie

2003-10-01

Purpose: Detection of malignant liver lesions with gadolinium-enhanced volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) in comparison with SPIO-enhanced MRT (four different SPIO-enhanced T2w sequences) and histological and imaging follow-up in non-cirrhotic livers at 1.5 T. Patients and methods: Twenty-two patients with suspected focal liver lesions prospectively underwent a gadolinium-enhanced 3D VIBE. Four T2w sequences (HASTE sequence, fast spin-echo-sequence with and without fat-saturation, FLASH 2D gradient echo-sequence) after administration of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) served as gold standard combined with histological work-up in 17 patients and histological and imaging follow-up in five patients. The image quality was evaluated and the detectability of intrahepatic lesions was rated by the alternative free-response receiver operating characteristic (AFROC) analysis. In addition, the contrast-to-noise ration was compared. Results: Altogether 49 malignant and 35 benign liver lesions were found. Concerning the image quality, VIBE turned out to be of slightly poorer image quality than the SPIO-enhanced examination with HASTE sequence (4.95 vs. 5.0). The fast spin-echo-sequence without fat-saturation demonstrated the highest contrast-to-noise ratio. All sequences showed a comparable certainty in detecting lesion (area under the curve 0.68-0.74) and identifying malignant liver lesions. Conclusions: Despite the small number of patients, VIBE seems to be a comparable, inexpensive and fast method in diagnosing malignant liver lesions. (orig.) [German] Ziel: Detektion maligner Leberlaesionen mit der Gadolinium-verstaerkten 3D-Gradientenecho-Sequenz in Atemanhaltetechnik (VIBE-Sequenz) im Vergleich mit der SPIO-verstaerkten MRT (vier verschiedene SPIO-verstaerkte T2-gew. Sequenzen) sowie histologischen und bildgebenden (Verlaufs-) Untersuchungen in nicht-zirrhotischen Lebern bei 1,5 T. Patienten und Methoden: 22 Patienten mit Verdacht auf maligne

Enhanced selectivity of boron doped diamond electrodes for the detection of dopamine and ascorbic acid by increasing the film thickness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qi, Yao; Long, Hangyu [School of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Ma, Li, E-mail: marycsupm@csu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Wei, Quiping, E-mail: qiupwei@csu.edu.cn [School of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Li, Site [School of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Yu, Zhiming [School of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Hu, Jingyuan [School of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Liu, Peizhi [Key laboratory of interface science and engineering in advanced materials, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024,PR China (China); Wang, Yijia [School of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Meng, Lingcong [Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, West Midlands CV4 7AL (United Kingdom)

2016-12-30

Highlights: • BDD electrodes with different thickness have been fabricated. • BDD electrodes are used for simultaneous detection of DA and AA. • Anodic pretreatment enhance the separation of DA and AA oxidation peak potential. • Thicker BDD electrode show better performance for DA detection coexisting with AA. - Abstract: In this paper, boron doped diamond (BDD) with different thickness were prepared by hot filament chemical vapor deposition. The performance of BDD electrodes for detecting dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectra reveal the grain size increases and the film quality improves with the increase of film thickness. Electrochemical test show that the transfer coefficient in [Fe{sub 3} (CN) {sub 6}]{sup 3−/4−} redox system increases with the increase of the film thickness. The results of selectivity and sensitivity for DA mixed with AA detection show that 8h-BDD and 12h-BDD electrodes possess well selective separated oxidation peaks of DA and AA, and the 12h-BDD electrode exhibits optimal sensitivity until the DA concentration drops to 1 μ M.

Enhanced sensing of dengue virus DNA detection using O{sub 2} plasma treated-silicon nanowire based electrical biosensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahman, S.F.A., E-mail: siti_fatimah0410@yahoo.com [Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Yusof, N.A., E-mail: azahy@upm.edu.my [Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Hashim, U. [Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 01000, Kangar, Perlis (Malaysia); Hushiarian, R. [La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086 (Australia); Nuzaihan, M.N.M. [Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 01000, Kangar, Perlis (Malaysia); Hamidon, M.N. [Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Zawawi, R.M. [Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM, Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Fathil, M.F.M. [Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 01000, Kangar, Perlis (Malaysia)

2016-10-26

Dengue Virus (DENV) has become one of the most serious arthropod-borne viral diseases, causing death globally. The existing methods for DENV detection suffer from the late stage treatment due to antibodies-based detection which is feasible only after five days following the onset of the illness. Here, we demonstrated the highly effective molecular electronic based detection utilizing silicon nanowire (SiNW) integrated with standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process as a sensing device for detecting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) related to DENV in an early stage diagnosis. To transform the fabricated devices as a functional sensing element, three-step procedure consist of SiNW surface modification, DNA immobilization and DNA hybridization were employed. The detection principle works by detecting the changes in current of SiNW which bridge the source and drain terminal to sense the immobilization of probe DNA and their hybridization with target DNA. The oxygen (O{sub 2}) plasma was proposed as an effective strategy for increasing the binding amounts of target DNA by modified the SiNW surface. It was found that the detection limit of the optimized O{sub 2} plasma treated-SiNW device could be reduced to 1.985 × 10{sup −14} M with a linear detection range of the sequence-specific DNA from 1.0 × 10{sup −9} M to 1.0 × 10{sup −13} M. In addition, the developed biosensor device was able to discriminate between complementary, single mismatch and non-complementary DNA sequences. This highly sensitive assay was then applied to the detection of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) product of DENV-DNA, making it as a potential method for disease diagnosis through electrical biosensor. - Highlights: • Molecular electronic detection of Dengue Virus (DENV) DNA using SiNW biosensor is presented. • Oxygen plasma surface treatment as an enhancer technique for device sensitivity is highlighted. • The limit of detection (Lo

Facile on-site detection of substituted aromatic pollutants in water using thin layer chromatography combined with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dawei; Qu, Lulu; Zhai, Wenlei; Xue, Jinqun; Fossey, John S; Long, Yitao

2011-05-01

A novel facile method for on-site detection of substituted aromatic pollutants in water using thin layer chromatography (TLC) combined with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was explored. Various substituted aromatics in polluted water were separated by a convenient TLC protocol and then detected using a portable Raman spectrometer with the prepared silver colloids serving as SERS-active substrates. The effects of operating conditions on detection efficacy were evaluated, and the application of TLC-SERS to on-site detection of artificial and real-life samples of aromatics/polluted water was systematically investigated. It was shown that commercially available Si 60-F(254) TLC plates were suitable for separation and displayed low SERS background and good separation efficiency, 2 mM silver colloids, 20 mM NaCl (working as aggregating agent), 40 mW laser power, and 50 s intergration time were appropriate for the detection regime. Furthermore, qualitative and quantitative detection of most of substituted aromatic pollutants was found to be readily accomplished using the developed TLC-SERS technique, which compared well with GC-MS in terms of identification ability and detection accuracy, and a limit of detection (LOD) less than 0.2 ppm (even at ppb level for some analytes) could be achieved under optimal conditions. The results reveal that the presented convenient method could be used for the effective separation and detection of the substituted aromatic pollutants of water on site, thus reducing possible influences of sample transportation and contamination while shortening the overall analysis time for emergency and routine monitoring of the substituted aromatics/polluted water.

Clinical utility of contrast-enhanced spectral mammography as an adjunct for tomosynthesis-detected architectural distortion.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Bhavika K; Naylor, Michelle E; Kosiorek, Heidi E; Lopez-Alvarez, Yania M; Miller, Adrian M; Pizzitola, Victor J; Pockaj, Barbara A

Supplement tomosynthesis-detected architectural distortions (AD) with CESM to better characterize malignant vs benign lesions. Retrospective review CESM prior to biopsied AD. Pathology: benign, radial scar, or malignant. 49 lesions (45 patients). 29 invasive cancers, 1 DCIS (range, 0.4-4.7cm); 9 radial scars; 10 benign. 37 (75.5%) ADs had associated enhancement. PPV 78.4% (29/37), sensitivity 96.7% (29/30); specificity, 57.9% (11/19); NPV, 91.7% (11/12). False-positive rate 21.6% (8/37); false-negative rate, 8.3% (1/12). Accuracy 81.6% (40/49). High sensitivity and NPV of CESM in patients with AD is promising as an adjunct tool in diagnosing malignancy and avoiding unnecessary biopsy, respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Audiovisual synchrony enhances BOLD responses in a brain network including multisensory STS while also enhancing target-detection performance for both modalities

Science.gov (United States)

Marchant, Jennifer L; Ruff, Christian C; Driver, Jon

2012-01-01

The brain seeks to combine related inputs from different senses (e.g., hearing and vision), via multisensory integration. Temporal information can indicate whether stimuli in different senses are related or not. A recent human fMRI study (Noesselt et al. [2007]: J Neurosci 27:11431–11441) used auditory and visual trains of beeps and flashes with erratic timing, manipulating whether auditory and visual trains were synchronous or unrelated in temporal pattern. A region of superior temporal sulcus (STS) showed higher BOLD signal for the synchronous condition. But this could not be related to performance, and it remained unclear if the erratic, unpredictable nature of the stimulus trains was important. Here we compared synchronous audiovisual trains to asynchronous trains, while using a behavioral task requiring detection of higher-intensity target events in either modality. We further varied whether the stimulus trains had predictable temporal pattern or not. Synchrony (versus lag) between auditory and visual trains enhanced behavioral sensitivity (d') to intensity targets in either modality, regardless of predictable versus unpredictable patterning. The analogous contrast in fMRI revealed BOLD increases in several brain areas, including the left STS region reported by Noesselt et al. [2007: J Neurosci 27:11431–11441]. The synchrony effect on BOLD here correlated with the subject-by-subject impact on performance. Predictability of temporal pattern did not affect target detection performance or STS activity, but did lead to an interaction with audiovisual synchrony for BOLD in inferior parietal cortex. PMID:21953980

CT findings of pancreatic carcinoma. Evaluation with the combined method of early enhancement CT and high dose enhancement CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, Shigeki; Endo, Tokiko; Isomura, Takayuki; Ishigaki, Takeo; Ikeda, Mitsuru; Senda, Kouhei.

1995-01-01

Computed tomographic (CT) findings of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were studied with the combined method of early enhancement CT and high dose enhancement CT in 72 carcinomas. Common Findings were change in pancreatic contour, abnormal attenuation in a tumor and dilatation of the main pancreatic duct. The incidence of abnormal attenuation and dilatation of the main pancreatic duct and bile duct was constant regardless of tumor size. The finding of hypoattenuation at early enhancement CT was most useful for demonstrating a carcinoma. However, this finding was negative in ten cases, five of which showed inhomogenous hyperattenuation at high dose enhancement CT. The detection of change in pancreatic contour and dilatation of the main pancreatic duct was most frequent at high dose enhancement CT. The finding of change in pancreatic contour and/or abnormal attenuation in a tumor could be detected in 47 cases at plain CT, 66 at early enhancement CT and 65 at high dose enhancement CT. Since the four cases in which neither finding was detected by any CT method showed dilatated main pancreatic duct, there was no case without abnormal CT findings. This combined CT method will be a reliable diagnostic technique in the imaging of pancreatic carcinoma. (author)

Nanobody Based Immunoassay for Human Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Detection Using Polymeric Horseradish Peroxidase (PolyHRP) for Signal Enhancement: The Rediscovery of PolyHRP?

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dongyang; Cui, Yongliang; Morisseau, Christophe; Gee, Shirley J; Bever, Candace S; Liu, Xiangjiang; Wu, Jian; Hammock, Bruce D; Ying, Yibin

2017-06-06

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is a potential pharmacological target for treating hypertension, vascular inflammation, cancer, pain, and multiple cardiovascular related diseases. A variable domain of the heavy chain antibody (termed single domain antibody (sdAb), nanobody, or VHH) possesses the advantages of small size, high stability, ease of genetic manipulation, and ability for continuous manufacture, making such nanobody a superior choice as an immunoreagent. In this work, we developed an ultrasensitive nanobody based immunoassay for human sEH detection using polymeric horseradish peroxidase (PolyHRP) for signal enhancement. Llama nanobodies against human sEH were used as the detection antibody in sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) with polyclonal anti-sEH as the capture antibody. A conventional sandwich ELISA using a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeled anti-hemeagglutinin (HA) tag as the tracer showed a marginal sensitivity (0.0015 optical density (OD)·mL/ng) and limit of detection (LOD) of 3.02 ng/mL. However, the introduction of the PolyHRP as the tracer demonstrated a 141-fold increase in the sensitivity (0.21 OD·mL/ng) and 57-fold decrease in LOD (0.05 ng/mL). Systematic comparison of three different tracers in four ELISA formats demonstrated the overwhelming advantage of PolyHRP as a label for nanobody based immunoassay. This enhanced sEH immunoassay was further evaluated in terms of selectivity against other epoxide hydrolases and detection of the target protein in human tissue homogenate samples. Comparison with an enzyme activity based assay and a Western blot for sEH detection reveals good correlation with the immunoassay. This work demonstrates increased competiveness of nanobodies for practical sEH protein detection utilizing PolyHRP. It is worthwhile to rediscover the promising potential of PolyHRP in nanobody and other affinity based methods after its low-profile existence for decades.

Evaluation of the early enhancement of coronary atherosclerotic plaque by contrast-enhanced MR angiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Tao [Department of Radiology, The General Hospital of Chinese People' s Armed Police Forces, Number 69, Yong Ding Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (China); Department of Radiology, Chinese People' s Liberation Army General Hospital, Number 28, Fu Xing Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (China); Zhao Xihai [Department of Radiology, Chinese People' s Liberation Army General Hospital, Number 28, Fu Xing Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (China); Liu Xin [Paul C. Lauterbur Biomedical Imaging Center, Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Shenzhen 518067 (China); Gao Jianhua [Department of Radiology, The General Hospital of Chinese People' s Armed Police Forces, Number 69, Yong Ding Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (China); Zhao Shaohong [Department of Radiology, Chinese People' s Liberation Army General Hospital, Number 28, Fu Xing Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (China); Li Xin; Zhou Weihua [Department of Radiology, The General Hospital of Chinese People' s Armed Police Forces, Number 69, Yong Ding Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (China); Cai Zulong [Department of Radiology, Chinese People' s Liberation Army General Hospital, Number 28, Fu Xing Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (China); Zhang Weiguo [Cardiovascular and Neurological Consulting Institute, 6771 San Fernando, Irving, TX 75039 (United States); Yang Li, E-mail: Yangli301@yahoo.com [Department of Radiology, Chinese People' s Liberation Army General Hospital, Number 28, Fu Xing Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (China)

2011-10-15

Purpose: To evaluate the early enhancement of coronary atherosclerotic plaque using contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) and investigate the association between unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and early enhancement of the plaque. Methods: Forty-one patients presenting with angina pectoris and demonstrating single-vessel disease with non-calcified plaque and significant coronary stenosis ({>=}50%) on CTA were consecutively recruited for coronary CE-MRA. Contrast-to-noise ratio of the culprit plaque guided by CTA was measured on a cross-sectional multi-planar reconstruction image of the plaque on both pre- and post-CE-MRA. A 50% increasing of CNR was defined as plaque enhancement. The association between early enhancement of the plaques and UAP was analyzed. Results: Thirty-seven non-calcified plaques with significant coronary stenosis were detected in the 37 patients on MRA. 4 subjects were excluded because coronary atherosclerotic plaques were inadequate for identification on MRA. Of the 37 patients, 18 patients had UAP and other 19 patients presented stable angina pectoris (SAP). Of the 37 plaques on CE-MRA, 13 and 24 plaques presented early enhancement and no enhancement, respectively. Of the 13 early-enhanced plaques, 11 (85%) and 2 (15%) were found in the patients with UAP and SAP, respectively (p < 0.01). Of the 37 patients, 11 (61%) with UAP and 2 (11%) with SAP had early-enhanced plaques, respectively (p < 0.01). Conclusion: CE-MRA allows detection of early enhancement of coronary atherosclerotic plaque. The early enhancement is common in unstable angina and could be a sign of vulnerability.

Rapid surface enhanced Raman scattering detection method for chloramphenicol residues

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Wei; Yao, Weirong

2015-06-01

Chloramphenicol (CAP) is a widely used amide alcohol antibiotics, which has been banned from using in food producing animals in many countries. In this study, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) coupled with gold colloidal nanoparticles was used for the rapid analysis of CAP. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted with Gaussian 03 at the B3LYP level using the 3-21G(d) and 6-31G(d) basis sets to analyze the assignment of vibrations. Affirmatively, the theoretical Raman spectrum of CAP was in complete agreement with the experimental spectrum. They both exhibited three strong peaks characteristic of CAP at 1104 cm-1, 1344 cm-1, 1596 cm-1, which were used for rapid qualitative analysis of CAP residues in food samples. The use of SERS as a method for the measurements of CAP was explored by comparing use of different solvents, gold colloidal nanoparticles concentration and absorption time. The method of the detection limit was determined as 0.1 μg/mL using optimum conditions. The Raman peak at 1344 cm-1 was used as the index for quantitative analysis of CAP in food samples, with a linear correlation of R2 = 0.9802. Quantitative analysis of CAP residues in foods revealed that the SERS technique with gold colloidal nanoparticles was sensitive and of a good stability and linear correlation, and suited for rapid analysis of CAP residue in a variety of food samples.

Non-conductive nanomaterial enhanced electrochemical response in stripping voltammetry: The use of nanostructured magnesium silicate hollow spheres for heavy metal ions detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Ren-Xia; Yu, Xin-Yao; Gao, Chao; Jiang, Yu-Jing; Han, Dong-Dong; Liu, Jin-Huai; Huang, Xing-Jiu

2013-08-06

Nanostructured magnesium silicate hollow spheres, one kind of non-conductive nanomaterials, were used in heavy metal ions (HMIs) detection with enhanced performance for the first time. The detailed study of the enhancing electrochemical response in stripping voltammetry for simultaneous detection of ultratrace Cd(2+), Pb(2+), Cu(2+) and Hg(2+) was described. Electrochemical properties of modified electrodes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The operational parameters which have influence on the deposition and stripping of metal ions, such as supporting electrolytes, pH value, and deposition time were carefully studied. The anodic stripping voltammetric performance toward HMIs was evaluated using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) analysis. The detection limits achieved (0.186nM, 0.247nM, 0.169nM and 0.375nM for Cd(2+), Pb(2+), Cu(2+) and Hg(2+)) are much lower than the guideline values in drinking water given by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, the interference and stability of the modified electrode were also investigated under the optimized conditions. An interesting phenomenon of mutual interference between different metal ions was observed. Most importantly, the sensitivity of Pb(2+) increased in the presence of certain concentrations of other metal ions, such as Cd(2+), Cu(2+) and Hg(2+) both individually and simultaneously. The proposed electrochemical sensing method is thus expected to open new opportunities to broaden the use of SWASV in analysis for detecting HMIs in the environment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detection of local recurrent prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy in terms of salvage radiotherapy using dynamic contrast enhanced-MRI without endorectal coil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rischke, Hans Christian; Schäfer, Arnd O; Nestle, Ursula; Volegova-Neher, Natalja; Henne, Karl; Benz, Matthias R; Schultze-Seemann, Wolfgang; Langer, Mathias; Grosu, Anca L

2012-01-01

To evaluate the value of dynamic contrast enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-MRI) without endorectal coil (EC) in the detection of local recurrent prostate cancer (PC) after radical prostatectomy (RP). Thirty-three patients with recurrent PC underwent DCE-MRI without EC before salvage radiotherapy (RT). At median 15 (mean 16±4.9, range 12–27) months after completion of RT all patients showed complete biochemical response. Additional follow up post RT DCE-MRI scans were available. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels at the time of imaging were correlated to the imaging findings. In 22/33 patients (67%) early contrast enhancing nodules were detected in the post-prostatectomy fossa on pre-RT DCE-MRI images. The average pre-RT PSA level of the 22 patients with positive pre-RT DCE-MRI findings was significantly higher (mean, 0.74±0.64 ng/mL) compared to the pre-RT PSA level of the 11 patients with negative pre-RT DCE-MRI (mean, 0.24±0.13 ng/mL) (p<0.001). All post-RT DCE-MRI images showed complete resolution of initial suspicious lesions. A pre-RT PSA cut-off value of ≥0.54 ng/ml readily predicted a positive DCE-MRI finding. This is the first study that shows that DCE-MRI without EC can detect local recurrent PC with an estimated accuracy of 83% at low PSA levels. All false negative DCE-MRI scans were detected using a PSA cut-off of ≥0.54 ng/mL

Exploring the chemical enhancement for surface-enhanced Raman scattering with Au bowtie nanoantennas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fromm, David P.; Sundaramurthy, Arvind; Kinkhabwala, Anika; Schuck, P. James; Kino, Gordon S.; Moerner, W.E.

2006-01-01

Single metallic bowtie nanoantennas provide a controllable environment for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of adsorbed molecules. Bowties have experimentally measured electromagnetic enhancements, enabling estimation of chemical enhancement for both the bulk and the few-molecule regime. Strong fluctuations of selected Raman lines imply that a small number of p-mercaptoaniline molecules on a single bowtie show chemical enhancement >10 7 , much larger than previously believed, likely due to charge transfer between the Au surface and the molecule. This chemical sensitivity of SERS has significant implications for ultra-sensitive detection of single molecules

Plasmonics Enhanced Smartphone Fluorescence Microscopy

KAUST Repository

Wei, Qingshan

2017-05-12

Smartphone fluorescence microscopy has various applications in point-of-care (POC) testing and diagnostics, ranging from e.g., quantification of immunoassays, detection of microorganisms, to sensing of viruses. An important need in smartphone-based microscopy and sensing techniques is to improve the detection sensitivity to enable quantification of extremely low concentrations of target molecules. Here, we demonstrate a general strategy to enhance the detection sensitivity of a smartphone-based fluorescence microscope by using surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF) created by a thin metal-film. In this plasmonic design, the samples are placed on a silver-coated glass slide with a thin spacer, and excited by a laser-diode from the backside through a glass hemisphere, generating surface plasmon polaritons. We optimized this mobile SEF system by tuning the metal-film thickness, spacer distance, excitation angle and polarization, and achieved ~10-fold enhancement in fluorescence intensity compared to a bare glass substrate, which enabled us to image single fluorescent particles as small as 50 nm in diameter and single quantum-dots. Furthermore, we quantified the detection limit of this platform by using DNA origami-based brightness standards, demonstrating that ~80 fluorophores per diffraction-limited spot can be readily detected by our mobile microscope, which opens up new opportunities for POC diagnostics and sensing applications in resource-limited-settings.

Plasmonics Enhanced Smartphone Fluorescence Microscopy

KAUST Repository

Wei, Qingshan; Acuna, Guillermo; Kim, Seungkyeum; Vietz, Carolin; Tseng, Derek; Chae, Jongjae; Shir, Daniel; Luo, Wei; Tinnefeld, Philip; Ozcan, Aydogan

2017-01-01

Smartphone fluorescence microscopy has various applications in point-of-care (POC) testing and diagnostics, ranging from e.g., quantification of immunoassays, detection of microorganisms, to sensing of viruses. An important need in smartphone-based microscopy and sensing techniques is to improve the detection sensitivity to enable quantification of extremely low concentrations of target molecules. Here, we demonstrate a general strategy to enhance the detection sensitivity of a smartphone-based fluorescence microscope by using surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF) created by a thin metal-film. In this plasmonic design, the samples are placed on a silver-coated glass slide with a thin spacer, and excited by a laser-diode from the backside through a glass hemisphere, generating surface plasmon polaritons. We optimized this mobile SEF system by tuning the metal-film thickness, spacer distance, excitation angle and polarization, and achieved ~10-fold enhancement in fluorescence intensity compared to a bare glass substrate, which enabled us to image single fluorescent particles as small as 50 nm in diameter and single quantum-dots. Furthermore, we quantified the detection limit of this platform by using DNA origami-based brightness standards, demonstrating that ~80 fluorophores per diffraction-limited spot can be readily detected by our mobile microscope, which opens up new opportunities for POC diagnostics and sensing applications in resource-limited-settings.

Highly sensitive on-site detection of drugs adulterated in botanical dietary supplements using thin layer chromatography combined with dynamic surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Fang; Qi, Yunpeng; Lu, Feng; Yang, Liangbao

2016-01-01

The phenomenon of botanical dietary supplements (BDS) doped with illegal adulterants has become a serious problem all over the world, which could cause great threat to human's health. Therefore, it is of great value to identify BDS. Herein, we put forward a highly sensitive method for on-site detection of antitussive and antiasthmatic drugs adulterated in BDS using thin layer chromatography (TLC) combined with dynamic surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (DSERS). Adulterants in BDS were separated on a TLC plate and located under UV illumination. Then DSERS detection was performed using a portable Raman spectrometer with 50% glycerol silver colloid serving as DSERS active substrate. Here, the effects of different solvents on detection efficacy were evaluated using phenformin hydrochloride (PHE) as a probe. It was shown that 50% glycerol resulted in higher SERS enhancement and relatively higher stability. Moreover, practical application of this novel TLC-DSERS method was demonstrated with rapid analysis of real BDS samples and one sample adulterated with benproperine phosphate (BEN) was found. Furthermore, the obtained result was verified by ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS). The sensitivity of the TLC-DSERS technique is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than that of TLC-SERS technique. The results turned out that this combined method would have good prospects for on-site and sensitive detection of adulterated BDS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hermetic compartments leak-tightness enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murani, J.

2000-01-01

In connection with the enhancement of the nuclear safety of the Jaslovske Bohunice V-1 NPP actions for the increase of the leak tightness are performed. The reconstruction has been done in the following directions: hermetic compartments leak tightness enhancement; air lock installation; installation of air lock in SP 4 vent system; integrated leakage rate test to hermetic compartments with leak detection. After 'major' leaks on the hermetic boundary components had been eliminated, since 1994 works on a higher qualitative level began. The essence of the works consists in the detection and identification of leaks in the structural component of the hermetic boundary during the planned refueling outages. The results of the Small Reconstruction and gradual enhancement of leak tightness are presented

Femtosecond Laser Fabricated Ag@Au and Cu@Au Alloy Nanoparticles for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Based Trace Explosives Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moram Sree Satya Bharati

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Herein we present results from our detailed studies on the fabrication of Ag@Au and Cu@Au alloy nanoparticles (NPs using the femtosecond laser ablation in liquid technique. The NPs were obtained by ablating the pure Ag, Cu targets (bulk in HAuCl4 (5 mM solution. The absorption properties of the obtained NPs colloids were characterized using UV-Visible absorption spectrometer and their size, shape, and crystallinity were investigated using the XRD, FESEM and TEM techniques. The fabricated NPs were utilized for sensing of explosive molecules such as 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (PA, 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT and a common dye methylene blue (MB using the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS technique. The detection limit in terms of weight was as low as few nano-grams in the case of nitroaromatic explosive compounds (PA, DNT and few picograms in the case of a common dye molecule (MB. Typical enhancement factors achieved were estimated to be ~104, ~105, and ~107, respectively, for PA, DNT, and MB. The significance of the present work lies in exploring the performance of the prepared NPs being used as SERS substrates for explosives detection using a portable Raman instrument. Such capability enables one to carry the spectrometer to the point of interest in the field and evaluate any hazardous samples within a short period of time.

Kullback-Leibler distance-based enhanced detection of incipient anomalies

KAUST Repository

Harrou, Fouzi

2016-09-09

Accurate and effective anomaly detection and diagnosis of modern engineering systems by monitoring processes ensure reliability and safety of a product while maintaining desired quality. In this paper, an innovative method based on Kullback-Leibler divergence for detecting incipient anomalies in highly correlated multivariate data is presented. We use a partial least square (PLS) method as a modeling framework and a symmetrized Kullback-Leibler distance (KLD) as an anomaly indicator, where it is used to quantify the dissimilarity between current PLS-based residual and reference probability distributions obtained using fault-free data. Furthermore, this paper reports the development of two monitoring charts based on the KLD. The first approach is a KLD-Shewhart chart, where the Shewhart monitoring chart with a three sigma rule is used to monitor the KLD of the response variables residuals from the PLS model. The second approach integrates the KLD statistic into the exponentially weighted moving average monitoring chart. The performance of the PLS-based KLD anomaly-detection methods is illustrated and compared to that of conventional PLS-based anomaly detection methods. Using synthetic data and simulated distillation column data, we demonstrate the greater sensitivity and effectiveness of the developed method over the conventional PLS-based methods, especially when data are highly correlated and small anomalies are of interest. Results indicate that the proposed chart is a very promising KLD-based method because KLD-based charts are, in practice, designed to detect small shifts in process parameters. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

Selective internalization of self-assembled artificial oil bodies by HER2/neu-positive cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiang, Chung-Jen; Lin, Che-Chin; Lin, Li-Jen; Chang, Chih-Hsiang; Chao, Yun-Peng

2011-01-01

A novel delivery carrier was developed using artificial oil bodies (AOBs). Plant seed oil bodies (OBs) consist of a triacylglycerol matrix surrounded by a monolayer of phospholipids embedded with the storage protein oleosin (Ole). Ole consists of a central hydrophobic domain with two amphiphatic arms that extrude from the surface of OBs. In this study, a bivalent anti-HER2/neu affibody domain (ZH2) was fused with Ole at the C terminus. After overproduction in Escherichia coli, the fusion protein (Ole-ZH2) was recovered to assemble AOBs. The size of self-assembled AOBs was tailored by varying the oil/Ole-ZH2 ratio and pH to reach a nanoscale. Upon co-incubation with tumor cells, the nanoscale AOBs encapsulated with a hydrophobic fluorescence dye were selectively internalized by HER2/neu-overexpressing cells and displayed biocompatibility with the cells. In addition, the ZH2-mediated endosomal entry of AOBs occurred in a time- and AOB dose-dependent manner. The internalization efficiency was as high as 90%. The internalized AOBs disintegrated at the non-permissive pH (e.g. in acidic endosomes) and the cargo dye was released. Results of in vitro study revealed a sustained and prolonged release profile. Taken together, our findings indicate the potential of AOBs as a delivery carrier.

Aiding the Detection of QRS Complex in ECG Signals by Detecting S Peaks Independently.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabherwal, Pooja; Singh, Latika; Agrawal, Monika

2018-03-30

In this paper, a novel algorithm for the accurate detection of QRS complex by combining the independent detection of R and S peaks, using fusion algorithm is proposed. R peak detection has been extensively studied and is being used to detect the QRS complex. Whereas, S peaks, which is also part of QRS complex can be independently detected to aid the detection of QRS complex. In this paper, we suggest a method to first estimate S peak from raw ECG signal and then use them to aid the detection of QRS complex. The amplitude of S peak in ECG signal is relatively weak than corresponding R peak, which is traditionally used for the detection of QRS complex, therefore, an appropriate digital filter is designed to enhance the S peaks. These enhanced S peaks are then detected by adaptive thresholding. The algorithm is validated on all the signals of MIT-BIH arrhythmia database and noise stress database taken from physionet.org. The algorithm performs reasonably well even for the signals highly corrupted by noise. The algorithm performance is confirmed by sensitivity and positive predictivity of 99.99% and the detection accuracy of 99.98% for QRS complex detection. The number of false positives and false negatives resulted while analysis has been drastically reduced to 80 and 42 against the 98 and 84 the best results reported so far.

Application of Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy to the Detection of Nitric Oxide, Carbonyl Sulphide, and Ethane--Breath Biomarkers of Serious Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtas, Jacek

2015-06-17

The paper presents one of the laser absorption spectroscopy techniques as an effective tool for sensitive analysis of trace gas species in human breath. Characterization of nitric oxide, carbonyl sulphide and ethane, and the selection of their absorption lines are described. Experiments with some biomarkers showed that detection of pathogenic changes at the molecular level is possible using this technique. Thanks to cavity enhanced spectroscopy application, detection limits at the ppb-level and short measurements time (laser and a tunable laser system consisting of an optical parametric oscillator and difference frequency generator. Setup using the first source provided a detection limit of 30 ppb for nitric oxide and 250 ppb for carbonyl sulphide. During experiments employing a second laser, detection limits of 0.9 ppb and 0.3 ppb were obtained for carbonyl sulphide and ethane, respectively. The conducted experiments show that this type of diagnosis would significantly increase chances for effective therapy of some diseases. Additionally, it offers non-invasive and real time measurements, high sensitivity and selectivity as well as minimizing discomfort for patients. For that reason, such sensors can be used in screening for early detection of serious diseases.

Preparation of surface enhanced Raman substrate and its characterization

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Y.; Wang, J. Y.; Wang, J. Q.

2017-10-01

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a fast, convenient and highly sensitive detection technique, and preparing the good effect and repeatable substrate is the key to realize the trace amount and quantitative detection in the field of food safety detection. In this paper, a surface enhanced Raman substrate based on submicrometer silver particles structure was prepared by chemical deposition method, and characterized its structure and optical properties.

Detection of urinary leakage after radical retropubic prostatectomy by contrast enhanced ultrasound - do we still need conventional retrograde cystography?

Science.gov (United States)

Schoeppler, Gita M; Buchner, Alexander; Zaak, Dirk; Khoder, Wael; Staehler, Michael; Stief, Christian G; Reiser, Maximilian F; Clevert, Dirk-Andre

2010-12-01

To prospectively evaluate the accuracy of transvesical contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) as an alternative method for the detection of anastomotic leakage after radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) in comparison with the current standard method of conventional retrograde cystography (CG). Forty-three patients underwent RRP for histologically proven localized prostate cancer. The vesico-urethral anastomosis was evaluated 8 days after RRP by CG and CEUS. Any peri-anastomotic leakage was assessed and determined in CG and CEUS as follows: no extravasation (EV), small leakage (≤0.5 cm), moderate leakage (>0.5 cm to ≤2 cm), large leakage (>2 cm diameter of EV seen). In total, 21 (49%) patients showed a watertight anastomosis. Ten (23%), two (4.7%) and ten (23%) patients showed a small, intermediate and large EV, respectively. In 31 cases (72%) there was 100% agreement of CG and CEUS for detection of no, moderate and large EV, respectively. In nine cases a small and in two cases a moderate EV was categorized as watertight anastomosis by CEUS. Only in one case did CG detect a small EV where a large EV was detected in CEUS. The agreement between both methods was 95% for detecting absence or large leakages. CEUS is a promising imaging modality that seems to be equivalent to CG for detecting the presence of a large anastomotic leakage that is clinically relevant for postoperative persistence of the indwelling catheter. CEUS could be a cheap and time-saving alternative to the CG without exposure of the patient to radiation. © 2010 THE AUTHORS. JOURNAL COMPILATION © 2010 BJU INTERNATIONAL.

A novel method for detection of phosphorylation in single cells by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS using composite organic-inorganic nanoparticles (COINs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine M Shachaf