Feasibility study of activity measurement of positron emitters based on gamma-gamma coincident detection by two NaI(Tl) detectors.

Detection of two and more γ-rays in coincidence by two NaI(Tl) detectors with almost 4π geometry allows absolute characterization of radionuclides emitting coincidence gammas. The method is a generalization of the Eldridge-Crowther method developed originally for x-rays and low energy γ-rays. This method is applied to the case of (94)Nb decay with two coincident gamma-rays emitted in one cascade.

Absolute 108Agm characterization based on gamma-gamma coincident detection by two NaI(Tl) detectors.

A two-dimensional analysis of three coincident gamma-rays in (108)Ag(m) decay, detected by two NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors, allows a direct measurement of the source activity. A modification of the Eldridge-Crowther formulas derived originally for (125)I was done recently for the case of two coincident gamma-rays in (60)Co decay (Volkovitsky and Naudus, 2009). A similar approach is applied to a more complicated case of three coincident gamma-rays in the (108)Ag(m) decay.

NIST 222Rn emission standards.

NIST radon standards are hermetically sealed polyethylene capsules filled with 226Ra solution. Recently, four new series of standards with activities 5, 50, 500, and 5000 Bq were prepared. The measured emanation fraction agrees with a calculation that accounts for the radon accumulated inside the polyethylene walls of the capsule.

Ultra-high sensitivity multi-photon detection imaging in proteomics analyses.

We report on the use of 125I and 131I labeling and of new, multicolor, multi-photon detection (MPD) methods to routinely and quantitatively detect protein spots on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis plates in the zeptomole to attomole range. We demonstrate that the MPD methodology can be used to detect radioactive labels on two-dimensional gels and has several characteristics that are advantageous for functional proteomics. First, by using single particle detectors, the sensitivity for detection of radiolabels can be improved dramatically.