On the applicability of [F]FBPA to predict L-BPA concentration after amino acid preloading in HuH-7 liver tumor model and the implication for liver boron neutron capture therapy.

Introduction: In recent years extra-corporal application of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) was evaluated for liver primary tumors or liver metastases. A prerequisite for such a high-risk procedure is proof of preferential delivery and high uptake of a B-pharmaceutical in liver malignancies. In this work we evaluated in a preclinical tumor model if [F]FBPA tissue distribution measured with PET is able to predict the tissue distribution of [B]L-BPA.

Positron spectroscopy of point defects in the skyrmion-lattice compound MnSi.

Outstanding crystalline perfection is a key requirement for the formation of new forms of electronic order in a vast number of widely different materials. Whereas excellent sample quality represents a standard claim in the literature, there are, quite generally, no reliable microscopic probes to establish the nature and concentration of lattice defects such as voids, dislocations and different species of point defects on the level relevant to the length and energy scales inherent to these new forms of order. Here we report an experimental study of the archetypical skyrmion-lattice compound MnSi, where we relate the characteristic types of point defects and their concentration to the magnetic properties by combining different types of positron spectroscopy with ab-initio calculations and bulk measurements.

Boron containing magnetic nanoparticles for neutron capture therapy--an innovative approach for specifically targeting tumors.

The selective delivery of (10)B into the tumor tissue remains to be further improved for successful and reliable Boron Neutron Capture Therapy applications. Magnetic Drug Targeting using intraarterially administered superparamagnetic nanoparticles and external magnetic fields already exhibited convincing results in terms of highly efficient and selective drug deposition. Using the same technique for the targeted (10)B delivery is a promising new approach.

Nanocrystalline silicon: lattice dynamics and enhanced thermoelectric properties.

Silicon has several advantages when compared to other thermoelectric materials, but until recently it was not used for thermoelectric applications due to its high thermal conductivity, 156 W K(-1) m(-1) at room temperature. Nanostructuration as means to decrease thermal transport through enhanced phonon scattering has been a subject of many studies. In this work we have evaluated the effects of nanostructuration on the lattice dynamics of bulk nanocrystalline doped silicon.

Position sensitive measurement of lithium traces in brain tissue with neutrons.

Purpose: The application of lithium is well known to have an antimanic-depressive effect, however, the influence it has on the human brain is still insufficiently known. The aim of our work is to develop a method to investigate the lithium concentration in the human brain with a very high sensitivity and a submillimeter resolution. Present methods either do not provide spatial resolution or are not sensitive enough to measure the naturally occurring lithium content in the human brain.

PGAA, PGAI and NT with cold neutrons: test measurement on a meteorite sample.

First comprehensive analysis with PGAA, Prompt Gamma-ray Activation Imaging (PGAI) and neutron tomography (NT) techniques at the research reactor FRM II was tested on a piece of the Allende meteorite. With the PGAA method the bulk elemental composition of the heterogeneous meteorite was determined. Due to the small dimension of the sample, only the 2D elemental distribution of the object was derived with position sensitive PGAI analysis.