Large-grain scintillator screens for proton radiography.

Protons from the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center have been used for pulsed radiography in dynamic experiments for the past 25 years. Pulses of protons are imaged on a scintillator, and the light from these images is captured by fast gated cameras. The need for fast, bright scintillators has led to some compromises in image quality due to tiling the scintillators and backgrounds with totally internally reflected light.

An improved source of spin-polarized electrons based on spin exchange in optically pumped rubidium vapor.

We have improved a polarized electron source in which unpolarized electrons undergo collisions with a mixture of buffer gas molecules and optically spin-polarized Rb atoms. With a nitrogen buffer gas, the source reliably provides spin polarization between 15% and 25% with beam currents >4 μA. Vacuum pump upgrades mitigate problems caused by denatured diffusion pump oil, leading to longer run times.

A TOPAS model for lens-based proton radiography.

Proton Radiography can be used in conjunction with proton therapy for patient positioning, real-time estimates of stopping power, and adaptive therapy in regions with motion. The modeling capability shown here can be used to evaluate lens-based radiography as an instantaneous proton-based radiographic technique. The utilization of user-friendly Monte Carlo program TOPAS enables collaborators and other users to easily conduct medical- and therapy- based simulations of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE).

A search for chiral asymmetry in secondary electron emission from cysteine induced by longitudinally polarized electrons.

We performed experiments searching for chirality-dependent secondary electron emission for a 141 eV longitudinally spin-polarized electron beam incident on a thick solid cysteine target. We determined the secondary electron yield by measuring the positive current produced when the cysteine target was negatively biased. No spin-dependent effects to a level of 10-3 were found for the secondary electron emission yield.

Contrast-enhanced proton radiographic sensitivity limits for tumor detection.

Proton radiography may guide proton therapy cancer treatments with beam's-eye-view anatomical images and a proton-based estimation of proton stopping power. However, without contrast enhancement, proton radiography will not be able to distinguish tumor from tissue. To provide this contrast, functionalized, high- nanoparticles that specifically target a tumor could be injected into a patient before imaging.

Corrigendum: Analysis of a Large Standardized Food Challenge Data Set to Determine Predictors of Positive Outcome Across Multiple Allergens.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.

Gastrointestinal Eosinophil Responses in a Longitudinal, Randomized Trial of Peanut Oral Immunotherapy.

Background & Aims: Gastrointestinal side effects are common during oral immunotherapy (OIT) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a potential complication. We aimed to characterize eosinophilic gastrointestinal responses to peanut OIT, in which peanut protein is given orally, with incremental increases in dose over time.

Methods: Twenty adults with IgE-mediated peanut allergy were randomly assigned to groups given peanut OIT (n = 15) or placebo (n = 5); 1 additional subject withdrew before randomization.

Origins and clonal convergence of gastrointestinal IgE B cells in human peanut allergy.

B cells in human food allergy have been studied predominantly in the blood. Little is known about IgE B cells or plasma cells in tissues exposed to dietary antigens. We characterized IgE clones in blood, stomach, duodenum, and esophagus of 19 peanut-allergic patients, using high-throughput DNA sequencing.

Global metabolic profiling to model biological processes of aging in twins.

Aging is intimately linked to system-wide metabolic changes that can be captured in blood. Understanding biological processes of aging in humans could help maintain a healthy aging trajectory and promote longevity. We performed untargeted plasma metabolomics quantifying 770 metabolites on a cross-sectional cohort of 268 healthy individuals including 125 twin pairs covering human lifespan (from 6 months to 82 years).

Analysis of a Large Standardized Food Challenge Data Set to Determine Predictors of Positive Outcome Across Multiple Allergens.

Double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges (DBPCFCs) remain the gold standard for the diagnosis of food allergy; however, challenges require significant time and resources and place the patient at an increased risk for severe allergic adverse events. There have been continued efforts to identify alternative diagnostic methods to replace or minimize the need for oral food challenges (OFCs) in the diagnosis of food allergy. Data was extracted for all IRB-approved, Stanford-initiated clinical protocols involving standardized screening OFCs to a cumulative dose of 500 mg protein to any of 11 food allergens in participants with elevated skin prick test (SPT) and/or specific IgE (sIgE) values to the challenged food across 7 sites.

Feasibility of sustained response through long-term dosing in food allergy immunotherapy.

Background: Clinical trials using oral immunotherapy (OIT) for the treatment of food allergies have shown promising results. We previously demonstrated the feasibility of desensitization for up to 5 food allergens simultaneously through OIT. In this observational study, we report the findings of long-term follow-up (LTFU) of the participants treated through a single site OIT phase 1 trial.

Observational long-term follow-up study of rapid food oral immunotherapy with omalizumab.

Background: A number of clinical studies focused on treating a single food allergy through oral immunotherapy (OIT) with adjunctive omalizumab treatment have been published. We previously demonstrated safety and tolerability of a rapid OIT protocol using omalizumab in a phase 1 study to achieve desensitization to multiple (up to 5) food allergens in parallel, rapidly (7-36 weeks; median = 18 weeks). In the current long-term, observational study, we followed 34 food allergic participants for over 5 years, who had originally undergone the phase 1 rapid OIT protocol.

Anti-IgE treatment with oral immunotherapy in multifood allergic participants: a double-blind, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: Despite progress in single food oral immunotherapy, there is little evidence concerning the safety and efficacy of treating individuals with multiple food (multifood) allergies. We did a pilot study testing whether anti-IgE (omalizumab) combined with multifood oral immunotherapy benefited multifood allergic patients.

Methods: We did a blinded, phase 2 clinical trial at Stanford University.

Association of Clinical Reactivity with Sensitization to Allergen Components in Multifood-Allergic Children.

Background: Thirty percent of children with food allergies have multiple simultaneous allergies; however, the features of these multiple allergies are not well characterized serologically or clinically.

Objective: We comprehensively evaluated 60 multifood-allergic patients by measuring serum IgE to key allergen components, evaluating clinical histories and medication use, performing skin tests, and conducting double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges (DBPCFCs).

Methods: Sixty participants with multiple food allergies were characterized by clinical history, DBPCFCs, total IgE, specific IgE, and component-resolved diagnostics (IgE and IgG4) data.

Inverse-collimated proton radiography for imaging thin materials.

Relativistic, magnetically focused proton radiography was invented at Los Alamos National Laboratory using the 800 MeV LANSCE beam and is inherently well-suited to imaging dense objects, at areal densities >20 g cm. However, if the unscattered portion of the transmitted beam is removed at the Fourier plane through inverse-collimation, this system becomes highly sensitive to very thin media, of areal densities <100 mg cm. Here, this inverse-collimation scheme is described in detail and demonstrated by imaging Xe gas with a shockwave generated by an aluminum plate compressing the gas at Mach 8.

Deciphering the black box of food allergy mechanisms.

Objective: To review our current understanding of immunotherapy, the immune mechanisms underlying food allergy, and the methodological advances that are furthering our understanding of the role of immune cells and other molecules in mediating food allergies.

Data Sources: Literature searches were performed using the following combination of terms: allergy, immunotherapy, food, and mechanisms. Data from randomized clinical studies using state-of-the-art mechanistic tools were prioritized.

Diagnosis of Food Allergy.

The prevalence of food allergies has been on the increase over the last 2 decades. Diagnosing food allergies can be complicated, as there are multiple types that have distinct clinical and immunologic features. Food allergies are broadly classified into immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated, non-IgE-mediated, or mixed food allergic reactions.

Indications of proton-dominated cosmic-ray composition above 1.6 EeV.

We report studies of ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray composition via analysis of depth of air shower maximum (X(max)), for air shower events collected by the High-Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) observatory. The HiRes data are consistent with a constant elongation rate d/d[log(E)] of 47.9+/-6.

First observation of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin suppression.

The High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) experiment has observed the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin suppression (called the GZK cutoff) with a statistical significance of five standard deviations. HiRes' measurement of the flux of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays shows a sharp suppression at an energy of 6 x 10(19) eV, consistent with the expected cutoff energy. We observe the ankle of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum as well, at an energy of 4 x 10(18) eV.

Measurement of the flux of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays from monocular observations by the High Resolution Fly's Eye experiment.

We have measured the cosmic ray spectrum above 10(17.2) eV using the two air-fluorescence detectors of the High Resolution Fly's Eye observatory operating in monocular mode. We describe the detector, phototube, and atmospheric calibrations, as well as the analysis techniques for the two detectors.

Observation of power-Law scaling for phase transitions in linear trapped ion crystals.

We report an experimental confirmation of the power-law relationship between the critical anisotropy parameter and ion number for the linear-to-zigzag phase transition in an ionic crystal. Our experiment uses laser cooled calcium ions confined in a linear radio-frequency trap. Measurements for up to ten ions are in good agreement with theoretical and numeric predictions.