Search for Fractionally Charged Particles with CUORE.

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is a detector array comprised by 988 5  cm×5  cm×5  cm TeO_{2} crystals held below 20 mK, primarily searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in ^{130}Te. Unprecedented in size among cryogenic calorimetric experiments, CUORE provides a promising setting for the study of exotic throughgoing particles. Using the first tonne year of CUORE's exposure, we perform a search for hypothesized fractionally charged particles (FCPs), which are well-motivated by various standard model extensions and would have suppressed interactions with matter.

Radiation image reconstruction and uncertainty quantification using a Gaussian process prior.

We propose a complete framework for Bayesian image reconstruction and uncertainty quantification based on a Gaussian process prior (GPP) to overcome limitations of maximum likelihood expectation maximization (ML-EM) image reconstruction algorithm. The prior distribution is constructed with a zero-mean Gaussian process (GP) with a choice of a covariance function, and a link function is used to map the Gaussian process to an image. Unlike many other maximum a posteriori approaches, our method offers highly interpretable hyperparamters that are selected automatically with the empirical Bayes method.

3D small-scale dosimetry and tumor control of Ac radiopharmaceuticals for prostate cancer.

Radiopharmaceutical therapy using -emitting Ac is an emerging treatment for patients with advanced metastatic cancers. Measurement of the spatial dose distribution in organs and tumors is needed to inform treatment dose prescription and reduce off-target toxicity, at not only organ but also sub-organ scales. Digital autoradiography with -sensitive detection devices can measure radioactivity distributions at 20-40 resolution, but anatomical characterization is typically limited to 2D.

The United States Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health Collaboration: Medical Care Advances by Discovery in Radiation Detection.

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science virtual workshop on shared general topics was held in July of 2021 and reported on in this publication in January of 2023.

Erratum: Measurement of the 2νββ Decay Half-Life of ^{130}Te with CUORE [Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 171801 (2021)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.

Analysis of maternal mortality in Berlin, Germany - discrepancy between reported maternal mortality and comprehensive death certificate exploration.

Objectives: The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates an average maternal mortality rate (MMR) of around 3.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births for 2019-2021, based on relevant diagnoses on death certificates. However, Germany does not currently have a registry for recording the number of maternal deaths.

A generalization of the maximum likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) method: Masked-MLEM.

In our previous work on image reconstruction for single-layer collimatorless scintigraphy, we developed the min-min weighted robust least squares (WRLS) optimization algorithm to address the challenge of reconstructing images when both the system matrix and the projection data are uncertain. Whereas the WRLS algorithm has been successful in two-dimensional (2D) reconstruction, expanding it to three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction is difficult since the WRLS optimization problem is neither smooth nor strongly-convex. To overcome these difficulties and achieve robust image reconstruction in the presence of system uncertainties and projection noise, we propose a generalized iterative method based on the maximum likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) algorithm, hereinafter referred to as the Masked-MLEM algorithm.

Coded aperture and Compton imaging for the development of Ac-based radiopharmaceuticals.

Background: Targeted alpha-particle therapy (TAT) has great promise as a cancer treatment. Arguably the most promising TAT radionuclide that has been proposed is Ac. The development of Ac-based radiopharmaceuticals has been hampered due to the lack of effective means to study the daughter redistribution of these agents in small animals at the preclinical stage.

Simultaneous Imaging of Ga-DOTA-TATE and Lu-DOTA-TATE in Murine Models of Neuroblastoma.

Ga-DOTA-TATE and Lu-DOTA-TATE are radiolabeled somatostatin analogs used to detect or treat neuroendocrine tumors. They are administered separately for either diagnostic or therapeutic purposes but little experimental data for their biokinetics are measured simultaneously in the same biological model. By co-administering Ga-DOTA-TATE and Lu-DOTA-TATE in three laboratory mice bearing two IMR32 tumor xenografts expressing different levels of somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) on their shoulders and imaging both Ga and Lu simultaneously, we investigated the relationship between the uptake of Ga-DOTA-TATE and Lu-DOTA-TATE in organs and tumors.

Effect of Aging and a Dual Orexin Receptor Antagonist on Sleep Architecture and Non-REM Oscillations Including an REM Behavior Disorder Phenotype in the PS19 Mouse Model of Tauopathy.

The impact of tau pathology on sleep microarchitecture features, including slow oscillations, spindles, and their coupling, has been understudied, despite the proposed importance of these electrophysiological features toward learning and memory. Dual orexin receptor antagonists (DORAs) are known to promote sleep, but whether and how they affect sleep microarchitecture in the setting of tauopathy is unknown. In the PS19 mouse model of tauopathy MAPT (microtubule-associated protein tau) P301S (both male and female), young PS19 mice 2-3 months old show a sleep electrophysiology signature with markedly reduced spindle duration and power and elevated slow oscillation (SO) density compared with littermate controls, although there is no significant tau hyperphosphorylation, tangle formation, or neurodegeneration at this age.

New Direct Limit on Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Half-Life of ^{128}Te with CUORE.

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN in Italy is an experiment searching for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay. Its main goal is to investigate this decay in ^{130}Te, but its ton-scale mass and low background make CUORE sensitive to other rare processes as well. In this Letter, we present our first results on the search for 0νββ decay of ^{128}Te, the Te isotope with the second highest natural isotopic abundance.

Small-scale (sub-organ and cellular level) alpha-particle dosimetry methods using an iQID digital autoradiography imaging system.

Targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy with alpha-particle emitters (αRPT) is advantageous in cancer treatment because the short range and high local energy deposition of alpha particles enable precise radiation delivery and efficient tumor cell killing. However, these properties create sub-organ dose deposition effects that are not easily characterized by direct gamma-ray imaging (PET or SPECT). We present a computational procedure to determine the spatial distribution of absorbed dose from alpha-emitting radionuclides in tissues using digital autoradiography activity images from an ionizing-radiation quantum imaging detector (iQID).

Prevalence and Infant Mortality of Major Congenital Malformations Stratified by Birthweight.

Background: Low birthweight and major congenital malformations (MCMs) are key causes of infant mortality.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of MCMs in infants with low and very low birthweight and analyze the impact of MCMs and birthweight on infant mortality.

Methods: We determined prevalence and infant mortality of 28 life-threatening MCMs in very-low-birthweight (<1,500 g, VLBW), low-birthweight (1,500-2,499 g, LBW), or normal-birthweight (≥2,500 g, NBW) infants in a cohort of 2,727,002 infants born in Germany in 2006-2017, using de-identified administrative data of the largest statutory public health insurance system in Germany.

Free-moving Quantitative Gamma-ray Imaging.

The ability to map and estimate the activity of radiological source distributions in unknown three-dimensional environments has applications in the prevention and response to radiological accidents or threats as well as the enforcement and verification of international nuclear non-proliferation agreements. Such a capability requires well-characterized detector response functions, accurate time-dependent detector position and orientation data, a digitized representation of the surrounding 3D environment, and appropriate image reconstruction and uncertainty quantification methods. We have previously demonstrated 3D mapping of gamma-ray emitters with free-moving detector systems on a relative intensity scale using a technique called Scene Data Fusion (SDF).

[Prenatal care].

Through rational antenatal care, it is possible to identify maternal and fetal risks at an early stage of pregnancy. These risks, which are detected by medical history and examinations, serve as the basis for further medical care and interventions in pregnancy and during birth. Studies show that maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity can be reduced by applying structured and comprehensive national prenatal care concepts.

Measurement of the 2νββ Decay Half-Life of ^{130}Te with CUORE.

We measured two-neutrino double beta decay of ^{130}Te using an exposure of 300.7 kg yr accumulated with the CUORE detector. Using a Bayesian analysis to fit simulated spectra to experimental data, it was possible to disentangle all the major background sources and precisely measure the two-neutrino contribution.

Enantioselective Desymmetrization of 2-Aryl-1,3-propanediols by Direct -Alkylation with a Rationally Designed Chiral Hemiboronic Acid Catalyst That Mitigates Substrate Conformational Poisoning.

Enantioselective desymmetrization by direct monofunctionalization of prochiral diols is a powerful strategy to prepare valuable synthetic intermediates in high optical purity. Boron acids can activate diols toward nucleophilic additions; however, the design of stable chiral catalysts remains a challenge and highlights the need to identify new chemotypes for this purpose. Herein, the discovery and optimization of a bench-stable chiral 9-hydroxy-9,10-boroxarophenanthrene catalyst is described and applied in the highly enantioselective desymmetrization of 2-aryl-1,3-diols using benzylic electrophiles under operationally simple, ambient conditions.

Collimatorless Scintigraphy for Imaging Extremely Low Activity Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) with Weighted Robust Least Squares (WRLS).

A technology for imaging extremely low photon flux is an unmet need, especially in targeted alpha therapy (TAT) imaging, which requires significantly improved sensitivity to detect as many photons as possible while retaining a reasonable spatial resolution. In scintigraphy using gamma cameras, the radionuclide collimator rejects a large number of photons that are both primary photons and scattered photons, unsuitable for photon-starved imaging scenarios like imaging TAT. In this paper we develop a min-min weighted robust least squares (WRLS) algorithm to solve a general reconstruction problem with uncertainties and validate it with the extreme scenario: collimatorless scintigraphy.

The MyoRobot technology discloses a premature biomechanical decay of skeletal muscle fiber bundles derived from R349P desminopathy mice.

Mutations in the Des gene coding for the muscle-specific intermediate filament protein desmin lead to myopathies and cardiomyopathies. We previously generated a R349P desmin knock-in mouse strain as a patient-mimicking model for the corresponding most frequent human desmin mutation R350P. Since nothing is known about the age-dependent changes in the biomechanics of affected muscles, we investigated the passive and active biomechanics of small fiber bundles from young (17-23 wks), adult (25-45 wks) and aged (>60 wks) heterozygous and homozygous R349P desmin knock-in mice in comparison to wild-type littermates.

Advances in Nuclear Radiation Sensing: Enabling 3-D Gamma-Ray Vision.

The enormous advances in sensing and data processing technologies in combination with recent developments in nuclear radiation detection and imaging enable unprecedented and "smarter" ways to detect, map, and visualize nuclear radiation. The recently developed concept of three-dimensional (3-D) Scene-data fusion allows us now to "see" nuclear radiation in three dimensions, in real time, and specific to radionuclides. It is based on a multi-sensor instrument that is able to map a local scene and to fuse the scene data with nuclear radiation data in 3-D while the instrument is freely moving through the scene.

Diet and Lifestyle Before and During Pregnancy - Practical Recommendations of the Germany-wide Healthy Start - Young Family Network.

Diet and exercise before and during pregnancy affect the course of the pregnancy, the child's development and the short- and long-term health of mother and child. The Healthy Start - Young Family Network has updated the recommendations on nutrition in pregnancy that first appeared in 2012 and supplemented them with recommendations on a preconception lifestyle. The recommendations address body weight before conception, weight gain in pregnancy, energy and nutritional requirements and diet (including a vegetarian/vegan diet), the supplements folic acid/folate, iodine, iron and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), protection against food-borne illnesses, physical activity before and during pregnancy, alcohol, smoking, caffeinated drinks, oral and dental hygiene and the use of medicinal products.

Erratum: Invasive house geckos ( spp.): their current, potential and future distribution.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/cz/zox052.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.

Invasive house geckos ( spp.): their current, potential and future distribution.

In this study, we identified the current distribution of five globally distributed invasive species and predicted their potential and future distribution using species distribution models based on climate and elevation data. These species included , , , , and . We show that many regions with tropical and Mediterranean climates are suitable for most of these species.