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The problems of error detection by experts in the rule-oriented knowledge bases of oriented information systems, which occurring at the stage of the knowledge base formation, are considered. It has been determined that such errors are associated with the contradictory opinions of experts and / or the limited (imperfect) description of the subject area. The approaches to their debugging were analyzed. The ways of improving the existing approaches to debugging static errors of the “replica” class and possible ways of applying the obtained solutions to eliminate errors “contradictoriness”, “redundancy”, “incompleteness” have been shown. Considering the requirements for the accuracy of information presentation, the solutions for expanding the content of the definition of the static error of the rule-oriented knowledge base have been proposed. The issues of the influence of the "replica" class errors on the results of output in accordance with the rules of the rule-oriented knowledge base were considered. The possibility of using graph theory methods for solving the problem of debugging errors of the "replica" class has been proved. The algorithmic structures for identifying and debugging errors of the specified class, which in contrast to existing solutions allow to identify duplicate apexes at each rank of the graph to which the rule-oriented knowledge base is amounted to, have been developed. A software implementation of detecting and debugging static errors of incomplete, fragmentary and complete duplication has been developed. Due to usage of recursion, the requirements for preparing an array of input data for processing were reduced. The solutions obtained are compatible with the requirements of DSTU ISO / IEC 9126, DSTU ISO / IEC 14598 and consider the requirements of the Software Quality Requirements and Evaluation family of standards as the value of the apexes of the event tree graph. In the process of solving the problem, the specifics of the functioning of the man-machine system was considered. In particular, the possibility of formalizing various aspects of knowledge (alethic, dissisional, casual, dianistic) and assurance of a given level of operativeness in finding solutions has been accounted.

The lifetime of a Λ particle embedded in a nucleus (hypernucleus) decreases from that of free Λ decay mainly due to the opening of the Λ N → N N weak decay channel. However, it is generally believed that the lifetime of a hypernucleus attains a constant value (saturation) for medium to heavy hypernuclear masses, yet this hypothesis has been difficult to verify. This paper presents a direct measurement of the lifetime of medium-heavy hypernuclei that were hyper-fragments produced by fission or break-up from heavy hypernuclei initially produced with a 2.34 GeV photon-beam incident on thin Fe, Cu, Ag, and Bi target foils. For each event, fragments were detected in coincident pairs by a low-pressure multi-wire proportional chamber system. The lifetime was extracted from decay time spectrum formed by the difference of the time zeros between the pairs. The measured lifetime from each target is actually a statistical average over a range of mass with mean about 1/2 of the target mass and appears to be a constant of about 200 ps. Although this result cannot exclude unexpected shorter or longer lifetimes for some specific hypernuclei or hypernuclear states, it shows that a systematic decrease in lifetime as hypernuclear mass increases is not a general feature for hypernuclei with mean mass up to A ≈ 130 . On the other hand, the success of this experiment and its technique shows that the time delayed fissions observed and used by all the lifetime measurements done so far on heavy hypernuclei could likely have originated from hyper-fragments lighter than the assumed masses.

The missing mass spectroscopy of the HeΛ7 hypernucleus was performed using the Li7(e, e ′K+)HeΛ7 reaction at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility Hall C. The Λ- binding energy of the ground-state (1/2+) was determined with a smaller error than that of the previous measurement, being BΛ=5.55±0.10stat.±0.11sys.MeV. The experiment also provided new insight into charge symmetry breaking in p-shell hypernuclear systems. Finally, a peak at BΛ=3.65±0.20stat. ±0.11sys.MeV was observed and assigned as a mixture of 3/2+ and 5/2+ states, confirming the "gluelike" behavior of Λ, which makes an unstable state in He6 stable against neutron emission.

In a common clinical setting, conventional absorption-based imaging provides relatively good contrast between bonelike and soft-tissue materials. The reliability of material differentiation, however, is hampered when materials with similar absorption properties are scanned. This problem can be addressed by utilizing a spectral imaging technique whereby multiple X-ray measurements are taken at different beam conditions. In this work, we discuss the possibility of using a spectral imaging approach in a grating-based, differential-phase contrast-imaging (DPCI) modality. Two approaches, dual exposure with a conventional flat-panel detector (FPD) and a single exposure with a photon-counting energy-resolving detector (PCD), were reviewed. The feasibility of a single-exposure DPCI and a two-bin PCD setup was assessed quantitatively by a least-squares minimization algorithm applied to an X-ray diffraction pattern. It was shown that a two-peak-shaped X-ray spectrum can allow PCDs to be placed unambiguously at single Talbot distances making it possible to simultaneously detect photons in each energy bin with comparable efficiencies. The results of this work can help build a bridge between two rapidly developing imaging modalities, X-ray spectral imaging and X-ray DPCI.

Spectroscopy of a Be-10(Lambda) hypernucleus was carried out at JLab Hall C using the (e, e' K+) reaction. A new magnetic spectrometer system (SPL+ HES+ HKS), specifically designed for high resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy, was used to obtain an energy spectrum with a resolution of similar to 0.78 MeV (FWHM). The well-calibrated spectrometer system of the present experiment using p(e, e' K+)Lambda, Sigma(0) reactions allowed us to determine the energy levels; and the binding energy of the ground-state peak (mixture of 1(-) and 2(-) states) was found to be B-Lambda = 8.55 +/- 0.07(stat.) +/- 0.11(sys.) MeV. The result indicates that the ground-state energy is shallower than that of an emulsion study by about 0.5 MeV which provides valuable experimental information on the charge symmetry breaking effect in the Lambda N interaction.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of a novel four-material decomposition technique for assessing the vulnerability of plaque with two contrast materials spectral computer tomography (CT) using two independent markers: plaque's inflammation and spotty calcification. A simulation study was conducted using an energy-sensitive photon-counting detector for k-edge imaging of the coronary arteries. In addition to detecting the inflammation status, which is known as a biological marker of a plaque's vulnerability, we use spotty calcium concentration as an independent marker to test a plaque's vulnerability. We have introduced a new method for detecting and quantifying calcium concentrations in the presence of two contrast materials (iodine and gold), calcium and soft tissue background. In this method, four-material decomposition was performed on a pixel-by-pixel basis, assuming there was an arbitrary mixture of materials in the voxel. The concentrations of iodine and gold were determined by the k-edge material decomposition based on the maximum likelihood method. The calibration curves of the attenuation coefficients, with respect to the concentrations of different materials, were used to separate the calcium signal from both contrast materials and different soft tissues in the mixtures. Three different materials (muscle, blood and lipid) were independently used as soft tissue. The simulations included both ideal and more realistic energy resolving detectors to measure the polychromatic photon spectrum in single slice parallel beam geometry. The ideal detector was used together with a 3 cm diameter digital phantom to demonstrate the decomposition method while a more realistic detector and a 33 × 24 cm(2) digital chest phantom were simulated to validate the vulnerability assessment technique. A 120 kVp spectrum was generated to produce photon flux sufficient for detecting contrast materials above the k-edges of iodine (33.2 keV) and gold (80.7 keV). By performing simulations on a 3 cm diameter digital phantom, we successfully identified four materials that were simultaneously present in the mixture at different proportions and in multiple locations on the phantom. Quantitative analysis with a chest digital phantom showed that the results for iodine, gold and calcium were highly correlated with the known concentrations. The analysis revealed a potentially powerful technique for assessing a plaque's vulnerability with two independent markers. High correlation and low relative errors between calculated and known materials' concentrations showed that the method is feasible. This technique can potentially have a high clinical impact.

Since the 1st generation experiment, E89-009, which was successfully carried out as a pilot experiment of (e,e'K+) hypernuclear spectroscopy at JLab Hall C in 2000, precision hypernuclear spectroscopy by the (e,e'K+) reactions made considerable progress. It has evolved to the 2nd generation experiment, E01-011, in which a newly constructed high resolution kaon spectrometer (HKS) was installed and the “Tilt method” was adopted in order to suppress large electromagnetic background and to run with high luminosity. Preliminary high-resolution spectra of 7 Λ He and 28 Λ Al together with that of 12 Λ B that achieved resolution better than 500 keV(FWHM) were obtained. The third generation experiment, E05-115, has completed data taking with an experimental setup combining a new splitter magnet, high resolution electron spectrometer (HES) and the HKS used in the 2nd generation experiment. The data were accumulated with targets of 7 Li, 9 Be, 10 B, 12 C and 52 Cr as well as with those of CH 2 and H 2 O for calibration. The analysis is under way with particular emphasis of determining precision absolute hypernuclear masses. In this article, hypernuclear spectroscopy program in the wide mass range at JLab Hall C that has undergone three generation is described.

T. Gogami1 ∗, P. Achenbach2, A. Ahmidouch3, I. Albayrak4, D. Androic5, A. Asaturyan6, R. Asaturyan6, O. Ates4, P. Baturin7, R. Badui7, W. Boeglin7, J. Bono7, E. Brash8, P. Carter8, C. Chen4, A. Chiba1, E. Christy4, S. Danagoulian3, R. De Leo10, D. Doi1, M. Elaasar11, R. Ent9, Y. Fujii1, M. Fujita1, M. Furic5, M. Gabrielyan7, L. Gan12, F. Garibaldi13, D. Gaskell9, A. Gasparian3, O. Hashimoto1, T. Horn9, B. Hu14, Ed. V. Hungerford21, M. Jones9, H. Kanda1, M. Kaneta1, S. Kato19, M. Kawai1, D. Kawama1, H. Khanal7, M. Kohl4, A. Liyanage4, W. Luo14, K. Maeda1, A. Margaryan6, P. Markowitz7, T. Maruta1, A. Matsumura1, V. Maxwell7, A. Mkrtchyan6, H. Mkrtchyan6, S. Nagao1, S. N. Nakamura1, A. Narayan15, C. Neville7, G. Niculescu16, M. I. Niculescu16, A. Nunez7, Nuruzzaman15, Y. Okayasu1, T. Petkovic5, J. Pochodzalla2, X. Qiu14, J. Reinhold7, V. M. Rodriguez17, C. Samanta18, B. Sawatzky9, T. Seva5, A. Shichijo1, V. Tadevosyan6, L. Tang4, N. Taniya1, K. Tsukada1, M. Veilleux8, W. Vulcan9, F. R. Wesselmann20, S. A. Wood9, T. Yamamoto1, L. Ya4, Z. Ye4, K. Yokota1, L. Yuan4, S. Zhamkochyan6 and L. Zhu4

Material decomposition in absorption-based X-ray CT imaging suffers certain inefficiencies when differentiating among soft tissue materials. To address this problem, decomposition techniques turn to spectral CT, which has gained popularity over the last few years. Although proven to be more effective, such techniques are primarily limited to the identification of contrast agents and soft and bone-like materials. In this work, we introduce a novel conditional likelihood, material-decomposition method capable of identifying any type of material objects scanned by spectral CT. The method takes advantage of the statistical independence of spectral data to assign likelihood values to each of the materials on a pixel-by-pixel basis. It results in likelihood images for each material, which can be further processed by setting certain conditions or thresholds, to yield a final material-diagnostic image. The method can also utilize phase-contrast CT (PCI) data, where measured absorption and phase-shift information can be treated as statistically independent datasets. In this method, the following cases were simulated: (i) single-scan PCI CT, (ii) spectral PCI CT, (iii) absorption-based spectral CT, and (iv) single-scan PCI CT with an added tumor mass. All cases were analyzed using a digital breast phantom; although, any other objects or materials could be used instead. As a result, all materials were identified, as expected, according to their assignment in the digital phantom. Materials with similar attenuation or phase-shift values (e.g., glandular tissue, skin, and tumor masses) were especially successfully when differentiated by the likelihood approach.

Background: In the absence of accurate data on the free two-body hyperon-nucleon interaction, the spectra of hypernuclei provides information on the details of the effective hyperon-nucleon interaction.Purpose: To obtain a high-resolution binding-energy spectrum for the ${}^{9}\mathrm{Be}(e,{e}^{\ensuremath{'}}{K}^{+})_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{9}\mathrm{Li}$ reaction.Method: Electroproduction of the hypernucleus $_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{9}\mathrm{Li}$ has been studied for the first time with sub-MeV energy resolution in Hall A at Jefferson Lab on a $^{9}\mathrm{Be}$ target. In order to increase the counting rate and to provide unambiguous kaon identification, two superconducting septum magnets and a ring imaging Cherenkov detector were added to the Hall A standard equipment.Results: The cross section to low-lying states of $_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{9}\mathrm{Li}$ is concentrated within 3 MeV of the ground state and can be fit with four peaks. The positions of the doublets agree with theory while a disagreement could exist with respect to the relative strengths of the peaks in the doublets. The $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ separation energy, ${B}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$, of $8.36\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08$ (stat.) $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08$ (syst.) MeV was measured, in agreement with an earlier experiment.

Since the pioneering experiment E89-009 studying hypernuclear spectroscopy using the (e, e’K+) reaction was completed, two additional experiments, E01-011 and E05-115, were performed at Jefferson Lab. These later experiments used a modified experimental design, the "tilt method", to dramatically suppress the large electromagnetic background, and allowed for a substantial increase in luminosity. Additionally, a new kaon spectrometer, HKS (E01-011), a new electron spectrometer, HES, and a new splitting magnet (E05-115) were added to produce new data sets of precision, high-resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy. All three experiments obtained a spectrum for 12B-Lambda, which is the most characteristic p-shell hypernucleus and is commonly used for calibration. Independent analyses of these different experiments demonstrate excellent consistency and provide the clearest level structure to date of this hypernucleus as produced by the (e, e’K+) reaction. This paper presents details of these experiments, and the extraction and analysis of the observed 12B-Lambda spectrum.

Phase contrast imaging (PCI) technology has emerged over the last decade as a novel imaging technique capable of probing phase characteristics of an object as complimentary information to conventional absorption properties. In this work, we identified and provided a rationale for optimization of key parameters that determine the performance of a Talbot-Lau PCI system. The study used the Fresnel wave propagation theory and system geometry to predict optimal grating alignment conditions necessary for producing maximum-phase contrast. The moire fringe pattern frequency and angular orientation produced in the X-ray detector plane were studied as functions of the gratings’ axial rotation. The effect of axial displacement between source-to-phase (L) and phase-to-absorption (d) gratings, on system contrast, was discussed in detail. The L-d regions of highest contrast were identified, and the dependence of contrast on the energy of the X-ray spectrum was also studied. The predictions made in this study were tested experimentally and showed excellent agreement. The results indicated that the PCI system performance is highly sensitive to alignment. The rationale and recommendations made should serve as guidance in design, development, and optimization of Talbot-Lau PCI systems.

A Lambda hyperon which has a strangeness can be bound in deep inside of a nucleus since a Lambda does not suffer from the Pauli exclusion principle from nucleons. Thus, a Lambda could be a useful tool to investigate inside of a nucleus. Since 2000, Lambda hypernuclear spectroscopic experiments by the (e, e'K+) reaction have been performed at the experimental Hall C in Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab Hall C). An experiment, JLab E05-115 was carried out to investigate Lambda hypernuclei with a wide mass range (the mass number, A = 7, 9, 10, 12, 52). The latest analysis status of JLab E05-115 experiment is discussed in the present article.

We investigated the effect of different imaging parameters, such as dose, beam energy, energy resolution and the number of energy bins, on the image quality of K-edge spectral computed tomography (CT) of gold nanoparticles (GNP) accumulated in an atherosclerotic plaque. A maximum likelihood technique was employed to estimate the concentration of GNP, which served as a targeted intravenous contrast material intended to detect the degree of the plaque's inflammation. The simulation studies used a single-slice parallel beam CT geometry with an x-ray beam energy ranging between 50 and 140 kVp. The synthetic phantoms included small (3 cm in diameter) cylinder and chest (33 × 24 cm2) phantoms, where both phantoms contained tissue, calcium and gold. In the simulation studies, GNP quantification and background (calcium and tissue) suppression tasks were pursued. The x-ray detection sensor was represented by an energy resolved photon counting detector (e.g., CdZnTe) with adjustable energy bins. Both ideal and more realistic (12% full width at half maximum (FWHM) energy resolution) implementations of the photon counting detector were simulated. The simulations were performed for the CdZnTe detector with a pixel pitch of 0.5-1 mm, which corresponds to a performance without significant charge sharing and cross-talk effects. The Rose model was employed to estimate the minimum detectable concentration of GNPs. A figure of merit (FOM) was used to optimize the x-ray beam energy (kVp) to achieve the highest signal-to-noise ratio with respect to the patient dose. As a result, the successful identification of gold and background suppression was demonstrated. The highest FOM was observed at the 125 kVp x-ray beam energy. The minimum detectable GNP concentration was determined to be approximately 1.06 mol mL-1(0.21 mg mL-1) for an ideal detector and about 2.5 mol mL-1(0.49 mg mL-1) for a more realistic (12% FWHM) detector. The studies show the optimal imaging parameters at the lowest patient dose using an energy resolved photon counting detector to image GNP in an atherosclerotic plaque. © 2014 Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.

An experiment with a newly developed high-resolution kaon spectrometer and a scattered electron spectrometer with a novel configuration was performed in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. The ground state of a neutron-rich hypernucleus, (Λ)(7)He, was observed for the first time with the (e, e'K+) reaction with an energy resolution of ~0.6 MeV. This resolution is the best reported to date for hypernuclear reaction spectroscopy. The (Λ)(7)He binding energy supplies the last missing information of the A = 7, T = 1 hypernuclear isotriplet, providing a new input for the charge symmetry breaking effect of the ΛN potential.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of accurate breast tissue compositional characterization by using spectral-distortion-corrected dual energy images from a photon-counting spectral CT. Methods: Thirty eight postmortem breasts were imaged with a Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CZT)-based photon-counting spectral CT system at beam energy of 100 kVp. The energy-resolved detector sorted photons into low and high energy bins with a splitting energy of 42 keV. The estimated mean glandular dose (MGD) for each breast was approximately 2.0 mGy. Dual energy technique was used to decompose breast tissue into water, lipid, and protein contents. Two image-based methods were investigated to improve the accuracy of tissue compositional characterization. The first method simply limited the recorded spectra up to 90 keV. This reduced the pulse pile-up artifacts but it has some dose penalty. The second method corrected the spectral information of all measured photons by using a spectral distortion correction technique. Breasts were then chemically decomposed into their respective water, lipid, and protein contents, which was used as the reference standard. The accuracy of the tissue compositional measurement with spectral CT was evaluated by the root-mean-square (RMS) errors in percentage composition. Results: The errors in quantitative material decomposition were significantly reduced after the appropriate image processing methods.more » As compared to the chemical analysis as the reference standard, the averages of the RMS errors were estimated to be 15.5%, 3.3%, and 2.8% for the raw, energy-limited, and spectral-corrected images, respectively. Conclusion: Spectral CT can be used to accurately quantify the water, lipid, and protein contents in breast tissues by implementing a spectral distortion correction algorithm. The tissue compositional information can potentially improve the sensitivity and specificity for breast cancer diagnosis.« less

The coincidence experiment E01‐011 (HKS), conducted in Hall C at Jefferson Laboratory in fall 2005, represents a new generation of high resolution Λ hypernuclei spectroscopy experiments. It exploits the benefits of the associated electroproduction mechanism via the (e, e′K+) reaction. Compared with the widely studied meson‐induced reactions, the higher quality quasi‐continuous electron beam produces the potential for high resolution energy spectra. Further, it provides information complementary to meson‐induced reactions: light neutron‐rich and mirror hypernuclei, enhanced population of states accessible by spin‐flip channels. The newly introduced tilt method of the electron spectrometer (ENGE) greatly reduced the rate of the background electrons due to Bremsstrahlung and Mo/ller scattering. A brand new high resolution kaon spectrometer (HKS) together with a sophisticated detector package yielded excellent PID and momentum resolution. This resulted in quality missing mass spectra with energy resolution of...

One of the main tasks of nuclear physics is the study of subatomic particles and their interactions. Nowadays, the fundamental theory of strong interactions is a particularly interesting subject in the field. At the current moment, such a theory is not complete yet. It describes very well the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interactions, which were intensively studied over the last several decades. In our modern, technically advanced world the research gravitates towards the higher energies, reaching deeper inside of the nuclear structure. About sixty years ago the strong interaction was associated with the interaction between nucleons responsible for holding those nucleons together within the nuclear volume. However, with discovery of mesons and strange particles, the picture has changed. The proof of bound states of strange baryons (Λ particles) with nucleons revealed a broad class of particles participating in the strong interaction, called hadrons. The rich variety of hadron interactions raises an important topic in modern nuclear physics which strives for providing a deep insight into nuclear matter structure. The analysis of the interaction of a strange baryon, called a hyperon, with a nucleon delivers new knowledge of nuclear properties, which were not understood with widely studied nucleon-nucleon interactions. The direct approach formore » creating an interaction of free hyperons with nucleons in the target is not an easy task in experimental nuclear physics. The relatively short lifetime of free hyperons, which can only be produced as a secondary beam, leads to extremely low statistics. Nowadays, the best known method of hyperon-nucleon interaction study is the formation of hyperons inside of the nucleus. The bound hyperon serves as a probe of nuclear properties of such complex nuclear systems called hypernuclei. Hypernuclear physics itself is a sub-area of nuclear physics, which studies such bound systems. It employs the rich knowledge of the nucleon-nucleon interaction and at the same time performs a generalization of the above mentioned interaction for systems with a third quark flavor – strangeness [1]. Production reactions of Λ particles and hypernuclei, as well as spectroscopy and decay modes, provide valuable information on the hyperon interaction. For example, analysis of Λ and hypernuclear decay modes gives knowledge of the properties of weak interactions. The study of the energy of ground and excited states exposes the laws of baryon distribution inside of the nucleus. Investigation of ΛN and ΛΛ potentials is important for baryon-baryon theories that include strange quarks, e.g. SU(3). These potentials are more short-ranged than the ones for NN and therefore the additional degrees of freedom play an essential role.« less

The first measurement of proton, pion, and kaon associated fission of Bi nuclei has been performed in a photon energy range 1. 45 < E γ < 1. 55 GeV. The fission probabilities are compared with an inclusive fission probabilities obtained with photons, protons and pions. The fission probability of Bi nuclei in coincidence with kaons is 0. 18 ± 0. 06 which is ∼3 times larger than the proton and pion associated fission probabilities and ∼2 times larger than inclusive ones. The kaon associated excess fission events are explained in terms of bound Λ residual states and their weak nonmesonic decays.

An experimental study of the 16O(e,e'K^+)16N_Lambda reaction has been performed at Jefferson Lab. A thin film of falling water was used as a target. This permitted a simultaneous measurement of the p(e,e'K^+)Lambda,Sigma_0 exclusive reactions and a precise calibration of the energy scale. A ground-state binding energy of 13.76 +/- 0.16 MeV was obtained for 16N_Lambda with better precision than previous measurements on the mirror hypernucleus 16O_Lambda. Precise energies have been determined for peaks arising from a Lambda in s and p orbits coupled to the p_{1/2} and p_{3/2} hole states of the 15N core nucleus.

An experiment measuring electroproduction of hypernuclei has been performed in Hall A at Jefferson Lab on a $^{12}$C target. In order to increase counting rates and provide unambiguous kaon identification two superconducting septum magnets and a Ring Imaging CHerenkov detector (RICH) were added to the Hall A standard equipment. An unprecedented energy resolution of less than 700 keV FWHM has been achieved. Thus, the observed \lam{12}{B} spectrum shows for the first time identifiable strength in the core-excited region between the ground-state {\it s}-wave $\Lambda$ peak and the 11 MeV {\it p}-wave $\Lambda$ peak.

An experimental technique for single‐Λ spectroscopy of the light and medium‐heavy mass Λ‐hypernuclei developed at the Jlab by the E01‐011 Collaboration has been described. The technique is based on the electroproduction of Λ‐hypernuclei by the (e,e′K+) reaction and newly constructed 2nd generation high resolution large solid angle kaon spectrometer (HKS).

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of an accurate measurement of water, lipid, and protein composition of breast tissue using a photon-counting spectral computed tomography (CT) with spectral distortion corrections. Methods: Thirty-eight postmortem breasts were imaged with a cadmium-zinc-telluride-based photon-counting spectral CT system at 100 kV. The energy-resolving capability of the photon-counting detector was used to separate photons into low and high energy bins with a splitting energy of 42 keV. The estimated mean glandular dose for each breast ranged from 1.8 to 2.2 mGy. Two spectral distortion correction techniques were implemented, respectively, on the raw images to correct the nonlinear detector response due to pulse pileup and charge-sharing artifacts. Dual energy decomposition was then used to characterize each breast in terms of water, lipid, and protein content. In the meantime, the breasts were chemically decomposed into their respective water, lipid, and protein components to provide a gold standard for comparison with dual energy decomposition results. Results: The accuracy of the tissue compositional measurement with spectral CT was determined by comparing to the reference standard from chemical analysis. The averaged root-mean-square error in percentage composition was reduced from 15.5% to 2.8% after spectral distortion corrections. Conclusions: The results indicate that spectral CT can be used to quantify the water, lipid, and protein content in breast tissue. The accuracy of the compositional analysis depends on the applied spectral distortion correction technique.

The binding energy of 7ΛHe has been obtained for the first time with reaction spectroscopy using the (e, e'K+) reaction at Jefferson Lab's Hall C. A comparison among the binding energies of the A = 7 T = l iso-triplet hypernuclei, 7ΛHe, 7ΛLi*and 7ΛBe, is made and possible charge symmetry breaking (CSB) in the ΛN potential is discussed. For 7ΛHe and 7ΛBe, the shifts in binding energies are opposite to those predicted by a recent cluster model calculation, which assumes that the unexplained part of the binding energy difference between 4ΛH and 4ΛHe, is due to the CSB of the ΛN potential. Further examination of CSB in light hypernuclear systems is required both experimentally and theoretically.

Purpose: The feasibility of material decomposition in x‐ray spectral computed tomography for detection of vulnerable plaque was investigated.Methods: Simulations were performed for imaging of iodine, gold,calcium, and lipid with a photon counting Cadmium‐Zinc‐Telluride detector. Iodine is used to image the arterial tree, while the goldnanoparticles are used to detect plaque vulnerability to rupture. The concentrations of calcium and lipid in a plaque have been identified to be indicators of plaque's vulnerability to rupture. The four‐material decomposition was performed with the least square minimization technique, including prior calibration for each material. The measured concentrations using decomposition were compared to the known concentrations. Results: The results showed reliable identification of the materials of interest and good agreement in assessment of their concentrations. Measured lipid concentrations (Lm) were related to known lipid concentrations (Lk) as Lm=1.0319Lk−0.0031%. Conclusions: Spectral CT in conjuction with the least square minimization technique can potentially be used for detection of vulnerable plaque.

Purpose: Spectral CT was used to investigate the feasibility of detection of plaque vulnerability using goldnanoparticles.Calcium concentration in a plaque has been proposed as a marker for plaque vulnerability to rupture. A new method for quantification of calcium concentration was introduced in presence of iodine and gold. Methods: Single‐slice spectral CT from the photon counting Cadmium‐Zinc‐Telluride detector was simulated for different mixture solutions of iodine, gold, and calcium. A 120 kVp spectrum was generated to produce photon fluxes sufficient for detecting contrast materials above the k‐edges of iodine (33.2 keV) and gold (80.7 keV). The concentrations of both iodine and gold were determined by material decomposition based on the maximum likelihood method. Furthermore, calibration curves of Hounsfield units with respect to the concentrations of different mixtures were used to eliminate signal from contrast material and different tissue from the mixtures while simultaneously assessing the calcium concentration. Results: The described method yielded reliable estimates of calcium mixed with water, blood, and muscle. The average relative errors were approximately 6%. Only in a few cases the uncertainty reached up to 15%, which was due to the 5–10% uncertainty in measurements of iodine and gold concentrations. Conclusions: The study showed that it is possible to quantify calcium concentration in the presence of iodine and gold. This demonstrated the potential feasibility of the method for assessing plaque vulnerability.

Hypernuclear spectroscopy with electron beam at JLab Hall C has been studied since 2000. The first experiment, JLab E89-009, demonstrated the possibility of the (e, e′ K+) reaction for hypernuclear spectroscopy by achieving an energy resolution of better than 1 MeV (FWHM). The second experiment, JLab E01-011 employed a newly constructed high resolution kaon spectrometer and introduced a vertically tilted electron arm setup to avoid electrons from bremsstrahlung and Moeller scattering. The setup allowed us to have 10 times yield rate and 4 times better signal to accidental ratio with expected energy resolution of 400 keV (FWHM). The third experiment, JLab E05-115 will be performed in 2009 with employing newly constructed high resolution electron spectrometer and a new charge-separation magnet. With the fully customized third generation experimental setup, we can study a variety of targets up to medium-heavy ones such as 52 Cr .