1,720,981 research outputs found
Quasi-monochromatic x-rays for diagnostic radiology
No full textMonochromatic x-ray beams are desirable in various fields of diagnostic radiology; in fact a reduction of the dose and an enhancement of the contrast could be achieved. In this work two different methods to monochromatize x-ray beams produced by conventional tubes have been compared. In the first one the beam is obtained via Bragg diffraction on mosaic crystal and in the second one by attenuating the polychromatic beam with aluminium filters. We have simulated quasi-monochromatic x-ray spectra by setting suitable values of Bragg's angle to obtain beams tuned to 20, 30, 40 and 50 keV with the SHADOW code, an x-ray tracing program designed to study the propagation and the interaction of a photon beam through an optical system. We have validated such a program by comparing some calculated data with measurements carried out on an experimental apparatus. Attenuated polychromatic x-ray spectra have been simulated by setting appropriate values of aluminium filters and potential with the SPECTRUM PROCESSOR, the software version of the Catalogue of Spectral Data for Diagnostic X-Rays, which provides radiographic x-ray spectra that can be attenuated with several material filters. The relation between the energy resolution and the flux as a function of the mean energy has been investigated and results have been compared. Results show that quasi-monochromatic x-ray beams produced via Bragg diffraction exhibit, for a given mean energy and energy resolution, a higher total flux compared to attenuated spectra
Comment on "Perspectives of medical X-ray imaging"
No full textIn the paper “Perspectives of medical X-ray imaging” (Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 466 (2001) 99) the authors infer, from simple approximations, that the use of HOPG monochromator has no advantage in mammography compared to existing systems. We show that in order to compare imaging properties of different X-ray sources it is necessary to evaluate the spectra after the attenuation of the tissue to be imaged. Indeed, quasi-monochromatic X-ray sources have the potential to enhance image contrast and to reduce patient dose
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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No full textIt has been demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally that mammographic x-ray imaging with monochromatic beams could help to improve subject contrast and to reduce the dose delivered to the patient. To this aim, quasi-monochromatic x-rays have been produced in the mammographic energy range by making use of a conventional W- anode, Be-window x-ray tube and a monochromator optical system based on an array of mosaic crystals. The mosaic crystals are highly oriented pyrolytic graphite which provide a gain in flux as compared to perfect crystals because of their higher integrated reflectivity. The monochromator optical system consists of an array of three crystals which has been assembled so as to produce in the image plane an irradiation field obtained with adjacent reflected beams. The field size reflected by each crystal on the image plane is limited by the desired energy resolution along the horizontal direction and by the crystal size along the perpendicular one. The energy spread of the reflected beams is about 10 percent. The characteristics of the system in terms of energy resolution and fluence rate are reported. Radiographs of test phantoms imaged with quasi-monochromatic beams in the energy range of 18-21 keV have been obtained with a conventional screen/film combination. To remove the spatial non-uniformities of the entire irradiation field a correction procedure has been applied.Large field quasi- monochromatic x-ray beams with the same flux of a standard Mo-anode tube with an anode current of about 600 mA
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Focusing properties of mosaic crystals
No full textX-ray instruments with mosaic crystals are proposed and used in many applications in synchrotron radiation, medical physics and astrophysics. These crystals present a parafocusing of the x-ray beam in the diffraction plane, which is thoroughly analyzed in this paper. We studied the evolution of the cross- section of the diffracted beam, using several samples of Highly Oriented Pyrolythic Graphite crystals coming from different suppliers. The experiment has been performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (beamline BM5). The results clearly show a parafocusing effect in the 1:1 magnification ratio along the diffraction plane and a defocusing effect along the perpendicular plane. The secondary extinction coefficient is also measured
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