Microvascular morphology alteration using relaxation rate change with gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques cannot demonstrate microvascular alterations in mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus, the diagnosis of microvascular pathology commonly relies on postmortem. The purpose of this study was to evaluate alterations of microvascular structures in patients with AD using a 3T clinical MRI system with a commercially available contrast agent. Methods: Eleven patients with AD and 11 cognitively normal (CN) controls were included in this cross-sectional prospective study. R2 and R2* relaxation rate changes (∆R2 and ∆R2*) before and after a Gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agent injection were calculated from images obtained with a multi-echo turbo spin-echo sequence and multi-echo gradient-echo sequence to obtain microvascular index maps of blood volume fraction (BVf), mean vessel diameter (mVD), vessel size index (VSI), mean vessel density (Q), and microvessel-weighted imaging (MvWI). Two-sample t-test was used to compare those values between the two groups. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between those values and age. Results: BVfs at the corpus callosum and at the thalamus were significantly increased in the AD group (P=0.024 and P=0.005, respectively). BVf at the gray matter (P=0.020) and white matter area (P=0.012) were also significantly increased in the AD group compared with the CN group. MvWIs at the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus were significantly increased in the AD group compared with the CN group (P=0.020 and P=0.006, respectively). Voxel-based analysis showed both mVD and VSI were significantly decreased at the prefrontal lobe in the AD group. Q were not significant difference between CN and AD groups. MvWI were significantly positively correlated with age. Conclusions: Microvascular index was a useful non-invasive method to evaluate microvascular morphology alteration. The microvascular morphology of AD was manifested as increasing BVf and microvessel-weighted.

Operational status of and upgrade plan for the 100-MeV proton linac at the Korea multi-purpose accelerator complex.

The report presents the operation status of and upgrade plan for the 100-MeV proton linac at the Korea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex (KOMAC). First, an operation history of the 100-MeV linac since its commissioning in 2013, such as operation hours, user services, machine availabilities, and downtimes, is discussed. Second, the status of the beamlines in service or under development is described in a detailed manner. Finally, the Korea Spallation Neutron Source (KSNS), which is part of the upgrade plan for the 100-MeV proton linac to expand its utilization fields, is discussed.

Compact RF ion source for industrial electrostatic ion accelerator.

Korea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex is developing a single-ended electrostatic ion accelerator to irradiate gaseous ions, such as hydrogen and nitrogen, on materials for industrial applications. ELV type high voltage power supply has been selected. Because of the limited space, electrical power, and robust operation, a 200 MHz RF ion source has been developed. In this paper, the accelerator system, test stand of the ion source, and its test results are described.

NMR Observation of Mobile Protons in Proton-Implanted ZnO Nanorods.

The diffusion properties of H(+) in ZnO nanorods are investigated before and after 20 MeV proton beam irradiation by using (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Herein, we unambiguously observe that the implanted protons occupy thermally unstable site of ZnO, giving rise to a narrow NMR line at 4.1 ppm. The activation barrier of the implanted protons was found to be 0.46 eV by means of the rotating-frame spin-lattice relaxation measurements, apparently being interstitial hydrogens. High-energy beam irradiation also leads to correlated jump diffusion of the surface hydroxyl group of multiple lines at ~1 ppm, implying the presence of structural disorder at the ZnO surface.

Compact microwave ion source for industrial applications.

A 2.45 GHz microwave ion source for ion implanters has many good properties for industrial application, such as easy maintenance and long lifetime, and it should be compact for budget and space. But, it has a dc current supply for the solenoid and a rf generator for plasma generation. Usually, they are located on high voltage platform because they are electrically connected with beam extraction power supply. Using permanent magnet solenoid and multi-layer dc break, high voltage deck and high voltage isolation transformer can be eliminated, and the dose rate on targets can be controlled by pulse duty control with semiconductor high voltage switch. Because the beam optics does not change, beam transfer components, such as focusing elements and beam shutter, can be eliminated. It has shown the good performances in budget and space for industrial applications of ion beams.

Compact magnetic quadrupole triplet for a low-energy high-current ion beam transport.

It is a difficult task to design a conventional quadrupole triplet as compact and simple as solenoids for high-current ion beam transport. In the design of a quadrupole triplet presented here, we installed three poles with the same orientation on a yoke and these were excited using two coils located between poles. This new design allows the easier fabrication of a compact quadrupole triplet compared to the conventional design. Simple equations for the preliminary design were obtained. A prototype with an aperture radius of 55 mm and a focusing power of 3.3 m(-1) for 50 keV proton beams was designed, fabricated, and tested. The measured field profile agreed well with the calculated profile. The length of the compact magnetic quadrupole triplet was comparable with a solenoid, and its electrical power consumption was about 40% that of a solenoid.

Test results of the proton injector of the Proton Engineering Frontier Project accelerator.

One of the goals of the Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) is to develop a 100 MeV proton accelerator. As a low energy part, a 20 MeV proton linac has been developed and tested. The 20 MeV accelerator consists of a 50 keV proton injector, a 3 MeV radio frequency quadrupole, and a 20 MeV drift tube linac. The proton injector includes a duoplasmatron type ion source and a low energy beam transport. After a preliminary test with 1 mA peak current of the 20 MeV accelerator, the proton injector was modified with the goal of increasing the 20 MeV beam current up to 20 mA peak value. The modifications include the reduction of the proton injector length, installation of a beam current monitor, and electron trap and supplement of the solenoid and steering magnets. In this paper, the modifications of the PEFP proton injector are described and initial test results are presented.