Abstract: The use of the most advanced technology in medical imaging results in the development of high performance detectors that can significantly improve the performance of the medical devices employed in hospitals. Scintillator crystals coupled to photodetectors remain to be essential detectors in terms of performance and cost for medical imaging applications in different imaging modalities. Recent advances in photodetectors result in an increase of the performance of the medical scanners. Solid state detectors can provide substantial performance improvement, but are more complex to integrate into clinical detectors due mainly to their higher cost. Solid state photodetectors (APDs, SiPMs) have made new detector concepts possible and have led to improvements in different imaging modalities. Recent advances in detectors for medical imaging are revised.

Abstract: This paper presents the design of a total absorption gamma-ray spectrometer for the determination of beta-decay intensity distributions of exotic nuclear species at the focal plane of the FAIR-NUSTAR Super Fragment Separator. The spectrometer is a key instrument in the DESPEC experiment and the proposed implementation follows extensive design studies and prototype tests. Two options were contemplated, based on Nal(TI) and LaBr3:Ce inorganic scintillation crystals respectively. Monte Carlo simulations and technical considerations determined the optimal configurations consisting of sixteen 15 x 15 x 25 cm(3) crystals for the Nal(Tl) option and one hundred and twenty-eight 5.5 x 5.5 x 11 cm(3) crystals for the LaBr3:Ce option. Minimization of dead material was crucial for maximizing the spectrometer full-energy peak efficiency. Module prototypes were build to verify constructional details and characterize their performance. The measured energy and timing resolution was found to agree rather well with estimates based on simulations of scintillation light transport and collection. The neutron sensitivity of the spectrometer, important when measuring beta-delayed neutron emitters, was investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulations.

Abstract: In this work we present the architecture and results of a fully digital Front End Electronics (FEE) read out system developed for the GALILEO array. The FEE system, developed in collaboration with the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) collaboration, is composed of three main blocks: preamplifiers, digitizers and preprocessing electronics. The slow control system contains a custom Linux driver, a dynamic library and a server implementing network services. This work presents the first results of the digital FEE system coupled with a GALILEO germanium detector, which has demonstrated the capability to achieve an energy resolution of 1.53% at an energy of 1.33 MeV, similar to the one obtained with a conventional analog system. While keeping a good performance in terms of energy resolution, digital electronics will allow to instrument the full GALILEO array with a versatile system with high integration and low power consumption and costs.

Abstract: We investigate the structure and formation of charmed meson--nucleus systems, with the aim of understanding the charmed meson-nucleon interactions and the properties of the charmed mesons in the nuclear medium. The (D) over bar mesic nuclei are of special interest, since they have tiny decay widths due to the absence of strong decays for the (D) over barN pair. Employing an effective model for the (D) over barN and DN interactions and solving the Klein-Gordon equation for (D) over bar and D in finite nuclei, we find that the D0-11B system has 1s and 2p mesic nuclear states and that the D0-11B system binds in a 1s state. In view of the forthcoming experiments by the PANDA and CBM Collaborations at the future FAIR facility and the J-PARC upgrade, we calculate the formation spectra of the [(D) over bar B--11] and [D-0-B-11] mesic nuclei for an antiproton beam on a C-12 target. Our results suggest that it is possible to observe the 2p D- mesic nuclear state with an appropriate experimental setup.

Abstract: We perform a search for near-threshold I (b) (0) resonances decaying to I (b) (-) pi (+) in a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1) collected by the LHCb experiment. We observe one resonant state, with the following properties: m(Xi b*0) – m (Xi b-) – m (pi+) = 15.727 +/- 0.068 (stat) +/- 0.023 (syst) MeV/c2, Gamma(Xi b*0) = 0.90 +/- 0.16 (stat) +/- 0.08 (syst) MeV. This confirms the previous observation by the CMS collaboration. The state is consistent with the J (P) = 3/2(+)aEuro integral I (b) (au 0) resonance expected in the quark model. This is the most precise determination of the mass and the first measurement of the natural width of this state. We have also measured the ratio sigma(pp -> Xi b*0 X)B(Xi b*0 -> Xi b-pi+)/sigma(pp -> Xi b- X) = 0.28 +/- 0.03 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst).