Characterization and Test of a Data Acquisition System for PET

A small Positron Emission Tomography demonstrator based on LYSO slabs and Silicon Photomultiplier matrices is under construction at the University and INFN of Pisa. In this paper we present the characterization results of the read-out electronics and of the detection system. Two SiPM matrices, composed by 8 × 8 SiPM pixels, 1.5 mm pitch, have been coupled one to one to a LYSO crystals array. Custom Front-End ASICs were used to read the 64 channels of each matrix. Data from each Front-End were multiplexed and sent to a DAQ board for the digital conversion; a motherboard collects the data and communicates with a host computer through a USB port. Specific tests were carried out on the system in order to assess its performance. Futhermore we have measured some of the most important parameters of the system for PET application.

Copy Number Variations in DISC1 and DISC1-Interacting Partners in Major Mental Illness

Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of the patients, relatives and control individuals who participated in the study. We are indebted to the late Prof. Walter Muir, Chair of Developmental Psychiatry and Honorary Consultant in Learning Disability Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, who initiated these studies and whose work was dedicated to the welfare of the patients who generously participated. We are also grateful to Mrs. Pat Malloy for her assistance with DNA collection and MAQ assays screening of the Scottish samples. The Scottish sample collection was supported by a grant from the Chief Scientist Office (CSO), part of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates. This research was funded by grants from the CSO to B.S.P. (grant CZB/4/610), The Academy of Medical Sciences/Wellcome Trust to M.J. (grant R41455) and The RS Macdonald Charitable Trust (grant D21419 together with J.H.), the Swedish Research Council (grants 2003-5158 and 2006-4472), the Medical Faculty, Umeå University, and the County Councils of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, Sweden, as well as by grants from the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO-F), the Industrial Research Fund (IWT) and the Special Research Fund of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. M.J. is funded by a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship for MB PhD graduates (R42811). We acknowledge the contribution of the personnel of the VIB Genetic Service Facility (http://www.vibgeneticservicefacility.be/) for the genetic analysis of the Swedish samples. Research nurses Gunnel Johansson, Lotta Kronberg, Tage Johansson and Lisbeth Bertilsson are thankfully acknowledged for their help and expertise. The Betula Study was funded by the Swedish Research Council (grants 345-2003-3883 and 315-2004-6977). We also acknowledge the contribution by the staff in the Betula project

Health care, information needs, and outreach: reaching Ohio's rural citizens

As a rural state, Ohio has a vital interest in addressing rural health and information needs. NetWellness is a Web-based consumer health information service that focuses on the needs of the residents of Ohio. Health sciences faculty from the state's three Carnegie Research I universities—University of Cincinnati, Case Western Reserve University, and The Ohio State University—create and evaluate content and provide Ask an Expert service to all visitors. Through partnerships at the state and local levels, involving public, private, commercial, and noncommercial organizations, NetWellness has grown from a regional demonstration project in 1995 to a key statewide service. Collaboration with public libraries, complemented by alliances with kindergarten through twelfth grade agencies, makes NetWellness Ohio's essential health information resource.

Multiple Perspectives on Academic Service-Learning Partnerships at the American University in Cairo: A Mixed Method Study

This mixed method study aimed to redress the gap in the literature on academic service-learning partnerships, especially in Eastern settings. It utilized Enos and Morton's (2003) theoretical framework to explore these partnerships at the American University in Cairo (AUC). Seventy-nine community partners, administrators, faculty members, and students from a diverse range of age, citizenship, racial, educational, and professional backgrounds participated in the study. Qualitative interviews were conducted with members of these four groups, and a survey with both close-ended and open-ended questions administered to students yielded 61 responses. Qualitative analyses revealed that the primary motivators for partners' engagement in service-learning partnerships included contributing to the community, enhancing students' learning and growth, and achieving the civic mission of the University. These partnerships were characterized by short-term relationships with partners' aspiring to progress toward long-term commitments. The challenges to these partnerships included issues pertaining to the institution, partnering organizations, culture, politics, pedagogy, students, and faculty members. Key strategies for improving these partnerships included institutionalizing service-learning in the University and cultivating an institutional culture supportive of community engagement. Quantitative analyses showed statistically significant relationships between students' scores on the Community Awareness and Interpersonal Effectiveness scales and their overall participation in community service activities inside and outside the classroom, as well as a statistically significant difference between their scores on the Community Awareness scale and department offering service-learning courses. The study's outcomes underscore the role of the local culture in shaping service-learning partnerships, as well as the role of both curricular and extracurricular activities in boosting students' awareness of their community and interpersonal effectiveness. Cultivating a culture of community engagement and building support mechanisms for engaged scholarship are among the critical steps required by public policy-makers in Egypt to promote service-learning in Egyptian higher education. Institutionalizing service-learning partnerships at AUC and enhancing the visibility of these partnerships on campus and in the community are essential to the future growth of these collaborations. Future studies should explore factors affecting community partners' satisfaction with these partnerships, top-down and bottom-up support to service-learning, the value of reflection to faculty members, and the influence of students' economic backgrounds on their involvement in service-learning partnerships.

Phosphane-free Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl imidazolesulfonates with arylboronic acids and potassium aryltrifluoroborates under aqueous conditions

Aryl imidazole-1-sulfonates are efficiently cross-coupled with arylboronic acids and potassium aryltrifluoroborates using only 0.5 mol % of oxime palladacycles 1 under aqueous conditions at 110 °C. Under these simple phosphane-free reaction conditions a wide array of biaryl derivatives has been prepared in high yields. This methodology allows in situ phenol sulfonation and one-pot Suzuki arylation as well as the employment of microwave irradiation conditions.

Let´s go the University Laboratory: a successful collaborative experience

Paper submitted to ICERI2013, the 6th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville (Spain), November 18-20, 2013.

An inverse method to obtain porosity, fibre diameter and density of fibrous sound absorbing materials

Characterization of sound absorbing materials is essential to predict its acoustic behaviour. The most commonly used models to do so consider the flow resistivity, porosity, and average fibre diameter as parameters to determine the acoustic impedance and sound absorbing coefficient. Besides direct experimental techniques, numerical approaches appear to be an alternative to estimate the material’s parameters. In this work an inverse numerical method to obtain some parameters of a fibrous material is presented. Using measurements of the normal incidence sound absorption coefficient and then using the model proposed by Voronina, subsequent application of basic minimization techniques allows one to obtain the porosity, average fibre diameter and density of a sound absorbing material. The numerical results agree fairly well with the experimental data.

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

The pamphlet-sized manuscript includes "The Book of Harvard" signed "Joseph Cummings, scriptis, Janr 7th 1767," an untitled two-page essay beginning, "Wisdom is ye Crown of life" and ending "Draught of Knowledge, let us with a laudable ambition, strive to excel each other in an ardent pursuit of Learning, then shall we raise to ourselves a monument of honest fame, which shall perish only in ye general wreak of nature," and on the last page, "An Accrostick" beginning "Jangling & Discord are thy Souls delight" and spelling out JAMES MITCHEL VARNUM dated July 3, 1767 and signed "The 3d edition revised & improved by Gove & Fogg."

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

Handwritten copy of the Book of Harvard written on one large sheet of paper and signed Boston, January 10th, 1767.

A catalogue of books [donated by Jasper Mauduit] in the library of Harvard College [at]: Cambridge in New England, 1765

This leatherbound volume lists books donated to the Harvard College Library by Jasper Mauduit, who served as an agent in London on behalf of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay. Entries are arranged alphabetically and by format; i.e. the first page lists all folios whose author, title, or keyword begin with "A," the next page lists all quartos beginning with "A," and the following page lists all "octavo &ca" volumes beginning with "A." The volume continues in a similar manner for each letter of the alphabet. Following a devastating fire in 1764 which destroyed most of the books in the Harvard College Library, Mauduit donated books, as well as money for the purchase of books, to the College. He also acted as an agent of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England and Parts Adjacent, using the £300 they donated for the rebuilding of the College library to select and purchase a large number of books. It is not known if the books listed in this catalog are those donated by Mauduit himself, or if they are the donations he purchased on behalf of the Society. The creator of this volume is unknown; although all entries are made in the same hand, the identity of the writer has not been determined. The label attached to the front cover, which refers to the Lime Street address of Mauduit's business in London, suggests that the list might have been prepared by Mauduit himself.

A catalogue of books in the College library: [which Benjamin Welles wished to read], 1797

In this small paper-bound catalog, Benjamin Welles (1781-1860) listed books in the Harvard College Library which he wished to read. He presumably compiled the list by consulting the Library's 1790 printed catalog, as the works are categorized according to subjects outlined in that catalog (Antiquities, Astronomy, Ancient Authors, Biography, Sacred Criticism, Ethics, Geography, Geometry, History, Nature, Travels / Voyages, Natural Law, Logic, Metaphysics, Miscellaneous Works, Dramatic, Phililogy, Natural Philosophy, Poetry, Rhetoric, and Theology). The final pages of Welles' catalog, which he titles "Another Selection," list additional volumes he wished to read. These are listed alphabetically, A - G. Some titles throughout the catalog have been marked with a "+" perhaps to indicate that Welles had read them.

Harvard Library bookplate collection, 1764-1960

This collection contains samples of bookplate labels that were pasted into books held in the libraries of Harvard University, dating from 1764 to 1960. The collection includes bookplates arranged chronologically and bookplates of the Harvard College Library and departmental libraries arranged alphabetically. The collection also contains correspondence related to bookplates, dating from 1918 to 1921, and a list of printed seals used in Harvard College Library. Some of the bookplates include handwritten inscriptions, while others are blank. There are six 18th century bookplates with inscriptions documenting gifts and bequests made following the 1764 fire that destroyed the bulk of Harvard's Library from Marblehead, Massachusetts, minister John Barnard (1681-1770; Harvard AB 1700); New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth (1696-1770; Harvard AB 1715); Portsmouth, New Hampshire, merchant Thomas Wibird (1706-1765; Harvard AB 1728); and merchant Thomas Lee (died 1787) of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The report of the committee about Harvard Coledge: presented to the Generall Court held the 3 of (3) month, 1654

Two folio-sized leaves with a handwritten draft of the May 3, 1654 report of a General Court Committee authorized to investigate the financial state of Harvard College. The report responds directly to eight questions raised in the September 10, 1653 Order of the General Court that established the Committee. The report provides summaries of Harvard's income sources and disbursements, offers recommendations regarding the President's salary and the allowances for the academic Fellows, steward, butler, and cook, and indicates specific contributions from local towns.