No abstract available

[en] The conference emphasized on-line data acquisition and triggering problems in high energy physics. Among the participants there was a clearly growing consensus that at present as systems become larger they require more attention from the beginning to overall system coherence and manageability issues. Given the interesting results on pixel silicon, neural networks, and parallel microprocessor based computers presented at Trieste, we speculate on some surprisingly simple, though still very radical, ideas on systems solutions for those huge detectors. The conference had 43 invited and 26 contributed papers. Most of the contributed papers were presented as posters due to the lack of time for session presentations. Refs, figs and tabs

[en] In a 2.5 events/μb exposure of a small 20 cm diameter, rapid cycling hydrogen bubble chamber equipped with high resolution optics, clear evidence is observed for the first time of the associated production of charmed particles, identified by their short decays. A significant excess of 12 events which we interpret as charm pairs corresponding to a total cross section of approx. 40 μb is seen above the expected strange particle background. In addition, 8 charged 3 prong events consistent with D^+- decay are observed with an expected background of approx. 2 events. (orig.)

No abstract available

[en] The FRONTier RADiography (FRONTRAD) collaboration is developing a digital system for mammography at the Elettra Synchrotron Light Source in Trieste. The system is based on a silicon microstrip detector array. The ASIC FROST (FRONTRAD Read Out sySTem) was developed as a collaboration between INFN Trieste and Aurelia Microelettronica and is designed to operate in single photon counting mode. FROST provides low-noise and high-gain performances and is able to work at incident photon rates higher than 100 kHz with almost 100% efficiency. The ASIC has been tested and the first images of mammographic test objects will be shown. The acquisition time per breast image should be of about 10 s

[en] Results on the longitudinal-momentum distributions of π^±, K^±, proton antiprotons produced in 360 GeV/c π^-p interactions are presented. They are compared other available data and discussed in terms of π^- fragmentation

[en] The SYRMEP beam line is currently in the upgrading phase for mammographic examinations on patients at Elettra in Trieste. At the same time, a digital detection system, suitable for in -vivo breast imaging, is under development; it consists of a silicon laminar detector array operating in single photon counting mode. The duration of a clinical examination should not exceed a few seconds. Fast read out electronics is therefore necessary with the aim of avoiding losses in image contrast in presence of high counting rates. A custom ASIC working with 100% efficiency for rates up to 100 kHz per pixel has been designed and tested, and other solutions based on commercially available ASICs are currently under test. Several detector prototypes have been assembled, and images of mammographic test objects have been acquired. Image quality, efficiency and contrast losses have been evaluated in all cases as a function of the counting rate

[en] The SYRMEP/FRONTRAD experiment, active at the synchrotron radiation facility ELETTRA in Trieste, is developing a system for digital mammography with synchrotron radiation. Images of test-objects and of in vitro breast tissue samples have been acquired with both a custom developed linear array Si pixel detector and conventional film-screen systems. The beamline is currently being upgraded for in vivo experimentation. The X-ray beams used for the SYRMEP experiment are monochromatic and laminar, and images are acquired by scanning the sample through the beam. Thus, it is not possible to use the instrumentation and dosimetric protocols used in conventional mammography, in which polychromatic cone beams are used. In this paper, we describe the protocols under development for in vivo breast imaging

[en] Phase-based approaches can revolutionize X-ray imaging and remove its main limitation: poor image contrast arising from low attenuation differences. They exploit the unit decrement of the real part of the refractive index, typically 1000 times larger than the imaginary part driving attenuation. This increases the contrast of all details, and enables the detection of features classically considered 'X-ray invisible'. Following pioneering experiments dating back to the mid-sixties, X-ray phase contrast imaging 'exploded' in the mid-nineties, when third generation synchrotron sources became more widely available. Applications were proposed in fields as diverse as material science, palaeontology, biology, food science, cultural heritage preservation, and many others. Among these applications, medicine has been constantly considered the most important; among medical applications, mammography is arguably the one that attracted most attention. Applications to mammography were pioneered by the SYRMEP (SYnchrotron Radiation for MEdical Physics) group in Trieste, which was already active in the area through a combination of innovative ways to do imaging at synchrotrons and development of novel X-ray detectors. This pioneering phase led to the only clinical experience of phase contrast mammography on human patients, and spawned a number of ideas as to how these advances could be translated into clinical practice.

[en] A 3-layer edge-on silicon microstrip detector for the SYRMEP/FRONTRAD project has been designed and realised. The image matrix is made by 764 pixels with dimensions 300 (thickness of the single detectors) x 200 (strip pitch) μm². The system has a sensitive area of 50 x 1 mm², an inter-layer distance of ∼ 100 μm and an efficiency of ∼ 80% for 20 keV photons. The image is acquired by scanning the object across the beam cross-section and the overall statistics on the single pixel is obtained by summing up the information of corresponding pixels in the three layers, thereby reducing the effect of possible noisy or not functioning pixels. Experimental results obtained at the SYRMEP/FRONTRAD beam line of the ELETTRA synchrotron radiation machine with this innovative detector are presented