@article{NomdedeuWillenSchiefferetal.2012, author = {Nomdedeu, Mar Monsonis and Willen, Christine and Schieffer, Andre and Arndt, Hartmut}, title = {Temperature-dependent ranges of coexistence in a model of a two-prey-one-predator microbial food web}, series = {Marine Biology}, volume = {159}, journal = {Marine Biology}, number = {11}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {1432-1793}, doi = {10.1007/s00227-012-1966-x}, pages = {2423 -- 2430}, year = {2012}, abstract = {The objective of our study was to analyze the effects of temperature on the population dynamics of a three-species food web consisting of two prey bacteria (Pedobacter sp. and Acinetobacter johnsonii) and a protozoan predator (Tetrahymena pyriformis) as model organisms. We assessed the effects of temperature on the growth rates of all three species with the objective of developing a model with four differential equations based on the experimental data. The following hypotheses were tested at a theoretical level: Firstly, temperature changes can affect the dynamic behavior of a system by temperature-dependent parameters and interactions and secondly, food web response to temperature cannot be derived from the single species temperature response. The main outcome of the study is that temperature changes affect the parameter range where coexistence is possible within all three species. This has significant consequences on our ideas regarding the evaluation of effects of global warming.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schieffer2012, author = {Schieffer, Andre}, title = {Studies on diversity and coexistence in an experimental microbial community}, pages = {76 Bl. : Ill.}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Biodiversity and the coexistence of species have puzzled and fascinated biologists since decades and is a hotspot in todays' natural sciences. Preserving this biodiversity is a great challenge as habitats and environments underlying tremendous changes like climate change and the loss of natural habitats, which are mainly due to anthropogenic influences. The coexistence of numerous species even in homogeneous environments is a stunning feature of natural communities and has been summarized under the term 'paradox of plankton'. Up to now, there are several mechanisms discussed, which may contribute to local and global diversity of organisms. Several interspecific trade offs have been identified maintaining the coexistence of species like their abilities regarding competition and predator avoidance, their capability to disperse in space and time, and their ability to exploit variable resources. Further, micro-evolutionary dynamics supporting the coexistence of species have been added to our knowledge, and deriving from theoretical deterministic models, non-linear dynamics which describe the temporal fluctuation of abundances of organisms. Whereas competition and predation seem to be clue structural elements within interacting organisms, the intrinsic dynamic behavior - by means of temporal changes in abundance - plays an important role regarding coexistence within a community. The present work sheds light on different factors affecting the coexistence of species using experimental microbial model systems consisting of a bacterivorous ciliate as the predator and two bacteria strains as prey organism. Additionally, another experimental setup consisting of two up to five bacteria species competing for one limiting resource was investigated. Highly controllable chemostat systems were established to exclude extrinsic disturbances. According to theoretical analyses I was able to show - experimentally and theoretically - that phenotypic plasticity of one species within a microbial one-predator-two-prey food web enlarges the range of possible coexistence of all species under different dynamic conditions, compared to a food web without phenotypic plasticity. This was accompanied by non-linear (chaotic) population dynamics within all experimental systems showing phenotypic plasticity. The experiments on the interplay of competition, predation and invasion showed that all aspects have an influence on species coexistence. Under undisturbed controlled conditions all aspects were analyzed in detail and in combination. Populations showed oscillations which were shown by quasi-chaotic attractors in phase space diagrams. Competition experiments with two up to five bacteria species competing for one limiting resource showed that all organisms were able to coexist which was mediated by species oscillations entering a regime of chaos. Besides that fact it was found, that the productivity (biomass) as well as the total cell numbers - under the same nutrition supply - increased by an increasing number of species in the experimental systems. Up to now, the occurrence of non-linear dynamics in well controlled experimental studies has been recognized several times and this phenomenon seemed to be more common in natural systems than generally assumed.}, language = {en} } @article{WeckesserGriessmeierSchmidtetal.1998, author = {Weckesser, Martin and Grießmeier, Martin and Schmidt, Daniela and Sonnenberg, Frank and Ziemons, Karl and Kemna, Lars and Holschbach, Marcus and Langen, Karl-J. and M{\"u}ller-G{\"a}rtner, Hans-W.}, title = {Iodine-123 α-methyl tyrosine single-photon emission tomography of cerebral gliomas: standardised evaluation of tumour uptake and extent}, series = {European Journal of Nuclear Medicine}, volume = {25}, journal = {European Journal of Nuclear Medicine}, number = {2}, isbn = {1619-7089}, pages = {150 -- 156}, year = {1998}, abstract = {Single-photon emission tomography (SPET) with the amino acid analogue l-3-[123I]iodo-α-methyl tyrosine (IMT) is helpful in the diagnosis and monitoring of cerebral gliomas. Radiolabelled amino acids seem to reflect tumour infiltration more specifically than conventional methods like magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. Automatic tumour delineation based on maximal tumour uptake may cause an overestimation of mean tumour uptake and an underestimation of tumour extension in tumours with circumscribed peaks. The aim of this study was to develop a program for tumour delineation and calculation of mean tumour uptake which takes into account the mean background activity and is thus optimised to the problem of tumour definition in IMT SPET. Using the frequency distribution of pixel intensities of the tomograms a program was developed which automatically detects a reference brain region and draws an isocontour region around the tumour taking into account mean brain radioactivity. Tumour area and tumour/brain ratios were calculated. A three-compartment phantom was simulated to test the program. The program was applied to IMT SPET studies of 20 patients with cerebral gliomas and was compared to the results of manual analysis by three different investigators. Activity ratios and chamber extension of the phantom were correctly calculated by the automatic analysis. A method based on image maxima alone failed to determine chamber extension correctly. Manual region of interest analysis in patient studies resulted in a mean inter-observer standard deviation of 8.7\%±6.1\% (range 2.7\%-25.0\%). The mean value of the results of the manual analysis showed a significant correlation to the results of the automatic analysis (r = 0.91, P<0.0001 for the uptake ratio; r = 0.87, P<0.0001 for the tumour area). We conclude that the algorithm proposed simplifies the calculation of uptake ratios and may be used for observer-independent evaluation of IMT SPET studies. Three-dimensional tumour recognition and transfer to co-registered morphological images based on this program may be useful for the planning of surgical and radiation treatment.}, language = {en} } @article{TaylorSchmitzZiemonsetal.2000, author = {Taylor, J. G. and Schmitz, N. and Ziemons, Karl and Grosse-Ruyken, M.-L. and Gruber, O. and M{\"u}ller-G{\"a}rtner, H.-W. and Shah, N. J.}, title = {The network of brain areas involved in the motion aftereffect}, series = {Neuroimage}, volume = {11}, journal = {Neuroimage}, number = {4}, isbn = {1053-8119}, pages = {257 -- 270}, year = {2000}, abstract = {A network of brain areas is expected to be involved in supporting the motion aftereffect. The most active components of this network were determined by means of an fMRI study of nine subjects exposed to a visual stimulus of moving bars producing the effect. Across the subjects, common areas were identified during various stages of the effect, as well as networks of areas specific to a single stage. In addition to the well-known motion-sensitive area MT the prefrontal brain areas BA44 and 47 and the cingulate gyrus, as well as posterior sites such as BA37 and BA40, were important components during the period of the motion aftereffect experience. They appear to be involved in control circuitry for selecting which of a number of processing styles is appropriate. The experimental fMRI results of the activation levels and their time courses for the various areas are explored. Correlation analysis shows that there are effectively two separate and weakly coupled networks involved in the total process. Implications of the results for awareness of the effect itself are briefly considered in the final discussion.}, language = {en} } @article{FinkMarshallShahetal.2000, author = {Fink, G. R. and Marshall, J. C. and Shah, N. J. and Weiss, P.H. and Halligan, P. W. and Grosse-Ruyken, M. and Ziemons, Karl and Zilles, K. and Freund, H. J.}, title = {Line bisection judgments implicate right parietal cortex and cerebellum as assessed by fMRI}, series = {Neurology}, volume = {54}, journal = {Neurology}, number = {6}, isbn = {1526-632X}, pages = {1324 -- 1331}, year = {2000}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2000, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {Pulse recording by free-running sampling}, series = {2000 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 2}, journal = {2000 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 2}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {9/179 -- 9/181}, year = {2000}, abstract = {Pulses from a position-sensitive photomultiplier (PS-PMT) are recorded by free running ADCs at a sampling rate of 40 MHz. A four-channel acquisition-board has been developed which is equipped with four 12 bit-ADCs connected to one FPGA (field programmable gate array). The FPGA manages data acquisition and the transfer to the host computer. It can also work as a digital trigger, so a separate hardware-trigger can be omitted. The method of free running sampling provides a maximum of information, besides the pulse charge and amplitude also pulse shape and starting time are contained in the sampled data. These informations are crucial for many tasks such as distinguishing between different scintillator materials, determination of radiation type, pile-up recovery, coincidence detection or time-of-flight applications. The absence of an analog integrator allows coping with very high count rates. Since this method is going to be employed in positron emission tomography (PET), the position of an event is another important information. The simultaneous readout of four channels allows localization by means of center-of-gravity weighting. First results from a test setup with LSO-scintillators coupled to the PS-PMT are presented}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2001, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {Pulse recording by free-running sampling}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, volume = {48}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, number = {3}, isbn = {0018-9499}, pages = {524 -- 526}, year = {2001}, abstract = {Pulses from a position-sensitive photomultiplier (PS-PMT) are recorded by free-running ADCs at a sampling rate of 40 MHz. A four-channel acquisition board has been developed which is equipped with four 12-bit ADCs connected to one field programmable gate array (FPGA). The FPGA manages data acquisition and the transfer to the host computer. It can also work as a digital trigger, so a separate hardware trigger can be omitted. The method of free-running sampling provides a maximum of information, besides the pulse charge and amplitude also pulse shape and starting time are contained in the sampled data. This information is crucial for many tasks such as distinguishing between different scintillator materials, determination of radiation type, pile-up recovery, coincidence detection or time-of-flight applications. The absence of an analog integrator allows very high count rates to be dealt with. Since this method is to be employed in positron emission tomography (PET), the position of an event is also important. The simultaneous readout of four channels allows localization by means of center-of-gravity weighting. First results from a test setup with LSO scintillators coupled to the PS-PMT are presented here}, language = {en} } @article{HeinrichBlumBussmannetal.2002, author = {Heinrich, U. and Blum, A. and Bussmann, N. and Engels, R. and Kemmerling, G. and Weber, S. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Statistical studies on the light output and energy resolution of small LSO single crystals with different surface treatments combined with various reflector materials}, series = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment}, volume = {486}, journal = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment}, number = {1-2}, issn = {0168-9002}, pages = {60 -- 66}, year = {2002}, abstract = {The optimization of light output and energy resolution of scintillators is of special interest for the development of high resolution and high sensitivity PET. The aim of this work is to obtain statistically reliable results concerning optimal surface treatment of scintillation crystals and the selection of reflector material. For this purpose, raw, mechanically polished and etched LSO crystals (size 2×2×10 mm3) were combined with various reflector materials (Teflon tape, Teflon matrix, BaSO4) and exposed to a 22Na source. In order to ensure the statistical reliability of the results, groups of 10 LSO crystals each were measured for all combinations of surface treatment and reflector material. Using no reflector material the light output increased up to 551±35\% by mechanical polishing the surface compared to 100±5\% for raw crystals. Etching the surface increased the light output to 441±29\%. The untreated crystals had an energy resolution of 24.6±4.0\%. By mechanical polishing the surface it was possible to achieve an energy resolution of 13.2±0.8\%, by etching of 14.8±0.7\%. In combination with BaSO4 as reflector material the maximum increase of light output has been established to 932±57\% for mechanically polished and 895±61\% for etched crystals. The combination with BaSO4 also caused the best improvement of the energy resolution up to 11.6±0.2\% for mechanically polished and 12.2±0.3\% for etched crystals. Relating to the light output there was no significant statistical difference between the two surface treatments in combination with BaSO4. In contrast to this, the statistical results of the energy resolution have shown the combination of mechanical polishing and BaSO4 as the optimum.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2002, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {A PET system with free running ADCs}, series = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment}, volume = {486}, journal = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment}, number = {1-2}, issn = {0168-9002}, pages = {18 -- 21}, year = {2002}, abstract = {A small PET system has been built up with two multichannel photomultipliers, which are attached to a matrix of 64 single LSO crystals each. The signal from each multiplier is being sampled continuously by a 12 bit ADC at a sampling frequency of 40 MHz. In case of a scintillation pulse a subsequent FPGA sends the corresponding set of samples together with the channel information and a time mark to the host computer. The data transfer is performed with a rate of 20 MB/s. On the host all necessary information is extracted from the data. The pulse energy is determined, coincident events are detected and multiple hits within one matrix can be identified. In order to achieve a narrow time window the pulse starting time is refined further than the resolution of the time mark (=25 ns) would allow. This is possible by interpolating between the pulse samples. First data obtained from this system will be presented. The system is part of developments for a much larger system and has been created to study the feasibility and performance of the technique and the hardware architecture.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2002, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {Coincidence detection by digital processing of free-running sampled pulses}, series = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment}, volume = {487}, journal = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment}, number = {3}, isbn = {0168-9002}, pages = {530 -- 534}, year = {2002}, abstract = {Coincident events in two scintillator crystals coupled to photomultipliers (PMT) are detected by processing just the digital data of the recorded pulses. For this purpose the signals from both PMTs are continuously sampled by free-running ADCs at a sampling rate of 40 MHz. For each sampled pulse the starting time is determined by processing the pulse data. Even a fairly simple interpolating algorithm results in a FWHM of about 2 ns.}, language = {en} } @article{KhodaverdiChatziioannouWeberetal.2005, author = {Khodaverdi, M. and Chatziioannou, A. F. and Weber, S. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H. and Pietrzyk, U.}, title = {Investigation of different MicroCT scanner configurations by GEANT4 simulations}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, volume = {52}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, number = {1}, isbn = {0018-9499}, pages = {188 -- 192}, year = {2005}, abstract = {This study has been performed to design the combination of the new ClearPET (ClearPET is a trademark of the Crystal Clear Collaboration), a small animal positron emission tomography (PET) system, with a micro-computed tomography (microCT) scanner. The properties of different microCT systems have been determined by simulations based on GEANT4. We will demonstrate the influence of the detector material and the X-ray spectrum on the obtained contrast. Four different detector materials (selenium, cadmium zinc telluride, cesium iodide and gadolinium oxysulfide) and two X-ray spectra (a molybdenum and a tungsten source) have been considered. The spectra have also been modified by aluminum filters of varying thickness. The contrast between different tissue types (water, air, brain, bone and fat) has been simulated by using a suitable phantom. The results indicate the possibility to improve the image contrast in microCT by an optimized combination of the X-ray source and detector material.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2006, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Parl, C. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {The data acquisition system of ClearPET neuro - a small animal PET scanner}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, volume = {53}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, number = {3}, isbn = {0018-9499}, pages = {700 -- 703}, year = {2006}, abstract = {The Crystal Clear Collaboration has developed a modular system for a small animal PET scanner (ClearPET). The modularity allows the assembly of scanners of different sizes and characteristics in order to satisfy the specific needs of the individual member institutions. The system performs depth of interaction detection by using a phoswich arrangement combining LSO and LuYAP scintillators which are coupled to Multichannel Photomultipliers (PMTs). For each PMT a free running 40 MHz ADC digitizes the signal and the complete scintillation pulse is sampled by an FPGA and sent with 20 MB/s to a PC for preprocessing. The pulse provides information about the gamma energy and the scintillator material which identifies the interaction layer. Furthermore, the exact pulse starting time is obtained from the sampled data. This is important as no hardware coincidence detection is implemented. All single events are recorded and coincidences are identified by software. The system in J{\"u}lich (ClearPET Neuro) is equipped with 10240 crystals on 80 PMTs. The paper will present an overview of the data acquisition system.}, language = {en} } @article{KhodaverdiWeberStreunetal.2006, author = {Khodaverdi, M. and Weber, S. and Streun, M. and Parl, C. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {High resolution imaging with ClearPET™ Neuro - first animal images}, series = {2005 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 3}, journal = {2005 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 3}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {1641 -- 1644}, year = {2006}, abstract = {The ClearPET™ Neuro is the first full ring scanner within the Crystal Clear Collaboration (CCC). It consists of 80 detector modules allocated to 20 cassettes. LSO and LuYAP:Ce crystals in phoswich configuration in combination with position sensitive photomultiplier tubes are used to achieve high sensitivity and realize the acquisition of the depth of interaction (DOI) information. The complete system has been tested concerning the mechanical and electronical stability and interplay. Moreover, suitable corrections have been implemented into the reconstruction procedure to ensure high image quality. We present first results which show the successful operation of the ClearPET™ Neuro for artefact free and high resolution small animal imaging. Based on these results during the past few months the ClearPET™ Neuro System has been modified in order to optimize the performance.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgKhodaverdietal.2006, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Khodaverdi, M. and Larue, H. and Parl, C. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Timemark correction for the ClearPET™ scanners}, series = {2005 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 4}, journal = {2005 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 4}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {2057 -- 2060}, year = {2006}, abstract = {The small animal PET scanners developed by the Crystal Clear Collaboration (ClearPETtrade) detect coincidences by analyzing timemarks which are attached to each event. The scanners are able to save complete single list mode data which allows analysis and modification of the timemarks after data acquisition. The timemarks are obtained from the digitally sampled detector pulses by calculating the baseline crossing of the rising edge of the pulse which is approximated as a straight line. But the limited sampling frequency causes a systematic error in the determination of the timemark. This error depends on the phase of the sampling clock at the time of the event. A statistical method that corrects these errors will be presented}, language = {en} } @article{MossetDevroedeKriegueretal.2006, author = {Mosset, J.-B. and Devroede, O. and Krieguer, M. and Rey, M. and Vieira, J.-M. and Jung, J. H. and Kuntner, C. and Streun, M. and Ziemons, Karl and Auffray, E. and Sempere-Roldan, P. and Lecoq, P. and Bruyndonckx, P. and Loude, J.-F. and Tavernier, S. and Morcel, C.}, title = {Development of an optimized LSO/LuYAP phoswich detector head for the Lausanne ClearPET demonstrator}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, volume = {53}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, number = {1}, isbn = {0018-9499}, pages = {25 -- 29}, year = {2006}, abstract = {This paper describes the LSO/LuYAP phoswich detector head developed for the ClearPET small animal PET scanner demonstrator that is under construction in Lausanne within the Crystal Clear Collaboration. The detector head consists of a dual layer of 8×8 LSO and LuYAP crystal arrays coupled to a multi-anode photomultiplier tube (Hamamatsu R7600-M64). Equalistion of the LSO/LuYAP light collection is obtained through partial attenuation of the LSO scintillation light using a thin aluminum deposit of 20-35 nm on LSO and appropriate temperature regulation of the phoswich head between 30°C to 60°C. At 511keV, typical FWHM energy resolutions of the pixels of a phoswich head amounts to (28±2)\% for LSO and (25±2)\% for LuYAP. The LSO versus LuYAP crystal identification efficiency is better than 98\%. Six detector modules have been mounted on a rotating gantry. Axial and tangential spatial resolutions were measured up to 4 cm from the scanner axis and compared to Monte Carlo simulations using GATE. FWHM spatial resolution ranges from 1.3 mm on axis to 2.6 mm at 4 cm from the axis.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBeerHombachetal.2008, author = {Streun, M. and Beer, S. and Hombach, T. and Jahnke, S. and Khodaverdi, M. and Larue, H. and Minwuyelet, S. and Parl, C. and Roeb, G. and Schurr, U. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {PlanTIS: A positron emission tomograph for imaging 11C transport in plants}, series = {2007 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 6}, journal = {2007 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 6}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {4110 -- 4112}, year = {2008}, abstract = {Plant growth and transport processes are highly dynamic. They are characterized by plant-internal control processes and by strong interactions with the spatially and temporally varying environment. Analysis of structure- function relations of growth and transport in plants will strongly benefit from the development of non-invasive techniques. PlanTIS (Plant Tomographic Imaging System) is designed for non-destructive 3D-imaging of positron emitting radiotracers. It will permit functional analysis of the dynamics of carbon distribution in plants including bulky organs. It will be applicable for screening transport properties of plants to evaluate e.g. temperature adaptation of genetically modified plants. PlanTIS is a PET scanner dedicated to monitor the dynamics of the 11C distribution within a plant while or after assimilation of 11CO2. Front end electronics and data acquisition architecture of the scanner are based on the ClearPETTM system [1]. Four detector modules form one of two opposing detector blocks. Optionally, a hardware coincidence detection between the blocks can be applied. In general the scan duration is rather long (~ 1 hour) compared to the decay time of 11C (20 min). As a result the count rates can vary over a wide range and accurate dead time correction is necessary.}, language = {en} } @article{ZiemonsBruyndonckxPerezetal.2008, author = {Ziemons, Karl and Bruyndonckx, P. and Perez, J. M. and Pietrzyk, U. and Rato, P. and Tavernier, S.}, title = {Beyond ClearPET: Next Aims}, series = {5th IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: From Nano to Macro Symposium Proceedings ISBI 2008}, journal = {5th IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: From Nano to Macro Symposium Proceedings ISBI 2008}, isbn = {978-1-4244-2003-2}, pages = {1421 -- 1424}, year = {2008}, abstract = {The CRYSTAL CLEAR collaboration, in short CCC, is a consortium of 12 academic institutions, mainly from Europe, joining efforts in the area of developing instrumentation for nuclear medicine and medical imaging. In the framework of the CCC a high performance small animal PET system, called ClearPET, was developed by using new technologies in electronics and crystals in a phoswich arrangement combining two types of lutetium- based scintillator materials: LSO:Ce and LuYAP:Ce. Our next aim will be the development of hybrid image systems. Hybrid MR-PET imaging has many unique advantages for brain research. This has sparked a new research line within CCC for the development of novel MR-PET compatible technologies. MRI is not as sensitive as PET but PET has poorer spatial resolution than MRI. Two major advantages of PET are sensitivity and its ability to acquire metabolic information. To assess these innovations, the development of a 9.4T hybrid animal MR-PET scanner is proposed based on an existing 9.4T MR scanner that will be adapted to enable simultaneous acquisition of MR and PET data using cutting- edge technology for both MR and PET.}, language = {en} } @article{JahnkeMenzelDusschotenetal.2009, author = {Jahnke, Siegfried and Menzel, Marion I. and Dusschoten, Dagmar van and Roeb, Gerhard W. and B{\"u}hler, Jonas and Minwuyelet, Senay and Bl{\"u}mler, Peter and Temperton, Vicky M. and Hombach, Thomas and Streun, Matthias and Beer, Simone and Khodaverdi, Maryam and Ziemons, Karl and Coenen, Heinz H. and Schurr, Ulrich}, title = {Combined MRI-PET dissects dynamic changes in plant structures and functions}, series = {The Plant Journal}, volume = {59}, journal = {The Plant Journal}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Weinheim}, isbn = {1365-313X}, pages = {634 -- 644}, year = {2009}, abstract = {Unravelling the factors determining the allocation of carbon to various plant organs is one of the great challenges of modern plant biology. Studying allocation under close to natural conditions requires non-invasive methods, which are now becoming available for measuring plants on a par with those developed for humans. By combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), we investigated three contrasting root/shoot systems growing in sand or soil, with respect to their structures, transport routes and the translocation dynamics of recently fixed photoassimilates labelled with the short-lived radioactive carbon isotope 11C. Storage organs of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) and radish plants (Raphanus sativus) were assessed using MRI, providing images of the internal structures of the organs with high spatial resolution, and while species-specific transport sectoralities, properties of assimilate allocation and unloading characteristics were measured using PET. Growth and carbon allocation within complex root systems were monitored in maize plants (Zea mays), and the results may be used to identify factors affecting root growth in natural substrates or in competition with roots of other plants. MRI-PET co-registration opens the door for non-invasive analysis of plant structures and transport processes that may change in response to genomic, developmental or environmental challenges. It is our aim to make the methods applicable for quantitative analyses of plant traits in phenotyping as well as in understanding the dynamics of key processes that are essential to plant performance.}, language = {en} } @article{WedrowskiBruyndonckxTavernieretal.2009, author = {Wedrowski, M. and Bruyndonckx, P. and Tavernier, S. and Zhi, L. and Dang, J. and Mendes, P. R. and Perez, J. M. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Robustness of neural networks algorithm for gamma detection in monolithic block detector, positron emission tomography}, series = {2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, journal = {2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {2625 -- 2628}, year = {2009}, abstract = {The monolithic scintillator block approach for gamma detection in the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) avoids estimating Depth of Interaction (DOI), reduces dead zones in detector and diminishes costs of detector production. Neural Networks (NN) are very efficient to determine the entrance point of a gamma incident on a scintillator block. This paper presents results on the robustness of the spatial resolution as a function of the random fraction in the data, temperature and HV fluctuations. This is important when implementing the method in a real scanner. Measurements were done with two Hamamatsu S8550 APD arrays, glued on a 20 {\~A}— 20 {\~A}— 10 mm3 monolithic LSO crystal block.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunLarueParletal.2009, author = {Streun, M. and Larue, H. and Parl, C. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {A compact PET detector readout using charge-to-time conversion}, series = {2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, journal = {2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {New York}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {1868 -- 1870}, year = {2009}, abstract = {The readout of gamma detectors is considerably simplified when the event intensity is encoded as a pulse width (Pulse Width Modulation, PWM). Time-to-Digital-Converters (TDC) replace the conventional ADCs and multiple TDCs can be realized easily in one PLD chip (Programmable Logic Device). The output of a PWM stage is only one digital signal per channel which is well suited for transport so that further processing can be performed apart from the detector. This is particularly interesting for large systems with high channel density (e.g. high resolution scanners). In this work we present a circuit with a linear transfer function that requires a minimum of components by performing the PWM already in the preamp stage. This allows a very compact and also cost-efficient implementation of the front-end electronics.}, language = {en} }