Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-82). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis--University of California. / "UCRL-9650." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis-University of California, Berkeley, Feb. 1957. / Bibliography references : p. 88.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2003. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-193)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-117)

BACKGROUND: Postoperative hypoparathyroidism due to damage to the parathyroid glands during a thyroidectomy is a well-known surgical complication. The current gold standard intraoperative method for identifying parathyroid glands is surgical judgment; other methods are limited in both their sensitivity and convenience. There is a clear need for an objective diagnostic tool that is effective in its identification of the parathyroid glands and of their viability. We hypothesized that an intraoperative tool using Elastic Scattering Spectroscopy (ESS) has the potential to differentiate optical signatures of the parathyroid gland from surrounding tissues in real-time. METHODS: ESS optical signatures were collected intraoperatively from perfused parathyroid, thyroid, fat, muscle, and nerve tissue during thyroidectomy. The ESS data was collected using a portable, handheld, noninvasive, "cold" fiber optic probe able to detect spectra in a non-ionizing, broadband spectrum of light (320 to 920 nm). Five measurements were collected at each tissue site over a total of 1.2 seconds. Visual analysis of tissue was analyzed and compared to pathology, and spectral measurements attained with ESS. RESULTS: No complications resulted from the use of the ESS probe. Of the 10 parathyroid glands evaluated to be at risk in the study, the optical probe utilizing ESS was able to detect unique spectral features associated with the parathyroid gland. All 10 parathyroid glands are optically differentiable from surrounding tissues with ESS. CONCLUSIONS: Utilizing spectroscopy in the form of a hand-held probe is feasible for intraoperative differentiation between tissue types. Preliminary results of this spectral technique warrant further investigation. If successful, implementation of a portable ESS probe to identify the parathyroid tissue during endocrine surgical procedures could reduce surgical complications and improve patient safety.

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<p> The radioactive 26Al is an important probe for the interstellar medium of our galaxy since it is observed through the emission of 1.8 MeV gamma rays from the decay of 26gAl produced by the proton capture on 25Mg. But the production of the galactic 26Al is now still not well determined partially due to the lack of knowledge of the important states in 26Si which dominate the large uncertainty in the 25 Al(p,γ)26Si reaction rate at nova temperatures.</p> <p> In nova explosions, the proton capture of 25Al competes with its β decay and bypasses the production of 26gAl, since the capture product 26Si decays quickly to 26mAl instead of its ground state, without the emission of the 1.8 MeV gamma ray. But at even higher temperatures, such as in supernova explosions, 26mAl can be excited to the higher excited states by thermal excitation and then quickly de-excite to the ground state, thereby enhancing the production of 26gAl. The energy levels in 26Si in the Gamow window corresponding to these temperatures therefore need to be well understood in order to determine the 25Al(p,γ)26Si reaction rate, and thus the production rate of 26Al in these explosive environments.</p> <p> Two experiments were performed to study the important states in 26Si : one is the p(27Si,d)26Si* reaction at the NSCL, aiming to construct the level scheme of low lying states around the proton threshold; the other experiment is a measurement of the elastic scattering of 25Al+p with CRIB at RIKEN in order to obtain information on states in a broad range above the proton threshold. Details of these two experiments and their data analyses will be presented in this thesis.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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