M. Favetta | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Controlled kHz laser-driven electron irradiations for pre-clinical applications

We report the first in-air irradiations of biological samples with kHz laser-driven electrons with beam energy 20 MeV, high-energy tail extending to 40 MeV, and average dose rate up to 30 Gy/min. An in-house procedure has been developed to characterize and deliver on-demand (i.e. pre-agreed date and time) the target electron beam energy, dose and dose uniformity. We present a tolerance analysis on the laser electron parameters, highlighting the importance of beam stability for precise irradiations of in vivo zebrafish embryos and in vitro U251 glioblastoma cell line. The observed improvement in the survival rate of the zebrafish embryos, combined with unchanged cytotoxicity in the cell cultures, indicates promising results for normal tissue sparing while maintaining anticancer efficacy. The pre-clinical results of this work represent an important milestone towards the clinical translation of laser-plasma accelerators.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2008

NEMO-\onde: a submarine station for real-time monitoring of acoustic background installed at 2000 m depth in the Mediterranean Sea

The NEMO (NEutrino Mediterranean Observatory) Collaboration installed, 25 km E offshore the port of Catania (Sicily) at 2000 m depth, an underwater laboratory to perform long-term tests of prototypes and new technologies for an underwater high energy neutrino km$^3$-scale detector in the Mediterranean Sea. In this framework the collaboration deployed and successfully operated for about two years, starting form January 2005, an experimental apparatus for on-line monitoring of deep-sea noise. The station was equipped with 4 hydrophones and it is operational in the range 30 Hz - 43 kHz. This interval of frequencies matches the range suitable for the proposed acoustic detection technique of high energy neutrinos. Hydrophone signals were digitized underwater at 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24 bits resolution. A custom software was developed to record data on high resolution 4-channels digital audio file. This paper deals with the data analysis procedure and first results on the determination of sea noise sound pressure density curves. The stored data library, consisting of more than 2000 hours of recordings, is a unique tool to model underwater acoustic noise at large depth, to characterise its variations as a function of environmental parameters, biological sources and human activities (ship traffic, ...), and to determine the presence of cetaceans in the area.

astro-ph↗