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We present Gaia, a monolithic array of 96 high‐purity germanium pixel detectors integrated with a custom low‐noise application‐specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and a field‐programmable gate array (FPGA)‐based data acquisition system. The sensor operates at ∼100 K using a commercial closed‐cycle cryocooler, with the in‐vacuum electronics thermally isolated from the cold finger to ensure thermal stability. The system demonstrates an average energy resolution of 711 eV at 122 keV, measured using a 57Co source, and 253 eV at 5.89 keV, measured with 55Fe across all channels. The readout architecture incorporates a high‐performance FPGA paired with a dual‐core ARM processor, forming a complete embedded Linux‐based computing platform. Communication between the processor and FPGA is handled via memory‐mapped I/O, and data are streamed over high‐speed gigabit Ethernet. A full‐scale 384‐pixel Gaia detector, based on this 96‐element module, is currently under fabrication. We present Gaia, a cryogenically cooled monolithic array of 96 high‐purity germanium pixel detectors integrated with a custom low‐noise application‐specific integrated circuit and a field‐programmable gate array‐based data acquisition system. The system achieves an average energy resolution of 711 eV at 122 keV and 253 eV at 5.89 keV, and serves as the foundation for a forthcoming 384‐pixel detector.

The Baryon Mapping eXperiment (BMX) is an interferometric array designed as a pathfinder for a future post-reionization 21 cm intensity mapping survey. It consists of four 4-meter parabolic reflectors each having offset pyramidal horn feed, quad-ridge orthomode transducer, temperature-stabilized RF amplification and filtering, and pulsed noise injection diode. An undersampling readout scheme uses 8-bit digitizers running at 1.1 Gsamples/sec to provide access to signals from 1.1 - 1.55 GHz (third Nyquist zone), corresponding to HI emission from sources at redshift \\(0 < z < 0.3\\). An FX correlator is implemented in GPU and generates 28 GB/day of time-ordered visibility data. About 7,000 hours of data were collected from Jan. 2019 - May 2020, and we will present results on system performance including sensitivity, beam mapping studies, observations of bright celestial targets, and system electronics upgrades. BMX is a pathfinder for the proposed PUMA intensity mapping survey in the 2030s.

We developed a new front-end application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for the upgrade of the Maia x-ray microprobe. The ASIC instruments 32 configurable front-end channels that perform either positive or negative charge amplification, pulse shaping, peak amplitude and time extraction along with buffered analog storage. At a gain of 3.6 V/fC, 1 \\(\\mu\\)s peaking time and a temperature of 248 K, an electronic resolution of 13- and 10 electrons rms was measured with and without a SDD sensor respectively. A spectral resolution of 170 eV FWHM at 5.9 keV was obtained with an \\(^{55}\\)Fe source. The channel linearity was better than \\(\\pm\\) 1 % with rate capabilities up to 40 kcps. The ASIC was fabricated in a commercial 250 nm process with a footprint of 6.3 mm x 3.9 mm and dissipates 167 mW of static power.

The novel design and evaluation on the NSLS‐II beamline of the 3FI application‐specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bump‐bonded to a simple, planar, 2D segmented silicon sensor are presented. The ASIC was developed for full‐field fluorescence spectral X‐ray imaging (3FI). It is a small‐scale prototype that features a square array of 32 × 32 pixels, and the size of the pixels is 100 µm × 100 µm. The ASIC was implemented in a 65 nm CMOS integrated circuit fabrication process. Each pixel incorporates a charge‐sensitive amplifier, a shaping filter, a discriminator, a peak detector and a sample‐and‐hold circuit, allowing detection of events and storage of signal amplitudes. The system operates in a frameless event‐driven readout mode, outputting analog values for threshold‐triggered events, allowing high‐speed multi‐element X‐ray fluorescence data acquisition. The 3FI ASIC achieves per‐channel spectrometric performance at a power consumption of only 200 µW per pixel, with nearly all dissipation confined to the analog front‐end. An energy resolution is measured at the level of 308 eV full width at half‐maximum (FWHM) at 8.04 keV (Cu Kα), and 138 eV FWHM at 3.69 keV (Ca Kα). This per‐pixel capability makes the prototype suitable for in situ trace element microanalysis in biological and environmental studies. Moreover, the frameless architecture of the detector is designed to address limitations of conventional X‐ray fluorescence microscopy, which typically requires mechanical scanning, by enabling continuous high‐throughput data acquisition in future full‐field implementations. A new event‐driven, energy‐resolving ASIC intended for full‐field X‐ray fluorescence imaging is presented. Its frameless mode of operation was validated on a synchrotron beamline using a bump‐bonded, 2D segmented silicon sensor, demonstrating per‐pixel energy measurements with event‐driven readout. Using on‐chip spectral acquisition together with autonomous system control, this prototype establishes key building blocks for future real‐time elemental mapping in biological, environmental and materials research.

Reflection in medical education is becoming more widespread. Drawing on our Jesuit Catholic heritage, the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine incorporates reflection in its formal curriculum and co–curricular programs. The aim of this type of reflection is to help students in their formation as they learn to step back and analyze their experiences in medical education and their impact on the student. Although reflection is incorporated through all four years of our undergraduate medical curriculum, this essay will focus on three areas where bioethics faculty and medical educators have purposefully integrated reflection in the medical school, specifically within our bioethics education and professional development efforts: 1) in our three–year longitudinal clinical skills course Patient Centered Medicine (PCM), 2) in our co–curricular Bioethics and Professionalism Honors Program, and 3) in our newly created Physician’s Vocation Program (PVP).

The design and evaluation on the NSLS-II beamline of the 3FI application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bump-bonded to a simply, planar, two-dimensionally segmented silicon sensor is presented. The ASIC was developed for Full-Field Fluorescence spectral X-ray Imaging (3FI). It is a small-scale prototype that features a square array of 32x32 pixels with a pitch of 100 {\\mu}m. The ASIC was implemented in a 65 nm CMOS process. Each pixel incorporates a charge-sensitive amplifier, shaping filter, discriminator, peak detector, and sample-and-hold circuit, allowing detection of events and storing signal amplitudes. The system operates in an event-driven readout mode, outputting analog values for threshold-triggered events, allowing high-speed multi-element X-ray fluorescence imaging. At power consumption of 200 {\\mu}W per pixel, consisting almost uniquely of power dissipated in analog blocks, 308 eV full width at half maximum (FWHM) energy resolution at 8.04 keV, that corresponds to 30 e- rms equivalent noise charge (ENC) and 138 eV FWHM energy resolution at 3.69 keV (16 e- rms ENC) were obtained, for Cu and Ca K{\\alpha} lines, respectively. Each pixel operates independently, and the detector enables in situ trace element microanalysis in biological and environmental research. Its architecture addresses limitations of X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy (XFM), typically requiring mechanical scanning, by offering frame-lees data acquisition, translating to high-throughput operation. The 3FI ASIC is suitable for example for studies of nutrient cycling in the (mycor)rhizosphere, microbial redox processes, and genotype-phenotype correlations in bio-energy crops. Additional performances, such as enhanced spatial resolution can be further improved with coded-aperture and Wolt, extending the use to environmental, biomedical, and material science studies.

We have developed a series of monolithic multi-element germanium detectors, based on sensor arrays produced by the Forschungzentrum Julich, and on Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) developed at Brookhaven. Devices have been made with element counts ranging from 64 to 384. These detectors are being used at NSLS-II and APS for a range of diffraction experiments, both monochromatic and energy-dispersive. Compact and powerful readout systems have been developed, based on the new generation of FPGA system-on-chip devices, which provide closely coupled multi-core processors embedded in large gate arrays. We will discuss the technical details of the systems, and present some of the results from them.