A study of the use of Overhauser enhancement to assist with needle and catheter placement during interventional MRI

The practicability of using Overhauser enhancement of saline in interventional MRI was investigated. Saline was used as a means of marking the path taken by a fluid-filled cavity, similar to that formed by a needle, catheter, or cannula during interventional MRI procedures. A prototype device was designed and constructed for saturation and propulsion of 0.6 ml of doped liquid. The pertinent Overhauser parameters, such as the obtainable enhancement factor, were measured. Signal enhancement in excess of 10 was demonstrated in practice by acquiring images showing an enhancement of fluid in a catheter tube.     

Are cerebral cavernomas truly nonenhancing lesions and thereby distinguishable from arteriovenous malformations?: MRI findings and histopathological correlation

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine whether cerebral cavernomas are truly nonenhancing lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), whether they can be distinguished from arteriovenous malformations (AVM) on that basis and to evaluate the incidence of their association with developmental venous anomalies (DVA). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients who underwent neurosurgical operation for a cerebral vascular malformation and had a standard MRI conclusive of cerebral cavernoma were retrospectively evaluated for size of the lesions, contrast enhancement of the lesion and the coexistence of DVA. The contrast uptake of these lesions was investigated, and contrast enhancement was classified as none, moderate or marked. The incidence of an associated DVA was also investigated. The radiological findings were subsequently correlated with neurohistopathological findings. RESULTS: No difference was found between the contrast enhancement of cavernomas and AVMs. Cross tables were calculated for contrast enhancement and size, which demonstrated no statistically significant correlation. Cross tables were calculated for contrast enhancement and histopathological diagnosis, which revealed that both entities presented variable degrees of contrast enhancement and were thereby not distinguishable from each other on the basis of contrast enhancement. We found an association of cavernoma with DVA in 30% of cases. CONCLUSION: Neither a correlation between the absence of contrast enhancement and the histopathological diagnosis of cavernoma nor the size and contrast enhancement was found. We conclude that cavernomas present with variable degrees of contrast enhancement on MRI and, thus, are definitely not distinguishable from AVM on the basis of contrast enhanced MRI. We found an association between cavernomas and DVA in approximately one third of patients.     

Relationship between lesion size and signal enhancement on subtraction fat-suppressed MR imaging of the breast

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between size and whole lesion enhancement of breast neoplasms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fat-suppressed subtraction MRI was performed in 94 breast lesions (44 malignant, 50 benign) with pathologically confirmed diagnoses. Of these, all malignant lesions and 31 of the 50 benign lesions showed enhancement. The degree of enhancement was quantified by using an ROI tracing around the whole lesion and calculated as the percentage increase in signal intensity between the corresponding precontrast and postcontrast images. RESULTS: The 44 malignant lesions showed enhancement percentage of 38.3% to 186.4% (mean 109.9%), and the 31 benign lesions showed enhancement percentage of 12.8% to 180.2% (mean 79.5%). The difference is statistically significant (P = .002). In 54 small lesions (28 malignant, 26 benign) with enhancing pixel areas of <300 mm(2) corresponding to a diameter of approximately 19.5 mm, an enhancement exceeding 75% of baseline separated malignant lesions (mean enhancement 116.7%) from benign ones (mean enhancement 72.8%) (P = .0001). This gave a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 69%, a positive predictive value of 78%, negative predictive value of 100% and an accuracy of 85% in using >75% enhancement increase in detecting malignancy in small (<300 mm(2)) enhancing lesions. CONCLUSION: The high sensitivity in the detection of small malignant lesions suggests a potential for the method to be used in assessment of small enhancing breast lesions.     

Heat Transfer Enhancement for Drag-Reducing Surfactant Fluid Using Photo-Rheological Counterion

A new heat transfer enhancement method for a drag-reducing surfactant solution using a photo-rheological counterion was discussed. Surfactant and counterion concentration effect on heat transfer enhancement was investigated combining with rheological test. Surfactant/counterion concentration of 4 mM/5 mM was considered as an efficient concentration for heat transfer enhancement.     

临近空间螺旋桨叶素非定常等离子体增效实验研究

基于等离子体诱导射流雷诺相似原则和螺旋桨叶素理论,开展了螺旋桨叶素地面风洞实验,比较了定常与非定常两种激励模式对螺旋桨拉力的影响,以及非定常模式下占空比、频率的影响。结果表明：相同电压幅值下,定常模式对螺旋桨拉力增效为9.8%,非定常模式对螺旋桨增效大于定常模式,非定常模式下最大增效 20.4%。螺旋桨桨叶相对半径在0.4 与0.85 之间时,非定常等离子体流动控制对螺旋桨叶素拉力增效较好,将等离子体激励器布置在桨叶相对半径0.4 与0.85 之间可提高能量利用率。相同重复频率下,螺旋桨增效随着占空比的减小而增大,占空比为10%时,增效最大。相同占空比下,重复频率存在一个最优值,频率为30Hz 时,等离子体对螺旋桨的增效最大。     

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Based on Reynolds similar principles of plasma-induced jet and propeller blade element theory, experiment of propeller blade element wind tunnel was conducted. The effects of constant and unsteady model were compared, effect of different duty cycle and the frequency in unsteady model were studied. The results showed that: at the same voltage, the enhancement of propeller thrust was 9.8% by steady mode, unsteady mode was greater than the steady mode in enhancement of propeller thrust, the enhancement up to 20.4% in unsteady mode. The thrust enhancement of propeller blade elements by plasma was obvious with relative radius between 0.4 and 0.85, in order to improve energy efficiency, plasma actuator could be arranged between blade relative radius of 0.4 and 0.85. At the same frequency, enhancement of propeller thrust increased with duty cycle decreasing, and in duty cycle of 10%, the enhancement was greatest. At the same duty cycle, there existed an optimal frequency, it was 30Hz in which plasma enhanced propeller thrust the most.     

外部荧光种子植入法增强液芯光纤中CS2的受激拉曼散射研究

本文报道了运用外部荧光种子(罗丹明6G乙醇溶液)植入法对液芯光纤中CS2受激拉曼散射的增强研究。实验结果表明, CS2的二阶、三阶Stokes波分别获得了1.92和11.71倍的增益。并对外部荧光种子植入法增强液芯光纤中受激拉曼散射的机制进行了分析。     

The enhancement effect: evidence for adaptation of inhibition using a binaural centering task

The enhancement effect is consistently shown when simultaneously masked stimuli are preceded by the masker alone, with a reduction in the amount of masking relative to when that precursor is absent. One explanation for this effect proposed by Viemeister and Bacon [(1982). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 71, 1502-1507] is the adaptation of inhibition, which predicts that an enhanced component (the "target") will be effectively more intense within the auditory system than one that has not been enhanced. Forward masking studies have indicated this effect of increased gain; however, other explanations of the enhancement effect have also been suggested. In order to provide an alternative measure of the amount of effective gain for an enhanced target, a subjective binaural centering task was used in which listeners matched the intensities of enhanced and unenhanced 2-kHz tones presented to opposite ears to produce a centered stimulus. The results showed that the enhancement effect produces an effective 4-5 dB increase in the level of the enhanced target. The enhancement effect was also measured using other enhancement paradigms which yielded similar results over a range of levels for the target, supporting an account based on adaptation of inhibition.     

Efficacy of spectral presaturation of inversion recovery in evaluating delayed myocardial enhancement

OBJECTIVE: Delayed myocardial enhancement is caused by a variety of cardiovascular diseases. The extent of the enhanced area has been examined by the inversion recovery (IR) method, whereby at the inversion time (TI), normal myocardium shows a low signal intensity. In this sequence, as pericardial fat shows a very high intensity, a delayed enhancement just below the pericardium may be indistinct. To improve the accuracy of delayed myocardial enhancement, we employed the spectral presaturation of inversion recovery (SPIR) method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five patients with symptoms of cardiovascular disease aged between 36 and 80 years old (mean age, 62 years old) were investigated. Thirty were men and five were women. Inversion recovery and SPIR images were obtained 25 min after initial administration of a gadolinium-based contrast material. Each TI, when the signal intensity of the normal myocardium was null, was determined by images obtained at serial different TIs. A radiologist and a cardiologist examined each image by a consensus reading. The extent of myocardial enhancement was described as none, subendocardial, transmural and a random pattern in each case. Images were ranked over three levels and were based on whether myocardial enhancement could be easily detected or whether the contour of the myocardium was visualized precisely. Student's t-test was conducted to compare the quality of two sequences in all patients and in 22 patients who showed delayed myocardial enhancement. RESULTS: The imaging quality in evaluating delayed myocardial enhancement in all patients was superior with IR compared with SPIR, although it was not statistically significant. The imaging quality in the patients with delayed myocardial enhancement was similar between SPIR and IR. SPIR was superior to the IR sequence in two of the four patients who exhibited transmural enhancement. CONCLUSION: SPIR exhibited equivalent image quality to IR in evaluating delayed myocardial enhancement. As it has the potential advantage in patients with rich adipose tissue surrounding the myocardium, it can be an alternative sequence to evaluate myocardial viability.     

Enhancing the photoluminescence intensity of silicon-rich nitride film by localized surface plasmon enhanced photo-excitation

The photoluminescence of silicon-rich nitride (SRN) film was coupled with the surface plasmon (SP) of Ag island film. It shows that the photoluminescence (PL) enhancement or quenching is strongly dependent on the excitation wavelength. When the excitation wavelength is near the SP resonance spectral region, the Ag islands act as a photo antenna, leading to the enhancement of the excitation cross-sections and therefore the photoemission enhancement. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the metal island size also has an influence on the emission enhancement, but the enhancement is much more decided by the excitation wavelength than by the Ag island radiative scattering.     

阴极金属微凸起电场增强因子数值模拟

 利用有限元方法对无穷大平板二极管中阴极表面金属微凸起的微观电场增强因子进行了计算研究,给出了微凸起微观电场增强因子随凸起参数的变化规律,拟合得到了微观电场增强因子的简单实用的经验表达式,并与文献中的近似公式进行了比较。模拟的结果表明,对锥状球头微凸起的电场增强因子,文献给出的近似公式误差较大,应避免使用。     

Study of magnetically enhanced corona pre-charger

In this paper, experimental investigations of the discharge characteristics of magnetically enhanced corona discharges, for the purpose of capturing fine aerosol particles, are presented. The discharge mechanism during such a process is analyzed as well. The effects of magnetic enhancement under different magnet flux densities, and in positive- or negative-corona discharges, were experimentally compared. The magnetically enhanced effects in different inter-electrode regions were studied. Experimental results demonstrated that the magnetic field could efficiently increase the concentrations of both the negative ions and the free electrons during negative-corona discharge. The dominant mechanism of magnetic enhancement in a corona discharge involves the Larmor precessions of free electrons which enhance ionization of the gas molecules near the discharge electrode. A convenient configuration for enhancing corona discharge was formed by placing permanent magnets with a local strong magnetic field near the discharge electrode. A magnetically enhanced negative-corona (MNC) pre-charger was assembled in front of an electrostatic enhancement filter. The influence of the MNC pre-charger on the efficiencies of an electrostatic enhancement filter was measured and compared with that of a conventional corona pre-charger. The free-electron-charging mechanism of the MNC pre-charger was preliminarily analyzed. Our results show that the new pre-charging technique is promising for capturing fine aerosol particles in electrostatic enhancement filters or electrostatic precipitators.     

Efficacy of proposed 2DEG-based photoconductive antenna using magnetic bias-controlled carrier transport

An externally applied magnetic field was used to induce increased photocarrier transport along the high mobility channel in GaAs/AlGaAs modulation-doped heterostructures (MDH). The terahertz (THz) emission from GaAs/AlGaAs MDH increases with increasing magnetic field, applied parallel to the heterojunction. The THz emission enhancement factors due to the magnetic field in MDH are higher than in undoped GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction and in bulk SI-GaAs. This demonstrates that properly utilizing the high-mobility channel for carrier transport promises to be a viable design consideration for efficient THz photoconductive antenna (PCA) devices. Moreover, it was observed that for MDH, as well as for an undoped GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction, the enhancement for one magnetic field direction is greater than the enhancement for the opposite direction. This is in contrast to the symmetric enhancement with magnetic field direction observed in a bulk SI-GaAs. An analysis of photocarrier trajectories under an external magnetic field supports the explanation that the enhancement asymmetry with magnetic field direction in MDH is due to the cycloid motion of electrons as affected by the GaAs/AlGaAs interface.     

Early contrast enhancement of the liver: exact description of subphases using MRI

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to describe the subphases of early post-contrast enhancement of the liver, using vessel enhancement patterns, and correlate these findings with enhancement patterns of abdominal organs.

Materials and Methods

A total of 114 patients who underwent gadolinium-enhanced abdominal magnetic resonance imaging examinations constituted the final study group, of which 56 were women (age range, 3–94 years; mean, 50 years) and 58 were men (age range, 6–85 years; mean, 54 years). Early post-contrast sequences in all patients were evaluated retrospectively by two reviewers for the determination of the presence of contrast enhancement in predetermined major vessels of the abdomen and qualitative and quantitative extent of enhancement of the renal cortex, spleen, pancreas and liver. Based on the overall findings, subphases of early contrast enhancement of the liver were described and quantitative extent of enhancement of organs was correlated with subphases of early contrast enhancement of the liver. Mann–Whitney U test and one-way unbalanced analysis of variance tests were used for the comparisons.

Results

Early hepatic arterial phase was observed in 14/114 patients, mid-hepatic arterial phase in 23/114 patients, late hepatic arterial phase in 33/114 patients, splenic vein only hepatic arterial dominant phase in 20/114 patients and hepatic arterial dominant phase in 24/114 patients. There was an overall association between the subphases of enhancement and the quantitative extent of enhancement for all studied organs (P<.0001).

Conclusion

The evaluation of vessel and organ enhancement patterns has allowed the characterization of five different subphases in early post-contrast enhancement of the liver. The quantitative extent of enhancement of abdominal organs also demonstrated significant correlation with these five subphases.     

乙醇在电感耦合等离子体质谱中的增强效应研究

本文报道了乙醇在ＩＣＰ－ＭＳ中的溶剂效应。详细研究了入射功率和载气流量等条件与乙醇溶剂效应的相关性。并与甘油和铥的基体效应进行了比较。结果表明：乙醇对被分析元素信号有显著影响。     

Thin-film-based sensitivity enhancement for total internal reflection fluorescence live-cell imaging

We investigated experimentally the evanescent field enhancement based on dielectric thin films in total internal reflection microscopy. The sample employed two layers of Al2O3 and SiO2 deposited on an SF10 glass substrate. Field intensity enhancement measured by fluorescent excitation of microbeads relative to that of a control sample without dielectric films was polarization dependent, determined as 4.2 and 2.4 for TE and TM polarizations, respectively, and was in good agreement with numerical results. The thin-film-based field enhancement was also applied to live-cell imaging of quantum dots, which confirmed the sensitivity enhancement qualitatively.     

Development of a nuclear spin polarizer with the optical pumping method

We have developed an optical pumping NMR system for semiconductors as an effective nuclear spin polarizer for a solid-state NMR quantum computer. The system was successfully applied to enhance ³¹P nuclear spin polarization in InP doped with Fe, and the enhancement of the ³¹P NMR signal by more than two orders of magnitude was achieved. We also observed the strong dependences of the enhancement on the helicity and the photon energy of incident light. The most effective enhancement was achieved with the helicity σ⁺ and photon energy smaller than the bandgap by 1015 meV.     

Characterization of the Plasmonic Fluorescence Enhancement of Poly (3-hexylthiophene) for Organic Solar Cell Applications

The dependence of surface-enhanced fluorescence of the semiconducting polymer poly (3-hexylthiophene) on the diameter of silver nanoparticles was studied. Particle suspensions with a high degree of monodispersity, ranging in diameter from 15 to 153 nm, were synthesized. Polymer films were spin-cast onto substrates containing immobilized silver particles. Fluorescence enhancement factors ranged from 0.9 to 4.9 and generally improved with increasing particle size. Normalization of the fluorescence enhancement to the number of interrogated particles showed an 800-fold increase in enhancement between the smallest and largest particles.     

Enhancing a tone by shifting its frequency or intensity

When a test sound consisting of pure tones with equal intensities is preceded by a precursor sound identical to the test sound except for a reduction in the intensity of one tone, an auditory "enhancement" phenomenon occurs: In the test sound, the tone which was previously softer stands out perceptually. Here, enhancement was investigated using inharmonic sounds made up of five pure tones well resolved in the auditory periphery. It was found that enhancement can be elicited not only by increases in intensity but also by shifts in frequency. In both cases, when the precursor and test sounds are separated by a 500-ms delay, inserting a burst of pink noise during the delay has little effect on enhancement. Presenting the precursor and test sounds to opposite ears rather than to the same ear significantly reduces the enhancement resulting from increases in intensity, but not the enhancement resulting from shifts in frequency. This difference suggests that the mechanisms of enhancement are not identical for the two types of change. For frequency shifts, enhancement may be partly based on the existence of automatic "frequency-shift detectors" [Demany and Ramos, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 117, 833-841 (2005)].     

Application of metal nanoparticles/porous silicon diffraction grating in rhodamine 6 G fluorescence signal enhancement

We present a technique for fabricating a fluorescence enhancement device composed of metal nanoparticles(NPs) and porous silicon(PSi) diffraction grating.The fluorescence emission enhancement properties of the PSi and the fluorescence enhancement of the probe molecules are studied on PSi gratings.The fluorescence enhancement of the probe molecules on a fluorescence enhancement device is further improved through the deposition of metal NPs onto the PSi grating.In comparison to metal NP/PSi devices,metal NP periodic distributions can produce a stronger fluorescence enhancement that couples with the PSi grating fluorescence enhancement to achieve an overall three-fold enhancement of the fluorescence intensity.