Structural anisotropy and internal magnetic fields in trabecular bone: coupling solution and solid dipolar interactions

We investigate the use of intermolecular multiple-quantum coherence to probe structural anisotropy in trabecular bone. Despite the low volume fraction of bone, the bone-water interface produces internal magnetic field gradients which modulate the dipolar field, depending on sample orientation, choice of dipolar correlation length, correlation gradient direction, and evolution time. For this system, the probing of internal magnetic field gradients in the liquid phase permits indirect measurements of the solid phase dipolar field. Our results suggest that measurements of volume-averaged signal intensity as a function of gradient strength and three orthogonal directions could be used to non-invasively measure the orientation of structures inside a sample or their degree of anisotropy. The system is modeled as having two phases, solid and liquid (bone and water), which differ in their magnetization density and magnetic susceptibility. A simple calculation using a priori knowledge of the material geometry and distribution of internal magnetic fields verifies the experimental measurements as a function of gradient strength, direction, and sample orientation.     

Ultrasound phased arrays for prostate treatment.

The effect of array geometry on the steering performance of ultrasound phased arrays is examined theoretically, in order to maximize array performance under the given anatomical constraints. This paper evaluates the performance of arrays with spherical and cylindrical geometry, determined by using computer simulations of the pressure fields produced at various extremes of steering. The spherical segment arrays were truncated for insertion into the rectum, and contained either annular or linear elements. The cylindrical arrays were either flat or had a variable curvature applied along their length. Fields were computed by dividing the array elements into many point sources. The effectiveness of an array configuration when steered to a particular focal location was assessed by defining a parameter, G, as the ratio of the intensity at the desired focus to the maximum intensity of any unwanted lobes. The performance of truncated spherical arrays with annular elements was evaluated for focal steering along the array axis (in depth, in the z direction). When steered 15 mm toward the source, these truncated spherical annular arrays exhibited excellent performance, with G>5.7 for arrays containing more than 10 elements. Similarly, the spherical arrays with linear elements performed well when steered along the array axis to the same degree, with G>7 (for element widths up to 3 lambda), though many more array elements were required. However, when these arrays were steered 15 mm laterally, along the length of the prostate (the y direction), the value for G fell below 1 for element widths greater than about 1.6 lambda. It was found that the cylindrical arrays performed much better for y-direction steering (G>4, for 60 mm arrays with an element width of 1.75 lambda), but their performance was poorer when steered in the z direction (G approximately 4 for an element width of 1.5 lambda). In order to find a compromise between these extremes, a curved cylindrical array was examined, which was a cylindrical array with additional curvature along its length. These curved cylindrical arrays yielded performance between that of spherical linear arrays and cylindrical arrays, with better steering along the y direction than the spherical arrays and better z-direction steering than the cylindrical arrays.     

Modelling of self-diffusion and relaxation time NMR in multicompartment systems with cylindrical geometry

Multicompartment characteristics of relaxation and diffusion in a model for (plant) cells and tissues have been simulated as a means to test separating the signal into a set of these compartments. A numerical model of restricted diffusion and magnetization relaxation behavior in PFG-CPMG NMR experiments, based on Fick's second law of diffusion, has been extended for two-dimensional diffusion in systems with concentric cylindrical compartments separated by permeable walls. This model is applicable to a wide range of (cellular) systems and allows the exploration of temporal and spatial behavior of the magnetization with and without the influence of gradient pulses. Numerical simulations have been performed to show the correspondence between the obtained results and previously reported studies and to investigate the behavior of the apparent diffusion coefficients for the multicompartment systems with planar and cylindrical geometry. The results clearly demonstrate the importance of modelling two-dimensional diffusion in relation to the effect of restrictions, permeability of the membranes, and the bulk relaxation within the compartments. In addition, the consequences of analysis by multiexponential curve fitting are investigated.     

NMR of mercury in porous carbon and silica gel

The temperature dependences of the integrated intensity and of the Knight shift of ¹⁹⁹Hg NMR signals are measured for liquid and solid mercury introduced into porous carbon and silica gel. A decrease in the temperature of completion of crystallization and a small temperature hysteresis (from 4 to 9 K) between melting and crystallization are observed. The melting temperature of mercury in pores coincides with that in the bulk. The ¹⁹⁹Hg NMR signal from crystalline mercury under the condition of restricted geometry is observed for the first time. It is established that the Knight shift for liquid and crystalline mercury in pores is smaller than in the bulk.     

Synchronization of chaotic semiconductor lasers by optical injection with random phase modulation

It is shown that identical synchronization of two chaotic semiconductor lasers can be achieved by injection of a common optical signal with randomly varying phase. An optical signal with randomly modulated phase is injected into two semiconductor lasers which have chaotic oscillations due to optical feedback. Strong correlation between complex intensity oscillations of the two lasers is observed even though the intensity of the common injection signal is constant. Characteristic properties of this type of synchronization are shown, in particular, the dependence of the synchronization threshold on the injection strength and the rate of phase modulation, and the dependence of the intensity correlation on the difference in phase of optical feedback.     

Log-rolling micelles in sheared amphiphilic thin films

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that sheared solutions of cylindrical micelle-forming amphiphiles behave very differently under extreme confinement as compared to the bulk. When confined to ultrathin films, the self-assembled cylindrical micelles roll along the shearing direction and align parallel to each other with their axes along the vorticity direction, as opposed to aligning parallel to the shearing direction in the bulk. It is shown that this new "log-rolling" phase arises due to a strong coupling between the rotational degree of freedom of the micelles and the steady sliding motion of the confining surfaces. We examine the microscopic mechanism of the log-rolling phenomenon and also discuss its dependence on the segregation strength and length of the amphiphile, the shear rate, and the film thickness.     

Numerical characterizations of unstable optical resonators and evaluation of the geometry effects

Unstable resonators have been widely used in high-power gas lasers as well as solid-state lasers. The phase and the spatial distribution of intensity of these lasers are very important in some applications such as material processing. In this paper, unstable resonators with three different geometries have been characterized numerically and the results have been compared and evaluated. Based on the Fresnel-Kirchhoff integral, the two-dimensional phase and intensity have been calculated for three different positive branch unstable resonators. The results show that the resonators with rectangular geometry have the best performance for near-field as well as far-field intensity, which is more suitable for material processing. The calculations also show that the maximum output power can be extracted from the rectangular resonator with spherical surface, while the circular resonator with spherical surface has minimum output power. The results also show that the laser has a higher divergence for the cylindrical resonator in compare with those for the circular and rectangular resonators.     

Diffusion studies in confined nematic liquid crystals by MAS PFG NMR

Pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR and magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR have been combined in order to measure the diffusion coefficients of liquid crystals in confined geometry. Combination of MAS NMR with PFG NMR has a higher spectroscopic resolution in comparison with conventional PFG NMR and improves the application of NMR diffusometry to liquid crystals. It is found that the confinement of the liquid crystal 5CB in porous glasses with mean pore diameters of 30 and 200 nm does not notably change its diffusion behavior in comparison with the bulk state.     

Observation of intermolecular double-quantum coherence signal dips in nuclear magnetic resonance

The correlated spectroscopy revamped by asymmetric Z-gradient echo detection (CRAZED) sequence is modified to investigate intermolecular double-quantum coherence nuclear magnetic resonance signal dips in highly polarized spin systems. It is found that the occurrence of intermolecular double-quantum coherence signal dips is related to sample geometry, field inhomogeneity and dipolar correlation distance. If the field inhomogeneity is refocused, the signal dip occurs at a fixed position whenever the dipolar correlation distance approaches the sample dimension. However, the position is shifted when the field inhomogeneity exists. Experiments and simulations are performed to validate our theoretic analysis. These signal features may offer a unique way to investigate porous structures and may find applications in biomedicine and material science.     

Generation of the second optical harmonic in porous-silicon-based structures with a photonic band gap

Efficient generation of the second optical harmonic is observed experimentally in a multilayer periodic structure based on porous silicon. The second-harmonic signal is much stronger than the signal from a uniform porous silicon layer or from the single-crystal silicon substrate. The orientational dependence of the second-harmonic signal is isotropic. The second-harmonic intensity as a function of the reflection angle reaches a maximum in the direction corresponding to the minimum phase detuning in a multilayer periodic structure. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 4, 274–279 (25 February 1999) Deceased.     

Separation of velocity distribution and diffusion using PFG NMR

Pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR is applied to investigate flow processes. In this case the NMR signal experiences phase modulation due to flow and signal attenuation due to the distribution of velocities. The velocity distribution consists of one part originating from diffusion and of a second part, the distribution of the directed motion. The usual PFG-experiment in which the gradient strength is incremented cannot distinguish between both. Incrementing velocity at constant gradient strength keeps the contribution from diffusion constant but changes the absolute width of the velocity distribution. So the signal is attenuated again, but only due to the distribution of the directed motion. The phase modulation as a signature of flow is not affected by this strategy, because velocity and gradient strength are Fourier conjugated. The key advantage of this approach is the possibility of measuring very low velocities, which only cause a very slight phase modulation that is easily covered by diffusion. The method is discussed here for very slow flow in a rheometer cell.     

Low-frequency velocity correlation spectrum of fluid in a porous media by modulated gradient spin echo.

In addition to the fast correlation for local stochastic motion, the molecular velocity correlation function in a fluid enclosed within the pore boundaries features a slow long time-tail decay. Here we present its study by the NMR modulated gradient spin-echo method (MGSE) [1] on a system of water trapped in the space between the closely packed polystyrene beads. With MGSE pulse sequence, a repetitive train of RF pulses with interspersed gradient pulses periodically modulates the spin phase. It gives the spin echo attenuation proportional to a value of the molecular velocity correlation spectrum at the modulation frequency. Covering the frequency range between Hz and MHz, it is a complement to the quasi-elastic neutron scattering, and so a suitable technique for the investigation of low frequency molecular dynamics in fluids. In our experiment, it enables to extract the low frequency correlation spectrum of water molecules confined in porous media. The function exhibits a negative long time-tail characteristic (a low frequency decay of the spectrum), which can be interpreted as a molecular back scattering on boundaries. The results can be well fitted with the spectrum calculated from the solution of the Langevin equation for restricted diffusion (which exhibits an exponential decay) [2] as well as with the spectrum obtained when simulating the hydrodynamics of molecular motion constrained by capillary walls (which gives an algebraic decay) [3]. Despite much work on theories and simulation, which predict slow negative long time tail of molecular velocity correlation dynamics in confined fluids, the obtained velocity correlation spectrum is the first experimental evidence to confirm these effects. The obtained dependence of spin echo attenuation on time, gradient strength and modulation frequency is also the first experimental verification of the recently developed approach to the spin echo in porous media, that uses the spin phase average with the cumulant expansion to get the attenuation as a discord of spin spatial coherence [4].     

Robust baseline correction algorithm for signal dense NMR spectra

This paper outlines a fully automated algorithm for baseline correction. Based on our experience with NMR spectra of complex mixtures, this algorithm is designed to automatically differentiate signal points from baseline points. The algorithm's strength is its ability to accurately determine baseline points in very dense spectra, without destroying the line shapes of prominent peaks. The algorithm described is implemented in Chenomx NMR Suite 4.6. It is demonstrated here using two separate spectra acquired on two different NMR spectrometers.     

Coherent beam combining of two W-level fiber amplifiers in turbulence atmospheric environment based on stochastic parallel gradient descent algorithm

We demonstrate coherent beam combining of two W-level fiber amplifiers based on stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm at 8 m distance in a simulated turbulence atmospheric environment. A photodetector was used to get the coherent optical intensity of the main-lobe from a pinhole, based on the intensity and the SPGD algorithm, the phase controlling was performed by the digital signal processor. In order to simulate the atmospheric environment, turbulence was induced in the free space of the light path by fans and air-conditions in the lab. Experimental result shows that the system performs well for long-time both with and without the simulating turbulence in close-loop, combining efficiency as high as 84.25% with turbulence and 84.85% without turbulence were realized. Visibility increased from near zero in open-loop to 0.432 with turbulence and 0.505 without turbulence in close-loop and the residual phase error is controlled to be less than λ/18. The probability of energy encircled in the main-lobe to be more than 70% of its ideal value was increased from 18.66 to 93.71% without turbulence and from 14.80 to 92.49% with turbulence when the system evolves from open-loop to close-loop.     

Gas diffusion in a pulmonary acinus model: experiments with hyperpolarized helium-3

Diffusion of hyperpolarized helium-3 in epoxy phantoms was experimentally studied by pulsed-gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). One phantom with a dichotomic branching structure densely filling a cubic volume was built using the Kitaoka algorithm to model a healthy human acinus. Two other phantoms, one with a different size and the other one with a partial destruction of the branched structure, were built to simulate changes occurring at the early stages of emphysema. Gas pressure and composition (mixture with nitrogen) were varied, thus exploring different diffusion regimes. Preliminary measurements in a cylindrical glass cell allowed us to calibrate the gradient intensity with 1% accuracy. Measurements of NMR signal attenuation due to gas diffusion were compared to a classical Gaussian model and to Monte Carlo simulations. In the slow diffusion regime, the Gaussian model was in reasonable agreement with experiments for low gradient intensity, but there was a significant systematic deviation at larger gradient intensity. An apparent diffusion coefficient Dapp was deduced, and in agreement with previous findings, a linear decrease of Dapp/D0 with D0(1/2) was observed, where D0 is the free diffusion coefficient. In the regime of intermediate diffusion, experimental data could be described by the Gaussian model for very small gradient intensities only. The corresponding Dapp/D0 values seemed to reach a constant value. Monte Carlo simulations were generally in fair agreement with the measurements in both regimes. Our results suggest that, for diffusion times typical of medical magnetic resonance imaging, an increase in alveolar size has more impact on signal attenuation than a partial destruction of the branched structure at equivalent surface-to-volume ratio.     

A computer algorithm for the simulation of any nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging method

More than a dozen Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) imaging methods have been described using different radio-frequency pulse sequences, magnetic field gradient variations, and data processing. In order to have a theoretical understanding in the most general case, we have conceived a computer program for the simulation of NMR imaging techniques. The algorithm uses the solution of the Bloch equations at each point of a simulated object. The direction of every elementary magnetic moment is computed at each instant, and stored in an array giving the global signal to be processed, whatever the pulse and gradient sequence. To test the validity of this program, we have simulated some well-known experimental results. Some applications are presented which contribute to the understanding of image distortions and to techniques such as selective radio-frequency pulse or oscillating gradients. This program can be used to unravel physical and technological causes of image distortions, to have a "microscopic" look at any parameter of an experiment, and to study the contrast given by various NMR imaging techniques as a function of the three NMR parameters, i.e., the hydrogen nuclei density rho and the relaxation times T1 and T2.     

Estimation of the in vivo decay rate of EPR signals for a nitroxide radical in rat brains by a region-selected intensity determination method

The region-selected intensity determination (RSID) method was proposed to obtain the temporal changes in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal intensity from a selected region by a stationary magnetic field gradient. To select the region, the subtraction field that was derived from the distance between the center and the projection of the selected region to the direction of the field gradient was applied to the main field. The directions of the stationary magnetic field gradient at a constant strength were systematically changed in a three-dimensional space after each acquisition of the spectrum. All spectra under the field gradient were accumulated and the resultant spectrum was deconvoluted by a spectrum without the field gradient. The center height of the deconvoluted spectrum indicates the signal intensity of the selected region. To verify this method, a phantom or in vivo study was conducted on a 700 MHz radio-frequency EPR spectrometer equipped with a bridged loop-gap resonator. In the temporal EPR measurements of phantoms including a nitroxide radical aqueous solution with and without ascorbic acid, the selected regions were alternatively changed at the position of the two phantoms. The signal intensity derived from the one phantom showed an exponential decay, and for the other phantom, no temporal changes. The spatial resolution of this method was estimated to be 2.7 mm by using a pinpoint phantom that included diphenylpicrylhydrazyl powder. In the in vivo temporal EPR measurements, the selected regions were alternatively changed at the cerebral cortex and the striatum of rats that had received a blood-brain barrier-permeative nitroxide radical. The decay rate of the signal intensity at each region obtained by this method was consistent with those previously reported.     

A new probe of pore geometry: diffusive MASS NMR

NMR methods are widely used to probe the structure and fluid dynamics of porous materials, as they are uniquely suited to these studies since NMR records the correlation of changing local magnetic fields over a time scale of ns to seconds. The local magnetic fields are established by local variations in the bulk magnetic susceptibility of the sample (and so are directly tied to the sample's local structure). The fluctuation in field that a spin sees is due to molecular transport (including molecular diffusion) through these local fields, and so reports on the length scales of structures and impediments to transport. We have developed a new set of methods DIFFUSIVE-MASS to provide a means of systematically varying the effective time scale of the measurement and thus the effective length scale. This new handle permits a detailed, microscopic picture of the structure and dynamics. Diffusive MASS NMR methods will permit a systematic set of methods and analysis for characterizing the chemistry, structure and fluid dynamics of the mobile phase in porous materials. The approach will be applicable to any diamagnetic material. In particular, the industry of oil discovery depends on understanding heterogeneous porous media.     

基于声强测量的圆柱内部全息柱面复声压相位重构

本文把基于声强测量的全息相位重构原理应用到圆柱内部声场中,阐述了圆柱面相位重构原理,推导了相应的有限空间离散算法并计算了圆柱声腔内主要声模态。结果表明,重构相位和理论值有较好的吻合。最后,分析了重构频率、全息孔径及全息柱面与壳体的间距等重构参数对相位重构精度的影响。     

Sensitive and robust electrophoretic NMR: instrumentation and experiments

Although simple as a concept, electrophoretic NMR (eNMR) has so far failed to find wider application. Problems encountered are mainly due to disturbing and partly irreproducible convection-like bulk flow effects from both electro-osmosis and thermal convection. Additionally, bubble formation at the electrodes and rf noise pickup has constrained the typical sample geometry to U-tube-like arrangements with a small filling factor and a low resulting NMR sensitivity. Furthermore, the sign of the electrophoretic mobility cancels out in U-tube geometries. We present here a new electrophoretic sample cell based on a vertically placed conventional NMR sample tube with bubble-suppressing palladium metal as electrode material. A suitable radiofrequency filter design prevents noise pickup by the NMR sample coil from the high-voltage leads which extend into the sensitive sample volume. Hence, the obtained signal-to-noise ratio of this cell is one order of magnitude higher than that of our previous U-tube cells. Permitted by the retention of the sign of the displacement-related signal phase in the new cell design, an experimental approach is described where bulk flow effects by electro-osmosis and/or thermal convection are compensated through parallel monitoring of a reference signal from a non-charged species in the sample. This approach, together with a CPMG-like pulse train scheme provides a superior first-order cancellation of non-electrophoretic bulk flow effects.