On the regularization of feature fusion and mapping for fast MR multi-contrast imaging via iterative networks

Multi-contrast (MC) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the same patient usually requires long scanning times, despite the images sharing redundant information. In this work, we propose a new iterative network that utilizes the sharable information among MC images for MRI acceleration. The proposed network has reinforced data fidelity control and anatomy guidance through an iterative optimization procedure of Gradient Descent, leading to reduced uncertainties and improved reconstruction results. Through a convolutional network, the new method incorporates a learnable regularization unit that is capable of extracting, fusing, and mapping shareable information among different contrasts. Specifically, a dilated inception block is proposed to promote multi-scale feature extractions and increase the receptive field diversity for contextual information incorporation. Lastly, an optimal MC information feeding protocol is built through the design of a complementary feature extractor block. Comprehensive experiments demonstrated the superiority of the proposed network, both qualitatively and quantitatively.     

One-pot sonochemical synthesis of 1,3-thiazolidin-4-ones using nano-CdZr4(PO4)6 as a robust heterogeneous catalyst

An efficient three-component synthesis of 1,3-thiazolidin-4-ones is described by one-pot condensation of aldehydes, aniline and thioglycolic acid with nano-CdZr₄(PO₄)₆ as a robust heterogeneous catalyst under ultrasonic irradiation. Use of simple and readily available starting materials, experimental simplicity, applying the sonochemical methodology as an efficient method and innocuous means of activation in synthetic chemistry are some advantages of this protocol.     

Sonochemical synthesis of a new nano-sized cerium(III) supramolecular compound; Precursor for nanoceria

Using a sonochemical method, nanoparticles of a new Ce(III) supramolecular compound, (NAMH⁺)₂[Ce₄(pydc)₆(pydcH)₂(H₂O)₈]·8H₂O (1), (H₂pydc = 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid, NAM = nicotinamide), have been synthesized. Compound 1 was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), FT-IR spectroscopy and elemental analyses, and its structure was determined by X-ray crystallography. It has been revealed that its structure consists of tetra-nuclear building units that extend to a 3D supramolecular network via non-covalent interactions mainly hydrogen bonding. The thermal stability of complex 1 both for its crystals and nanostructures has been studied by the thermal gravimetric (TG) method and compared with each other. The role of ultrasound irradiation power and the concentration of initial reactants on the size and morphology of the nano-structured complex 1, has been investigated. Ceria nanoparticles were obtained upon the calcination of complex 1 at 800 °C under atmospheric air. Furthermore, the fluorescent properties of complex 1 at room temperature were studied.     

Investigation of electronic properties of alloyed double metal ring

The present work is a theoretical study of the electronic properties of alloyed double metal ring (ADMR) threaded by magnetic flux. The studied system is consisting of two rings connected parallel, with two different types of atomic sites. This work contains two parts. First is an analytical study of calculation of the energy spectrum, persistent current, Drude weight and low-field magnetic susceptibility of ADMR by the tight-binding method. Second is a computation study of electronic properties of the alloyed double metal ring by density functional theory (DFT). The latter part is considered as a complementary study of what was studied in the first part in order to determine the best materials which will be used to design alloyed double metal ring. Our results show that the on-site energies for both types of atoms, inter-ring coupling strength and hopping strengths play an interesting role in controlling the electronic properties.     

密集颗粒体系的颗粒运动及结构测量技术

颗粒材料由大量粗颗粒堆积形成, 是复杂的多体相互作用体系, 呈现出颗粒尺度的结构不均匀和动力学不均匀性的基本特征, 这决定了颗粒材料具有很多独特的宏观性质. 借鉴学科历史的发展途径, 基于统计力学, 从颗粒结构和动力学开始建立颗粒材料体系的宏观连续介质力学理论框架是必然途径.但是, 颗粒材料的基本特征决定了从基本理论到实验手段上, 表征与建立颗粒材料结构与性能的相关性都极其困难.这是由于现有测试分析手段所描述的颗粒系统组织结构过于简单化, 缺乏对颗粒结构和动力学的真正认识, 从而制约了颗粒物质研究的发展.因此, 开展颗粒体系结构和动力学性质的测量, 是理解和认识颗粒材料重要物理和力学问题的基础和依据.笔者来自不同的科研院所, 近十年来开展了颗粒体系结构和动力学性质的测量研究, 主要集中于以下两个方向: (1)数字图像测速法、散斑能见度光谱法和X射线- CT等非侵入式测量技术在颗粒运动方面的应用; (2)体积响应谱、力学谱(有效质量和内耗等)和声速测量技术等直接或间接测量颗粒接触力和颗粒结构技术.本文综述了这些实验手段的基本原理及其特点、取得的主要成果, 以及国际最新进展和困难. 最后是对全文的总结, 结合笔者开展测量的经验和教训, 提出了自己的看法, 并试图展望颗粒材料测量技术研究的前景.      

Event-based state estimation for a class of complex networks with time-varying delays: A comparison principle approach

The paper is concerned with the state estimation problem for a class of time-delayed complex networks with event-triggering communication protocol. A novel event generator function, which is dependent not only on the measurement output but also on a predefined positive constant, is proposed with hope to reduce the communication burden. A new concept of exponentially ultimate boundedness is provided to quantify the estimation performance. By means of the comparison principle, some sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee that the estimation error is exponentially ultimately bounded, and then the estimator gains are obtained in terms of the solution of certain matrix inequalities. Furthermore, a rigorous proof is proposed to show that the designed triggering condition is free of the Zeno behavior. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed event-based estimator.     

A brain phantom for motion-corrected PROPELLER showing image contrast and construction similar to those of in vivo MRI

PurposeA fast spin-echo sequence based on the Periodically Rotated Overlapping Parallel Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction (PROPELLER) technique is a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging data acquisition and reconstruction method for correcting motion during scans. Previous studies attempted to verify the in vivo capabilities of motion-corrected PROPELLER in real clinical situations. However, such experiments are limited by repeated, stray head motion by research participants during the prescribed and precise head motion protocol of a PROPELLER acquisition. Therefore, our purpose was to develop a brain phantom set for motion-corrected PROPELLER.Materials and methodsThe profile curves of the signal intensities on the in vivo T₂-weighted image (T₂WI) and 3-D rapid prototyping technology were used to produce the phantom. In addition, we used a homemade driver system to achieve in-plane motion at the intended timing. We calculated the Pearson's correlation coefficient (R²) between the signal intensities of the in vivo T₂WI and the phantom T₂WI and clarified the rotation precision of the driver system. In addition, we used the phantom set to perform initial experiments to show the rotational angle and frequency dependences of PROPELLER.ResultsThe in vivo and phantom T₂WIs were visually congruent, with a significant correlation (R²) of 0.955 (p < .001). The rotational precision of the driver system was within 1 degree of tolerance. The experiment on the rotational angle dependency showed image discrepancies between the rotational angles. The experiment on the rotational frequency dependency showed that the reconstructed images became increasingly blurred by the corruption of the blades as the number of motions increased.ConclusionsIn this study, we developed a phantom that showed image contrasts and construction similar to the in vivo T₂WI. In addition, our homemade driver system achieved precise in-plane motion at the intended timing. Our proposed phantom set could perform systematic experiments with a real clinical MR image, which to date has not been possible in in vivo studies. Further investigation should focus on the improvement of the motion-correction algorithm in PROPELLER using our phantom set for what would traditionally be considered problematic patients (children, emergency patients, elderly, those with dementia, and so on).     

Learning-based structurally-guided construction of resting-state functional correlation tensors

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures changes in blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signals to detect brain activities. It has been recently reported that the spatial correlation patterns of resting-state BOLD signals in the white matter (WM) also give WM information often measured by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). These correlation patterns can be captured using functional correlation tensor (FCT), which is analogous to the diffusion tensor (DT) obtained from DTI. In this paper, we propose a noise-robust FCT method aiming at further improving its quality, and making it eligible for further neuroscience study. The novel FCT estimation method consists of three major steps: First, we estimate the initial FCT using a patch-based approach for BOLD signal correlation to improve the noise robustness. Second, by utilizing the relationship between functional and diffusion data, we employ a regression forest model to learn the mapping between the initial FCTs and the corresponding DTs using the training data. The learned forest can then be applied to predict the DTI-like tensors given the initial FCTs from the testing fMRI data. Third, we re-estimate the enhanced FCT by utilizing the DTI-like tensors as a feedback guidance to further improve FCT computation. We have demonstrated the utility of our enhanced FCTs in Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis by identifying mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients from normal subjects.     

Compact resonantly intra-cavity pumped tunable Ho:Sc2SiO5 laser

A compact intra-cavity pumped low threshold continuous-wave Ho:Sc₂SiO₅ laser is reported. The characteristics of output wavelength tuning are investigated by use a intra-cavity briefringent (BF) filter. A wavelength tunable range of 140 nm from 2020 to 2160 nm is achieved. For the free-running mode, the laser slope efficiency is 24.8%, when the output central wavelength is 2110 nm. The laser threshold is about 820 mW of incident pump power. With the BF filter, a maximum output power of 870 mW is obtained at the incident pump power of 5 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 20.3%. The characteristics of output wavelength verse the crystal temperature are also investigated.