ParaHydrogen Polarized Ethyl-[1-13C]pyruvate in Water,a Key Substrate for Fostering the PHIP-SAH Approach to Metabolic Imaging

An efficient synthesis of vinyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate has been reported, from which ¹³C hyperpolarized (HP) ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate has been obtained by means of ParaHydrogen Induced Polarization (PHIP). Due to the intrinsic lability of pyruvate, which leads quickly to degradation of the reaction mixture even under mild reaction conditions, the vinyl-ester has been synthesized through the intermediacy of a more stable ketal derivative. ¹³C and ¹H hyperpolarizations of ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate, hydrogenated using ParaHydrogen, have been compared to those observed on the more widely used allyl-derivative. It has been demonstrated that the spin order transfer from ParaHydrogen protons to ¹³C, is more efficient on the ethyl than on the allyl-esterdue to the larger J-couplings involved. The main requirements needed for the biological application of this HP product have been met, i. e. an aqueous solution of the product at high concentration (40 mM) with a good ¹³C polarization level (4.8 %) has been obtained. The in vitro metabolic transformation of the HP ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate, catalyzed by an esterase, has been observed. This substrate appears to be a good candidate for in vivo metabolic investigations using PHIP hyperpolarized probes.     

Covariant Sectors with Infinite Dimension¶and Positivity of the Energy

Let ? be a local conformal net of von Neumann algebras on S ¹ and ρ a M?bius covariant representation of ?, possibly with infinite dimension. If ρ has finite index, ρ has automatically positive energy. If ρ has infinite index, we show the spectrum of the energy always to contain the positive real line, but, as seen by an example, it may contain negative values. We then consider nets with Haag duality on ℝ, or equivalently sectors with non-solitonic extension to the dual net; we give a criterion for irreducible sectors to have positive energy, namely this is the case iff there exists an unbounded M?bius covariant left inverse. As a consequence the class of sectors with positive energy is stable under composition, conjugation and direct integral decomposition. Received: 21 April 1997 / Accepted: 23 September 1997     

High-Q whispering gallery modes in a spherical shell dielectric resonator: Characterization at microwave frequencies

We present a numerical and experimental characterization of high-Q whispering gallery resonant modes excited in a fused quartz spherical shell operated in the 18-26.5 GHz band; easy coupling and selection of modes is a most advantageous feature of the proposed structure with respect to ordinary bulk resonators. The numerical results, based on a finite element algorithm, well match experimental data, which also show the capability of our device to perform gaseous spectroscopy measurements. Received 25 October 2002 Published online 4 February 2003     

Numerical solution of the Monge–Ampère equation by a Newton's algorithm

We solve numerically the Monge–Ampère equation with periodic boundary condition using a Newton's algorithm. We prove convergence of the algorithm, and present some numerical examples, for which a good approximation is obtained in 10 iterations. To cite this article: G. Loeper, F. Rapetti, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 340 (2005).     

Magnetic-Field-Dependent Electronic Relaxation of Gd3+ in Aqueous Solutions of the Complexes [Gd(H2O)8]3+, [Gd(propane-1,3-diamine-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetate)(H2O)2]−, and [Gd(N,N′-bis[(N-methylcarbamoyl)methyl]-3-azapentane-1,5-diamine-3,N,N′-triacetate)(H2O)] of interest in magnetic-resonance imaging

EPR Spectra have been measured for aqueous solutions of a series of Gd³⁺ complexes at variable temperature and a range of magnetic fields; S-band (0.14 T), X-band (0.34 T), Q-band (1.2 T), and 2-mm-band (5.0 T). The major contribution to the observed line widths is magnetic-field-dependent and is interpreted as being due to the modulation of the zero-field splitting produced by distortion of the complexes from perfect symmetry. The transverse and longitudinal relaxation matrices for an ⁸S ion with such an interaction have been calculated using Redfield theory with vector-coupling methods, and diagonalised numerically to obtain relaxation rates and intensities for the degenerate transitions which contribute to the multiplet. The observed line width, which is inversely proportional to the magnetic field at low temperatures, is best described by the intensity-weighted mean transverse relaxation time for the four transitions with non-zero intensity. A least-squares fit of the data yields the square of the zero-field splitting tensor, Δ², and a correlation time, τ_v, with activation energy, E_v. The physical significance of these parameters and the extent of validity of the theoretical approach are considered. The parameters are used to predict the magnetic-field dependence of the longitudinal and transverse electronic relaxation times, which are discussed in the context of their relevance to ¹H-NMR relaxivity.     

Interpolation on spherical geodesic grids: A comparative study

Most operational models in atmospheric physics, meteorology and climatology nowadays adopt spherical geodesic grids and require “ad hoc” developed interpolation procedures. The author does a comparison between chosen representatives of linear, distance-based and cubic interpolation schemes outlining their advantages and drawbacks in this specific application field. Numerical experiments on a standard test problem, while confirming a good performance of linear and distance-based schemes in a single interpolation step, also show their minor accuracy with respect to the cubic scheme in the more realistic simulation of advection of a meteorological field.     

The structure of an Fe monolayer on the Ni (111) surface. A density-functional study using the generalized gradient approximation

Using a density-functional method that employs linear combinations of atomic orbitals as basis sets, nonlocal norm-conserving pseudopotentials and the generalized gradient approximation for exchange and correlation, we found that at 0 K the atoms of an Fe monolayer on the Ni (111) surface occupy hcp rather than fcc sites, in keeping with previous predictions made using the ab initio all-electron full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method with the local spin density approximation.     

Normative KGP agents

We extend the logical model of agency known as the KGP model, to support agents with normative concepts, based on the roles an agent plays and the obligations and prohibitions that result from playing these roles. The proposed framework illustrates how the resulting normative concepts, including the roles, can evolve dynamically during the lifetime of the agent. Furthermore, we illustrate how these concepts can be combined with the existing capabilities of KGP agents in order to plan for their goals, react to changes in the environment, and interact with other agents. Our approach gives an executable specification of normative concepts that can be used directly for prototyping applications. Fariba Sadri is a senior lecturer at Imperial College London, from where she received her PhD. Her earlier work concentrated on integrity of deductive databases and temporal reasoning, in particular using the event calculus. In more recent years her work has been on agent technologies and multi-agent systems. She has worked on logic-based agent models, reasoning, dynamic belief revision, and inter-agent communication and negotiation for resources. She was co-awarded an EPSRC grant for research into logic-based multi-agents and was co-investigator in the EU SOCS project. Kostas Stathis is a senior lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London and he holds a PhD from Imperial College London. His research interests are in the area of computational intelligence in general and in the intersection of computational logic and cognitive systems for social computing applications in particular. His research interests include: representation of human-computer (or computer-computer) interaction as a game; cognitive & autonomous agents; artificial agent societies; agent communication; programmable agents and agent platforms. He is a co-investigator of the EU ArguGRID project and was a co-investigator of the EU SOCS project. Francesca Toni is a senior lecturer at Imperial College London, from where she received her PhD. Her earlier work focused on abductive reasoning. In more recent years, she focused on argumentation, agent models and multi-agent systems. She has worked on computational logic-based agent models, agent reasoning, dynamic belief revision, and inter-agent communication and negotiation for resources. She has been co-ordinator of the EU SOCS project, which developed the KGP model of agency, and is coordinator of the EU ArguGRID project, on the application of argumentative agents within grid systems.