二维核磁共振定域谱及其在活体中的应用

核磁共振定域谱(MRS)是获得活体生化定量信息和诊断信息的无损检测技术,是核磁共振成像强有力的补充技术,可为临床诊断和疾病预测提供重要的信息. 然而,活体1D ¹H MRS通常存在代谢物谱峰拥挤、分辨率较低和归属难等问题. 引入2D MRS可在较大程度上解决¹H MRS谱峰重叠和谱峰归属难的问题. 该文简述和分析了几种典型的2D MRS新方法及其优缺点,并讨论了它们在脑部、肌肉、乳腺、前列腺等活体组织中的应用. 虽然2D MRS存在着实验时间较长的局限,但最新研究表明其具有一些独特的优势及较好的发展前景.     

Critical layer singularities and complex eigenvalues in some differential equations of mathematical physics

Singular differential equations are a common feature of many problems in mathematical physics. It is often the case that systems with a similar mathematical structure can arise in many different contexts. In this article, mathematically related problems are drawn from areas as diverse as hydrodynamics (with applications to oceanography and meteorology), magnetohydrodynamics and plasma physics (with applications to astrophysics and geophysics, especially solar physics, ionospheric and magnetospheric physics; also nuclear fusion devices), acoustics, electromagnetics, quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. One major unifying feature common to the problems discussed here is the existence of complex eigenvalues, often associated with so-called “classical self-adjoint” equations. No real contradiction is involved here, but the resulting wave functions are often referred to variously as “radioactive states”, “damped resonances”, “leaky waves”, “non-modal solutions” , “singular modes”, “virtual modes”, or “improper eigenfunctions”. In the hydrodynamics of shear flows, such modes are associated with the existence of “critical layers” at which a singularity occurs in the governing (ordinary) differential equation. Similar, but usually more general singular layers are known to occur in equations arising in many of the above-mentioned contexts, and it is the purpose of this review to identify the nature of these singular layers and complex eigenvalues, and the relationships that exist between the different context in which they are found, and in particular to emphasize the occurrence of and interpretation of complex eigenvalues in quantum mechanics. Thus the “exponential catastrophe” is a clearly identified and recurring theme throughout this article by virtue of the similarities that exist between the classical and quantum system discussed here. The examples quoted from quantum mechanics are simple in form, and found in many standard texts, but the virtue of including them here is twofold: the results are easy to understand and relate to the more complicated “classical” systems, and they provide a valuable didactic and pedagogic tool for those readers whose background in quantum mechanics is limited. It is also hoped that this article will be of interest to readers who wish to become more acquainted with some aspects of hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics.     

Oxygen electrocatalysis in chemical energy conversion and storage technologies

Oxygen electrocatalysis that we first defined is considered as the most important phenomenon in almost all electrochemical industries because it is the most sluggish reaction that governs the overall reaction rate in electrochemical cells. In this review, we cover two main areas of oxygen–water electrocatalysis, oxygen reduction to water and oxygen evolution from water. In particular, it aims to provide the readers with an understanding of the critical scientific challenges facing the development of oxygen electrocatalysts, various unique attributes of recent novel catalysts, the latest developments in electrode construction and the outlook for future generation of oxygen electrocatalysts. This review will be of value to both electrochemists and other applied scientists interested in this field of electrocatalysis.     

全球变暖的物理基础和科学简史

全球变暖不仅是当今大气科学乃至整个地球科学的热门研究领域,也是国际社会争论较多的热门话题.文章的目的并不是为了澄清这些争论,而是集中于简要阐述全球变暖的物理学基础,回顾其近200年的科学发展历史.藉此希望对非大气科学背景的学者理解有关全球变暖的科学问题有所帮助.     

摄像CCD

本文对用作成象传感器的电荷耦合器件(CCD)首先进行了一般性技术介绍。概括了大量的最新文献,涉及到许多物理学特性和电路技术。同时较全面地介绍了主要厂家的产品。对于CCD图象传感器的目前的应用和潜在应用也作了叙述。     

Health implications of nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are increasingly used in a wide range of applications in science, technology and medicine. Since they are produced for specific purposes which cannot be met by larger particles and bulk material they are likely to be highly reactive, in particular, with biological systems. On the other hand a large body of know-how in environmental sciences is available from toxicological effects of ultrafine particles (smaller than 100 nm in size) after inhalation. Since nanoparticles feature similar reactivity as ultrafine particles a sustainable development of new emerging nanoparticles is required. This paper gives a brief review on the dosimetry of nanoparticles, including deposition in the various regions of the respiratory tract and systemic translocation and uptake in secondary target organs, epidemiologic associations with health effects and toxicology of inhaled nanoparticles. General principles and current paradigms to explain for the specific behaviour of nanoparticles in toxicology are discussed. With that respect we consider nanoparticles to be in the range from 1 to 2 nm (clusters of atoms/molecules) to particles that are smaller than 100 nm at least in one dimension. Since the evidence for health risks of ultrafine and nanoparticles after inhalation has been increasing over the last decade, the paper attempts to extrapolate these findings and principles observed in particle inhalation toxicology into recommendations for an integrated concept of risk assessment of nanoparticles for a broad range of use in science, technology and medicine.Based on this article a book chapter will appear soon (Kreyling et al., 2006).     

Absolute metabolite quantification by in vivo NMR spectroscopy: I. introduction,objectives and activities of a concerted action in biomedical research

By utilizing achievements and results of two previous concerted research projects on magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy (MRS), the EU BIOMED 1 Concerted Action on “Cancer and brain disease characterization and therapy assessment by quantitative MRS” was specifically aimed at: 1) developing at a multicentre level harmonized methodologies and protocols for quantitative and reproducible MRS measurements, as a basis for validating these procedures in well controlled clinical and experimental conditions; and 2) providing multicentre critical reviews on the present understanding of the significance of MRS parameters as possible new markers of diagnosis, prognosis and response to therapy. The programme comprised the following main areas of collaborative research and multicentre evaluation: a) development of methods and protocols for quality assessment, calibration and absolute metabolite quantification in in vivo localized, volume-selective MRS; b) design and validation of a new method for assessing localization performance in spectroscopic imaging (MRSI); c) interlaboratory comparison of different methods of signal processing and data analysis, for improving signal quantification in vivo and in vitro MRS spectra; d) quality assessment of high resolution MRS analyses of biological fluids; e) protocol for assembling a pilot data base of MR spectra of tumour extracts for pattern recognition analysis; f) multicentre review on evaluation of the significance of MRS parameters in monitoring lipid metabolism and function in cancer; and g) multicentre review on evaluation of drug pharmacokinetics and metabolism using MRS. The main results and conclusions of four multi-centre trials on items (a), (b) and (c), which involved 24 teams, are reported in the accompanying papers of this series.     

A Mathematical Assessment of the Precision of Parameters in Measuring Resonance Spectra

The accurate interpretation ofin vivomagnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) spectra requires a complete understanding of the associated noise-induced errors. In this paper, we address the effect of complex correlated noise patterns on the measurement of a set ofpeakparameters. This is examined initially at the level of a single spectral analysis followed by addressing the noise-induced errors associated with determining thesignalparameters from thepeakparameters. We describe a relatively simple method for calculating these errors for any correlated noise pattern in terms of the noise standard deviation and correlation length. The results are presented in such a way that an estimate of the errors may be made from a single MRS spectrum. We also explore how, under certain circumstances, the lineshape of the signal may be determined. We then apply these results to reexamine a set ofin vivo³¹P MRS spectra obtained from rat brain prior to and following moderate fluid percussion injury. The approach outlined in this paper will demonstrate how meaningful results may be obtained from spectra where the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is quite small and where knowledge of the precise shape of the signal and the detail of the noise pattern is unknown. In essence, we show how to determine the expected errors in the spectral parameters from an estimate of the SNR from a single spectrum, thereby allowing a more discriminative interpretation of the data.     

Quantum turbulence: Theoretical and numerical problems

The term “quantum turbulence” (QT) unifies the wide class of phenomena where the chaotic set of one dimensional quantized vortex filaments (vortex tangles) appear in quantum fluids and greatly influence various physical features. Quantum turbulence displays itself differently depending on the physical situation, and ranges from quasi-classical turbulence in flowing fluids to a near equilibrium set of loops in phase transition. The statistical configurations of the vortex tangles are certainly different in, say, the cases of counterflowing helium and a rotating bulk, but in all the physical situations very similar theoretical and numerical problems arise. Furthermore, quite similar situations appear in other fields of physics, where a chaotic set of one dimensional topological defects, such as cosmic strings, or linear defects in solids, or lines of darkness in nonlinear light fields, appear in the system. There is an interpenetration of ideas and methods between these scientific topics which are far apart in other respects. The main purpose of this review is to bring together some of the most commonly discussed results on quantum turbulence, focusing on analytic and numerical studies. We set out a series of results on the general theory of quantum turbulence which aim to describe the properties of the chaotic vortex configuration, starting from vortex dynamics. In addition we insert a series of particular questions which are important both for the whole theory and for the various applications. We complete the article with a discussion of the hot topic, which is undoubtedly mainstream in this field, and which deals with the quasi-classical properties of quantum turbulence. We discuss this problem from the point of view of the theoretical results stated in the previous sections. We also included section, which is devoted to the experimental and numerical suggestions based on the discussed theoretical models.     

Role of conserved quantities in Fourier's law for diffusive mechanical systems

Energy transport can be influenced by the presence of other conserved quantities. We consider here diffusive systems where energy and the other conserved quantities evolve macroscopically on the same diffusive space–time scale. In these situations, the Fourier law depends also on the gradient of the other conserved quantities. The rotor chain is a classical example of such systems, where energy and angular momentum are conserved. We review here some recent mathematical results about the diffusive transport of energy and other conserved quantities, in particular for systems where the bulk Hamiltonian dynamics is perturbed by conservative stochastic terms. The presence of the stochastic dynamics allows us to define the transport coefficients (thermal conductivity) and in some cases to prove the local equilibrium and the linear response argument necessary to obtain the diffusive equations governing the macroscopic evolution of the conserved quantities. Temperature profiles and other conserved quantities profiles in the non-equilibrium stationary states can be then understood from the non-stationary diffusive behavior. We also review some results and open problems on the two step approach (by weak coupling or kinetic limits) to the heat equation, starting from mechanical models with only energy conserved.     

Developments in inflationary cosmology

This talk presents some recent work that has been done in inflationary cosmology. First a brief review is given of the inflation scenario and its basic models. After that, one of the main problems in developing inflationary models has been the requirement of a very flat inflation potential. In solving this problem, supersymmetry has played a major role, and the reasons will be discussed and a specific example of the SUSY hybrid model will be examined. Some problems introduced by SUSY such as the η and gravitino problems will then be discussed. Then in a different direction, the quintessential inflation model will be examined as a proposal where a single scalar field plays the role of both the inflaton at early time and the dark energy field later. The final topic covered is developments in understanding dissipation and particle production processes during the inflationary phase.      

Modeling cities

Cities are systems with a large number of constituents and agents interacting with each other and can be considered as emblematic of complex systems. Modeling these systems is a real challenge and triggered the interest of many disciplines such as quantitative geography, spatial economics, geomatics and urbanism, and more recently physics. (Statistical) Physics plays a major role by bringing tools and concepts able to bridge theory and empirical results, and we will illustrate this on some fundamental aspects of cities: the growth of their surface area and their population, their spatial organization, and the spatial distribution of activities. We will present state-of-the-art results and models but also open problems for which we still have a partial understanding and where physics approaches could be particularly helpful. We will end this short review with a discussion about the possibility of constructing a science of cities.     

Comments on Chapter 12 of ‘‘Railway Noise and Vibration: Mechanisms, Modelling and Means of Control”, by D. Thompson (with contributions from C. Jones and P.-E. Gautier), Elsevier, 2009

In this “Letter to the Editor”, it is detailed how Chapter 12 of the book “Railway Noise and Vibration: Mechanisms, Modelling and Means of Control”, by D. Thompson (with contributions from C. Jones and P.-E. Gautier), Elsevier, 2009, offers a rather incomplete review of the topic of the generation of ground vibrations by high-speed trains, in particular by trans-Rayleigh trains. As a result of this limited review, readers unfamiliar with the history of the problem will gain an incorrect impression of the topic and a rather incomplete knowledge of past work on it. This letter attempts to supply a more appropriate review.     

A comparative evaluation of "depth pulses" and related sequences for spatial discrimination in in-vivo NMR spectroscopy with surface coils

The performance of a range of "depth pulses" and related pulse sequences for achieving enhanced spatial resolution in surface coil magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been compared both experimentally and by computer simulation. A detailed analysis of the spatial selectivity of these sequences both on- and off-resonance suggests that the problem of combining good spatial resolution with adequate bandwidth has yet to be fully resolved. These and related problems, such as the shape of the sensitive volume and its dependence on resonance offset, are likely to limit the use of depth pulses, particularly where alternative methods of spatial selection are available.     

Quality assessment in in vivo NMR spectroscopy: I. Introduction,objectives, and activities

By enabling noninvasive measurements of tissue biochemistry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides a unique means of characterizing tissues. Differences in equipment, techniques, and methodology between different laboratories cause major difficulties when comparing results, whether from measurements of tissue metabolism, or from the effects of different therapies. This is of concern in critically evaluating work from different laboratories and centres, causing potential difficulties in reproducing results, limiting the establishment of MRS as a standard method of diagnosis and of characterising disease and response to therapy in the laboratory and clinic. It also poses particular problems in establishing the multicentre clinical trials of MRS that are now required to provide adequate statistical power in confirming the encouraging preliminary clinical observations. These difficulties arise principally from imperfect localization of signal from selected regions of interest in the body, and from the subsequent analyses of the MRS spectra. Improvement is possible by establishing agreed procedures for test measurements and for data analysis, and by using appropriate test objects and test substances to establish the quality of measurements. A concerted research project on characterisation of biological tissues by NMR, principally concerned with MR imaging (MRI), was activated in 1984 by the European Economic Community as part of its third Medical and Health Research Programme, under the auspices of the Biomedical Engineering Concerted Actions' Committee (COMAC-BME). In 1988, this project was prolonged for 5 years, when the programme was expanded to encompass MRS. A series of five accompanying papers describes (a) the test protocols and objects agreed for assessing the quality of volume selective MRS measurements; (b) the experimental trials performed for a multicentre evaluation of these procedures on experimental and clinical systems; and (c) the results of a joint quantitative data analysis study on in vivo NMR time-domain test signals.     

Heavy-ion induced fission at near-barrier energies

The study of heavy-ion induced fission fragment angular distributions continues to be a source of rich information as regards fission process in general and fission dynamics in particular. Considerable progress has been made towards understanding many features of the fission phenomenon. While some of the new sets of data measured in the last few years have confirmed the theoretical expectations, the others have provided surprises not quite anticipated. In the present review article the emphasis will be mainly on the recent experimental results of heavy-ion-induced fission fragment angular distributions at energies near the fusion barrier, their implications and new puzzles in this area which require not only suitable explanation but also additional measurements.     

Programmable interferometry

The advent of automatic data-processing for interferometry greatly reduced the complexity of interferometric testing, thereby significantly increasing its usage both within and outside the optics community. A great many of these new applications require special data-processing and output data not normally used for testing lenses. To address these new measurement problems, many data-analysis programs were written, ranging from advanced analysis of wavefronts (i.e., Zernike polynominals, point-spread function, modulation-transfer function) to analysis of mechanical surfaces, such as Winchester-disk read/write heads. Some of these programs were very specific to a particular application, and some tried to be general and as such became cumbersome. Even with much of this software available for sale to the general public, most applications other than simple surface and lens measurements usually cannot be solved directly by using the available programs. In an attempt to solve this problem, we have developed software for interferometry that allows users to easily develop their own measurement routines. The solution was to take a version of the BASIC programming language and add the commands necessary to do interferometry. This software is resident in a processor that can easily be adapted to a large number of interferometry applications. By using this processor and its associated software with an appropriate interferometer, it is possible for the user to tailor the measurement to a particular application. This can be very useful in an optical-production shop, where each different testing application can have its own program. If the program is written properly, the operator will not have to set up any default conditions or format the output; the operation of the program can be reduced to the pushing of a single button, and the output will be formatted properly for that particular test. Examples of this system in actual optical shop-testing situations will be discussed.     

Quantifying in vivo MR spectra with circles

Accurate and robust quantification of in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data is essential to its application in research and medicine. The performance of existing analysis methods is problematic for in vivo studies where low signal-to-noise ratio, overlapping peaks and intense artefacts are endemic. Here, a new frequency-domain technique for MRS data analysis is introduced wherein the circular trajectories which result when spectral peaks are projected onto the complex plane, are fitted with active circle models. The use of active contour strategies naturally allows incorporation of prior knowledge as constraint energy terms. The problem of phasing spectra is eliminated, and baseline artefacts are dealt with using active contours-snakes. The stability and accuracy of the new technique, CFIT, is compared with a standard time-domain fitting tool, using simulated 31P data with varying amounts of noise and 98 real human chest and heart 31P MRS data sets. The real data were also analyzed by our standard frequency-domain absorption-mode technique. On the real data, CFIT demonstrated the least fitting failures of all methods and an accuracy similar to the latter method, with both these techniques outperforming the time-domain approach. Contrasting results from simulations argue that performance relative to Cramer-Rao Bounds may not be a suitable indicator of fitting performance with typical in vivo data such as these. We conclude that CFIT is a stable, accurate alternative to the best existing methods of fitting in vivo data.     

Progress of microscopic thermoelectric effects studied by micro- and nano-thermometric techniques

Heat dissipation is one of the most serious problems in modern integrated electronics with the continuously decreasing devices size. Large portion of the consumed power is inevitably dissipated in the form of waste heat which not only restricts the device energy-efficiency performance itself, but also leads to severe environment problems and energy crisis. Thermoelectric Seebeck effect is a green energy-recycling method, while thermoelectric Peltier effect can be employed for heat management by actively cooling overheated devices, where passive cooling by heat conduction is not sufficiently enough. However, the technological applications of thermoelectricity are limited so far by their very low conversion efficiencies and lack of deep understanding of thermoelectricity in microscopic levels. Probing and managing the thermoelectricity is therefore fundamentally important particularly in nanoscale. In this short review, we will first briefly introduce the microscopic techniques for studying nanoscale thermoelectricity, focusing mainly on scanning thermal microscopy (SThM). SThM is a powerful tool for mapping the lattice heat with nanometer spatial resolution and hence detecting the nanoscale thermal transport and dissipation processes. Then we will review recent experiments utilizing these techniques to investigate thermoelectricity in various nanomaterial systems including both (two-material) heterojunctions and (single-material) homojunctions with tailored Seebeck coefficients, and also spin Seebeck and Peltier effects in magnetic materials. Next, we will provide a perspective on the promising applications of our recently developed Scanning Noise Microscope (SNoiM) for directly probing the non-equilibrium transporting hot charges (instead of lattice heat) in thermoelectric devices. SNoiM together with SThM are expected to be able to provide more complete and comprehensive understanding to the microscopic mechanisms in thermoelectrics. Finally, we make a conclusion and outlook on the future development of microscopic studies in thermoelectrics.     

MRI and MRS on preserved samples as a tool in fish ecology

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) gain increasing attention and importance as a tool in marine ecology. So far, studies were largely limited to morphological studies, e.g. for the creation of digital libraries. Here, the utility of MRI and MRS for ecologists is tested and exemplified using formalin preserved samples of the Antarctic silverfish, Pleuragramma antarctica. As this species lacks a swim bladder, buoyancy is attained by the deposition of large amounts of lipids that are mainly stored in subcutaneous and intermuscular lipid sacs. In this study MRI and MRS are not only used to study internal morphology, but additionally to investigate functional morphology and to measure parameters of high ecological interest. The data are compared with literature data obtained by means of traditional ecological methods.The results from this study show that MR scans are not only an alternative to histological sections (as shown before), but even allow the visualization of particular features in delicate soft tissues, such as Pleuragramma's lipid sacs. 3D rendering techniques proved to be a useful tool to study organ volumes and lipid content, which usually requires laborious chemical lipid extraction and analysis. Moreover, the application of MRS even allows for an analysis of lipids and fatty acids within lipid sacs, which wouldn't be possible using destructive methods. MRI and MRS, in particular when used in combination, have the capacity to provide useful data on parameters of high ecological relevance and thus have proven to be a highly valuable addition, if not alternative, to the classical methods.