Investigations of silicone breast implants with the NMR-MOUSE

Silicone breast implants are used for breast augmentation and breast reconstruction. The issues of concern associated with such implants are: (a) the quality control of each implant before implantation, and (b) the detection of implant bleeding after implantation. We have studied the use of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-MObile Universal Surface Explorer (NMR-MOUSE) for the nondestructive testing of (a) the quality of implant shells, and (b) changes in implant gel due to leakage of body fluid into the implant. Depth profiles measured nondestructively through implant shells at different positions of each implant by the Profile NMR-MOUSE assured good reproducibility of the quality and thickness of different shell layers. The leakage of implants upon rupture was mimicked by observing changes in the transverse NMR relaxation time of the implant gel upon ingress of physiological saline solution and safflower oil through the rupture. Results demonstrate that nondestructive testing with unilateral NMR is a potential method for use in the quality control of implants and for the screening of implants for rupture after implantation.     

3D imaging with a single-sided sensor: an open tomograph

An open tomograph to image volume regions near the surface of large objects is described. The central achievement in getting such a tomograph to work is the design of a fast two-dimensional pure phase encoding imaging method to produce a cross-sectional image in the presence of highly inhomogeneous fields. The method takes advantage of the multi-echo acquisition in a Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG)-like sequence to significantly reduce the experimental time to obtain a 2D image or to spatially resolve relaxation times across the sensitive volume in a single imaging experiment. Depending on T(2) the imaging time can be reduced by a factor of up to two orders of magnitude compared to the one needed by the single-echo imaging technique. The complete echo train decay has been also used to produce T(2) contrast in the images and to spatially resolve the T(2) distribution of an inhomogeneous object, showing that variations of structural properties like the cross-link density of rubber samples can be distinguished by this method. The sequence has been implemented on a single-sided sensor equipped with an optimized magnet geometry and a suitable gradient coil system that provides two perpendicular pulsed gradient fields. The static magnetic field defines flat planes of constant frequency parallel to the surface of the scanner that can be selected by retuning the probe frequency to achieve slice selection into the object. Combining the slice selection obtained under the presence of the static gradient of the open magnet with the two perpendicular pulsed gradient fields, 3D spatial resolution is obtained.     

Anisotropy in Tendon Investigated in Vivo by a Portable NMR Scanner, the NMR-MOUSE

Ordered tissue like tendon is known to exhibit the magic-angle phenomenon in magnetic resonance investigations. Due to the anisotropic structure the transverse relaxation time T₂ depends on the orientation of the tendon in the magnetic field. In medical imaging, relaxation measurements of tendon orientation are restricted by the size of the object and the space available in the magnet. For humans, tendon orientation can only be varied within small limits. As a consequence, the magic-angle phenomenon may lead to a misjudgement of tendon condition. It is demonstrated that the NMR-MOUSE (mobile universal surface explorer), a hand-held NMR sensor, can be employed to investigate the anisotropy of T₂ in Achilles tendon in vivo. The NMR-MOUSE provides a convenient tool for analyzing the correlation of T₂ and the physical condition of tendon.     

Analysis of historical porous building materials by the NMR-MOUSE

Samples of sandstone with and without deposits of silicon oxide stone strengthener as well as samples of historical brick material were analyzed by transverse NMR relaxation and mercury intrusion porosimetry. Relaxation times and relaxation time distributions of the protons from the water saturated samples were measured by low-field NMR using homogeneous and inhomogeneous fields. The measurements in inhomogeneous fields were performed with two different NMR-MOUSE sensors, one with a field gradient of 2 T/m and the other with an average field gradient of about 20 T/m. In the sandstone samples the application of stone strengtheners was shown to result in a confinement of the large pores within the outer layer of a few millimeters depth. Depending on the ferromagnetic contamination of the brick samples, the relaxation time distributions can be affected. The agreement of T2 relaxation time distributions and pore size distributions from mercury intrusion porosimetry was found to be better for the NMR-MOUSE sensors than for the homogeneous field measurements. This is true even for different brick samples, unless the content in ferromagnetic particles is very strong.     

Self-diffusion measurements by a constant-relaxation method in strongly inhomogeneous magnetic fields

The simple pulse sequence thetax-tau1-2thetay-tau1+tau2-2thetay-tau2-Hahn echo used to measure the self-diffusion coefficient D under constant-relaxation condition, i.e., for tau1+tau2=const. was investigated in the presence of strongly inhomogeneous static as well as radiofrequency magnetic fields. The encoding of the Hahn-echo amplitude by the pulse flip angle and diffusion was evaluated by taking into account the spatial distribution of the off-resonance field, the strength and orientation of the local field gradients, and the pulse flip angles by a computer simulation program. As input files, this program uses maps of static and radiofrequency fields, and the D coefficient can be evaluated from the time dependence of the Hahn-echo amplitude. The method was applied to a mobile one-sided NMR sensor, NMR-MOUSE with a bar magnet by measuring D for a series of liquids with different viscosities. The method was shown to be particularly useful for measuring D of solvents in elastomers without the need for measurements of the transverse relaxation rates. The self-diffusion coefficient of toluene in a series of crosslinked natural rubber samples was measured and correlated with the crosslink density. Finally, the method was applied to measure the diffusion anisotropy of free water in bovine Achilles tendon.     

超声波降解溴苯:操作参数与环境因素的影响

本文考察了用超声波降解水中溴苯的动力学与脱卤效应,并研究了重要的操作参数如强度与饱和气体,以及环境干扰因素如悬浮物、地表水其他杂质的影响。结果表明,超声波可以有效地处理溴苯,在20kHz,7.5W／cm2下一级反应常数达0.044／min,脱卤效率达58％。本研究范围内,声强度越高,反应越快。氧气和氩气下降解速率高于空气下。超声降解不受地表水中杂质、纳米级微粒、无机颗粒的影响,但有机悬浮物能在一定程度上干扰溴苯的超声降解。     

超声波条件下降解染料废水的工艺条件研究

采用Fenton试剂对模拟染料废水的降解效果进行研究。结果表明,H2O2投加量、Fe2+投加量、pH值条件、超声处理时间的改变对染料废水的处理效果影响很大。对酸性染料:当pH为4.5,30%H2O2投加的体积分数为30mL/L,Fe2+投加的质量浓度为400mg/L,反应时间为40min时为降解反应的最佳操作条件。对碱性染料,正交试验表明当pH为4、30%H2O2投加的体积分数16mL/L、Fe2+投加的质量浓度为300mg/L、反应时间为60min时为降解反应的最佳操作条件,其降解率达98.46%,COD的去除率达到96.7%。     

NMR investigation of degradation processes of ancient and modern paper at different hydration levels

The degradation process of cellulose-made materials was investigated by means of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, with particular emphasis on the role of water and on the hydration mechanism of cellulose fibrils. To accomplish this, the structure and dynamics of water within ancient and modern samples with different aging histories were investigated. The results mainly indicated that hydrolytic and oxidative reactions provoked the formation of acidic by-products. Furthermore, degradation processes were enhanced by higher amounts of water giving a progressive consumption of the amorphous regions of the cellulose. We propose NMR experiments as a benchmark for characterization of the degradation state of paper, as well as for investigating the effectiveness of restoration treatments.     

一种新型共轭聚合物发光二极管老化的拉曼光谱研究

通过显微共焦拉曼光谱 ,对一种以新型的共轭聚合物半导体材料 3,4 (2 乙基己氧基 )苯基 1,3 丙二醇酯 (poly(2 (4 Ethylhexyl) phenyl 1,4 phenylenevinylene) (P PPV) )为发光层的聚合物发光二极管(PLEDs)器件进行了老化研究 ,无论是光致发光光谱还是拉曼光谱都提供证据说明造成器件老化的原因主要是发光层的聚合物的主链结构 ,即聚合物的共轭结构被破坏 ,这对提高以P PPV作为发光层的PLEDs器件的性能提出有用信息。     

Validity of NMR pore-size analysis of cultural heritage ancient building materials containing magnetic impurities

NMR relaxation time distributions, obtained with laboratory and portable devices, are utilized to characterize the pore-size distributions of building materials coming from the Roman remains of the Greek-Roman Theatre of Taormina. To validate the interpretation of relaxation data in terms of pore-size distribution, comparison of results from standard and in situ NMR experiments with results of the mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) has been made. Although the pore-size distributions can be obtained by NMR in terms of either longitudinal (T₁) or transverse (T₂) relaxation times distributions, the shorter duration of the T₂ measurement makes it, in principle, preferable, although the determination of T₂ distributions is not necessarily an easy alternative to finding T₁ distributions. Among other things, the T₁ distribution is almost independent of the inhomogeneity of the magnetic field, while the T₂ distribution is strongly influenced by it. This paper was aimed at answering two questions: what are the validity limits to interpret NMR data in terms of pore-size distributions and whether the portable device can successfully be applied as a non-destructive and non-invasive tool for in situ NMR analysis of building materials, particularly those of Cultural Heritage interest.     

Characterization of mineral paper by air-coupled ultrasonic spectroscopy

A novel technology in the paper industry makes possible to produce paper by using a mineral powder and a polymer instead of cellulose fibers. This new product is called mineral paper, it presents some potential environmental advantages compared with conventional paper, while it exhibit a similar appearance and properties. The purpose of this work is to determine the possibilities of an air-coupled ultrasonic technique using wide band signals and spectral analysis to study this kind of materials. As no direct contact nor coupling fluids between the paper and the transducers is required, this technique is specially well suited to this problem. It also offers good perspectives for the development of a on-line quality control system. A through transmission technique (0.15-2.3 MHz) is employed and Fourier analysis is performed to obtain both magnitude and phase spectra of the transmission coefficient. Properties in the thickness direction as well as in the paper plane has been determined by the excitation and analysis of thickness and plate resonances at several incident angles and different directions within the paper plane. Different paper grades (from 140 to 480 g/m²) have been studied. Very high attenuation coefficients and very low propagation velocities (and hence elastic constant) have been obtained for most cases, this can be explained by considering the large porosity of this material (up to 50%) and the microstructure: a mixture of solid grains with a resin with a relatively large fraction of air-filled pores. Measurements show that unlike conventional cellulose machine made paper this material is transversely isotropic (isotropic in the paper plane) and that the degree of anisotropy (when in-plane directions are compared with the thickness direction) largely depends on the level of resin impregnation.     

Degradation of Rhodamine B in aqueous solution by laser cavitation

A novel method of laser cavitation (LC) was proposed for degrading organic dye wastewater. Rhodamine B (RhB) aqueous solution was employed as the simulated organic dye wastewater, and a LC system was designed to conduct the experiments of degrading RhB. The effects of laser energy, initial concentration and cavitation time on the degradation were investigated. Moreover, the degradation kinetics, degradation mechanism and energy efficiency were analyzed. The experimental results indicate that RhB aqueous solution can be degraded effectively by LC and the degradation follows the pseudo-first-order kinetics. The extent of degradation increases by 27.6% with the rise of laser energy (50–100 mJ) while it decreases by 7.8% with increasing the initial concentration from (20–40 mg/L), but RhB can not be degraded when exceeding 100 mg/L. The degradation extent of RhB at 100 mJ and 20 mg/L for 3 h is 81.11%, and the RhB solution is almost completely degraded at 150 mJ (98.4%). The degradation velocity of RhB rises firstly and then decreases as the cavitation time increases. The degradation of RhB by LC can be attributed to the N-de-ethylation and chromophore cleavage caused by oxidation of hydroxyl (OH) radical and thermal decomposition. LC has a higher energy efficiency compared with other methods and is more energy efficient at lower laser energy.     

分光光度法研究膨润土负载型 光催化剂降解亚甲基蓝

以Zn(NO3)2、SnCl4和膨润土为原料,采用沉淀法制备膨润土负载ZnO/SnO2光降解催化剂,用XRD对其结构进行了表征.在可见光下对亚甲基蓝染料废水进行降解实验,讨论了影响亚甲基蓝降解的主要因素.结果表明,光降解催化剂具有优良的光催化活性,在可见光下对浓度为10mg/L亚甲基蓝,30min降解率达到99.5%.     

联用多种荧光光谱研究高铁酸钾对荧蒽的降解

应用多种荧光光谱追踪了高铁酸钾对荧蒽的降解过程, 包括发射, 同步, 三维(EEM), 时间扫描及光度定量所提供丰富的关于整个降解反应的信息, 探讨了高铁酸钾对荧蒽分子的降解特性及其随时间变化规律; 分别对该降解过程中的不同时段(20, 40, 70 s)的时间扫描荧光曲线进行拟合,并由此推测了高铁酸钾降解荧蒽的动力学特征。结果显示, 相同的反应时段, 各荧光光谱反映的高铁酸钾对荧蒽分子的降解率非常接近: t=10 s约55%; t=25 s约81%; t=40 s约91%。各时段的降解过程中均未出现新的荧光特性; t≤20 s, 为该降解反应的决定性阶段, 此阶段的降解过程最为接近线性关系; t>20 s, 降解过程偏离线性关系越来越远。整个降解过程可以近似地用一级反应动力学规律描述。     

喹啉水溶液真空紫外降解过程中的吸收光谱分析

在以低压石英汞灯为真空紫外光源降解喹啉水溶液的过程中,通过监测体系吸收光谱的变化,绘制不同时刻吸收光谱图,探讨了用紫外-可见吸收光谱作为在线检测反应进程的可行性。结合体系中底物浓度、COD、TOC和pH的变化,分析了各吸收光谱的变化特征和机制。研究表明,受吡啶环上N原子的影响,喹啉在不同pH环境下以不同的形式存在,吸收光谱也有较大的差异。在降解的过程中,体系的吸收光谱受到底物降解、中间产物生成和体系pH的共同影响。由于中间产物质子酸的生成,使喹啉以质子化的形式存在,当质子化产生的吸收增加与降解导致的吸收减少相等时,特征吸收峰313 nm处的吸收在1～3 min会出现平台,然后持续衰减。254 nm处的吸收先在5 min时增加到一个极大值,然后持续衰减,至30 min时衰减至0,而且此时溶液的吸收仅在220 nm以下区域,说明底物已降低得比较彻底。文章的研究结果表明,可以用吸收光谱来在线监测喹啉真空紫外降解的进程。     

壳聚糖混合膜酶降解的FTIR分析

生物可降解性是壳聚糖的重要性质之一,但利用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)研究降解过程中壳聚糖的变化则较少。文章制备了由高脱乙酰度壳聚糖(HDC)和中脱乙酰度壳聚糖(MDC)组成的混合膜。运用FTIR分析了壳聚糖混合膜组分变化对其红外谱图和脱乙酰度(DD)的影响,并研究了该混合膜在溶菌酶的降解作用下红外谱图和脱乙酰度的变化。发现壳聚糖混合膜材料的脱乙酰度与膜中MDC组分的比例呈线性关系;随降解的进行,混合膜的脱乙酰度增加。结果证实了溶菌酶对较低脱乙酰度壳聚糖的选择性降解作用,而且表明FTIR可用于分析壳聚糖混合膜降解过程中的化学变化。     

超声方法对于海藻酸钠的降解反应研究

用超声方法对海藻酸钠溶液进行了降解研究,研究了各种因素对降解效果的影响,得出了聚合物溶液特性粘度与降解时间的经验公式。     

光助Fenton氧化反应降解染料亮绿SF

研究了光助Fenton氧化反应降解染料亮绿SF。研究内容包括：亮绿SF的紫外-可见吸收光谱曲线、亮绿SF的浓度-吸光度标准曲线、Fe2+的用量试验、H₂O₂的用量试验、初始pH值对降解效果的影响、不同光源对降解效果的影响、引入阳离子交换树脂作为载体固定Fe2+对降解效果的影响。通过研究获得了降解亮绿SF染料溶液的优化实验条件。研究表明,太阳光照能够有效地促进亮绿SF染料的降解脱色,且大大缩短反应时间;在引入阳离子交换树脂后,可增强Fenton氧化反应的活性,降解效果更好。     

Degradation of organic wastewater by hydrodynamic cavitation combined with acoustic cavitation

In this paper, the decomposition of Rhodamine B (RhB) by hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), acoustic cavitation (AC) and the combination of these individual methods (HAC) have been investigated. The degradation of 20 L RhB aqueous solution was carried out in a self-designed HAC reactor, where hydrodynamic cavitation and acoustic cavitation could take place in the same space simultaneously. The effects of initial concentration, inlet pressure, solution temperature and ultrasonic power were studied and discussed. Obvious synergies were found in the HAC process. The combined method achieved the best conversion, and the synergistic effect in HAC was even up to 119% with the ultrasonic power of 220 W in a treatment time of 30 min. The time-independent synergistic factor based on rate constant was introduced and the maximum value reached 40% in the HAC system. Besides, the hybrid HAC method showed great superiority in energy efficiency at lower ultrasonic power (88–176 W). Therefore, HAC technology can be visualized as a promising method for wastewater treatment with good scale-up possibilities.     

Degradation behavior of deep UV-LEDs studied by electro-optical methods and transmission electron microscopy

Degradation mechanism of 265-nm deep ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) has been investigated by means of electroluminescence, current-voltage measurement, capacitance-voltage measurement, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDAX). It is revealed that a major degradation mode of UV-LEDs may be the leakage current induced optical degradation. The current pathway is demonstrated by TEM with EDAX, indicating that the contact metals can partially interact with p-type materials, which accelerate the degradation of LEDs. The presented results can help to understand the degradation mechanisms and improve the reliability of deep UV-LEDs.