Synthesis of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Used as MRI Contrast Agents: A Parametric Study

Colloidal iron oxides play an important role as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. The superparamagnetic particles actually used are constituted by solid cores (diameter of 5-15 nm), generally coated by a thick polysaccharidic layer (hydrodynamic radii of 30-100 nm), and formulated by direct coprecipitation of iron salts in the presence of polymeric material. To better control the synthesis, we attempted to formulate new stable uncoated superparamagnetic nanoparticles. Colloids were generated by coprecipitation of an aqueous solution of iron salts and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) solution. The influence of parameters such as media composition, iron media, injection fluxes, Fe and TMAOH concentrations, temperature, and oxygen on size, magnetic and magnetic resonance relaxometric properties, and colloidal stability of particles were evaluated. We have determined the relative importance of these parameters as well as the optimal conditions for obtaining uncoated stable particles with an average size of 5 nm and interesting relaxivities. The interpretation of the observed limits takes into account diffusibilities of reactants and product, feeding rates of reactants, and surface properties of nanoparticles. A model of synthesis, related to spontaneous emulsification of suspensions, is proposed. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

Several results on chordal bipartite graphs

The question of generalizing results involving chordal graphs to similar concepts for chordal bipartite graphs is addressed. First, it is found that the removal of a bisimplicial edge from a chordal bipartite graph produces a chordal bipartite graph. As consequence, occurance of arithmetic zeros will not terminate perfect Gaussian elimination on sparse matrices having associated a chordal bipartite graph. Next, a property concerning minimal edge separators is presented. Finally, it is shown that, to any vertex of a chordal bipartite graph an edge may be added such that the chordality is maintained.     

Z4-Kerdock Codes, Orthogonal Spreads, and Extremal Euclidean Line-Sets

When m is odd, spreads in an orthogonal vector space of type⁺(2m + 2,2) are related to binary Kerdock codes and extremalline-sets in 2^{m + 1} with prescribed angles. Spreads in a 2m-dimensionalbinary symplectic vector space are related to Kerdock codesover Z₄ and extremal line-sets in with prescribed angles. These connections involve binary, realand complex geometry associated with extraspecial 2-groups.A geometric map from symplectic to orthogonal spreads is shownto induce the Gray map from a corresponding Z₄-Kerdock codeto its binary image. These geometric considerations lead tothe construction, for any odd composite m, of large numbersof Z₄-Kerdock codes. They also produce new Z₄-linear Kerdockand Preparata codes. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification:primary 94B60; secondary 51M15, 20C99.     

Road traffic: A case study of flow and path-dependency in weighted directed networks

How much can we tell about flows through networks just from their topological properties? Whereas flow distributions of river basins, trees or cardiovascular systems come naturally to mind, more complex topologies are not so immediate, especially if the network is large and heterogeneously directed. Our study is motivated by the question of how the distribution of path-dependent trails in directed networks is correlated to the distribution of network flows. As an example we have studied the path-dependencies in closed trails in four metropolitan areas in England and the USA and computed their global and spatial correlations with measured traffic flows. We have found that the heterogeneous distribution of traffic intensity is mirrored by the distribution of agglomerate path-dependency and that high traffic roads are packed along corridors at short-to-medium trail lengths from the ensemble of nodes.     

Toward the thermodynamic modeling of reacting ionic mixtures

Based on the Müller–Liu entropy principle and the axioms of constitutive theory, a continuum model for reacting ionic mixtures is presented. The influence of microscopic structure on the mixture dynamics is taken into account through the thermodynamics of polar materials. Moreover, mechanical balance laws for classical mixtures under influence of electromagnetic fields and quasi-electrostatic Maxwell’s equations are briefly shown. With an appropriate constitutive model for a diluted and isotropic mixture of non-volatile solutes and by considering the same temperature field for all constituents, constraints on constitutive quantities are imposed, and the conditions for the thermodynamic equilibrium are established from the entropy principle. Furthermore, the nonlinear nature of chemical reactions as well as the reciprocal nature of some irreversible processes is highlighted. Unlike the classical approach for electrolyte solutions, the current constitutive model incorporates thermoelectric and electro-kinetic phenomena into the phenomenological equations, providing a more comprehensive approach of electrolyte solutions dynamics.