A feasibility study of in vivo T1rho imaging of the intervertebral disc

PURPOSE: Recent studies have proposed that magnetic resonance (MR) T1rho relaxation time is associated with loss of macromolecules. The depletion of macromolecules in the matrix of the intervertebral disc may be an initiating factor in degenerative disc disease. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of quantifying T1rho relaxation time in phantoms and intervertebral discs of healthy volunteers using in vivo MR imaging at 3 T. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multislice T1rho spiral sequence was used to quantify T1rho relaxation time in phantoms with different agarose concentrations and in the intervertebral discs of 11 healthy volunteers (mean age=31.3 years; age range=23-60 years; gender: 5 females, 6 males). RESULTS: The phantom studies demonstrated the feasibility of using spiral imaging at 3 T. The in vivo results indicate that the median T1rho value of the nucleus (116.6+/-21.4 ms) is significantly greater (P<0.05) than that of the annulus (84.1+/-11.7 ms). The correlations between the age of the volunteers and T1rho relaxation time in the nucleus (r2=-0.82; P=0.0001) and the annulus (r2=-0.37; P=0.04) were significant. A trend of decreasing T1rho values from L3-4 to L4-5 to L5-S1 was evident. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that in vivo T1rho quantification is feasible and may potentially be a clinical tool in identifying early degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc.     

The microwave spectrum of methylene ketene

The microwave spectrum of methylene ketene has been observed from 8 to 35 GHz and assigned. Rotational constants and centrifugal distortion constants have been determined for CH₂CCO, CHDCCO, and CD₂CCO. The dipole moment was found to be μ_a = 2.14 ± 0.06 D (7.07 ± 0.2 × 10^?30 Cm). We were unable to detect propynal among the pyrolysis products of acrylic anhydride. This pyrolysis proved to be the most convenient route for generating methylene ketene for the present investigation.     

Single-peaked orders on a tree

Inada (1969) and Sen and Pattanaik (1969) have characterized the sets of preference orders which ensure the transitivity of the strict majority rule, no matter how each voter selects his own order in the set. But a problem remains untouched: which domains of orders guarantee the existence of a majority winner without necessarily ensuring the transitivity of the strict majority rule. We provide in this paper domains, called sets of single-peaked linear orders on a tree, which enjoy such a property. They appear as a generalization of the well-known sets of single-peaked linear orders.     

Association of cationic surfactants with maleic acid copolymers: dependence of binding on the nature of the neutral comonomer unit

Isotherms of binding of dodecylpyridinium chloride (DPC) and cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) by copolymers of maleic acid (MA; degree of neutralization=1) with methyl methacrylate (MMA), styrene (St), and vinyl acetate (VA) were determined at various salt concentrations by using the potentiometric technique. The average composition of copolymers corresponds to designations MA(MMA)3, MASt, and MAVA. Very different binding behavior has been found. The cooperativity parameter, u, for binding to MA(MMA)3 is the lowest and displays no dependence on ionic strength, which is a consequence of significant hydrophobic polymer-surfactant interactions. Isotherms for the DPC/MASt system display a two-step binding mechanism, which could not be clearly identified in the CPC/MASt case, presumably due to interference of surfactant micellization with the second step. It is proposed that the first step of binding in DPC/MA(MMA)3 and in DPC/MASt solutions is of electrostatic origin, as is the second step in DPC/MASt. On the contrary, the second step in DPC/MA(MMA)3 is mostly due to hydrophobic interactions of surfactant hydrocarbon tails with the predominantly uncharged DPC/MA(MMA)3 complex. MAVA solutions display the highest critical aggregation concentration (cac) values, which show a slight decreasing trend with increasing ionic strength. The very compact form of the MAVA copolymer at high salt content was responsible for this.     

Carbon nanofiber supported palladium catalyst for liquid-phase reactions: An active and selective catalyst for hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde into hydrocinnamaldehyde

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) prepared by decomposition of ethane over a Ni/alumina catalyst, are used as support for palladium clusters. The carbon support displays a mean diameter of 40–50 nm, lengths up to several tens of micrometers, as highlighted by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations and a specific surface area of about 50 m²/g. The spheroidal palladium particles have a relatively homogeneous and sharp size distribution, centered at around 4 nm. This novel Pd/carbon nanofiber catalyst displays unusual catalytic properties and is successfully used in the selective hydrogenation of the C=C bond in cinnamaldehyde at a reaction temperature of around 80°C, under continuous hydrogen flowing at atmospheric pressure. The high performances of this novel catalyst in terms of efficiency and selectivity are, respectively, related to the inhibition of the mass-transfer processes over this non-porous material and to peculiar palladium–carbon interactions. It is concluded that the absence of microporosity in the carbon nanofibers favours both the high activity and selectivity which is confirmed by comparison with the commercially available high surface area charcoal supported palladium catalyst.     

Anisotropic mesh adaptation: towards user‐independent,mesh‐independent and solver‐independent CFD. Part III. Unstructured meshes

The present paper is the third article in a three‐part series on anisotropic mesh adaptation and its application to two‐ and three‐dimensional, structured and unstructured meshes. This third paper concerns the application of the full adaptation methodology to 2‐D unstructured meshes, including all four mesh modification strategies presented in Part I, i.e. refinement/coarsening, edge swapping and node movement. The mesh adaptation procedure is validated through a careful monitoring of a single adaptation step and of the solution–adaptation loop. Independence from the initial mesh and from the flow solver is illustrated. The efficiency of the overall methodology is investigated on relevant laminar and turbulent flow benchmarks. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy on silicon carbide whiskers

SiC whiskers were grown from the reaction of silicon monoxide (SiO) with activated carbon containing iron impurities. Growth proceeds through a VLS growth mechanism with SiO and CO as reacting gases. HRTEM combined with EDS shows that the SiC whisker is topped by a Fe₃Si catalyst droplet. The SiC whisker is found to be one-dimensionally disordered along the [111] growth direction of an fcc crystal structure. Although the catalyst droplet is usually larger than the top face of the whisker, we observed a number of situations where the diameter of the droplet was smaller. The study of the SiC-Fe₃Si interface showed that the growth is nucleated from the edges.     

Prenylated isoflavonoids from Rhynchosia edulis

Four new prenylated isoflavones, rhynedulins A-C (1-3) and rhynedulinal (4), were isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation of the dichloromethane bark extract of Rhynchosia edulis. Five previously described compounds, scandenal, ulexin B, cajanone, cajanin, and cyclochandalone, were also isolated. These isoflavonoids showed weak inhibitory activity towards rhodesain, the major cathepsin-L like protease in Trypanosoma brucei. They also have weak antiproliferative activity towards MCF-7 cells.     

Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of ketamine and medetomidine in ovine plasma

Ketamine and medetomidine are commonly combined to sedate or anaesthetize a wide range of animal species. Despite this, there are few methods for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of the two drugs. This study describes the use of solid‐phase extraction sample preparation followed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the quantitative analysis of both drugs in ovine plasma. Extraction recovery was 93% for ketamine and 95% for medetomidine. The lowest limit of detection for ketamine was 1 ng/mL and for medetomidine 2 ng/mL, with linearity greater than 0.99 for both. Intra‐day and inter‐day precisions for both drugs were less than 10 and 7%, respectively. Application of the method to samples obtained from pregnant ewes and their fetuses showed placental transfer of the drugs over time such that there was no significant difference in plasma concentration at delivery. In summary, a validated method has been developed for the simultaneous quantification of ketamine and medetomidine in ovine plasma samples which can be used to study the pharmacokinetics of these drugs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recent applications of carbon-based nanomaterials in analytical chemistry: critical review

The objective of this review is to provide a broad overview of the advantages and limitations of carbon-based nanomaterials with respect to analytical chemistry. Aiming to illustrate the impact of nanomaterials on the development of novel analytical applications, developments reported in the 2005-2010 period have been included and divided into sample preparation, separation, and detection. Within each section, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and composite materials will be addressed specifically. Although only briefly discussed, included is a section highlighting nanomaterials with interesting catalytic properties that can be used in the design of future devices for analytical chemistry.