Functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging of a rat brain tumor model: implications for evaluation of tumor microvasculature and therapeutic response

Functional MR (fMR) imaging techniques based on blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) effects were developed and applied to a rat brain tumor model to evaluate the potential utility of the method for characterizing tumor growth and regression following treatment. Rats bearing 9L brain tumors in situ were imaged during inhalation of room air and after administration of 100% oxygen + acetazolamide (ACZ) injected 15 mg/kg intravenously. Pixel-to-pixel fMR maps of normalized signal intensity change from baseline values were calculated from T2 weighted spin echo (SE) images acquired pre- and post- oxygen + ACZ administration. Resultant fMR maps were then compared to gross histological sections obtained from corresponding anatomical regions. Regions containing viable tumor with increased cellular density and localized foci of necrotic tumor cells consistent with hypoxia were visualized in the fMR images as regions with decreased signal intensities, indicating diminished oxyhemoglobin concentration and blood flow as compared to normal brain. Histological regions having peritumor edema, caused by increased permeability of tumor vasculature, were visualized in the fMR images as areas with markedly increased signal intensities. These results suggest that fMR imaging techniques could be further developed for use as a non-invasive tool to assess changes in tumor oxygenation/hemodynamics, and to evaluate the pharmacologic effect of anti-neoplastic drugs.     

Spatial domain multiplexing: A new dimension in fiber optic multiplexing

A novel multiplexing technique for fiber optic communications has been developed that supports multiple channels of optical energy inside an optical fiber by confining each individual channel to a unique spatial location. These channels can operate at exactly the same wavelength as well as differing wavelengths. The basic operating principle and experimental results for spatial domain multiplexed fiber optic communication systems is presented here. This technique adds a new dimension to currently available multiplexing schemes and has the potential to increase the bandwidth of existing and futuristic optical fiber systems by multiple folds.     

Testing Lorentz invariance and CPT conservation with NuMI neutrinos in the MINOS near detector

A search for a sidereal modulation in the MINOS near detector neutrino data was performed. If present, this signature could be a consequence of Lorentz and CPT violation as predicted by the effective field theory called the standard-model extension. No evidence for a sidereal signal in the data set was found, implying that there is no significant change in neutrino propagation that depends on the direction of the neutrino beam in a sun-centered inertial frame. Upper limits on the magnitudes of the Lorentz and CPT violating terms in the standard-model extension lie between 10(-4) and 10(-2) of the maximum expected, assuming a suppression of these signatures by a factor of 10(-17).     

Lithographic Dipole Antenna Properties at 10 μm Wavelength: Comparison of Method-of-Moments Predictions with Experiment

Dipole antennas designed for operation at 10 m wavelength have been fabricated by optical lithography and their properties measured by detection of CO₂ laser radiation in integrated thin-film bolometers. We find a remarkably strong increase in cross-polarized signal as the antenna linewidth is increased. The measured beam pattern is a saddle point at broadside (local minimum in the H-plane, local maximum in the E-plane) as predicted by standard method-of-moments theory.     

Open micro-fluidic system for atomic force microscopy-guided in situ electrochemical probing of a single cell

Ultra-sharp nano-probes and customized atomic force microscopy (AFM) have previously been developed in our laboratory for in situ sub-cellular probing of electrochemical phenomena in living plant cells during their photosynthesis. However, this AFM-based electrochemical probing still has numerous engineering challenges such as immobilization of the live cells, compatibility of the immobilization procedure with AFM manipulation of the probe, maintenance of biological activity of the cells for an extended time while performing the measurements, and minimization of electrochemical noise. Thus, we have developed an open micro-fluidic channel system (OMFC) in which individual cells can be immobilized in micro-traps by capillary flow. This system affords easy AFM access and allows for maintenance of the cells in a well-defined chemical environment, which sustains their biological activity. The use of micro-channels for making the electrochemical measurements significantly reduces parasitic electrical capacitances and allows for current detection in the sub-pico-ampere range at high signal bandwidths. The OMFC was further studied using simulation packages for optimal design conditions. This system was successfully used to measure light-dependent oxidation currents of a few pico-amperes from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.     

Hyperfine anomaly measurements in francium isotopes and the radial distribution of neutrons

We have performed precision measurements in a magneto-optical trap of the 7P_1/2 hyperfine structure of the isotopes ^209-210Fr. The ratio of these hyperfine constants to the previously measured 7S_1/2 ground state values reveals a significant hyperfine anomaly. This anomaly results from the different radial dependence of the electron density in the two atomic levels. The measurements are sensitive to changes in the radial distribution of the neutron magnetism. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The accuracy of whole brain N-acetylaspartate quantification

A non-localizing pulse sequence to quantify the total amount of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in the whole brain (WBNAA) was introduced recently [Magn. Reson. Med. 40, 684–689 (1998)]. However, it is known that regional magnetic field inhomogeneities, ΔB₀s, arising from susceptibility differences at tissue interfaces, shift and broaden local resonances to outside the integration window, leading to an underestimation of the true amount of NAA in the entire brain. To quantify the upper limit of this loss, the whole-head proton MR spectrum (¹H-MRS) of the water was integrated over the same frequency width as the NAA. The ratio of this area/total-water-line was 75 ± 5% in 5 volunteers. The procedure was repeated with the brain-only water peak, obtained by summing signals only from voxels within that organ from a three-dimensional chemical-shift-imaging (3D CSI) set. It indicated that <10% of the water signal loss occurred in the brain. Therefore, by analogy, WBNAA accounts for >90% of that metabolite.     

Crystal structure of binary molybdate Pr2Hf3(MoO4)9

Crystals of binary praseodymium and hafnium molybdate of Pr₂Hf₃(MoO₄)₉ composition are grown by solution-melt crystallization under spontaneous nucleation conditions. By the X-ray diffraction data (X8 Apex automated diffractometer, MoK _α radiation, 2262 F(hkl), R = 0.0170) its composition and crystal structure are determined. Parameters of the trigonal unit cell are: a = b = 9.8001(1) ? c = 58.7095(8) ?, V = 4883.15(10) ?³, Z = 6, space group R c. The crystal structure is composed of three types of polyhedra: MoO₄ tetrahedra, HfO₆ octahedra, and nine-vertex PrO₉. All three types of polyhedra are bonded among themselves by common oxygen vertices of bridging MoO₄ tetrahedra forming an openwork three-dimensional structure. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2009 by B. G. Bazarov, V. G. Grossman, R. F. Klevtsova, A. G. Anshits, T. A. Vereshchagina, L. A. Glinskaya, Yu. L. Tushinova, K. N. Fedorov, and Zh. G. Bazarova __________ Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 587–590, May–June, 2009.     

Insulator-to-metal transition in selenium-hyperdoped silicon: observation and origin

Hyperdoping has emerged as a promising method for designing semiconductors with unique optical and electronic properties, although such properties currently lack a clear microscopic explanation. Combining computational and experimental evidence, we probe the origin of sub-band-gap optical absorption and metallicity in Se-hyperdoped Si. We show that sub-band-gap absorption arises from direct defect-to-conduction-band transitions rather than free carrier absorption. Density functional theory predicts the Se-induced insulator-to-metal transition arises from merging of defect and conduction bands, at a concentration in excellent agreement with experiment. Quantum Monte Carlo calculations confirm the critical concentration, demonstrate that correlation is important to describing the transition accurately, and suggest that it is a classic impurity-driven Mott transition.