Gd-AAZTA]-: a new structural entry for an improved generation of MRI contrast agents

An innovative MRI contrast agent based on the unprecedented and easily obtained ligand AAZTA is described. The simple and straightforward synthesis of the ligand, together with the potentiometric and relaxometric behavior of the corresponding Gd(III) chelate, is reported. The complex [Gd(AAZTA)]- shows outstanding magnetic properties connected with high thermodynamic stability in aqueous solution and a nearly complete inertness toward the influence of bidentate endogenous anions, placing this compound as one of the most promising candidates for the development of high performance MRI contrast agents.     

Evidence for instanton-induced dynamics from lattice QCD

We perform a study of the nonperturbative dynamics of the light-quark sector of QCD, based on some recent results of lattice simulations with chiral fermions. We analyze some correlators that are designed to probe the Dirac structure of the quark-quark interaction at different scales. We show that, in the nonperturbative regime, such an interaction contains very large scalar and pseudoscalar components. We observe quantitative agreement between lattice QCD results and the predictions of the instanton liquid model. Moreover, we study how the quark-quark interaction is modified, when quark loops are suppressed. We observe a dramatic effect related to the loss of unitarity, which is naturally explained in the instanton picture. Such an effect cannot be explained in a Dyson-Schwinger equations (DSE) approach, if one assumes a vector quark-gluon coupling.     

Differentiability Properties of an Abstract Autonomous Composition Operator

The autonomous composition operator is the nonlinear map whichtakes a pair of functions into its composite function. The compositionoperator often appears in problems of nonlinear analysis andto analyse such problems it is often important to know whetherthe composition operator is continuous or differentiable. Afairly large number of papers in the literature have been devotedto the study of composition operators. For fullscale references,we refer the reader to the extensive monographs of Appell andZabrejko [1] and Runst and Sickel [8]. To exemplify a typicalsituation, we consider the semilinear Dirichlet boundary valueproblem where denotes a sufficiently regular bounded open subset ofR^N, and h₀ a map of R to R, and where u is the unknown of theproblem. We assume that we know that a certain function u₀ belongingto a certain function space X solves (1.1). Then if we wishto know whether by perturbing h₀ in a certain function space,say Y, the solutions u depend on h continuously, with differentiability,with analyticity or bifurcate, we could set G[h, u] u+h u,recast problem (1.1) into the abstract form G[h, u] (1.2) and study the solution set of equation (1.2) around the pair(h₀, u₀) by means of the implicit function theorem or by localbifurcation theorems in a Banach space setting.     

Integral representation of linear functionals on spaces of unbounded functions

Let be a vector lattice of real functions on a set with , and let be a linear positive functional on . Conditions are given which imply the representation , , for some bounded charge . As an application, for any bounded charge on a field , the dual of is shown to be isometrically isomorphic to a suitable space of bounded charges on . In addition, it is proved that, under one more assumption on , is the integral with respect to a -additive bounded charge.

     

The extracellular matrix is an important source of ultrasound backscatter from myocardium

Ultrasound tissue characterization with measurement of backscatter has been employed in numerous experimental and clinical studies of cardiac pathology, yet the cellular components responsible for scattering from cardiac tissues have not been unequivocally identified. This laboratory has proposed a mathematical model for myocardial backscatter that postulates the fibrous extracellular matrix (ECM) as a significant determinant of backscatter. To demonstrate the importance of ECM, this group sought to determine whether measurements of backscatter from the isolated ECM could reproduce the known directional dependence, or anisotropy of backscatter, from intact cardiac tissues in vitro. Segments of left ventricular free wall from ten formalin fixed porcine hearts were insonified at 50 MHz, traversing the heart wall from endo- to epicardium to measure the anisotropy of myocardial backscatter, defined as the difference between peak (perpendicular to fibers) and trough (parallel to fibers) backscatter amplitude. The tissue segments were then treated with 10% NaOH to dissolve all of the cellular components, leaving only the intact ECM. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) were obtained of tissue sections to reveal complete digestion of the cellular elements. The dimensions of the residual voids resulting from cell digestion were approximately the diameter of the intact myocytes (10-30 microm). These samples were reinsonified after seven days of treatment to compare the anisotropy of integrated backscatter. The magnitude of anisotropy of backscatter changed from 15.4 +/- 0.8 to 12.6 +/- 1.1dB for intact as compared with digested specimens. Because digestion of the myocardium leaves only extracellular sources of ultrasonic scattering, and because the isolated ECM exhibits similar ultrasonic anisotropy as does the intact myocardium, it is concluded that there is a direct association between the ECM and the anisotropy of backscatter within intact tissue. Thus, it is suggested that ultrasonic tissue characterization represents a potentially clinically applicable method for delineating the structure and function of the ECM.     

Noninvariant zeta-function regularization in quantum Liouville theory

We consider two possible zeta-function regularization schemes of quantum Liouville theory. One refers to the Laplace–Beltrami operator covariant under conformal transformations, the other to the naive noninvariant operator. The first produces an invariant regularization which however does not give rise to a theory invariant under the full conformal group. The other is equivalent to the regularization proposed by A.B. Zamolodchikov and Al.B. Zamolodchikov and gives rise to a theory invariant under the full conformal group.     

Inverse kinematics resonance scattering on thick target with EXCYT beams

The resonance scattering method in inverse kinematics on infinite target has been applied to two systems, ¹⁸O + α and ⁹Be + α, in order to test and to optimize an experimental apparatus in view of a set of resonance scattering experiments to be performed with ⁸Li and ⁹Li radioactive ion beams delivered by the facility EXCYT. The scattering excitation functions, deduced for the two systems, were compared with previous results reported in literature. Results show that reliable stopping power data are essential for the application of this technique.     

Thiolated poly(ε-caprolactone) macroligand with vacant coordination sites on gold substrate: Synthesis and surface characterization

Surface-confined telechelic poly(ε-caprolactone) macroligand with two distinct functional groups per polymeric chain has been synthesized and characterized. The molecular microstructure of the macroligand with regard to the properties of the end-capped functionalities and with those on surface substrate has been studied by solution and surface analytical methods (i.e., X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), grazing angle reflectance-Fourier transform IR spectroscopy (GA-FTIR), water contact angle measurements, and atomic force microscopy (AFM)) to elucidate the structure and properties of such multifunctional polymer on gold (1 1 1) substrate.     

Integral points, divisibility between values of polynomials and entire curves on surfaces

We prove some new degeneracy results for integral points and entire curves on surfaces; in particular, we provide the first examples, to our knowledge, of a simply connected smooth variety whose sets of integral points are never Zariski-dense. Some of our results are connected with divisibility problems, i.e. the problem of describing the integral points in the plane where the values of some given polynomials in two variables divide the values of other given polynomials.