Relationship between apparent diffusion coefficient and signal intensity in endometrial and other pelvic cysts

We evaluated whether apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value is more useful than signal intensity for differentiating endometrial cysts from other pelvic cysts. In an in vitro study, signal intensity and diffusion coefficients were measured in whole blood phantoms in which blood oxidation was gradually increased and concentration subsequently diluted. Although both signal intensity and diffusion value were largely affected by blood concentration, diffusion value was almost independent of blood oxidation and red blood cell lysis-related diminution of magnetic nonhomogeneity, both factors greatly affecting signal intensity on T1- and T2-weighted images. In an in vivo study, differentiation between endometrial and other pelvic cysts was attempted by means of ADC values and signal ratios of cysts to muscles on T1- and T2-weighted images (T1- and T2-ratios). Endometrial cysts tended to show lower T2-ratios, higher T1-ratios, and lower ADC values than other pelvic cysts (p < 0.001). However, ADC values were not correlated with T1- and T2-ratios (p < /0.15/). The ability of ADC value to discriminate between these two groups (discriminant rate, 91.4%) was higher than that of T2-ratio (71.4%) or T1-ratio (88.6%). If combined, ADC and T1-ratio (or T2-ratio) showed higher discriminant rate (94.3%) than the combination of T1- and T2 ratios (88.6%). ADC value might be useful for evaluating the blood concentration of a cystic lesion, because diffusion value is more closely related to blood concentration and almost independent of blood oxidation and red blood cell lysis that largely affect signal intensity.     

Homogeneous ZnO Nanoparticles by Flame Spray Pyrolysis

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were made by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) of zinc acrylate–methanol–acetic acid solution. The effect of solution feed rate on particle specific surface area (SSA) and crystalline size was examined. The average primary particle diameter can be controlled from 10 to 20nm by the solution feed rate. All powders were crystalline zincite. The primary particle diameter observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was in agreement with the equivalent average primary particle diameter calculated from the SSA as well as with the crystalline size calculated from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns for all powders, indicating that the primary particles were rather uniform in diameter and single crystals. Increasing the solution feed rate increases the flame height, and therefore coalescence and/or surface growth was enhanced, resulting in larger primary particles. Compared with ZnO nanoparticles made by other processes, the FSP-made powder exhibits some of the smallest and most homogeneous primary particles. Furthermore, the FSP-made powder has comparable BET equivalent primary particle diameter with but higher crystallinity than sol–gel derived ZnO powders.     

The Relation of Generalized Scalar-Tensor Theory with the 5D Space-Time-Matter Theory

The relationship between cosmological solutionsof five-dimensional Space-Time-Matter (STM) theory anda Generalized Scalar-Tensor (GST) theory is investigatedin which the cosmological term Lambda depends not only on a scalar field but also onits time derivative .Identification of these solutions allows us to solve forthe functional form of the cosmological term, and mayhave relevance for the early Universe.     

On Swan conductors for Brauer groups of curves over local fields

For an element of the Brauer group of a curve over a local field, we define the ``Swan conductor' of , which measures the wildness of the ramification of . We give a relation between and Swan conductors for Brauer groups of henselian discrete valuation fields defined by Kato.

     

G. Martens′ Dimension Theorem for Curves of Odd Gonality

For a smooth projective irreducible algebraic curve C of odd gonality, the maximal possible dimension of the variety of special linear systems W _d ^r (C) is d-3r by a result of M. Coppens et al. Furthermore it is known that if the maximum dimension of W(C) for a curve C of odd gonality is attained then C is of very special type of curves by the recent progress made by G. Martens. The purpose of this paper is to chase an extension of the result of G. Martens; if dim W(C)=d-3r-1 for a curve C of odd gonality for some dg-4 and r1, then C must be either a smooth plane sextic, a pentagonal curve of bounded genus or a smooth plane octic.     

Nonlinear effects of electrolyte diodes and transistors in a polymer gel medium

The polarization curve of an acid-base interface in a hydrogel medium has a diode characteristic. Two of each such electrolyte diodes can be combined to give an electrolyte transistor. When a salt is added to the alkaline or to the acidic part of a reverse biased electrolyte diode, the current response is highly nonlinear. If the salt is added to the acidic side, even bistability can be observed. This bistability can generate complex oscillations in a base-acid-base electrolyte transistor. These nonlinear effects are studied experimentally and theoretically. While the nonlinear salt effect can be explained with the Nernst-Planck equations, to understand the bistable behavior further investigations are necessary. (c) 1999 American Institute of Physics.     

Variable-priority queue and doughnut routing

This paper proposes a new data structure called a variable-priority queue. The queue supports, in addition to the ordinary queue operations, an operation MIN to find an item of minimum key and three operations to change keys of items. Any sequence of these m operations can be processed in O(m) time. Furthermore, as its application, this paper presents two efficient algorithms for network problems. The first finds multicommodity flows in cycles in linear time. The second, using the first, finds edge-disjoint paths connecting terminal pairs in a doughnut-shaped grid. The grid is bounded by two nested rectangles, and terminals are specified on the two rectangular boundaries outside the four corners. If there are k terminal pairs and all the terminals are ordered in clockwise order around rectangles, then the algorithm decides in O(k) time whether there are edge-disjoint paths connecting terminals in the grid, and actually finds edge-disjoint paths in O(k log k) time.     

Luminescence and conduction charge in thin-film electroluminescent devices

The luminescence and conduction currents of a doubly-insulated thin-film electroluminescent device were studied under various excitation conditions. The conduction current waveform was calculated numerically from the luminescence waveform. It was composed of two components: a fast transient component j_fc, which rises and decays rapidly when a pulse is applied, and a dc-like component j_dc, which maintains a constant level during the duration of pulse. The ratio of these components varied considerably with applied voltage. Both the slow response of luminescence to voltage change and the change in j_fc when the excitation conditions were changed from repetitive pulses to a single pulse suggest an accumulation of charges inside the electroluminescence layer. This accumulation causes a space charge effect which explains the dominance of j_fc in the high-brightness region. The fact that luminescence intensity in this region is not related to the amplitude of individual pulses, but rather to the average amplitude of the pulse train also indicates that the space-charge-induced internal electric field is the main factor in accelerating the carriers which excite the luminescence centers. It was found that the two conduction current components showed similar characteristics in singly-insulated devices.     

Fundamental constants and higher-dimensional universe

In order to study the origin of the fundamental constants and Dirac's large number, a cosmological solution in vacuum is presented in a seven-dimensional universe which is defined by adding extra three coordinates (e ² G/c ⁴)^1/2, (hG/c ³)^1/2 and (Gm/c ²) to the four-dimensional spacetime coordinates. It has common features with Chodos-Detweiler's solution. The parameters appearing in this theory are estimated to meet the conditions required by the cosmological first-order phase transition and Dirac's large number hypothesis.     

Regio-specific total synthesis of (±)-2-hydroxyaklavinone

The tricyclic quinone 8 was successfully synthesized from naphthazalin, and the total synthesis of (±)-2-hydroxyaklavinone via 8 was accomplished in an overall yield of about 18% through the regio-controlled route.