Optimization of view ordering for motion artifact suppression

Motion artifacts in MRI may be reduced by optimized view ordering. Extensive simulations of view-ordering techniques were performed on high-resolution phantom images to determine the best strategy for distributing motion in k-space. Although not exhaustive, simulation results indicate that minimizing motion at the center of k-space is critical to overall image quality. For 2D imaging, using edge-center-edge view order and setting the readout direction parallel to the direction of the motion produces the sharpest point spread function and the lowest image energy error. For 3D imaging, using an edge-center-edge view order proves to be the optimum choice in general. Given these observations, several important issues regarding the measurement of motion effects are discussed.     

Time-resolved chirp measurement for 100GBaud test systems using an ideal frequency discriminator

In this paper we present multi-channel chirp measurements of wide-band sources, using a programmable Fourier-domain optical processor (FDOP) as a near-perfect linear frequency discriminator element followed by a fast photodiode and electrical sampling oscilloscope. The electric field of a 10.7 Gbit/s phase-encoded data source and a directly modulated laser diode are simultaneously interrogated with this measurement system. The constellation diagram of the phase-encoded data source is demonstrated, and a comparison with another phase-sensitive measurement technique is performed. Additionally, an extension to this technique is demonstrated in which the time-resolved chirp of a picosecond-duration mode-locked laser diode with a 260 GHz spectral bandwidth is characterised using the FDOP and a high-bandwidth optical sampling oscilloscope. This measurement ensemble has sufficient temporal resolution to characterise random or repetitive data signals up to 100GBaud.     

Enhanced stability and activity of temozolomide in primary glioblastoma multiforme cells with cucurbit[n]uril

Temozolomide (TMZ) is the primary chemotherapeutic agent for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) yet it has a fast rate of degradation under physiological conditions to the 'active' MTIC, which has poor penetration of the blood-brain barrier and cellular absorption. Herein we have demonstrated binding of TMZ within the cavity of nano-container cucurbit[7]uril, resulting in a decreased rate of drug degradation. Prolonging the lifetime of the TMZ under physiological conditions through encapsulation dramatically improved the drug's activity against primary GBM cell lines as more TMZ could be absorbed by the cells before degradation. This work can potentially lead to increases in the drug's propensity for crossing the blood-brain barrier and absorption into the GBM cells, thereby increasing the efficacy of this chemotherapy.     

The effect of ion pairs on water structure

A Monte Carlo study of lithium chloride and potassium fluoride in water clusters is reported. The ion-water and water-water interactions are modelled using Hartree-Fock potentials. Results are given for clusters of 50 molecules with a fixed ion-ion distance of 4 Å at a temperature of 298 K. It is shown that all four ions have strongly bound first-neighbour shells and that some water structure is discernible beyond the second-neighbour shell. When ion pairs are close together, as in this study, their coordination numbers are not independent.     

Third virial coefficient for hard spheres with embedded dipoles

The doublet stability of the SCF solutions for the allyl radical is re-examined for various ab-initio model hamiltonians, based on the minimum, double-zeta and double-zeta plus polarization atomic orbital basis sets in the LCAO scheme. The calculations are carried out for a wide range of the C-C bond lengths (1.3 Å to 2·0 Å). In all cases the critical bond length, separating regions of stability and instability, is found to be shorter than the corresponding equilibrium C-C bond length (1·36 Å versus 1·44 Å, respectively, for the minimum basis set). In contrast to the results of McKelvey and Berthier we find that the doublet-stability problem yields at most one negative eigenvalue in the whole range of the C-C bond lengths studied, this implying only one possible (other than spin) symmetry breaking, in complete agreement with the semi-empirical PPP model results for this system. The basis dependence of the doublet instability is also re-examined and the generality of this phenomenon is firmly established for the system studied : while the actual values of the energy lowering due to the symmetry breakdown and the critical value of the C-C bond length for the onset of instability will of course depend on the basis and approximations used, there is no doubt about the general occurrence of doublet instability in this system for large enough C-C internuclear separations, and about the implied non-analytic behaviour of the potential energy hypersurface in this region, for any basis. Finally, a simple physically and chemically plausible source of the doublet instability of allyl RHF solutions is pointed out.     

Solid argon : Monte Carlo calculations along the solid-vapour coexistence curve

Thermodynamic properties and elastic constants of solid argon have been calculated using an accurate pair-potential together with the Monte Carlo method and the Axilrod-Teller three-body potential. Excellent agreement is obtained with experimental values of the pressure and internal energy. However the calculated elastic constants show systematic deviations from the experimental values. These discrepancies are examined in some detail and possible reasons for them are given.     

The self-diffusion coefficient of liquid methane

Self-diffusion coefficients of methane have been calculated over a wide density range using the method of molecular dynamics. Methane intermolecular interactions were modelled using an m-6–8 potential with coefficients determined from viscosity data for the dilute gas. After adding a contribution to the diffusion coefficient due to the long-time behaviour of the velocity autocorrelation function, agreement with experimental data is within the estimated errors given for both the calculated values and the experimental data.     

Collection and Identification of Trace Organic Compounds in Atmospheric Deposition from a Semi-Rural Site in the U.K.

Abstract

The collection of rainwater, aerosol and vapour samples at a semi-rural site in the UK was achieved using a PTFE-lined wet-only rainfall collector and a high-volume filter/adsorption trap air sampler, respectively. Analysis of atmospheric deposition revealed the presence of several hundred compounds, many of which were of anthropogenic origin, e.g.: PAH, phenols and alkylbenzenes. Amounts of compounds varied from low nanograms to tens of micrograms per litre in rainwater samples and from low picograms to high nanograms per cubic metre in aerosols. Phenolic compounds were the most abundant group of organics identified in rainwater and were present at total concentrations of >20μg1^?1 in some of the samples analysed. In the high-volume air samples most anthropogenic compounds were detected in the adsorbent rather than the filter extract. Seasonal variations in the PAH content of the adsorbent extracts were observed. The presence of siloxanes in the air samples was thought to be the result of contamination.     

The structure,thermodynamic properties and infrared spectra of liquid water and ice

Monte Carlo simulations are used, together with models of the intramolecular and intermolecular potential surfaces, to model liquid water and several phases of ice. Intramolecular relaxation makes important contributions to both thermodynamic and structural properties. A quantum local mode analysis of the Monte Carlo configurations is used to predict the density of states and infrared absorption intensities for the intramolecular bending and stretching vibrations. The large shifts from the gas phase OH stretch frequencies observed experimentally in the liquid and solid phases are due to anharmonic terms in the intramolecular surface rather than to harmonic intermolecular coupling. A significant contribution to observed changes in IR intensity on condensation arises from the large molecular polarisability.