A case of Budd-Chiari syndrome: Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR findings

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a rare disorder caused by the obstruction of hepatic venous outflow, leading to sinusoidal congestion, ischemic injury to liver cells and portal hypertension. Long-term survival largely depends on whether hepatocellular carcinoma occurs. A recently available liver-specific contrast medium, gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA), reportedly has high diagnostic capability for detection of malignant liver tumors. However, there has been no report of the sue of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for BCS. We present a case of chronic BCS who underwent both gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA) and Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI. Hepatic congestion and edema were seen as slightly hypointense areas on Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced hepatobiliary-phase images, although these areas were observed as slightly hyperintense on previously obtained Gd-DTPA-enhanced delayed-phase image. Reduced uptake of Gd-EOB-DTPA by hepatocytes in the region of congestion or edema may account for this difference, which should be recognized in image interpretations.     

Effects produced by metal-coated near-field probes on the performance of silicon waveguides and resonators

We study the effects of metal-coated fiber near-field probes on the performance of nanophotonic devices. Employing a heterodyne near-field scanning optical microscope and analyzing transmission characteristics, we find that a metal-coated probe can typically introduce a 3 dB intensity loss and a 0.2 rad phase shift during characterization of a straight waveguide made in a silicon-on-insulator system. In resonant nanophotonic structures such as a 5 mum radius microring resonator, we demonstrate that the probe induces a 1 nm shift in resonant wavelength and decreases the resonator quality factor, Q, from 1100 to 480.     

Adsorption and structure of methyl mercaptoacetate on Cu(1 1 1) surface by XPS and NEXAFS spectroscopy

Methyl mercaptoacetate (MA) on Cu(1 1 1) surface was investigated using synchrotron radiation-based X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. MA adsorbs on the surface via thiolate formation and weak interaction of the carbonyl group with the surface. Two different adsorption states previously reported for methanethiolate and ethanethiolate were confirmed, besides atomic sulfur. NEXAFS measurements support gauche-type conformation of MA whose skeleton lies on the surface.     

Generalized phase-shifting algorithm for dynamic phase measurement in electron-wave interferometry

A generalized phase-shifting algorithm is implemented in the electron-wave interferometry with a transmission electron microscope, based on simultaneous measurement of the initial phases of the interferograms. The initial phase of each interferogram that has inherent linear carrier fringes is calculated using the Fourier co-efiicients of the interferogram itself corresponding to the carrier-frequency. Taking advantage of this phase-shifting method in both spatial resolution and precision, the phase distribution of a biological weak phase object is successfully measured. This promises to be one of the most spectacular application fields for this new technology.     

Polymorphism of 4-Fluorophenylpyruvic Acid Studied by X-Ray Crystallography and Vibrational Spectroscopy

Two polymorphic forms (I and II) of 4-fluorophenylpyruvic acid (F-PPA) were obtained by crystallization from different solvents, showing a melting point at 163.2 and 171.0 °C. Crystal structures of polymorphs I and II were determined by X-ray crystallography. IR and Raman spectra of the two polymorphs were measured and the spectral characteristics were compared with those of phenylpyruvic acid. the two polymorphs show similar molecular and crystal structures to each other, except for the molecular geometries of the enol and the carboxylic acid moieties. Distinct IR spectral differences which result from the crystal field splitting were observed between the two polymorphs.     

Early stages of decomposition of alloys (spinodal or nucleation)

Progress in theory and experiment on the early stage of decomposition of alloys is reviewed. In the first half of this paper, theoretical treatments on decomposition of alloys by spinodal and nucleation mechanism and also continuum theories and the discrete lattice theories are comparatively reviewed. In the latter half of this paper, experimental results on Al-Zn, Ni-Al, Cu-Co and Al-Ag alloys are discussed.     

ACE algorithm for the rapid evaluation of the electron-repulsion integral over Gaussian-type orbitals

A new series of general formulas to evaluate the electron-repulsion integral (ERI) can be derived from modifying the Gauss-Rys quadrature formula. These named as “accompanying coordinate expansion (ACE) formulas” are capable of evaluating very fast ERIs, especially for contracted Gaussian-type orbitals (GTOs). According to the degree of the contraction of GTOs, the optimum formula can be selected among these ACEs. Numerical examples are shown for (ps|ps) and (pp|pp) ERIs as typical examples. It is found that the present ACE algorithm is numerically stable and is most efficient among all algorithms in the literature in the floating-point-operation (FLOP) count for all varieties of the degree of contraction. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Sorption and pervaporation properties of crosslinked membranes of poly(ethylene oxide imide) segmented copolymer to aromatic/nonaromatic hydrocarbon mixtures

Poly(ethylene oxide imide) segmented copolymer (PEO‐PI) membranes were crosslinked by the chemical reaction between ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether and benzylalcohol groups of diamine moieties in polyimide segments at high temperatures. Sorption and diffusion of penetrants took place in poly(ethylene oxide) segment microdomains. Sorption and desorption behavior of pure vapors such as benzene (Bz), cyclohexane (Cx) and n‐hexane (Hx) was classified as the Fickian diffusion. Sorption isotherms of binary liquid mixtures could be represented by the Flory–Rehner model, but the model overpredicted the sorption amounts of Cx and Hx, leading to small predictions of sorption selectivity α_S for Bz/Cx and Bz/Hx systems. UNIFAC‐FV model fairly well predicted the sorption amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons, but significantly overestimated those of nonaromatic ones, leading to too small predictions of α_S. Pervaporation (PV) behavior of PEO‐PI membranes was governed by sorption behavior followed by membrane swelling. Diffusion coefficient weakly depended on the minimum cross section of a penetrant. The diffusivity selectivity α_D hardly depended on the feed composition and was about 1.4 and 0.75 for Bz/Cx and Bz/Hx, respectively. PV selectivity α_PV was larger for Bz/Hx than for Bz/Cx because of larger α_S. PEO‐PI membranes displayed high specific permeation flux Ql and reasonably high α_PV for aromatic/nonaromatic hydrocarbons; for example, Ql = 60 Kg μm/(m² h) and α_PV = 8 for a feed mixture containing Bz, Tol, Hx, n‐Ot and i‐Ot of 20 wt % at 353 K. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 1800–1811, 2000     

Synthesis and evaluation of fluorogenic reagents for simultaneous detection of peptides and proteins by HPLC in two different samples

To find the pairs of fluorogenic reagents having similar retention times in HPLC but with different fluorescent characteristics, six fluorogenic reagents bearing benzoxadiazole or benzoselenadiazole skeletons were synthesized. The resultant derivatives obtained from the reaction of peptides and proteins with reagents which have a benzoselenadiazole skeleton showed different fluorescence characteristics from those with a benzoxadiazole skeleton. Since each corresponding derivatives of trypsin inhibitor and BSA with DAABD-Cl and 7-fluoro-N-[2-(diethylamino)ethyl]-2,1,3-benzoselenadiazole-4-sulfonamide (DEAEABSeD-F) have similar retention times, the pair of reagents was adopted for the sensitive simultaneous detection of proteins in two different samples. When the soluble fraction of mouse hippocampus was divided into the two samples (A and B), each was reacted with DEAEABSeD-F for A and DAABD-Cl for B, respectively. The two reaction solutions were combined and subjected to HPLC analysis with two fluorescent detectors in series (excitation and emission at different wavelengths for A and B, respectively). The resultant two chromatograms had quite similar patterns for each other. The new pair of fluorogenic reagents (DAABD-Cl and DEAEABSeD-F) would be applicable to proteomics studies using the previously reported FD-LC-MS/MS method.