Intramolecular n-alkenylnitrone-additions: Regio- and stereochemistry

Efficient intramolecular cycloadditions of N-3-alkenyl- and N-4-alkenylnitrones proceed with opposite regioselection which is modified by dipolarophile-substituent effects. Polycyclic isoxazolidines are obtained in a highly stereocontrolled fashion, consistent with an endo-addition of the Z-nitrones.     

Metric semantics for concurrency

An overview is given of work we have done in recent years on the semantics of concurrency, concentrating on semantic models built on metric structures. Three contrasting themes are discussed, viz. (i) uniform or schematic versus nonuniform or interpreted languages; (ii) operational versus denotational semantics, and (iii) linear time versus branching time models. The operational models are based on Plotkin's transition systems. Language constructs which receive particular attention are recursion and merge, synchronization and global nondeterminacy, process creation, and communication with value passing. Various semantic equivalence results are established. Both in the definitions and in the derivation of these equivalences, essential use is made of Banach's theorem for contracting functions.Dedicated to Peter Naur on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Precision in calculated rho, T1 and T2 images as a function of data analysis method

In NMR imaging rho, T1 and T2 images are usually calculated from a set of partial saturation, saturation recovery or inversion recovery experiments with multiple echoes and multiple repetition times. Several methods can be envisaged to extract parameter images from such a set of source images. These methods to a greater or lesser extent take advantage of the fact that a multiple echo/multiple repetition time experiment provides a set of largely independent T1 and T2 measurements. In this study several data analysis methods, including weighted and non-weighted averaging of results of independent T1 and T2 measurements, weighted and non-weighted averaging of source images prior to data reduction and simultaneous three-parameter fitting, were compared against another in terms of precision, computational efficiency and robustness. The predicted performance of the examined methods was verified by stochastic simulation experiments.     

Breast disease evaluation with fat-suppressed magnetic resonance imaging.

Thirty patients with a variety of pathologically confirmed malignant and benign pathologic lesions of the breast were evaluated with a spectrally selective fat suppression imaging technique to obtain fat-suppressed images of the breast. The technique, a selective partial inversion-recovery (SPIR) method, demonstrated the architectural relationship of malignant and benign tumors with respect to the normal water-containing elements of the breast. These relationships included signs of advanced malignant disease such as tissue retraction, invasive growth, and multicentricity, which appeared on the fat-suppressed images. Fat-suppressed imaging provided useful information for assessing the breasts of both pre- and postmenopausal women, especially in the latter group, where fatty involution of the breast is common. Microcysts, which are normally not visualized by conventional methods, were demonstrated and associated with patients having confirmed fibrocystic disease of the breast. As expected, the SPIR technique did not improve the ability to distinguish between tissues having similar T1 and T2 relaxation time values, such as malignant tumors and normal breast parenchymal tissues. The technique was able to demonstrate that the intense lipid signal, known to be responsible for obscuring the borders of water-fat interfaces and small tumors, could be eliminated in a variety of pathological settings.     

Special purpose computers in physics

This talk describes a new approach for large-scale computational problems which is particularly effective when a relatively simple algorithm is used. We demonstrate that it is possible to design and construct, at modest cost, special purpose computers for various classes of problems. By exploiting the principles of pipelining and parallel processing, and by adapting the hardware design to the specific structure of a particular algorithm, one can obtain a device which is as fast as or faster than general-purpose commercial supercomputers. The user of a such a processor has the double advantage of its speed and of its continuous availability for the particular problem for which it was constructed. In statistical mechanics special purpose computers have been built recently (i) for Monte Carlo simulation of the Ising model, and (ii) for the molecular dynamics of classical many-particle systems with short-range interactions. The design and performance of these machines are discussed and compared to those of commercial computers.     

On the methodology of the analysis of Mössbauer spectra

A review is presented of the direct fitting procedures which are used in the analysis of Mössbauer spectra. Direct lineshape fitting with alternative profiles as well as shape-dependent, shape-independent and quasi shape-independent distribution fitting methods all can easily be incorporated in one computer program scheme yielding a large versatility for modification and/or extension of the programs according to specific spectra.Research director at the National Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium.     

Upper critical fields of single-crystalline and polycrystalline Ca-Sr-Bi-Cu-O compounds

The ac resistivity of a 110 K phase multiphase polycrystalline Ca-Sr-Bi-Cu-O compound and an 85 K phase single-crystalline Ca_0.9Sr_2.1Cu_2.0O_{8 +} has been measured in various magnetic fields up to 8 T. Values forB _c ^2/ (0) of 71.5 T and forB _c2 (0) of 542 T are found for the 85 K phase sample. A value forB _c2(0) of 57.9 T is estimated for the 110K phase compound.