Respiratory motion-corrected proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the liver

Purpose

To develop a post-processing, respiratory-motion correction algorithm for magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the liver and to determine the incidence and impact of respiratory motion in liver MRS.

Materials and Methods

One hundred thirty-two subjects (27 healthy, 31 with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and 74 HIV-infected with or without hepatitis C) were scanned with free breathing MRS at 1.5 T. Two spectral time series were acquired on an 8-ml single voxel using TR/TE=2500 ms/30 ms and (1) water suppression, 128 acquisitions, and (2) no water suppression, 8 acquisitions. Individual spectra were phased and frequency aligned to correct for intrahepatic motion. Next, water peaks more than 50% different from the median water peak area were identified and removed, and remaining spectra averaged to correct for presumed extrahepatic motion. Total CH₂+CH₃ lipids to unsuppressed water ratios were compared before and after corrections.

Results

Intrahepatic-motion correction increased the signal to noise ratio (S/N) in all cases (median=11-fold). Presumed extrahepatic motion was present in 41% (54/132) of the subjects. Its correction altered the lipids/water magnitude (magnitude change: median=2.6%, maximum=290%, and was >5% in 25% of these subjects). The incidence and effect of respiratory motion on lipids/water magnitude were similar among the three groups.

Conclusion

Respiratory-motion correction of free breathing liver MRS greatly increased the S/N and, in a significant number of subjects, changed the lipids/water ratios, relevant for monitoring subjects.     

Reconfigurable Logic Devices on a Single Dopant Atom—Operation up to a Full Adder by Using Electrical Spectroscopy

A silicon field‐effect transistor is operated as a logic circuit by electrically addressing the ground and excited electronic states of an embedded single dopant atom. Experimental results—complemented by analytical and computational calculations—are presented. First, we show how a complete set of binary logic gates can be realized on the same hardware. Then, we show that these gates can be operated in parallel on the very same dopant up to the logic level of a full adder. To use the device not as a switch but as a full logic circuit, we make essential use of the excited electronic states of the dopant and of the ability to shift their energy by gating. The experimental ability to use two channels to measure the current flowing through the device and the conductance (dI/dV) allows for a robust reading of the output of the logic operations.     

Safety and Quality Aspects of Acrylic Monomers

Summary : Acrylic monomers are important intermediates for the chemical industry. Especially acrylic acid (AA) is the basis for various reactions, such as polymerizations and esterifications and is, therefore, responsible for high product diversity. Spontaneous polymerization is a safety problem during the transportation and storage of acrylic monomers. In the production process, polymerization leads to blockages in the apparatus. For the prevention of these issues, special stabilizer systems are used such as hydroquinone monomethyl ether (MeHQ)/oxygen and phenothiazine (PTZ). The reactions of these stabilizer systems are not well understood at the moment. Therefore a lot of expertise and experience are necessary to guarantee safe handling. In this paper some methods for the investigation of stability related reaction kinetics are presented. A better comprehension of the mechanism of the polymerization inhibition is generated by the kinetic simulation with these data.     

The inverse inertia problem for graphs: Cut vertices, trees, and a counterexample

Let G be an undirected graph on n vertices and let S(G) be the set of all real symmetric n×n matrices whose nonzero off-diagonal entries occur in exactly the positions corresponding to the edges of G. The inverse inertia problem for G asks which inertias can be attained by a matrix in S(G). We give a complete answer to this question for trees in terms of a new family of graph parameters, the maximal disconnection numbers of a graph. We also give a formula for the inertia set of a graph with a cut vertex in terms of inertia sets of proper subgraphs. Finally, we give an example of a graph that is not inertia-balanced, which settles an open problem from the October 2006 AIM Workshop on Spectra of Families of Matrices described by Graphs, Digraphs and Sign Patterns. We also determine some restrictions on the inertia set of any graph.     

Conditioning of Random Conic Systems Under a General Family of Input Distributions

We consider the conic feasibility problem associated with the linear homogeneous system Ax≤0, x≠0. The complexity of iterative algorithms for solving this problem depends on a condition number C(A). When studying the typical behavior of algorithms under stochastic input, one is therefore naturally led to investigate the fatness of the tails of the distribution of C(A). Introducing the very general class of uniformly absolutely continuous probability models for the random matrix A, we show that the distribution tails of C(A) decrease at algebraic rates, both for the Goffin–Cheung–Cucker number C _G and the Renegar number C _R . The exponent that drives the decay arises naturally in the theory of uniform absolute continuity, which we also develop in this paper. In the case of C _G , we also discuss lower bounds on the tail probabilities and show that there exist absolutely continuous input models for which the tail decay is subalgebraic. R. Hauser was supported by a grant of the Nuffield Foundation under the “Newly Appointed Lecturers” grant scheme (project number NAL/00720/G) and through grant GR/S34472 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK. The research in this paper was conducted while T. Müller was a research student at the University of Oxford. He was partially supported by EPSRC, the Oxford University Department of Statistics, Bekker-la-Bastide fonds, Dr. Hendrik Muller’s Vaderlandsch fonds, and Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.     

Density Large Deviations for Multidimensional Stochastic Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

We investigate the density large deviation function for a multidimensional conservation law in the vanishing viscosity limit, when the probability concentrates on weak solutions of a hyperbolic conservation law. When the mobility and diffusivity matrices are proportional, i.e. an Einstein-like relation is satisfied, the problem has been solved in Bellettini and Mariani (Bull Greek Math Soc 57:31–45, 2010). When this proportionality does not hold, we compute explicitly the large deviation function for a step-like density profile, and we show that the associated optimal current has a non trivial structure. We also derive a lower bound for the large deviation function, valid for a more general weak solution, and leave the general large deviation function upper bound as a conjecture.     

A poroplastic model of structural reorganisation in porous media of biomechanical interest

We present a poroplastic model of structural reorganisation in a binary mixture comprising a solid and a fluid phase. The solid phase is the macroscopic representation of a deformable porous medium, which exemplifies the matrix of a biological system (consisting e.g. of cells, extracellular matrix, collagen fibres). The fluid occupies the interstices of the porous medium and is allowed to move throughout it. The system reorganises its internal structure in response to mechanical stimuli. Such structural reorganisation, referred to as remodelling, is described in terms of “plastic” distortions, whose evolution is assumed to obey a phenomenological flow rule driven by stress. We study the influence of remodelling on the mechanical and hydraulic behaviour of the system, showing how the plastic distortions modulate the flow pattern of the fluid, and the distributions of pressure and stress inside it. To accomplish this task, we solve a highly nonlinear set of model equations by elaborating a previously developed numerical procedure, which is implemented in a non-commercial finite element solver.     

Analytical and numerical prediction of harmonic sound power in the inlet of aero-engines with emphasis on transonic rotation speeds

Tone noise radiated through the inlet of a turbofan is mainly due to rotor-stator interactions at subsonic regimes (approach flight), and to the shock waves attached to each blade at supersonic helical tip speeds (takeoff). The axial compressor of a helicopter turboshaft engine is transonic as well and can be studied like turbofans at takeoff. The objective of the paper is to predict the sound power at the inlet radiating into the free field, with a focus on transonic conditions because sound levels are much higher. Direct numerical computation of tone acoustic power is based on a RANS (Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes) solver followed by an integration of acoustic intensity over specified inlet cross-sections, derived from Cantrell and Hart equations (valid in irrotational flows). In transonic regimes, sound power decreases along the intake because of nonlinear propagation, which must be discriminated from numerical dissipation. This is one of the reasons why an analytical approach is also suggested. It is based on three steps: (i) appraisal of the initial pressure jump of the shock waves; (ii) 2D nonlinear propagation model of Morfey and Fisher; (iii) calculation of the sound power of the 3D ducted acoustic field. In this model, all the blades are assumed to be identical such that only the blade passing frequency and its harmonics are predicted (like in the present numerical simulations). However, transfer from blade passing frequency to multiple pure tones can be evaluated in a fourth step through a statistical analysis of irregularities between blades. Interest of the analytical method is to provide a good estimate of nonlinear acoustic propagation in the upstream duct while being easy and fast to compute. The various methods are applied to two turbofan models, respectively in approach (subsonic) and takeoff (transonic) conditions, and to a Turbomeca turboshaft engine (transonic case). The analytical method in transonic appears to be quite reliable by comparison with the numerical solution and with available experimental data.     

A Simple Strategy to Prepare Colloidal Cu‐Doped ZnSe(S) Green Emitter Nanocrystals in Aqueous Media

A novel and simple method is described for preparing colloidal Cu‐doped ZnSe(S) quantum dots (QDs) in aqueous media by introducing copper ions using the same method as to prepare colloidal ZnSe(S). More specifically, the Cu‐doped ZnSe(S) are prepared through the nucleation‐doping method in the presence of 3‐mercaptopropionic acid as stabilizers using zinc perchlorate, copper sulphate, and NaHSe as precursors. Confirmation of the preparation of Cu‐doped ZnSe(S) nanocrystals (NCs) is done with absorption and emission spectroscopies (UV–vis and PL) as the QDs show intensive green emissions. The reduction of ions Cu²⁺ to Cu⁺ is confirmed by using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), in which Cu⁺ ions are silent. The size determination is performed by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), resulting in Cu‐doped ZnSe(S) particles with a mean diameter of 4.6 ± 3.5 nm. The excellent stability observed for the nanoparticles overcomes the intrinsic instability of traditional aqueous Cu‐doped ZnSe(S) NCs.     

Turing patterns in the chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction with square spatial periodic forcing

We use the photosensitive chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction-diffusion system to study wavenumber locking of Turing patterns to two-dimensional "square" spatial forcing, implemented as orthogonal sets of bright bands projected onto the reaction medium. Various resonant structures emerge in a broad range of forcing wavelengths and amplitudes, including square lattices and superlattices, one-dimensional stripe patterns and oblique rectangular patterns. Numerical simulations using a model that incorporates additive two-dimensional spatially periodic forcing reproduce well the experimental observations.