Synthesis of a mixed carboxylate–phosphinate AAZTA-like ligand and relaxometric characterization of its Gd complex

The synthesis of the new polydentate ligand AAZ2A2P^Et derived from the heptadentate polyaminocarboxylic ligand AAZTA (6-amino-6-methylperhydro-1,4-diazepine-N,N′,N″,N″-tetraacetic acid) in which two acetate groups were replaced by methyleneethylphosphinic pendant arms is reported. The relaxometric behavior of the corresponding mono-aquo Gd^III complex was also investigated.     

Two tri-spin complexes based on gadolinium and nitronyl nitroxide radicals: Structure and ferromagnetic interactions

Three Radical-Ln(III)-Radical complexes based on nitronyl nitroxide radicals have been synthesized, structurally and magnetically characterized: [Gd(hfac)₃(NITPhOEt)₂] (1) (hfac=hexafluoroacetylacetonate, and NITPhOEt=4′-ethoxy-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide), [Gd(hfac)₃(NITPhOCH₂Ph)₂] (2) (NITPhOCH₂Ph=4′-benzyloxy-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide) and [Lu(hfac)₃(NITPhOCH₂Ph)₂] (3). The X-ray crystal structure analyses show that the structures of the three compounds are similar and all consist of the isolated molecules, in which central ions Gd^III or Lu^III are coordinated by six oxygen atoms from three hfac and two oxygen atoms from nitronyl radicals. The magnetic studies show that in both of the two Gd^III complexes, there are ferromagnetic Gd^III-Rad interactions and antiferro-magnetic Rad-Rad interactions in the molecules (with J_Rad−Gd=0.27 cm⁻¹, j_Rad-Rad=−2.97 cm⁻¹ for 1: and J_Rad−Gd=0.62 cm⁻¹, j_Rad-Rad=−7.01 cm⁻¹ for 2). An analogous complex of [Lu(hfac)₃ (NITPhOCH₂Ph)₂] (3) containing diamagnetic Lu^III ions has also been introduced for further demonstrating the nature of magnetic coupling between radicals.     

Water diffusion-exchange effect on the paramagnetic relaxation enhancement in off-resonance rotating frame

The off-resonance rotating frame technique based on the spin relaxation properties of off-resonance T1rho can significantly increase the sensitivity of detecting paramagnetic labeling at high magnetic fields by MRI. However, the in vivo detectable dimension for labeled cell clusters/tissues in T1rho-weighted images is limited by the water diffusion-exchange between mesoscopic scale compartments. An experimental investigation of the effect of water diffusion-exchange between compartments on the paramagnetic relaxation enhancement of paramagnetic agent compartment is presented for in vitro/in vivo models. In these models, the size of paramagnetic agent compartment is comparable to the mean diffusion displacement of water molecules during the long RF pulses that are used to generate the off-resonance rotating frame. The three main objectives of this study were: (1) to qualitatively correlate the effect of water diffusion-exchange with the RF parameters of the long pulse and the rates of water diffusion, (2) to explore the effect of water diffusion-exchange on the paramagnetic relaxation enhancement in vitro, and (3) to demonstrate the paramagnetic relaxation enhancement in vivo. The in vitro models include the water permeable dialysis tubes or water permeable hollow fibers embedded in cross-linked proteins gels. The MWCO of the dialysis tubes was chosen from 0.1 to 15 kDa to control the water diffusion rate. Thin hollow fibers were chosen to provide sub-millimeter scale compartments for the paramagnetic agents. The in vivo model utilized the rat cerebral vasculatures as a paramagnetic agent compartment, and intravascular agents (Gd-DTPA)30-BSA were administrated into the compartment via bolus injections. Both in vitro and in vivo results demonstrate that the paramagnetic relaxation enhancement is predominant in the T1rho-weighted image in the presence of water diffusion-exchange. The T1rho contrast has substantially higher sensitivity than the conventional T1 contrast in detecting paramagnetic agents, especially at low paramagnetic agent volumetric fractions, low paramagnetic agent concentrations, and low RF amplitudes. Short pulse duration, short pulse recycle delay and efficient paramagnetic relaxation can reduce the influence of water diffusion-exchange on the paramagnetic enhancement. This study paves the way for the design of off-resonance rotating experiments to detect labeled cell clusters/tissue compartments in vivo at a sub-millimeter scale.     

Primary lymphoma of the cervix: MRI findings with gadolinium

MRI evaluation of primary cervical lymphoma has not been reported. We report such a case of primary cervical lymphoma, a lesion well seen and well delineated from normal tissue by MRI. Although primary lymphoma of the cervix is a rare entity, the disease does exist and can be well demonstrated by MRI. We evaluated the MR appearance of this lesion with both nonenhanced and gadolinium-enhanced imaging.     

Correlation of optical and microstructural properties of Gd2O3 thin films through phase-modulated ellipsometry and multi-mode atomic force microscopy

Gadolinium oxide thin films have been prepared by electron beam evaporation with different reactive oxygen pressures at low ambient substrate temperature. These thin films have been analyzed with phase-modulated spectroscopic ellipsometry and multi-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM). The distinct influences of oxygen pressure on surface topographies, microstructures and refractive indices of the thin films have been observed from the results of these advanced measurements. Both these techniques have displayed very strong co-relationships in the characterisation results acquired through respective modes of measurements and data analysis. Unequivocally, these two techniques indicated an optimum value of the oxygen pressure leading to best optical and structural properties of such a novel optical coating material.     

Two- and three-photon excitation of Gd in CaAl12O19

We have employed two-photon excitation to study the higher energy levels of Gd³⁺ ions in CaAl₁₂O₁₉ and we compare the results with those obtained using conventional UV excitation techniques. Under two-photon excitation, the luminescence intensity exhibits an unusual temporal behavior, a very long build-up followed by a decrease by orders of magnitude, ascribed to a recombination-assisted luminescence excitation mechanism assuming photo-ionization of Gd³⁺ ions and trapping of free electrons on deep traps.

We also find that the two-photon excitation spectra contain an additional broadening contribution which can be attributed to homogeneous broadening of excitation levels caused by excited state absorption into the conduction band. We believe that this may be a general phenomenon whenever participating photons produce ionization of impurity ions from metastable excited states. The phenomenon can manifest itself also in two-photon ionization spectral hole burning and in up-conversion processes (in the latter case, the homogeneous broadening can be caused by an intra-ion excited-state absorption).     

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for simultaneous determination of Sm, Eu and Gd in aqueous solution

This paper reports studies on the determination of trace levels of samarium, europium and gadolinium in aqueous samples by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). In this work, a membrane-based filter paper was used as a sample support for the liquid samples. The laser-induced plasma was produced in air at atmospheric pressure, using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Calibration standards and synthetic mixtures of these lanthanides were prepared using solutions prepared from respective high purity oxides. Linear calibration was obtained for Sm, Eu and Gd by normalizing the intensities of lanthanides emission lines with respective to C(I) 193.029 nm emission line. The concentrations of Sm, Eu and Gd were then determined in a solution containing a mixture of these lanthanides. The concentrations of individual lanthanides were obtained within 5% of the expected values. Limits of detection were found to be 1.3 ppmw (Sm), 1.9 ppmw (Eu) and 2.3 ppmw (Gd).     

Effect of morphology on the magnetic properties of Gd2O3 nanotubes

Gadolinium oxide (Gd₂O₃) nanotubes of micron length and average diameter 100 nm have been synthesized by a controlled template-assisted electrochemical deposition technique. Structure and morphology of the synthesized nanotubes have been well characterized by using microscopy and spectroscopy analyses. HRTEM and XRD analysis revealed the crystalline planes of Gd₂O₃ nanotubes. Magnetic measurements of the aligned Gd₂O₃ nanotubes have been performed for both parallel and perpendicular orientations of the magnetic field with respect to the axis of the Gd₂O₃ nanotube array. Large bifurcation in ZFC–FC over the regime of 2–320 K without any signature of long range magnetic ordering confirms the presence of SPM clusters in Gd₂O₃ nanotubes. Also, large magnetocaloric effect is observed in the cryogenic temperature regime. No anisotropy is seen at the low temperature region but is found to evolve with temperature and becomes significant ~300 K. These nanotubes can be considered as promising candidates for magnetic refrigeration at cryogenic temperature.