An inverse design approach for magnetic lenses operated under infinite magnification condition

A theoretical-computational investigation has been carried out to describe a synthesis optimization procedure of asymmetrical magnetic lenses with the aid of numerical analysis methods. Where a certain mathematical form for the electron beam is proposed to be a target function. This function has several optimization parameters where the influence of each of them, when the other ones kept fixed, is investigated. Results have clearly shown that some of the optimization parameters have a considerable effect on the first order properties, third order aberrations and the reconstructed polepieces. While the others have no significant influence on these physical and geometrical properties. Furthermore, the results obviously show that there is an excellent ability for producing a conventional magnetic field for the double polepieces lenses.     

Magnetic properties in zinc-blende CdS induced by Cd vacancies

The magnetic property induced by neutral Cd and S vacancies in CdS bulk and thin film are investigated, using first principles simulation. For bulk CdS, the magnetism originates from Cd, instead of S, vacancies. The ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature above room temperature can be expected. For CdS thin film, both Cd and S vacancies does not yield any magnetism at the (111) surface, while local magnetic moments at the outermost S plane of the (001) surface is ascribed to the surface effect. The ferromagnetism at S-terminated (001) surface can account for the experimental observation.     

7 T versus 3 T contrast-enhanced breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging of invasive ductulolobular carcinoma: First clinical experience

Purpose

Here we describe our first experience with contrast-enhanced (CE) MRI of breast cancer at 7 tesla (T), compared to 3 T and histopathology.

Materials and Methods

A 52 year old female patient with a mammographically suspicious breast mass (BI-RADS V) underwent 7 T CE-MRI. Results were described according to the BI-RADS-MRI criteria and compared to 3 T and histopathology.

Results

After contrast administration, a homogeneously enhancing, irregular spiculated mass was depicted at both 3 T and 7 T; sizes were identical. The most malignant kinetic curve was characterized by a rapid initial rise followed by a wash-out pattern in the delayed phase, i.e. a type 3 curve, at both field strengths. Even though T1-effects of contrast agents are suggested to be reduced at higher fields, quantification of contrast enhancement-to-noise ratio showed a ratio of 4.6 at 7 T and 2.8 at 3 T when comparing contrast-to-noise of the mass before and after contrast administration. Both examinations, using a single dose of gadolinium-based contrast agent, achieved good image quality. Final histopathological evaluation showed an invasive ductulolobular carcinoma with an intraductal component.

Conclusion

This initial experience suggests that clinical contrast-enhanced 7 T MRI of the breast is technically feasible and may allow BI-RADS-conform analysis.     

MSE-MRI sequence optimisation for measurement of bi- and tri-exponential T2 relaxation in a phantom and fruit

The transverse relaxation signal from vegetal cells can be described by multi-exponential behaviour, reflecting different water compartments. This multi-exponential relaxation is rarely measured by conventional MRI imaging protocols; mono-exponential relaxation times are measured instead, thus limiting information about of the microstructure and water status in vegetal cells. In this study, an optimised multiple spin echo (MSE) MRI sequence was evaluated for assessment of multi-exponential transverse relaxation in fruit tissues. The sequence was designed for the acquisition of a maximum of 512 echoes. Non-selective refocusing RF pulses were used in combination with balanced crusher gradients for elimination of spurious echoes. The study was performed on a bi-compartmental phantom with known T₂ values and on apple and tomato fruit. T₂ decays measured in the phantom and fruit were analysed using bi- and tri-exponential fits, respectively. The MRI results were compared with low field non-spatially resolved NMR measurements performed on the same samples.     

Neurofibrillary tangles and plaques are not accompanied by white matter pathology in aged triple transgenic-Alzheimer disease mice

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is the most common cause of dementia in aging populations. Although senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are well-established hallmarks of AD, changes in cerebral white matter correlate with cognitive decline and may increase the risk of the development of dementia. We used the triple transgenic (3xTg)-AD mouse model of AD, previously used to show that white matter changes precede plaque formation, to test the hypothesis that MRI detectable changes occur in the corpus callosum, external capsule and the fornix. T₂-weighted and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging and histological stains were employed to assess white matter in older (11–17 months) 3xTg-AD mice and controls. We found no statistically significant changes in white matter between 3xTg-AD mice and controls, despite well-developed neurofibrillary tangles and beta amyloid immunoreactive plaques. Myelin staining was normal in affected mice. These data suggest that the 3xTg-AD mouse model does not develop MRI detectable white matter changes at the ages we examined.     

Correction of B0 susceptibility induced distortion in diffusion-weighted images using large-deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping

Geometric distortion caused by B0 inhomogeneity is one of the most important problems for diffusion-weighted images (DWI) using single-shot, echo planar imaging (SS-EPI). In this study, large-deformation, diffeomorphic metric mapping (LDDMM) algorithm has been tested for the correction of geometric distortion in diffusion tensor images (DTI). Based on data from nine normal subjects, the amount of distortion caused by B0 susceptibility in the 3-T magnet was characterized. The distortion quality was validated by manually placing landmarks in the target and DTI images before and after distortion correction. The distortion was found to be up to 15 mm in the population-averaged map and could be more than 20 mm in individual images. Both qualitative demonstration and quantitative statistical results suggest that the highly elastic geometric distortion caused by spatial inhomogeneity of the B0 field in DTI using SS-EPI can be effectively corrected by LDDMM. This postprocessing method is especially useful for correcting existent DTI data without phase maps.     

Influence of steady background gradients on the accuracy of molecular diffusion anisotropy measurements

Spatial susceptibility variations of body components lead to local gradients of the static magnetic field. Effects of such background gradients on fractional diffusion anisotropy (FA) measurements on whole-body magnetic resonance units operating at 1.5, 3.0 and 7.0 T were analyzed theoretically and experimentally. Analytical expressions were derived for the cases of diffusion occurring in isotropic media and in tissues with cylindrical symmetry (e.g., white matter tracts or skeletal musculature). Typical magnitudes of background gradient strengths were estimated from in vivo and in vitro measurements with B0 field mapping sequences. Additionally, numerical simulations of magnetic field distributions and resulting field gradients were performed considering tissue-air interfaces in simplified geometrical arrangements. For media with isotropic diffusion, both measurements and analytical calculations showed increasing FA inaccuracy with stronger coupling between diffusion-encoding and background gradients. For cylindrical symmetry, FA values were estimated for a standard diffusion tensor imaging protocol in a realistic scenario. At 1 mm distance from a water-air interface, susceptibility-related background gradients amount to approximately 9 mT/m at 7 T and lead to a relative error of the measured FA of up to 48%. The error in the anisotropy assessment rises considerably with increasing field strength and must be taken into account especially for experimental and clinical studies on modern high-field systems.     

可双参量同时测量的光纤磁场传感器

设计并制作了一种马赫-曾德尔干涉仪(Mach-Zehnder Interferometer,MZI)与光纤布喇格光栅级联的光纤磁场传感器,其中MZI由相当于分光器的锥结构和相当于耦合器的花生锥结构级联组成,封装在填充了磁流体的毛细管中.由于磁流体的有效折射率会随着外界磁场强度的改变而变化,故可通过观察干涉谱的特征波长的变化来测量外界磁场强度,而光纤布喇格光栅透射峰对磁场强度不敏感.当磁场强度由0mT变化到20mT时,马赫-曾德尔干涉峰的灵敏度为0.11nm/mT.温度特性实验测得马赫-曾德尔干涉峰和光纤布喇格光栅透射峰的温度灵敏度分别为0.401 5nm/℃和0.011 4nm/℃.因此,可利用敏感矩阵实现双参量同时测量.     

稀磁半导体Zn_（1－x）Mn_xSe外延膜的反射和光致发光谱

测量了用热壁外延（ＨＷＥ）生长的不同组分（０≤ｘ≤０．９８）的Ｚｎ１－ｘＭｎｘＳｅ薄膜在温度为３００Ｋ下的反射光谱，用Ｘ射线能借测定样品实际的组分ｘ值，由此获得了其能隙Ｅｇ与组分ｘ的关系：在Ｏ＜Ｘ＜０．２组分范围，Ｅｇ随ｘ的变化显示了反常现象，当Ｘ＞０．２时，能隙Ｅｇ随ｘ线性增大。在室温和低温下测量了样品的光致发光，除观测到Ｍｎ２＋离子内部４Ｔ１→６Ａ１发光峰外，在其低能边观测到一个较宽的发光峰，对结果进行了分析讨论。     

Electromagnetic waves reflection,transmission and absorption by graphene–magnetic semiconductor–graphene sandwich-structure in magnetic field: Faraday geometry

Electrodynamic properties of the graphene–magnetic semiconductor–graphene sandwich-structure have been investigated theoretically with taking into account the dissipation processes. Influence of graphene layers on electromagnetic waves propagation in graphene–semi-infinte magnetic semiconductor and graphene–magnetic semiconductor–graphene sandwich-structure has been analyzed. Frequency and field dependences of the reflectance, transmittance and absorbtance of electromagnetic waves by such structure have been calculated. The size effects associated with the thickness of the structure have been analyzed. The possibility of efficient control of electrodynamic properties of graphene–magnetic semiconductor–graphene sandwich-structure by an external magnetic field has been shown.