Assessment of clinical data of nonlinear stochastic deconvolution versus block-circulant singular value decomposition for quantitative dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging

Dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging (DSC-MRI) allows the noninvasive assessment of brain hemodynamics alterations by quantifying, via deconvolution, the cerebral blood flow (CBF) and mean transit time (MTT). Singular value decomposition (SVD) and block-circulant SVD (cSVD) are the most widely adopted deconvolution method, although they bear some limitations, including unphysiological oscillations in the residue function and bias in the presence of delay and dispersion between the tissue and the arterial input function. A nonlinear stochastic regularization (NSR) has been proposed, which performs better than SVD and cSVD on simulated data both in the presence and absence of dispersion. Moreover, NSR allows to quantify the dispersion level. Here, cSVD and NSR are compared for the first time on a group of nine patients with severe atherosclerotic unilateral stenosis of internal carotid artery before and after carotid stenting to investigate the effect of arterial dispersion. According to region of interest-based analysis, NSR characterizes the pathologic tissue more accurately than cSVD, thus improving the quality of the information provided to physicians for diagnosis. In fact, in 7 (78%) of the 9 subjects, CBF and MTT maps provided by NSR allow to correctly identify the pathologic hemisphere to the physician. Moreover, by emphasizing the difference between pathologic and healthy tissues, NSR may be successfully used to monitor the subject's recovery after the treatment and/or surgery. NSR also generates dispersion level and non-dispersed CBF and MTT maps. The dispersion level provides information on CBF and MTT estimates reliability and may also be used as a clinical indicator of pathological tissue state complementary to CBF and MTT, thus increasing the clinical information provided by DSC-MRI analysis.     

Electrochemical, morphological and microstructural characterization of carbon film resistor electrodes for application in electrochemical sensors

The electrochemical and microstructural properties of carbon film electrodes made from carbon film electrical resistors of 1.5, 15, 140 Ω and 2.0 kΩ nominal resistance have been investigated before and after electrochemical pre-treatment at +0.9 V vs SCE, in order to assess the potential use of these carbon film electrodes as electrochemical sensors and as substrates for sensors and biosensors. The results obtained are compared with those at electrodes made from previously investigated 2 Ω carbon film resistors. Cyclic voltammetry was performed in acetate buffer and phosphate buffer saline electrolytes and the kinetic parameters of the model redox system Fe(CN)₆^3−/4− obtained. The 1.5 Ω resistor electrodes show the best properties for sensor development with wide potential windows, similar electrochemical behaviour to those of 2 Ω and close-to-reversible kinetic parameters after electrochemical pre-treatment. The 15 and 140 Ω resistor electrodes show wide potential windows although with slower kinetics, whereas the 2.0 kΩ resistor electrodes show poor cyclic voltammetric profiles even after pre-treatment. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy related these findings to the interfacial properties of the electrodes. Microstructural and morphological studies were carried out using contact mode Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Confocal Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. AFM showed more homogeneity of the films with lower nominal resistances, related to better electrochemical characteristics. X-ray diffraction and Confocal Raman spectroscopy indicate the existence of a graphitic structure in the carbon films.     

Simplification of formulas for compression wave and oscillating flow in circular pipe

We had already obtained the analytical solutions for the compression wave and steady-state oscillating flow in a pipe with a circular cross section [Sato Y, Kanki H. Formulas for compression wave and oscillating flow in circular pipe. To be published in Appl Acoust [accepted 11 Sept. 2006]]. This work contains three key-components. The first key is to simplify the formulas using the unique mathematic technique without losing the accuracy. Simplifying the formulas is the one of the most important factors for formulas used in engineering use. The results will enable us to greatly reduce the work and computation costs. The second is to verify the flow distribution calculated by our formulas. The third is to study the possibility of application of our method to the analysis in turbulent flow region. Kawata et al. have represented the validity of one-dimensional quasi-analysis in turbulent flow region, using the method of D’Souza et al. and the shear viscosity. Therefore, in this paper the validity of the analysis in a turbulence region was verified by proving theoretically that the methods of D’Souza et al. and ours are intrinsically equivalent. The proof of equivalence was accomplished using the formulas simplified in this paper.     

安全因子q极值点附近的漂移波不稳定性

本文通过数值求解平板模型中本征模方程,研究了安全因子q极值点附近的低频漂移波稳定性问题。数值计算结果表明,剪切随磁面的变化可以导致在q的极值点附近产生不稳定的漂移波模式。     

Two-phase heat transfer correlation for multi-component mixtures in the saturated flow-boiling regime

Investigations of two-phase heat transfer in the saturated flow-boiling region for multi-component mixtures has led to a proposed new correlation for the heat transfer coefficient where heat transfer of boiling is simply expressed in terms of the boiling number. This correlation was tested against the existing data on forced convective boiling heat transfer reported in the literature, giving satisfactory results; the correlation should, however, be tested further against wider data on convective heat transfer coefficients in multicomponent systems. The present lack of such data should be remedied.     

Finite difference method for 2-D and 3-D nonlinear free surface wave problems

A finite difference method is developed for the numerical modelling of the 2-D and 3-D unsteady potential flow generated by transient disturbances on the free surface, on which the nonlinear boundary conditions are fully satisfied. The unknown function is computed with an iteration scheme processing in a transformed time-invariant space. After the velocity is calculated, the location of the free surface is renewed and so is the value of velocity on it. The boundary-value problem of the governing equation is then solved at the next time step. The present method incorporates the FFT. Consequently, a tri-diagonal equation system is obtained which could be readily solved. The feasibility of this method has been demonstrated by 2-D and 3-D examples corresponding to different initial disturbances. This work is supported by the science foundation of Academia Sinica. The paper had been accepted by the XVIth International Congress of IUTAM, Lyngby, Denmark, August, 1984.     

Mode selectivity of multisegment composite-cavity semiconductor lasers

The single longitudinal mode (SLM) characteristics of narrow linewidth long-external-cavity semiconductor lasers has been improved significantly by using a multisegment composite-cavity configuration. In this paper, the mode selectivities of two-segment, three-segment and four-segment cavity semiconductor lasers have been analysed and compared. In experiments, a four-segment composite cavity laser exhibits SLM oscillation with side-mode suppression ratio of 30 dB even for total external cavity length of 75 cm. The oscillation linewidth is less than 200 kHz.     

Steady and modulated flow of an Ostwald fluid around a rotating disk

The solutions of the continuity equation and the equations of motion of the flow in the vicinity of a rotating disk have been established for an Ostwald fluid under steady-state conditions and in modulated flow around a mean value. Under steady-state conditions, the kinematics of the flow is scarcely dependent on the rheological parameters close to the disk, however, for n < 1 long-range effects have been put forward. For modulated flow, in the high-frequency range, a behaviour very different from that observed for a Newtonian fluid was found. In the low-frequency range an asymptotic solution has been proposed which is of special interest in mass transfer problems.Presented at the Second Conference of European Rheologists, Prague, June 17–20, 1986     

Lubricated squeezing flow of a Newtonian liquid between elastic and rigid plates

Theoretical force-time relationships were derived for squeezing flow of a Newtonian liquid between lubricated rigid and elastic plates. It is shown how the elastic number, representing the ratio between the elastic plate's rigidity and the specimen's viscosity, affects the force-time curve and under what circumstances the fluid specimen's thickness becomes a significant factor. Potential implications of the analysis in oral sensory evaluations of viscous foods are also considered.