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PubMed2005

High-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of biological tissues using projected magic angle spinning.

High-resolution NMR spectra of materials subject to anisotropic broadening are usually obtained by rotating the sample about the magic angle, which is 54.7 degrees to the static magnetic field. In projected magic angle spinning (p-MAS), the sample is spun about two angles, neither of which is the magic angle. This provides a method of obtaining isotropic spectra while spinning at shallow angles. The p-MAS experiment may be used in situations where spinning the sample at the magic angle is not possible due to geometric or other constraints, allowing the choice of spinning angle to be determined by factors such as the shape of the sample, rather than by the spin physics. The application of this technique to bovine tissue samples is demonstrated as a proof of principle for future biological or medical applications.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Magic angle imaging of the achilles tendon in patients with chronic tendonopathy.

AIMS: To assess the Achilles tendon in patients with chronic tendonopathy using magnetic resonance (MR) magic angle imaging, and to compare the appearances and uptake of contrast medium in abnormal tendons with those in normal tendons. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eight patients with chronic Achilles tendonopathy and five normal controls were examined with the long axis of the tendon placed at 55 degrees and at 0 degrees to the main magnetic field. Conventional two-dimensional (2D) multi-slice images were obtained and T1 values were calculated before, and for up to 1h after the administration of intravenous gadodiamide. Both the unenhanced appearance and the pattern of enhancement in the tendon were compared. RESULTS: In the patients with tendonopathy, high signal intensity areas were evident on the short T1 inversion recovery (STIR) images obtained at 55 degrees in all tendons. Contrast medium enhancement was seen in six tendons and was most obvious on the images obtained at the magic angle. This was initially focal and then spread more diffusely within the tendon. After contrast medium administration, T1 values were significantly reduced in the tendonopathy group compared with normal controls (p<0.01). On the late post-contrast medium images obtained at 55 degrees, enhancement was evident in most of the tendon and correlated well with high signal intensity seen on STIR images. CONCLUSION: The use of magic angle MR imaging improved the demonstration of signal changes in the Achilles tendon in chronic tendonopathy. The STIR images obtained at the magic angle showed more obvious signal change than those obtained at 0 degrees. The changes due to enhancement were much more evident on images obtained at 55 degrees than at 0 degrees. The uptake of contrast medium was greater in the patients than in normal controls.

Achilles Tendon↗

PubMed2003

Application of amplitude-modulated radiofrequency fields to the magic-angle spinning NMR of spin-7/2 nuclei.

We report pulse sequences for the sensitivity enhancement of magic-angle spinning and multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning spectra of spin-72 systems. Sensitivity enhancement is obtained with the use of fast amplitude-modulated (FAM) radiofrequency pulses. In one-dimensional magic-angle spinning experiments, signal enhancement of 3 is obtained by a FAM pulse followed by a soft 90 degrees pulse. In two-dimensional multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning experiments, FAM pulses are used for both the excitation of multiple-quantum coherences and for their conversion into observable single-quantum coherences. The observed signal enhancements are 2.2 in 3Q experiments, 3.1 in 5Q experiments, and 4.1 in 7Q experiments, compared to the conventional two-pulse scheme. The pulse schemes are demonstrated on the 45Sc NMR of Sc2(SO4)3 x 5H2O and the 139La NMR of LaAlO3. We also demonstrate the generation of FAM pulses by double-frequency irradiation.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

High-resolution NMR spectroscopy of quadrupolar nuclei in solids: satellite-transition MAS with self-compensation for magic-angle misset.

Several methods are available for obtaining high-resolution NMR spectra of half-integer spin quadrupolar nuclei, such as (11)B, (23)Na (I = (3)/(2)) and (17)O, (27)Al (I = (5)/(2)), in powdered solids. Satellite-transition magic-angle spinning (STMAS) uses only conventional magic-angle spinning (MAS) hardware and, it has been claimed, improves significantly upon the signal-to-noise ratio obtained with the widely adopted multiple-quantum MAS (MQMAS) experiment. The STMAS technique, however, requires that the sample rotation axis be set to the magic angle (cos(-1)(1/ radical 3) = 54.736 degrees ) with respect to the magnetic field B(0) with an accuracy of better than +/-0.004 degrees, and this stringent requirement has severely limited the use of the method. Here, we propose a novel version of STMAS that self-compensates for magic-angle missets of up to +/-1.0 degrees and yet retains a sensitivity comparable with MQMAS. This SCAM-STMAS experiment is demonstrated on RbNO(3) using (87)Rb (I = (3)/(2)) NMR and on kyanite (Al(2)SiO(5)) using (27)Al (I = (5)/(2)) NMR.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Magical beliefs and rituals in young children.

Thirty-one children were administered a structured interview that assessed their beliefs about magic, tricks and wishes. Children were also presented with demonstrations of magic tricks/illusions, and asked to offer explanations as to how they worked. Parents completed the Childhood Routines Inventory (CRI), a 19-item parent report measure that assesses children's rituals, habits and sensory-perceptual experiences that we have termed "compulsive-like" behavior. Results indicated that children's rituals and compulsions were positively related to their magical beliefs, and inversely related to their uses of concrete, physical explanations to describe various phenomena. In particular, children's beliefs about the effects of wishing were most consistently correlated with their compulsive-like rituals and routines. The findings extended the work on magical beliefs and obsessive-compulsive phenomena to the normative manifestation of compulsive behaviors found in typical development.

Child↗

PubMed2005

MAGIC, an in vivo genetic method for the rapid construction of recombinant DNA molecules.

We describe a highly engineered in vivo cloning method, mating-assisted genetically integrated cloning (MAGIC), that facilitates the rapid construction of recombinant DNA molecules. MAGIC uses bacterial mating, in vivo site-specific endonuclease cleavage and homologous recombination to catalyze the transfer of a DNA fragment between a donor vector in one bacterial strain and a recipient plasmid in a separate bacterial strain. Recombination events are genetically selected and result in placement of the gene of interest under the control of new regulatory elements with high efficiency. MAGIC eliminates the need for restriction enzymes, DNA ligases, preparation of DNA and all in vitro manipulations required for subcloning and allows the rapid construction of multiple constructs with minimal effort. We show that MAGIC can generate constructs for expression in multiple organisms. As this new method requires only the simple mixing of bacterial strains, it represents a substantial advance in high-throughput recombinant DNA production that will save time, effort and expense in functional genomics studies.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

Origin of the magic numbers of water clusters with an excess electron.

Electron-bound water clusters [e(-)(H(2)O)(n)] show very strong peaks in mass spectra for n=2, 6, 7, and (11), which are called magic numbers. The origin of the magic numbers has been an enigma for the last two decades. Although the magic numbers have often been conjectured to arise from the intrinsic properties of electron-bound water clusters, we attributed them not to their intrinsic properties but to the particularly weak stability of the corresponding neutral water clusters (H(2)O)(n=2,6,7, and (11)). As the cluster size increases; this nonsmooth characteristic feature in stability of neutral water clusters is contrasted to the smooth increase in stability of e(-)-water clusters. As the magic number clusters have significant positive adiabatic electron affinities, their abundant distributions in atmosphere could play a significant role in atmospheric thermodynamics.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Magic-angle effect in magnetic resonance imaging of articular cartilage: a review.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The laminar appearance of articular cartilage in magnetic resonance (MR) images has been a source of confusion, especially concerning the number, intensity, thickness, and origin of the layers. The laminar appearance is associated with the magic-angle effect in the MR imaging (MRI) of articular cartilage. METHODS: This article introduces the topic with background information about cartilage and the magic-angle effect and then reviews the literature about the magic-angle effect. The review concludes with a brief discussion of the future directions of study and the potential clinical relevance of the laminae in MR images of articular cartilage. CONCLUSIONS: The magic-angle effect is commonly seen in MR images of several tissues. The direct cause of the laminar appearance of articular cartilage is the T2 relaxation anisotropy in the tissue, which is closely linked to the structure of the collagen fibers, their orientation in the magnetic field, and the water-proteoglycan interaction that amplifies the prevailing orientation of the collagen fiber network. The laminar appearance of cartilage has an intrinsic spatial heterogeneity over the two-dimensional joint surface, which leads to inconsistencies in the reported total number of cartilage laminae and the laminar patterns observable in MRI, depending on where the sample was taken. Two additional thin, low-intensity laminae may also be visible at the boundaries of the cartilage with fluid and with bone; whether these boundary laminae are identified and counted with the others may introduce inconsistency in the results reported by various researchers.

Cartilage, Articular↗

PubMed1992

Comparison between MAGIC LITE- and CAP-system: two automated specific IgE antibody assays.

The MAGIC LITE system, a newly developed immunochemiluminometric assay for specific and total IgE antibody using paramagnetic particles coupled with standardized allergens as solid phase, was compared to the CAP system, a recently introduced immunoassay based on a cellulose polymer encased in a capsule. A total of 357 serum samples of patients with suspected inhalant allergies and a positive skin prick test (SPT) to common allergens (birch, timothy-grass, mugwort, cat dander, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Alternaria) were investigated. Fifty SPT negative subjects served as controls (total number of tests in each assay = 1600). Both assays were highly precise (overall intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation were 2.9% and 4.5% in MAGIC LITE, 4.7% and 5.5% in CAP) and showed excellent linearity (mean r2 of eightfold log2 serum dilutions were 99.7% and 99.3% in MAGIC LITE and CAP). Good correlations were found between the absolute specific IgE antibody values detected by both methods (correlation coefficient r: birth 0.86, grass 0.93, mugwort 0.96, cat 0.91, D. pteronyssinus 0.73, Alternaria 0.90). Excellent specificity (greater than or equal to 98%) occurred in both assays and with all allergens, and sensitivity was related to the allergen (MAGIC LITE/CAP): birch 91%/89%, grass 83%/90%, mugwort 50%/69%, cat 83%/83%, D. pteronyssinus 72%/78%, Alternaria 75%/81%. Our results indicate that both in vitro tests are useful tools for the detection of specific IgE antibody.

Allergens↗

PubMed1991

Rotational diffusion effects on absorbance measurements: limitations to the magic-angle approach.

Optical absorbance changes are commonly used to characterize intermediates which appear in the bleaching sequence of rhodopsin and in the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin. Absorbance changes can be caused by an intermediate's rotational diffusion, and when this occurs it can distort absorbance changes due to the structural evolution of intermediates. Linear polarization of an optical probe source at 54.7 degrees (the magic angle) relative to the polarization direction of a linearly polarized actinic source has often been used to eliminate signals due to rotational diffusion. We used Jones calculus to investigate the validity of the magic-angle strategy. Taylor expansion of the result in powers of the absorbances of the bleached ground state and of the intermediates leads to a relatively simple expression which can be used to determine whether rotational contributions are likely under various experimental conditions. This expression shows that in first order no dichroism-dependent term appears in the absorbance measured at magic angle. In second order, however, linear dichroism contributes to signals. For the sequence of rhodopsin intermediates: rhodopsin hv----bathorhodopsin in equilibrium BSI----lumirhodopsin, where BSI is a recently discovered blue-shifted intermediate, we determined the magnitude of the dichroism signals to be, on average, less than 2% of the true absorbance change due to the intermediates themselves (and hence undetectable). Freedom from dichroism artifacts in this case results from the fact that the transition dipoles of these intermediates are similar to that of rhodopsin. Larger and certainly detectable dichroism signals are predicted to occur, even at the magic angle, for later intermediates which have transition dipole moments which differ significantly from that of rhodopsin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bacteriorhodopsins↗

PubMed2002

Slow magic: psychoanalysis and "the disenchantment of the world".

Freud's work can be situated in terms of the debate between Enlightenment and anti-Enlightenment thought. The attempts of both sides to claim Freud for their position have merit, but they miss the crucial point: namely, that the tension between its Enlightenment and anti-Enlightenment tendencies is what gives Freud's thinking much of its vitality and depth. The task that faces the interpreter is therefore to elucidate that tension and assess the alignment of forces between the two strands in his thought. An examination of the concept of magic in Freud's theory provides an opportunity to pursue this interpretive task. Although the Enlightenment position he often seems to embrace advocates the complete elimination of magic, many "magical" elements remain in his theory and clinical practice. Nor should this situation be deplored, for the ambition to completely exorcise "enchantment" from human experience is one of the misguided excesses of the Enlightenment. The question of an appropriate fate for magic in psychoanalysis is discussed in relation to the vicissitudes of the transference. Finally, the science versus hermenueutics debate is examined in the light of these considerations in an attempt to specify the unique nature of the psychoanalytic experience.

Humans↗

PubMed2004

Magic angle effects in MR neurography.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Magic angle effects are well recognized in MR imaging of tendons and ligaments, but have received virtually no attention in MR neurography. We investigated the hypothesis that signal intensity from peripheral nerves is increased when the nerve's orientation to the constant magnetic induction field (B(0)) approaches 55 degrees (the magic angle). METHODS: Ten volunteers were examined with their peripheral nerves at different orientations to B(0) to detect any changes in signal intensity and provide data to estimate T2. Two patients with rheumatoid arthritis also had their median nerves examined at 0 degrees and 55 degrees. RESULTS: When examined with a short TI inversion-recovery sequence with different TEs, the median nerve showed a 46-175% increase in signal intensity between 0 degrees and 55 degrees and an increase in mean T2 from 47.2 to 65.8 msec. When examined in 5 degrees to 10 degrees increments from 0 degrees to 90 degrees, the median nerve signal intensity changed in a manner consistent with the magic angle effect. No significant change was observed in skeletal muscle. Ulnar and sciatic nerves also showed changes in signal intensity depending on their orientation to B(0). Components of the brachial plexus were orientated at about 55 degrees to B(0) and showed a higher signal intensity than that of nerves in the upper arm that were nearly parallel to B(0). A reduction in the change in signal intensity in the median nerve with orientation was observed in the two patients with rheumatoid arthritis. CONCLUSION: Signal intensity of peripheral nerves changes with orientation to B(0). This is probably the result of the magic angle effect from the highly ordered, linearly orientated collagen within them. Differences in signal intensity with orientation may simulate disease and be a source of diagnostic confusion.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

[Evaluation of the Magic Lite SQ specific IgE kit].

The new IgE specific antibody assay kit (Magic Lite SQ) was evaluated by comparing its results with those obtained by the Phadebas RAST and the skin prick tests. Sera from allergic children were used in the tests. The correlation coefficients between the Magic Lite SQ and the Phadebas RAST were as follows: 0.87 for D.p., 0.89 for D.f., 0.87 for HD1, 0.55 for HD2, 0.76 for orchard grass, 0.93 for cat dander, 0.78 for Alternaria, 0.88 for egg white, 0.75 for egg york, 0.81 for milk, 0.75 for say bean, and 0.60 for shrimp. The concordance rate of the two methods was high, except on the case of HD2. The sensitivity and specificity of Magic Lite SQ to the skin prick test was high, except on the case of HD2 and orchard grass. Dilution tests using samples from D.f. positive patients showed a good linearity and excellent quantitativeness. When mite allergen was added to D.f. positive pool serum, mite specific IgE antibody yielded an excellent inhibition curve of up to a maximum of 96%. Since the Magic Lite SQ requires only a small sample of serum and can completed the test in a short time, it is a useful and specific IgE antibody assay kit.

Child↗

PubMed1988

From Mantra to Mataráa: opacity and transparency in the language of Tobelo magic and medicine (Halmahera Island, Indonesia).

This paper presents a definition of the Tobelo concept of 'magic/medicine', and examines the role of mataráa ('magical formulae') within Tobelo magical/medical activities. The curative use of opaque, esoteric formulae is widely reported; Tobelo also have a specialized speech I call 'neo-Ternatese' used for this purpose. Several explanations for the opacity of magical formulae are examined; some apply to the Tobelo case and some do not. Examining the full range of registers in which neo-Ternatese is used, with sample texts, we find a continuum from transparent to opaque, paralleling a continuum of contexts from public to private (or esoteric), and we can identify the techniques used to produce (or increase) a text's opacity. Magical formulae, at the opaque end of that continuum, represent a secret, prestigious, and relatively liquid asset whose high value is maintained by several cultural conventions.

Humans↗

PubMed2005

The permanence of mental objects: testing magical thinking on perceived and imaginary realities.

This study tested participants' preparedness to acknowledge that an object could change as a result of magical intervention. Six- and 9-year-old children and adults treated perceived and imagined objects as being equally permanent. Adults treated a fantastic object as significantly less permanent than either perceived or imagined objects. Results were similar when a different type of mental-physical causality--a participant's own wish--was examined. Adults were also tested on the permanence of personally significant imagined objects (participants' images of their future lives). Although almost all participants claimed that they did not believe in magic, in test trials they were not prepared to rule out the possibility that their future lives could be affected by a magical curse.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Headache in magical and medical papyri of ancient Egypt.

Despite the intensity with which many scholars have studied the evolution of Egyptian medicine, interdisciplinary studies on the history of headache are scarcely extant. Following a short discussion of historiographical issues, the main objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive and detailed overview on this subject. Scattered references to headache are extracted from so-called magical papyri and from medical texts of the New Kingdom. Although little is known about the quality of headache and about accompanying symptoms, four predominant localizations are distinguished. Due to the lack of precise descriptions it is impossible to establish the retrospective diagnosis of migraine. Explanations of the origin of cephalalgia and of the corresponding therapeutic actions differ according to the nature of the source. In magical papyri, headaches are attributed to the action of demons and supernatural forces, whereas medical papyri emphasize the role of head trauma and of 'pain matter' occurring in the body. Treatment could be magical, pharmacological or surgical. Examples of incantations and prescriptions are analysed in detail.

Egypt, Ancient↗

PubMed1993

Freud, Piaget, or neither? Beliefs in controlling others by wishful thinking and magical behavior in young children.

Tests showed that 4- to 6-year-old children believe that people can be influenced or "controlled" both by thinking (e.g., both wishful thinking and magical behavior) and by realistic means (e.g., positive reinforcement, example, and group pressure). Belief in control by thinking did not vary by the subjects' sex or age, influence type (wishing or magical behavior), or target response (behavior, emotion, or thought). Quantitative measures, however, suggested that magical behavior was seen by subjects as being more efficient than wishing, and that emotion was considered easier to influence than thinking. Beliefs in control by thinking were not related to a measure of fantasy-reality differentiation (realism).

Child↗

PubMed1984

The resurrection of a magical reality: treatment of functional migraine in a child.

A magical world view and logic were used in the treatment of a 10-year-old girl who was referred because of suicidal threats due to migrainous pain. The treatment consisted of a one-session intervention with three-week, six-month, and one-year follow-up indicating elimination of migraine. Within a strategic family therapy, a magical ritual was prescribed that derived from the preoperational logic explicated by Piaget and from the healing practices described in anthropological studies. Such a ritual casts the symptom in a different context, alters the meaning of migraine to the family system, and leads to different interactional patterns. Piaget's theory and anthropological data are discussed as sources of a magical world view to help families and children disengage from a symptomatic system of interactions.

Child↗