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PubMedDate not supplied

Interventional MRI at high-field (1.5 T): needle artifacts.

A better understanding of the appearance of a biopsy needle as well as its interaction with various sequence parameters in MRI is beneficial for its application in interventional MRI. As an extension of previous researchers' contributions, we investigate the specific characteristics of MR image artifacts associated with the tip of a biopsy needle when it is approximately parallel to the main magnetic field. The origin of the needle tip artifact, which exhibits as a blooming ball, was studied using MRI techniques and numerical simulation using the finite element method (FEM). Satisfactory agreement between theory and experiment has been achieved. Results showed that the image artifacts associated with biopsy needle are present and dependent on imaging parameters, but the artifacts can be reduced if optimal imaging parameters were used. Images of actual human brain tumor biopsies performed using the same needle under MRI guidance and monitoring demonstrated this artifact.

Artifacts↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Determination of isoxsuprine hydrochloride by sequential injection visible spectrophotometry.

An automated sequential injection (SI) spectrophotometric method for the determination of isoxsuprine hydrochloride is described. The method is based on the condensation of aminoantipyrine with phenols (isoxsuprine hydrochloride) in the presence of an alkaline oxidizing agent (potassium hexacyanoferrate) to yield a pink colored product, the absorbance of which is monitored at 507 nm. Chemical as well as physical SI parameters that affect the signal response have been optimized in order to get better sensitivity, higher sampling rate and better reagent economy. Using the optimized aforesaid parameters, a linear relationship between the relative peak height and concentration was obtained in the range 1-60 mg l-1. The detection limit (as 3sigma value) was 0.3 mg l-1 and precision was 1.4% and 1.6% at 5 and 10 mg l-1, respectively. As compared to previous reports, wide linear range, low detection limit, and highly economical reagent consumption are the advantages of this automated method.

Ampyrone↗
PubMed2005

Comparison of physiological noise at 1.5 T, 3 T and 7 T and optimization of fMRI acquisition parameters.

Previous studies have shown that under some conditions, noise fluctuations in an fMRI time-course are dominated by physiological modulations of the image intensity with secondary contributions from thermal image noise and that these two sources scale differently with signal intensity, susceptibility weighting (TE) and field strength. The SNR of the fMRI time-course was found to be near its asymptotic limit for moderate spatial resolution measurements at 3 T with only marginal gains expected from acquisition at higher field strengths. In this study, we investigate the amplitude of image intensity fluctuations in the fMRI time-course at magnetic field strengths of 1.5 T, 3 T, and 7 T as a function of image resolution, flip angle and TE. The time-course SNR was a similar function of the image SNR regardless of whether the image SNR was modulated by flip angle, image resolution, or field strength. For spatial resolutions typical of those currently used in fMRI (e.g., 3 x 3 x 3 mm(3)), increases in image SNR obtained from 7 T acquisition produced only modest increases in time-course SNR. At this spatial resolution, the ratio of physiological noise to thermal image noise was 0.61, 0.89, and 2.23 for 1.5 T, 3 T, and 7 T. At a resolution of 1 x 1 x 3 mm(3), however, the physiological to thermal noise ratio was 0.34, 0.57, and 0.91 for 1.5 T, 3 T and 7 T for TE near T2*. Thus, by reducing the signal strength using higher image resolution, the ratio of physiologic to image noise could be reduced to a regime where increased sensitivity afforded by higher field strength still translated to improved SNR in the fMRI time-series.

Electromagnetic Fields↗
PubMed2005

Degradation of industrial waste waters on Fe/C-fabrics. Optimization of the solution parameters during reactor operation.

This study addresses the pre-treatment of toxic and recalcitrant compounds found in the waste waters arriving at a treating station for industrial effluents containing chlorinated aromatics and non-aromatic compounds, anilines, phenols, methyl-tert-butyl-ether (MTBE). By reducing the total organic carbon (TOC) of these waste waters the hydraulic load for the further bacterial processing in the secondary biological treatment is decreased. The TOC decrease and discoloration of the waste waters was observed only under light irradiation in the reactor by immobilized Fenton processes on Fe/C-fabrics but not in the dark. The energy of activation for the degradation of the waste waters was of 4.2 kcal/mol. The degradation of the waste waters was studied in the reactor as a function of (a) the amount of oxidant used (H2O2), (b) the recirculation rate, (c) the solution pH and (d) the applied temperature. With these parameters taken as input factors, statistical modeling allows one to estimate the most economic use of the oxidant and electrical energy to degrade these waste waters. The concentration of the most abundant organic pollutants during waste waters degradation was followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The ratio of the biological oxygen demand to the total organic carbon BOD5/TOC increased significantly due to the Fe/C-fabric catalyzed treatment from an initial value of 2.03 to 2.71 (2 h). The reactor results show that the recirculation rate has no influence on the TOC decrease of the treated waters but affects the BOD increase of these solutions.

Aniline Compounds↗
PubMed1995

Effect of magnetic field strength on the linewidth and spin-lattice relaxation time of the thiocyanate carbon of cyanylated beta-lactoglobulin B: optimization of the experimental parameters for observing thiocyanate carbons in proteins.

The linewidths and spin-lattice relaxation times of the 13C-n.m.r. signal at 109.7 p.p.m. due to the thiocyanate carbon of intact [cyanato-13C]cyanylated-beta-lactoglobulin-B have been determined at magnetic field strengths of 1.88, 6.34 and 11.74 T as well as the spin-lattice relaxation times of its backbone alpha-carbon atoms. The linewidths were directly proportional to the square of the magnetic field strength and we conclude that, at magnetic field strengths of 6.34 T or above, more than 70% of the linewidth will be determined by chemical-shift anisotropy. We estimate that the spin-lattice relaxation time resulting from the chemical-shift anisotropy of the thiocyanate carbon is 1.52 +/- 0.1 s and we conclude that for magnetic field strengths of 6.34 T and above the observed spin-lattice relaxation time of the thiocyanate carbon will be essentially independent of magnetic field strength. Using the rigid-rotor model we obtain estimates of the rotational correlation time of [cyanato-13C]cyanylated-beta-lactoglobulin-B and of the chemical-shift anisotropy shielding tensor of its thiocyanate carbon. We have calculated the linewidths and spin-lattice relaxation times of thiocyanate carbons at magnetic field strengths of 1.88-14.1 T in proteins with M(r) values in the range 10,000-400,000. The effects of magnetic field strength on the resolution and signal-to-noise ratios of the signals due to thiocyanate carbons attached to proteins of M(r) greater than 10,000 are discussed.

Carbon↗
PubMed2005

Automated curved planar reformation of 3D spine images.

Traditional techniques for visualizing anatomical structures are based on planar cross-sections from volume images, such as images obtained by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, planar cross-sections taken in the coordinate system of the 3D image often do not provide sufficient or qualitative enough diagnostic information, because planar cross-sections cannot follow curved anatomical structures (e.g. arteries, colon, spine, etc). Therefore, not all of the important details can be shown simultaneously in any planar cross-section. To overcome this problem, reformatted images in the coordinate system of the inspected structure must be created. This operation is usually referred to as curved planar reformation (CPR). In this paper we propose an automated method for CPR of 3D spine images, which is based on the image transformation from the standard image-based to a novel spine-based coordinate system. The axes of the proposed spine-based coordinate system are determined on the curve that represents the vertebral column, and the rotation of the vertebrae around the spine curve, both of which are described by polynomial models. The optimal polynomial parameters are obtained in an image analysis based optimization framework. The proposed method was qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated on five CT spine images. The method performed well on both normal and pathological cases and was consistent with manually obtained ground truth data. The proposed spine-based CPR benefits from reduced structural complexity in favour of improved feature perception of the spine. The reformatted images are diagnostically valuable and enable easier navigation, manipulation and orientation in 3D space. Moreover, reformatted images may prove useful for segmentation and other image analysis tasks.

Humans↗
PubMed2000

Modeling evolution at the protein level using an adjustable amino acid fitness model.

An adjustable fitness model for amino acid site substitutions is investigated. This model, a generalization of previously developed evolutionary models, has several distinguishing characteristics: it separately accounts for the processes of mutation and substitution, allows for heterogeneity among substitution rates and among evolutionary constraints, and does not make any prior assumptions about which sites or characteristics of proteins are important to molecular evolution. While the model has fewer adjustable parameters than the general reversible mtREV model, when optimized it outperforms mtREV in likelihood analysis on protein-coding mitochondrial genes. In addition, the optimized fitness parameters of the model show correspondence to some biophysical characteristics of amino acids.

Amino Acid Substitution↗
PubMed2001

Strategies in the preparation of DNA oligonucleotide arrays for diagnostic applications.

This report emphasizes the interfacial chemistry that is required to ensure proper attachment of oligonucleotides onto the surface of microarrays. For example, strategies for the covalent attachment of pre-synthesized oligonucleotides to glass slides, gold films, polyacrylamide gel pads, polypyrrole films, and optical fibers are surveyed in an attempt to better define the parameters for optimal formation and detection of DNA hybrids. These parameters include among others, the nature and length of the linkers attaching oligonucleotides to the arrays, and the surface density of oligonucleotides required for unhindered hybridization with DNA targets. Sensitive detection methods such as the use of light-scattering techniques, molecular beacons, surface plasmon resonance, attenuated total internal reflection-FTIR, and the evanescent field excitation of fluorescence from surface-bound fluorophores have been developed to study the kinetics and specificity of hybridization events. Finally, the synthesis of oligonucleotides directly on glass surfaces and polypropylene sheets has been investigated to enable DNA sequencing by hybridization and achieve oligonucleotide densities of ca. 10(6) sequences per cm(2) on DNA chips.

DNA Probes↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Optimal correlations of design parameters and metrological characteristics of piston spirometers].

Sensitivity parameters, the threshold of response and shift pressure for "rolling-seal" spirometers reach the optimum according to the criterion for minimizing the weight of its moving parts. As the result of this, essential reserves of the design can be used, which permits one to substantially improve the methodological and metrological conditions of lung functional tests.

Equipment Design↗