1,520 research outputs found
Transcranial Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Focused Ultrasound Treatment at 1.5 T: A Retrospective Study on Treatment- and Patient-Related Parameters Obtained From 52 Procedures
Objective: To present a retrospective analysis of patient- and sonication-related parameters of a group of patients treated with a transcranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound (tcMRgFUS) system integrated with a 1.5-T MRI unit. Methods: The data obtained from 59 patients, who underwent the tcMRgFUS procedure from January 2015 to April 2019, were retrospectively reviewed for this study. The following data, among others, were mainly collected: skull density ratio (SDR), skull area (SA), number of available transducer elements (Tx), and estimated focal power at target (FP). For each of the four different treatment stages, we calculated the number of sonication processes (S-n), user-defined sonication power (S-p), effective measured power (S-mp), sonication duration (S-d), user-defined energy (E), effective measured energy (E-m), maximum temperature (T-max), and MR thermometry plane orientation. Furthermore, the time delay between each sonication (S-t) and the total treatment time (T-t) were recorded. Results: Fifty-two patients (40 males and 12 females; age 64.51 +/- SD 11.90 years; range 26-86 years), who underwent unilateral Vim thalamotomy (left = 50, 96.15%; right = 2, 3.85%) for medication-refractory essential tremor (n = 39; 78%) or Parkinson tremor (n = 13; 22%) were considered. A total of 1,068 (95.10%) sonication processes were included in our final analysis (average S-n per treatment: 20.65 +/- 6.18; range 13-41). The energy released onto the planned target was found to decrease with the SDR for all temperature ranges. A positive correlation was observed between the slope of T-max vs. E-m plot and the SDR (R-2 = 0.765; p < 0.001). In addition, the T-max was positively correlated with SDR (R-2 = 0.398; p < 0.005). On the contrary, no significant correlation was found between SDR and SA or Tx. An analysis of the MR thermometry scanning plane indicated that, at our site, the axial and the coronal planes were used (on average) 10.4 (SD +/- 3.8) and 7.7 (SD +/- 3.0) times, respectively, whereas the sagittal plane was used only 2.5 (SD +/- 3.0) times per treatment. Conclusion: Our results confirm the factors that significantly influence the course of a tcMRgFUS procedure even when a 1.5-T MRI scanner is used for procedure guidance. The experience we gained in this study indicates that the SDR remains one of the most significant technical parameters to be considered in a tcMRgFUS procedure. The possibility of prospectively setting the sonication energy according to the presented curves of energy delivery as a function of SDR for each treatment stage could provide a further understanding and a greater awareness of this emerging technology
High-Resolution Spectroscopy of FUors
High-resolution spectroscopy was obtained of the FUors FU Ori and V1057 Cyg
between 1995 and 2002 with SOFIN at NOT and with HIRES at Keck I. During those
years FU Ori remained about 1 mag. (in B) below its 1938-39 maximum brightness,
but V1057 Cyg (B ~ 10.5 at peak in 1970-71) faded from about 13.5 to 14.9 and
then recovered slightly. Their photospheric spectra resemble a rotating G0 Ib
supergiant, with v_eq sin i = 70 km/s for FU Ori and 55 km/s for V1057 Cyg. As
V1057 Cyg faded, P Cyg structure in Halpha and the IR CaII lines strengthened
and a complex shortward-displaced shell spectrum increased in strength,
disappeared in 1999, and reappeared in 2001. Night-to-night changes in the wind
structure of FU Ori show evidence of sporadic infall. The strength of P Cyg
absorption varied cyclically with a period of 14.8 days, with phase stability
maintained over 3 seasons, and is believed to be the rotation period. The
structure of the photospheric lines also varies cyclically, but with a period
of 3.54 days. A similar variation may be present in V1057 Cyg. As V1057 Cyg has
faded, the emission lines of a pre-existing low-excitation chromosphere have
emerged, so we believe the `line doubling' in V1057 Cyg is produced by these
central emission cores in the absorption lines, not by orbital motion in an
inclined Keplerian disk. No dependence of v_eq sin i on wavelength or
excitation potential was detected in either star, again contrary to expectation
for a self-luminous accretion disk. Nor are critical lines in the near infrared
accounted for by synthetic disk spectra. A rapidly rotating star near the edge
of stability (Larson 1980), can better explain these observations. FUor
eruptions may not be a property of ordinary TTS, but may be confined to a
special subspecies of rapid rotators having powerful quasi-permanent winds.Comment: 41 pages (including 32 figures and 9 tables); ApJ, in press; author
affiliation, figs. 3 and 9 correcte
Dispersion enhancement and damping by buoyancy driven flows in 2D networks of capillaries
The influence of a small relative density difference on the displacement of
two miscible liquids is studied experimentally in transparent 2D networks of
micro channels. Both stable displacements in which the denser fluid enters at
the bottom of the cell and displaces the lighter one and unstable displacements
in which the lighter fluid is injected at the bottom and displaces the denser
one are realized. Except at the lowest mean flow velocity U, the average
of the relative concentration satisfies a convection-dispersion
equation. The dispersion coefficient is studied as function of the relative
magnitude of fluid velocity and of the velocity of buoyancy driven fluid
motion. A model is suggested and its applicability to previous results obtained
in 3D media is discussed
Transitions between care settings after enrolment in a palliative care service in Italy: a retrospective analysis
This study was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data that aimed to map patients' care transitions following admission to a specialist palliative care service in Italy called Antea Centre. Patients' data was extracted from the Antea local database from 2007 to 2011. External transitions were defined as a change in the setting of care, with the patient no longer being cared for by Antea staff. Internal transitions were defined as a change in the setting of care, with the care still being provided by Antea staff. A total of 1123 patients out of 5313 admitted to the palliative service (21%) experienced transitions. Patients who experienced no transitions after their admission to the palliative care service were more likely to have a Karnofsky Performance Scale Index <30, to have been referred by a hospital physician, to have a shorter survival time, and to have home as their place of death (P<0.001). Although the patients with no transitions had worse clinical conditions, organisations should pay attention to reducing the possible negative effects of transitions, such as discontinuity of care and poor coordination
Measurements of polarized photo-pion production on longitudinally polarized HD and Implications for Convergence of the GDH Integral
We report new measurements of inclusive pion production from frozen-spin HD
for polarized photon beams covering the Delta(1232) resonance. These provide
data simultaneously on both H and D with nearly complete angular distributions
of the spin-difference cross sections entering the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn (GDH)
sum rule. Recent results from Mainz and Bonn exceed the GDH prediction for the
proton by 22 microbarns, suggesting as yet unmeasured high-energy components.
Our pi0 data reveal a different angular dependence than assumed in Mainz
analyses and integrate to a value that is 18 microbarns lower, suggesting a
more rapid convergence. Our results for deuterium are somewhat lower than
published data, considerably more precise and generally lower than available
calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Submitted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
The creation of large photon-number path entanglement conditioned on photodetection
Large photon-number path entanglement is an important resource for enhanced
precision measurements and quantum imaging. We present a general constructive
protocol to create any large photon number path-entangled state based on the
conditional detection of single photons. The influence of imperfect detectors
is considered and an asymptotic scaling law is derived.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Highlights of DAMA/LIBRA
The DAMA project develops and uses new improved low background scintillation detectors to investigate the Dark Matter (DM) particle component(s) in the galactic halo and rare processes deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS)
of the I.N.F.N.. Here some highlights of DAMA/LIBRA (Large sodium Iodide Bulk for Rare processes) as a unique apparatus in direct DM investigation for its full sensitive mass, target material, intrinsic radio-purity, methodological approach and all the controls
performed on the experimental parameters are outlined. The DAMA/LIBRAâphase1 and the former DAMA/NaI data
(cumulative exposure 1.33 ton Ă yr, corresponding to 14 annual cycles)have reached a model-independent evidence at 9.3 Ï
C.L. for the presence of DM particles in the galactic halo exploiting the DM annual modulation signature
with highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) target. Some of the perspectives of the presently running DAMA/LIBRAâphase2 are summarised and the powerful tools offered by a model independent strategy of DM investigation are pointed out
LBP and irregular graph pyramids
In this paper, a new codification of Local Binary Patterns (LBP) is given using graph pyramids. The LBP code characterizes the topological category (local max, min, slope, saddle) of the gray level landscape around the center region. Given a 2D grayscale image I, our goal is to obtain a simplified image which can be seen as âminimalâ representation in terms of topological characterization of I. For this, a method is developed based on merging regions and Minimum Contrast Algorithm
Recent developments in planet migration theory
Planetary migration is the process by which a forming planet undergoes a
drift of its semi-major axis caused by the tidal interaction with its parent
protoplanetary disc. One of the key quantities to assess the migration of
embedded planets is the tidal torque between the disc and planet, which has two
components: the Lindblad torque and the corotation torque. We review the latest
results on both torque components for planets on circular orbits, with a
special emphasis on the various processes that give rise to additional, large
components of the corotation torque, and those contributing to the saturation
of this torque. These additional components of the corotation torque could help
address the shortcomings that have recently been exposed by models of planet
population syntheses. We also review recent results concerning the migration of
giant planets that carve gaps in the disc (type II migration) and the migration
of sub-giant planets that open partial gaps in massive discs (type III
migration).Comment: 52 pages, 18 figures. Review article to be published in "Tidal
effects in Astronomy and Astrophysics", Lecture Notes in Physic
Long-Term evolution of Discs around Magnetic Stars
We investigate the evolution of a thin viscous disc surrounding magnetic
star, including the spindown of the star by the magnetic torques it exerts on
the disc. The transition from an accreting to a non-accreting state, and the
change of the magnetic torque across the corotation radius are included in a
generic way, the widths of the transition taken in the range suggested by
numerical simulations. In addition to the standard accreting state, two more
are found. An accreting state can develop into a 'dead' disc state, with inner
edge well outside corotation. More often, a 'trapped' state develops, in which
the inner disc edge stays close to corotation even at very low accretion rates.
The long-term evolution of these two states is different. In the dead state the
star spins down incompletely, retaining much of its initial spin. In the
trapped state the star asymptotically can spin down to arbitarily low rates,
its angular momentum transferred to the disc. We identify these outcomes with
respectively the rapidly rotating and the very slowly rotating classes of Ap
stars and magnetic white dwarfs.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. Accepted by MNRA
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