Off-resonance magnetisation transfer contrast (MTC) MRI using fast field-cycling (FFC)

Peer reviewedPostprin

Design and construction of an actively frequency-switchable RF coil for field-dependent Magnetisation Transfer Contrast MRI with fast field-cycling

Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Peer reviewedPostprin

A Milestone in Codifying the Wisdom of Traditional Oriental Medicine: TCM, Kampo, TKM, TVM—WHO International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Medicine in the Western Pacific Region

The WHO published a dictionary-type book entitled ‘WHO International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Medicine in the Western Pacific Region’ which has a total of 3259 technical terms which have been commonly used in traditional Chinese (TCM), Japanese (Kampo), Korean (TKM) and Vietnamese (TVM) medicines. In this comprehensive guide, each term has the English expression, the original Chinese character and a concise English definition. The book covers 3106 terms from basic theories, diagnostics, diseases, various therapeutics including acupuncture and moxibustion and even the English wording of 153 titles which are considered the most important traditional medical classics published in these four countries. A prominent feature of the compilation is the codification format that assigns numbers in hundred decimal units for each category of the section. This type of coding system provides the flexibility for adding more terminologies in the future and is useful for constructing a database for the retrieval of various published scientific articles. Overall, the usage of these standard terminologies is highly desirable to deliver accurate meanings, and ultimately to avoid a variety of expressions for a single term in different scientific manuscripts on Oriental medicine

A Dog Model of Pancreaticojejunostomy Without Duct-to-Mucosa Anastomosis

Context Various anastomosis techniques have been introduced for the safe pancreaticoenterostomy. Objective In the present study, we developed an experimental animal model for simple pancreaticojejunostomy and evaluated the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of this technique. Animals Ten dogs were studied. Intervention The dogs underwent the simple approximation (“docking”) method for pancreaticojejunostomy and were re-explored on the 30th post-operative day. Main outcome measure After excision of the remnant pancreas with the jejunal segment of the pancreaticojejunostomy, the degrees of fibrosis in the remnant pancreas were analyzed according to the patency of the pancreaticojejunostomy. Results There were no mortalities and clinically significant complications. The patency of pancreaticojejunostomy remained in six cases and was obliterated in four cases. It was noted that obliterated pancreaticojejunostomy accompanied cases with more dilated pancreatic ducts (3.1±0.4 mm vs. 5.5±0.6 mm, P=0.008). The grade of pancreatic fibrosis was significantly correlated with the obliterated pancreaticojejunostomy (P=0.038) and the size change of the remnant pancreatic duct (P=0.040). Conclusions The suggested simple pancreaticojejunostomy method is easy and shows no evidence of significant pancreatic fistula. However, the potential risk of dysfunction in the remnant pancreas limits its possible clinical applications. The meticulous duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy is highly preferred to manage the remnant pancreas following pancreaticoduodenectomy

Emergence of robust 2D skyrmions in SrRuO3 ultrathin film without the capping layer

Magnetic skyrmions have fast evolved from a novelty, as a realization of topologically protected structure with particle-like character, into a promising platform for new types of magnetic storage. Significant engineering progress was achieved with the synthesis of compounds hosting room-temperature skyrmions in magnetic heterostructures, with the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI) conducive to the skyrmion formation. Here we report findings of ultrathin skyrmion formation in a few layers of SrRuO3 grown on SrTiO3 substrate without the heavy-metal capping layer. Measurement of the topological Hall effect (THE) reveals a robust stability of skyrmions in this platform, judging from the high value of the critical field 1.57 Tesla (T) at low temperature. THE survives as the field is tilted by as much as 85 degrees at 10 Kelvin, with the in-plane magnetic field reaching up to 6.5 T. Coherent Bragg Rod Analysis, or COBRA for short, on the same film proves the rumpling of the Ru-O plane to be the source of inversion symmetry breaking and DMI. First-principles calculations based on the structure obtained from COBRA find significant magnetic anisotropy in the SrRuO3 film to be the main source of skyrmion robustness. These features promise a few-layer SRO to be an important new platform for skyrmionics, without the necessity of introducing the capping layer to boost the spin-orbit coupling strength artificially.Comment: Supplementary Information available upon reques

Emergence of robust 2D skyrmions in SrRuO3 ultrathin film without the capping layer

Magnetic skyrmions have fast evolved from a novelty, as a realization of topologically protected structure with particle-like character, into a promising platform for new types of magnetic storage. Significant engineering progress was achieved with the synthesis of compounds hosting room-temperature skyrmions in magnetic heterostructures, with the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI) conducive to the skyrmion formation. Here we report findings of ultrathin skyrmion formation in a few layers of SrRuO3 grown on SrTiO3 substrate without the heavy-metal capping layer. Measurement of the topological Hall effect (THE) reveals a robust stability of skyrmions in this platform, judging from the high value of the critical field 1.57 Tesla (T) at low temperature. THE survives as the field is tilted by as much as 85 degrees at 10 Kelvin, with the in-plane magnetic field reaching up to 6.5 T. Coherent Bragg Rod Analysis, or COBRA for short, on the same film proves the rumpling of the Ru-O plane to be the source of inversion symmetry breaking and DMI. First-principles calculations based on the structure obtained from COBRA find significant magnetic anisotropy in the SrRuO3 film to be the main source of skyrmion robustness. These features promise a few-layer SRO to be an important new platform for skyrmionics, without the necessity of introducing the capping layer to boost the spin-orbit coupling strength artificially.Comment: Supplementary Information available upon reques