155 research outputs found
Transverse NMR relaxation as a probe of mesoscopic structure
Transverse NMR relaxation in a macroscopic sample is shown to be extremely
sensitive to the structure of mesoscopic magnetic susceptibility variations.
Such a sensitivity is proposed as a novel kind of contrast in the NMR
measurements. For suspensions of arbitrary shaped paramagnetic objects, the
transverse relaxation is found in the case of a small dephasing effect of an
individual object. Strong relaxation rate dependence on the objects' shape
agrees with experiments on whole blood. Demonstrated structure sensitivity is a
generic effect that arises in NMR relaxation in porous media, biological
systems, as well as in kinetics of diffusion limited reactions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Fatty liver in familial hypobetalipoproteinemia: Triglyceride assembly into VLDL particles is affected by the extent of hepatic steatosis
Familial hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL) subjects may develop fatty liver. Liver fat was assessed in 21 FHBL with six different apolipoprotein B (apoB) truncations (apoB-4 to apoB-89) and 14 controls by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Liver fat percentages were 16.7 ± 11.5 and 3.3 ± 2.9 (mean ± SD) (P = 0.001). Liver fat percentage was positively correlated with body mass index, waist circumference, and areas under the insulin curves of 2 h glucose tolerance tests, suggesting that obesity may affect the severity of liver fat accumulation in both groups. Despite 5-fold differences in liver fat percentage, mean values for obesity and insulin indexes were similar. Thus, for similar degrees of obesity, FHBL subjects have more hepatic fat. VLDL-triglyceride (TG)-fatty acids arise from plasma and nonplasma sources (liver and splanchnic tissues). To assess the relative contributions of each, [2H2] palmitate was infused over 12 h in 13 FHBL subjects and 11 controls. Isotopic enrichment of plasma free palmitate and VLDL-TG-palmitate was determined by mass spectrometry. Nonplasma sources contributed 51 ± 15% in FHBL and 37 ± 13% in controls (P = 0.02). Correlations of liver fat percentage and percent VLDL-TG-palmitate from liver were r = 0.89 (P = 0.0001) for FHBL subjects and r = 0.69 (P = 0.01) for controls. Thus, apoB truncation-producing mutations result in fatty liver and in altered assembly of VLDL-TG
Modeling the R2* relaxivity of blood at 1.5 Tesla
BOLD (Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent) imaging is used in fMRI to show differences in activation of the brain based on the relative changes of the T2* (= 1/R2*) signal of the blood. However, quantification of blood oxygenation level based on the T2* signal has been hindered by the lack of a predictive model which accurately correlates the T2* signal to the oxygenation level of blood. The T2* signal decay in BOLD imaging is generated due to blood containing paramagnetic deoxyhemoglobin (in comparison to diamagnetic oxyhemoglobin). This generates local field inhomogeneities, which cause protons to experience different phase shifts, leading to dephasing and the MR signal decay. The blood T2* signal has been shown to decay with a complex behavior1, termed Non-Lorenztian, and thus is not adequately described by the traditional model of simplemono-exponential decay. Theoretical calculations show that diffusion narrowing substantially affects signal loss in our data. Over the past decade, several theoretical models have been proposed to describe this Non-Lorenztian behavior in the blood T2* signal in BOLD fMRI imaging. The goal of this project was to investigate different models which have been proposed over the years and determine a semi-phenomenological model for the T2* behaviorusing actual MR blood data
Magnetic properties of quantum Heisenberg ferromagnets with long-range interactions
Quantum Heisenberg ferromagnets with long-range interactions decayin as
in one and two dimensions are investigated by means of the Green's
function method. It is shown that there exists a finite-temperature phase
transition in the region for the -dimensional case and that no
transitions at any finite temperature exist for ; the critical
temperature is also estimated. We study the magnetic properties of this model.
We calculate the critical exponents' dependence on ; these exponents also
satisfy a scaling relation. Some of the results were also found using the
modified spin-wave theory and are in remarkable agreement with each other.Comment: 13 pages(LaTeX REVTeX), 2 figures not included (postscript files
available on request), submitted to Phys.Rev.
Adenosine-regulated mechanisms in the pathogenesis of ventilation disorders in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis
Uncovering involvement of the purinergic system in the pathogenesis of ventilation disorders (VD) may provide additional information about the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to the development of VD in pulmonary tuberculosis (PT). The aim was to identify a relationship between the parameters of adenosine metabolism, inflammatory response and altered ventilation metabolism in PT patients. Materials and methods. Obstructive and mixed PT patients were assigned to subgroups with/without VD for assessing adenosine deaminase activity (ADA-1, 2) in serum, mononuclear cells, neutrophils; ecto-5’-nucleotidase (ecto-5’-NT); CD26 (dipeptidyl peptidase-4, DPP-4), phagocyte oxidative burst measured by NO generation. Results. PT patients showed decreased ADA-1 and CD26 (DPP-4), but increased ADA-2. Elevated intracellular adenosine concentration was found in mononuclear cells in patients lacking VD, whereas patients with mixed and obstructive VD — had it in neutrophils. Mononuclear cells of patients with PT lacking VD as well as with obstructive VD type had decreased NO3– concentration. Neutrophil hyperactivity was recorded in all groups of PT patients. Patients with PT lacking VD as well as with mixed VD type showed that the parameters of external respiration were associated with activity of extra-/intracellular ADA, whereas obstructive VD was caused by excessive formation of serum adenosine. Changes in respiratory function in PT were associated with decreased level of serum NO radicals, impaired nitrogen-dependent bactericidal phagocyte activity, and overproduced neutrophil oxygen radicals. Conclusion. Purinergic regulation is involved in regulating inflammatory and compensatory processes in PT patients as well as impaired ventilation efficiency. The most severe respiratory disorders observed in PT patients with mixed VD type are associated with the most prominent changes in nucleotidase activity, particularly ecto-ADA-2 and DPP-4/CD26
'Theory for the enhanced induced magnetization in coupled magnetic trilayers in the presence of spin fluctuations'
Motivated by recent experiments, the effect of the interlayer exchange
interaction on the magnetic properties of coupled Co/Cu/Ni
trilayers is studied theoretically. Here the Ni film has a lower Curie
temperature than the Co film in case of decoupled layers. We
show that by taking into account magnetic fluctuations the interlayer coupling
induces a strong magnetization for T\gtsim T_{C,\rm Ni} in the Ni film. For
an increasing the resonance-like peak of the longitudinal Ni
susceptibility is shifted to larger temperatures, whereas its maximum value
decreases strongly. A decreasing Ni film thickness enhances the induced Ni
magnetization for T\gtsim T_{C,\rm Ni}. The measurements cannot be explained
properly by a mean field estimate, which yields a ten times smaller effect.
Thus, the observed magnetic properties indicate the strong effect of 2D
magnetic fluctuations in these layered magnetic systems. The calculations are
performed with the help of a Heisenberg Hamiltonian and a Green's function
approach.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Anisotropic susceptibility of ferromagnetic ultrathin Co films on vicinal Cu
We measure the magnetic susceptibility of ultrathin Co films with an in-plane
uniaxial magnetic anisotropy grown on a vicinal Cu substrate. Above the Curie
temperature the influence of the magnetic anisotropy can be investigated by
means of the parallel and transverse susceptibilities along the easy and hard
axes. By comparison with a theoretical analysis of the susceptibilities we
determine the isotropic exchange interaction and the magnetic anisotropy. These
calculations are performed in the framework of a Heisenberg model by means of a
many-body Green's function method, since collective magnetic excitations are
very important in two-dimensional magnets.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
NITRIC OXIDE – BIOCHEMICAL MARKER OF TUBERCULOSIS PATHOGENESIS
Role of nitric oxide in the pathogenesis of pulmonary tuberculosis has been studied in 77 patients with new infiltrate pulmonary tuberculosis and 34 patients with fibrous cavernous pulmonary tuberculosis. The level of cumulative and endogenous nitrite depended on the clinical form of tuberculosis: in infiltrate pulmonary tuberculosis patients it was within the limits of reference ranges, and in fibrous cavernous pulmonary tuberculosis patients it was significantly lower. Results of statistical analysis point out at the significant homogeneity (monofunctionality) of the set of rates, defining the level of NO metabolites in blood serum in infiltrate pulmonary tuberculosis, namely: impact of adenosine deaminase, levels of α1-protease inhibitor, ceruleoplasmin and age. On the contrary in case of fibrous cavernous pulmonary tuberculosis the diverse (multi-functional) complexes were detected including clinical blood rates providing influence on the reduction of NO level in blood. Nitric oxide in the patients with both clinical forms of tuberculosis correlated with classical markers of system inflammatory response, thus nitric oxide can be regarded as an integral component of inflammatory response with potential evaluation of prognosis of specific lesions during follow-up of changes
Field strength dependence of grey matter R2* on venous oxygenation
The relationship between venous blood oxygenation and change in transverse relaxation rate (ΔR2 *) plays a key role in calibrated BOLD fMRI. This relationship, defined by the parameter β, has previously been determined using theoretical simulations and experimental measures. However, these earlier studies have been confounded by the change in venous cerebral blood volume (CBV) in response to functional tasks. This study used a double-echo gradient echo EPI scheme in conjunction with a graded isocapnic hyperoxic sequence to assess quantitatively the relationship between the fractional venous blood oxygenation (1-Yv) and transverse relaxation rate of grey matter (ΔR2 * GM), without inducing a change in vCBV.
The results demonstrate that the relationship between ΔR2 * and fractional venous oxygenation at all magnet field strengths studied was adequately described by a linear relationship. The gradient of this relationship did not increase monotonically with field strength, which may be attributed to the relative contributions of intravascular and extravascular signals which will vary with both field strength and blood oxygenation
- …