532 research outputs found

    Collective and independent-particle motion in two-electron artificial atoms

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    Investigations of the exactly solvable excitation spectra of two-electron quantum dots with a parabolic confinement, for different values of the parameter R_W expressing the relative magnitudes of the interelectron repulsion and the zero-point kinetic energy of the confined electrons, reveal for large R_W a remarkably well-developed ro-vibrational spectrum associated with formation of a linear trimeric rigid molecule composed of the two electrons and the infinitely heavy confining dot. This spectrum transforms to one characteristic of a "floppy" molecule for smaller values of R_W. The conditional probability distribution calculated for the exact two-electron wave functions allows for the identification of the ro-vibrational excitations as rotations and stretching/bending vibrations, and provides direct evidence pertaining to the formation of such molecules.Comment: Published version. Latex/Revtex, 5 pages with 2 postscript figures embedded in the text. For related papers, see http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~ph274c

    Automated detection of left ventricle in arterial input function images for inline perfusion mapping using deep learning: A study of 15,000 patients

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    Purpose: Quantification of myocardial perfusion has the potential to improve the detection of regional and global flow reduction. Significant effort has been made to automate the workflow, where one essential step is the arterial input function (AIF) extraction. Failure to accurately identify the left ventricle (LV) prevents AIF estimation required for quantification, therefore high detection accuracy is required. This study presents a robust LV detection method using the convolutional neural network (CNN). Methods: CNN models were trained by assembling 25,027 scans (N = 12,984 patients) from three hospitals, seven scanners. Performance was evaluated using a hold‐out test set of 5721 scans (N = 2805 patients). Model inputs were a time series of AIF images (2D+T). Two variations were investigated: (1) two classes (2CS) for background and foreground (LV mask), and (2) three classes (3CS) for background, LV, and RV. The final model was deployed on MRI scanners using the Gadgetron reconstruction software framework. Results: Model loading on the MRI scanner took ~340 ms and applying the model took ~180 ms. The 3CS model successfully detected the LV in 99.98% of all test cases (1 failure out of 5721). The mean Dice ratio for 3CS was 0.87 ± 0.08 with 92.0% of all cases having Dice >0.75. The 2CS model gave a lower Dice ratio of 0.82 ± 0.22 (P .2) comparing automatically extracted AIF signals with signals from manually drawn contours. Conclusions: A CNN‐based solution to detect the LV blood pool from the arterial input function image series was developed, validated, and deployed. A high LV detection accuracy of 99.98% was achieved

    Increased Myocardial Extracellular Volume in Active Idiopathic Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome

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    BACKGROUND: The Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome (SCLS) is a rare disorder of unknown etiology presenting as recurrent episodes of shock and peripheral edema due to leakage of fluid into soft tissues. Insights into SCLS pathogenesis are few due to the scarcity of cases, and the etiology of vascular barrier disruption in SCLS is unknown. Recent advances in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) allow for the quantitative assessment of the myocardial extracellular volume (ECV), which can be increased in conditions causing myocardial edema. We hypothesized that measurement of myocardial ECV may detect myocardial vascular leak in patients with SCLS. METHODS: Fifty-six subjects underwent a standard CMR examination at the NIH Clinical Center from 2009 until 2014: 20 patients with acute intermittent SCLS, six subjects with chronic SCLS, and 30 unaffected controls. Standard volumetric measurements; late gadolinium enhancement imaging and pre- and post-contrast T1 mapping were performed. ECV was calculated by calibration of pre- and post-contrast T1 values with blood hematocrit. RESULTS: Demographics and cardiac parameters were similar in both groups. There was no significant valvular disorder in either group. Subjects with chronic SCLS had higher pre-contrast myocardial T1 compared to healthy controls (T1: 1027 ± 44 v. 971 ± 41, respectively; p = 0.03) and higher myocardial ECV than patients with acute intermittent SCLS or controls: 33.8 ± 4.6, 26.9 ± 2.6, 26 ± 2.4, respectively; p = 0.007 v. acute intermittent; P = 0.0005 v. controls). When patients with chronic disease were analyzed together with five patients with acute intermittent disease who had just experienced an acute SCLS flare, ECV values were significantly higher than in subjects with acute intermittent SCLS in remission or age-matched controls and (31.2 ± 4.6 %, 26.5 ± 2.7 %, 26 ± 2.4 %, respectively; p = 0.01 v. remission, p = 0.001 v. controls). By contrast, T1 values did not distinguish these three subgroups (1008 ± 40, 978 ± 40, 971 ± 41, respectively, p = 0.2, active v. remission; p = 0.06 active v. controls). Abundant myocardial edema without evidence of acute inflammation was detected in cardiac tissue postmortem in one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with active SCLS have significantly higher myocardial ECV than age-matched controls or SCLS patients in remission, which correlated with histopathological findings in one patient
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