Transfer Matrices and Partition-Function Zeros for Antiferromagnetic Potts Models. V. Further Results for the Square-Lattice Chromatic Polynomial

We derive some new structural results for the transfer matrix of square-lattice Potts models with free and cylindrical boundary conditions. In particular, we obtain explicit closed-form expressions for the dominant (at large |q|) diagonal entry in the transfer matrix, for arbitrary widths m, as the solution of a special one-dimensional polymer model. We also obtain the large-q expansion of the bulk and surface (resp. corner) free energies for the zero-temperature antiferromagnet (= chromatic polynomial) through order q^{-47} (resp. q^{-46}). Finally, we compute chromatic roots for strips of widths 9 <= m <= 12 with free boundary conditions and locate roughly the limiting curves.Comment: 111 pages (LaTeX2e). Includes tex file, three sty files, and 19 Postscript figures. Also included are Mathematica files data_CYL.m and data_FREE.m. Many changes from version 1: new material on series expansions and their analysis, and several proofs of previously conjectured results. Final version to be published in J. Stat. Phy

Electroexcitation of the Δ+(1232)\Delta^{+}(1232) at low momentum transfer

We report on new p$(e,e^\prime p)\pi^\circ$ measurements at the $\Delta^{+}(1232)$ resonance at the low momentum transfer region. The mesonic cloud dynamics is predicted to be dominant and rapidly changing in this kinematic region offering a test bed for chiral effective field theory calculations. The new data explore the low $Q^2$ dependence of the resonant quadrupole amplitudes while extending the measurements of the Coulomb quadrupole amplitude to the lowest momentum transfer ever reached. The results disagree with predictions of constituent quark models and are in reasonable agreement with dynamical calculations that include pion cloud effects, chiral effective field theory and lattice calculations. The reported measurements suggest that improvement is required to the theoretical calculations and provide valuable input that will allow their refinements

High Precision Measurement of the Proton Elastic Form Factor Ratio μpGE/GM\mu_pG_E/G_M at low Q2Q^2

We report a new, high-precision measurement of the proton elastic form factor ratio \mu_p G_E/G_M for the four-momentum transfer squared Q^2 = 0.3-0.7 (GeV/c)^2. The measurement was performed at Jefferson Lab (JLab) in Hall A using recoil polarimetry. With a total uncertainty of approximately 1%, the new data clearly show that the deviation of the ratio \mu_p G_E/G_M from unity observed in previous polarization measurements at high Q^2 continues down to the lowest Q^2 value of this measurement. The updated global fit that includes the new results yields an electric (magnetic) form factor roughly 2% smaller (1% larger) than the previous global fit in this Q^2 range. We obtain new extractions of the proton electric and magnetic radii, which are ^(1/2)=0.875+/-0.010 fm and ^(1/2)=0.867+/-0.020 fm. The charge radius is consistent with other recent extractions based on the electron-proton interaction, including the atomic hydrogen Lamb shift measurements, which suggests a missing correction in the comparison of measurements of the proton charge radius using electron probes and the recent extraction from the muonic hydrogen Lamb shift.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study

A41 Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study In: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice 2017, 12(Suppl 1): A4

Development and evaluation of CT acquisition and analysis methods of brain perfusion

CTP has shown to be a promising tool for selection of patients with ischemic stroke who can potentially benefit from administration of rtPA. Although CTP is fast, more widely available, and cheaper compared to other imaging modalities such as MRI and PET scans, it has not yet gained widespread acceptance in this role. The different tissue perfusion parameter maps may indicate widely different lesion size and locations, this is the result of the larger influence of technical and biological factors on the estimation of tissue perfusion compared to the anatomical image that is provided by angiography. There is need for establishment of a viable protocol that is proven to yield accurate results and can be used consistently by clinicians and software vendors. In 2010 and 2013 Kudo et. al. demonstrated how this lack of consensus is causing an unacceptable variability in the perfusion measurements performed by different software. Kudo’s publication compared results from different software when given the same input, even stronger variation can be found when the one particular software is used to analyse the same perfusion but with different protocols. Attempts have been made by the CTP community to reach a consensus, but without standardization of the tools being used to assess the best protocol and analysis method it will be difficult to reach this consensus. Comparison with perfusion measurements using microsphere based measurements in animal studies and other modalities such as PET and MRI is possible, but not in the same patient. Almost simultaneous acquisition would be required to ensure the same conditions are measured for quantitative definition of accuracy of CTP measurements. Furthermore, since clinical CTP acquisitions cannot be repeated with equal or varying settings without administering excessive CT dose, effects of different noise or tube settings (mAs) cannot be determined. This hampers the dose and image quality optimization. This thesis describes methods to evaluate the impact of technical parameters from acquisition and analysis protocol and (non-clinical) patient specifics on CTP outcome in acute stroke. To this end a new hybrid brain phantom is suggested. Subsequently, specific attention is paid to the impact of de-convolution algorithms, patient motion and AIF location selection. This could help standardizing and optimizing CTP studies and increasing its clinical impact

Effect of extended CT perfusion acquisition time on ischemic core and penumbra volume estimation in patients with acute ischemic stroke due to a large vessel occlusion

Contains fulltext : 155121.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: It has been suggested that CT Perfusion acquisition times <60 seconds are too short to capture the complete in and out-wash of contrast in the tissue, resulting in incomplete time attenuation curves. Yet, these short acquisitions times are not uncommon in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of time attenuation curve truncation in 48 seconds CT Perfusion acquisition and to quantify its effect on ischemic core and penumbra estimation in patients with acute ischemic stroke due to a proximal intracranial arterial occlusion of the anterior circulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed CT Perfusion data with 48 seconds and extended acquisition times, assuring full time attenuation curves, of 36 patients. Time attenuation curves were classified as complete or truncated. Ischemic core and penumbra volumes resulting from both data sets were compared by median paired differences and interquartile ranges. Controlled experiments were performed using a digital CT Perfusion phantom to investigate the effect of time attenuation curve truncation on ischemic core and penumbra estimation. RESULTS: In 48 seconds acquisition data, truncation was observed in 24 (67%) cases for the time attenuation curves in the ischemic core, in 2 cases for the arterial input function and in 5 cases for the venous output function. Analysis of extended data resulted in smaller ischemic cores and larger penumbras with a median difference of 13.2 (IQR: 4.3-26.0) ml (P<0.001) and; 12.4 (IQR: 4.1-25.7) ml (P<0.001), respectively. The phantom data showed increasing ischemic core overestimation with increasing tissue time attenuation curve truncation. CONCLUSIONS: Truncation is common in patients with large vessel occlusion and results in repartitioning of the area of hypoperfusion into larger ischemic core and smaller penumbra estimations. Phantom experiments confirmed that truncation results in overestimation of the ischemic core

Validation of CT brain perfusion methods using a realistic dynamic head phantom

Item does not contain fulltextPURPOSE: Development and evaluation of a realistic hybrid head phantom for the validation of quantitative CT brain perfusion methods. METHODS: A combination, or hybrid, of CT images of an anthropomorphic head phantom together with clinically acquired MRI brain images was used to construct a dynamic hybrid head phantom. Essential CT imaging parameters such as spatially dependent noise, effects of resolution, tube settings, and reconstruction parameters were intrinsically included by scanning a skull phantom using CT perfusion (CTP) protocols with varying mAs. These data were combined with processed high resolution 7T clinical MRI images to include healthy and diseased brain parenchyma, as well as the cerebral vascular system. Time attenuation curves emulating contrast bolus passage based on perfusion as observed in clinical studies were added. Using the phantom, CTP images were generated using three brain perfusion calculation methods: bcSVD, sSVD, and fit-based deconvolution, and the linearity and accuracy of the three calculation methods was assessed. Dependency of perfusion outcome on calculation method was compared to clinical data. Furthermore, the potential of the phantom to optimize brain perfusion packages was investigated. RESULTS: All perfusion calculation methods showed overestimation of low perfusion values and underestimation of high perfusion values. Good correlation in behavior between phantom and clinical data was found (R2 = 0.84). CONCLUSIONS: A dynamic hybrid head phantom constructed from CT and MRI data was demonstrated to realistically represent clinical CTP studies, which is useful for assessing CT brain perfusion acquisition, reconstruction, and analysis

Computed tomography perfusion evaluation after extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery

Item does not contain fulltextOBJECTIVE: Perfusion imaging is increasingly used for postoperative evaluation of extracranial to intracranial (EC-IC) bypass surgery. Altered hemodynamics and delayed arrival of the contrast agent in the area fed by the bypass can influence perfusion measurement. We compared perfusion asymmetry obtained with different algorithms in EC-IC bypass surgery patients. METHODS: We retrospectively identified all patients evaluated with computed tomography perfusion (CTP) between May 2007 and May 2011 after EC-IC bypass surgery at our institution. CTP images were analyzed with three perfusion algorithms that differ among their ability to anticipate for delayed arrival time of contrast material: the delay-sensitive first-moment mean transit time (fMTT), the semi-delay-sensitive standard singular value decomposition (sSVD) and the delay-insensitive block-circulant SVD (bSVD). The interhemispheric difference in bolus arrival time (DeltaBAT) was determined to confirm altered hemodynamics. Interhemispheric asymmetry in perfusion values (mean transit time (MTT) difference, cerebral blood flow (CBF) ratio and cerebral blood volume (CBV) ratio) was compared between the three algorithms. Presence of a new infarct in the treated hemisphere was evaluated on follow-up imaging and perfusion asymmetry was compared between patients with and without infarction. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were included. The median interhemispheric difference in DeltaBAT was 0.98 s. The median MTT difference was significantly smaller when calculated with the delay-insensitive algorithm than with the other algorithms (0.44 s versus 0.90 s and 0.93 s, p<0.01). The CBF ratio was similar for all algorithms (111.98 versus 112.59 and 112.60). The CBV ratio was similar for all algorithms (113.20 versus 111.95 and 113.97). There was a significant difference in MTT asymmetry between patients with and without infarction with the delay-insensitive algorithm only (1.57 s versus 0.38 s, p=0.04). CONCLUSION: In patients with EC-IC bypass surgery, delay-sensitive algorithms showed larger MTT asymmetry than delay-insensitive algorithms. Furthermore, only the delay-insensitive method seems to differentiate between patients with and without infarction on follow-up