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Water/fat separation is a classical problem for in vivo proton MRI. Although many methods have been proposed to address this problem, robust water/fat separation remains a challenge, especially in the presence of large amplitude of static field inhomogeneities. This problem is challenging because of the nonuniqueness of the solution for an isolated voxel. This paper tackles the problem using a statistically motivated formulation that jointly estimates the complete field map and the entire water/fat images. This formulation results in a difficult optimization problem that is solved effectively using a novel graph cut algorithm, based on an iterative process where all voxels are updated simultaneously. The proposed method has good theoretical properties, as well as an efficient implementation. Simulations and in vivo results are shown to highlight the properties of the proposed method and compare it to previous approaches. Twenty-five cardiac datasets acquired on a short, wide-bore scanner with different slice orientations were used to test the proposed method, which produced robust water/fat separation for these challenging datasets. This paper also shows example applications of the proposed method, such as the characterization of intramyocardial fat., (Copyright (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

We investigate how spins relax in intrinsic graphene. The spin-orbit coupling arises from the band structure and is enhanced by ripples. The orbital motion is influenced by scattering centers and ripple-induced gauge fields. Spin relaxation due to Elliot-Yafet and Dyakonov-Perel mechanisms and gauge fields in combination with spin-orbit coupling are discussed. In intrinsic graphene, the Dyakonov-Perel mechanism and spin flip due to gauge fields dominate and the spin-flip relaxation time is inversely proportional to the elastic scattering time. The spin-relaxation anisotropy depends on an intricate competition between these mechanisms. Experimental consequences are discussed.

Conventional approaches for fat and water discrimination based on chemical-shift fat suppression have reduced ability to characterize fatty infiltration due to poor contrast of microscopic fat. The multiecho Dixon approach to water and fat separation has advantages over chemical-shift fat suppression: 1) water and fat images can be acquired in a single breathhold, avoiding misregistration; 2) fat has positive contrast; 3) the method is compatible with precontrast and late-enhancement imaging, 4) less susceptible to partial-volume effects, and 5) robust in the presence of background field variation; and 6) for the bandwidth implemented, chemical-shift artifact is decreased. The proposed technique was applied successfully in all 28 patients studied. This included 10 studies with indication of coronary artery disease (CAD), of which four cases with chronic myocardial infarction (MI) exhibited fatty infiltration; 13 studies to rule out arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), of which there were three cases with fibrofatty infiltration and two confirmed with ARVC; and five cases of cardiac masses (two lipomas). The precontrast contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of intramyocardial fat was greatly improved, by 240% relative to conventional fat suppression. For the parameters implemented, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was decreased by 30% relative to conventional late enhancement. The multiecho Dixon method for fat and water separation provides a sensitive means of detecting intramyocardial fat with positive signal contrast.

Algorithms to construct/recover low-rank matrices satisfying a set of linear equality constraints have important applications in many signal processing contexts. Recently, theoretical guarantees for minimum-rank matrix recovery have been proven for nuclear norm minimization (NNM), which can be solved using standard convex optimization approaches. While nuclear norm minimization is effective, it can be computationally demanding. In this work, we explore the use of the PowerFactorization (PF) algorithm as a tool for rank-constrained matrix recovery. Empirical results indicate that incremented-rank PF is significantly more successful than NNM at recovering low-rank matrices, in addition to being faster.

We study the supercurrent in a superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor graphene junction. In contrast to its metallic counterpart, the oscillating critical current in our setup decays only weakly upon increasing the exchange field and junction width. We find an unusually large residual value of the supercurrent at the oscillatory cusps due to a strong deviation from a sinusoidal current-phase relationship. Our findings suggest a very efficient device for dissipationless supercurrent switching.

Noise is a major concern in many important imaging applications. To improve data signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), experiments often focus on collecting low-frequency k-space data. This article proposes a new scheme to enable extended k-space sampling in these contexts. It is shown that the degradation in SNR associated with extended sampling can be effectively mitigated by using statistical modeling in concert with anatomical prior information. The method represents a significant departure from most existing anatomically constrained imaging methods, which rely on anatomical information to achieve super-resolution. The method has the advantage that less accurate anatomical information is required relative to super-resolution approaches. Theoretical and experimental results are provided to characterize the performance of the proposed scheme.

Water/fat separation in the presence of B 0 field inhomogeneity is a problem of considerable practical importance in MRI. This article describes two complementary methods for estimating the water/fat images and the field inhomogeneity map from Dixon-type acquisitions. One is based on variable projection (VARPRO) and the other on linear prediction (LP). The VARPRO method is very robust and can be used in low signal-to-noise ratio conditions because of its ability to achieve the maximum-likelihood solution. The LP method is computationally more efficient, and is shown to perform well under moderate levels of noise and field inhomogeneity. These methods have been extended to handle multicoil acquisitions by jointly solving the estimation problem for all the coils. Both methods are analyzed and compared and results from several experiments are included to demonstrate their performance., ((c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Field map estimation is an important problem in MRI, with applications such as water/fat separation and correction of fast acquisitions. However, it constitutes a nonlinear and severely ill-posed problem requiring regularization. In this paper, we introduce an improved method for regularized field map estimation, based on a statistically motivated formulation, as well as a novel algorithm for the solution of the corresponding optimization problem using a network flow approach. The proposed method provides theoretical guarantees (local optimality with respect to a large move), as well as an efficient implementation. It has been applied to the water/fat separation problem and tested on a number of challenging datasets, showing high-quality results.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging has been recognized for a long time as a powerful tool for biochemical imaging. However, its practical utility is still rather limited due to poor spatial resolution, low signal-to-noise ratio, and long data acquisition times. In this work, we propose a new technique that enables reconstruction of metabolite maps with high spatial resolution. This technique uses a statistical model to incorporate known anatomical boundaries for edge-preserving noise filtering. This statistical reconstruction scheme makes it possible to use very noisy data, thereby enabling the collection of high-resolution data in a reasonable amount of time. We illustrate the performance of this method with images of the N-acetyl-L-aspartate distribution from an in vivo mouse brain.

The technical feasibility and performance of photocatalytic degradation of aqueous methomyl (50 mg/L) have been studied at pilot scale in two well-defined systems of special interest because natural-solar UV light can be used: heterogeneous photocatalysis with titanium dioxide and homogeneous photocatalysis by photo-Fenton. The pilot plant is made up of compound parabolic collectors specially designed for solar photocatalytic applications. Experimental conditions allowed pesticide disappearance, degree of mineralisation and toxicity achieved in the two photocatalytic systems to be compared. Total disappearance of methomyl is attained by photo-Fenton in 60 min and by TiO2 in 100 min. Hundred percent of nitrogen and sulphur are recovered as ammonium and sulphate. By contrast, complete mineralisation of total organic carbon (TOC) is not achieved even after quite a long time (more than 300 min). Three different bioassays (Vibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna and a Microalga) have been used for testing the progress of toxicity during treatment. All remained toxic down to very low-pesticide concentrations and in some bioassays were still toxic after total disappearance of the pesticide. Only if treatment is maintained throughout enough mineralisation (i.e. TOC disappearance), the toxicity is reduced to below the threshold (EC50%).

We investigate spin-dependent transport in hybrid superconductor-normal-metal-ferromagnet structures under conditions of the proximity effect. We demonstrate the feasibility of the absolute spin-valve effect for a certain interval of voltages in a system consisting of two coupled trilayer structures. Our results are also valid for noncollinear magnetic configurations of the ferromagnets.

The technical feasibility, mechanisms, and performance of degradation of aqueous imidacloprid have been studied at pilot scale in two well-defined photocatalytic systems of special interest because natural UV light can be used: heterogeneous photocatalysis with titanium dioxide and homogeneous photocatalysis by photo-Fenton. Equivalent pilot-scale and field conditions used for both allowed adequate comparison of the degree of mineralization and toxicity achieved as well as the transformation products generated in route to mineralization by both systems. Ninety-five percent of mineralization (<2.0 mg/L) was reached after 250 min of photocatalytic treatment with Fenton and 450 min with TiO2, meaning that TOC disappears 2.4 times faster with photo-Fenton photocatalytic treatment than with TiO2. The Daphnia Magna test for final residual TOC does not reveal anytoxic behavior. Transformation products evaluated by GC-MS/AED after two SPE procedures and LC-IC were the same in both cases. The main differences between the two processes are in the amount of transformation products (TPs) generated, not in the TPs detected which were always the same. At the end of both processes low concentration (<0.1 mg/L) of 2 pyrrolidinone (transformation product) remains in the dissolution and around 1 mg/L of formate in the case of photo-Fenton.

A liquid chromatographic method for the determination of aniline in cyclamate sweeteners based on a pre-column derivatization with 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonate (NQS) is proposed. Aniline traces were extracted from the cyclamate samples using dichloromethane. After solvent evaporation, the dry residue was derivatized with NQS at pH 9.5 and 85 degrees C for 1 min. The aniline derivative, which was extracted from the reacting mixture, was redissolved in the eluent solution and injected into the chromatographic system. The separation of aniline derivative from other amine impurities was carried out in a C18 column using a 2% acetic acid-methanol (40:60, v/v) mobile phase. Results from the analysis of aniline in the sweetener samples with the proposed method were compared with those from the standard method. A good concordance between the two methods was observed.

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia and severe giant cell hepatitis is an very uncommon association. Two patients aged 5 months and 2 years developed severe anemia, jaundice, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. Laboratory tests demonstrated autoimmune hemolytic anemia and elevated amino-transferases. Diffuse giant cell transformation and distorted architecture was seen in liver biopsy. One patient had a cytomegalovirus infection. Early steroid therapy did not prevent fatal course with liver failure in one patient.