Characterization of late radiation effects in the rat thoracolumbar spinal cord by MR imaging using USPIO

The aim of this study was to detect late radiation effects in the rat spinal cord using MR imaging with ultra-small particles of iron oxide (USPIO) contrast agent to better understand the development of late radiation damage with emphasis on the period preceding neurological signs. Additionally, the role of an inflammatory reaction was assessed by measuring macrophages that internalized USPIO. T₂-weighted spin echo MR measurements were performed at 7T in six rats before paresis was expected (130–150 days post-irradiation, early group), and in six paretic rats (150–190 days post-irradiation, late group). Measurements were performed before, directly after and, only in the early group, 40 h after USPIO administration and compared with histology. In the early group, MR images showed focal regions in grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) with signal intensity reduction after USPIO injection. Larger lesions with contrast enhancement were located in and around edematous GM of three animals of the early group and five of the late group. Forty hours after injection, additional lesions in WM, GM and nerve roots appeared in animals with GM edema. In the late paretic group, MR imaging showed WM necrosis adjacent to areas with large contrast enhancement. In conclusion, detection of early focal lesions was improved by contrast administration. In the animals with extended radiation damage, large hypo-intense regions appeared due to USPIO, which might be attributed to blood spinal cord barrier breakdown, but the involvement of blood-derived iron-loaded macrophages could not be excluded.     

Chemical vapor deposition-derived graphene with electrical performance of exfoliated graphene

While chemical vapor deposition (CVD) promises a scalable method to produce large-area graphene, CVD-grown graphene has heretofore exhibited inferior electronic properties in comparison with exfoliated samples. Here we test the electrical transport properties of CVD-grown graphene in which two important sources of disorder, namely grain boundaries and processing-induced contamination, are substantially reduced. We grow CVD graphene with grain sizes up to 250 μm to abate grain boundaries, and we transfer graphene utilizing a novel, dry-transfer method to minimize chemical contamination. We fabricate devices on both silicon dioxide and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) dielectrics to probe the effects of substrate-induced disorder. On both substrate types, the large-grain CVD graphene samples are comparable in quality to the best reported exfoliated samples, as determined by low-temperature electrical transport and magnetotransport measurements. Small-grain samples exhibit much greater variation in quality and inferior performance by multiple measures, even in samples exhibiting high field-effect mobility. These results confirm the possibility of achieving high-performance graphene devices based on a scalable synthesis process.     

Non-Markovianity: initial correlations and nonlinear optical measurements

By extending the response function approach developed in nonlinear optics, we analytically derive an expression for the non-Markovianity in the time evolution of a system in contact with a quantum mechanical bath, and find a close connection with the directly observable nonlinear optical response. The result indicates that memory in the bath-induced fluctuations rather than in the dissipation causes non-Markovianity. Initial correlations between states of the system and the bath are shown to be essential for a correct understanding of the non-Markovianity. These correlations are included in our treatment through a preparation function.     

Spatial information during public participation within environmental impact assessment in Kenya

This study set out to evaluate the use of spatial information during public participation within Environmental Impact Assessment (EAI) in Kenya, through a case study. A conceptual framework developed for this study considered four key elements: the stages of EIA in Kenya (EIA study stage), public participation (limited to ‘inform’), aspects of spatial information relevant for public participation (availability, accessibility, content, appropriateness, language, translation and technical support), and categories of participants (limited to ‘affected persons’). It was established that a cadastral map had been used, and met the requirements for accessibility, language, translation and technical support; it was unsatisfactory in the aspect of availability, and unconfirmed for content and appropriateness. Recommendations are made for the use of spatial information during public participation within EIA.     

In vivo (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and morphometric analysis of the perfused vascular architecture of human glioma xenografts in nude mice

The relationship between the bioenergetic status of human glioma xenografts in nude mice and morphometric parameters of the perfused vascular architecture was studied using (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), fluorescence microscopy and two-dimensional digital image analysis. Two tumour lines with a different vascular architecture were used for this study. Intervascular distances and non-perfused area fractions varied greatly between tumours of the same line and tumours of different lines. The inorganic phosphate-nucleoside triphosphate (P(i)/NTP) ratio increased rapidly as mean intervascular distances increased from 100 microm to 300 microm. Two morphometric parameters - the percentage of intervascular distances larger than 200 microm (ivd200) and the non-perfused area fraction at a distance larger than 100 microm from a nearest perfused vessel (area100), - were deduced from these experiments and related to the P(i)/NTP ratio of the whole tumour. It is assumed that an aerobic to anaerobic transition influences the bioenergetic status, i.e. the P(i)/NTP ratio increased linearly with the percentage of ivd200 and the area100.     

Infrared imaging of buried objects by thermal step-function excitations

Sudden heating or cooling of a surface, by turning on or off radiation flux on the surface, is used as a means of enhancing the detection capability of buried objects by thermal infrared imaging. An experimental analysis of a sand-surface temperature is presented as a function of a buried object's composition and depth, and it is compared with theoretical simulations. Object identification by means of the geometry of isothermal contours and the rate of change of the surface temperature with radiant flux is discussed.     

Predator confusion is sufficient to evolve swarming behaviour

Swarming behaviours in animals have been extensively studied owing to their implications for the evolution of cooperation, social cognition and predator–prey dynamics. An important goal of these studies is discerning which evolutionary pressures favour the formation of swarms. One hypothesis is that swarms arise because the presence of multiple moving prey in swarms causes confusion for attacking predators, but it remains unclear how important this selective force is. Using an evolutionary model of a predator–prey system, we show that predator confusion provides a sufficient selection pressure to evolve swarming behaviour in prey. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the evolutionary effect of predator confusion on prey could in turn exert pressure on the structure of the predator''s visual field, favouring the frontally oriented, high-resolution visual systems commonly observed in predators that feed on swarming animals. Finally, we provide evidence that when prey evolve swarming in response to predator confusion, there is a change in the shape of the functional response curve describing the predator''s consumption rate as prey density increases. Thus, we show that a relatively simple perceptual constraint—predator confusion—could have pervasive evolutionary effects on prey behaviour, predator sensory mechanisms and the ecological interactions between predators and prey.     

A 65 mW, 0.4–2.3 GHz Bandpass Filter for Satellite Receivers

A monolithic tunable bandpass filter for satellite receiver front-ends is presented. The center frequency of the bandpass filter can be tuned from 0.4 GHz to 2.3 GHz. The filter is constructed using four transconductor-C poly-phase filter sections and has a 50 dB variable gain range. At 20 dB attenuation and at 30 dB gain the measured 1 dB compression point is –21 dBm and –56 dBm, respectively. Measured input IP3 is –12 dBm. The noise figure is 15 dB at maximum gain. An on-chip I/Q oscillator tracks the center frequency and enables automatic tuning. The bandpass filter dissipates 65 mW with 5 Volt supply voltage and occupies 0.16 mm² chip area. The filter is realized in a standard 11 GHz f _t bipolar technology.     

Less efficient elementary visuomotor processes in 7- to 10-year-old preterm-born children without cerebral palsy: An indication of impaired dorsal stream processes.

Follow-up studies of preterm children without serious neurological complications have consistently found deficits in visuomotor skills. To determine whether these deficits may be related to impaired elementary visuomotor processes, we investigated movement programming and execution of simple pointing movements in 7- to 10-year-old preterm (