Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Biomarkers for Neurodegenerative Diseases

There has been an increasing prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases with the rapid increase in aging societies worldwide. Biomarkers that can be used to detect pathological changes before the development of severe neuronal loss and consequently facilitate early intervention with disease-modifying therapeutic modalities are therefore urgently needed. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a promising tool that can be used to infer microstructural characteristics of the brain, such as microstructural integrity and complexity, as well as axonal density, order, and myelination, through the utilization of water molecules that are diffused within the tissue, with displacement at the micron scale. Diffusion tensor imaging is the most commonly used diffusion MRI technique to assess the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. However, diffusion tensor imaging has several limitations, and new technologies, including neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging, diffusion kurtosis imaging, and free-water imaging, have been recently developed as approaches to overcome these constraints. This review provides an overview of these technologies and their potential as biomarkers for the early diagnosis and disease progression of major neurodegenerative diseases.     

Preparation of therapeutic phospholipids through porcine pancreatic phospholipase A2-mediated esterification and lipozyme-mediated acidolysis

Highly unsaturated fatty acid-containing phospholipids (HUFA-PL), which serve to increase the deformability of human red blood cells, were prepared through porcine phospholipase A₂-mediated esterification of the lysophosphatidylcholine, which was derived from soy phosphatidylcholine (PC), and by Lipozyme-mediated acidolysis. Through these processes, phospholipase A₂, with formamide as a water mimic, enhanced the incorporation of HUFA into positionsn-2 of PC and suppressed hydrolysis of the synthesized PL. On the other hand, Lipozyme-mediated acidolysis between positionsn-1 of soy PC and HUFA was enhanced by a combination of water and propylene glycol. Simultaneously, the recovered PL products showed decreased hydrolysis of newly synthesized health-beneficial HUFA-PL.     

Annealing behavior of Ar ion irradiated Bi2Sr2Can-1CunO4+2n superlattice and intergrowth films

Artificially layered Bi₂Sr₂Ca_n–1Cu_nO_4+n films were synthesized by sequential sputter deposition of BiO, SrCu_0.5O_1.5 and CaCuO₂ layers. Annealing behavior of these films which were irradiated by Ar ions was studied. Defect assisted improvement of their crystalline perfection is expected which might results in the improvement of the superconducting properties of these films. An artificial film, such as an intergrowth of 2223 and 2234 phases, and superstructure films of (2245)₁(2201)₁ and (2234)₁(2212)₁, were irradiated by Ar ions (150 keV, 2–10×10¹² ions/cm₂) and annealed at 730 °C. An improvement of superconducting transition temperatures were observed.     

Study on performance and flow field of an undershot cross-flow water turbine comprising different number of blades

Recently,small hydroelectric generators have gained attention as a further development in water turbine technology for ultra low head drops in open channels.The authors have evaluated the application of cross-flow water turbines in open channels as an undershot type after removing the casings and guide vanes to substantially simplify these water turbines.However,because undershot cross-flow water turbines are designed on the basis of cross-flow water turbine runners used in typical pipelines,it remains unclear whether the number of blades has an effect on the performance or flow fields.Thus,in this research,experiments and numerical analyses are employed to study the performance and flow fields of undershot cross-flow water turbines with varying number of blades.The findings show that the turbine output and torque are lower,the fluctuation is significantly higher,and the turbine efficiency is higher for runners with 8 blades as opposed to those with 24 blades.     

Poxvirus virions: their surface ultrastructure and interaction with the surface membrane of host cells

Virions of vaccinia and orf viruses were examined by ultrahigh-resolution scanning electron microscopy using a non-coating method. Intracellular mature particles of vaccinia virus appeared to be covered with a net and ultrastructurally their surface consists of many fine ridges and globules, while the surfaces of orf virus mature particles recovered from infected cells consist of spirally running protrusions. The ridge-like structures of vaccinia virus were presumed to correspond to surface tubules shown by negative staining of this virus, while the spiral protrusions of orf virus were presumed to correspond to spiral threads having a criss-cross appearance by the same staining. Using scanning electron microscopy in which the samples were prepared by the conventional method, we observed: (i) many virions, i.e. one or two hundreds, or occasionally more reaching about one thousand particles, of the IHD strain of vaccinia virus, (ii) many or a moderate number of virions, i.e. about one hundred or fewer particles, of the 58 strain of cowpox virus and (iii) rather few virions, i.e. several tens or fewer particles, of the Iwate strain of orf virus on the free surface of each cell infected with these viruses. It must be noted that the number of virions detected considerably differed in respective cells examined. Virus budding was frequently observed at the cell surface of monolayer cells infected with vaccinia virus but it was never detected with cowpox or orf virus, indicating a difference in the mechanism of virus release between vaccinia and the other two viruses. When whole cells infected with vaccinia virus were examined by a combination of high-voltage and scanning electron microscopies, virions on the cell surface and those inside the cells were clearly differentiated. All virions on the cell surface had an envelope, and some of the envelopes had a slack and/or one or more bulges.     

MgB2 Superconducting Tips for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study

We report a simple method for the fabrication of reproducible, clean, and stable MgB₂ superconducting tips. The quality of these tips has been verified by imaging the surface of a thin Au(111) film sample, using a low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Using the MgB₂ superconducting tip, high-quality semiatomically resolved STM surface images of the thin Au(111) film sample have been observed, which unambiguously indicates that the fabrication of relatively superconducting MgB₂, suitable for use as STM tips, is feasible.     

Engineering quantum confinement and orbital couplings in laterally coupled vertical quantum dots for spintronic applications

We use three-dimensional self-consistent Kohn-Sham's equations coupled with Poisson's equation to investigate the electrical behavior of laterally coupled vertical quantum dots (LCVQD) for spin-qubit operation. The shape and the depth of the central gate are changed in different ways to correlate gate geometry with the coupling between the two quantum dots. Upon comparing LCVQD single-gate and the split-gate structures, we found that the two inherently different designs result in different energy barrier profiles leading to dissimilar wavefunction coupling between the two dots. Finally, we show that the doping concentrations in the layered structure could be optimized for practical two-qubit operation.     

Gas-driven hydrogen permeation in the surface-limited regime

Gas-driven permeation of hydrogen through metal membranes in the surface-limited regime (SLR) is analyzed. An analytical solution for the concentration and permeation flux as a function of time is given for permeation through the asymmetric membrane having different conditions on the inlet and outlet sides. The features of the steady state and transient permeation are discussed. Comparison of calculations with an experiment on deuterium permeation through vanadium, which is available from literature, is performed. It has been demonstrated that the parameters, extracted from the measurements of the permeation rate in SLR are very uncertain. Even the calculations with opposite asymmetries can be equally well adjusted to the experiment. Non-zero initial conditions in SLR experiments are additional source of uncertainty. Measurements of the accumulation in a closed volume instead of the permeation rate can seriously mislead in the interpretation of the experiment. Complementary experiments on permeation in two opposite directions and measurements of permeation decay could increase the reliability of the data obtained.