7Li NMR of Normal Human Erythrocytes

Lithium has been known to be an effective medication for people with bipolar disorder. The mechanisms of action of lithium in the brain is not very well understood. NMR spectroscopy and imaging are effective both in determining lithium levels in tissue and brain. We have monitored lithium levels in red blood cells. We have been able to separate intra- and extracellular compartments of lithium using shift reagents, thereby obtaining T^1 \u27s of both the compartments. Lithium uptake as a function of hematocrit was monitored weekly over a 3 week period. The time constant of 50 mM lithium uptake at 25°C and 85% hematocrit was found to be 16.5 hrs. The time constant of 1.8 mM lithium uptake at 37 °C and 45% hematocrit was found to be 11.6 hrs. Experiments on the visibility of the quadrupolar nuclei indicate that it is only 74-90% visible and the visibility decreased with decreasing concentrations

Capital account liberalization, financial development and industry growth: a synthetic view

This paper synthesizes previous studies analyzing the effects of capital account liberalization on industry growth while controlling for financial crises, domestic financial development and the strength of institutions. We find reasonably strong evidence that financial openness has positive effects on the growth of financially-dependent industries, although these growth-enhancing effects evaporate during financial crises. Further analysis indicates that the positive effects of capital account liberalization are limited to countries with relatively well-developed financial systems, good accounting standards, strong creditor rights and rule of law. It suggests that countries must reach a certain threshold in terms of institutional and economic development before they can expect to benefit from capital account liberalization.Capital account liberalization, Financial development, External dependence

Simulation of electron transport in quantum well devices

Double barrier resonant tunneling diodes (DBRTD) have received much attention as possible terahertz devices. Despite impressive experimental results, the specifics of the device physics (i.e., how the electrons propagate through the structure) are only qualitatively understood. Therefore, better transport models are warranted if this technology is to mature. In this paper, the Lattice Wigner function is used to explain the important transport issues associated with DBRTD device behavior

A new hierarchical clustering algorithm to identify non-overlapping like-minded communities

A network has a non-overlapping community structure if the nodes of the network can be partitioned into disjoint sets such that each node in a set is densely connected to other nodes inside the set and sparsely connected to the nodes out- side it. There are many metrics to validate the efficacy of such a structure, such as clustering coefficient, betweenness, centrality, modularity and like-mindedness. Many methods have been proposed to optimize some of these metrics, but none of these works well on the recently introduced metric like-mindedness. To solve this problem, we propose a be- havioral property based algorithm to identify communities that optimize the like-mindedness metric and compare its performance on this metric with other behavioral data based methodologies as well as community detection methods that rely only on structural data. We execute these algorithms on real-life datasets of Filmtipset and Twitter and show that our algorithm performs better than the existing algorithms with respect to the like-mindedness metric

Double Tuned Cosine Coil for NMR Imaging/Microscopy

The fabrication of a cosine coil having unevenly distributed struts is detailed. Placing the struts in such a manner enables a standing wave at the desired frequency and, hence, only one resonance frequency is obtained. This study details the fabrication of a cosine coil tuned to the LJ-7 frequency (77.76 MHz) and then double-tuned to the H-1 frequency (200.1 MHz) when operated at 4.7 Tesla. Double-tuning is attained by placing an LC trap in series with a capacitor used to single-tune the coil. Also, a method is suggested by which a cosine coil can be broadbanded in the lower frequency range simply by replacing a fixed capacitor

Local charge transfer doping in suspended graphene nanojunctions

We report electronic transport measurements in nanoscale graphene transistors with gold and platinum electrodes whose channel lengths are shorter than 100 nm, and compare them with transistors with channel lengths from 1 \textmu{}m to 50 \textmu{}m. We find a large positive gate voltage shift in charge neutrality point (NP) for transistors made with platinum electrodes but negligible shift for devices made with gold electrodes. This is consistent with the transfer of electrons from graphene into the platinum electrodes. As the channel length increases, the disparity between the measured NP using gold and platinum electrodes disappears.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Appl. Phys. Let

Principles and Clinical Applications of Magnetic Resonance

A review is presented which covers the basic theory of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) with regard to angular momentum, magnetic moments, and the classical mechanical description of the NMR experiment. Longitudinal (T,) and Transverse (T2) relaxation times are defined as well as the basic pulse sequences used for their measurement. In particular, the 180°-t-90° and the Hahn Spin Echo pulse sequences are described in detail. Basic Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) theory is discussed with regard to slice selection, frequency encoding, and phase encoding to define the imaged volume element. The equations defining the amount of Tt , T2 , and proton density which contribute to the images are discussed. Common MRI pulsing sequences are described in detail as well as the imaging time equation. Recent in-vivo magnetic resonance studies involving the use of contrast agents, and the use of localized spectroscopy, specifically 13C, 19F, MNa and 39K, are discussed

Profound Re-Organization of Cell Surface Proteome in Equine Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells in Response to In Vitro Culturing

The purpose of this study was to characterize the cell surface proteome of native compared to cultured equine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. The RPE plays an essential role in visual function and represents the outer blood-retinal barrier. We are investigating immunopathomechanisms of equine recurrent uveitis, an autoimmune inflammatory disease in horses leading to breakdown of the outer blood-retinal barrier and influx of autoreactive T-cells into affected horses' vitrei. Cell surface proteins of native and cultured RPE cells from eye-healthy horses were captured by biotinylation, analyzed by high resolution mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography (LC MS/MS), and the most interesting candidates were validated by PCR, immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry. A total of 112 proteins were identified, of which 84% were cell surface membrane proteins. Twenty-three of these proteins were concurrently expressed by both cell states, 28 proteins exclusively by native RPE cells. Among the latter were two RPE markers with highly specialized RPE functions: cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein (CRALBP) and retinal pigment epithelium-specific protein 65kDa (RPE65). Furthermore, 61 proteins were only expressed by cultured RPE cells and absent in native cells. As we believe that initiating events, leading to the breakdown of the outer blood-retinal barrier, take place at the cell surface of RPE cells as a particularly exposed barrier structure, this differential characterization of cell surface proteomes of native and cultured equine RPE cells is a prerequisite for future studies

Glaucoma-associated long-term mortality in a rural cohort from India: the Andhra Pradesh Eye Disease Study.

AIM: To evaluate glaucoma-associated mortality in a rural cohort in India. METHODS: The study cohort comprised individuals aged 40 years and above who took part in the Andhra Pradesh Eye Disease Study (APEDS1) during 1996-2000. All participants underwent detailed comprehensive eye examination. Glaucoma was defined using International Society of Geographic and Epidemiologic Ophthalmology criteria. This cohort was followed up after a decade (June 2009 to January 2010; APEDS2). Mortality HR analysis for ocular risk factors was performed using Cox proportional hazards regression after adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical variables. RESULTS: In APEDS1, 2790 individuals aged more than or equal to 40 years were examined. 47.4% were male. Forty-five participants had primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and 66 had primary angle closure disease (PACD). Ten years later, 1879 (67.3%) were available, 739 (26.5%) had died and 172 (6.2%) had migrated; whereas 22 of the 45 (48.8%) with POAG and 22 of the 66 (33.3%) with PACD had died. In univariate analysis, a higher mortality was associated with POAG (HR 1.9; 95% CI 1.23 to 2.94), pseudoexfoliation (HR 2.79; 95% CI 2.0 to 3.89), myopia (HR 1.78; 95% CI 1.54 to 2.06) and unit increase in cup:disc ratio (HR 4.49; 95% CI 2.64 to 7.64). In multivariable analysis, only cup:disc ratio remained independently associated with mortality (HR 2.5; 95% CI 1.3 to 5.1). The association remained significant when other ocular parameters were included in the model (HR 2.1; 95% CI 1.03 to 4.2). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first longitudinal study to assess the association of glaucoma and mortality in a rural longitudinal cohort in India. Increased cup:disc ratio could be a potential marker for ageing and would need further validation

An Object-Oriented Resource Pool Model in Support of Discrete Event Simulations

The proper distribution of resources is a key factor in simulation. Resources provide the supporting facilities, equipment, and personnel for carrying out activities. The number of resources has a direct impact on the overall effectiveness of the simulation as it does in real life. If the number is insufficient, it generally takes more time for the process to complete. On the other hand, if the number is too high, the cost incurred on the resources will be unnecessarily large. Therefore, the count should be a compromise between the two extremes. In this thesis, an attempt is made to generalize the way resources are acquired in a simulation. The various conditions that might affect the acquisition of resources are studied and a model called the Resource Pool is developed to satisfy the essential requirements with respect to the resources. The main requirements that were considered for the Resource Pool development are that it should be capable of dealing with requests for single and multiple, as well as combined, resources and should be capable of interrupting pending requests. In addition to these, the basic requirement that the requests for the resources should be fulfilled in FCFS (first come, first serve) order is given serious importance. The model developed is an object-oriented model supporting reuse across simulations and object-oriented simulation languages. The model is developed initially for the PORTSIM project due to the inability of the simulation language MODSIM-III to deal with resources in the manner required by the PORTSIM model. The Resource Pool model is used to simulate numerous resources in a seaport such as drivers, container handlers, and inspectors