Magnetic field inhomogeneity causes artifacts in MRI. For example, in single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI), they often appear as severe geometric distortions along the phase-encoding direction. Sensitivity encoding (SENSE) is useful in reducing the distortion in EPI since it only acquires partial k-space data using multiple receiver channels. In SENSE, a reference scan usually needs to be perf...

PURPOSE To introduce a new k-space traversal strategy for segmented three-dimensional echo planar imaging (3D EPI) that encodes two partitions per radiofrequency excitation, effectively reducing the number excitations used to acquire a 3D EPI dataset by half. METHODS The strategy was evaluated in the context of functional MRI applications for: image quality compared with segmented 3D EPI, tem...

BACKGROUND To assess the application of cell phone integrating into the healthcare system to improve antenatal care (ANC) and expanded programme on immunization (EPI) services for the under-served population in border area. METHODS A module combining web-based and mobile technology was developed to generate ANC/EPI visit schedule dates in which the healthcare personnel can cross-check, identi...

Oxidative stress contributes to the pathophysiology of interstitial lung diseases, such as cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis (CFA), fibrosing alveolitis associated with systemic sclerosis (FASSc) and sarcoidosis. F2-isoprostanes are a series of prostaglandin (PG) F2-like compounds produced in vivo independent of cyclooxygenase, as products of the radical-catalyzed lipid peroxidation. Measurement...

Recently, new ultrafast imaging sequences such as rapid acquisition by sequential excitation and refocusing (RASER) and hybrid spatiotemporal encoding (SPEN) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been proposed, in which the phase encoding of conventional echo planar imaging (EPI) is replaced with a SPEN. In contrast to EPI, SPEN provides significantly higher immunity to frequency heterogeneitie...

BACKGROUND Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is the key enzyme in the Warburg effect, and it was recently reported to be involved in the metabolic pathways of chemotherapeutic drugs. However, the role of PKM2 in breast cancer and its influence in the sensitivity to front-line anticancer drugs remains unclear. METHODS In this study, we examined the correlation between the expression of PKM2 and the se...

Refocused steady-state free precession (SSFP), or fast imaging with steady precession (FISP or TrueFISP), has recently proven valuable for cardiac imaging because of its high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and excellent blood-myocardium contrast. In this study, various implementations of multiecho SSFP or EPI-SSFP for imaging in the heart are presented. EPI-SSFP has higher scan-time efficiency tha...

The evaluation of 10 essential oils of geranium, Pelargonium graveolens (Geraniaceae), were all shown to have repellent activity against nymphs of the medically important lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.). The biological tests were carried out using a vertical filter paper bioassay, where ticks must cross an area of the paper treated with repellent to approach host stimuli. One of the e...

Triiodothyronine (T(3)) exerts direct action on myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO(2)), although its immediate effects on substrate metabolism have not been elucidated. The hypothesis, that T(3) regulates substrate selection and flux, was tested in isovolumic rat hearts under four conditions: control, T(3) (10 nM), epinephrine (Epi), and T(3) and Epi (TE). Hearts were perfused with [1,3-(13)C]a...

Adrenomedullin (AM) used therapeutically reduces mortality in the acute phase of experimental myocardial infarction. However, AM is potentially deleterious in acute heart failure as it is vasodilative and inotropically neutral. AM and epinephrine (EPI) are cosecreted from chromaffin cells, indicating a physiological interaction. We assessed the hemodynamic and energetic profile of AM-EPI cotrea...