OBJECTIVES To study the viability of longitudinal relaxation time (T1) of patellar cartilage as a biomarker of the degree of degeneration. MATERIAL AND METHODS We included 15 subjects classified into three groups according to clinical criteria (pain, functional limitation, and duration of symptoms) and imaging criteria as follows: (a) normal (3 men, 2 women; age 30+/-14 years), (b) with initi...

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the optimal value of the diffusion weighting factor b for estimating white-matter fiber orientations using diffusion MRI with a standard spherical sampling scheme. We devise an algorithm for determining the optimal echo time, pulse width, and pulse separation in the pulsed-gradient spin-echo sequence for a specific value of b. The Monte Car...

2014 Molybdenum blue bronzes exhibit below the Peierls transition time-dependent phenomena. These properties, which are related to the charge density wave instability, are often associated to the presence of defects. In this paper we show that the hysteresis observed during temperature cycling is amplified when defects are introduced by irradiation. We describe two new phenomena observed after ...

In this paper the optimal control of boundary heat flux in a 2-D solid body with an arbitrary shape is performed in order to achieve the desired temperature distribution at a given time interval. The boundary of the body is subdivided into a number of components. On each component a time-dependent heat flux is applied which is independent of the others. Since the thermophysical properties are t...

Transient two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) spectroscopy is applied to the photodissociation of Mn2(CO)10 to 2 Mn(CO)5 in cyclohexane solution. By varying both the time delay between the 400 nm phototrigger and the 2DIR probe as well as the waiting time in the 2DIR pulse sequence, we directly determine the orientational relaxation of the vibrationally hot photoproduct. The orientational relaxatio...

The 35C1 NQR spin-lattice relaxation mechanism in isomorphous N i(H 20 ) 6SnCl6 and M g(H20 ) 6SnCl6 crystals is reported. The spin-lattice relaxation time T1(j in the Ni compound is determined mainly by a paramagnetic relaxation. However, above ca. 400 K T1Q decreased rapidly and a log vs. T 1 curve was almost linear. This steep decrease of T1Q was explained by reorientational motions of the a...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Few quantitative studies have investigated the temperature dependent viscoelastic properties of cartilage tissue. Cartilage softens and can be reshaped when heated using laser, RF, or contact heating sources. The objectives of this study were to: (1) measure temperature dependent flexural storage moduli and mechanical relaxation in cartilage, (2) determine the impact o...

A small salt gradient solar pond with an average surface area of 1.8 m2 and depth of 0.8m has been tested. The depths of storage, gradient and surface zones are 0.3, 0.27 and 0.07m, respectively. The temperature of the storage zone for the summer days reaches its maximum of 65˚ C after about 8 days. Daily variation of the storage zone temperature was about 8˚C which is due to small volume of th...