RF shimming in the cervical spinal cord at 7 T.

Purpose: Advancing the development of 7 T MRI for spinal cord imaging is crucial for the enhanced diagnosis and monitoring of various neurodegenerative diseases and traumas. However, a significant challenge at this field strength is the transmit field inhomogeneity. Such inhomogeneity is particularly problematic for imaging the small, deep anatomical structures of the cervical spinal cord, as it can cause uneven signal intensity and elevate the local specific absorption ratio, compromising image quality.

Calibration-free parallel transmission of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spinal cord at 7T.

Purpose: To address the limitations of spinal cord imaging at ultra-high field (UHF) due to time-consuming parallel transmit (pTx) adjustments. This study introduces calibration-free offline computed universal shim modes that can be applied seamlessly for different pTx RF coils and spinal cord target regions, substantially enhancing spinal cord imaging efficiency at UHF.

Methods: A library of channel-wise relative maps for the cervical spinal cord (six datasets) and thoracic and lumbar spinal cord (nine datasets) was constructed to optimize transmit homogeneity and efficiency for these regions.

Dynamic shimming in the cervical spinal cord for multi-echo gradient-echo imaging at 3 T.

Obtaining high quality images of the spinal cord with MRI is difficult, partly due to the fact that the spinal cord is surrounded by a number of structures that have differing magnetic susceptibility. This causes inhomogeneities in the magnetic field, which in turn lead to image artifacts. In order to address this issue, linear compensation gradients can be employed.

Shimming toolbox: An open-source software toolbox for B0 and B1 shimming in MRI.

Purpose: Introduce Shimming Toolbox ( https://shimming-toolbox.org), an open-source software package for prototyping new methods and performing static, dynamic, and real-time B0 shimming as well as B1 shimming experiments.

Methods: Shimming Toolbox features various field mapping techniques, manual and automatic masking for the brain and spinal cord, B0 and B1 shimming capabilities accessible through a user-friendly graphical user interface.

The Impact of Responsible Food Packaging Perceptions on Naturalness and Healthiness Inferences, and Consumer Buying Intentions.

The research presented in this article examines the relationship between consumer perceptions that a food package is responsible (sustainable) and consumers' intention to purchase the product that it contains. On the basis of the relevant literature, a conceptual model is proposed where this relationship is hypothesized to be mediated by two variables: the product's perceived naturalness and healthiness. A first study was conducted with the objective of developing a scale with good psychometric properties to measure the perceived naturalness of a food product.