Effect of Nano-SiO/PVA on Corrosion Behavior of Steel Rebar Embedded in High-Volume Fly Ash Mortar under Accelerated Chloride Attack.

In this paper, the influence of Nano-silica (NS) and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers on the corrosion behavior of steel rebar embedded in high-volume fly ash cement mortars under accelerated chloride attack was studied by using an impressed voltage technique. The PVA fibers used were 1.0 vol.

Effect of Nano-SiO/PVA Fiber on Sulfate Resistance of Cement Mortar Containing High-Volume Fly Ash.

Sulfate resistance of high-volume fly ash/cement mortars hybrid containing 0~1.5 wt.% of nano-silica (Nano-SiO, NS) and 0~1.

Fully Automated and Robust Cable Tension Estimation of Wireless Sensor Networks System.

Accurate estimation of cable tension is crucial for the structural health monitoring of cable-supported structures. Identifying the cable's force from its vibration data is probably the most widely adopted method of cable tension estimation. According to string theory, the accuracy of estimated cable tension is highly related to identified modal parameters including natural frequencies and frequency order.

Automated Synthesis and Initial Evaluation of (4'-Amino-5',8'-difluoro-1'H-spiro[piperidine-4,2'-quinazolin]-1-yl)(4-[F]fluorophenyl)methanone for PET/MR Imaging of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase.

Background: Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) plays a crucial role in neuroinflammation, especially microglial activity, and may potentially represent a useful biomarker of neuroinflammation. In this study, we carefully defined a strategic plan to develop iNOS-targeted molecular PET imaging using (4'-amino-5',8'-difluoro-1'H-spiro[piperidine-4,2'-quinazolin]-1-yl)(4-fluorophenyl)methanone ([F]FBAT) as a tracer in a mouse model of lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced brain inflammation.

Methods: An model, murine microglial BV2 cell line, was used to assess the uptake of [F]FBAT in response to iNOS induction at the cellular level.

Effect of Carbon Nanotube and Styrene-Acrylic Emulsion Additives on Microstructure and Mechanical Characteristics of Cement Paste.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered as one of the ideal modifiers of cement materials, since CNTs can improve the mechanical properties of cement paste effectively. However, the interfacial interaction between CNTs and the cement matrix is weak. Moreover, it is difficult to disperse CNTs within cement paste.

Nano-Silica Sol-Gel and Carbon Nanotube Coupling Effect on the Performance of Cement-Based Materials.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown promise for improving the mechanical performance of cement composites through crack-bridging and frictional pull-out. The interactive behaviors between CNTs and cement matrix act are crucial in optimizing the reinforcement of CNTs in cement composites. This study investigates the effects of nano-silica (NS) sol-gel on the interactive behaviors of CNTs and the cement matrix through a series of experiments and analyses.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-6-(2-[F]fluoroethoxy)benzothiazole ([F]FEDBT) for PET imaging of breast cancer.

Given the ever-present demand for improved PET radiotracer in oncology imaging, we have synthesized 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-6-(2-[F]fluoroethoxy)benzothiazole ([F]FEDBT), a fluorine-18-containing fluoroethylated benzothiazole to explore its utility as a PET imaging tracer. [F]FEDBT was prepared via kryptofix-mediated nucleophilic substitution of the tosyl group precursor. Fractionated ethanol-based solid-phase (SPE cartridge-based) purification afforded [F]FEDBT in 60% radiochemical yield (EOB), with radiochemical purity in excess of 98% and the specific activity was 35GBq/μmol.

Improving the correction of eddy current-induced distortion in diffusion-weighted images by excluding signals from the cerebral spinal fluid.

Iterative cross-correlation (ICC) is the most popularly used schema for correcting eddy current (EC)-induced distortion in diffusion-weighted imaging data, however, it cannot process data acquired at high b-values. We analyzed the error sources and affecting factors in parameter estimation, and propose an efficient algorithm by expanding the ICC framework with a number of techniques: (1) pattern recognition for excluding brain ventricles; (2) ICC with the extracted ventricle for parameter initialization; (3) gradient-based entropy correlation coefficient (GECC) for optimal and finer registration. Experiments demonstrated that our method is robust with high accuracy and error tolerance, and outperforms other ICC-family algorithms and popular approaches currently in use.

Changes in the brain microstructure of children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

Background: Primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE) is a common disorder in school-aged children. Previous studies have suggested that a developmental delay might play a role in the pathology of children with PMNE. However, microstructural abnormalities in the brains of these children have not been thoroughly investigated.

Spontaneous brain activity changes in children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis: a resting-state fMRI study.

Primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE) is a common disorder in school-aged children. However, little is known about resting-state neural function in individuals with PMNE. In this work, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate changes in spontaneous brain activity in children with PMNE.

Altered brain activation during response inhibition in children with primary nocturnal enuresis: an fMRI study.

Nocturnal enuresis is a common developmental disorder in children, and primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE) is the dominant subtype. The main purpose of this study was to investigate brain functional abnormalities specifically related to motor response inhibition in children with PNE using fMRI in combination with a Go/NoGo task. Twenty-two children with PNE and 22 healthy children, group-matched for age and sex, took part in this experiment.

A versatile pulse programmer for magnetic resonance imaging.

Hardware and software solutions for a versatile pulse programmer have been presented. The core of the pulse programmer is an FPGA device that provides flexibility to the design and reduces the number of electronics elements needed. The event of the pulse programmer consists of 16 bits.

[Design of active shimming coils on mini-type permanent magnetic resonance imaging system].

The homogeneity of magnetic field is a key parameter in nuclear magnetic resonance system (NMRI); it can be refined by active shimming. In this work, the authors analyze the theory of active shimming, carry out data processing and simulation, and design an active shimming system which can work on permanent mini-type MRI system. The shimming coils are placed on both out-sides of the receiving shielding box, so the gap of the coils is constant.

Image correction during large and rapid B(0) variations in an open MRI system with permanent magnets using navigator echoes and phase compensation.

An open permanent magnet system with vertical B(0) field and without self-shielding can be quite susceptible to perturbations from external magnetic sources. B(0) variation in such a system located close to a subway station was measured to be greater than 0.7 microT by both MRI and a fluxgate magnetometer.

A novel selective-excitation RF pulse for magnetic resonance imaging.

Object: A selective-excitation radiofrequency (RF) pulse that uses hard pulses composed of a sequence of composite pulses with positive and negative phases (P/N pulse) is proposed herein. Because the amplitude of the RF signal is unchanged during the excitation, RF amplification can be accomplished using a nonlinear RF power amplifier (i.e.

Four-channel magnetic resonance imaging receiver using frequency domain multiplexing.

An alternative technique that uses frequency domain multiplexing to acquire phased array magnetic resonance images is discussed in detail. The proposed method has advantages over traditional independent receiver chains in that it utilizes an analog-to-digital converter and a single-chip multicarrier receiver with high performance to reduce the size and cost of the phased array receiver system. A practical four-channel digital receiver using frequency domain multiplexing was implemented and verified on a home-built 0.

A powerful graphical pulse sequence programming tool for magnetic resonance imaging.

A powerful graphical pulse sequence programming tool has been designed for creating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications. It allows rapid development of pulse sequences in graphical mode (allowing for the visualization of sequences), and consists of three modules which include a graphical sequence editor, a parameter management module and a sequence compiler. Its key features are ease to use, flexibility and hardware independence.