• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.141-151
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• 2016

Purpose: Advances of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially that of the Ultra-High Field (UHF) MRI will be reviewed. Materials and Methods: Diffusion MRI data was obtained from a healthy adult young male of age 30 using a 7.0T research MRI scanner (Magnetom, Siemens) with 40 mT/m maximum gradient field. The specific imaging parameters used for the data acquisition were a single shot DW echo planar imaging. Results: Three areas of the imaging experiments are focused on for the study, namely the anatomy, angiography, and tractography. Conclusion: It is envisioned that, in near future, there will be more 7.0T MRIs for brain research and explosive clinical application research will also be developed, for example in the area of connectomics in neuroscience and clinical neurology and neurosurgery.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.426-431
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• 1996

It is well known that the understanding of the complex mechanism of magnetoplasma is closely related with understanding of the collective behavior of discharge plasma parameters such as the cathode-sheath potential, cathode-sheath thickness, electron temperature, electron density, and ambipolar diffusion. In this paper, some of the relationships between these plasma parameters and magnetic field is investigated experimentally with a Langmuir probe in the magnetoplasma generated by D.C diode system. It is found that when magnetic field is increased, cathode-sheath potential, cathode-sheath thickness, and ambipolar diffusion are decreased. In addition, peak ion density obtained as a parameter of ionic signal voltage by Faraday cup method is independent of magnetic field. (author). 9 refs., 11 figs.,1 tab.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.154-161
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• 2017

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of diffusion-weighted steady-state free precession (DW-SSFP) in comparison to diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging (DW-EPI) for differentiating the neoplastic and benign osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 40 patients with recent vertebral compression fractures but no history of vertebroplasty, spine operation, or chemotherapy. They had received 3-Tesla (T) spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including both DW-SSFP and DW-EPI sequences. The 40 patients included 20 with neoplastic vertebral fracture and 20 with benign osteoporotic vertebral fracture. In each fracture lesion, we obtained the signal intensity normalized by the signal intensity of normal bone marrow (SI norm) on DW-SSFP and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) on DW-EPI. The correlation between the SI norm and the ADC in each lesion was analyzed using linear regression. The optimal cut-off values for the diagnosis of neoplastic fracture were determined in each sequence using Youden's J statistics and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. Results: In the neoplastic fracture, the median SI norm on DW-SSFP was higher and the median ADC on DW-EPI was lower than the benign osteoporotic fracture (5.24 vs. 1.30, P = 0.032, and 0.86 vs. 1.48, P = 0.041, respectively). Inverse linear correlations were evident between SI norm and ADC in both neoplastic and benign osteoporotic fractures (r = -0.45 and -0.61, respectively). The optimal cut-off values for diagnosis of neoplastic fracture were SI norm of 3.0 in DW-SSFP with the sensitivity and specificity of 90.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 81.0-99.0) and 95.3% (95% CI: 90.0-100.0), respectively, and ADC of 1.3 in DW-EPI with the sensitivity and specificity of 90.5% (95% CI: 80.0-100.0) and 70.4% (95% CI: 60.0-80.0), respectively. Conclusion: In 3-T MRI, DW-SSFP has comparable sensitivity and specificity to DW-EPI in differentiating the neoplastic vertebral fracture from the benign osteoporotic vertebral fracture.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.444-450
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• 2003

Hydrophobically End-capped polyethylene oxide Urethane Resin(HEUR)-associating polymers, HEUR 35(8), HEUR 35(12), and HEUR 35(18), comprise a polyethylene oxide (PEO) having a molecular weight of 35,000 that is end capped with two C$\_$8/H$\_$17/, C$\_$12/H$\_$25/, and C$\_$18/H$\_$37/ alkyl chains, respectively. These associating polymers were synthesized by condensation reactions with polyethylene oxides and alkyl isocyanates. The self-diffusion coefficients of HEUR-associating polymers were measured in aqueous solution by pulsed-gradient spin-echo (PGSE) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. All polymers underwent a decrease in their mean diffusion coefficients as the concentration was increased. However, the dispersion of the diffusion coefficients, ${\beta}$, about the mean fluctuated with changes in concentration. The large dispersion at low concentrations of HEUR 35(8) and HEUR 35(12) is related to the interaction between hydrophobic end groups, and the large dispersion at high concentrations of HEUR 35(18) is correlated with transient network formation. These results are valuable for predicting the associating mechanism of the large aggregates before and after their critical micelle concentration.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.342-349
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• 2011

[ $Nd_2Fe_{14}B$ ]permanent magnetic powders ($_iH_c$ = 9.2 kOe, $B_r$ = 12.2 kG) were produced by HDDR process. Their coercivity was enhanced to 12.6 kOe through the grain boundary diffusion process with dysprosium hydride ($DyH_x$). $DyH_x$ diffusion process was optimized through rotating diffusion process, resulting in distinct phases rich in Nd and Dy observable by field emission scanning microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The mechanism of coercivity enhancement that resulted in restrain the coupling effect between $Nd_2Fe_{14}B$ grains is also discussed.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2019

Purpose: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data must be analyzed by an analyzer after data processing. Hence, the analyzed data of DTI might depend on the analyzer, making it a major limitation. This paper reviewed previous DTI studies reporting the repeatability and reproducibility of data from the corticospinal tract (CST), one of the most actively researched neural tracts on this topic. Materials and Methods: Relevant studies published between January 1990 and December 2018 were identified by searching PubMed, Google Scholar, and MEDLINE electronic databases using the following keywords: DTI, diffusion tensor tractography, reliability, repeatability, reproducibility, and CST. As a result, 15 studies were selected. Results: Measurements of the CSTs using region of interest methods on 2-dimensional DTI images generally showed excellent repeatability and reproducibility of more than 0.8 but high variability (0.29 to 1.00) between studies. In contrast, measurements of the CST using the 3-dimensional DTT method not only revealed excellent repeatability and reproducibility of more than 0.9 but also low variability (repeatability, 0.88 to 1.00; reproducibility, 0.82 to 0.99) between studies. Conclusion: Both 2-dimensional DTI and 3-dimensional DTT methods appeared to be reliable for measuring the CST but the 3-dimensional DTT method appeared to be more reliable.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.118-128
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• 2021

Purpose: To investigate the value of MR textural analysis, including use of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to differentiate malignant from benign soft-tissue tumors on 3T MRI. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 69 patients (25 men, 44 women, ages 18 to 84 years) with pathologically confirmed soft-tissue tumors (29 benign, 40 malignant) who underwent pre-treatment 3T-MRI. We calculated MR texture, including mean, standard deviation (SD), skewness, kurtosis, mean of positive pixels (MPP), and entropy, according to different spatial-scale factors (SSF, 0, 2, 4, 6) on axial T1- and T2-weighted images (T1WI, T2WI), contrast-enhanced T1WI (CE-T1WI), high b-value DWI (800 sec/mm²), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map. We used the Mann-Whitney U test, logistic regression, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for statistical analysis. Results: Malignant soft-tissue tumors had significantly lower mean values of DWI, ADC, T2WI and CE-T1WI, MPP of ADC, and CE-T1WI, but significantly higher kurtosis of DWI, T1WI, and CE-T1WI, and entropy of DWI, ADC, and T2WI than did benign tumors (P < 0.050). In multivariate logistic regression, the mean ADC value (SSF, 6) and kurtosis of CE-T1WI (SSF, 4) were independently associated with malignancy (P ≤ 0.009). A multivariate model of MR features worked well for diagnosis of malignant soft-tissue tumors (AUC, 0.909). Conclusion: Accurate diagnosis could be obtained using MR textural analysis with DWI and CE-T1WI in differentiating benign from malignant soft-tissue tumors.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.158-165
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• 2002

Purpose : To evaluate the effect of Gd-DTPA on signal intensity of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance(MR) image and apparent diffuse coefficient (ADC) in dog brain with hype racute stroke. Materials and methods : Experimental canine model of hyperacute cerebral infarction was made by selective intraarterial embolization with particulate embolic material. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging was performed in five dogs at 1 hour after the embolization of internal carotid artery. After intravenous bolus injection of Gd- DTPA, additional 11 diffusion-weighted MR images were serially obtained from 2 minutes to 90 minutes after injection in each dog. The author evaluated findings of hyperacute cerebral infarction on diffusion-weighted MR imaging, and calculated mean signal intensity and mean ADC in infarcted region and contralateral normal region. Statistical analysis of mean signal intensity, mean ADC and contrast-noise ratio before and after Gd-DTPA injection was performed. Results : Hyperacute cerebral infarction developed in all five dogs on diffusion-weighted MR images obtained 1 hour after embolization. The area of hyperacute infarction had steady increase in signal intensity on diffusion-weighted MR image and decrease in ADC. In normal perfusion area, decrease in signal intensity was observed at 2 minutes the Gd-DTPA injection, whereas ADC did not changed. Conclusion : Intravenous injection of Gd-DTPA had no influence on ADC in both hyperacute infarction and normally perfused are a, but caused initial transient signal reduction in normally perfused area on diffusion-weighted MR image due to susceptibility effect of Gd-DTPA. It is important to calculate ADC in evaluating the effect of diffusion after injection of Gd-DTPA.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.400-404
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• 2013

Grain boundary diffusion technique with $DyH_3$ nanoparticles was applied to fabricate Dy-less sintered Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets with high coercivity. The magnetic properties and microstructure of magnets were systematically studied. The coercivity and remanence of grain boundary diffusion magnet were improved by 60% and reduced by 7% compared with those of the original magnet, respectively. Meanwhile, both the remanence temperature coefficient (${\alpha}$) and the coercivity temperature coefficient (${\beta}$) of the magnets were improved after diffusion treatment. Investigation shows that Dy is preferentially enriched as (Nd, Dy)$_2Fe_{14}B$ phase in the surface region of the $Nd_2Fe_{14}B$ matrix grains indicated by the remarkable enhancement of the magneto-crystalline anisotropy field of the magnet. As a result, the magnet diffused with a small amount of Dy nanoparticles possesses enhanced coercivity without remarkably sacrificing its magnetization.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2018

Purpose: To determine the impact of pseudoglandular formation on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and to validate the results using histopathological grades. Materials and Methods: We assessed 182 HCCs surgically resected from 169 consecutive patients. Each type of tumor pseudoglandular formation was categorized into "non-," "mixed-," or "pure-," based on official histopathology reports. The ADC for each tumor was independently measured, using the largest region of interest on the ADC map. Data were assessed using the analysis of variance test, with Bonferroni correction for post hoc analysis to stratify the relationship of ADCs with pseudoglandular formation, followed by subgroup analysis according to the histopathological tumor grades. Results: The mean ADC was significantly higher in pure pseudoglandular lesions (n = 5, $1.29{\pm}0.08{\times}10^{-3}mm^2/s$) than in non-pseudoglandular lesions (n = 132, $1.08{\pm}0.17{\times}10^{-3}mm^2/s$; P = 0.003) or mixed-pseudoglandular lesions (n = 45, $1.16{\pm}0.24{\times}10^{-3}mm^2/s$; P = 0.034). The ADC values and pseudoglandular formation were significantly correlated in moderately differentiated HCCs (n = 103; r = 0.307, P = 0.007), while well- (n = 19) and poorly-differentiated HCCs (n = 60) did not show significant correlation (r = 0.105 and 0.068, respectively; P = 0.600 and 0.685, respectively). Conclusion: The degree of pseudoglandular formation could be one of the determinants of ADC in DWI of HCCs-especially moderately differentiated HCCs-while its influence does not appear to be significant in well- or poorly differentiated HCCs.