Noninvasive Characterization of Metabolic Changes in Ischemic Stroke Using Z-spectrum-fitted Multiparametric Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Objective This study aimed to noninvasively characterize the metabolic alterations in ischemic brain tissues using Z-spectrum-fitted multiparametric chemical exchange saturation transfer-weighted magnetic resonance imaging(CEST-MRI).Methods Three sets of Z-spectrum data with saturation power(B_(1))values of 1.5,2.5,and 3.5µT,respectively,were acquired from 17 patients with ischemic stroke.Multiple contrasts contributing to the Z-spectrum,including fitted amide proton transfer(APT_(fitted)),+2 ppm peak(CEST@2ppm),concomitantly fitted APT_(fitted) and CEST@2ppm(APT&CEST@2ppm),semisolid magnetization transfer contrast(MT),aliphatic nuclear Overhauser effect(NOE),and direct saturation of water(DSW),were fitted with 4 and 5 Lorentzian functions,respectively.The CEST metrics were compared between ischemic lesions and contralateral normal white matter(CNWM),and the correlation between the CEST metrics and the apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)was assessed.The differences in the Z-spectrum metrics under varied B1 values were also investigated.Results Ischemic lesions showed increased APTfitted,CEST@2ppm,APT&CEST@2ppm,NOE,and DSW as well as decreased MT.APT&CEST@2ppm,MT,and DSW showed a significant correlation with ADC[APT&CEST@2ppm at the 3 B_(1) values:R=0.584/0.467/0.551;MT at the 3 B_(1) values:R=−0.717/−0.695/−0.762(4-parameter fitting),R=−0.734/−0.711/−0.785(5-parameter fitting);DSW of 4-/5-parameter fitting:R=0.794/0.811(2.5µT),R=0.800/0.790(3.5µT)].However,the asymmetric analysis of amide proton transfer(APT_(asym))could not differentiate the lesions from CNWM and showed no correlation with ADC.Furthermore,the Z-spectrum contrasts varied with B_(1).Conclusion The Z-spectrum-fitted multiparametric CEST-MRI can comprehensively detect metabolic alterations in ischemic brain tissues.

Evaluation of Glycosaminoglycan in the Lumbar Disc Using Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MR at 3.0 Tesla:Reproducibility and Correlation with Disc Degeneration

Objective This study aims to explore the clinical applicability and relevance of giycosaminoglycan Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer （gagCEST） for intervertebral disc. Methods 25 subjects ranging in age from 24 yrs to 74 yrs were enrolled, gagCEST was acquired using a single-slice TSE sequence on a 3T. Saturation used a continuous rectangular RF pulse with B1=0.8 I^T and a fixed duration time =1100 ms. Sagittal image was obtained firstly without saturation pulse, and then saturated images were acquired at 52 offsets ranging from ＋0.i25 to ＋_7 parts per million （ppm）. MR T2 relaxivity map was acquired at the identical location. Six subjects were scanned twice to assess scan-rescan reproducibility. Results GagCEST intraclass correlation coefficient （ICC） of six subjects was 0.759 for nucleus pulposus （NP） and 0.508 for annulus fibrosus （AF）. Bland-Altman plots showed NP had a mean difference of 0.10% （95% limits of agreement： -3.02% to 3.22%）; while that of AF was 0.34% （95% limits of agreement： -2.28% to 2.95%）. For the 25 subjects, gag CEST in NP decreased as disc degeneration increased, with a similar trend to T2 relaxivity. Gag CEST of AF showed a better correlation with disc degeneration than T2 relaxivity. Conclusion GagCEST in NP and AF decreased as disc degeneration increased, while gagCEST in AF showed a better correlation than T2 relaxivity.

Outlet Temperature Correlation and Prediction of Transfer Line Exchanger in an Industrial Steam Ethylene Cracking Process

Predicting the best shutdown time of a steam ethylene cracking furnace in industrial practice remains a challenge due to the complex coking process. As well known, the shutdown time of a furnace is mainly determined by coking condition of the transfer line exchangers （TLE） when naphtha or other heavy hydrocarbon feedstocks are cracked. In practice, it is difficult to measure the coke thickness in TLE through experimental method in the complex industrial situation. However, the outlet temperature of TLE （TLEOT） can indirectly characterize the coking situation in TLE since the coke accumulation in TLE has great influence on TLEOT. Thus, the TLEOT could be a critical factor in deciding when to shut down the furnace to decoke. To predict the TLEOT, a paramewic model was proposed in this work, based on theoretical analysis, mathematic reduction, and parameters estimation. The feasibility of the proposed model was further checked through industrial data and good agreements between model prediction and industrial data with maximum deviation 2% were observed.

A numerical study on heat transfer enhancement and design of a heat exchanger with porous media in continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis system

The aim of this study is to use a new configuration of porous media in a heat exchanger in continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis(CHFS)system to enhance the heat transfer and minimize the required length of the heat exchanger.For this purpose,numerous numerical simulations are performed to investigate performance of the system with porous media.First,the numerical simulation for the heat exchanger in CHFS system is validated by experimental data.Then,porous media is added to the system and six different thicknesses for the porous media are examined to obtain the optimum thickness,based on the minimum required length of the heat exchanger.Finally,by changing the flow rate and inlet temperature of the product as well as the cooling water flow rate,the minimum required length of the heat exchanger with porous media for various inlet conditions is assessed.The investigations indicate that using porous media with the proper thickness in the heat exchanger increases the cooling rate of the product by almost 40% and reduces the required length of the heat exchanger by approximately 35%.The results also illustrate that the most proper thickness of the porous media is approximately equal to 90% of the product tube's thickness.Results of this study lead to design a porous heat exchanger in CHFS system for various inlet conditions.

Minimizing investment cost for multi-period heat exchanger network retrofit by matching heat transfer areas with different strategies

Multi-period heat exchanger network(HEN) retrofit is usually performed by targeting and matching heat transfer areas. In this paper, based on the reverse order matching method we proposed previously, three strategies of matching heat transfer areas are proposed to minimize the investment cost for the retrofit of HEN in multiperiod, in which replacement of heat exchangers, addition of heat exchangers and addition of heat transfer areas are performed. We demonstrate the procedures through three scenarios, including maximum number of substituted heat exchangers after retrofit, minimum additional heat transfer areas in the retrofitted HEN, and minimum investment cost for retrofit. The strategies are extended to a single period HEN retrofit problem. The results of multi-period and single period HEN retro fit problems indicate the effectiveness of the strategies. Moreover, these results are better than those reported in literature. The strategies are simple and easy to implement,which are of great benefit to large-scale HEN retrofit in practice.

Piston mechanism of interaction of non-linear geomechanical and physicochemical gas exchange and mass transfer processes in coal-bearing rocks

The article focuses on a theoretical and experimental framework for the quantification of interaction between nonlinear geomechnical and physicochemical processes in high-stress coal-bearing rock mass during mining under high seismic risk due to large-scale blasting and earthquakes,as well as because of structural and temperature effects.The tests were aimed to examine and study comprehensively the piston mechanism of gas exchange and mass transfer processes,revealed recently at the Institute of Mining,SB RAS,as well as to explain the fact that the earthquake-induced low-velocity(quasi-meter range)pendulum waves(velocity to 1 m/s and frequency of 0.5–5 Hz)could stimulate an increase in the gas content in coal mines.In order to perform laboratory investigation at the Institute of Mining SB RAS,special-purpose stand for analyzing gas exchange and mass transfer processes in coal-bearing geomaterials under various thermodynamic conditions(P,V,T)and gas composition was constructed in cooperation with the Institute of Semiconductors Physics SB RAS.Matching of air flow rate with compression pressures allowed to obtain relations showing that air flow rate increases at the uncertain time interval under the increasing of the compression pressure.The same measurements was carried out with another gases such as Hydrogen H_(2),Helium He,methane CH_(4),carbon dioxide CO_(2) and carbon oxide CO.The laboratory tests aimed to detailed investigation of the previously revealed“piston mechanism”of gas exchange and mass transfer processes in the coal specimens and their quantitative description in terms of theory of the pendulum waves were carried in the first time.Consequently,there are some arguments for the testing of the opportunity of quantitative description of the“piston mechanism”related to gas exchange and mass transfer processes in the scale of coal mines.It is relevant when pendulum waves induced by powerful earthquakes and technical blasting reaches the mine.

Numerical investigation on gas flow heat transfer and pressure drop in the shell side of spiral-wound heat exchangers

As a critical facility,spiral-wound heat exchanger was(SWHE)has the been widely used in many industrial applications.boundary A computational fluid dynamics(CFD)model employed with smallest periodic element results and periodic conditions to examine around the the characteristics tube of the shell side of SWHE.Numerical simulation show that the heat transfer coefficients and initially mean increase absolute and subsequently decrease simulated 5%with heat radial angle because of the influence measured of backflow turbulent separation.nitrogen The deviation between is transfer coefficients and values for methane,drop,ethane,and are a mixture(methane/ethane)within when mean Reynolds number is over is 30000.For the pressure the simulated results values smaller than the measured values,and the absolute on deviation within 9%.Numerical simulation also tubes indicate that the pressure drop the and heat of transfer coefficients angle the shell side and of SWHE heat decrease as the winding the angle of the increases.Nusselt Considering effect winding on pressure drops transfer coefficients,modified correlations of_=0.308Re^(0.64)Pr^(0.36)(1+sin)^(1.38 )and friction factor f_=0.435Re^(-0.133)(sin)^(-0.36),are proposed.Comparing Nu number with the experimental data,the maximum deviations for heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops are less than 5%and11%respectively.

Thermal Characterization of Lauric Acid and Stearic Acid Binary Eutectic Mixture in Latent Heat Thermal Storage Systems with Tube and Fins

In order to obtain the suitable phase change material（PCM） with low phase change temperature and improve its heat transfer rate, experimental investigation was conducted. Firstly, different mass ratios of lauric acid（LA） and stearic acid（SA） eutectic mixtures were prepared and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry（DSC）. Then, the performance of eutectic mixture during charging process under different fin widths in vertical condition, and performance during charging and discharging processes under different inlet temperature heat transfer fluid（HTF） in horizontal condition were investigated, respectively. The results revealed that the LA-SA eutectic mixture had the suitable phase change temperature and desired latent heat for low-temperature water floor heating system. Wide fins and high inlet temperature HTF significantly enhanced the transfer rate and decreased the melting time.

A HYDROGEN BONDING ASSISTED CATALYST SCREENED OUT VIA COMBINATORIAL CHEMISTRY STRATEGY

Possibilities for enhancement of catalytic reaction rate by combining phase transfer catalysis and hydrogen bonding of the catalyst with the substrate and reagent were studied. A phase transfer catalyst library with sixty polystyrene-supported quaternary ammonium salt catalysts was synthesized. The reduction of acetophenone by NaBH, was used as the probing reaction to select out the most active catalyst in the library by using iterative method, which was the gel-type triethanolamine aminating strongly basic anion exchange resin with the crosslinking degree of 2% A hydrogen bonding assisted catalytic mechanism was proposed to explain the high catalytic activity of the catalyst.

Kinetic characterization of a slow chemical exchange between two sites in N,N-dimethylacetylamide by CEST NMR spectroscopy

Nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)spectroscopy has provided many powerful tools for the study of dynamic processes.Among the reported methods,chemical exchange saturation transfer(CEST)is more suitable for systems with slow exchange rates,and there will be promising in the detection and dynamic mechanism of metastable substances.It has been widely used in magnetic resonance imaging(MRI),however whether it is applicable in the field of chemical kinetics needs more examples.Here we studied,as a proof of concept,the kinetics of the slow chemical exchange between the two N-methyl protons of N,N-dimethylacetylamide(DMA),exploiting QUantifying Exchange using Z-spectrum(QUEZS)and QUantifying Exchange using Saturation Time(QUEST)methods.It turned out that both of QUEZS and QUEST could give the corresponding exchange rates,showcasing the capability of this method to provide accurate kinetic data under a range of temperatures.Our results clearly demonstrated the reliability of CEST-based techniques as a tool for dynamic kinetics by NMR.

Lattice Boltzmann model for simulation on leaching process of weathered elution-deposited rare earth ore

The lattice Boltzmann model with coupled chemical reaction was proposed to simulate the ion exchange process of rare earth leaching and verified by comparison with both empirical correlation of mass transfer coefficient and unreacted-core shrinking model. By simulation, the zonation phenomenon of leaching reagent in the leaching column was presented, and the breakthrough curve of leaching reagent was obtained. When t=50 s, there existed the saturated and exchange zones, and the leaching reagent concentration decreased gradually from 20 to 9.3 g/L. In accordance with the breakthrough curve, the breakthrough capacity of ion-type rare earth ore and the adsorbed ion concentration of leaching reagent were derived, the time of t=25 s was the breakthrough point of ammonium ion in leaching reagent and the breakthrough capacity of the rare earth ore was 125 g/L. Besides, the chemical kinetics parameters used for the solute transfer process of rare earth leaching were obtained by the simulation and then were used to determine the rate-limiting steps of rare earth leaching process.