Parallel Imaging. Advantages And Disadvantages Of Parallel Imaging Assignment

Parallel Imaging. Advantages And Disadvantages Of Parallel Imaging - Assignment Example Parallel imaging techniques were not commercially available until recently. They are on the verge of being explored in clinical applications. As has been widely cited, fundamentally, their potential clinical application involves either reduction in the acquisition time or improvement in spatial resolution. Improvements in the quality of images can be realized by reducing the single-shot spin echo sequences, and the fast spin-echo’s train length. Recent studies have hinted that parallel imaging is quite attractive for both vascular and cardiac application and proves more valuable as a 3-T body. Recent studies have shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be devoted for establishing means of increasing the acquisition speed. It is worth noting, therefore, that impressive gains have been realized in an effort to make MRI more effective in its application. This paper seeks to provide an overview of fundamental parallel imaging concepts while illustrating on potential clinic al applications. In this paper, merits, demerits of parallel imaging, as well as the comparison between SENSE and GRAPPA as parallel imaging technique would be emphasized. ... Moreover, it has an advantage of not being able to alter the contrast behavior of the imaging sequence underneath (Boesiger, 2002). Described as one with the ability to decrease the time required to perform the image sequence, it causes an increase in the resolution provided there is a specific time measured or be able to perform the two (Boesiger, 2002). For instance in cases where a patient experiences acquisition time exceeding his/her breath-hold capacity, The Parallel imaging can help in addressing this issue through reducing the patient acquisition time by factor 2 or even greater Figure 01. (Glockner et al. 2004) Figure 01.  The  Improved visualization of segmental renal arteries in SENSE IMAGES. IN case, the patient was initially short in breath with difficulty in suspending the respiration for a standard acquisition time. The use of Parallel imaging helped reduce acquisition time from 19s to 10 seconds (Glocker et al, 2004). For the Parallel images that are used in spira l scanning and EPI, they have a faster redouts, which often help to reduce the phase error that often result from BO motion or inhomogenity (Griswold, Jakob, 2002). Through this it help mitigate the T2* decay effect. In this case, motion effects, as well as T2 decay can be reduced and can be reduced when RF echo trains apply. Within the image product, such an advantage can lead to reduced susceptibility, motion artifact, as well as in mitigating of the T2/T2* blurring (Hahn eta l. 2003). In this case, Parallel imaging helps in reducing motion artifact, alongside diminishing the venous contamination, in particular for regions in which there happens to be rapid venous return. For instance, in carotid and renal arteries (figure 02) (Glockner et al. 2004) Figure

The discovery of the circadian photoreceptor Assignment

The discovery of the circadian photoreceptor - Assignment Example mid-1990s to the discovery of a new molecule known as the Cryptochrome that showed a close relation to photolyases in the bacteria cells (Nicolas and Sassone-Corsi, 60). Cryptochrome genes cry1 and cry2 coded for universal proteins, CRY 1 and CRY 2 found in almost all the kingdoms of the living organisms (Nicolas and Sassone-Corsi, 60). These proteins activated the light sensitive cofactors and cells that make the photoreceptor cells to detect light in rhythmic manner. They also act as DNA repair enzymes in case of any damage from light related radiations such as the UV light (Robert , Lucas et al, 505). The unearthing of the molecules would then give clue to the discovery of the cells of the circadian photoreceptors. Consequently, this followed the exhumation of most of the photoreceptive cells that respond to the 24- hour clock in the first quarter of 1900s (Martha , Spoelstra and Roenneberg, 931). These special cells, found to be containing a pigment known as melanopsin, would lat er acquire different names including intrinsically photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells (ipRGC) (Howard, Herbin and Nevo, 156). This was many decades later after the discovery of the rods and cons in the mammalian eye, making the ipRGC a new element at the time. Much of the changes in the findings into these cells did not accrue until around the year 1990s, the same time that research on the circadian molecules was very active. However slow in their activities, they were solely responsible for the change in the rhythmic day and light cycles (Martha , Spoelstra and Roenneberg, 932). In addition, the pigments have recently been active even without the presence of cones and rods thereby helping the individual to detect the slightest changes of light and darkness. Actually, the detection of... The discovery of the circadian photoreceptor The gene coding for these photoreceptors were detected by breeding of bean plant under two different conditions, of long periods and short periods. Unfortunately, the light and dark periods were not considered, therefore the experiment would prove disastrous to deal with especially in conducting the genetic analysis. Following a long struggle over many decades’ scientists in due course were able to detect some of the genes responsible for coding of these circadian rhythmic proteins. At around 1970s, the knowledge of mutagenesis would act as the focal point to the first discovery of these genes, which later would attain the name ‘clock genes’ in the Drosophila melanogaster fly.This improved the prospects of the eventual discovery of the photoreceptor cells and their molecular make up. Later on, there was an increase in the discovery of many other genes coding for the circadian rhythm from several plant as well as animal families. At around 1980s, scientists discove red a gene called HY4 that they thought was solely responsible for the blue light detection in Arabidopsis thaliana plant. More experiments conducted found out its homology in mammals and their effects attributed to the functions of photolyases. The discovery towards circadian photoreceptor proved to be challenging and deceptive over a long period. Scientists would stumble at many molecules and pigments such as the HY4 genes and the cones and rods before coming into the right conclusions. Earlier on, the cones and rods were thought to be the only cells in control for the photo-transduction in the retina of the eye.

Socrates' Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Socrates' Death - Essay Example It is against this backdrop that the dikasts sentence Socrates to death by drinking a conium-laced concoction. Rebutting Socrates’ Position Socrates’ appeal that in his philosophical lectures to the youth on the nature and essence of virtue as a way of directing them to be examined, ethical life does not suffice. Calling people to examined and moral lives does not require the ignoble lampooning of the Athenian pantheon of gods. Socrates was fully aware that the Athenians heavily depended on their many deities since Athenians had assigned every force of nature or the environment to a given deity; yet he proceeded to malign these gods. In an instance, he charged publicly that contrary to Athenians’ beliefs, the gods could act neither morally nor whimsically. Given that the youth formed the majority of his audience and public lectures, it was obvious that Socrates was inspiring the youth towards socio-cultural disobedience. The legitimacy or illegitimacy of the gods that Socrates preached against in this case does not matter: what matters most is that the religious system existed to foster communal good, unity and continuity. By extension, Socrates in his teaching was threatening the very unity and continuity of the Athenian community (Blyth, 2000). ... on and politics were not divided in the Athenian total way of life, Socrates proceeded to advance his stand against the collective and ritualistic views of religion by not participating in these rituals. Socrates was aware that the rulers were considered spokespersons of these deities and thus, by attacking these gods, he was actually disparaging the Athenian oligarchy and political order. The consequences were dire as he indeed knew, but he trudged on with his impious agenda. Thus, Socrates was not only advancing an antireligious onslaught on the Athenian culture but also on Athens’ political stability. Alongside serving in the military (Ephebos) and getting an education, a good citizen of ancient Athens was supposed to exercise his religious duties. Socrates does not observe the religious duties that he owes Athenians fully. Instead, he contravenes this expectation by introducing other gods to the youth and his larger audience. While Socrates is categorical that the sun and moon are inanimate bodies in lieu of Athenian gods, he implies that he believes in gods other than the Athenians’. Socrates also confirms this as he answers Meletus in his unapologetic three hour defense. According to Miller (2000), these concepts underlie contemporary perspectives, except that they are treated as rights and freedoms in lieu of duties. Presently, democracies insist that all have a right to education, the freedom of association and conscience (religious affiliation and beliefs and any career or profession, including the military). The advantage of the contemporary view is that plurality of views in politics and religion is preserved. The shortcoming of this view is that many have not been able to tinker their democratic freedoms and rights with personal responsibilities.

The return of IBM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The return of IBM - Essay Example It should be noted that IBM enjoyed double digit net annual profit of 10-15% during the 1950-1980. These profitable years were coupled with strong company growth. For a firm like IBM, this was remarkable as profits are ballooning with the company's expansion (Duby 1995). This put IBM on top of other firms and became the most admired corporation in America. IBM is the envy of the corporate world as it enjoys an incredible culture of high performance and excellence. However, the early 1990s saw the downfall of the corporate giant. Iwata (2005) attributes the seeds of these failures top the big shifts in the Information Technology (IT) market and the key market changes and developments which were disregarded by IBM in the late 1980s. These problems triggered the financial catastrophe which was experienced during the 1990s. The downfall is indicated by the abrupt collapse in the firm's profit margin, stagnation and decline of its revenue and huge net losses. The internal performance of IBM together with the speculations on the firm's future slashed its stock price by almost half. The company also has to layoff 200,000 employs in four years (Iwata 2005). Amidst all these dilemmas, IBM managed to stand up and recover through various measures. The entry of Louis V. Gertsner, Jr. as the firm's new CEO when it is in the deepest trouble had helped the company to regain its robust performance. This paper will tackle the downfall and recovery of IBM. The succeeding paragraphs will justify the importance of the IBM's case in corporate finance. Another section will highlight the role and implication of innovation and changing technology to the business organization. In order to fully get acquainted with IBM, this paper will give a brief corporate profile of IBM together with the products and services it provides. The next section is an overview of the technology sector and the major competitors of IBM. A comparison of their financial performance is also shown. This paper will also give light on major issues faced by IBM and their causes. The last section will give a brief outlook for the company. Truly, the case of the Big Blue is very significant in the field of corporate finance. As with other business entities, the firm had experienced profitable years along with troublesome ones. The only difference that IBM shows is its capability of recovering after a great downfall. As a student, I believe that the downfall and recovery of IBM should become an imperative in a Corporate Finance course as it clearly shows the interdependence of the company's financial health and the firm's overall performance. The case of IBM also shows the mistakes that firms usually make. Through this, students who are trained to become financial executives someday are cautioned and trained on how to better handle decision-making processes. Another point which is highlighted by the IBM's downfall and recovery is the great impact of a firm's external environment. As mentioned above, the company's downfall was triggered by its disregard of the changing markets and emerging trends. Thus, IBM teaches stud ents that financial policies should take into account a firm's external factors. It is equally amazing how IBM was able to cope and surpass all this financial pitfalls. The case of IBM is also an important

Nursing personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing - Personal Statement Example With time, I developed a need and desire to refocus my career goals to become an established psychiatric mental nurse practitioner with a command in this particular area of nursing. In order for me to actualize my career goals and professional development, I realized there was a need to increase the depth, and scope of my knowledge, skills and experience in this particular field. This would enable me to conform to the current standards of delivering patient centered care with integration of evidence based practice and clinical experience in order to optimize patient care outcomes. In order for me to achieve my goal, I have to enroll for a master degree in PMHNP (Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner) that would increase my knowledge and hands on skills in this specific field of nursing practice. In particular, this program offers me the necessary biopsychopharmacotherapeutic knowledge and skills that will enable me to function well as a PMHN (Psychiatric Mental health Nurse) w ith regard to diagnosing various psychiatric disorders, managing of various psychotropic medication, and promoting the health of the psychiatric mental health patient. ... I have the necessary experience which is a prerequisite for admission to the MSN PMHN program. During my work as a nurse both in the hospital and in the home care, I interacted with patients with psychiatric disorders and actively participated in their treatment and management plans. In particular, I was part of a team that handled psychiatric cases. I personally participated in the physical assessment of the patients and the process of diagnosing the disorders. My participation in the diagnosis process included participating in many of the tests performed to aid the diagnosis. I participated in designing of their treatment plan and its implementation. I also participated in the development of long term palliative care plans for most of the patients with psychiatric disorders. I monitored their progress and response to treatment (both pharmacological and psychotherapy). Apart from the experience that I gained by directly working with patients with psychiatric disorders, I also worked with patients with other disease conditions. In the process, I gained valuable experience needed by the practicing nurse in a clinical setting. I have experience in using handoff communication tools like â€Å"I pass the baton† and SBAR. These tools provide a standard mechanism for communication between nursing personnel and account for a large percent in reduction of medical errors. I also have developed critical skills and experience in using standard research methods within a clinical setting to obtain relevant and up to date information with regards to essential guidelines that are to be observed while handling a continuum of medical conditions presented b patients. I have acquired skills that enable me to apply evidence based practice to developing meaningful and practical

Networking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Networking - Essay Example This study also encompassed the fastest net providers in every country. In the United States, Verizon and the FiOS network was ranked as the fastest net provider with an average speed of 1,056Kbps (Tsukayama 1). The FCC has a leading priority of providing faster access to broadband networks and faster download speeds. This access has been influenced by the partnership with Microsoft, Comcast among other non-governmental organization like the Clinton Global Initiative. According to Bill Clinton who is the former president in the United States, South Korea provides the fastest internet speeds (Tsukayama 1). This factor is influenced by the governmental policy which encourages partnerships with other organizations. Nowadays, the South Korean citizens enjoy an average internet speed of up to 16.63 megabits per second. Therefore, the access to internet services in South Korea is cheaper. In the United States, the residents pay an average of $46 monthly while the South Korean citizens pay a monthly fee of $38. This asserts that the United States should aim in providing better internet services because; the South Korean government has already initialized their improvement project in the internet provision sector. In conclusion, the current president of the United States is committed to setting up a plan whereby 98% of the Americans will receive better broadband services. The slower internet services are attributed by the fact that most citizens do not have the appropriate internet speeds to stream videos and load web pages. Therefore, the United States should implement a plan to increase their internet speeds through partnering with other companies (Smith 1). Smith, Catharine. South Koreas internet to be 200 times faster than in U.S. The Huffington Post 23 Feb. 2011. Web. Tsukayama, Hayley. S. Korea leads the

IS CBT EFFECTIVE IN MANAGING SCHIZOPHRENIA Essay

IS CBT EFFECTIVE IN MANAGING SCHIZOPHRENIA - Essay Example According to the http://www.schizophrenia.com/szfacts.htm, there is no cure for schizophrenia so all talk of "treatment" or "therapy" may pertain to â€Å"management† and not actual â€Å"treatment† of the condition. In this work, we review three articles that I consider important in how cognitive behaviour therapy can be useful in the management and treatment of schizophrenia. We review three studies: Barrowclough et al. (2006), Turkington et al. (2006a) and Turkington et al. (2006b). Barrowclough et al. (2006) sought to evaluate the effectiveness of group cognitive behavioural therapy for schizophrenia. To do so, 113 people with chronic schizophrenia, the Barrowclough et al. study assigned each of the 113 people to receive either the group cognitive-behavioural therapy or the usual treatment. The primary measure employed to assess the efficacy of treatment were the positive symptom improvement on the positive and negative syndrome scales while the secondary measures w ere â€Å"secondary outcome measures† like symptoms, functioning, relapses, hopelessness and self-esteem (Barrowclough et al. 2006, p. 527). The finding of Barrowclough et al. (2006) is that there was no significant difference between the two methods of treatment. However, the individuals subjected to group cognitive-behavioural therapy have a reduction in â€Å"feelings of hopelessness and in low self-esteem.† Thus, the conclusion of the Barrowclough et al. (2006) study is that â€Å"although the group cognitive-behavioural therapy may not be the optimum treatment for reducing hallucinations and delusions, it may have important benefits, including feeling less negative about oneself and less hopeless† (p. 527). The Barrowclough et al. (2006) study exhibited adequate adherence to professional and research ethics. Perhaps, an important indication of this is that the study sought an ethical agreement with the local research ethics committee. The inclusion criteria for the study are very clear in Barrowclough et al. (2006, p. 527). One of the inclusion criteria is that informed consent from the patient was required although the study does not discuss whether the informed consent is merely verbal or written or whether the relatives or the guardians of the patients were made co-signatories in the informed consent mechanism. I believe that concurrence of relatives or guardians may be necessary because schizophrenic patients may be considered legally incompetent to respond to requests for consent (even if symptoms have not exacerbated six months prior to the study). In building cognitive behavioural therapy groups, the study built groups from the 113 individuals who were the subject of research. Those who administered the group cognitive-behavioural therapy composed another group who operated a program independent of the Barrowclough et al. research team. In the opinion of this researcher, the Barrowclough made due consideration for the welfare o f patients by putting in their inclusion criteria the requirement that the patient had one month of stabilisation if they had experienced a symptom exacerbation in the last six months (Barrowclough et al. 2006, p. 527). At the same time, however, the inclusion criterion implies that the results of the study should be qualified or that the positive benefits of the group cognitive behavioural therapy for schizophrenia, if any, apply only to that population