The susceptibility effect of water confined in the collagen extracellular matrix of menisci, ligaments and tendons, or the spaces of the haversian and lacuno-canalicular system in cortical bone can lead to a local magnetic field variation, and thus off resonance frequency shifts. The frequency shift is orientation dependent and may result in different levels of phase accumulation depending on fiber orientation and water-binding status. The phase evolution resulting from these frequency shifts may be used to create contrast for imaging of short T 2 species. UTE phase imaging is one way of evaluating this frequency shift from susceptibility effect due to macromolecules such as collagen and proteoglycan. UTE spectroscopic imaging (UTESI) is another way of direct imaging the short T 2 tissues at a series of TEs, and this technique allows frequency mapping in vitro and in vivo in a time efficient way.

The fact that practitioners of solid-state NMR can participate in many branches of mathematics, physical sciences, and biological sciences, using similar principles and similar experimental equipment, is one of the most attractive features of this area of research. To illustrate this point, I discuss several of my own research projects, starting in the early 1980s and proceeding to the present, and ranging from radiofrequency pulse sequence design to investigations of fullerenes, semiconductor quantum wells, amyloid fibrils associated with Alzheimer's disease, and protein folding. The emphasis of the discussion is on the circumstances surrounding these projects, which may be of interest both to my contemporaries and to younger scientists. Keywords: solid-state NMR; composite pulses; zero-field NMR; fullerenes; skyrmions, quantum wells; protein structure; dipolar recoupling; amyloid fibrils

Some of my research experiences are described because they are relevant in leading to find BOLD (blood oxygenation level-dependent) contrast in brain images. Starting from the days as a graduate student and during research work at Bell Laboratories, there have been many topics in my research culminating in the application of magnetic resonance to functional MRI (fMRI). They are spin states of heme iron of hemoglobin, effects of magnetic susceptibility of compartmentalized material, cellular metabolism, image contrast dependence on physiological state of the brain, and the connection between the image contrast and brain function. In chronological order, my recollections of the works I did and the interactions with many colleagues in each of the periods are presented.

There have been many investigations on the alignment of nematic liquid crystals by either a magnetic and/or an electric field. The basic features of these important hydrodynamic processes have been characterized for systems in their equilibrium and non-equilibrium states. To complement the experiments, theoretical models based on continuum theory have been developed, which successfully describe the static and dynamic phenomena. Such macroscopic behavior has been investigated with deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (DNMR) spectroscopy, in which the electric field, in addition to the magnetic field of the spectrometer, is used to rotate the director and produce a non-equilibrium state. This powerful technique has proved to be especially important in the investigation of liquid crystals. Since the quadrupolar splitting for deuterons observed in the liquid crystal phase is determined by the angle between the director and the magnetic field, time-resolved DNMR spectroscopy has been employed to investigate the dynamic director alignment process in a thin nematic film following the application or removal of an electric field. In this article, we describe illustrative key studies of field-induced director orientations for low molar mass nematics using DNMR with an electric and a magnetic field to align the director.

The sections in this article are 1 Introduction 2 Technique 3 MRI Characteristics 4 Gadolinium Enhanced MRI 5 Local Tumor Staging 6 Recurrence 7 Monitoring Chemotherapy 8 Bone Metastases 9 Acknowledgements 10 Biographical Sketch Related Articles

The sections in this article are 1 Kidney 2 Prostate 3 Testicle 4 Uterus 5 Acknowledgements 6 Biographical Sketch Related Articles

Many two-dimensional solid-state NMR experiments have been designed to measure the chemical shift anisotropy in systems with a number of sites. These correlate the anisotropic information contained in a powder line shape or a spinning-sideband manifold with a well-resolved isotropic chemical shift spectrum. This article describes the advances that have been made in this area over the last decade.

Fast-field-cycling (FFC) NMR relaxometry deals with the variation of the spin–lattice relaxation times (T1) in a complex system, as the strength of the applied magnetic field is changed. Information about molecular dynamics can be achieved. Until now, only model theories for FFC NMR relaxometry have been developed for polymer and material sciences. Just a few applications have been performed in the environmental sciences. These mainly deal with soil porosity, rock permeability, biomass transformations, and natural organic matter dynamics. Further, FFC NMR relaxometry can also be applied to monitor the environmental fate of contaminants, to understand the dynamics of nutrients at the soil–plant interface, and to evaluate reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous catalysis for the development of green reactions. This article summarizes the advances of the technique in environmental investigations and describes the tools used to monitor dynamics of organic and inorganic molecules in environmental compartments.

The sections in this article are 1 Introduction 2 Early Qualitative In Vivo Studies 3 Early Quantitative In Vivo Studies 4 Clinical Observations and Applications 5 Biographical Sketches Related Articles

The sections in this article are 1 Introduction 2 Biographical Sketches Related Articles