Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-ionizing form of medical imaging which has practical uses in diagnosing, characterizing, and studying diseases in vivo. Current clinical practice utilizes a highly trained radiologist to view MR images and qualitatively diagnose, characterize, or study a disease. There is no easy way to compare qualitative data. That is why developing quantitative measures in MRI show promise. Quantitative measures of disease can be compared across a population, MRI sites, and over time. Osteoarthritis is one disease where those who have it may benefit from the development of quantitative MRI measures. Those benefits may include earlier diagnosis and treatment of the disease or treatment which may halt or even reverse the damage from the disease.The work presented in this dissertation focuses on analyzing and developing new methods of radiofrequency (B1) field mapping to improve quantitative MRI measures. The dissertation opens with an introduction and a brief primer on MRI physics, followed by an introduction to B1 and flip-angle mapping in MRI (Chapters 1-3). Chapter 4 presents a careful statistical analysis of a recent and popular B1 mapping method, the Bloch-Siegert shift (BSS) method, along with a comparison of the technique to other common B1 mapping methods. The statistical models developed in chapter 4 are verified using both Monte Carlo simulation and actual MRI experiments in phantoms. Chapter 5 analyzes and details the potential errors introduced in B1 mapping when a 3D slab-selective excitation is employed. A method for correcting errors introduced by 3D slab-selective B1 mapping is then introduced in chapter 6, along with metrics to quantify the error involved. The thesis closes with a summary of other scientific contributions made by the author in chapter 7. The chapters comprising the bulk of the presented research (4-7) are briefly summarized below. Chapter 4, the statistical analysis of B1 mapping methods, demonstrates the effectiveness of deriving the B1 estimate from the phase of the MR image. These techniques are shown to perform particularly well in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) applications. However, there are benefits and drawbacks of each B1 mapping technique. The BSS method deposits a significant amount of radiofrequency (RF) power into the patient, causing a concern that tissue heating may occur. The Phase-Sensitive (PS) method of B1 mapping outperforms the other techniques in many situations, but suffers from significant sensitivity to off-resonance. The Dual-Angle (DA) method is very simple to implement and the analysis is straightforward, but it can introduce significant mean bias in the estimate. No B1 mapping technique performs well for all situations. Therefore, the best B1 mapping method needs to be determined for each situation. The work in chapter 4 provides guidance for that choice. Many B1 mapping techniques rely on a linear relationship between flip angle and transmit voltage. That assumption breaks down when a 3D slab-selective excitation is used. 3D slab-selective excitation is a common technique used to reduce the field-of-view (FOV) in MRI, which can directly reduce scan time. The problem with slab-selective excitation in conjunction with B1 mapping has been documented, but the potential errors in B1 estimation have never been properly analyzed across different techniques. The analysis in chapter 5 demonstrates that the errors introduced in B1 mapping using a slab-selective excitation in conjunction with the ubiquitous DA B1 mapping method can be significant. It is then shown that another B1 mapping technique, the Actual Flip Angle Imaging (AFI) method, doesn't suffer from the same limitation. The analysis presented in Chapter 6 demonstrates that some errors introduced by 3D slab-selective B1 mapping may be modeled and corrected allowing the use of 3D slab-selective excitation to reduce field-of-view, and potentially reduce scan time. The errors are modeled and corrected with a general numerical method using Bloch simulations. The general method is applied to the DA method as an example, but is general and could easily be extended to other methods as well. Finally, a set of metrics are proposed and briefly explored that can be used to better understand the topology and severity of errors introduced into B1 mapping methods. With a better understanding of the errors introduced, the need for correction can be determined. Chapter 7 details other significant ancillary contributions made by the author including: (1) presentation of a new B1 mapping method, the decoupled RF-pulse phase-sensitive B1 mapping method, which has potential for parallel transmit MRI; (2) demonstration of an ultra-short TE method which has potential for imaging Alzheimers brain lesions in vivo; (3) introduction of a new steady-state diffusion tensor imaging technique; (4) phase-sensitive B1 mapping in sodium is demonstrated, a feat not previously demonstrated; (5) a comparison between a dual-tuned and single-tuned sodium coil; (6) introduction of a water- and fat-separation technique using multiple acquisition SSFP; (7) an inter-site and inter-vendor quantitative MRI study is introduced; (8) a relaxation and contrast optimization for laryngeal imaging at 3T is introduced; and (9) diffusion imaging with insert gradients is introduced.

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In der Pathogenese der Temporallappenepilepsie wird kindlichen hippokampalen Schädigungen eine wesentliche Rolle zugeschrieben. Epileptische Krämpfe und perinatale Asphyxie sind zwei häufige Ursachen dieser Schädigungen. Anhaltende epileptiforme Aktivität im Niedrig-Mg2+-Modell als einer experimentellen Form epileptischer Krämpfe führt in organotypischen hippokampalen Schnittkulturen (OHSK) der Ratte, die als Ersatzsystem des kindlichen Hippokampus verwendet werden, zu Zellschäden. Während dieser Untersuchungen ergab sich der Verdacht auf eine zusätzlich schädigende Wirkung erhöhter Sauerstoffspannungen. In meiner ersten Versuchsreihe konnte ich nachweisen, dass erhöhte Sauerstoffspannungen (60 %, 95 %) verglichen mit 20%-Sauerstoffspannung zu reversiblen und irreversiblen Zellschäden in OHSK führen. Die Zellschäden wurden über Veränderungen reizinduzierter Feldpotentiale, d.h. Abnahme der Amplitude, Zunahme der Latenz und Zunahme des Doppelpulsindex, sowie über die Propidium Jodid (PJ)-Fluoreszenzintensität bestimmt. In der zweiten Versuchsreihe konnte gezeigt werden, dass erhöhte Sauerstoffspannungen auch nach einer Hypoxie im Sinne einer hyperoxischen Reoxygenierung verglichen mit normoxischer Reoxygenierung vermehrt Zellschäden in OHSK zur Folge haben. In der dritten Versuchsreihe konnte ich ausschließen, dass erhöhte Sauerstoffspannungen eine notwendige Bedingung für Zellschäden infolge anhaltender epileptiformer Aktivität sind. Um die zellschädigende Rolle von Spreading Depressions (SDs), die während epileptiformer Aktivität auftreten, zu bestimmen, wurde in der vierten Versuchsreihe eine Methode etabliert, SD-ähnliche Ereignisse isoliert und zuverlässig in normoxischen OHSK auszulösen. Auf diese Weise wiederholt ausgelöste SD-ähnliche Ereignisse führten zu Zellschäden, bestimmt über die Veränderung elektrophysiologischer Eigenschaften von SD-ähnlichen Ereignissen, Abnahme der Feldpotentialamplitude und PJ-Fluoreszenzintensität. / Hippocampal damage during infancy is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of temporal lobe epilepsy. Epileptic seizures and perinatal asphyxia are two frequent causes of these damages. Sustained epileptiform activity induced in the low Mg2+-model of epileptic seizures leads to cell damage in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHSC) of the rat, which are used as a surrogate for the infantile hippocampus. During a previous study utilising this model the suspicion arose that increased oxygen tension could have an additional damaging effect. My first series of experiments proved that increased oxygen tension (60 %, 95 %) lead to reversible and irreversible cell damage in OHSC compared to 20%-oxygen tension. Cell damage was determined by alterations of evoked field potentials, i.e. decrement of amplitude, increment of latency and paired pulse index, as well as by propidium iodide fluorescence. The second series of experiments showed that increased oxygen tension applied after an hypoxic period (hyperoxic reoxygenation) result in augmented cell damage compared to normoxic reoxygenation. With the third series of experiments it could be excluded that increased oxygen tension is an essential condition for the occurrence of cell damage due to sustained epileptiform activity. In order to elucidate the damaging role of spreading depressions (SD), which emerge during epileptiform activity, a method was established in the fourth series of experiments that allowed the reliable induction of SD-like events in normoxic OHSC. Repetitive SD-like events induced by this method led to cell damage, assessed by alterations of electrophysiological characteristics of SD-like events, decrement of evoked field potential amplitude and propidium iodide fluorescence.

商業智慧是近年來企業邁向成功重要的工具，在競爭劇烈的市場上採用商業智慧來作業其管理效果卓越。 企業除了提高產能、準時交貨率、服務品質、客戶滿意度等競爭優勢等；另外降低不良率、減少應收帳款周轉天數、減低庫存周轉率、重工率、報廢率、退貨率、客戶抱怨、成本….等。 本文就是利用商業智慧 (Business Intelligence)的企業管理儀表板 (EMD – Enterprise Management Dashboard)的一個成功的案例，例如：單一畫面全方位管理、多維度互動式 (Multi-Dimensional)、相關性快速分析、交叉分析 (Slice & Dice)、穿透鑽取 (Drill-Through)、上捲下鑽 (Drill-Down & Drill-Up)及線上分析 (OLAP – On Line Analytical Processing)引擎，提供各級主管即時的資訊作為管理工具，即時自動轉為視覺化資訊 (Visualizer Web) – 協助企業快速透視整體營運狀況，進而採取最佳行動方案快速超過對手，創造出良好的營運績效為企業帶來可觀的收益與利潤。

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