Materials and Methods: In this study with institutional review board approval and patient consent, diffusional measures of mean kurtosis (MK), fractional anisotropy (FA), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were compared prospectively. Data were normalized to the contralateral white matter. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare each histologic glioma subtype regarding SNX-5422 solubility dmso the diffusion measurements. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to test for the parameter with the best sensitivity and specificity for glioma grade

discrimination.

Results: In 34 patients with cerebral gliomas (five World Health Organization [ WHO] grade II astrocytomas, 13 WHO grade III astrocytomas, and 16 WHO grade IV glioblastomas multiforme), significantly different diffusion patterns were found among the three glioma groups. MK values increased with higher glioma malignancy, whereas

DZNeP supplier ADCs tended to decrease with higher malignancy; FA values did not differ significantly among tumor groups. Significant differences between astrocytoma grades WHO II and WHO III were demonstrated only by DK values. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was highest for normalized MK (0.972) during testing to discriminate between low- and high-grade gliomas.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates specific diffusion patterns for low- and high-grade gliomas, showing that DK imaging is able to depict microstructural changes within glioma tissue and is able to help differentiate among glioma grades. (C)RSNA, 2010″
“The effects on the thermoelectric properties of n-Ba8Ga16Ge30 when substituting small amounts of the Linsitinib supplier Ga or Ge with Sb or Zn have been investigated. A number of syntheses were prepared in quaternary systems of Ba8Ga16Ge30 substituted with either Sb or Zn but only three samples were found to yield single phase products

with nominal compositions of Ba8Ga15Sb1Ge30, Ba8Ga15Zn1Ge30 and Ba8Ga16Ge28Zn2, respectively. When Ge was substituted for Zn the resulting sample remained n-type and an increase in thermopower and a decrease in thermal conductivity were achieved. These positive effects were accompanied with an increased electrical resistivity and thus the ZT was only somewhat improved up to about 400 degrees C. When substituting Ga with either Sb or Zn samples remained n-type but showed decreased thermopower and increased electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity. It is thus concluded that substitution of Ga with Zn or Sb is detrimental for the thermoelectric properties of Ba8Ga16Ge30, whereas substitution of Ge with Zn appears a potent method for improving its performance. (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.