Kinetic Analysis Technical Considerations

The technical considerations and interpretation of the second portion of the acute stroke protocol, CTA, is discussed in detail in Chap. 4. Importantly, however, the source images from the CTA vascular acquisition (CTA-SI) also supply clinically relevant data concerning tissue level perfusion. It has been theoretically modeled that the CTA-SI are predominantly blood volume, rather than blood flow weighted [20, 27,70], The potential utihty of the CTA-SI series in the assessment of brain perfusion is discussed in detail below. This perfused blood volume technique requires the assumption of an approximately steady state level of contrast during the period of image acquisition [27], It is for this reason - in order to approach a steady state - that protocols call for a biphasic contrast injection to achieve a better approximation of the steady state [71, 72]. More complex methods of achieving uniform contrast concentration with smaller doses have been proposed that may eventually become standard, such as exponentially decelerated injection rates [73] and biphasic boluses constructed after analysis of test bolus kinetics [72, 74]. 

Due to length limitation of this chapter, many theoretical approaches on the phenomenological aspects of polymer crystallization have to be skipped. The isothermal and non-isothermal kinetic analysis of overall crystallization appears as technically important in the data treatment of DSC measurements. Some theoretical considerations on the metastable aspects of crystal morphologies and their evolution under various circumstances appear as practically important and case sensitive (see Chap. 1). In this sense, a combination of this chapter with other contributions of this book will provide reader a broad cutting-edge knowledge about our basic understanding of polymer crystallization. 

Non-stationary polymerization are complicated from the kinetic point of view. The changing concentrations of active centres, of monomer and possibly even of further components produce conditions unsuitable for an analysis of the process. Even technical and technological difficulties occur. Nevertheless, these have to be solved as most known coordination and cationic, and a considerable number of anionic, polymerizations are non-stationary. Information on the polymerization mechanisms of the more conventional monomers are summarized in Table 3. 

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