Integrated Calendar

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance suffers from low sensitivity for spectroscopy and imaging applications. For certain applications, this sensitivity issue can be solved by means of hyperpolarized xenon that is reversibly bound to host structures. Manipulation by saturation transfer then allows for further sensitivity enhancement (Hyper-CEST technique). This “xenon biosensor” approach yields new opportunities for the design of targeted MRI contrast agents and sensing of molecular environments as such host-guest complexes maintain a spectral dimension for multiplexing and controlled switchable contrast. The CEST performance strongly depends on the host structure and the solvent, thus providing further parameters to explore. This talk will give an overview of xenon biosensor MRI and NMR analysis of different host-guest systems.

Uncertainty in the air-sea fluxes of heat, freshwater, CO2 and other properties constrains our ability to understand and model our changing climate. As the air-sea interface is approached, there is a progressive change in scale and greater interdependence of processes.

An important process is turbulence, which is quantified with the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy. Turbulence in the surface ocean boundary layer (SOBL) is key for deepening the mixed layer depth, and therefore it is critical to correctly scale the different types of turbulence arising from wind, waves, and buoyancy. Turbulence is also a key process for increasing the exchange between the ocean and atmosphere.

Here is presented observations of upper ocean turbulence using the autonomous profiling instrument ASIP (Air-Sea Interaction Profiler) in different ocean basins which have enabled studies on the diurnal jet, air-sea exchange of CO2, and the impact of rainfall on upper ocean salinity.