Like any other program matNMR requires a certain sequence of events to be followed for properly
processing spectra. In general it can be said that everything is done stepwise. Although processing
macro's can be defined (see paragraph 4.4, "Using macro's")
there are no all-in-one processing steps pre-defined. As an example two typical sets of processing
actions are shown below, one for a 1D and one for processing a 2D spectrum.
In general for 1D spectra the routine will be something like :
For a 2D this basically looks the same but it needs some steps more. This is
because certain steps (like phasing and apodizing) assume working on a 1D spectrum and unless
matNMR is instructed to work on the whole 2D matrix only the 1D spectrum in the current view
is affected. (For more information see paragraph 4.2,
"1D, 2D and 3D mode"). Therefore it is important not to forget the "Apodize 2D" and "Set Phase
2D" commands during processing.
Typically processing a 2D will look like :
and if needed:
As a practical example is the easiest way to learn about matNMR, there are two datasets included in the matNMR distribution. These can be found in a subdirectory called "Examples", in the directory where you have stored matNMR. The datasets are solid-NMR spectra generated with Spinsight. They are called "SpinsightExample1" and "SpinsightExample2".
In this case there are two ways of importing the two datasets into Matlab: separately or as a series. To load them separately go into the "files" menu and select "binary FID". Select the file that contains the FID. For Spinsight data this file is always called "data". After selecting this file, an input window comes up. In this window the size of the data must be specified, the name of the variable in the Matlab workspace must be defined, and the format of the data must be specified. When the standard parameter files are present (i.e. the full dataset and not just the FID) then the sizes will be deduced from those files. The data format is in some cases recognized automatically. Finally, when the dataset should not only be stored in the workspace but also loaded into matNMR directly then select the flag.
Since the two datasets are both Spinsight datasets and have a very similar name, they can also be loaded as a series of binary FIDs. Select the appropriate entry in the "files" menu. Select the file that contains the FID. In the input window you can define as common part of the file name, e.g. "/home/jabe/matlab/matNMR/Examples/SpinsightExample$#$/data" and a range "1:2". Here, the "$#$" is used as a code that is substituted once by All elements in the numerical range. Otherwise everything else is the same as above. Clicking OK will load both datasets in one go.
From the main window, press button "load 1D" in the 1D menu, or go to the "1D Processing" menu. Use the name of the variable in the workspace that contains the data for example 1. Load the data as an FID. To process the spectrum use e.g.
From the main window, press button "load 2D" in the 2D menu, or go to the "2D Processing" menu. Use the name of the variable in the workspace that contains the data for example 2. Load the data as an FID. To process the spectrum use e.g.
It is important to realize the difference between working on a 1D and on a 2D spectrum. In principle what is shown in the view, while processing a 2D spectrum, is a certain row or column from the matrix. The variable QmatNMR.Dim denotes the current dimension in which we are working: 0=1D spectrum, 1=TD2, 2=TD1. For a certain row the QmatNMR.Dim will be set to 1 (in a true 1D mode QmatNMR.Dim is set to 0). When changing the phase or apodizing, the current view is changed directly on the screen. The mode is not changed though and therefore QmatNMR.Dim will still be either 1 or 2. However, the change is not imposed to the entire 2D matrix until the corresponding buttons "Set Phase 2D" and "Apodize 2D" are pushed!
Then there are several functions (Sum TD2, Sum TD1, Diagonal, etc) that operate on a 2D matrix and which have a 1D spectrum as output. In those cases the mode is switched to a true 1D mode (QmatNMR.Dim=0). This is important to realize, e.g. when doing baseline correction: It is often convenient to look at the sum over a certain dimension to see where the intensities are in the spectrum. However then the mode is switched to a 1D mode and the 2D baseline correction routine doesn't know on which dimension to operate then (by default it will assume to be working on TD2 for this tourine by the way).
Another way of switching the mode from 2D to 1D is by selecting a 1D function while processing a 2D spectrum. For example doing a 1D FFT will switch the current mode to 1D and do a FFT then. The 2D spectrum is not affected by this at all. (This can be also useful for checking certain processing steps as using 1D functions is usually faster than 2D functions.) To switch back to the 2D mode simply select a row or column from the matrix, using the appropriate UI-controls in the main window.
MatNMR does NOT offer full 3D processing capabilities but rather allows for efficient processing of series of similar 2D spectra, especially using processing macros. When working with 3D matrices in the main window a new window is openened from which an output variable must be declared. This is done in order to conserve memory usage: the 3D matrices are not copied into dedicated matNMR variables but changes to the input variable are stored directly in the output variable. The first dimension of the 3D matrix is the index of the spectrum, whilst the second and third dimension stand for TD1 and TD2 respectively.
This feature is particularly useful for processing sets of simulations. Subsequent plotting of these sets of spectra is facilitated by the 2D/3D viewer support for 3D matrices. Upon detecting a 3D matrix, the 2D/3D viewer will check the number of subplots in the figure window and will try and plot the set of 2D spectra into the available subplots. When combining this with plotting macro's, very efficient plotting of the data may be achieved. For more information on how to optimize the use of plotting macro's, see paragraph 4.4, "Using macro's".
A relatively unique feature of matNMR is the processing history (only recently other packages
have started to implement this). MatNMR keeps track of all actions during processing. After processing
the spectrum is finished the history can be connected to the FID. When reloading the FID then
into matNMR, the spectrum can be obtained by "Reprocessing from History", found in the "History"
menu of the menubar in the main window. This has some nice advantages:
-No need to write down processing parameters as they are saved on disk
-No need to save the spectrum to disk (which is usually much bigger than the
FID
-Easy and fast reprocessing of the FID afterwards
Connecting a processing history to an FID induces matNMR to convert the matrix in the workspace to the matNMR format. For more information about this see paragraph 3.5, "matNMR format for spectra". All necessary information can easily be accessed using this format. The peak list can also be connected to the FID making plotting the only step necessary after reprocessing a spectrum.
History macros can also be converted into independent processing scripts on disk. The scripts can be applied to any dataset, the name of which is the input parameter of the script. See also Chapter 8, Script-based processing with matNMR.
At any time the processing history can be viewed as text in a separate window. The text is stored in the variable QmatNMR.History. At the same time however a numerical matrix is stored in the workspace, called QmatNMR.HistoryMacro, that contains the processing history as a matNMR macro. This is explained in more detail in paragraph 4.4 below.
Now in principle can every processing step be reprocessed afterwards. Everything except creating a non-linear axis vector! Most axes have linear increments and therefore only the axis offset and increments are saved into the processing history macro. Non-linear axes are not stored into it. This also means they will not be reproduced when reprocessing. It wouldn't be terribly difficult implementing this but it would increase the size of the macro considerably and is therefore not implemented currently.
More explanation on how to use the history can be found in paragraph 5.2.6, "History/Macro".
MatNMR allows for the definition of macro's from the menubar in the main window. Currently, both processing and plotting actions can be stored in a macro. Macro's in matNMR are just matrices of numbers encoding for all processing steps. Besides adding general matNMR processing routine steps to a macro, user-defined commands may be defined as well. The command string for these commands will be translated into numbers and is stored as such in the history macro. After finishing recording the macro it can be saved as a normal variable in the workspace (or on disk) for later use. Processing macro's can only be executed in the main window. Plotting macro's can be executed in any of the matNMR windows.
Note that plotting actions are not permanent and are usually all removed when matNMR updates a window. In case of the 2D/3D viewer plotting macro's can be defined in multi-plot situations (see next paragraph), but such macro's can only be executed in 2D/3D viewer windows with exactly the same subplot configuration! When recording a macro in the 2D/3D viewer window then actions that are not intended for all subplots, will only be executed for axes which are selected. If an axis is selected then a box is drawn around it to distiguish it from normal axes. Multiple axes may be selected by right-clicking an axis. That way one can easily create effective plotting macro's.
To avoid warning messages by matNMR to say that the subplot configuration is not correct, one may make plotting macros which only operate on the current axis. These work in all matNMR windows. Only in the 2D/3D viewer window a special step must be taken to create such macros; in all other windows these are made by default. In the 2D/3D viewer window one must deselect all axes before executing a processing action. This will results in the action being executed on the current axis only!
An important point in using plotting macro's effectively is to plan in advance. Rendering of graphical objects is by far the slowest step for anything but simple line plots. Especially in 2D/3D viewer windows with multiple subplots the rendering time can be painfully long. Changing axis parameters in such cases is less than pleasant. But, by planning the plotting macro in advance, the rerendering may be reduced to only once, which can save lots of time. Simply select a particular subplot configuration and make all changes to all subplots, store the macro and start plotting the spectra.
Finally, there is one more way to execute a macro and that is by calling the function "matNMRRunMacro" from a user-defined script. This requires the matNMR GUI to be openened as is explained in more detail in Chapter 8, Offline processing.
More explanation on how to create and run macro's can be found in paragraph 5.2.6, "History/Macro".
MatNMR is programmed such that all windows can be left open while working with it. It may not be very convenient to look at 100 windows at the same time but matNMR shouldn't crash. For the main window this works quite straightforward as there is only one data window and no subplots currently. For the 2D/3D Viewer a note must be made though: as has been mentioned in paragraph 3.7, ("Memory usage") the memory usage by MATLAB can be quite considerable. Therefore only one set of variables will be kept in memory for the 2D/3D Viewer! So even when you have several 2D/3D Viewer windows with various numbers of subplots in them, only ONE set of variables is kept in memory. This set of variables (spectral matrix, axis vectors, history, peak list, etc) always belongs to the last plotted spectrum.
From the main window several short-keys have been defined. They can be seen when selecting an entry on the menubar and generally look like <CTRL> + key. Unfortunately many easy short keys are already reserved by MATLAB so matNMR doesn't use many currently.
From the main window several apodization functions can be chosen:
| Type | Gives |
|---|---|
| Exponential | The FID is multiplied with a pure exponential decay leading to pure Lorentzian linebroadening. The spectral width must be specified properly for this function else the linebroadening will not correspond to the specified increase in Hz. |
| Cos^2 | The FID is multiplied with a quarter period of a squared(cosine) ranging in intensity from 1 (cos^2(0)) to 0 (cos^2(pi/2)) if the phase factor is set to 0. Any other value for the phase factor will lead to a different shape. Note that this does not give pure Lorentzian or Gaussian linebroadening. |
| Gaussian | The FID is multiplied with a Gaussian function leading to pure Gaussian linebroadening. The spectral width must be specified properly for this function else the linebroadening will not correspond to the specified increase in Hz. |
| Hamming | The FID is multiplied with a Hamming function for optimal S/N. |
| Block + Cos^2 | The FID is multiplied with a function consisting of a block of intensity 1 (length of the block must be specified in points) and a Cos^2. Note that this does not give pure Lorentzian or Gaussian linebroadening. |
| Shifting Gauss | The FID is multiplied with a pure Gaussian function but the maximum of the gaussian is shifted for each TD1 increment. The amount of shifting depends on the respective spectral widths in both dimensions, the Fourier mode (see also paragraph 4.8, "Fourier transform") and the shearing factor (this is defined by the NMR experiment type). Furthermore the position of the echo maximum must in the first row be given. The direction of the shift depends on whether it is an echo or an anti-echo experiment. This function can only be used for 2D FID's. |
| Exponential (echo) | Performs an exponential linebroadening on FID's with a full echo in it. It is assumed that the "Swap whole echo" function (see also paragraph 5.2.3, "1D processing" or paragraph 5.2.4, "2D processing") has been performed before applying this apodization. |
| Gaussian (echo) | Performs a Gaussian linebroadening on FID's with a full echo in it. It is assumed that the "Swap whole echo" function (see also paragraph 5.2.3, "1D processing" or paragraph 5.2.4, "2D processing") has been performed before applying this apodization. |
| Shifting Gauss (echo) | Performs a shifting-Gauss linebroadening on FID's with a full echo in it. The amount of shifting depends on the respective spectral widths in both dimensions, the Fourier mode (see also paragraph 4.8, "Fourier transform") and the shearing factor (this is defined by the NMR experiment type). Furthermore the position of the echo maximum must in the first row be given. When the echo maximum is set to 0 (after the "swap whole echo") the apodization consists of two converging gaussian functions (in time) instead of diverging (the usual idea with echo-spectra). This function can only be used for 2D FID's. |
Fourier transformation in matNMR is done slice-by-slice using the standard MATLAB FFT
routine. In general a FFTshift (see MATLAB documentation for more information) is done
to end with the common result of all NMR processing programs.
As in general the first point of most FID's needs to be multiplied by 0.5 (because
most FID's are apodized to 0) this is automatically selected in the main window. It can
however be switched off for FID's which do not need this (e.g. an undamped cosine), as
this would otherwise give a baseline offset.
The inverse FT can also be performed, but has to be accessed from the "Additional
Features" item in either the "1D Processing" or "2D Processing" menus in the menubar.
Various types of Fourier transform
modes corresponding to various types of NMR experiments are supported:
| Type | Gives |
|---|---|
| Complex | Both the real and the imaginary parts of the FID are used. |
| Real | The imaginary parts of the FID are made 0 before doing the FFT. |
| States | 2D Spectra recorded using the States scheme require this setting both in TD2 and TD1. A hypercomplex dataset will result from this. |
| TPPI | 2D Spectra recorded using the TPPI scheme require this setting ONLY
for the processing in TD1. In TD2 the complex FFT should be used. To use this setting in
TD2 usually means that the Redfield scheme (i.e. TPPI in 1D) was used and the data have been
converted (Bruker qseq mode, see also
paragraph 5.2.3, "1D processing" or paragraph 5.2.4,
"2D processing").
In 2D FID's hypercomplex dataset will result from this. The spectral width is halved after the Fourier transform to account for the fact that half of the data is thrown away. Note that for qseq data also the direct processing can be done (so without doing the above-mentioned conversion first. |
| Whole Echo | 2D Spectra with phase modulation instead of amplitude modulation (whole echo acquisition) require complex FFT in both dimensions. Using this setting for TD2 avoids having to define the complex FFT for both dimensions. |
| States-TPPI | 2D Spectra recorded using the States-TPPI scheme require this setting both in TD2 and in TD1. A hypercomplex dataset will result from this. |
| Bruker qseq | This setting performs a similar transform as TPPI does except that it also inverst every second complex point. When the above-mentioned conversion step has been done TPPI must be used and not this mode! |
| Sine FT | This setting performs a real Fourier transform whilst assuming that the FID is sine-modulated. A sine function will produce an anti-phase spectrum around the carrier. To obtain an in-phase spectrum one half of the spectrum is inverted. |
For processing States or States-TPPI spectra special care must be taken to provide matNMR with the proper
format of the FID matrices. MatNMR uses the same format as Chemagnetics does and so the
FID-matrix should be built up like this :
|----------------> real part of the matrix
|RR RI
|
|
|
|
------------------ imaginary part of the matrix
|IR II
|
|
|
|
|
Here the RR part is the real part in t1 and t2. The RI is the imaginary part in t1 and the real part
in t2, etc. (This gives the rather unnatural looking view of 2 FID's in the view)
On Bruker and Varian machines the imaginary parts in t1 will probably be alternated with
the real parts in t1 :
(RR RI)1
(IR II)1
(RR RI)2
(IR II)2
etc.
After loading a Bruker or Varian States (or States-TPPI) FID into the workspace this first needs to be converted
before starting the States processing. This is done from the corresponding entries in the "2D
processing" menu: "Convert Bruker States" or "Convert Varian States".
NOTE: Starting processing a States (or States-TPPI) spectrum can only be started by selecting the entry in the
2D Processing menu from the menubar!
This splits the matrix into the proper hypercomplex parts QFT1 and QFT2 and sets the proper flags.
Phase correction of spectra is done using the phase menu (see also paragraph 5.1, "General appearance"). There are several ways to set the zeroth-order, first-order and second-order phase correction: There is a slider button, an edit button for writing the value in directly and there are step-wise incremental buttons (small and big steps). To set the first-order correction a reference position must be specified. This can be done by clicking on the "Reference Ph1" button. A cross-hair will appear to aid finding the proper peak position. Clicking the left mouse button defines the position. The "zero phases" button will set the phasing values to zero again.
Note that to set the second-order phase correction one needs to push the check button in order to open an extra panel (since it is not commonly used). The reference for the 2nd order phase correction is always in the center of the spectrum since it is used to even out the effects of sharp cut-offs in modern audio filters; these effects are symmetrical around the center of the spectrum.
While phase correcting a 2D spectrum it is often necessary to watch different slices to see
whether the new phase values are any good. Switching to a new row or column (while not switching
dimension!) will show this row/column with the phase values shown in the phase menu on screen.
Only when switching dimension will the phase values be reset again. Alternatively to switching between slices
one may use the "2D tool", which allows watching two additional slices/columns from which the quality
of the phase correction may be estimated. The additional plots are updated with each change of the phase.
After having found a good phase correction for a 2D be sure to press the "Set Phase 2D" button to
impose the new phase correction on the entire 2D matrix!
A semi-interactive baseline correction routine is available both for 1D and 2D spectra. Upon selecting this function a window will appear looking either like:
or
For both the 1D and 2D baseline corrections the areas where peaks can be found in
the spectrum must be identified before doing the fit. This can be done using the "Define Peaks"
button. Using the left mouse button, click both left and right of a peak region to define it.
A red marking will appear over the area. Any mouse click outside the axis or using the right
mouse button cancels defining peaks.
For 2D spectra it is possible to have the projection onto the axis plotted in the window, to facilitate
choosing the position of the peaks. The specified range in the 2D will be taken into account here, i.e.
the projection shows the signal from the area that needs baseline correcting only!
Next, the type of function that needs to be used for fitting the baseline must be specified.
Currently one can choose from either a cosine series, a polynomial or a Bernstein polynomial.
These are defined as:
Polynomial of order 6: 'A + B*x + C*x.^2 + D*x.^3 + E*x.^4 + F*x.^5'
Cosine series of order 6: 'A + B*cos(x) + C*cos(2*x) + D*cos(3*x) + E*cos(4*x) + F*cos(5*x)'
Bernstein of order 6: 'A*(1-x).^5 + B*(x).*((1-x).^4) + C*(x.^2).*((1-x).^3) + D*(x.^3).*((1-x).^2) + E*(x.^4).*(1-x) + F*(x.^5)'
Sine: 'A + B * sin(C*x + D)'
Exponential: 'A + B * exp(C*x)'
where A-F are the coefficients to be fitted to the baseline and x the coordinate along the
spectral axis. After choosing the order
to which the fit should go, and pressing "Fit" the fit is performed. Any order of fit is
allowed but beware that a fit will become very bad when the order is too high.
The resulting 1D spectrum or row/column from the 2D will be shown in the view. For 1D baseline correction also the fitted baseline is shown in blue as a visual aid. To see the result of the baseline correction for the whole 2D just step through the rows/columns.
Should the baseline be satisfactory then the "Accept Fit" button must be pressed and the fit is made final. If not, either press "Undo" to obtain the original spectrum back or "Reject Fit" to reject the fit and stop the baseline correction routine while retaining the original spectrum.