Arrival Of Pulse Research Articles

Terahertz control of photoluminescence emission in few-layer InSe

A promising route for the development of opto-electronic technology is to use terahertz radiation to modulate the optical properties of semiconductors. Here, we demonstrate the dynamical control of photoluminescence (PL) emission in few-layer InSe using picosecond terahertz pulses. We observe a strong PL quenching (up to 50%) after the arrival of the terahertz pulse followed by a reversible recovery of the emission on the timescale of 50 ps at T=10 K. Microscopic calculations reveal that the origin of the photoluminescence quenching is the terahertz absorption by photo-excited carriers: this leads to a heating of the carriers and a broadening of their distribution, which reduces the probability of bimolecular electron-hole recombination and, therefore, the luminescence. By numerically evaluating the Boltzmann equation, we are able to clarify the individual roles of optical and acoustic phonons in the subsequent cooling process. The same PL quenching mechanism is expected in other van der Waals semiconductors, and the effect will be particularly strong for materials with low carrier masses and long carrier relaxation time, which is the case for InSe. This work gives a solid background for the development of opto-electronic applications based on InSe, such as THz detectors and optical modulators.

A Novel Physical Fatigue Assessment Method Utilizing Heart Rate Variability and Pulse Arrival Time towards Personalized Feedback with Wearable Sensors.

This paper proposes a novel method for physical fatigue assessment that can be applied in wearable systems, by utilizing a set of real-time measurable cardiovascular parameters. Daylength measurements, including a morning test set, physical exercise during the day, and an afternoon test set were conducted on 16 healthy subjects (8 female and 8 male). To analyze cardiovascular parameters for physical fatigue assessment, electrocardiography, pulse wave and blood pressure were measured during the test sets. The fatigue assessment questionnaire score, reaction time, countermovement jump height and hand grip strength were also measured and used as reference parameters. This study demonstrates that (i) the compiled test battery can selectively assess the rested vs. physically-fatigued states; (ii) the obtained linear support-vector machine, trained using the heart rate variability based parameter (F-score 0.842, accuracy 0.813) and pulse arrival time based parameter (F-score 0.875, accuracy 0.875) shows a promising ability to classify between the physically mildly fatigued and significantly fatigued states. Despite the somewhat limited study group size, the results of the study are unique and provide a significant advancement on the existing physical fatigue assessment methods towards a personalized and continuous real-time fatigue monitoring system with wearable sensors.

Multi-Site Pulse Transit Times, Beat-to-Beat Blood Pressure, and Isovolumic Contraction Time at Rest and Under Stressors.

This study investigates the beat-to-beat relationships among Pulse Transit Times (PTTs) and Pulse Arrival Times (PATs) concomitantly measured from the heart to finger, ear and forehead vascular districts, and their links with continuous finger blood pressure and isovolumic contraction time (IVCT). These aspects were explored in 22 young volunteers at rest and during cold pressure test (CPT, thermal stress), handgrip (HG, isometric exercise) and cyclo-ergometer pedalling (CYC, dynamic exercise). The starting point of the PTT measures was detected by the seismocardiogram. Results indicate that PTTs measured at the ear, forehead and finger districts are uncorrelated each other at rest, and during CPT and HG. The stressors produced district-dependent changes in the PTT variability. Only the dynamic exercise was able to induce significant changes with respect to rest in the PTTs mean values (-40%, -36% and -17%, respectively for PTTear, PTTfore, PTTfinger), and synchronize their modulations. Similar trends were observed in the PATs. IVCT decreased during the application of stressors with a minimum at CYC (-25%) reflecting an augmented heart contractility. The increase in blood pressure (BP) at CPT was greater than that at CYC (137 vs. 128 mmHg), but the correlations between beat-to-beat transit times and BP were maximal at CYC (PAT showed a higher correlation than PTT; correlations were greater for systolic than for diastolic BP). This suggests that pulse transit times do not always depend directly on the beat-to-beat BP values but, under specific conditions, on other factors and mechanisms that concomitantly also influence BP.

The Oscillating Pulse Arrival Time as a Physiological Reason for the Difference between ECG- and Photoplethysmogram-Derived Heart Rate Variability Parameters

The Oscillating Pulse Arrival Time as a Physiological Reason for the Difference between ECG- and Photoplethysmogram-Derived Heart Rate Variability Parameters

УЗГОДЖЕННЯ СУМІСНОЇ РОБОТИ ГЕНЕРАТОРА КОРОТКИХ ВИСОКОВОЛЬТНИХ ІМПУЛЬСІВ НАПРУГИ І КАМЕРИ ДЛЯ ОБРОБКИ ВОДИ ІМПУЛЬСНИМ БАР’ЄРНИМ РОЗРЯДОМ

A technique for calculating the parameters of a magnetic switch as an element of a generator of short high-voltage pulses of tension to coordinate its compatible work with a water treatment chamber by dint of pulse barrier discharge is shown. The expediency and efficiency of using such a switch as an element that, by shunting, the discharge chamber, discharges the barrier to the arrival of the next voltage pulse has been confirmed. It is proved that with the accepted geometrical dimensions of the discharge chamber and the amplitude of the pulse voltage, provided that the magnetic switch is present that it is possible to increase the practical use of electricity by ~ 40% due to that which was accumulated in the dielectric barrier in one discharge. Ref.10, fig. 5.

Introduction of Boosting Algorithms in Continuous Non-Invasive Cuff-less Blood Pressure Estimation using Pulse Arrival Time.

Blood Pressure (BP) is a critical biomarker for cardiorespiratory health. Conventional non-invasive BP measurement devices are mostly built on the principle of auscultation, oscillometry, or tonometry. The strong correlation between the Pulse Arrival Time (PAT) and BP has enabled unconstrained cuff-less BP monitoring. In this paper, we exploited that relationship for estimating Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP), and Mean Arterial pressure (MAP) values. The proposed model involves extraction of PAT values by denoising the signals using advanced filtering techniques and finally employing machine learning algorithms to estimate cuff-less BP. The results are validated against Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) standards and British Hypertension Society (BHS) protocols. The proposed method meets the AAMI standards in the context of estimating DBP and MAP values. The model's accuracy achieved Grade A for both MAP and DBP values using the CatBoost algorithm, whereas it achieved grade A for MAP and Grade B for DBP using the XGBoost algorithm based on the BHS standards.

Comparison of Terrestrial and Lunar Time Scales by Giant Pulsar Impulses

We have developed a model for the time delay of pulse arrival between stations on the Moon and Earth. Comparison of the lunar and terrestrial time scales is proposed to be carried out by comparing the arrival time moments of giant pulses from pulsars. A method for such a comparison has been developed based on the cross-correlation analysis of the received pulses. Using the example of giant pulses from the pulsar PSR 0531+21, we showed that the error of comparing scales in the case of a high signal-to-noise ratio reaches a sub-discrete level and, thus, is determined by the reception band of the recording equipment.

Method of nanosecond triggering for a sealed-off pseudospark switch

This paper describes a method of nanosecond triggering for the modified version of the commercially produced pseudospark switch TPI1-10k/50. The switch uses the trigger unit with the auxiliary glow discharge, and the proposed method is based on the principle of the current interception from the trigger unit to the grounded cathode cavity when the trigger pulse arrives. Different electric circuits for triggering have been investigated. In the circuit, where the so-called trigger resistor or the trigger inductance are available, in the whole range of hydrogen operating pressure, the range of the delay time of triggering corresponds to (80–100) ns with a jitter of (3–6) ns. In the electric circuit, where the trigger resistor is shortened, the delay time increases to about (110–140) ns. However, the jitter remains at approximately the same level.

Optical bunching of particles in a liquid flow.

High-speed liquid micro-jets are used to rapidly and repeatedly deliver protein microcrystals to focused and pulsed X-ray beams in the method of serial femtosecond crystallography. However, the current continuous flow of crystals is mismatched to the arrival of X-ray pulses, wasting vast amounts of an often rare and precious sample. Here, we introduce a method to address this problem by periodically trapping and releasing crystals in the liquid flow, creating locally concentrated crystal bunches, using an optical trap integrated in the microfluidic supply line. We experimentally demonstrate a 30-fold increase of particle concentration into 10 Hz bunches of 6.4 μm diameter polystyrene particles. Furthermore, using particle trajectory simulations, a comprehensive description of the optical bunching process and parameter space is presented. Adding this compact optofluidics device to existing injection systems would thereby dramatically reduce sample consumption and extend the application of serial crystallography to a greater range of protein crystal systems that cannot be produced in high abundance. Our approach is suitable for other microfluidic systems that require synchronous measurements of flowing objects.

A Sealed-Off Pseudospark Switch With Nanosecond Stability of Triggering

This article describes the modified version of the commercially produced pseudospark switch TPI1-10k/50 (pulsed current-10 kA and anode voltage-up to 50 kV) and the results of testing. The main idea of the modification was to use the high-voltage electrode system of this switch but to incorporate the novel trigger unit in the main cathode cavity. This unit uses the auxiliary glow discharge with hollow cathode and hollow anode. The modified switch is intentionally developed for parallel operation of a large number of the switches to a common load. In such conditions, the nanosecond triggering stability of the switches is required. The results of tests demonstrate that the minimum delay time of triggering (the time interval between the instant of arrival of the trigger pulse and the instant of starting the main discharge current) amounts to 80 ns with a jitter of 3 ns. At a decreased hydrogen pressure, the delay time is not increased essentially and amounts to 105 ns with a jitter of 6 ns.

Stark-shift-chirped rapid-adiabatic-passage technique in tripod systems

We show that the technique of Stark-chirped rapid adiabatic passage (SCRAP), can be implemented in tripod quantum systems. We propose a scheme for coherent superposition among two ground states via Stark-shiftchirped rapid adiabatic passage technique in a tripod system. Tripod-SCRAP uses four laser pulses: an intense far-off-resonance Stark laser pulse modifies the transition frequency between the states by Stark shifting their energies and three nearly resonant pump, Stokes, and control laser pulses that fractionally transfer the population between the ground states via adiabatic passage. In our scheme, the pulse duration of the pump pulse must be larger than the pulse duration of the Stokes and control pulses, although with a smaller amplitude, and the atom encounters with the pump, Stokes, control, and Stark laser pulses with counterintuitive order (Stokes pulse arrives before the rest of the pulses). This technique can be applied to one-photon as well as multiphoton transitions and it is not necessary to vanish the pulses (pump and Stokes) simultaneously and it is a powerful alternative tool for f-STIRAP and tripod-STIRAP techniques at least when inhomogeneous broadenings are included. inhomogeneous broadening. This technique is robust against moderate variations in the intensities of the laser pulses,in detunings, and in delays between the pulses.

A Timing Fault Model and an Efficient Timing Fault Simulation Method for Rapid Single-Flux-Quantum Logic Circuits

We examine digital behavior of faults caused by a change of the order of the pulse arrivals in Rapid Single-Flux-Quantum (RSFQ) logic circuits. Based on the timing fault model, we present a flow of automatic test pattern generation for testing digital RSFQ chips. As the test pattern generation repeatedly executes fault simulation, the scalability depends on computational cost of the simulation. We propose an efficient fault simulation method based on two ideas. First, we share computation for the fault-free circuit and faulty circuits as much as possible. Secondly, we exploit the pipelined behavior of RSFQ logic circuits to suppress computation for unnecessary signals. We have implemented our simulation method and obtained evaluation results to show that our method is effective for large circuits.

Managing Stormwater by Accident: A Conceptual Study

Stormwater-driven road salt is a chronic and acute issue for streams in cold, urban environments. One promising approach for reducing the impact of road salt contamination in streams and adjacent aquifers is to allow “accidental wetlands” to flourish in urban areas. These wetlands form naturally as a byproduct of human activities. In this study, we quantified the ability of an accidental wetland in northwestern North Carolina, USA, to reduce the timing and peak concentration of road salt in a stream. Monitoring suggests that flow and transport processes through the wetland reduce peak concentrations and delay their arrival at the adjacent stream. We expand these findings with numerical simulations that model multiple meltwater and summer storm event scenarios. The model output demonstrates that small accidental wetland systems can reduce peak salinities by 94% and delay the arrival of saltwater pulses by 45 days. Our findings indicate that accidental wetlands improve stream water quality and they may also reduce peak temperatures during temperature surges in urban streams. Furthermore, because they find their own niche, accidental wetlands may be more effective than some intentionally constructed wetlands, and provide opportunities to explore managing stormwater by letting nature take its course.

Laser-induced breakdown in liquid water: Influence of repeated laser pulses on plasma formation and emission

We have experimentally investigated the influence of repeated laser pulses on laser-induced breakdown (LIB) in water following a focused 1064 nm laser pulse, for repetition rates between 0.5 and 20 Hz and up to 100 pulses. LIB plasma image data are collected as a function of repetition rate and laser pulse number, using an intensified CCD camera with sub-nanosecond camera-laser timing. Each pulse induces multiple breakdowns, shockwaves, and macroscopic cavitation bubbles. These effects disappear by the time the next pulse arrives. Even so, we find that the water target retains effects from previous pulses that persist up to roughly a second and that modify subsequent LIB properties including plasma location, spatial extension, and total emission intensity. We quantify the effects by tracking the first moment of the plasma emission intensity, which we call the “center of intensity” (CoI). Three distinct reproducible repetition-rate-dependent phases are identified with repeated pulses. In particular, (1) with initial pulses, emission intensity decreases and the CoI broadens and propagates downstream from the laser focus reaching a maximum axial distance away from the focal point, (2) with additional pulses, the CoI narrows and travels back upstream toward the laser, and (3) with continued pulses, the plasma gains back a portion of the lost intensity and the CoI reaches a steady state position, not at the focal point. Two possible causal effects are highlighted; particle inclusion concentration changes and microbubbles in the laser path.

Temporal Computing With Superconductors

Creating computing systems able to address our ever-increasing needs, especially as we reach the end of CMOS transistor scaling, will require truly novel methods of computing. However, the traditional logic abstractions and the digital design patterns we understand so well have coevolved with the hardware technology that has embodied them. As we look past CMOS, there is no reason to think that those same abstractions best serve to encapsulate the computational potential inherent to emerging devices. We posit that a new and radically more efficient foundation for computing lies at the intersection of superconductor electronics and delay-coded computation. Building on recent work in race logic, we show that superconducting circuits can naturally compute directly over temporal relationships between pulse arrivals; that the computational relationships between those pulse arrivals can be formalized through a functional extension to a temporal predicate logic used in the verification community; and that the resulting architectures can operate asynchronously and describe real and useful computations. We verify our hypothesis through a combination of detailed analog circuit models and layout designs, a formal analysis of our abstractions, and an evaluation of several superconducting temporal accelerators.

Pulse arrival time, a novel sleep cardiovascular marker: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis

BackgroundPulse arrival time (PAT) is commonly used to estimate blood pressure response. We hypothesised that PAT response to obstructive respiratory events would be associated with increased cardiovascular risk in people...

Channel response to a dam‐removal sediment pulse captured at high‐temporal resolution using routine gage data

AbstractIn this study, we captured how a river channel responds to a sediment pulse originating from a dam removal using multiple lines of evidence derived from streamflow gages along the Patapsco River, Maryland, USA. Gages captured characteristics of the sediment pulse, including travel times of its leading edge (~7.8 km yr−1) and peak (~2.6 km yr−1) and suggest both translation and increasing dispersion. The pulse also changed local hydraulics and energy conditions, increasing flow velocities and Froude number, due to bed fining, homogenization and/or slope adjustment. Immediately downstream of the dam, recovery to pre‐pulse conditions occurred within the year, but farther downstream recovery was slower, with the tail of the sediment pulse working through the lower river by the end of the study 7 years later.The patterns and timing of channel change associated with the sediment pulse were not driven by large flow or suspended sediment‐transporting events, with change mostly occurring during lower flows. This suggests pulse mobility was controlled by process‐factors largely independent of high flow.In contrast, persistent changes occurred to out‐of‐channel flooding dynamics. Stage associated with flooding increased during the arrival of the sediment pulse, 1 to 2 years after dam removal, suggesting persistent sediment deposition at the channel margins and nearby floodplain. This resulted in National Weather Service‐indicated flood stages being attained by 3–43% smaller discharges compared to earlier in the study period.This study captured a two‐signal response from the sediment pulse: (1) short‐ to medium‐term (weeks to months) translation and dispersion within the channel, resulting in aggradation and recovery of bed elevations and changing local hydraulics; and (2) dispersion and persistent longer‐term (years) effects of sediment deposition on overbank surfaces. This study further demonstrated the utility of US Geological Survey gage data to quantify geomorphic change, increase temporal resolution, and provide insights into trajectories of change over varying spatial and temporal scales.

Fast Generation of Deceptive Jamming Signal Against Spaceborne SAR Based on Spatial Frequency Domain Interpolation

This article proposes a novel method for the generation of the deceptive jamming signal against spaceborne SAR, which can calculate the jammer’s frequency response (JFR) efficiently. The first advantage of this algorithm is that the real-time computational complexity is independent of the number of fake scattering units, so it is particularly suitable for generating scenes containing a large number of scatterers. Besides, the imaging quality of fake targets is also improved significantly, especially in the case of squint geometries. First, using the Taylor series expansion and approximations, we derive the recurrence relationship of the slant range between the adjacent pulse repetition intervals. Based on this relationship, the JFR at each azimuth time is mapped to a special spatial spectrum, which is the 2-D Fourier transform along the range and azimuth dimensions of the JFR matrix at the time of the first pulse arrival. Therefore, after the initial JFR is calculated, the subsequent JFRs can be quickly obtained by sinc function interpolation. Then, the validity and effective region of this algorithm are estimated by the theoretical analysis of the slant range error. The simulation results and a computational complexity analysis verify that the algorithm demonstrates superior performance in terms of imaging quality and efficiency.

Ultrafast Optically Induced Ferromagnetic State in an Elemental Antiferromagnet.

We present evidence for an ultrafast optically induced ferromagnetic alignment of antiferromagnetic Mn in Co/Mn multilayers. We observe the transient ferromagnetic signal at the arrival of the pump pulse at the Mn L_{3} resonance using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism in reflectivity. The timescale of the effect is comparable to the duration of the excitation and occurs before the magnetization in Co is quenched. Theoretical calculations point to the imbalanced population of Mn unoccupied states caused by the Co interface for the emergence of this transient ferromagnetic state.

Time-resolved study of laser emission in nitrogen gas pumped by two near IR femtosecond laser pulses.

The time profile of a lasing signal at 391.4 nm emitted by a weakly ionized gas of nitrogen molecules at low pressure is measured under double excitation with intense femtosecond laser pulses at 800 nm. An abrupt decrease in emission occurs at the time of arrival of the second pulse. It is explained by a transfer of population from ground to first excited ionic level and by a disruption of coherence, terminating the conditions for lasing in a V-scheme without population inversion.