Sweep Pulse Excitation Method for Enhancing Photoacoustic Elastic Waves at Different Laser Irradiation Parameters.

Laser remote sensing using a sweep pulse excitation method, in which a laser beam is irradiated at the same repetition frequency as the natural frequency, for enhancing photoacoustic elastic waves through resonance effect has been studied. The sweep pulse excitation method, which is based on the principle of detecting natural frequency fluctuations, such as hammering tests, can detect natural frequencies in the audible sound region with low average laser power and contribute to the convenience and low cost of an installation strength diagnosis of fastening bolts. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of the swept excitation method for optimization by evaluating the dependence of the laser irradiation conditions (pulse width, spot size, and average power) on different metal disc samples. We discovered that the magnitude of the photoacoustic elastic wave is proportional to the absorption of laser power, and the spatiotemporal dynamics can be explained through thermal diffusion phenomena. These findings contribute to the development of laser-sensing technology based on photoacoustic elastic waves.

Design of a New Acoustic Logging While Drilling Tool.

To obtain qualified logging while drilling (LWD) data, a new acoustic LWD tool was designed. Its overall design is introduced here, including the physical construction, electronic structure, and operation flowchart. Thereafter, core technologies adopted in this tool are presented, such as dominant exciting wave bands of dipole source, a sine wave pulse excitation circuit, broadband impedance matching, and an intellectualized active reception transducer. Lastly, we tested this tool in the azimuthal anisotropy module well, calibration well, and normal well, working in the model of the cable, sliding eye, and logging while drilling. Experiments showed that the core technologies achieved ideal results and that the LWD tool obtained qualified data.

Simple compensation method for improved half-pulse excitation profile with rephasing gradient.

PURPOSE: To improve the slice profile quality obtained by RF half-pulse excitation for 2D-UTE applications. METHODS: The overall first-order and zero-order phase errors along the slice-selection direction were obtained with the help of an optimization task to minimize the out-of-slice signal contamination from the calibration 1-dimenisonal (1D) profile data. The time-phase-error evolution was approximated from the k-space readout data, which were acquired primarily for correction of the readout trajectories during data regridding to the rectilinear grids. The correction of the slice profile was achieved by rephasing gradient pulses applied immediately after the end of excitation. The total prescan calibration typically took less than 2 minutes. RESULTS: The improved image quality using the proposed calibration method was demonstrated both on phantoms and on ankle images obtained from healthy volunteers. It was demonstrated that calibration can be performed either as a separate water phantom measurement or directly as a prescan procedure. CONCLUSION: The slice-profile distortion from the half-pulse excitation could substantially affect the overall fidelity of 2D-UTE images. The presented experiments proved that the image quality could be substantially increased by application of the proposed slice-correction method.

Quantitative ultrashort echo time imaging for assessment of massive iron overload at 1.5 and 3 Tesla.

PURPOSE: Hepatic iron content (HIC) quantification via transverse relaxation rate (R2*)-MRI using multi-gradient echo (mGRE) imaging is compromised toward high HIC or at higher fields due to the rapid signal decay. Our study aims at presenting an optimized 2D ultrashort echo time (UTE) sequence for R2* quantification to overcome these limitations. METHODS: Two-dimensional UTE imaging was realized via half-pulse excitation and radial center-out sampling. The sequence includes chemically selective saturation pulses to reduce streaking artifacts from subcutaneous fat, and spatial saturation (sSAT) bands to suppress out-of-slice signals. The sequence employs interleaved multi-echo readout trains to achieve dense temporal sampling of rapid signal decays. Evaluation was done at 1.5 Tesla (T) and 3T in phantoms, and clinical applicability was demonstrated in five patients with biopsy-confirmed massively high HIC levels (>25 mg Fe/g dry weight liver tissue). RESULTS: In phantoms, the sSAT pulses were found to remove out-of-slice contamination, and R2* results were in excellent agreement to reference mGRE R2* results (slope of linear regression: 1.02/1.00 for 1.5/3T). UTE-based R2* quantification in patients with massive iron overload proved successful at both field strengths and was consistent with biopsy HIC values. CONCLUSION: The UTE sequence provides a means to measure R2* in patients with massive iron overload, both at 1.5T and 3T. Magn Reson Med 78:1839-1851, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Multiple-pulse pumping for enhanced fluorescence detection and molecular imaging in tissue.

Applications of fluorescence based imaging techniques for detection in cellular and tissue environments are severely limited by autofluorescence of endogenous components of cells, tissue, and the fixatives used in sample processing. To achieve sufficient signal-to-background ratio, a high concentration of the probe needs to be used which is not always feasible. Since typically autofluorescence is in the nanosecond range, long-lived fluorescence probes in combination with time-gated detection can be used for suppression of unwanted autofluorescence. Unfortunately, this requires the sacrifice of the large portion the probe signal in order to sufficiently filter the background. We report a simple and practical approach to achieve a many-fold increase in the intensity of a long-lived probe without increasing the background fluorescence. Using controllable, well separated bursts of closely spaced laser excitation pulses, we are able to highly increase the fluorescence signal of a long-lived marker over the endogenous fluorescent background and scattering, thereby greatly increasing detection sensitivity. Using a commercially available confocal microscopy system equipped with a laser diode and time correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) detection, we are able to enhance the signal of a long-lived Ruthenium (Ru)-based probe by nearly an order of magnitude. We used 80 MHz bursts of pulses (12.5 ns pulse separation) repeated with a 320 kHz repetition rate as needed to adequately image a dye with a 380 ns lifetime. Just using 10 pulses in the burst increases the Ru signal almost 10-fold without any increase in the background signal.

A facile approach for estimating radio-frequency field strength of low-receptivity nuclei.

Radio-frequency (RF) field calibration is essential in NMR spectroscopy. A common practice is to collect a nutation curve by varying the pulse length in a direct single-pulse excitation experiment or in a cross-polarization magic-angle spinning with a flip-back pulse experiment. From the null points on this curve, one can calculate the RF field strength. Nevertheless, the practical implementation is not always straightforward or can even be unrealizable, especially for low-receptivity nuclei owing to their associated low sensitivity. Several researchers used an approach that involves utilizing other nuclei with more sensitivity but nearly identical Larmor frequencies to that of the nucleus of interest. However, such an approach has not been a common practice so far. In this work, we have systematically revisited this approach using 3.2 mm rotors on different sets of nuclei covering a Larmor frequency range up to 80 MHz. The effect of solid- and solution-states on RF field strength measurements has been investigated. The detection of each set of nuclei is then carried out with a resonant circuit in the NMR probe consisting of identical coils and capacitors. Our methodology is illustrated by recording 135/137Ba NMR spectra of BaTiO3 without prior 135/137Ba RF field calibration.

Measurement and Simulation of Magnetic Properties of Nanocrystalline Alloys under High-Frequency Pulse Excitation.

In order to broaden the application of nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials in electrical engineering under extreme conditions, nanocrystalline alloys must also have good characteristics under high-frequency and nonsinusoidal excitation. In this paper, the magnetic properties of Fe-based nanocrystalline alloys excited by high repetition frequency pulses were measured. Excitation frequency and duty cycles are two important factors in the study of magnetic properties under pulse excitation. With the amplitude of the pulse remaining constant, different local hysteresis curves were obtained by changing the frequency and duty cycle. The experimental results proved that the higher the frequency is and the smaller the duty cycle is, the narrower the local hysteresis loop is. Finally, the finite element method (FEM) was used to model the magnetic core coupling with an impulse circuit based on the measured magnetic properties. Compared with the experimental results, the simulation results showed that the field-circuit coupling analysis model can effectively reflect the influence law of the frequency and duty cycle on magnetic properties.

Power-Dependent Characteristics of Spin Current Transfer in Metal Bilayer Devices under High-Power Pulse Excitation.

The power-dependent transfer characteristics of spin currents generated at the interface of the permalloy/Pt bilayer device have been investigated over a wide power range from a few tens of milliwatt to 396 W. We built a high-power pulse excitation system for spin pumping, which achieves large electromotive force (EMF) values of 10 mV at 396 W excitation through the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) and demonstrates that the EMF generation after pulse excitation is very fast. Under strong pulse microwave excitation more than 80 W, the EMF spectrum exhibits an asymmetrical lineshape, which is well reproduced by simulations that take into account the fold-over effect due to the nonlinear ferromagnetic resonance excitation. The maximum output power at an external load through spin pumping and the ISHE is shown to increase in proportion to the square of the input microwave power (Pin) in the power range below 80 W. This power generation proportional to Pin2 is unique to spin current-mediated power flow. In the strong excitation regime with the fold-over type EMF spectra, the EMF values of the peak magnetic field position are found to increase less linearly due to spectral broadening. This feature can be used for power generation that increases nonlinearly with respect to the input excitation power, where the nonlinearity is adjusted by varying the magnetic field position.

Triple-pulse excitation: An efficient way for suppressing background signals and eliminating radio-frequency acoustic ringing in direct polarization NMR experiments.

Direct polarization using a single pulse is the simplest excitation scheme in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, capable of quantifying various compositions in many materials applications. However, this single-pulse excitation generally gives rise to NMR spectra with a severely distorted baseline due to the background signals arising from probe components and/or due to the radio-frequency (RF) acoustic ringing, especially in low-γ nuclei and wide-line NMR. In this work, a triple-pulse excitation scheme is proposed to simultaneously suppress the background signals and eliminate the RF acoustic ringing. The acoustic ringing is cancelled through subtraction in any two consecutive scans by alternating the receiver phase while keeping the phase of the pulse right before acquisition the same. While the triple-pulse scheme generates an additional flip-angle dependent scaling to the traditional single-pulse excitation profile in such a way that the scaling is one when the flip-angle is ∼90° but becomes almost zero when the flip-angle is very small. Therefore, the background signals arising from the materials outside the sample coil experiencing a very small fraction of the RF flip-angles can be effectively suppressed. Various samples containing 1H and quadrupolar nuclei (17O, 25Mg, and 23Na) have been used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this newly proposed triple-pulse excitation in terms of suppressing the background signals and eliminating the acoustic ringing effects.

Identification of mechanical parameters of fiber-reinforced composites by frequency response function approximation method.

This article proposes frequency response function approximation method to identify mechanical parameters of fiber-reinforced composites. First, a fiber-reinforced composite thin plate is taken as a research object, and its natural characteristic and vibration response under pulse excitation are solved based on the Ritz method and mode superposition method, so that the theoretical calculation of frequency response function of such composite plates can be realized. Then, the identification principle based on frequency response function approximation method is illustrated and its correctness is validated by comparing with other published literature in the verification example, and the specific identification procedure is also proposed. Finally, frequency response function approximation method is applied in a study case, where the elastic moduli, Poisson's ratios, and loss factors of the TC300 carbon/epoxy composite thin plate are identified, and the influences of boundary conditions, approximation points, total number of modes, and calculation step size on the identification accuracy and efficiency are discussed. It has been proved that the proposed method can identify mechanical parameters of fiber composite materials with high precision and efficiency.

Using Solid-State 13C NMR Spectroscopy to Study the Molecular Organization of Primary Plant Cell Walls.

A knowledge of the mobilities of the polysaccharides or parts of polysaccharides in a cell-wall preparation provides information about possible molecular interactions among the polysaccharides in the cell wall and the relative locations of polysaccharides within the cell wall. A number of solid-state 13C NMR techniques have been developed that can be used to investigate different types of polysaccharide mobilities: rigid, semirigid, mobile, and highly mobile. In this chapter techniques are described for obtaining spectra from primary cell-wall preparations using CP/MAS, proton-rotating frame, proton spin-spin, spin-echo relaxation spectra and single-pulse excitation. We also describe how proton spin relaxation editing can be used to obtain subspectra for cell-wall polysaccharides of different mobilities, and how 2D and 3D solid-state NMR experiments have recently been applied to plant cell walls.

Photoionization and trans-to-cis isomerization of ß-cyclodextrin-encapsulated azobenzene induced by two-color two-laser-pulse excitation.

Azobenzene (1) and the complex resulting from the incorporation of 1 with cyclodextrin (1/CD) are attractive for light-driven applications such as micromachining and chemical biology tools. The highly sensitive photoresponse of 1 is crucial for light-driven applications containing both 1 and 1/CD to reach their full potential. In this study, we investigated the photoionization and trans-to-cis isomerization of 1/CD induced by one- and two-color two-laser pulse excitation. Photoionization of 1/CD, which was induced by stepwise two-photon absorption, was observed using laser pulse excitation at 266nm. Additionally, simultaneous irradiation with 266 and 532nm laser pulses increased the trans-to-cis isomerization yield (Υt→c) by 27%. It was concluded that the increase in Υt→c was caused by the occurrence of trans-to-cis isomerization in the higher-energy singlet state (Sn), which was reached by S1→Sn transition induced by laser pulse excitation at 532nm. The results of this study are potentially applicable in light-driven applications such as micromachining and chemical biology tools.

Dual THz Wave and X-ray Generation from a Water Film under Femtosecond Laser Excitation.

Simultaneous emission of the THz wave and hard X-ray from thin water free-flow was induced by the irradiation of tightly-focused femtosecond laser pulses (35 fs, 800 nm, 500 Hz) in air. Intensity measurements of the THz wave and X-ray were carried out at the same time with time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) based on electro-optic sampling with a ZnTe(110) crystal and a Geiger counter, respectively. Intensity profiles of the THz wave and X-ray emission as a function of the solution flow position along the incident laser axis at the laser focus show that the profile width of the THz wave is broader than that of the X-ray. Furthermore, the profiles of the THz wave measured in reflection and transmission directions show different features and indicate that THz wave emission is, under single-pulse excitation, induced mainly in laser-induced plasma on the water flow surface. Under double-pulse excitation with a time separation of 4.6 ns, 5⁻10 times enhancements of THz wave emission were observed. Such dual light sources can be used to characterise materials, as well as to reveal the sequence of material modifications under intense laser pulses.

Multi-Pulse Excitation for Underwater Analysis of Copper-Based Alloys Using a Novel Remote Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) System.

In this work, the use of multi-pulse excitation has been evaluated as an effective solution to mitigate the preferential ablation of the most volatile elements, namely Sn, Pb, and Zn, observed during laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis of copper-based alloys. The novel remote LIBS prototype used in this experiments featured both single-pulse (SP-LIBS) and multi-pulse excitation (MP-LIBS). The remote instrument is capable of performing chemical analysis of submersed materials up to a depth of 50 m. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy analysis was performed at air pressure settings simulating the conditions during a real subsea analysis. A set of five certified bronze standards with variable concentration of Cu, As, Sn, Pb, and Zn were used. In SP-LIBS, signal emission is strongly sensitive to ambient pressure. In this case, fractionation effect was observed. Multi-pulse excitation circumvents the effect of pressure over the quantitative analysis, thus avoiding the fractionation phenomena observed in single pulse LIBS. The use of copper as internal standard minimizes matrix effects and discrepancies due to variation in ablated mass.

Photoinduced refractive index variation within picosecond laser pulses excitation as the indicator of oxyorthosilicates single crystals composition modification.

For the first time, the diagnostics of oxyorthosilicates single crystals based on self-action of picosecond range laser pulses at 1,064 nm (1.17 eV) has been performed. High sensitivity of the photoinduced refractive index variation to the substitution of the Lu atoms by Gd in the LSO/LGSO crystalline host as well as to the admixture of Ce was found. The effect can be explained with different electron detrapping-recombination process efficiencies due to the resonant electron excitation from the deep traps in the gap attributed to intrinsic oxygen vacancies.

Age and sex-dependent differences in activity, plasticity and response to stress in the dentate gyrus.

In the last decade, early-onset of affective illness has been recognized as a major public health problem. However, clinical studies indicate that although children experience the symptoms of anxiety and depression in much the same way as adults, they display and react to those symptoms differently (Bostic et al., 2005). Recently, we have demonstrated that similar differences in symptoms are found also between adult and juvenile rats (Jacobson-Pick and Richter-Levin, 2010). Especially the hippocampus is believed to be vulnerable to stress-related illness, as this brain region has a high density of corticoid receptors. The hippocampus is known to finalize its development, and particularly that of GABA-related functions, into adolescence (Bergmann et al., 1991; Harris et al., 1992; Nurse and Lacaille, 1999; Lopez-Tellez et al., 2004; Jacobson-Pick et al., 2008) and may thus be differentially sensitive to environmental challenges in childhood and in adulthood. In this study we explored the differences in activity and plasticity of the dentate gyrus between pre-pubertal and adult rats in vivo. Furthermore, we have examined the impact of exposure to stress either during pre-puberty or in adulthood on dentate gyrus electrophysiology. In both male and female rats, marked differences were found for intrinsic excitability and local circuit activity between pre-pubertal and adult animals. Exposure to forced swim stress resulted in significant alterations of dentate gyrus activity and plasticity in male rats with differences between adult and pre-pubertal animals. Stress had far less impact on females' dentate electrophysiology. The results are in agreement with the differences in behavioral response to stress between pre-pubertal and adult rats, and with reported differences for the sensitivity of male and female rats in performing hippocampus-dependent tasks under stress, such as the active avoidance task.