For the first time the influence of noise amplification on decay of modulated continuous-wave pumping into a pulse series in an optical fiber is considered. Dependence of noise-to-signal ratio in pulse train at fibre exit on initial modulation depth obtained both analytically and by means of numerical simulations. The minimum modulation frequency is estimated which leads to a regular pulse trai...

BACKGROUND Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is inversely associated with cognitive function. However, it is not known whether baPWV predicts cognitive decline (CD) in later life. We examined whether or not baPWV is an independent risk marker of subsequent CD in a population of older Japanese. METHODS Among 982 adults aged 65 years or older who participated in a baseline survey, 526 ...

BACKGROUND Studies showed that long-standing smokers have stiffer arteries at rest. However, the effect of smoking on the ability of the vascular system to respond to increased demands (physical stress) has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of smoking on arterial stiffness and subendocardial viability ratio, at rest and after acute exercise in young healthy ...

Introduction: The primary somatosensory cortex has an important role in nociceptive sensory-discriminative processing. Altered peripheral inputs produced by deafferentation or by long-term changes in levels of afferent stimulation can result in plasticity of cortex. Capsaicin-induced depletion of C-fiber afferents results in plasticity of the somatosensory system. Plasticity includes short-term...

In typical chirped pulse amplification (CPA) laser systems, scanning the grating separation in the optical compressor causes the well know generation of linear chirp of frequency vs. time in a laser pulse, as well as a modification of all the higher order phase terms. By setting the compressor angle slightly different from the optimum value to generate the shortest pulse, a typical scan around ...

The physics of energy transfer between the laser and the plasma in laser wakefield accelerators is studied. We find that wake excitation by arbitrary laser shapes can be parameterized using the total pulse energy and pulse depletion length. A technique for determining laser profiles that produce the required plasma excitation is developed. We show that by properly shaping the longitudinal profi...

Energy resolution, light yield, non-proportionality in the scintillation response, α/β ratio, pulse shape for γ rays and α particles were studied with CdWO4 crystal scintillators. Some indication for a difference in the emission spectra for γ rays and α particles was observed. No dependence of CdWO4 pulse shape on emission spectrum wavelengths under laser, α particles and γ ray excitation was o...

The split-symbol moment estimation (SSME) algorithm is a conventional method to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in communication systems for M-ary phase shift keying signals. However, the conventional SSME is based on the assumption of symmetric pulse-shaping waveforms, and becomes no longer proper when the shaping pulse is asymmetric. In this paper, we propose a modified SSME algorith...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate pulse oximetry for detection of congenital cyanotic heart disease in sick neonates using echocardiography as gold standard. METHODS Pulse oximetry readings were taken at admission from 950 neonates from right upper limb and either foot with infant breathing room air. Pulse oximetry was considered abnormal if oxygen saturation at room air measured <90% or difference betwe...

The energy and electric field dependence of pulse shape discrimination in liquid xenon have been measured in a 10 gm two-phase xenon time projection chamber. We have demonstrated the use of the pulse shape and charge-to-light ratio simultaneously to obtain a leakage below that achievable by either discriminant alone. A Monte Carlo is used to show that the dominant fluctuation in the pulse shape...