Contact phase modulation method for acoustic nonlinear parameter measurement in solid

In this work, a new method to measure in contact the nonlinearity parameter beta of solid plates is presented. A high frequency (HF) tone-burst signal of 20 MHz is inserted in the material by a contact-transducer (with a suitable coupling). A low frequency (LF) pulse (2.5 MHz) is applied to the other face, in the opposite direction, so that the nonlinear interaction of the two waves takes place during the back propagation toward the HF transducer. This collinear interaction creates a phase modulation of the HF tone-burst which is proportional to the beta coefficient and the particle velocity of the LF wave. To determine this particle velocity, in time domain, an extended self-reciprocity calibration of the contact LF transducer is used. A numeric phase demodulation is then performed, giving the beta coefficient of the sample. The proposed method is validated by nonlinearity parameter measurements in Fused Silica. The nonlinear parameter of Fused Silica measured is found to be in good agreement with the literature, and specially the negative sign of this parameter.     

Influence of acute hyperglycemia on otoacoustic emissions and the medial olivocochlear reflex

Stimulus-frequency (SF) otoacoustic emission (OAE) amplitude and the amplitude of medial olivocochlear (MOC) inhibition of SF OAEs for ipsilateral, contralateral and bilateral MOC reflex elicitors were recorded in six subjects with type 2 diabetes during a glucose tolerance test (GTT). Five of the six subjects were tested twice for a total of 11 trials and three subjects were tested in a control experiment. During the GTT experiment, the subjects' blood glucose was elevated from a euglycemic level below 150 mg/dL to a hyperglycemic level above 160 mg/dL following the consumption of a bolus of 80 g of sugar. A subset of three subjects were tested in a control experiment during which SF OAE and MOC reflex measurements were made while blood sugar levels remained constant within the euglycemic region. Mean SF OAE amplitudes were elevated following glucose consumption. A statistically significant increase in MOC inhibition amplitude was observed during elevated sugar levels for the 11 GTT trials. Maximum inhibition occurred about an hour after glucose consumption when blood glucose levels peaked. Results indicate that acute hyperglycemia influences efferent control of the cochlea in people with type 2 diabetes.     

Influence of Ectopic Beats on Heart Rate Variability Analysis

The analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) plays a dominant role in the study of physiological signal variability. HRV reflects the information of the adjustment of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves on the cardiovascular system and, thus, is widely used to evaluate the functional status of the cardiovascular system. Ectopic beats may affect the analysis of HRV. However, the quantitative relationship between the burden of ectopic beats and HRV indices, including entropy measures, has not yet been investigated in depth. In this work, we analyzed the effects of different numbers of ectopic beats on several widely accepted HRV parameters in time-domain (SDNN), frequency-domain (LF/HF), as well as non-linear features (SampEn and Pt-SampEn (physical threshold-based SampEn)). The results showed that all four indices were influenced by ectopic beats, and the degree of influence was roughly increased with the increase of the number of ectopic beats. Ectopic beats had the greatest impact on the frequency domain index LF/HF, whereas the Pt-SampEn was minimally accepted by ectopic beats. These results also indicated that, compared with the other three indices, Pt-SampEn had better robustness for ectopic beats.     

Nonlinear propagation delay and pulse distortion resulting from dual frequency band transmit pulse complexes

A method of acoustic imaging is discussed that potentially can improve the diagnostic capabilities of medical ultrasound. The method, given the name second order ultrasound field imaging, is achieved by the processing of the received signals from transmitted dual frequency band pulse complexes with at least partly overlapping high frequency (HF) and low frequency (LF) pulses. The transmitted HF pulses are used for image reconstruction whereas the transmitted LF pulses are used to manipulate the elastic properties of the medium observed by the HF imaging pulses. In the present paper, nonlinear propagation effects observed by a HF imaging pulse due to the presence of a LF manipulation pulse is discussed. When using dual frequency band transmit pulse complexes with a large separation in center frequency (e.g., 1:10), these nonlinear propagation effects are manifested as a nonlinear HF propagation delay and a HF pulse distortion different from conventional harmonic distortion. In addition, with different transmit foci for the HF and LF pulses, nonlinear aberration will occur.     

Similarity Changes Analysis for Heart Rate Fluctuation Regularity as a New Screening Method for Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic cardiovascular condition associated with dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Heart rate variability (HRV) has been widely used to assess ANS. This paper proposes a new HRV analysis method, which uses information-based similarity (IBS) transformation and fuzzy approximate entropy (fApEn) algorithm to obtain the fApEn_IBS index, which is used to observe the complexity of autonomic fluctuations in CHF within 24 h. We used 98 ECG records (54 health records and 44 CHF records) from the PhysioNet database. The fApEn_IBS index was statistically significant between the control and CHF groups (p < 0.001). Compared with the classical indices low-to-high frequency power ratio (LF/HF) and IBS, the fApEn_IBS index further utilizes the changes in the rhythm of heart rate (HR) fluctuations between RR intervals to fully extract relevant information between adjacent time intervals and significantly improves the performance of CHF screening. The CHF classification accuracy of fApEn_IBS was 84.69%, higher than LF/HF (77.55%) and IBS (83.67%). Moreover, the combination of IBS, fApEn_IBS, and LF/HF reached the highest CHF screening accuracy (98.98%) with the random forest (RF) classifier, indicating that the IBS and LF/HF had good complementarity. Therefore, fApEn_IBS effusively reflects the complexity of autonomic nerves in CHF and is a valuable CHF assessment tool.     

心率变异性分析在新生儿疼痛检测中的应用

为了研究疼痛暴露对新生儿自主神经系统的影响,并建立基于心率变异性(heart rate variability,HRV)指标的新生儿疼痛检测模型,采用时域、频域和非线性方法对40名新生儿疼痛暴露前后的心电数据进行短时HRV分析,Wilcoxon符号秩检验用于统计分析,支持向量机(support vector machine,SVM)用于建立检测模型.结果表明,RR间期均值a RR、低频段功率LF、高频段功率HF等3个线性指标和近似熵Ap En、样本熵Samp En、递归率REC等9个非线性指标在疼痛前后具有统计学差异;基于a RR、相邻两个RR间期对差值大于50 ms的百分比p NN50,Ap En,关联维D2和REC等5个指标和SVM的疼痛检测模型检测正确率达到83.75%.HRV的相关指标可反映新生儿自主神经系统对疼痛暴露的应答,基于HRV指标和SVM的模型可用于新生儿疼痛检测.     

Concurrent sympathetic activation and vagal withdrawal in hyperthyroidism: Evidence from detrended fluctuation analysis of heart rate variability

Despite many previous studies on the association between hyperthyroidism and the hyperadrenergic state, controversies still exist. Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) is a well recognized method in the nonlinear analysis of heart rate variability (HRV), and it has physiological significance related to the autonomic nervous system. In particular, an increased short-term scaling exponent α1 calculated from DFA is associated with both increased sympathetic activity and decreased vagal activity. No study has investigated the DFA of HRV in hyperthyroidism. This study was designed to assess the sympathovagal balance in hyperthyroidism. We performed the DFA along with the linear analysis of HRV in 36 hyperthyroid Graves’ disease patients (32 females and 4 males; age 30 ± 1 years, means ± SE) and 36 normal controls matched by sex, age and body mass index. Compared with the normal controls, the hyperthyroid patients revealed a significant increase (P<0.001) in α1 (hyperthyroid 1.28±0.04 versus control 0.91±0.02), long-term scaling exponent , overall scaling exponent , low frequency power in normalized units (LF%) and the ratio of low frequency power to high frequency power (LF/HF); and a significant decrease (P<0.001) in the standard deviation of the R-R intervals (SDNN) and high frequency power (HF). In conclusion, hyperthyroidism is characterized by concurrent sympathetic activation and vagal withdrawal. This sympathovagal imbalance state in hyperthyroidism helps to explain the higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation and exercise intolerance among hyperthyroid patients.     

Assessment of peripheral tissue perfusion disorder in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI

Purpose

To assess peripheral tissue perfusion disorder in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats by using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI).

Materials and Methods

A rat diabetes model was produced by intravenous injection of STZ. Diabetic rats were sustainably treated with either saline or insulin using an Alzet osmotic pump. Hind paw tissue perfusion was measured by signal intensity (SI) enhancement after gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid injection in DCE-MRI study and quantified using the initial area under the SI-time curve (IAUC). Peripheral tissue uptake of [¹⁴C]iodoantipyrine (IAP) was also determined as a marker of tissue blood flow for comparison with the IAUC value indicating tissue perfusion.

Results

STZ caused hyperglycemia at 1 and 2 weeks after injection. Treatment with insulin significantly alleviated hyperglycemia. At 2 weeks after STZ injection, peripheral tissue perfusion was clearly reduced in the diabetic rats and its reduction was significantly improved in the insulin-treated diabetic rats. Tissue perfusion evaluated by DCE-MRI was similar to the tissue blood flow measured by [¹⁴C]IAP uptake.

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrated that DCE-MRI can assess peripheral tissue perfusion disorder in diabetes. DCE-MRI could be suitable for noninvasive evaluation of peripheral tissue perfusion in both preclinical and clinical studies. It may also be useful for developing novel drugs to protect against diabetic vascular complications.     

Investigation of determinism in heart rate variability

The article searches for the possible presence of determinism in heart rate variability (HRV) signals by using a new approach based on NARMA (nonlinear autoregressive moving average) modeling and free-run prediction. Thirty-three 256-point HRV time series obtained from Wistar rats submitted to different autonomic blockade protocols are considered, and a collection of surrogate data sets are generated from each one of them. These surrogate sequences are assumed to be nondeterministic and therefore they may not be predictable. The original HRV time series and related surrogates are submitted to NARMA modeling and prediction. Special attention has been paid to the problem of stationarity. The results consistently show that the surrogate data sets cannot be predicted better than the trivial predictor-the mean-while most of the HRV control sequences are predictable to a certain degree. This suggests that the normal HRV signals have a deterministic signature. The HRV time series derived from the autonomic blockade segments of the experimental protocols do not show the same predictability performance, albeit the physiological interpretation is not obvious. These results have important implications to the methodology of HRV analysis, indicating that techniques from nonlinear dynamics and deterministic chaos may be applied to elicit more information about the autonomic modulation of the cardiovascular activity. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.     

A quantitative study of sodium tungstate protective effect on pancreatic beta cells in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Diabetes is a major public health problem. Development of new therapies that are able to improve glycemia management, cure diabetes, and can even protect from it, are of great interest. This study investigated the protective effect of sodium tungstate against STZ-induced beta-cell damages by means of stereological methods. Sixty rats were divided into six groups: control (C), tungstate-treated control (TC), STZ-induced diabetic (D), STZ-induced diabetic rats were treated by sodium tungstate from 1 week before STZ injection (TDB), food-restricted diabetic (FRD), and diabetic rats treated with sodium tungstate 1 week after STZ administration (TDA). Stereological estimation of pancreas volume, islets volume density, volume-weighted mean islets volume and mass of beta cells, islets, and pancreas and total number of islets were done. Islets volume density, volume-weighted mean islets volume, and mass of beta cells, islets, and pancreas of TDB group was significantly higher than D, FRD and TDA groups (P < 0.001) and was comparable to controls (C and TC groups). Total number of islets, pancreas wet weight and volume did not show any significant changes between these groups (P > 0.05).Results suggested that sodium tungstate preserves pancreatic beta cells from STZ-induced damages and diabetes induction in rats.     

多尺度多变量模糊熵分析

多尺度多变量样本熵评价同步多通道数据的多变量复杂度, 是非线性动态相互关系的一种反映, 但其统计稳定性差, 且不适用于非线性非平稳信号. 研究利用模糊隶属度函数代替模式相似判断的硬阈值准则, 并分析模糊隶属度函数形式的影响; 研究利用多变量经验模态分解算法进行多尺度化, 并对比其处理效果. 仿真试验表明, 模糊隶属度函数的引入可以有效提高算法的统计稳定性, 所构造的物理模糊隶属度函数的性能最为显著; 基于多变量经验模态分解算法的多尺度化过程可更有效地捕获信号的不同尺度成分, 从而更敏感地区分具有不同复杂度的信号. 对临床试验数据的分析支持以上结论, 且结果提示随着年龄增加或心脏疾病的发生, 心率变异性和心脏舒张间期变异性的多变量复杂度以不同的方式降低: 年龄增加会使低尺度熵值降低, 表示近程相关性的丢失; 而心脏疾病会同时影响各个尺度的熵值, 即同时丢失了近程和长时相关性. 该结论可用于指导心血管疾病的无创预警研究. 关键词： 多变量复杂度 多尺度多变量模糊熵 物理模糊隶属度函数 多变量经验模态分解     

Multi-objective optimization in quantum parameter estimation

We investigate quantum parameter estimation based on linear and Kerr-type nonlinear controls in an open quantum system, and consider the dissipation rate as an unknown parameter. We show that while the precision of parameter estimation is improved,it usually introduces a significant deformation to the system state. Moreover, we propose a multi-objective model to optimize the two conflicting objectives:(1) maximizing the Fisher information, improving the parameter estimation precision, and(2)minimizing the deformation of the system state, which maintains its fidelity. Finally, simulations of a simplified ε-constrained model demonstrate the feasibility of the Hamiltonian control in improving the precision of the quantum parameter estimation.     

Failure of feedback as a putative common mechanism of spreading depolarizations in migraine and stroke

The stability of cortical function depends critically on proper regulation. Under conditions of migraine and stroke a breakdown of transmembrane chemical gradients can spread through cortical tissue. A concomitant component of this emergent spatio-temporal pattern is a depolarization of cells detected as slow voltage variations. The propagation velocity of approximately 3 mm/min indicates a contribution of diffusion. We propose a mechanism for spreading depolarizations (SD) that rests upon a nonlocal or noninstantaneous feedback in a reaction-diffusion system. Depending upon the characteristic space and time scales of the feedback, the propagation of cortical SD can be suppressed by shifting the bifurcation line, which separates the parameter regime of pulse propagation from the regime where a local disturbance dies out. The optimization of this feedback is elaborated for different control schemes and ranges of control parameters.     

A Unique Method to Describe the Bonding Strength in a Bonded Solid-S-olid Interface by Contact Acoustic Nonlinearity

We present a unique method to describe the bonding strength at a bonded solid-solid interface in a multilayered composite material by contact acoustic nonlinearity （CAN） parameter. A CAN model on the bonded solid-solid interface is depicted. It can be seen from the model that CAN parameter is very sensitive to the bonding strength at the interface. When an incident focusing acoustic longitudinal wave scans the interface in two dimensions, the transmitted wave can be used to extract CAN parameter. The contour of the bonding strength for a sample is obtained by CAN parameter. The results show that the region with weak bonding strength can be easily distinguished from the contour.     

CHF3双频电容耦合放电等离子体特性研究

研究了用于SiCOH 低介电常数薄膜刻蚀的CHF₃气体在1356 MHz/2 MHz,2712 MHz/2 MHz和60 MHz/2 MHz双频电容耦合放电时的等离子体性质.发现2 MHz低频源功率的增大主要导致F基团密度的增大;而高频频率从1356,2712增大到60 MHz,导致CF₂基团的密度增大和电极之间F基团密度的轴向空间不均匀性增加.根据电子温度的分布规律及离子能量随高频源频率的变化关系,提出CF₂基团的产生主要通过电子-中性气体碰撞,而F基团的产生是离子-中性气体碰撞的结果. 关键词： 双频电容耦合放电 3等离子体')" href="#">CHF₃等离子体     

心率变异性谱成分的非线性本质

提出了分频段相位随机化替代数据方法,与噪声滴定法相结合,观察了不同频率成分对心搏混沌的影响.结果显示心率变异性高频成分相位随机化的替代数据使混沌强度显著降低,提示谱分析的频率成分中蕴含着信号的非线性特性.提出的方法能有效分析不同频率成分对非线性的贡献,该法不仅适用于心率变异性还适用于其他确定性信号的特性分析. 关键词： 分频段相位随机化替代数据 混沌 滴定法 心率变异性     

Contact acoustic nonlinearity in a bonded solid-solid interface

We have conducted research on the contact acoustic nonlinearity (CAN) produced by a bonded solid-solid interface in order to find a nondestructive and quantitative method to evaluate the bonding strength of the interface. A CAN model is used to depict a bonded state from the relationship between the CAN parameter and the bonding strength and the crack width in the interface. According to this model, a nondestructive evaluation of the bonding strength can be established. When the CAN parameter and the crack width are measured, the bonding strength can be calculated from the model. In this paper, the bonding strengths of some samples are evaluated based on the CAN method. The results well agree with the bonding strengths measured by hanging clogs (weights) to destroy their interfaces.     

Measurements of argon metastable density using the tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy in Ar and Ar/O_2

Densities of Ar metastable states 1s_5 and 1s_3 are measured by using the tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy(TDLAS) in Ar and Ar/O2 mixture dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasma(DF-CCP). We investigate the effects of high-frequency(HF, 60 MHz) power, low-frequency(LF, 2 MHz) power, and working pressure on the density of Ar metastable states for three different gas components(0%, 5%, and 10% oxygen mixed in argon). The dependence of Ar metastable state density on the oxygen content is also studied at different working pressures. It is found that densities of Ar metastable states in discharges with different gas components exhibit different behaviors as HF power increases. With the increase of HF power, the metastable density increases rapidly at the initial stage, and then tends to be saturated at a higher HF power. With a small fraction(5% or 10%) of oxygen added in argon plasma, a similar change of the Ar metastable density with HF power can be observed, but the metastable density is saturated at a higher HF power than in the pure argon discharge. In the DF-CCP, the metastable density is found to be higher than in a single frequency discharge, and has weak dependence on LF power. As working pressure increases, the metastable state density first increases and then decreases,and the pressure value, at which the density maximum occurs, decreases with oxygen content increasing. Besides, adding a small fraction of oxygen into argon plasma will significantly dwindle the metastable state density as a result of quenching loss by oxygen molecules.     

Microstructure abnormity in the optic nerve of type 1 diabetic rats revealed by diffusion tensor imaging study

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of a major complication of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and a leading cause of blindness. Evidence of animal study has shown that it is not only a microvasucular lesion of the eye, but also a neurodegeneration disease of the visual system. However, the in vivo imaging evidence of axonal degeneration in the diabetic optic nerve is scarce. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique has been proved to be an effective tool to track the integrity of the nerve fibers in the central nervous system. In this study, type 1 diabetes was induced by intraperitoneally injecting a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ) into Sprague-Dawley rats. DTI combined with histological assessments was carried out on the optic nerve to clarify the microstructural alterations underlying DTI indices changes at 4 weeks (4 w), 8 weeks (8 w) and 12 weeks (12 w) after STZ induction. The retinal changes were analyzed by pathological evaluations at 4 weeks (4 w) and 12 weeks (12 w) after STZ induction. DTI results showed significantly decreased mean diffusivity (MD) and axial diffusivity (Da) in diabetic optic nerve compared to controls at 12 w. Atrophy in diabetic nerves was monitored by high resolution T₂-weighted images. Axonal degeneration without myelin loss of the optic nerve was confirmed by histological examination. Moreover, there are positive correlations between decreased diffusivities (MD and Da) in the optic nerve and reduced total axolemmal area. The diabetic rats showed intense glial activity since 4 w and thinning of the thickness in inner plexiform layer and nerve fiber layer at 12 w in the retina. In conclusion, DTI could in vivo monitor the progression of optic nerve degeneration in diabetes and the findings in our study would help supply axonal protection for DR in preclinical practice.