Langmuir Probe Perturbations during In Situ Monitoring of Pulsed Laser Deposition Plasmas

The recent advancements in pulsed laser deposition (PLD) control via plasma diagnostics techniques have been positive and raised questions on the limitation of some techniques, such as the Langmuir probe (LP). The particularities of laser-produced plasma can lead to incorrect interpretation of collected electrical signal. In this paper, we explored the limitations of LP as a technique for in situ PLD control by performing investigations on several metallic plasmas, expanding in various Ar atmosphere conditions. Sub-microsecond modulation was seen in the reconstructed IV characteristics attributed to non-equilibrium dynamics of the ejected charges. A perturbative regime was recorded for Ar pressures higher than 2 Pa, where ionic bursts were observed in the electron saturation region. This perturbation was identified as a plasma fireball. A non-linear multifractal model was developed here to explore these new regimes of the LP. The strange attractors characterizing each fireball were reconstructed, and their evolution with the Ar pressure is discussed. Both short- and long-time non-linear behavior were correlated via probe bias, and the pressure effect on the strange attractor’s defining the fireball-like behavior was investigated. A good correlation was noticed between the simulated data and experimental findings.     

Broadband Dynamics Rather than Frequency-Specific Rhythms Underlie Prediction Error in the Primate Auditory Cortex

Detection of statistical irregularities, measured as a prediction error response, is fundamental to the perceptual monitoring of the environment. We studied whether prediction error response is associated with neural oscillations or asynchronous broadband activity. Electrocorticography was conducted in three male monkeys, who passively listened to the auditory roving oddball stimuli. Local field potentials (LFPs) recorded over the auditory cortex underwent spectral principal component analysis, which decoupled broadband and rhythmic components of the LFP signal. We found that the broadband component captured the prediction error response, whereas none of the rhythmic components were associated with statistical irregularities of sounds. The broadband component displayed more stochastic, asymmetrical multifractal properties than the rhythmic components, which revealed more self-similar dynamics. We thus conclude that the prediction error response is captured by neuronal populations generating asynchronous broadband activity, defined by irregular dynamic states, which, unlike oscillatory rhythms, appear to enable the neural representation of auditory prediction error response.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study aimed to examine the contribution of oscillatory and asynchronous components of auditory local field potentials in the generation of prediction error responses to sensory irregularities, as this has not been directly addressed in the previous studies. Here, we show that mismatch negativity—an auditory prediction error response—is driven by the asynchronous broadband component of potentials recorded in the auditory cortex. This finding highlights the importance of nonoscillatory neural processes in the predictive monitoring of the environment. At a more general level, the study demonstrates that stochastic neural processes, which are often disregarded as neural noise, do have a functional role in the processing of sensory information.     

Effect of Aging and Carotid Atherosclerosis on Multifractality of Dental Pulp Blood Flow Oscillations

IntroductionAge-related changes of dental pulp tissue and atherosclerosis of carotid arteries as its feeding arteries could influence the functionality of pulpal circulation. The objective of our study was to evaluate the effect of aging (physiological process) and carotid bifurcation atherosclerosis (pathologic process) on the pulpal microcirculatory system using multifractal analysis of the laser Doppler flowmetry signal.MethodsThree groups of 10 subjects were enrolled in the study: the young group (healthy subjects, 20–25 years), the middle-aged group (healthy subjects, 50–60 years), and the clinical group (subjects with carotid bifurcation atherosclerosis, 50–60 years). Pulpal blood flow (PBF) signals recorded by laser Doppler flowmetry were assessed by multifractal analysis that estimates Hölder exponents of the signal. PBF levels, the average mean values, and the range of Hölder exponents were obtained.ResultsPBF levels were significantly higher in the young group compared with the middle-aged and clinical groups, and the difference between the middle-aged and clinical groups was not statistically significant. The range of the Hölder exponents was narrower in the middle-aged and clinical groups than in the young group and narrower in the clinical group than in the middle-aged group. The average mean value of Hölder exponents was significantly higher in the young group than in the middle-aged and clinical groups, whereas there was no significant difference between the middle-aged and clinical groups.ConclusionsOur study investigating the multifractality of the PBF signal showed that the aging process and carotid atherosclerosis could affect the complex structure of PBF oscillations and contribute to a better understanding of pulpal hemodynamics.     

基于多重分形谱和自组织神经网络的医学图像分割

背景：单一的多重分形谱图像分割虽然在边缘及纹理的区分上有较大优势,但是选择不同的测度,不同的阈值对于分割结果影响比较大,正确地选择最优的测度比较困难。 目的：结合多重分形谱图像分割法及自组织特征映射神经网络对医学图像进行处理。 方法：以图像每一象素及其周围象素的均值及方差为基本特征,再结合4种不同多重分形谱为纹理特征,实现自组织特征映射神经网络。 结果与结论：选择不同的测度对同一图像的分割结果是不一样的,并且同一种测度对不同图像的分割效果也不一样,说明基于多重分形谱的医学图像分割中选择合适的测度是一个关键所在。因此将多重分形谱结合自组织特征映射神经网络的方法对图像进行处理,该方法省略了选择测度的步骤,直接把4种多重分形谱作为特征,与另两种基本特征一起作为自组织神经网络的输入,对网络进行学习,并自动对图像进行分割。实验结果表明该方法在满足复杂图像中有效进行分割的同时达到了自动、自适应的目的。 关键词: 多重分形;自组织特征映射神经网络;医学图像分割;纹理;数字化影像技术     

同质TCP流的多重分形特性分析

采用基于小波变换模极大值的多重分形分析方法,讨论了大、小时间尺度下的结构函数和多重分形谱的特点。依据实例研究了不同时间下的同质TCP流(W eb)分别在大、小时间尺度下的分形特点;通过对不同协议的同质TCP流的协议本质及拥塞机制的分析,推断其所表现的多重分形谱特点与百分比的相关性;对同一TCP流中不同协议组成的分析,得到TCP总量与分量的多重分形谱特点以及与同质程度的关系。     

Multifractal application on electrocardiogram

Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis is applied to analyse the degree of disorders, complexity and irregularity based on scaling behaviour of electrocardiogram. Since this method is based on random walk theory, noise level due to imperfect measurement in recording is reduced and it can systematically eliminate trends of different orders. The essence of this method is to extract the fractal features in ECG which can reflect changes in adaptability of physiological processes and to classify the pathological conditions and can lead to successful diagnosis. Fractal analysis is, therefore, a promising diagnostic tool in cardiovascular disease diagnosis and evaluation.     

多重分形奇异谱的几何特性：Ⅱ.配分函数法

研究了用配分函数法定义的多重分形理论中奇异谱的几何特性 ,通过严格的数学推理证明了广义维数 Dq、质量指数 τ( q)、奇异性指数 α( q)和奇异谱 f( α( q) )的有关性质 ,明确提出了判定合理奇异谱 f( α( q) )的准则 ,给出了在参数 q→±∞时计算相应函数极限的解析算法。     

Structure-function correlation in transient amacrine cells of goldfish retina: basic and multifractal analyses of dendritic trees in distinct synaptic layers.

Amacrine cells generating light-evoked transient ON-OFF responses were stained by intracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase after determining their input-output (voltage response vs. light intensity) profiles. Ten cells specifically having bistratified dendritic trees were analyzed. The cross-sectional area of the dendrites in each sublamina (a and b) of the inner plexiform layer was initially measured. Although some variability was observed, there was no statistically significant overall difference in the cross-sectional areas of the dendritic trees in sublaminae a and b. Also, the amplitudes of the ON and OFF responses, generated by a midrange criterion stimulus, could not be correlated with the cross-sectional areas or the number of branches of the dendrites in sublaminae b and a, respectively. On the other hand, determination of the generalized fractal spectra revealed that the negative (up to -3) and zero-order fractal dimensions of the dendritic trees in sublamina a were consistently higher than those for sublamina b. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between response amplitude and some part of the generalized fractal dimension in the respective parts of the dendritic trees. It is concluded that dendritic tree characteristics differ in the two halves of the inner plexiform layer and that these can be related to the cells' light-evoked response amplitudes. Furthermore, generalized fractal analysis appears to be a useful method for correlating structure and function in retinal amacrine cells with complex dendritic trees.