Echo suppression and time delay - a subjective evaluation.
Combined effects of time delay and action of particular type of echo suppressor in radiotelephony
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Combined effects of time delay and action of particular type of echo suppressor in radiotelephony
When several microphones are fed into a common system, sound originating at any given source results in poor articulation. Introduction of an automatic microphone priority control suppresses echo and reverberation.
Offsetting frequency of FM/CW transponder signal with respect to interrogation signal to eliminate clutter
Channel capacity, propagation times, echo suppressor problems, and associated problems in development of commercial communications satellite systems
Modulator transfer functions for fixed and ramp input waveforms, and nonlinear homomorphic system for echo removal
Recursive approximation gives least-squares best fit to exact response. Algorithm yields finite-impulse-response approximation of unknown single-input/single-output, causal, time-invariant, linear, real system, response of which is sequence of impulses. Applicable to such system-inversion problems as suppression of echoes and identification of target from its scatter response to incident impulse.
Objective: To compare diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the kidneys and its derived parameters in children with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) versus healthy controls. Methods: In a prospective IRB-approved study, we evaluated the use of DTI to compare kidney parenchyma FA values in healthy controls (age-matched children with no history of renal disease) versus patients with ARPKD. A 20-direction DTI with b-values of b = 0 s/mm{sup 2} and b = 400 s/mm{sup 2} was used to acquire data in coronal direction using a fat-suppressed spin-echo echo-planar sequence. Diffusion Toolkit and TrackVis were used for analysis and segmentation. TrackVis was used to draw regions of interest (ROIs) covering the entire volume of the renal parenchyma, excluding the collecting system. Fibers were reconstructed using a deterministic fiber tracking algorithm. The FA values based on the ROI data, mean length, and volume of the tracks based on the fiber tracking data were recorded. Results: Eight healthy controls (mean age = 12.9 years ± 4.0; 1/8 males) and six ARPKD participants (mean age = 13.8 years ± 8.5; 5/6 males) were included in the study. Compared to healthy controls, patients with ARPKD had significantly lower FA values (0.33 ± 0.03 vs. 0.25 ± 0.02, p = 0.002) and mean track length (16.73 ± 3.43 vs. 11.61 ± 1.29 mm, p = 0.005). Conclusion: DTI of the kidneys shows significantly lower FA values and mean track length in children and young adults with ARPKD compared to normal subjects. DTI of the kidney offers a novel approach for characterizing renal disease based on changes in diffusion anisotropy and kidney structure.
In this study, a coherent subsampling digitizer for pulsed Doppler radar systems is proposed. Prior to transmission, the radar system modulates the RF pulse with a known pseudorandom binary phase shift keying (BPSK) sequence. Upon reception, the radar digitizer uses a programmable sample-and-hold circuit to multiply the received waveform by a properly time-delayed version of the known a priori BPSK sequence. This operation demodulates the desired echo signal while suppressing the spectrum of all in-band noncorrelated interferers, making them appear as noise in the frequency domain. The resulting demodulated narrowband Doppler waveform is then subsampled at the IF frequency by a delta-sigma modulator. Because the digitization bandwidth within the delta-sigma feedback loop is much less than the input bandwidth to the digitizer, the thermal noise outside of the Doppler bandwidth is effectively filtered prior to quantization, providing an increase in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the digitizer's output compared with the input SNR. In this demonstration, a delta-sigma correlation digitizer is fabricated in a 0.18-μm CMOS technology. The digitizer has a power consumption of 1.12 mW with an IIP3 of 7.5 dBm. The digitizer is able to recover Doppler tones in the presence of blockers up to 40 dBm greater than the Doppler tone.
Light passing near a black hole can follow multiple paths from an emission source to an observer due to strong gravitational lensing. Photons following different paths take different amounts of time to reach the observer, which produces an echo signature in the image. The characteristic echo delay is determined primarily by the mass of the black hole, but it is also influenced by the black hole spin and inclination to the observer. In the Kerr geometry, echo images are demagnified, rotated, and sheared copies of the direct image and lie within a restricted region of the image. Echo images have exponentially suppressed flux, and temporal correlations within the flow make it challenging to directly detect light echoes from the total light curve. In this Letter, we propose a novel method to search for light echoes by correlating the total light curve with the interferometric signal at high spatial frequencies, which is a proxy for indirect emission. We explore the viability of our method using numerical general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a near-face-on accretion system scaled to M87-like parameters. We demonstrate that our method can be used to directly infer the echo delay period in simulated data. An echo detection would be clear evidence that we have captured photons that have circled the black hole, and a high-fidelity echo measurement would provide an independent measure of fundamental black hole parameters. Our results suggest that detecting echoes may be achievable through interferometric observations with a modest space-based very long baseline interferometry mission.
The purpose of this study was to assess a new open system with a field-strength of 1.0 T for the feasibility of liver biopsy using the freehand technique with fast continuous imaging. Fifty patients with focal liver lesions measuring 5 to 30 mm in diameter were included in the study. Guidance and monitoring was performed using a 1.0-T open magnetic resonance (MR) scanner (Panorama HFO; Philips Healthcare, Best, The Netherlands). With fast continuous imaging using a T1-weighted (T1W) gradient echo (GRE) sequence after administration of gadolinium (Gd)-EOB-DTPA, the needle was placed into the lesion. An interface for interactive dynamic viewing in two perpendicular planes prevented needle deviations T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE) fat-suppressed sequence was added to rule out postinterventional hematoma or biloma. All lesions were visible on the interventional images. Biopsy was technically successful, and solid specimens were obtained in all cases. Forty-six patients showed a histopathologic pattern other than native liver tissue, thus confirming correct position of the needle. Time between determination of the lesion and performance of the control scan was on average 18 min. No major complications were recorded. MR guidance with the new 1-T open system must be considered an attractive alternative for liver punction. An interface for dynamic imaging of needle guidance and T1W-GRE imaging with administration of Gd-EOB-DTPA for contrast enhancement allows the pinpoint puncture of liver lesions.
Realizing scalable quantum interconnects necessitates the integration of solid-state quantum memories with foundry photonics processes. While prior photonic integration efforts have relied upon specialized, laboratory-scale fabrication techniques, this work demonstrates the monolithic integration of a quantum memory platform with low-loss foundry photonic circuits via back-end-of-line deposition. We deposited thin films of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) doped with erbium (Er) onto silicon nitride nanophotonic waveguides and studied Er optical coherence at subkelvin temperatures with photon echo techniques. Furthermore, we suppressed optical dephasing through ex-situ oxygen annealing and optimized measurement conditions, which yielded an optical coherence time of 64 μs (a 5-kHz homogeneous linewidth) and slow spectral diffusion of 27 kHz over 4 ms, results that are comparable to state-of-the-art Er nanophotonic devices. Combined with second-long electron spin lifetimes and demonstrated electrical control of Er emission, our findings establish Er:TiO 2 on foundry photonics as a manufacturable platform for ensemble and single-ion quantum memories.
Purpose: To develop and demonstrate a short breast (sb) MRI protocol that acquires both T2-weighted and dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images in approximately ten minutes. Methods: The sb-MRI protocol consists of two novel pulse sequences. The first is a flexible fast spin-echo triple-echo Dixon (FTED) sequence for high-resolution fat-suppressed T2-weighted imaging, and the second is a 3D fast dual-echo spoiled gradient sequence (FLEX) for volumetric fat-suppressed T1-weighted imaging before and post contrast agent injection. The flexible FTED sequence replaces each single readout during every echo-spacing period of FSE with three fast-switching bipolar readouts to produce three raw images in a single acquisition. These three raw images are then post-processed using a Dixon algorithm to generate separate water-only and fat-only images. The FLEX sequence acquires two echoes using dual-echo readout after each RF excitation and the corresponding images are post-processed using a similar Dixon algorithm to yield water-only and fat-only images. The sb-MRI protocol was implemented on a 3T MRI scanner and used for patients who had undergone concurrent clinical MRI for breast cancer screening. Results: With the same scan parameters (eg, spatial coverage, field of view, spatial and temporal resolution) as the clinical protocol, the total scan-time of the sb-MRI protocol (including the localizer, bilateral T2-weighted, and dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images) was 11 minutes. In comparison, the clinical breast MRI protocol took 43 minutes. Uniform fat suppression and high image quality were consistently achieved by sb-MRI. Conclusion: We demonstrated a sb-MRI protocol comprising both T2-weighted and dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images can be performed in approximately ten minutes. The spatial and temporal resolution of the images easily satisfies the current breast MRI accreditation guidelines by the American College of Radiology. The protocol has the potential of making breast MRI more widely accessible to and more tolerable by the patients. JMA is the inventor of United States patents that are owned by the University of Texas Board of Regents and currently licensed to GE Healthcare and Siemens Gmbh.
In a collisionless, magnetized plasma, particles may stream freely along magnetic field lines, leading to “phase mixing” of their distribution function and consequently, to smoothing out of any “compressive” fluctuations (of density, pressure, etc.). This rapid mixing underlies Landau damping of these fluctuations in a quiescent plasma—one of the most fundamental physical phenomena that makes plasma different from a conventional fluid. Nevertheless, broad power law spectra of compressive fluctuations are observed in turbulent astrophysical plasmas (most vividly, in the solar wind) under conditions conducive to strong Landau damping. Elsewhere in nature, such spectra are normally associated with fluid turbulence, where energy cannot be dissipated in the inertial-scale range and is, therefore, cascaded from large scales to small. By direct numerical simulations and theoretical arguments, it is shown here that turbulence of compressive fluctuations in collisionless plasmas strongly resembles one in a collisional fluid and does have broad power law spectra. This “fluidization” of collisionless plasmas occurs, because phase mixing is strongly suppressed on average by “stochastic echoes,” arising due to nonlinear advection of the particle distribution by turbulent motions. Other than resolving the long-standing puzzle of observed compressive fluctuations in the solar wind, our results suggest a conceptual shift for understanding kinetic plasma turbulence generally: rather than being a system where Landau damping plays the role of dissipation, a collisionless plasma is effectively dissipationless, except at very small scales. The universality of “fluid” turbulence physics is thus reaffirmed even for a kinetic, collisionless system.
The microscopic description of 1/f magnetic flux noise in superconducting circuits has remained an open question for several decades despite extensive experimental and theoretical investigation. Recent progress in superconducting devices for quantum information has highlighted the need to mitigate sources of qubit decoherence, driving a renewed interest in understanding the underlying noise mechanism(s). Though a consensus has emerged attributing flux noise to surface spins, their identity and interaction mechanisms remain unclear, prompting further study. Here, we apply weak in-plane magnetic fields to a capacitively shunted flux qubit (where the Zeeman splitting of surface spins lies below the device temperature) and study the flux-noise-limited qubit dephasing, revealing previously unexplored trends that may shed light on the dynamics behind the emergent 1/f noise. Notably, we observe an enhancement (suppression) of the spin-echo (Ramsey) pure-dephasing time in fields up to B = 100 G. With direct noise spectroscopy, we further observe a transition from a 1/f to approximately Lorentzian frequency dependence below 10 Hz and a reduction of the noise above 1 MHz with increasing magnetic field. Here, we suggest that these trends are qualitatively consistent with an increase of spin cluster sizes with magnetic field. These results should help to inform a complete microscopic theory of 1/f flux noise in superconducting circuits.
Introduction: Pubic bone osteomyelitis with pubic symphysis urinary fistula represents a debilitating complication of radiation and ablative treatments for prostate cancer. The definitive radiographic diagnosis of this clinical entity is not described. In this study, we characterize the plain film and magnetic resonance imaging findings of pubic osteomyelitis. Materials and Methods: We reviewed a database of prostate cancer survivors with diagnosed pubic osteomyelitis from 2011 to 2015. These patients underwent pelvic plain radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging with T1-weighted and fat-suppressed T2-weighted fast spin echo sequences. Intravenous gadolinium was utilized. The diagnosis was verified with extirpative surgery. 16 patients with diagnosed pubic osteomyelitis from 2011 to 2015 underwent imaging at our institution. Results: All patients demonstrated increased signal on T2- weighted sequences and decreased signal on T1-weighted sequences along the pubic symphysis and the marrow of the involved pubic rami. Inflammatory myositis with diastasis of the pubic symphysis and cortical bone erosion were identified in the majority of patients. Fluid collections were identified in 75% of patients. 63% of conventional radiographs demonstrated no radiographic evidence of pubic osteomyelitis. Conclusion: Magnetic resonance imaging of pubic symphysis osteomyelitis in the prostate cancer survivor is characterized by high signal on T2-weighted images and low signal on T1-weighted images of the involved pubic rami, with the majority of patients demonstrating regional myositis. Imaging data combined with clinical assessment should prompt diagnosis and management of pubic osteomyelitis. Conventional radiography is generally insensitive to these findings. We consider magnetic resonance imaging to be the definitive diagnostic modality for this clinical entity.
Crosstalk between target and neighboring spectator qubits due to spillover of control signals represents a major error source limiting the fidelity of two-qubit entangling gates in quantum computers. We show that in our laser-driven trapped-ion system coherent crosstalk error can be modeled as residual $X\hat{σ}_{\phi}$ interaction and can be actively canceled by single-qubit echoing pulses. We propose and demonstrate a crosstalk suppression scheme that eliminates all first-order crosstalk utilizing only local control of target qubits, as opposed to an existing scheme which requires control over all neighboring qubits. We report a two-qubit Bell state fidelity of 99.52(6)% with the echoing pulses applied after collective gates and 99.37(5)% with the echoing pulses applied to each gate in a five-ion chain. Finally, this scheme is widely applicable to other platforms with analogous interaction Hamiltonians.
A pulsed field gradient spin-echo nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sequence with solvent suppression (PGSE-WATERGATE) was applied to accurately measure the diffusion coefficients of Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) in low-concentration aqueous solutions. Three samples with Rh6G concentrations of C{sub Rh6G} = 1, 4.5, and 25 μM were investigated. The precise determination of the diffusion coefficients in this low-concentration range was made possible by using a cryogenically cooled NMR probe and by the effective solvent suppression of the PGSE-WATERGATE sequence. The present results bridge the gap between diffusion data measured by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in the single molecule limit and diffusivities obtained by pulsed field gradient NMR (PFG-NMR) without solvent suppression at higher concentrations. To further extend the concentration range, the diffusion coefficient of Rh6G was also measured on a sample with C{sub Rh6G} = 410 μM by PFG-NMR. The overall concentration dependence of the Rh6G diffusion at 25 °C is discussed in terms of dimerization of the Rh6G molecules. The concentration-dependent monomer/dimer proportion is deduced from the diffusion data.
Background To apply quantitative whole‐brain T 1 ‐rho (T 1ρ ) and T 2 imaging to the detection and quantification of brain changes resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods Twenty‐three MS patients with clinically isolated syndrome (10) and relapsing remitting MS (13) phenotypes, compared with 24 age‐matched healthy controls were imaged at 3 Tesla. An axial T 1ρ ‐weighted three‐dimensional turbo spin echo sequence with a variable flip angle and fluid suppression was used. Spin‐lock times of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 ms were used. Corresponding T 2 maps were also acquired. Results Whole brain white matter (WM) T 1ρ maps were elevated compared with controls ( P = 0.002). WM lesion T 1ρ and T 2 values were highly correlated (r = 0.83), but T 1ρ demonstrated 25% better contrast to noise ratio ( P < 0.001). WM lesion T 1ρ correlated with disease duration. Gray matter T 1ρ was negatively correlated with the Expanded Disability Status Scale, r = −0.45, P = 0.03. Normal appearing gray matter and cortical gray matter lesions were negatively correlated on T 1ρ , but not on T 2 (r T1ρ = −0.63, p T1ρ = 0.03; r T2 = −0.17, p T2 = 0.6). Conclusion T 1ρ MRI demonstrates enhanced lesion contrast compared with T 2 , and in some cases may provide complementary information. T 1ρ may provide a useful measure of demyelinating processes in MS. J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2015;42:1623–1630.