Sodium temperature lidar based on injection seeded Nd:YAG pulse lasers using a sum-frequency generation technique

We report on a sodium (Na) temperature lidar based on two injection seeded Nd:YAG pulse lasers using single-pass sum-frequency generation. The laser power at 589 nm is 400 mW (40 mJ per pulse at a repetition rate of 10 Hz) and the pulse width is 22 nsec FWHM. The narrowband laser tuned to the Doppler broadened Na D(2) spectrum enables us to measure the temperature of the mesopause region (80-115 km). This solid-state transportable system demonstrated high performance and capability at Syowa Station in Antarctica for 3 years and at Uji in Japan for an additional year without any major operational troubles. (C) 2011 Optical Society of AmericaArticleOPTICS EXPRESS. 19(4):3553-3561 (2011)journal articl

Sodium temperature lidar observation at Syowa Station: Summary of three-year observations and unusually high temperature in 2002

Total 223 nights (2002 hours) of temperature measurement in the mesopause region (80-105 km) was successfully done in wintertime at Syowa Station (69ºS, 39ºE) starting from 2000 through 2002. Monthly mean temperatures were calculated using nightly mean temperatures and year-to-year variation was examined. The monthly temperature of 2002 shows unusually higher (25 K and 20 K) in June and July compared with previous 2 years. Variations of individual nights showed the temperatures at 80 km, 85 km and 110 km are in good agreement among three years through the observation period. The temperature of 2002 began to increase from the middle of May and was back to normal around the end of July in the limited altitude range of 90-105 km

Laser-induced fluorescence imaging of plants using a liquid crystal tunable filter and charge coupled device imaging camera

ArticleReview of Scientific Instruments. 76, 106103 (2005)journal articl

Sodium temperature lidar based on injection seeded Nd:YAG pulse lasers using a sum-frequency generation technique

We report on a sodium (Na) temperature lidar based on two injection seeded Nd:YAG pulse lasers using single-pass sum-frequency generation. The laser power at 589 nm is 400 mW (40 mJ per pulse at a repetition rate of 10 Hz) and the pulse width is 22 nsec FWHM. The narrowband laser tuned to the Doppler broadened Na D(2) spectrum enables us to measure the temperature of the mesopause region (80-115 km). This solid-state transportable system demonstrated high performance and capability at Syowa Station in Antarctica for 3 years and at Uji in Japan for an additional year without any major operational troubles. (C) 2011 Optical Society of AmericaArticleOPTICS EXPRESS. 19(4):3553-3561 (2011)journal articl

Second nationwide surveillance of bacterial pathogens in patients with acute uncomplicated cystitis conducted by Japanese Surveillance Committee from 2015 to 2016: antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus

The Japanese Surveillance Committee conducted a second nationwide surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of uropathogens responsible for acute uncomplicated cystitis (AUC) in premenopausal patients aged 16–40 years old at 31 hospitals throughout Japan from March 2015 to February 2016. In this study, the susceptibility of causative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus saprophyticus) for various antimicrobial agents was investigated by isolation and culturing of organisms obtained from urine samples. In total, 324 strains were isolated from 361 patients, including E. coli (n = 220, 67.9%), S. saprophyticus (n = 36, 11.1%), and K. pneumoniae (n = 7, 2.2%). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 20 antibacterial agents for these strains were determined according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) manual. At least 93% of the E. coli isolates showed susceptibility to fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins, whereas 100% of the S. saprophyticus isolates showed susceptibility to fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides. The proportions of fluoroquinolone-resistant and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli strains were 6.4% (13/220) and 4.1% (9/220), respectively. The antimicrobial susceptibility of K. pneumoniae was retained during the surveillance period, while no multidrug-resistant strains were identified. In summary, antimicrobial susceptibility results of our second nationwide surveillance did not differ significantly from those of the first surveillance. Especially the numbers of fluoroquinolone-resistant and ESBL-producing E. coli strains were not increased in premenopausal patients with AUC in Japan

Sodium lidar system for observing Antarctic mesopause temperature over Syowa Station

A new sodium lidar will be installed at Syowa Station (69°00′S, 39°35′E) from 1999 to 2001 for the observation campaign of the Antarctic mesopause region. In the campaign the lidar is operated with HF and MF radars, a Fabry-Perot Doppler imager and several other auroral imagers. This is the first lidar measurement of the mesopause temperature in Antarctica and it will reveal the characteristics of gravity wave activities and the energetic interaction between the lower thermosphere and the upper mesosphere through the mesopause region over Antarctica. For the temperature observations, a new laser transmitter is developed using injection-seeded Nd : YAG lasers. The principal advantage of this instrument is that the transmitter is simple and a reliable solid state system which requires less maintenance compared with ordinary dye laser type transmitters. This allows us to construct and operate it easily in Antarctica. As a result of sum frequency of seeded 1064nm and 1319nm laser pulses, narrow-band pulsed laser tuned to sodium D_2 line (589.1583nm) is effectively emitted with a linewidth of below 0.1pm. To eliminate temperature errors caused by sodium density variations, an AO frequency shifter is adopted to shift frequencies within sodium D_2 spectrum on a pulse to pulse basis. For daytime observations, an extreme narrowband (FWHM=0.002nm) Faraday filter is employed in the receiving system to reject sky background light. The estimated spatial resolution, temporal resolution and temperature accuracy of this system are 200m, <5K and 10min, respectively