The accumulation of femtosecond laser radiation energy in crystals of lithium fluoride

We present the results of studies of energy accumulation during the non-destructive interaction of extremely intense near infrared laser radiation with model wide band gap dielectric crystals of lithium fluoride, when the intensity of pulses is sufficient for effective highly nonlinear absorption of light and for the excitation of the electron subsystem of matter and the energy of pulses is still not sufficient for significant heating, evaporation, laser breakdown or other destruction to occur. We studied the emission of energy in the form of light sum of thermally stimulated luminescence accumulated under conditions of self-focusing and multiple filamentation of femtosecond laser radiation. It was established that it's the F2 and F[3]{+} color centers and supplementary to them centers of interstitial type which accumulate energy under the action of a single femtosecond laser pulses. When irradiated by series of pulses the F3, F[3]{-} and F[4] centers additionally appear. F2 centers are the main centers of emission in the process of thermally stimulated luminescence of accumulated energy. The interstitial fluoride ions (I-centers) are the kinetic particles. They split off from the X[3]{-} centers in the result of thermal decomposition of latter on the I-centers and molecules X[2]{0}. I-centers recombine with F[3]{+} centers and form F[2] centers in excited state. The latter produce the characteristic emission spectrum emitted in the form of thermally stimulated luminescence

Structure and nonlinear optical properties of novel transparent glass-ceramics based on Co2+:ZnO nanocrystals

Transparent glass-ceramics (GCs) based on Co2+:ZnO nanocrystals (mean diameter, 11 nm) are synthesized on the basis of cobalt-doped glasses of the K2O–ZnO–Al2O3–SiO2 system. For these GCs, the absorption band related to the 4A2(4F) → 4T1(4F) transition of Co2+ ions in tetrahedral sites spans until ~1.73 μm. Saturation of the absorption is demonstrated at 1.54 μm, with a saturation fluence Fs = 0.8 ± 0.1 Jcm−2 (σGSA = 1.7 ± 0.2 × 10−19 cm2) and a recovery time of 890 ± 10 ns. Passive Q-switching of an Er,Yb:glass laser is realized with the synthesized GCs. This laser generated 0.37 mJ/100 ns pulses at 1.54 μm. The developed GCs are promising as saturable absorbers for 1.6–1.7 μm crystalline erbium lasers

ПРИБОР ДЛЯ ИЗМЕРЕНИЯ ВРЕМЕНИ РЕЛАКСАЦИИ ПРОСВЕТЛЕННОГО СОСТОЯНИЯ ОПТИЧЕСКИХ МАТЕРИАЛОВ МЕТОДОМ «ВОЗБУЖДЕНИЕ-ЗОНДИРОВАНИЕ» В СУБМИКРОСЕКУНДНОМ ДИАПАЗОНЕ

The use of passive shutters to control the duration of the light pulses is an important aspect in the miniature and microchip lasers. One of the key spectroscopic characteristics which determine the properties of the material, which can be used as a passive shutter is relaxation time of its bleached state.We describe a device for determination of relaxation time of the bleached state in optical materials by the «pump-probe» method in the sub-μs time domain. This device allows one to determine relaxation times for materials which absorb at the light wavelength of 1.5 μm, e.g., materials doped with cobalt ions Co2+. The results of test examinations of the device are described, and the relaxation time of the bleached state of Co2+ ions is measured for a novel material – transparent glass-ceramics with Co2+:Ga2 O3 nanophase – amounting to 190 ± 6 ns. Применение пассивных затворов для управления длительностью импульсов оптического излучения является актуальной задачей в миниатюрных и микрочип лазерах. Одной из ключевых спектроскопических характеристик, определяющих свойства материала, который может быть использован в качестве пассивного затвора, является время релаксации его просветленного состояния. В статье описан прибор для измерения времени релаксации просветленного состояния оптических материалов методом «возбуждение-зондирование» в субмикросекундном временном диапазоне. Представлены его структура и характеристики. Прибор позволяет измерять времена релаксации просветления у материалов, поглощающих на длине волны 1,5 мкм, т.е., в частности, у сред, легированных ионами кобальта Co2+. Приведены результаты тестовых испытаний прибора, а также измерено время релаксации просветленного состояния нового материала – ситалла с кристаллической фазой Co2+:Ga2 O3 – оно составило 190 ± 6 нс.

Особенности течения инфекционного артрита у пациента с гипогаммаглобулинемией

Hypogammaglobulinemia is a condition caused by low levels of immunoglobulins in the blood serum. It can be a manifestation of primary immunodeficiency, characterized by a violation of the production of immunoglobulins, in particular common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). A typical clinical sign of CVID is various severe infections, among which infectious arthritis is not uncommon. At the same time, the clinical picture of infections can differ significantly from that in individuals with a normal immune response, including the spectrum of infectious arthritis pathogens.The article describes a clinical case of an unusual course of infectious arthritis in a patient with newly diagnosed hypogammaglobulinemia. The peculiar features of the case were a long (more than 1.5 years) course of the disease, without the development of septic complications, no increase in ESR and CRP, recurrence of arthritis after a 2-month course of antibiotic therapy, and the presence of generalized edema. The causes and diagnosis, features of infectious complications, including infectious arthritis, and probable causes of edematous syndrome in CVID are discussed.Гипогаммаглобулинемия – состояние, обусловленное низким уровнем иммуноглобулинов в сыворотке крови. Она может быть проявлением первичного иммунодефицита, характеризующегося нарушением продукции иммуноглобулинов, в частности общей вариабельной иммунной недостаточностью (ОВИН). Типичным клиническим признаком ОВИН являются различные инфекции тяжелого течения, среди которых нередки и инфекционные артриты. При этом клиническая картина инфекций может значительно отличаться от таковой у лиц с нормальным иммунным ответом, в том числе спектром возбудителей инфекционного артрита. В статье описано клиническое наблюдение необычного течения инфекционного артрита у пациента с впервые выявленной гипогаммаглобулинемией. Особенностями случая были длительное (более 1,5 лет) течение заболевания без развития септических осложнений, отсутствие повышения СОЭ и СРБ, рецидив артрита после 2-месячного курса антибактериальной терапии, а также наличие генерализованных отеков. Обсуждаются причины и диагностика, особенности инфекционных осложнений, в том числе инфекционных артритов, и вероятные причины отечного синдрома при ОВИН

Новые виды и наиболее интересные находки для флоры Урала и прилегающих территорий

The article provides information about rare and newly described species for the flora of the Urals and adjacent territories, namely: Astragalus saphronovae Kulikov, Atraphaxis decipiens Jaub. et Spach., Carex amgunensis F. Schmidt, Galium densiflorum Ledeb., Jovibarba globifera (L.) J. Parn., Najas minor All., Potamogeton nodosus Poir., Pseudorchis albida (L.) Á. Löve et D. Löve, Salix myrsinites L., Veronica agrestis L. Essays include the information on the species ecology and short taxonomic notes. © 2021 Altai State University. All rights reserved.The work was supported by the state assignments: АААА-А19-119031290052-1 “Sosudistye rasteniia Evrazii: sistematika, flora, rastitelʹnye resursy” [“Vascular plants of Eurasia: systematics, flora, plant resources”], АААА-А18-118011990151-7 “Izucheniye, sokhraneniye i rasshireniye bioraznoobraziya rasteniy v prirode i pri introduktsii na Yuzh nom Urale i Priuralye” [“Study, conservation and expansion of plant biodiversity in nature and during introduction in the Southern Urals and the Cis- and Trans-Urals region”], AAAA-A17-117050400146-5 “Otsenka prostranstvennovremennoy izmenchivosti bioraznoobraziya i usloviy yego formirovaniya na Severe Zapadnoy Sibiri v svyazi s izmeneniyem klimata i osvoyeniyem neftegazovykh resursov” [“Assessment of the spatio-temporal variability of biodiversity and the conditions for its formation in the north of Western Siberia in connection with climate change and the development of oil and gas resources”], and by “Programmoy povysheniya konkurentosposobnosti Uralskogo federalnogo universiteta” [“The program for improving the competitiveness of the Ural Federal University”] (the decree no. 211 of the Government of the Russian Federation, contract no. 02.A03.21.0006)

Influence of the ocean surface temperature and sea ice concentration on regional climate changes in Eurasia in recent decades

Numerical experiments with the ECHAM5 atmospheric general circulation model have been performed in order to simulate the influence of changes in the ocean surface temperature (OST) and sea ice concentration (SIC) on climate characteristics in regions of Eurasia. The sensitivity of winter and summer climates to OST and SIC variations in 1998-2006 has been investigated and compared to those in 1968-1976. These two intervals correspond to the maximum and minimum of the Atlantic Long-Period Oscillation (ALO) index. Apart from the experiments on changes in the OST and SIC global fields, the experiments on OST anomalies only in the North Atlantic and SIC anomalies in the Arctic for the specified periods have been analyzed. It is established that temperature variations in Western Europe are explained by OST and SIC variations fairly well, whereas the warmings in Eastern Europe and Western Siberia, according to model experiments, are substantially (by a factor of 2-3) smaller than according to observational data. Winter changes in the temperature regime in continental regions are controlled mainly by atmospheric circulation anomalies. The model, on the whole, reproduces the empirical structure of changes in the winter field of surface pressure, in particular, the pressure decrease in the Caspian region; however, it substantially (approximately by three times) underestimates the range of changes. Summer temperature variations in the model are characterized by a higher statistical significance than winter ones. The analysis of the sensitivity of the climate in Western Europe to SIC variations alone in the Arctic is an important result of the experiments performed. It is established that the SIC decrease and a strong warming over the Barents Sea in the winter period leads to a cooling over vast regions of the northern part of Eurasia and increases the probability of anomalously cold January months by two times and more (for regions in Western Siberia). This effect is caused by the formation of the increased-pressure region with a center over the southern boundary of the Barents Sea during the SIC decrease and an anomalous advection of cold air masses from the northeast. This result indicates that, to estimate the ALO actions (as well as other long-scale climatic variability modes) on the climate of Eurasia, it is basically important to take into account (or correctly reproduce) Arctic sea ice changes in experiments with climatic models

Blood pressure-lowering effects of nifedipine/candesartan combinations in high-risk individuals: Subgroup analysis of the DISTINCT randomised trial

The DISTINCT study (reDefining Intervention with Studies Testing Innovative Nifedipine GITS - Candesartan Therapy) investigated the efficacy and safety of nifedipine GITS/candesartan cilexetil combinations vs respective monotherapies and placebo in patients with hypertension. This descriptive sub-analysis examined blood pressure (BP)-lowering effects in high-risk participants, including those with renal impairment (estimated glomerular filtration rate<90 ml min-1, n=422), type 2 diabetes mellitus (n=202), hypercholesterolaemia (n=206) and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (n=971), as well as the impact of gender, age and body mass index (BMI). Participants with grade I/II hypertension were randomised to treatment with nifedipine GITS (N) 20, 30, 60 mg and/or candesartan cilexetil (C) 4, 8, 16, 32 mg or placebo for 8 weeks. Mean systolic BP and diastolic BP reductions after treatment in high-risk participants were greater, overall, with N/C combinations vs respective monotherapies or placebo, with indicators of a dose-response effect. Highest rates of BP control (ESH/ESC 2013 guideline criteria) were also achieved with highest doses of N/C combinations in each high-risk subgroup. The benefits of combination therapy vs monotherapy were additionally observed in patient subgroups categorised by gender, age or BMI. All high-risk participants reported fewer vasodilatory adverse events in the pooled N/C combination therapy than the N monotherapy group. In conclusion, consistent with the DISTINCT main study outcomes, high-risk participants showed greater reductions in BP and higher control rates with N/C combinations compared with respective monotherapies and lesser vasodilatory side-effects compared with N monotherapy

Large-Eddy Simulations of Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence in Heliophysics and Astrophysics

We live in an age in which high-performance computing is transforming the way we do science. Previously intractable problems are now becoming accessible by means of increasingly realistic numerical simulations. One of the most enduring and most challenging of these problems is turbulence. Yet, despite these advances, the extreme parameter regimes encountered in space physics and astrophysics (as in atmospheric and oceanic physics) still preclude direct numerical simulation. Numerical models must take a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach, explicitly computing only a fraction of the active dynamical scales. The success of such an approach hinges on how well the model can represent the subgrid-scales (SGS) that are not explicitly resolved. In addition to the parameter regime, heliophysical and astrophysical applications must also face an equally daunting challenge: magnetism. The presence of magnetic fields in a turbulent, electrically conducting fluid flow can dramatically alter the coupling between large and small scales, with potentially profound implications for LES/SGS modeling. In this review article, we summarize the state of the art in LES modeling of turbulent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) ows. After discussing the nature of MHD turbulence and the small-scale processes that give rise to energy dissipation, plasma heating, and magnetic reconnection, we consider how these processes may best be captured within an LES/SGS framework. We then consider several special applications in heliophysics and astrophysics, assessing triumphs, challenges,and future directions

THE INFLUENCE OF HYDROGEN ON THE PLASTIC PROPERTIES OF THE REINFORCING BARS

The research carried out in laboratory of metal science on detection of hydrogen presence in reinforcement depending on period of aging and reinforcement profile and also its influence on plastic properties of reinforcing bar is described in this article. The method of glycerine tests was applied for identification of hydrogen presence in finished reinforcing bar, the essence of which is in the fact that at gas emission from metal the bubbles stay too long on the surface of cross samples under glycerin layer. The revealed regularities enable to recommend actions for providing stable mechanical properties of the heat-strengthened reinforcement by creation of conditions for lowering of steel saturation with hydrogen, preventing thereby occurrence of hydrogen embrittlement of reinforcement on JSC «BMZ» – management company of holding «BMK»