skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Ultrasensitive multispecies spectroscopic breath analysis for real-time health monitoring and diagnostics
Breath analysis enables rapid, noninvasive diagnostics, as well as long-term monitoring of human health, through the identification and quantification of exhaled biomarkers. Here, we demonstrate the remarkable capabilities of mid-infrared (mid-IR) cavity-enhanced direct-frequency comb spectroscopy (CE-DFCS) applied to breath analysis. We simultaneously detect and monitor as a function of time four breath biomarkers— C H 3 OH, C H 4 , H 2 O, and HDO—as well as illustrate the feasibility of detecting at least six more ( H 2 CO, C 2 H 6 , OCS, C 2 H 4 , C S 2 , and N H 3 ) without modifications to the experimental apparatus. We achieve ultrahigh detection sensitivity at the parts-per-trillion level. This is made possible by the combination of the broadband spectral coverage of a frequency comb, the high spectral resolution afforded by the individual comb teeth, and the sensitivity enhancement resulting from a high-finesse cavity. Exploiting recent advances in frequency comb, optical coating, and photodetector technologies, we can access a large variety of biomarkers with strong carbon–hydrogen-bond spectral signatures in the mid-IR.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1665271 1734006
PAR ID:
10305217
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume:
118
Issue:
40
ISSN:
0027-8424
Page Range / eLocation ID:
Article No. e2105063118
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Assessment of the global budget of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide ( N 2 O) is limited by poor knowledge of the oceanic N 2 O flux to the atmosphere, of which the magnitude, spatial distribution, and temporal variability remain highly uncertain. Here, we reconstruct climatological N 2 O emissions from the ocean by training a supervised learning algorithm with over 158,000 N 2 O measurements from the surface ocean—the largest synthesis to date. The reconstruction captures observed latitudinal gradients and coastal hot spots of N 2 O flux and reveals a vigorous global seasonal cycle. We estimate an annual mean N 2 O flux of 4.2 ± 1.0 Tg N y 1 , 64% of which occurs in the tropics, and 20% in coastal upwelling systems that occupy less than 3% of the ocean area. This N 2 O flux ranges from a low of 3.3 ± 1.3 Tg N y 1 in the boreal spring to a high of 5.5 ± 2.0 Tg N y 1 in the boreal summer. Much of the seasonal variations in global N 2 O emissions can be traced to seasonal upwelling in the tropical ocean and winter mixing in the Southern Ocean. The dominant contribution to seasonality by productive, low-oxygen tropical upwelling systems (>75%) suggests a sensitivity of the global N 2 O flux to El Niño–Southern Oscillation and anthropogenic stratification of the low latitude ocean. This ocean flux estimate is consistent with the range adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but reduces its uncertainty by more than fivefold, enabling more precise determination of other terms in the atmospheric N 2 O budget. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract The sensitivity of urban canopy air temperature ( T a ) to anthropogenic heat flux ( Q A H ) is known to vary with space and time, but the key factors controlling such spatiotemporal variabilities remain elusive. To quantify the contributions of different physical processes to the magnitude and variability of Δ T a / Δ Q A H (where Δ represents a change), we develop a forcing-feedback framework based on the energy budget of air within the urban canopy layer and apply it to diagnosing Δ T a / Δ Q A H simulated by the Community Land Model Urban over the contiguous United States (CONUS). In summer, the median Δ T a / Δ Q A H is around 0.01 K  W  m 2 1 over the CONUS. Besides the direct effect of Q A H on T a , there are important feedbacks through changes in the surface temperature, the atmosphere–canopy air heat conductance ( c a ), and the surface–canopy air heat conductance. The positive and negative feedbacks nearly cancel each other out and Δ T a / Δ Q A H is mostly controlled by the direct effect in summer. In winter, Δ T a / Δ Q A H becomes stronger, with the median value increased by about 20% due to weakened negative feedback associated with c a . The spatial and temporal (both seasonal and diurnal) variability of Δ T a / Δ Q A H as well as the nonlinear response of Δ T a to Δ Q A H are strongly related to the variability of c a , highlighting the importance of correctly parameterizing convective heat transfer in urban canopy models. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract The formation and evolution of post-solitons has been discussed for quite some time both analytically and through the use of particle-in-cell (PIC) codes. It is however only recently that they have been directly observed in laser-plasma experiments. Relativistic electromagnetic (EM) solitons are localised structures that can occur in collisionless plasmas. They consist of a low-frequency EM wave trapped in a low electron number-density cavity surrounded by a shell with a higher electron number-density. Here we describe the results of an experiment in which a 100 TW Ti:sapphire laser (30 fs, 800 nm) irradiates a 0.03 g c m 3 TMPTA foam target with a focused intensity I l = 9.5 × 10 17 W c m 2 . A third harmonic ( λ p r o b e 266 nm) probe is employed to diagnose plasma motion for 25 ps after the main pulse interaction via Doppler-Spectroscopy. Both radiation-hydrodynamics and 2D PIC simulations are performed to aid in the interpretation of the experimental results. We show that the rapid motion of the probe critical-surface observed in the experiment might be a signature of post-soliton wall motion. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract We consider the three-dimensional Euler equations in a domain with a free boundary with no surface tension. We assume that u 0 H 2.5 + δ is such that c u r l u 0 H 2 + δ in an arbitrarily small neighborhood of the free boundary, and we use the Lagrangian approach to derive an a priori estimate that can be used to prove local-in-time existence and uniqueness of solutions under the Rayleigh–Taylor stability condition. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract M dwarfs are common host stars to exoplanets but often lack atmospheric abundance measurements. Late-M dwarfs are also good analogs to the youngest substellar companions, which share similarTeff∼ 2300–2800 K. We present atmospheric analyses for the M7.5 companion HIP 55507 B and its K6V primary star with Keck/KPIC high-resolution (R∼ 35,000)K-band spectroscopy. First, by including KPIC relative radial velocities between the primary and secondary in the orbit fit, we improve the dynamical mass precision by 60% and find M B = 88.0 3.2 + 3.4 M Jup , putting HIP 55507 B above the stellar–substellar boundary. We also find that HIP 55507 B orbits its K6V primary star with a = 38 3 + 4 au ande= 0.40 ± 0.04. From atmospheric retrievals of HIP 55507 B, we measure [C/H] = 0.24 ± 0.13, [O/H] = 0.15 ± 0.13, and C/O = 0.67 ± 0.04. Moreover, we strongly detect13CO (7.8σsignificance) and tentatively detect H 2 18 O (3.7σsignificance) in the companion’s atmosphere and measure 12 CO / 13 CO = 98 22 + 28 and H 2 16 O / H 2 18 O = 240 80 + 145 after accounting for systematic errors. From a simplified retrieval analysis of HIP 55507 A, we measure 12 CO / 13 CO = 79 16 + 21 and C 16 O / C 18 O = 288 70 + 125 for the primary star. These results demonstrate that HIP 55507 A and B have consistent12C/13C and16O/18O to the <1σlevel, as expected for a chemically homogeneous binary system. Given the similar flux ratios and separations between HIP 55507 AB and systems with young substellar companions, our results open the door to systematically measuring13CO and H 2 18 O abundances in the atmospheres of substellar or even planetary-mass companions with similar spectral types. 
    more » « less