Optical fiber fabrication using novel gas-phase deposition technique

We report a highly versatile chemical-in-crucible preform fabrication technique suitable for gas-phase deposition of doped optical fibers. Aluminosilicate and ytterbium-doped phosphosilicate fibers are presented demonstrating the technique and its potential for realizing complex fiber designs that are suitable for the next generation of high-power fiber devices. The results show aluminum-doped fiber with numerical aperture of 0.28 and ytterbium-doped fiber with a measured slope efficiency of 84% with respect to pump launch power

Late syn- to post-collisional magmatism in Madagascar: the genesis of the Ambalavao and Maevarano Suites

The East African Orogen involves a collage of Proterozoic microcontinents and arc terranes that became wedged between older cratonic blocks during the assembly of Gondwana. The Ediacaran–Cambrian Ambalavao and Maevarano Suites in Madagascar were emplaced during the waning orogenic stages and consist of weakly deformed to undeformed plutonic rocks and dykes of mainly porphyritic granite but also gabbro, diorite and charnockite. U-Pb geochronological data date emplacement of the Ambalavao Suite to between ca. 580 Ma and 540 Ma and the Maevarano Suite to between ca. 537 Ma and 522 Ma. Major and trace element concentrations are consistent with emplacement in a syn- to post-collisional tectonic setting as A-type (anorogenic) suites. Oxygen (δ¹⁸O of 5.27‰–7.45‰) and hafnium (εHf(t) of –27.8 to –12.3) isotopic data from plutons in the Itremo and Antananarivo Domains are consistent with incorporation of an ancient crustal source. More primitive δ¹⁸O (5.27‰–5.32‰) and εHf(t) (+0.0 to +0.2) isotopic values recorded in samples collected from the Ikalamavony Domain demonstrate the isotopic variation of basement sources present in the Malagasy crust. The Hf isotopic composition of Malagasy zircon are unlike more juvenile Ediacaran–Cambrian zircon sources elsewhere in the East African Orogen and, as such, Madagascar represents a distinct and identifiable detrital zircon source region in Phanerozoic sedimentary provenance studies. Taken together, these data indicate that high-T crustal anatexis, crustal assimilation and interaction of crustal material with mantle-derived melts were the processes operating during magma emplacement. This magmatism was coeval with polyphase deformation throughout Madagascar during the amalgamation of Gondwana and magmatism is interpreted to reflect lithospheric delamination of an extensive orogenic plateau.Donnelly B. Archibald, Alan S. Collins, John D. Foden, Justin L. Payne, Peter Holden, Théodore Razakamanan

First demonstration of direct UV written Bragg gratings in collapsed fibre planar samples

First demonstration of planar Bragg gratings UV written into collapsed fibre planar samples with >200µm cladding thickness is presented. Multiple gratings were written across the sample profile to accurately determine core layer flatness and uniformity

Relationships between traditional and fundamental dough-testing methods

Two fundamental test systems were used to evaluate the visco-elastic properties of doughs from wheat samples of three varieties grown at four distinct sites. For comparison, tests were also performed with traditional equipment, namely the Mixograph, an extension tester and a Farinograph-type small-scale recording mixer. Uniaxial dough elongation (with an Instron) produced results similar to the conventional extension tester, except that results were provided in fundamental units (Pascals), the critical value recorded being the elongational stress at maximum strain. Stress relaxation measurements were performed following a small initial shear strain. With this method, it was possible to distinguish between the viscosity and the elastic components of dough visco-elasticity. In all the tests the extra dough-strength properties were evident for the variety (Guardian) that had the 5 + 10 glutenin subunits, in contrast to the other two with the 2 + 12 combination of subunits

The Intentional Use of Service Recovery Strategies to Influence Consumer Emotion, Cognition and Behaviour

Service recovery strategies have been identified as a critical factor in the success of. service organizations. This study develops a conceptual frame work to investigate how specific service recovery strategies influence the emotional, cognitive and negative behavioural responses of . consumers., as well as how emotion and cognition influence negative behavior. Understanding the impact of specific service recovery strategies will allow service providers' to more deliberately and intentionally engage in strategies that result in positive organizational outcomes. This study was conducted using a 2 x 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design. The results suggest that service recovery has a significant impact on emotion, cognition and negative behavior. Similarly, satisfaction, negative emotion and positive emotion all influence negative behavior but distributive justice has no effect

Effect of a reduced fat and sugar maternal dietary intervention during lactation on the infant gut microbiome

PUBLISHED 17 August 2022Objective: A growing body of literature has shown that maternal diet during pregnancy is associated with infant gut bacterial composition. However, whether maternal diet during lactation affects the exclusively breastfed infant gut microbiome remains understudied. This study sets out to determine whether a two-week of a reduced fat and sugar maternal dietary intervention during lactation is associated with changes in the infant gut microbiome composition and function. Design: Stool samples were collected from four female and six male (n = 10) infants immediately before and after the intervention. Maternal baseline diet from healthy mothers aged 22–37 was assessed using 24-h dietary recall. During the 2-week dietary intervention, mothers were provided with meals and their dietary intake was calculated using FoodWorks 10 Software. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to characterize the infant gut microbiome composition and function. Results: In all but one participant, maternal fat and sugar intake during the intervention were significantly lower than at baseline. The functional capacity of the infant gut microbiome was significantly altered by the intervention, with increased levels of genes associated with 28 bacterial metabolic pathways involved in biosynthesis of vitamins (p = 0.003), amino acids (p = 0.005), carbohydrates (p = 0.01), and fatty acids and lipids (p = 0.01). Although the dietary intervention did not affect the bacterial composition of the infant gut microbiome, relative difference in maternal fiber intake was positively associated with increased abundance of genes involved in biosynthesis of storage compounds (p = 0.016), such as cyanophycin. Relative difference in maternal protein intake was negatively associated with Veillonella parvula (p = 0.006), while positively associated with Klebsiella michiganensis (p = 0.047). Relative difference in maternal sugar intake was positively associated with Lactobacillus paracasei (p = 0.022). Relative difference in maternal fat intake was positively associated with genes involved in the biosynthesis of storage compounds (p = 0.015), fatty acid and lipid (p = 0.039), and metabolic regulator (p = 0.038) metabolic pathways. Conclusion: This pilot study demonstrates that a short-term maternal dietary intervention during lactation can significantly alter the functional potential, but not bacterial taxonomy, of the breastfed infant gut microbiome. While the overall diet itself was not able to change the composition of the infant gut microbiome, changes in intakes of maternal protein and sugar during lactation were correlated with changes in the relative abundances of certain bacterial species. Clinical trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619000606189).Azhar S. Sindi, Lisa F. Stinson, Soo Sum Lean, Yit-Heng Chooi, Gabriela E. Leghi, Merryn J. Netting, Mary E. Wlodek, Beverly S. Muhlhausler, Donna T. Geddes and Matthew S. Payn

Preferred Healthy Food Nudges, Food Store Environments, and Customer Dietary Practices in 2 Low-Income Southern Communities

Objective To examine how food store environments can promote healthful eating, including (1) preferences for a variety of behavioral economics strategies to promote healthful food purchases, and (2) the cross-sectional association between the primary food store where participants reported shopping, dietary behaviors, and body mass index. Methods Intercept survey participants (n = 342) from 2 midsized eastern North Carolina communities completed questionnaires regarding preferred behavioral economics strategies, the primary food store at which they shopped, and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugary beverages. Results Frequently selected behavioral economic strategies included: (1) a token and reward system for fruit and vegetable purchases; and (2) price discounts on healthful foods and beverages. There was a significant association between the primary food store and consumption of fruits and vegetables (P = .005) and sugary beverages (P = .02). Conclusions and Implications Future studies should examine associations between elements of the in-store food environment, purchases, and consumption

The British Influence in the Birth of Spanish Sport

Sports started to gain relevance in Spain around the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century as a leisure and health option of the upper classes imported from Britain. Its early development was intertwined with the spread of other kinds of physical activities with much more tradition on the continent: gymnastics and physical education. First played by the ruling classes – aristocracy and high bourgeoisie – sports permeated towards petty bourgeoisie and middle classes in urban areas such as Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastián and Santander. This pattern meant that the expansion of sports was unavoidably tied to the degree of industrialisation and cultural modernisation of the country. Since 1910, and mainly during the 1920s, sport grew in popularity as a spectacle and, toa much lesser degree, as a practice among the Spanish population

Regression and the Maternal in the History of Psychoanalysis, 1900-1957

This paper examines the history of the concept of ‘regression’ as it was perceived by Sandor Ferenczi and some of his followers in the first half of the twentieth century. The first part provides a short history of the notion of ‘regression’ from the late nineteenth century to Ferenczi's work in the 1920s and 1930s. The second and third parts of the paper focus on two other thinkers on regression, who worked in Britain, under the influence of the Ferenczian paradigm – the interwar Scottish psychiatrist, Ian D. Suttie; and the British-Hungarian psychoanalyst, and Ferenczi's most important pupil, Michael Balint. Rather than a descriptive term which comes to designate a pathological mental stage, Ferenczi understood ‘regression’ as a much more literal phenomenon. For him, the mental desire to go backwards in time is a universal one, and a consequence of an inevitable traumatic separation from the mother in early childhood, which has some deep personal and cultural implications. The paper aims to show some close affinities between the preoccupation of some psychoanalysts with ‘regression’, and the growing interest in social and cultural aspects of ‘motherhood’ and ‘the maternal role’ in mid-twentieth-century British society

Autoimmune and infectious skin diseases that target desmogleins

Desmosomes are intercellular adhesive junctions of epithelial cells that contain two major transmembrane components, the desmogleins (Dsg) and desmocollins (Dsc), which are cadherin-type cell–cell adhesion molecules and are anchored to intermediate filaments of keratin through interactions with plakoglobin and desmoplakin. Desmosomes play an important role in maintaining the proper structure and barrier function of the epidermis and mucous epithelia. Four Dsg isoforms have been identified to date, Dsg1–Dsg4, and are involved in several skin and heart diseases. Dsg1 and Dsg3 are the two major Dsg isoforms in the skin and mucous membranes, and are targeted by IgG autoantibodies in pemphigus, an autoimmune disease of the skin and mucous membranes. Dsg1 is also targeted by exfoliative toxin (ET) released by Staphylococcus aureus in the infectious skin diseases bullous impetigo and staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS). ET is a unique serine protease that shows lock and key specificity to Dsg1. Dsg2 is expressed in all tissues possessing desmosomes, including simple epithelia and myocardia, and mutations in this gene are responsible for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia. Dsg4 plays an important adhesive role mainly in hair follicles, and Dsg4 mutations cause abnormal hair development. Recently, an active disease model for pemphigus was generated by a unique approach using autoantigen-deficient mice that do not acquire tolerance against the defective autoantigen. Adoptive transfer of Dsg3−/− lymphocytes into mice expressing Dsg3 induces stable anti-Dsg3 IgG production with development of the pemphigus phenotype. This mouse model is a valuable tool with which to investigate immunological mechanisms of harmful IgG autoantibody production in pemphigus. Further investigation of desmoglein molecules will continue to provide insight into the unsolved pathophysiological mechanisms of diseases and aid in the development of novel therapeutic strategies with minimal side effects