Novel Fiber Design for Wideband Conversion and Amplification in Multimode Fibers

We propose an operating principle to achieve broadband and highly tunable mode conversion and amplification exploiting inter-modal four wave mixing in a multimode fiber. A bandwidth of 30 nanometers is demonstrated by properly designing a simple step-index silica fiber.Comment: Ecoc conference 201

Modelling the long-term consequences of undernutrition of cows grazing semi-arid range for the growth of their progeny

Cattle grazing semi-arid range may be subjected to low intakes of metabolisable energy and protein as a result of drought, high stocking rates, or during the dry season low digestibility and low protein content of the forage (Butterworth, 1984). The growth and milk yield of cattle are reduced during such periods of undernutrition. Growing animals respond in different ways to nutritional restriction because of differences in age at the start of undernutrition, the severity and duration of undernutrition and the availability and composition of food during rehabilitation (O'Donovan, 1984). Severe chronic undernutrition of cattle in early life reduces growth and leads to smaller animals at any age (Morgan, 1972; Greenwood & Café, 2007). Undernutrition of breeding cows during the last trimester of gestation leads to a reduction in birth weight (Richardson et al., 1979) and in the cow's milk yield (Richardson et al., 1977) as a result of the effect of undernutrition on udder development (Mellor & Murray, 1985) so that pre-weaning growth is also reduced. On the other hand, compensatory growth may occur in rangeland cattle subjected to undernutrition after weaning. For example, Ainslie (1958) reported that when steers were subjected to different planes of nutrition between weaning at 8 - 9 months of age and 12 months the difference of 23 kg between group means was eliminated when all animals grazed together without being given any supplementary food. In this paper a mechanistic model of a rangeland production system has been used to explain the different responses to retardation of growth that have been recorded in the literature

Cross and magnetic helicity in the outer heliosphere from Voyager 2 observations

Plasma velocity and magnetic field measurements from the Voyager 2 mission are used to study solar wind turbulence in the slow solar wind at two different heliocentric distances, 5 and 29 astronomical units, sufficiently far apart to provide information on the radial evolution of this turbulence. The magnetic helicity and the cross-helicity, which express the correlation between the plasma velocity and the magnetic field, are used to characterize the turbulence. Wave number spectra are computed by means of the Taylor hypothesis applied to time resolved single point Voyager 2 measurements. The overall picture we get is complex and difficult to interpret. A substantial decrease of the cross-helicity at smaller scales (over 1-3 hours of observation) with increasing heliocentric distance is observed. At 5 AU the only peak in the probability density of the normalized residual energy is negative, near -0.5. At 29 AU the probability density becomes doubly peaked, with a negative peak at -0.5 and a smaller peak at a positive values of about 0.7. A decrease of the cross-helicity for increasing heliocentric distance is observed, together with a reduction of the unbalance toward the magnetic energy of the energy of the fluctuations. For the smaller scales, we found that at 29 AU the normalized polarization is small and positive on average (about 0.1), it is instead zero at 5 AU. For the larger scales, the polarization is low and positive at 5 AU (average around 0.1) while it is negative (around - 0.15) at 29 AU.Comment: 14 pages 5 figures. Accepted for publication on European Journal of Mechanics B/Fluids (5/8/2015

Turbulence in the solar wind: spectra from Voyager 2 data at 5 AU

Fluctuations in the flow velocity and magnetic fields are ubiquitous in the Solar System. These fluctuations are turbulent, in the sense that they are disordered and span a broad range of scales in both space and time. The study of solar wind turbulence is motivated by a number of factors all keys to the understanding of the Solar Wind origin and thermodynamics. The solar wind spectral properties are far from uniformity and evolve with the increasing distance from the sun. Most of the available spectra of solar wind turbulence were computed at 1 astronomical unit, while accurate spectra on wide frequency ranges at larger distances are still few. In this paper we consider solar wind spectra derived from the data recorded by the Voyager 2 mission during 1979 at about 5 AU from the sun. Voyager 2 data are an incomplete time series with a voids/signal ratio that typically increases as the spacecraft moves away from the sun (45% missing data in 1979), making the analysis challenging. In order to estimate the uncertainty of the spectral slopes, different methods are tested on synthetic turbulence signals with the same gap distribution as V2 data. Spectra of all variables show a power law scaling with exponents between -2.1 and -1.1, depending on frequency subranges. Probability density functions (PDFs) and correlations indicate that the flow has a significant intermittency.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Discussion improved since the previous versio

A systematic review of worldwide cancer nursing research: 1994 to 2003

Kelly contributed to the conduct and choice of papers for the study, carried out a systematic review of one sixth of all the papers, contributed to the conclusion and helped to edit the final version of this paper

The monetary benefit of early flood warnings in Europe

Effective disaster risk management relies on science-based solutions to close the gap between prevention and preparedness measures. The consultation on the United Nations post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction highlights the need for cross-border early warning systems to strengthen the preparedness phases of disaster risk management, in order to save lives and property and reduce the overall impact of severe events. Continental and global scale flood forecasting systems provide vital early flood warning information to national and international civil protection authorities, who can use this information to make decisions on how to prepare for upcoming floods. Here the potential monetary benefits of early flood warnings are estimated based on the forecasts of the continental-scale European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) using existing flood damage cost information and calculations of potential avoided flood damages. The benefits are of the order of 400 Euro for every 1 Euro invested. A sensitivity analysis is performed in order to test the uncertainty in the method and develop an envelope of potential monetary benefits of EFAS warnings. The results provide clear evidence that there is likely a substantial monetary benefit in this cross-border continental-scale flood early warning system. This supports the wider drive to implement early warning systems at the continental or global scale to improve our resilience to natural hazards

Theory of pattern-formation of metallic microparticles in poorly conducting liquid

We develop continuum theory of self-assembly and pattern formation in metallic microparticles immersed in a poorly conducting liquid in DC electric field. The theory is formulated in terms of two conservation laws for the densities of immobile particles (precipitate) and bouncing particles (gas) coupled to the Navier-Stokes equation for the liquid. This theory successfully reproduces correct topology of the phase diagram and primary patterns observed in the experiment [Sapozhnikov et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. v. 90, 114301 (2003)]: static crystals and honeycombs and dynamic pulsating rings and rotating multi-petal vortices.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

The laminariaceae off North Shapinsay, Orkney Islands; changes from 1947 to 1955

Changes in the crops of Laminariaceae over a number of years around Scotland have been investigated. This paper summarises the results of five surveys carried out in 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1955 in North Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. Considerable losses were found between 1947 and 1952, but thereafter recovery commenced and has continued. Some of the ecological factors are analysed and discussed

Transition from the Unipolar Region to the Sector Zone: Voyager 2, 2013 and 2014

We discuss magnetic field and plasma observations of the heliosheath made by Voyager 2 (V2) during 2013 and 2014 near solar maximum. A transition from a unipolar region to a sector zone was observed in the azimuthal angle λ between ∼2012.45 and 2013.82. The distribution of λ was strongly singly peaked at 270°in the unipolar region and double peaked in the sector zone. The δ-distribution was strongly peaked in the unipolar region and very broad in the sector zone. The distribution of daily averages of the magnetic field strength B was Gaussian in the unipolar region and lognormal in the sector zone. The correlation function of B was exponential with an e-folding time of ∼5 days in both regions. The distribution of hourly increments of B was a Tsallis distribution with nonextensivity parameter q = 1.7 ± 0.04 in the unipolar region and q = 1.44 ± 0.12 in the sector zone. The CR-B relationship qualitatively describes the 2013 observations, but not the 2014 observations. A 40 km s -1 increase in the bulk speed associated with an increase in B near 2013.5 might have been produced by the merging of streams. A "D sheet" (a broad depression in B containing a current sheet moved past V2 from days 320 to 345, 2013. The R- and N-components of the plasma velocity changed across the current sheet