Low noise all-fiber amplification of a coherent supercontinuum at 2 \mu m and its limits imposed by polarization noise

We report the amplification of an all-normal dispersion supercontinuum pulse in a Thulium / Holmium co-doped all-fiber chirped pulse amplification system. With a -20 dB bandwidth of more than 300 nm in the range 1800-2100 nm the system delivers high quality 66 fs pulses with more than 70 kW peak power directly from the output fiber. The coherent seeding of the entire emission bandwidth of the doped fiber and the stability of the supercontinuum generation dynamics in the silicate glass all-normal dispersion photonic crystal fiber result in excellent noise characteristics of the amplified ultrashort pulses

Noise Fingerprints of Fiber Supercontinuum Sources

We present a novel technique for measuring unique ”noise fingerprints” of fiber supercontinuum (SC) sources, revealing a strong dependence of SC relative intensity noise not only on the dispersion of the fiber, but also on its cross-sectional geometry

All-fibre heterogeneously-integrated frequency comb generation using silicon core fibre.

Originally developed for metrology, optical frequency combs are becoming increasingly pervasive in a wider range of research topics including optical communications, spectroscopy, and radio or microwave signal processing. However, application demands in these fields can be more challenging as they require compact sources with a high tolerance to temperature variations that are capable of delivering flat comb spectra, high power per tone, narrow linewidth and high optical signal-to-noise ratio. This work reports the generation of a flat, high power frequency comb in the telecom band using a 17 mm fully-integrated silicon core fibre as a parametric mixer. Our all-fibre, cavity-free source combines the material benefits of planar waveguide structures with the advantageous properties of fibre platforms to achieve a 30 nm bandwidth comb source containing 143 tones with 30 dB OSNR over the entire spectral region

Temporal fine structure of all-normal dispersion fiber supercontinuum

Experimental characterization of spectro-temporal structure of octave-spanning, coherent fiber supercontinuum pulses is performed and full-field information is retrieved using time-domain ptychography. Fast femtosecond oscillations are observed and traced back to imperfections of the pump pulses

Novel time-resolved CARS implementation for application in microscopy

Vibrational dephasing times for benzene and carbon disulfide are measured using a custom single-beam Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy (CARS) setup. A femtosecond oscillator is used to pump a polarization maintaining all normal dispersion photonic crystal fibre (PM-ANDi-PCF) to generate a broad band supercontinuum, covering a spectral region from 680 to 900 nm. The dispersion properties of the PM-ANDi-PCF ensures the supercontinuum is stable and there exists a fixed phase relationship between the spectral components of the supercontinuum. This enables its temporal compression using i2PIE, implemented using a liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM) in a 4f geometry. This SLM is also used to shape the pulse spectrally and temporally. With this setup we could demonstrate time-resolved CARS, measuring the vibrational relaxation times of a carbon disulfide (CS2)/benzene mixture, and eliminate the non-resonant background completely. The main advantage of this setup is the fact that it is a single beam technique, eliminating the requirement for aligning the overlap of the pump and probe, both spatially and temporally, in the focal plane of the microscope. The strengths and limitations of the technique are highlighted and the route to time-resolved/background free vibrational microscopy is proposed

MICE: The muon ionization cooling experiment. Step I: First measurement of emittance with particle physics detectors

Copyright @ 2011 APSThe Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) is a strategic R&D project intended to demonstrate the only practical solution to providing high brilliance beams necessary for a neutrino factory or muon collider. MICE is under development at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom. It comprises a dedicated beamline to generate a range of input muon emittances and momenta, with time-of-flight and Cherenkov detectors to ensure a pure muon beam. The emittance of the incoming beam will be measured in the upstream magnetic spectrometer with a scintillating fiber tracker. A cooling cell will then follow, alternating energy loss in Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) absorbers to RF cavity acceleration. A second spectrometer, identical to the first, and a second muon identification system will measure the outgoing emittance. In the 2010 run at RAL the muon beamline and most detectors were fully commissioned and a first measurement of the emittance of the muon beam with particle physics (time-of-flight) detectors was performed. The analysis of these data was recently completed and is discussed in this paper. Future steps for MICE, where beam emittance and emittance reduction (cooling) are to be measured with greater accuracy, are also presented.This work was supported by NSF grant PHY-0842798

Improve in-depth immunological risk assessment to optimize genetic-compatibility and clinical outcomes in child and adolescent recipients of parental donor kidney transplants: protocol for the INCEPTION study

Background: Parental donor kidney transplantation is the most common treatment option for children and adoles‑ cents with kidney failure. Emerging data from observational studies have reported improved short- and medium-term allograft outcomes in recipients of paternal compared to maternal donors. The INCEPTION study aims to identify potential diferences in immunological compatibility between maternal and paternal donor kidneys and ascertain how this afects kidney allograft outcomes in children and adolescents with kidney failure. Methods: This longitudinal observational study will recruit kidney transplant recipients aged ≤18 years who have received a parental donor kidney transplant across 4 countries (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the Netherlands) between 1990 and 2020. High resolution human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing of both recipients and corresponding parental donors will be undertaken, to provide an in-depth assessment of immunological compat‑ ibility. The primary outcome is a composite of de novo donor-specifc anti-HLA antibody (DSA), biopsy-proven acute rejection or allograft loss up to 60-months post-transplantation. Secondary outcomes are de novo DSA, biopsyproven acute rejection, acute or chronic antibody mediated rejection or Chronic Allograft Damage Index (CADI) score of >1 on allograft biopsy post-transplant, allograft function, proteinuria and allograft loss. Using principal component analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression modelling, we will determine the associations between defned sets of immunological and clinical parameters that may identify risk stratifcation for the primary and secondary outcome measures among young people accepting a parental donor kidney for transplantation. This study design will allow us to specifcally investigate the relative importance of accepting a maternal compared to paternal donor, for families deciding on the best option for donation. Discussion: The INCEPTION study fndings will explore potentially diferential immunological risks of maternal and paternal donor kidneys for transplantation among children and adolescents. Our study will provide the evidence base underpinning the selection of parental donor in order to achieve the best projected long-term kidney transplant and overall health outcomes for children and adolescents, a recognized vulnerable population.Wai H. Lim ... Michael Collins ... et al

Sympathoadrenergic modulation of hematopoiesis: a review of available evidence and of therapeutic perspectives

Innervation of the bone marrow (BM) has been described more than one century ago, however the first in vivo evidence that sympathoadrenergic fibers have a role in hematopoiesis dates back to less than 25 years ago. Evidence has since increased showing that adrenergic nerves in the BM release noradrenaline and possibly also dopamine, which act on adrenoceptors and dopaminergic receptors expressed on hematopoietic cells and affect cell survival, proliferation, migration and engraftment ability. Remarkably, dysregulation of adrenergic fibers to the BM is associated with hematopoietic disturbances and myeloproliferative disease. Several adrenergic and dopaminergic agents are already in clinical use for non-hematological indications and with a usually favourable risk-benefit profile, and are therefore potential candidates for non-conventional modulation of hematopoiesis