184 research outputs found
Dominance of backward stimulated Raman scattering in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers
Backward stimulated Raman scattering in gases provides a promising route to
compression and amplification of a Stokes seed-pulse by counter-propagating
against a pump-pulse, as has been already demonstrated in various platforms,
mainly in free-space. However, the dynamics governing this process when seeded
by noise has not yet been investigated in a fully controllable collinear
environment. Here we report the first unambiguous observation of efficient
noise-seeded backward stimulated Raman scattering in a hydrogen-filled
hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. At high gas pressures, when the backward
Raman gain is comparable with, but lower than, the forward gain, we report
quantum conversion efficiencies exceeding 40% to the backward Stokes at 683 nm
from a narrowband 532-nm-pump. The efficiency increases to 65% when the
backward process is seeded by a small amount of back-reflected
forward-generated Stokes light. At high pump powers the backward Stokes signal,
emitted in a clean fundamental mode and spectrally pure, is unexpectedly always
stronger than its forward-propagating counterpart. We attribute this striking
observation to the unique temporal dynamics of the interacting fields, which
cause the Raman coherence (which takes the form of a moving fine-period Bragg
grating) to grow in strength towards the input end of the fiber. A good
understanding of this process, together with the rapid development of novel
anti-resonant-guiding hollow-core fibers, may lead to improved designs of
efficient gas-based Raman lasers and amplifiers operating at wavelengths from
the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared.Comment: 6 pages and 8 figures in the main section. 4 pages and 5 figures in
the supplementary sectio
The 2010 Outbreak of Cholera among Workers of a Jute Mill in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
On 10 March 2010, an outbreak of diarrhoeal disease was reported among workers of a jute mill in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The cluster was investigated to identify the agent(s) and the source of infection and make recommendations. A suspected case of cholera was defined as having >3 loose watery stools in a 24-hour period and searched for case-patients in the workers’ colony. The outbreak was described by time, place, and person, and a case-control study was conducted to identify the source of infection. Rectal swabs were collected from the hospitalized case-patients, and the local water-supply system was assessed. In total, 197 case-patients were identified among 5,910 residents of the workers’ colony (attack rate 3.33%). Fifteen of 24 stool samples were positive for Vibrio cholerae O1. The outbreak started on 7 March, peakedon 11 March, and ended on 16 March 2010. Compared to 120 controls, 60 cases did not differ in terms of age and socioeconomic status. Drinking-water from the reservoir within the mill premises was associated with an increased risk of illness [odds ratio: 26.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 11.4-62.6) and accounted for most cases (population attributable risk percentage=82%, 95% CI 70.8-92.9). An outbreak of cholera occurred among workers of the jute mill due to contamination of the drinking-water reservoir. It occurred within a few days of re-opening of the mill after the workers’ strike. Health authorities need to enforce disinfection of drinking-water and regularly test its bacteriological quality, particularly before re-opening of the mill after the strike
Structural and wear and characteristic of low temperature nitrided stainless steel
An investigation to structural and wear behaviour of nitrided AISI 316 L stainless steel resulting from low temperature fluidized bed nitriding has been made in the present work. It was found that the wear resistance of nitrided specimens was related to the formation of a precipitation-free hardened layer on the austenitic surface. In the present laboratory experiments, the precipitation-free or S phase layer with a surface hardness of ~1350 HV0.5 was produced at a nitriding condition of 450 °C for 6h. The formation of this S phase layer significantly improved wear resistance of the stainless steel. Wear track observation by SEM revealed that the specimens without formation of S phase layer produced heavy scars due to tearing and local plastic deformation. The present work also suggests that fluidized bed heat treatment
furnace can be utilised for nitriding the austenitic stainless steels at low temperatures below 500 °C to
produce S phase nitrdid layer without losing the stainless feature of this material
Generation of a VUV-to-visible Raman frequency comb in hydrogen-filled kagom\'e photonic crystal fiber
We report the generation of a purely vibrational Raman comb, extending from
the vacuum ultraviolet (184 nm) to the visible (478 nm), in hydrogen-filled
kagom\'e-style photonic crystal fiber pumped at 266 nm. Stimulated Raman
scattering and molecular modulation processes are enhanced by higher Raman gain
in the ultraviolet. Owing to the pressure-tunable normal dispersion landscape
of the fiber-gas system in the ultraviolet, higher-order anti-Stokes bands are
generated preferentially in higher-order fiber modes. The results pave the way
towards tunable fiber-based sources of deep- and vacuum ultraviolet light for
applications in, e.g., spectroscopy and biomedicine.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
The 2010 Outbreak of Cholera among Workers of a Jute Mill in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
On 10 March 2010, an outbreak of diarrhoeal disease was reported among
workers of a jute mill in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The cluster was
investigated to identify the agent(s) and the source of infection and
make recommendations. A suspected case of cholera was defined as having
653 loose watery stools in a 24-hour period and searched for
case-patients in the workers\u2019 colony. The outbreak was described
by time, place, and person, and a case-control study was conducted to
identify the source of infection. Rectal swabs were collected from the
hospitalized case-patients, and the local water-supply system was
assessed. In total, 197 case-patients were identified among 5,910
residents of the workers\u2019 colony (attack rate 3.33%). Fifteen of
24 stool samples were positive for Vibrio cholerae O1. The outbreak
started on 7 March, peaked on 11 March, and ended on 16 March 2010.
Compared to 120 controls, 60 cases did not differ in terms of age and
socioeconomic status. Drinking-water from the reservoir within the mill
premises was associated with an increased risk of illness [odds ratio:
26.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 11.4-62.6) and accounted for most
cases (population attributable risk percentage=82%, 95% CI 70.8-92.9).
An outbreak of cholera occurred among workers of the jute mill due to
contamination of the drinking-water reservoir. It occurred within a few
days of re-opening of the mill after the workers\u2019 strike. Health
authorities need to enforce disinfection of drinking-water and
regularly test its bacteriological quality, particularly before
re-opening of the mill after the strike
The impact of maternal supplementation during pregnancy and the first 6 months postpartum on the growth status of the next child born after the intervention period: Follow‐up results from Bangladesh and Ghana
Pregnancy and breastfeeding make demands on maternal nutrient stores. The extent of depletion and the degree to which nutrient stores are replenished between pregnancies has implications for a mother\u27s nutritional status at conception of the subsequent child and therefore that child\u27s birth outcomes and growth. Using follow‐up data collected several years after a randomized effectiveness trial conducted in rural Bangladesh and a randomized efficacy trial conducted in semiurban Ghana, we evaluated the impact of maternal supplementation with small‐quantity lipid‐based nutrient supplements (LNS) or multiple micronutrients (MMN) through pregnancy (the index pregnancy) and 6 months postpartum on the growth status of the next living younger sibling conceived and born after the index pregnancy. In both Bangladesh (n = 472 younger siblings) and Ghana (n = 327 younger siblings), there were no overall differences in the growth status or the prevalence of undernutrition among younger siblings whose mothers had received LNS (or MMN, Ghana only) during and after the index pregnancy compared with the younger siblings of mothers who had received iron plus folic acid (IFA) during the index pregnancy (Ghana) or during and for 3 months after the index pregnancy (Bangladesh). These findings do not indicate that preconception nutrition interventions do not improve child growth. Rather, they suggest that any benefits of maternal LNS or MMN supplementation during one pregnancy and for 6 months postpartum are unlikely to extend to the growth of her next child beyond any effects due to IFA alone
Maternal and Newborn-care Practices During Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Postnatal Period: A Comparison in Three Rural Districts in Bangladesh
The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of maternal and
newborn-care practices among women reporting a birth in the previous
year in three districts in different divisions of Bangladesh. In 2003,
6,785 women, who had delivered a newborn infant in the previous year,
across three districts in Bangladesh, were interviewed. Overall, less
than half of the women received any antenatal care, and 11% received a
minimum of four check-ups. Only 18% took iron tablets for at least four
months during pregnancy. Over 90% of the 6,785 deliveries took place at
home, and only 11% were attended either by a doctor or by a nurse. The
mothers reported three key hygienic practices in 54% of deliveries:
at\uadtendants washing their hands with soap and boiling cord-tie and
blade for cutting the cord. Forty-four percent of the 6,785 infants
were bathed immediately after delivery, and 42% were given colostrum as
their first food. The results suggest that maternal and newborn-care
remains a cause of concern in rural Bangladesh. Short-term policies to
promote healthy behaviour in the home are needed, in addition to the
long-term goal of skilled birth attendance
Editorial: Noncommunicable diseases and mental health experiences before and after the COVID-19 pandemic
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Smokeless and combustible tobacco use among 148,944 South Asian adults: a cross-sectional study of South Asia Biobank
Introduction
Tobacco use, in both smoking and smokeless forms, is highly prevalent among South Asian adults. The aims of the study were twofold: (1) describe patterns of SLT and combustible tobacco product use in four South Asian countries stratified by country and sex, and (2) assess the relationships between SLT and smoking intensity, smoking quit attempts, and smoking cessation among South Asian men.
Methods
Data were obtained from South Asia Biobank Study, collected between 2018 and 2022 from 148,944 men and women aged 18 years and above, living in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, or Sri Lanka. Mixed effects multivariable logistic and linear regression were used to quantify the associations of SLT use with quit attempt, cessation, and intensity.
Results
Among the four South Asian countries, Bangladesh has the highest rates of current smoking (39.9% for male, 0.4% for female) and current SLT use (24.7% for male and 23.4% for female). Among male adults, ever SLT use was associated with a higher odds of smoking cessation in Bangladesh (OR, 2.88; 95% CI, 2.65, 3.13), India (OR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.63, 2.50), and Sri Lanka (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.14, 1.62). Ever SLT use and current SLT use was associated with lower smoking intensity in all countries.
Conclusions
In this large population-based study of South Asian adults, rates of smoking and SLT use vary widely by country and gender. Men who use SLT products are more likely to abstain from smoking compared with those who do not
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