Optical nanofibers and spectroscopy

We review our recent progress in the production and characterization of tapered optical fibers with a sub-wavelength diameter waist. Such fibers exhibit a pronounced evanescent field and are therefore a useful tool for highly sensitive evanescent wave spectroscopy of adsorbates on the fiber waist or of the medium surrounding. We use a carefully designed flame pulling process that allows us to realize preset fiber diameter profiles. In order to determine the waist diameter and to verify the fiber profile, we employ scanning electron microscope measurements and a novel accurate in situ optical method based on harmonic generation. We use our fibers for linear and non-linear absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy of surface-adsorbed organic molecules and investigate their agglomeration dynamics. Furthermore, we apply our spectroscopic method to quantum dots on the surface of the fiber waist and to caesium vapor surrounding the fiber. Finally, towards dispersive measurements, we present our first results on building and testing a single-fiber bi-modal interferometer.Comment: 13 pages, 18 figures. Accepted for publication in Applied Physics B. Changes according to referee suggestions: changed title, clarification of some points in the text, added references, replacement of Figure 13

Re-examining the deployment of market orientation in the public leisure sector

Author Posting © Westburn Publishers Ltd, 2012. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy-edit version of an article which has been published in its definitive form in the Journal of Marketing Management, and has been posted by permission of Westburn Publishers Ltd for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in Journal of Marketing Management, 28, 2012,11-12, pp. 1249-1269, doi: 10.1080/0267257X.2011.645857, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2011.645857This paper examines the moderating effects of market orientation's intelligence generation and dissemination components on the response-performance relationship. We offer valuable insight into the application of, and subsequent returns to, market orientation in the public leisure sector, thereby helping to broaden the appeal, relevance, and usefulness of this important marketing theory to other contexts. The research involved a national survey questionnaire to 1060 public leisure managers of local government leisure facilities in England. Empirical testing through structural equation modelling revealed two important findings. First, intelligence generation efforts of the organisation can in part affect the performance returns to an organisation from its responsiveness to market intelligence. Second, intelligence generation coupled with organisation-wide dissemination of intelligence can have a destructive impact on the response-performance relationship, demonstrated by a negative significant moderating impact on this relationship. This paper provides an alternative explanation to the deployment of market orientation as a means to create value and an explanation that transcends its current linear portrayal in public-service delivery. © 2012 Copyright 2012 Westburn Publishers Ltd

Analysis of photonic band gaps in a two-dimensional photonic crystal with centrifugal core-shell rods

42.70.Qs Photonic bandgap materials, 78.20.Bh Theory, models, and numerical simulation,

On the competition between ECNs, stock markets and market makers,

Favored by the Security Exchange Commission, Electronics Communication Networks (ECNs) have grown as alternative trading systems that enable to bypass the markets makers on the stock markets and allow investors to directly compensate and execute their orders with more discretion and at a lower cost. In this paper we underline the fragile character of the current ECNs and question their competitive advantages through empirical evidences. We …nd a rationale for market makers and ECNs’ excessive spreads and overreactions. The use of network theory highlights notions of critical mass, open interface and alliances. Moreover, since competition between market makers and ECNs is based on volume, the emergence of ECNs has been mainly possible because of the growth of the American stock market. Furthermore, strategies of new ECNs are built on anticipated future growth. Should the market shrink, ECNs would rapidly be forced to merge and most of them would disappear