In-fiber polymer-glass hybrid waveguide Bragg grating

A 1.2 microm (height) x 125 microm (depth) x 500 microm (length) microslot along a fiber Bragg grating was engraved across the optical fiber by femtosecond laser patterning and chemical etching. By filling epoxy in the slot and subsequent UV curing, a hybrid waveguide grating structure with a polymer core and glass cladding was fabricated. The obtained device is highly thermally responsive with linear coefficient of 211 pm/ degrees C.

Apodisation of photo-induced waveguide gratings using double-exposure with complementary duty cycles

We present a novel apodisation scheme for photo-induced waveguide gratings. The apodisation is implemented with double exposures that have reversely varying duty cycles. We have successfully applied the proposed scheme to remove the sidelobes of long period gratings (LPGs). We also observed for the first time super strong sidelobes in LPGs when creating them with only a single varying-duty-cycle exposure. The strong sidelobes can be well explained with a Mach-Zehnder interference model.

Point-by-point inscription of first-order fiber Bragg grating for C-band applications

The influence of the fiber geometry on the point-by-point inscription of fiber Bragg gratings using a femtosecond laser is highlighted. Fiber Bragg gratings with high spectral quality and strong first-order Bragg resonances within the C-band are achieved by optimizing the inscription process. Large birefringence (1.2x10(-4)) and high degree of polarization-dependent index modulation are observed in these gratings. Potential applications of these gratings in resonators are further illustrated.

Virtual Gires-Tournois etalons realized with phase-modulated wideband chirped fiber gratings

We propose and demonstrate novel virtual Gires-Tournois (GT) etalons based on fiber gratings. By introducing an additional phase modulation in wideband linearly chirped fiber Bragg gratings, we have successfully generated GT resonance with only one grating. This technique can simplify the fabrication procedure while retaining the normal advantages of distributed etalons, including their full compatibility with optical fiber, low insertion loss, and low cost. Such etalons can be used as dispersion compensation devices in optical transmission systems.

A refractometer based on a micro-slot in a fiber Bragg grating formed by chemically assisted femtosecond laser processing

A liquid core waveguide as a refractometer is proposed. Microtunnels were created in standard optical fiber using tightly focused femtoscond laser inscription and chemical etching. A 1.2(h)x125(d) x500(l) mum micro-slot engraved along a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) was used to construct liquid core waveguide by filling the slot with index matching oils. The device was used to measure refractive index and sensitivity up to 10- 6/pm was obtained.

Real-time detection of DNA interactions with long-period fiber-grating-based biosensor

Using an optical biosensor based on a dual-peak long-period fiber grating, we have demonstrated the detection of interactions between biomolecules in real time. Silanization of the grating surface was successfully realized for the covalent immobilization of probe DNA, which was subsequently hybridized with the complementary target DNA sequence. It is interesting to note that the DNA biosensor was reusable after being stripped off the hybridized target DNA from the grating surface, demonstrating a function of multiple usability.

Dual-direction Gires-Tournois etalon based on a single complex fiber Bragg grating

We propose and demonstrate a single fiber Bragg grating-based Gires-Tournois (GT) etalon, which is realized by applying a complex apodization profile on a linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating. Such a GT etalon not only has a simplified fabrication procedure but also can operate in dual directions.

Optically tunable chromatic dispersion controller with coupled-cavity etalon structure

We propose and demonstrate a novel optically tunable dynamic dispersion-compensation device with coupled-cavity etalon structure. Experimentally, it was achieved with an all-fiber coupled-cavity etalon made in an Er/Yb codoped fiber pumped by a 980-nm laser diode. The dispersion was tuned from -300 to +400 ps/nm in the experiment. The potential advantages of such optically tunable dispersion compensators include fast response time and remotely controllable operation.

Association analysis of monoamine genes with measures of depression and anxiety in a selected community sample of siblings

Evidence indicates the genetic susceptibility to depression and anxiety is both overlapping and dimensional. In the current study, a quantitative phenotype had been created from several depression and anxiety-related measures in order to index this common genetic susceptibility (G). This has been studied in 119 sibships comprising 312 individuals, selected for extreme scores on G, from a community-based sample of 34,371 individuals. In a pathway based candidate gene study, we examined five microsatellite markers located within or nearby to five serotonin system genes (5HT2C, 5HT1D, 5HT1B, TPH1, and MAOB). Statistical analysis, carried out using QTDT, gave a significant association with a microsatellite downstream of TPH1. Further analysis included a life-events composite as a co-variable, this lead to a stronger association of TPH1. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report an association of the 3' end of TPH1 with continuous measures of depression and anxiety.

Gene-environment interaction analysis of serotonin system markers with adolescent depression

We report analyses from a study of gene-environment interaction in adolescent depression. The sample was selected from 1990 adolescents aged 10-20 years: those with depression symptoms in the top or bottom 15% were identified and divided into high or low environmental risk groups. DNA was obtained from 377 adolescents, representing the four quadrants of high or low depression and high or low environmental risk. Markers within, or close to, each of the serotonergic genes 5HTT, HTR2A, HTR2C, MAOA (monoamine oxidase type A) and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) were genotyped. Environmental risk group was a nonsignificant predictor and sex was a significant predictor of the depression group. HTR2A and TPH significantly predicted the depression group, independent of the effects of sex, environmental risk group and their interaction. In addition, there was a trend for an effect of 5HTTLPR, which was significant in female subjects. Furthermore, there was a significant genotype-environmental risk interaction for 5HTTLPR in female subjects only, with the effect being in the same direction as another recent study, reaffirming that an important source of genetic heterogeneity is exposure to environmental risk.

Tailored Gires-Tournois etalons as tunable dispersion slope compensators

We present a novel concept of a tailored Gires-Tournois etalon structure and show that such a device is useful for the fabrication of a dispersion-slope compensator with an almost arbitrary dispersion profile and also with tunability in the dispersion slope.

Transmissive in-fiber Fabry-Perot etalons as tunable dispersion compensators and dispersion-slope compensators

We report for what is believed to be the first time the use of transmissive fiber Bragg grating-based Fabry-Perot etalons for tunable dispersion compensation and dispersion-slope compensation. The resulting device has a number of advantages, such as low cost, ease of fabrication, full optical fiber compatibility, and simplicity.

Bragg-grating-based all-fiber distributed Gires-Tournois etalons

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, achievement of all-fiber distributed Gires-Tournois etalons (DGTEs) based on fiber Bragg gratings. DGTEs with both separated structure and overlapped structure were investigated. Such grating-based DGTEs show periodic spectral characteristics that are similar to those of conventional Gires-Tournois etalons; however, they also have some particular characteristics that are due to the dispersive nature of the gratings.

The dopamine D4 receptor and the hyperactivity phenotype: a developmental-epidemiological study

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 2-6% of school-age children and is a precursor of behavioural problems in adolescence and adulthood. Underlying the categorical definition of ADHD are the quantitative traits of activity, impulsivity, and inattention which vary continuously in the population. Both ADHD and quantitative measures of hyperactivity are heritable, and influenced by multiple genes of small effect. Several studies have reported an association between clinically defined ADHD and the seven-repeat allele of a 48-bp tandem repeat polymorphism in the third exon of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4). We tested this association in a large, unselected birth cohort (n = 1037) using multiple measures of the hyperactivity phenotype taken at multiple assessment ages across 20 years. This longitudinal approach allowed us to ascertain whether or not DRD4 has a general effect on the diagnosed (n = 49) or continuously distributed hyperactivity phenotype, and related personality traits. We found no evidence to support this association.

High-performance liquid chromatography study of the pharmacokinetics of various spin traps for application to in vivo spin trapping

In vivo spin trapping is potentially a very useful tool to investigate the role of free radicals in physiologic processes and disease development. Unfortunately, knowledge on the stability and distribution of spin traps in living systems is limited. Therefore, in our study, we selected 11 acyclic and cyclic nitrone spin traps with diverse properties to determine their pharmacokinetics in mice. At varying times after intraperitoneal administration, we measured the concentration of the spin traps in the liver, heart, and blood. Our results showed that most spin traps were rapidly absorbed and were approximately evenly distributed throughout the mouse body. It was also found that most of the traps were relatively stable in vivo with more than half of the injected amount still available for spin trapping free radicals after an hour. Two of the 11 tested spin traps, however, decomposed after injection. These results indicate that for a successful in vivo spin trapping experiment, the stability of the spin trap is not of major concern, but the time course of distribution may be important.

Fabrication of high-rejection low-loss single-passband filters in cladding depressed fiber by the chirped-grating concatenation method

High-rejection-low-loss single-passband filters have been successfully fabricated by the chirped-grating concatenation method in a cladding depressed fiber. The enhanced photosensitivity, the enlarged bandgap between the Bragg resonance and the cladding modes, and the effective suppression of the cladding-mode outcoupling of the cladding depressed fiber permitted what is to our knowledge the first achievement of an ~1-dB loss in the passband and 50-dB rejection for a 50-nm-wide stop band covering the entire amplified spontaneous emission spectral range of an Er-doped fiber amplifier.

Fabrication of multipassband moiré resonators in fibers by the dual-phase-mask exposure method

We report on the fabrication of in-fiber moiré filters by dual exposure of a nondedicated chirped phase mask. This simple technique produces broadband filters whose structure depends only on an intermediate stretch between two identical UV exposures. We demonstrate moiré filters with as many as four narrow passbands within a 2-nm stopband.

Postfabrication exposure of gap-type bandpass filters in broadly chirped fiber gratings

High efficiency in-fiber bandpass filters with arbitrary passband/stop-band combinations have been produced successfully with an UV postfabrication exposure technique in broadly chirped fiber gratings. By further concatenating such a bandpass filter with two additional chirped gratings we achieved a finesse as high as 220 for a 36-nm stop band. This new approach exhibits great advantages in controlling precisely the profiles of bandpass filters in terms of stop-band width, transmission wavelength and linewidth, and spacing of passbands.

Environmentally stable high-power soliton fiber lasers that use chirped fiber Bragg gratings

Environmentally stable high-power erbium fiber soliton lasers are constructed by Kerr or carrier-type mode locking. We obtain high-energy pulses by using relatively short fiber lengths and providing large amounts of negative dispersion with chirped fiber Bragg gratings. The pulse energies and widths generated with both types of soliton laser are found to scale with the square root of the cavity dispersion. Kerr mode locking requires pulses with an approximately three times higher nonlinear phase shift in the cavity than carrier mode locking, which leads to the generation of slightly shorter pulses with as much as seven times higher pulse energies at the mode-locking threshold.

High-power soliton fiber laser based on pulse width control with chirped fiber Bragg gratings

Chirped fiber Bragg gratings control the pulse width and energy in Kerr mode-locked erbium fiber soliton lasers. We create high-energy pulses by providing large amounts of excessive negative dispersion, which increases the pulse width while keeping the nonlinearity of the cavity constant. With a chirped fiber grating of 3.4-ps(2) dispersion, 3-ps pulses with an energy content higher than 1 nJ are generated at a repetition rate of 27 MHz. By controlling the polarization state in the cavity, we obtain a tuning range from 1.550 to 1.562 mu;m.

Determination of underivatised efaroxan and idazoxan in blood plasma by capillary gas chromatography with mass-selective detection

Sensitive and specific methods for the determination of efaroxan and idazoxan in blood plasma have been developed based on solvent extraction, chromatographic separation and quantification by selected-ion monitoring using a quadruple mass-selective detector. The use of a short non-polar bonded-phase capillary gas chromatography (GC) column facilitated rapid separation of the compounds of interest from internal standards, metabolites and endogenous material. Of equal significance was the ability to chromatograph these basic compounds without prior derivatisation. The application of bonded-phase capillary GC coupled to selected-ion monitoring resulted in robust analytical procedures with sub-ng ml(-1) sensitivity and high selectivity.

Application of a modified colorimetric enzyme assay to monitor plasma paracetamol levels following single oral doses to non-patient volunteers

A modified enzyme-based colorimetric method has been used to determine plasma paracetamol profiles following single dose (2 x 500 mg) administration of three dosage forms to non-patient volunteers. The assay is linear over the concentration range 0.15-60 micrograms ml-1 with a coefficient of variation of 9.1% at the 1.5 micrograms ml-1 level. It is rapid, requiring small sample volumes; compares favourably with other techniques such as HPLC; and is not subject to interference from paracetamol metabolites and other drugs. Administration of paracetamol as two different dosage forms, as a solid tablet and as a dispersible tablet, resulted in no statistically significant difference in pharmacokinetic parameters between treatments.