Cascaded gain fibers for increasing output power and the stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold of narrow linewidth fiber Raman amplifiers.

We show both experimentally and theoretically a method to increase the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) threshold and output power of narrow linewidth fiber Raman amplifiers. This method employs two or more fibers with varying concentrations of the Raman gain material dopant such as GeO2 or P2O5 in silicate-based glasses. These fibers are then cascaded to form an amplifier gain stage, disrupting the buildup of SBS that normally occurs in single continuous fibers. The numerical model shown is applicable to arbitrary amplifier systems for gain stage optimization and increased power scaling. We give experimental results for phosphosilicate fibers that agree well with simulation predictions that support the numerical model used.

[Current progress of the artificial accommodation system]. / Fortschritte des Künstlichen Akkommodationssystems.

In case of presbyopia or cataract the "artificial accommodation system" represents one future possibility to durably restore the ability to accommodate. The work presented describes recent progress in the development of the artificial accommodation system. Major advances were achieved in the fields of the actuator system for the active optics, the pupil near reflex sensor, the communication system, the power supply system as well as in system integration. Beside the technical advances, first trials were performed to implant the artificial accommodation system into animals. These trials showed that the new lens shaped design and the C-shaped haptics are beneficial for implantation and secure fixation of the implant inside the capsular bag.

Optimal secondary coil design for inductive powering of the Artificial Accommodation System.

Age-related ailments like presbyopia and cataract are increasing concerns in the aging society. Both go along with a loss of ability to accommodate. A new approach to restore the patients' ability to accommodate is the Artificial Accommodation System. This micro mechatronic system will be implanted into the capsular bag to replace the human crystalline lens. Depending on the patients' actual need for accommodation, the Artificial Accommodation System autonomously adapts the refractive power of its integrated optical element in a way that the projection on the patients' retina results in a sharp image. As the Artificial Accommodation System is an active implant, its subsystems have to be supplied with electrical energy. Evolving technologies, like energy harvesting, which can potentially be used to power an implant like the Artificial Accommodation System are at the current state of art not sufficient to power the Artificial Accommodation System autonomously [1]. In the near future, therefore an inductive power supply system will be developed which includes an energy storage to power the Artificial Accommodation System autonomously over a period of 24 h and can be recharged wirelessly. This Paper describes a new possibility to optimize the secondary coil design in a solely analytical way, based on a new figure of merit. Within this paper the developed figure of merit is applied to optimize the secondary coil design for the Artificial Accommodation System.

[Energy and memory efficient calculation of the accommodation demand in the artificial accommodation system]. / Energie- und speichereffiziente Berechnung des Akkommodationsbedarfs im Künstlichen Akkommodationssystem.

Presbyopia and cataract are gaining more and more importance in the ageing society. Both age-related complaints are accompanied with a loss of the eye's ability to accommodate. A new approach to restore accommodation is the Artificial Accommodation System, an autonomous micro system, which will be implanted into the capsular bag instead of a rigid intraocular lens. The Artificial Accommodation System will, depending on the actual demand for accommodation, autonomously adapt the refractive power of its integrated optical element. One possibility to measure the demand for accommodation non-intrusively is to analyse eye movements. We present an efficient algorithm, based on the CORDIC technique, to calculate the demand for accommodation from magnetic field sensor data. It can be shown that specialised algorithms significantly shorten calculation time without violating precision requirements. Additionally, a communication strategy for the wireless exchange of sensor data between the implants of the left and right eye is introduced. The strategy allows for a one-sided calculation of the demand for accommodation, resulting in an overall reduction of calculation time by 50 %. The presented methods enable autonomous microsystems, such as the Artificial Accommodation System, to save significant amounts of energy, leading to extended autonomous run-times.

Quantitative comparison of shear-dependent Staphylococcus aureus adhesion to three polyurethane ionomer analogs with distinct surface properties.

Bacterial adhesion is a central step in infection on biomaterial surfaces; however, the relation between biomaterial surface properties and adhesion remains poorly understood. To quantitatively determine the relationship among polyurethane surface properties, protein coating, and adhesion, we have compared attachment and detachment kinetics of Staphylococcus aureus on three different novel polyurethanes with different protein coatings. Rate constants for attachment or detachment were measured as a function of shear rate in a well-defined laminar flow field. The tested polyurethanes included a relatively hydrophobic-base polyether urethane and hydrophilic anionomer and cationomer analogs of the base material. Materials were tested bare, or coated with human fibrinogen, plasma, or albumin. The results suggest that the presence of fibrinogen or plasma greatly enhance the attachment rate constants and decrease the detachment rate constants on all materials. The most extreme differences among the different materials were observed on the bare materials, with the base polyurethane being most resistant to both attachment and detachment. However, except for a reduced attachment rate constant on the plasma-coated sulfonated polyurethane, few differences in the rate constants were observed among protein-coated materials, suggesting the primary role of surface properties is masked by the presence of the adsorbed protein layer.

Bacterial adhesion to polyurethane surfaces in the presence of pre-adsorbed high molecular weight kininogen.

The factors which affect the adherence of a bacteria cell to the surface of a biomaterial include the surface chemistry of the cell and material, as well as the composition of the adsorbed protein layer when the biomaterial is exposed to circulating blood. In an effort to better understand the mechanisms by which bacteria adhere to such surfaces, and specifically to determine the effects of high molecular weight kininogen on bacterial adhesion, experiments were performed in which the attachment of Staphylococcus aureus was directly observed on glass and on a series of functionalized polyurethanes. These surfaces had been pre-adsorbed with various concentrations of high molecular weight kininogen and fibrinogen. Attachment was observed using a radial flow chamber, in which shear stress varied inversely with radial distance. Protein adsorption studies were also performed using 125I labeled fibrinogen to investigate the relationship between surface chemistry, protein adsorption, and bacterial attachment. Bacterial attachment was significantly decreased when the glass surface was pre-adsorbed with high molecular weight kininogen--either alone, or following adsorption of fibrinogen. High molecular weight kininogen thus exhibited anti-adhesive effects. On polyurethane surfaces pre-adsorbed with fibrinogen, kininogen, and albumin, the highest bacterial attachment was found on the base polyurethane, while significant decreases were seen on the hydrophilic polyurethanes. In addition, it was found that the surface with the least bacterial attachment and fibrinogen deposition was the polyurethane with pendant phosphonate groups.

Quantitative comparison of clumping factor- and coagulase-mediated Staphylococcus aureus adhesion to surface-bound fibrinogen under flow.

The contributions of clumping factor and coagulase in mediating Staphylococcus aureus adhesion to surface-adsorbed fibrinogen have been quantified by using a new methodology and analysis. The attachment or detachment kinetics of bacteria were directly observed in a radial flow chamber with a well-defined laminar flow field and a spatially varying shear rate and were quantified by recursively scanning the chamber surface and counting cells via automated video microscopy and image analysis with a motorized stage and focus control. Intrinsic rate constants for attachment or detachment were estimated as functions of shear rate for the wild-type Newman strain of S. aureus and for mutants lacking clumping factor, coagulase, or both proteins on surfaces coated with plasma, fibrinogen, or albumin. Clumping factor, but not coagulase, increased the probability of attachment and decreased the probability of detachment of S. aureus on plasma-coated surfaces; however, both clumping factor and, to a lesser extent, coagulase increased the probability of attachment on the purified-fibrinogen-coated surface. All mutants were resistant to detachment on the purified-fibrinogen-coated surface, suggesting the possibility of an additional adhesion mechanism which was independent of coagulase or clumping factor and effective only for fully attached cells. Together, these results suggest that the presence of clumping factor plays the primary role in enhancing adhesion to surfaces with adsorbed fibrinogen, not only by enhancing the probability of cell attachment but also by increasing the strength of the resulting adhesion.

Facilitation of tunnel maze performance by systemic injection of the neurokinin substance P.

The effect of peripheral injections of substance P (SP) on performance in two different configurations of an automated tunnel maze was examined in three experiments. In two experiments, the effect of pretrial SP injections (10-1000 micrograms/kg) on performance in the hexagonal and radial maze configuration of an automated tunnel maze was investigated. In the hexagonal maze, which measures activity, exploratory efficiency, habituation, and perimeter walking, injection of SP affected perimeter walking only. In the radial maze, SP produced a facilitation of measures of efficiency and long-term and short-term memory without affecting activity. In the third experiment, the effect of pre- and posttrial injections of SP (50 or 500 micrograms/kg) on performance in the radial maze configuration was tested. Again, pretrial injections of 500 micrograms of SP facilitated performance with respect to measures of efficiency and short- and long-term memory; 50 micrograms produced a weaker effect. Virtually no effect was seen with posttrial injections.

Dynamical equation for polarization dispersion.

Polarization dispersion in single-mode fiber that contains arbitrary birefringence is described through a vector differential equation. Monte-Carlo simulations using this equation show good agreement with experimental measurements in a randomly birefringent fiber and with a previously reported analytic expression for the length dependence of the dispersion. We also correct an error made in earlier research and show that the probability density function for the magnitude of the dispersion at long lengths is Maxwellian rather than Gaussian as previously reported.

Enhanced inhibitory avoidance learning produced by post-trial injections of substance P into the basal forebrain.

The effects of injections of the neuropeptide substance P or the GABA agonist muscimol on performance of a step-down inhibitory avoidance task were examined. Immediately after the training trial, rats with chronically implanted cannulas were injected with 100 or 10 ng of substance P or 500 or 50 ng of muscimol into the region of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis. Control groups included vehicle-injected rats, a sham-operated group, a substance P 5-h delay group, and a substance P no-footshock group. Rats injected with 100 ng of substance P exhibited longer step-down latencies when tested 24 h later than did vehicle-injected rats. The retention latencies for rats in the substance P 5-h delay group did not differ from those of vehicle-injected animals, indicating that proactive effects on performance were not responsible for the effect. In contrast to injections of SP, injections of 500 or 50 ng of muscimol disrupted performance. However, in the absence of a delayed-injection control group, proactive effects cannot be ruled out.

Asymmetries of brain dopamine metabolism related to conditioned paw usage in the rat.

Concentrations of dopamine, serotonin, and some of their metabolites were analyzed by means of high-performance liquid chromatography in brain samples obtained from rats operantly conditioned to use one paw for water-reinforced lever pressing. In the first experiment, the side of paw usage was determined by physical constraint (forced-handedness condition), whereas in the second experiment the side of paw usage was not restricted (paw-preference condition). Differences in dopamine metabolism were detected between brain samples from the hemispheres located ipsi- and contralaterally to the side of paw usage. A higher dopamine metabolism (indicated by higher metabolite/transmitter ratios) was found in the amygdala ipsilateral to the paw used both under the forced-handedness and paw-preference condition. A higher level of dopamine in the contralateral septum was found in rats sacrificed immediately after 15 min of forced-handedness and an ipsilateral increase was found in rats analyzed 2 h after performance of this task. In addition, a higher dopamine metabolism in the ventral striatum, dorsal striatum, and amygdala was found in the forced-handedness and yoked controls groups than in rats analyzed 2 h after lever pressing. In the second experiment, rats in the paw preference group had a lower dopamine metabolism in the ventral and dorsal striatum, septum, and substantia nigra than did their yoked controls. These results show that changes in dopamine metabolism during conditioned lever pressing can be asymmetrical with respect to the side of paw usage, indicating that the dopamine neurons in the two brain hemispheres are asymmetrically involved in such behavioral tasks.

Eye tracking dysfunction in Alzheimer-type dementia.

Performance on visual tracking tasks was measured in groups of Alzheimer-type dementia, pseudodementia of depression, and elderly normal controls. Smooth pursuit tracking errors were identified by counting the number of catch-up saccades required to compensate for failure of the smooth pursuit system. The group with Alzheimer-type dementia had significantly worse (p less than 0.0001) smooth pursuit tracking than either pseudodementia subjects or elderly normal controls. A strong correlation (r = 0.74, p less than 0.005) was found in Alzheimer patients between severity of visual tracking abnormality and severity of dementia.

Variables affecting eye tracking performance.

The effect of age and gender on eye tracking performance was studied in normal healthy subjects. Two measures of tracking performance, phase corrected cross-correlation coefficients and number of catch-up saccades were determined. The cross-correlation measures revealed a differential effect with the elderly men demonstrating significantly better tracking performance than elderly women. An aging effect was found in women and an aging trend in men using the catch-up saccade measure. Other variables influencing tracking performance, in addition to age and sex, were target speed and type of measure. Recognition of this differential effect largely explains the existing controversy as to whether age or sex variables influence tracking performance.

Mild cold exposure increases survival in rats with medial preoptic lesions.

High mortality rate in rats with large medial preoptic lesions discourage their use in studies of brain function. However, virtually all such animals (six out of seven) survived indefinitely if kept at an ambient temperature of 15 degrees C for 2 hours before and 10 to 12 hours after the lesions were made. Although these rats appeared otherwise healthy, they could not maintain normal both temperatures in short-term cold tests. In contrast, five of the nine rats kept at 25 degrees C died within 10 hours after the operation, and three more died within 5 days. Rats kept at 25 degrees C had a much higher incidence of cardiac arrhythmias than did rats kept at 15 degrees C, which may be responsible for their higher moratlity rates.

Persistent depression of rearing behavior in rats after extensive septal lesions.

Extensive septal lesions produced a persistent (76 days) reduction in rearing behavior which was not directly attributable to altered deprivation states, emotionality, activity levels, or competing behaviors and which occurred in familiar as well as various novel testing environments. Changes in visual, olfactory, or conspecific stimuli ameliorated or had no effect on the lesion effect. The results indicate that the septal area is importantly involved in normal rearing behavior and that lesion-induced alterations in responsiveness to some forms of stimulation may play a modulatory role in reduced rearing. It is also suggested that the septal area may constitute a portion of a neural system responsible for the initiation of this form of response.