Low-loss highly overcoupled fused couplers: fabrication andsensitivity to external pressure

A flame brush technique for fabrication of optical directional couplers that maintain low loss over many coupling cycles is discussed. Couplers with excess losses less than 3% and with 2500 power transfer cycles in the coupling are reported. Such couplers, which have a narrow wavelength band transmission (0.12 nm), can be tuned by applying an external hydrostatic pressure. The long fused couplers can also have application as optical fiber sensors     

Type-II interband cascade lasers in the 4.3-4.7-/spl mu/m wavelength region

Operation of type-II interband cascade lasers in the 4.3-4.7-/spl mu/m wavelength region has been demonstrated at temperatures up to 240 K in pulsed mode. These lasers fabricated with 150-/spl mu/m-wide mesa stripes operated in continuous-wave (CW) mode up to a maximum temperature of 110 K, with an output power exceeding 30 mW/f and a threshold current density of about 41 A/cm/sup 2/ at 90 K. The maximum CW operation temperature of 110 K is largely limited by the high specific thermal resistance of the 150-/spl mu/m-wide broad area lasers. A 20-/spl mu/m-wide mesa stripe laser was able to operate in CW mode at higher temperatures up to 125 K as a result of the reduced specific thermal resistance of a smaller device.     

The use of bromophenol blue as a tracer in sewage works

A reliable method for the quantitative assessment of water mixing in sewage works is presented. Using a rapid visible-spectroscopic technique to assay Bromophenol Blue, both laboratory and in situ adsorption/degradation studies are presented which confirm that this dye may be used quantitatively in tracer experiments.     

Electromagnetic scattering by buried objects of low contrast

The Born approximation is used to derive the plane-wave scattering matrix for objects of low dielectric contrast. For general shapes a numerical integration over the volume of the scatterer is required, but analytical expressions are derived for a sphere, a circular cylinder and a rectangular box (parallelepiped). The plane-wave scattering-matrix theory is used to account for the air-Earth interface. Numerical results are presented for the scattered field and far field for plane-wave excitation. The scattered field are weak for low-contrast objects, but the near-field results have application to electromagnetic detection of buried objects     

High-altitude cerebral edema evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging: clinical correlation and pathophysiology

CONTEXT: Because of its onset in generally remote environments, high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) has received little scientific attention. Understanding the pathophysiology might have implications for prevention and treatment of both this disorder and the much more common acute mountain sickness. OBJECTIVES: To identify a clinical imaging correlate for HACE and determine whether the edema is primarily vasogenic or cytotoxic. DESIGN: Case-comparison study. SETTING: Community hospitals accessed by helicopter from mountains in Colorado and Alaska. PATIENTS: A consecutive sample of 9 men with HACE, between 18 and 35 years old, 8 of whom also had pulmonary edema, were studied after evacuation from high-altitude locations; 5 were mountain climbers and 4 were skiers. The control group, matched for age, sex, and altitude exposure, consisted of 3 subjects with high-altitude pulmonary edema only and 3 who had been entirely well at altitude. Four patients with HACE were available for follow-up imaging after complete recovery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain during acute, convalescent, and recovered phases of HACE, and once in controls, immediately after altitude exposure. RESULTS: Seven of the 9 patients with HACE showed intense T2 signal in white matter areas, especially the splenium of the corpus callosum, and no gray matter abnormalities. Control subjects demonstrated no such abnormalities. All patients completely recovered; in the 4 available for follow-up MRI, the changes had resolved entirely. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that HACE is characterized on MRI by reversible white matter edema, with a predilection for the splenium of the corpus callosum. This finding provides a clinical imaging correlate useful for diagnosis. It also suggests that the predominant mechanism is vasogenic (movement of fluid and protein out of the vascular compartment) and, thus, that the blood-brain barrier may be important in HACE.     

Mediastinoscopic subtotal removal of mediastinal cysts

We report a case of relapsing polychondritis with focal sensorimotor seizures, aseptic meningitis, and migratory leptomeningeal enhancement on contrast MRI. These abnormalities on imaging studies correlated accurately with laterality of the patient's seizures, facilitating early aggressive management of his neurologic symptoms.