Improvement in refractive-index change in LiNbO3 : Ce : Cu by applying an external electric field

By jointly solving two-centre material equations with a nonzero external electric field and coupled-wave equations, we have numerically studied the dependence of the non-volatile holographic recording in LiNbO3:Ce:Cu crystals on the external electric field. The dominative photovoltaic effect of the non-volatile holographic recording in doubly doped LiNbO3 crystals is directly verified. And an external electric field that is applied in the positive direction along the c-axis (or a large one in the negative direction of the c-axis) in the recording phase and another one that is applied in the negative direction of the c-axis in the fixing phase are both proved to benefit strong photorefractive performances. Experimental verifications are given with a small electric field applied externally.

Refractive-index change and sensitivity improvement in holographic recording in LiNbO3:Ce:Cu crystals with green light

Nonvolatile holographic recording is performed with green light in LiNbO3:Ce:Cu crystals. The refractive-index change and the recording sensitivity are times better than those obtained by recording with red light, and higher optical fixing efficiency is obtained. Correspondingly, theoretical investigations are given.

Natural habitat and population control mechanism of Crassula helmsii (Australian Swamp Stonecrop) in Australia

The plant Crassula helmsii (Kirk) Cochayne, was likely to become widely distributed and to dominate many damp and wet areas of nature reserves, recreational waters and agricultural drainage of Britain. The aim of this report was to study Australian Swamp Stonecrop in its natural habitat where it is in balance with its environment. This contrasts with its rapid and widespread distribution in the U.K. where its growth interferes with the use of fisheries and amenity lakes but also reduces the value of nature reserves and sites of special scientific interest by suppressing native flora. It was proposed to observe its growth at a variety of sites over its natural distribution and to include some environmental factors, e.g. water-level, water-chemistry (nutrients, acidity and alkalinity), frost-tolerance, salinity, with the help of portable sensors, locally-available services or data. 8 weeks of travel in Australia allowed time to study the plant in its natural habitat including the coastal areas of the southern half of the continent i.e . Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and southern Queensland. The overall objective was to determine the environmental range by visits to selected sites of Crassula helmsii over its geographic range.

Habitat segregation in fish assemblages

The segregation of habitats of fish assemblages found in the chalk streams and rivers within the Wessex, South West and Southern Water Authority boundaries in southern England have been examined. Habitat segregation is the most frequent type of resource partitioning in natural communities. The habitat of individual fish species will be defined in order to determine the following: (1) the requirements of each species in terms of depth, current velocity, substrate, cover etc.; (2) identify the essential habitat variables in the segregation of species; (3) whether species in an assemblage demonstrate resource partitioning with reference to habitat, and (4) the mechanisms behind such resource partitioning.

The role of specially designated wildlife sites in freshwater conservation - an English perspective

The value of specially designated sites in conserving biodiversity has been a hotly debated issue for many years. The debate has recently been given fresh impetus by the creation of Natural England, the new Government Agency responsible for the protection and enhancement of the natural environment in England, and the challenges facing the management of designated sites resulting from the increasingly tangible effects of climate change. In the freshwater environment, the role of designated sites is very much under the spotlight because of the implementation of the European 'Water Framework' Directive, which aspires to holistic, ecologically-based management of aquatic habitats.This paper explores the underlying premises of, and rationale for, special site designations for wildlife, and provides a frank account of the inevitable clash of management philosophies that designated sites create in the freshwater environment, drawing on experiences of managing designated freshwater sites in England over the past decade. A positive role is outlined for designated sites in freshwater conservation, which addresses these management conflicts in a way that not only meets Government obligations towards these sites but also paves the way for enlightened, progressive management of the wider freshwater resource. As part of this account, attempts are made to clarify the relationship between key biodiversity-related policy drivers in the freshwater environment, and to explain how the spectre of climate change can be addressed within designated site management. The importance of strategic freshwater science, collaboratively designed and funded, in maximising the value of the designated freshwater site network to the wider freshwater habitat resource, is stressed.

Approximate analytical description for fundamental-mode fields of graded-index fibers: Beyond the Gaussian approximation

An approximate analytical description for fundamental-mode fields of graded-index fibers is explicitly presented by use of the power-series expansion method, the maximum-value condition at the fiber axis, the decay properties of fundamental-mode fields at large distance from the fiber axis, and the approximate modal parameters U obtained from the Gaussian approximation. This analytical description is much more accurate than the Gaussian approximation and at the same time keep the simplicity of the latter. As two special examples, we present the approximate analytical formulas for the fundamental-mode fields of a step profile fiber and a Gaussian profile fiber, and we find that they are both highly accurate in the single-mode range by comparing them with the corresponding exact solutions.

Corrections to the paraxial approximation solutions in transversely nonuniform refractive-index media

The coupled differential recurrence equations for the corrections to the paraxial approximation solutions in transversely nonuniform refractive-index media are established in terms of the perturbation method. All the corrections (including the longitudinal field corrections) to the paraxial approximation solutions are presented in the weak-guidance approximation. As a concrete application, the first-order longitudinal field correction and the second-order transverse field correction to the paraxial approximation of a Gaussian beam propagating in a transversely quadratic refractive index medium are analytically investigated. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America [S0740-3232(99)00310-5].

Construction of the refractive index profiles for few-mode planar optical waveguides

We present a nondestructive technique to predict the refractive index profiles of isotropic planar waveguides, on which a thin gold film is deposited to as the cladding. The negative dielectric constant of the metal results in significant differences of effective indices between TE and TM modes. The two polarized modes and a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) with abundant information of the surface index can be used to construct the refractive index profiles of single-mode and two-mode waveguides at a fixed wavelength. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Scale-Dependent Habitat Selection of Nesting Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets

Foraging habitat selection of nesting Great Egrets ( Ardea alba ) and Snowy Egrets ( Egretta thula ) was investigated within an estuary with extensive impounded salt marsh habitat. Using a geographic information system, available habitat was partitioned into concentric bands at five, ten, and 15 km radius from nesting colonies to assess the relative effects of habitat composition and distance on habitat selection. Snowy Egrets were more likely than Great Egrets to depart colonies and travel to foraging sites in groups, but both species usually arrived at sites that were occupied by other wading birds. Mean flight distances were 6.2 km (SE = 0.4, N = 28, range 1.8-10.7 km) for Great Egrets and 4.7 km (SE = 0.48, N = 31, range 0.7-12.5 km) for Snowy Egrets. At the broadest spatial scale both species used impounded (mostly salt marsh) and estuarine edge habitat more than expected based on availability while avoiding unimpounded (mostly fresh water wetland) habitat. At more local scales habitat use matched availability. Interpretation of habitat preference differed with the types of habitat that were included and the maximum distance that habitat was considered available. These results illustrate that caution is needed when interpreting the results of habitat preference studies when individuals are constrained in their choice of habitats, such as for central place foragers.

Company financial performance: Does board size matter? Case of the EUROSTOXX50 index

[EN] This study analyzes the relationship between board size and economic-financial performance in a sample of European firms that constitute the EUROSTOXX50 Index. Based on previous literature, resource dependency and agency theories, and considering regulation developed by the OECD and European Union on the normative of corporate governance for each country in the sample, the authors propose the hypotheses of both positive linear and quadratic relationships between the researched parameters. Using ROA as a benchmark of financial performance and the number of members of the board as measurement of the board size, two OLS estimations are performed. To confirm the robustness of the results the empirical study is tested with two other similar financial ratios, ROE and Tobin s Q. Due to the absence of significant results, an additional factor, firm size, is employed in order to check if it affects firm performance. Delving further into the nature of this relationship, it is revealed that there exists a strong and negative relation between firm size and financial performance. Consequently, it can be asseverated that the generic recommendation one size fits all cannot be applied in this case; which conforms to the Recommendations of the European Union that dissuade using generic models for all countries.

Dieta do boto-cinza (Sotalia guianensis Van Benédén, 1864) (Cetacea: Delphinidae) na Baía de Sepetiba (RJ)

O boto-cinza (Sotalia guianensis Van Benédén, 1864) é um pequeno cetáceo da família Delphinidae. Ocorre em águas costeiras da América do Sul e Central, associado à ambientes estuarinos, às baías e áreas protegidas. Estudos sobre hábitos alimentares são importantes para avaliar os padrões de relação entre presa e predador. Desta forma, o conhecimento da composição da dieta do predador pode fornecer informações a respeito de sua distribuição, padrões de migração e de seu comportamento, além de contribuir com informações sobre a biologia e comportamento de suas presas. Neste trabalho, são abordados aspectos da ecologia alimentar do boto-cinza da Baía de Sepetiba, com o objetivo de caracterizar a dieta e compará-la em relação ao sexo, classe etária e estações do ano, a partir da análise do conteúdo estomacal de 76 botos-cinza encalhados entre 2005 e 2011. Os itens alimentares recuperados dos estômagos como otólitos e ossos de peixes, bicos de cefalópodes, carapaças de crustáceos, foram identificados baseando-se em trabalhos de identificação e em uma coleção de referência. O comprimento e biomassa das presas foram estimados com o uso de equações de regressão encontradas na literatura para estas espécies. As amostras foram separadas em machos adultos, fêmeas adultas e juvenis, e em estações quente/chuvosa (out-abr) e fria/seca (mai-set), em que os estômagos foram recuperados. Um total de 1800 presas foi identificado, relativo a 23 espécies de teleósteo, quatro espécies de cefalópode e três de crustáceo. O boto-cinza da Baía de Sepetiba apresentou uma dieta tipicamente piscívora, com um hábito alimentar no qual, poucas espécies foram consumidas em alta frequencia. Todas as presas identificadas têm distribuição costeira sendo a maioria estuarina de pequeno porte ou juvenil. As presas mais importantes na dieta do boto-cinza, segundo o índice de importância relativa (IIR), foram Cetengraulis edentulus; Micropogonias furnieri; Mugil spp.; Chloroscombrus chrysurus; Cynoscion jamaicensis; Stellifer sp.; e Sciadeichthys luniscutis. Dentre os cefalópodes, a lula Doryteuthis plei foi à presa mais importante. Este estudo indica que o boto-cinza apresenta variações intra-específicas no seu hábito alimentar entre fêmeas adultas, machos adultos e juvenis, além de variações sazonais na composição de sua dieta. A partir do conhecimento do comportamento e hábito de suas presas, pode-se concluir que, Sotalia guianensis da Baía de Sepetiba se alimenta ao longo de toda a Baía, além de utilizar áreas costeiras próximas para atividades de alimentação e forrageio.

The tunable negative refractive index in granular composite

The effective refractive index of a kind of granular composite, which consists of granular metallic and magnetic inclusions with different radius embedded in a host medium, is theoretically investigated. Results show that for certain volume fractions of these two inclusions, the negative permittivity peak shifts to low frequency and the peak value increases with increasing radius ratio of the radius of magnetic granulae to that of metallic granulae. Simultaneously, peak value of permeability decreases with the radius ratio, and value peak shifts to high frequency with increasing volume fraction of magnetic inclusion. Therefore, the radius ratio can affect the effective refractive index considerably, and it is found that by adjusting the radius ratio, the refractive index may change between negative and positive values for certain volume fractions of the two inclusions. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Unveiling the factors shaping the distribution of widely distributed alpine vertebrates, using multi-scale ecological niche modelling of the bat Plecotus macrobullaris

Several alpine vertebrates share a distribution pattern that extends across the South-western Palearctic but is limited to the main mountain massifs. Although they are usually regarded as cold-adapted species, the range of many alpine vertebrates also includes relatively warm areas, suggesting that factors beyond climatic conditions may be driving their distribution. In this work we first recognize the species belonging to the mentioned biogeographic group and, based on the environmental niche analysis of Plecotus macrobullaris, we identify and characterize the environmental factors constraining their ranges. Distribution overlap analysis of 504 European vertebrates was done using the Sorensen Similarity Index, and we identified four birds and one mammal that share the distribution with P. macrobullaris. We generated 135 environmental niche models including different variable combinations and regularization values for P. macrobullaris at two different scales and resolutions. After selecting the best models, we observed that topographic variables outperformed climatic predictors, and the abruptness of the landscape showed better predictive ability than elevation. The best explanatory climatic variable was mean summer temperature, which showed that P. macrobullaris is able to cope with mean temperature ranges spanning up to 16 degrees C. The models showed that the distribution of P. macrobullaris is mainly shaped by topographic factors that provide rock-abundant and open-space habitats rather than climatic determinants, and that the species is not a cold-adapted, but rather a cold-tolerant eurithermic organism. P. macrobullaris shares its distribution pattern as well as several ecological features with five other alpine vertebrates, suggesting that the conclusions obtained from this study might be extensible to them. We concluded that rock-dwelling and open-space foraging vertebrates with broad temperature tolerance are the best candidates to show wide alpine distribution in the Western Palearctic.

Electric and magnetic losses and gains in determining the sign of refractive index

Within the framework of classic electromagnetic theories, we have studied the sign of refractive index of optical medias with the emphases on the roles of the electric and magnetic losses and gains. Starting from the Maxwell equations for an isotropic and homogeneous media, we have derived the general form of the complex refractive index and its relation with the complex electric permittivity and magnetic permeability, i.e. n = root epsilon mu, in which the intrinsic electric and magnetic losses and gains are included as the imaginary parts of the complex permittivity and permeability, respectively, as epsilon = epsilon(r) + i(epsilon i) and mu = mu(r) + i mu(i). The electric and magnetic losses are present in all passive materials, which correspond, respectively, to the positive imaginary permittivity and permeability epsilon(i) > 0 and mu(i) > 0. The electric and magnetic gains are present in materials where external pumping sources enable the light to be amplified instead of attenuated, which correspond, respectively, to the negative imaginary permittivity and permeability epsilon(i) < 0 and mu(i) < 0. We have analyzed and determined uniquely the sign of the refractive index, for all possible combinations of the four parameters epsilon(r), mu(r), epsilon(i), and mu(i), in light of the relativistic causality. A causal solution requires that the wave impedance be positive Re {Z} > 0. We illustrate the results for all cases in tables of the sign of refractive index. One of the most important messages from the sign tables is that, apart from the well-known case where simultaneously epsilon < 0 and mu < 0, there are other possibilities for the refractive index to be negative n < 0, for example, for epsilon(r) < 0, mu(r) > 0, epsilon(i) > 0, and mu(i) > 0, the refractive index is negative n < 0 provided mu(i)/epsilon(i) > mu(r)/vertical bar epsilon(r)vertical bar. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.