Meta-analysis of meditative/relaxation-based interventions for cognitive impairment in cancer patient

Objective:This meta-analysis aimed to review any form of meditative/relaxation interventions for managing cognitive impairment in cancer patients,and to examine its intervention effect.Methods:Three databases(PubMed,PsycInfo,and CNKI)were searched until September 30,2016.Randomized controlled trials(RCTs)of meditative/relaxation-based interventions for the management of cognitive impairment in cancer patients were considered for inclusion.Results:A total of 4 RCTs were included in this meta-analysis.Four RCTs with a total of 290 subjects indicated that meditative/relaxation interventions significantly improved subjective cognitive function of cancer patients.The weighted mean difference was 5.29(95%CI:2.97,7.61).The overall effect of Z score was 4.47(P<0.001).The meditative/relaxation-based interventions had positive effects on the physical and mental QOL(quality of life)of cancer patients.Although the improvement of physical QOL was in favor of interventions,there is no statistically significant difference(Z score=1.81,P=0.07).For the effects of meditative/relaxation interventions on metal QOL,there is significantly statistical difference(Z score=2.99,P=0.003).All included RCTs had a follow-up assessment within six months.Conclusion:Mediation-based interventions had statistically significant difference in improve subjective cognitive function and mental QOL in cancer patients.However,since the conclusion of this meta-analysis was drawn based on limited number of RCTs,future research should be conducted to confirm its positive intervention effects.

Temperature insensitivity of an all-fiber quarter-wave plate device fabricated with a high-birefringence fiber

A high-birefringence fiber,Tb:YAG crystal-derived silica fiber(TYDSF),was fabricated by CO_(2)laser-heating drawing technique.Its linear birefringence was 2.99×10^(-5),and it was used to fabricate an all-fiber quarter-wave plate(QWP)device.The polarization extinction ratio(PER)of the device was 0.29 dB,and its ellipticity was 44.26°at 25℃.In the temperature range of-5℃to 200℃,its PER was always less than 0.80 dB,and the fluctuation of PER and ellipticity was also small.Compared with QWPs fabricated with PANDA-type polarization-maintaining fiber(PMF)and elliptical-core PMF,the performance of TYDSF QWP was least sensitive to temperature.Furthermore,the TYDSF QWP was used in a high-power laser system,still maintaining good circular polarization state,and the nonlinear effects were suppressed in the system.The experimental results are of great significance to high-power lasers,fiber-optic current sensors,etc.,in harsh environments.

Development of Bi/Er co-doped optical fibers for ultra-broadband photonic applications

Targeting the huge unused bandwidth（BW）of modem telecommunication networks,Bi/Er co-doped silica optical fibers（BEDFs）have been proposed and developed for ultra-broadband,high-gain optical amplifiers covering the 1150-1700 nm wavelength range.Ultrabroadband luminescence has been demonstrated in both BEDFs and bismuth/erbium/ytterbium co-doped optical fibers（BEYDFs）fabricated with the modified chemical vapor deposition（MCVD）and in situ doping techniques.Several novel and sophisticated techniques have been developed for the fabrication and characterization of the new active fibers.For controlling the performance of the active fibers,post-treatment processes using high temperature,γ-radiation,and laser light have been introduced.Although many fundamental scientific and technological issues and challenges still remain,several photonic applications,such as fiber sensing,fiber gratings,fiber amplification,fiber lasers,etc.,have already been demonstrated.

Structure formation dynamics in drawing silica photonic crystal fibres

The special features of photonic crystal fibres（PCFs）are achieved by their air hole structures.PCF structure is determined and formed by its origin preform design and drawing process.Therefore,structure formation dynamics in drawing PCF is important for the fabrication of PCF achieving desirable structure and thus the intended feature.This paper will investigate structure formation dynamics of PCF drawing in relation to key parameters and conditions,such as hole dimension,temperature,pressure,etc.

Additive Manufacturing Fiber Preforms for Structured Silica Fibers with Bismuth and Erbium Dopants

Dear Editor Silica optical fibers have attracted a lot of attention because they are widely used in communications and sensing,and forming today’s internet backbone.Driving much of the Internet-of-Things(IoT)evolution,optical fibers are expanding from a single function transmission technology to perform multiple functions and a growing need for various custom-design application-specific optical fibers.Current optical fiber manufacturing based on chemical vapor deposition(CVD)technologies together with stack-and-draw approaches used for structured optical fibers faces numerous challenges in enabling more complex geometries multimaterial composite fibers and multicore fibers.The additive manufacturing,or 3D printing,offers a solution to address all those challenges,and may potentially disrupt the optical fibers fabrication and bring in an evolution to IoT.

Spin effect on a single-mode single-polarization optical fiber

The spin effect on a single-mode single-polarization optical fiber is investigated theoretically and numerically. To get a practical single elliptically polarized fiber the normalized spin rate must be in the range of 0.2–0.35. A single elliptically polarized fiber with a normalized spin rate around 0.224 is demonstrated. It has a broad band from1.530 to 1.558 μm, in which the low-leakage elliptically polarized eigenmode loss is kept within 1.2 d B while the high-leakage elliptically polarized eigenmode loss is greater than 20 d B. This fiber can be used as an elliptical polarizer or applied in current sensing.

Polarization and magneto-optical characteristics of Tb:YAG crystal-derived silica fiber via laser-heating drawing technique

Fiber quarter-wave plates and magneto-optical fibers are important components that greatly affect the sensitivity of fiberoptic current sensors.A Tb:YAG crystal-derived silica fiber(TYDSF)was fabricated using a CO_(2) laser-heating drawing technique.The linear birefringence of TYDSF was measured as 6.661×10^(-6)by a microscope birefringence measurement instrument.A fiber quarter-wave plate was fabricated by TYDSF at 1310 nm,which produced circularly polarized light with a polarization extinction ratio of 0.34 d B.Additionally,the linear birefringence of TYDSF was decreased by 22%by annealing at 750℃ for 7 h,and the Verdet constants of annealed TYDSF were measured to be 9.83,6.67,and 3.48 rad/(T·m)at 808,980,and 1310 nm,respectively.

Over 100 mW linearly polarized single-frequency fiber laser based on Er:YAG crystal-derived silica fiber

The realization of single-frequency fiber lasers requires high-gain media. In this work, an Er:YAG crystal-derived silica fiber(EYDSF) was prepared using the melt-in-tube method, whose gain coefficient was up to 2.11 dB/cm using a pump power of 1480 nm. A linearly polarized single-frequency fiber laser was constructed based on a 2-cm-long EYDSF. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was 27.0%. A fiber mirror was used at the end of the cavity to reflect the residual pump, which can be absorbed by the EYDSF to further increase the output power. The maximum output power and the slope efficiency of the proposed laser were over 100 mW and up to 22.4%, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, it has the highest output power and the largest slope efficiency, compared with the previous single-frequency fiber lasers based on EYDSFs. In addition, the laser had good polarization and noise performance with a polarization extinction ratio of 25 dB and a relative intensity noise of <-139 dB/Hz. The performance of the proposed fiber laser demonstrates its great potential as a seed source for coherent optical communications, laser combining systems, and other fields.