Vacuum-compatible low-loss Faraday isolator for efficient squeezed-light injection in laser-interferometer-based gravitational-wave detectors.

In this paper, we present, to the best of our knowledge, the first low-loss vacuum-compatible thermally controlled Faraday isolator able to retain a good isolation factor under high-vacuum working conditions. The throughput that can be obtained with the developed device is as high as 99%, retaining an isolation factor higher than 40 dB. That very high isolation ratio can be kept over long time periods independently from external temperature conditions with a few Celsius degrees of variation due to thermal active control.

Gold(I)-Catalysed Asymmetric Hydroamination of Alkenes: A Silver- and Solvent-Dependent Enantiodivergent Reaction.

In the present study, we report the first silver-dependent enantiodivergent gold-catalysed reaction. The asymmetric intramolecular hydroamination of alkenes catalysed by the combination of a single chiral binuclear gold(I) chloride complex and silver perchlorate can afford both enantiomers of the products by a simple solvent change from toluene to methanol. Such an enantiodivergent reaction is strictly independent of the reaction temperature or of the nature of the catalyst anion and displays the same first-order kinetic rate law with respect to substrate concentration in both solvents.

Tuning of a high magnification compact parabolic telescope for centimeter-scale laser beams.

Off-axis parabolic telescopes, widely used in astronomy and laser optics, if perfectly tuned, are virtually free from aberrations along the parabola's axis direction, but their alignment is very critical. We present a detailed method to align a high magnification off-axis afocal parabolic telescope. The method is composed of two steps: an initial pre-alignment using autocollimators, followed by a fine tuning with a collimated laser beam.

Development of an analytical methodology using Fourier transform mass spectrometry to discover new structural analogs of wine natural sweeteners.

Volatile and non-volatile molecules are directly responsible for the thrill and excitement provided by wine-tasting. Their elucidation requires powerful analytical techniques and innovative methodologies. In a recent work, two novel sweet compounds called quercotriterpenosides (QTT) were identified in oak wood used for wine-ageing.

Quantitative monitoring of tamoxifen in human plasma extended to 40 metabolites using liquid-chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry: new investigation capabilities for clinical pharmacology.

Liquid-chromatography (LC) high-resolution (HR) mass spectrometry (MS) analysis can record HR full scans, a technique of detection that shows comparable selectivity and sensitivity to ion transitions (SRM) performed with triple-quadrupole (TQ)-MS but that allows de facto determination of "all" ions including drug metabolites. This could be of potential utility in in vivo drug metabolism and pharmacovigilance studies in order to have a more comprehensive insight in drug biotransformation profile differences in patients. This simultaneous quantitative and qualitative (Quan/Qual) approach has been tested with 20 patients chronically treated with tamoxifen (TAM).

Wide-scope analysis of pesticide and veterinary drug residues in meat matrices by high resolution MS: detection and identification using Exactive-Orbitrap.

A multiresidue and multiclass method for the simultaneous determination of more than 350 compounds including pesticides, biopesticides and veterinary drugs in different meat matrices (beef, pork and chicken) by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to Orbitrap MS has been developed. In the present study, the determination of fragments was accomplished as an essential tool for a reliable identification of compounds using high resolution MS. To obtain these fragments, different strategies have been carried out in order to ensure an appropriate fragment assignment and identification.

Performance of a thermally deformable mirror for correction of low-order aberrations in laser beams.

The thermally deformable mirror is a device aiming at correcting beam-wavefront distortions for applications where classical mechanical methods are precluded by noise considerations, as in advanced gravitational wave interferometric detectors. This moderately low-cost technology can be easily implemented and controlled thanks to the good reproducibility of the actuation. By using a flexible printed circuit board technology, we demonstrate experimentally that a device of 61 actuators in thermal contact with the back surface of a high-reflective mirror is able to correct the low-order aberrations of a laser beam at 1064 nm and could be used to optimize the mode matching into Fabry-Perot cavities.

Identification and characterization of a novel antimicrobial peptide from the venom of the ant Tetramorium bicarinatum.

A novel antimicrobial peptide, named Bicarinalin, has been isolated from the venom of the ant Tetramorium bicarinatum. Its amino acid sequence has been determined by de novo sequencing using mass spectrometry and by Edman degradation. Bicarinalin contained 20 amino acid residues and was C-terminally amidated as the majority of antimicrobial peptides isolated to date from insect venoms.

Identification of new natural sweet compounds in wine using centrifugal partition chromatography-gustatometry and Fourier transform mass spectrometry.

Sweetness contributes notably to the taste-balance of dry wines and increases during oak-barrel aging owing to the release of natural sweeteners from wood. The search for such taste-active molecules, which are sometimes present at very low concentrations in wine or other complex matrixes, requires both reliable purification tools and powerful identification techniques. Here, we report the development of an original inductive method using centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) and sensorial analysis.

Evaluation of accurate mass and relative isotopic abundance measurements in the LTQ-orbitrap mass spectrometer for further metabolomics database building.

Recently, high-resolution mass spectrometry has been largely employed for compound identification, thanks to accurate mass measurements. As additional information, relative isotope abundance (RIA) is often needed to reduce the number of candidates prior to tandem MS(n). Here, we report on the evaluation of the LTQ-Orbitrap, in terms of accurate mass and RIA measurements for building further metabolomics spectral databases.

Direct introduction of biological samples into a LTQ-Orbitrap hybrid mass spectrometer as a tool for fast metabolome analysis.

We report the direct introduction of biological samples into a high-resolution mass spectrometer, the LTQ-Orbitrap, as a fast tool for metabolomic studies. A proof of concept study was performed on yeast cell extracts that were introduced into the mass spectrometer by using flow injection analysis, with an acquisition time of 3 min. Typical mass spectra contained a few thousand m/z signals, 400 of which were found to be analytically relevant (i.

Demonstration of a chaos generator with two time delays.

We demonstrate a chaos generator involving two time delays and two nonlinear functions. Dynamic behaviors are numerically and experimentally observed. The complexity of the dynamics is discussed in terms of Lyapunov exponents and dimensions.