Global optimization of multilayer dielectric coatings for precision measurements.

We describe the design of optimized multilayer dielectric coatings for precision laser interferometry. By setting up an appropriate cost function and then using a global optimizer to find a minimum in the parameter space, we were able to realize coating designs that meet the design requirements for spectral reflectivity, thermal noise, absorption, and tolerances to coating fabrication errors. We also present application of a Markov-Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) based parameter estimation algorithm that can infer thicknesses of dielectric layers in a coating, given a measurement of the spectral reflectivity.

Interlaboratory evaluation of LC-MS-based biomarker assays.

Validation of biomarker assays is crucial for effective drug development and clinical applications. Interlaboratory reproducibility is vital for reliable comparison and combination of data from different centers. This review summarizes interlaboratory studies of quantitative LC-MS-based biomarker assays using reference standards for calibration curves.

Aneurysm appearing at the anastomosis site 11 years after superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass surgery: moyamoya disease with a rapidly growing aneurysm. Illustrative case.

Background: Superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass surgery is performed to prevent ischemia and hemorrhage in patients with moyamoya disease. Only a few reports have described aneurysms appearing around the anastomosis site after bypass surgery, and the underlying mechanism remains unknown.

Observations: The present case involved a 62-year-old woman who underwent STA-MCA bypass surgery for ischemic quasi-moyamoya disease at 46 years of age.

Scattering loss in precision metrology due to mirror roughness.

Optical losses degrade the sensitivity of laser interferometric instruments. They reduce the number of signal photons and introduce technical noise associated with diffuse light. In quantum-enhanced metrology, they break the entanglement between correlated photons.

Evaluation of the Influence of a History of Childhood Nocturnal Enuresis on Nighttime Urinary Frequency and the Causes of Nocturia in Adults.

Objective: To examine whether a history of nocturnal enuresis affects nighttime urinary frequency and to evaluate nocturia etiologies in adults.

Materials And Methods: A total of 143 participants with at least one episode of nocturia per night were included in this study. The self-reported questionnaire collected data on demographic characteristics, medical history, history of nocturnal enuresis in elementary school, lower urinary tract symptoms, and frequency-volume charts.

A multilaboratory validation study of LC/MS biomarker assays for three lysophosphatidylcholines.

Although the fit-for-purpose approach has been proposed for validation procedures and acceptance criteria for biomarker assays, practical biomarker assays to facilitate clinical application and regulatory documents on biomarker assays remain limited.  We assigned six independent laboratories and selected three lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs): LPC(16:0), LPC(18:0) and LPC(18:1) as model biomarkers. Using LC-MS, the following key validation parameters were evaluated: calibration curve, carryover, parallelism, precision and relative accuracy and these values were similar among all laboratories.

Highlights of the 12th Japan Bioanalysis Forum Symposium.

Approximately 300 people associated with pharmaceutical industries, contractors, academic institutions and regulatory authorities attended the 12th Japan Bioanalysis Forum Symposium. The webinar was conducted from 9 to 11 March 2021. The theme of the symposium was 'for the next generation', and the event provided 'an opportunity for young researchers in bioanalysis (including students)' and 'an opportunity to discuss new frontiers of bioanalysis'.

Constraints on Cosmic Strings Using Data from the Third Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing Run.

We search for gravitational-wave signals produced by cosmic strings in the Advanced LIGO and Virgo full O3 dataset. Search results are presented for gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loop features such as cusps, kinks, and, for the first time, kink-kink collisions. A template-based search for short-duration transient signals does not yield a detection.

Point absorbers in Advanced LIGO.

Small, highly absorbing points are randomly present on the surfaces of the main interferometer optics in Advanced LIGO. The resulting nanometer scale thermo-elastic deformations and substrate lenses from these micron-scale absorbers significantly reduce the sensitivity of the interferometer directly though a reduction in the power-recycling gain and indirect interactions with the feedback control system. We review the expected surface deformation from point absorbers and provide a pedagogical description of the impact on power buildup in second generation gravitational wave detectors (dual-recycled Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometers).

Bioanalysis of therapeutic monoclonal antibody by peptide adsorption-controlled LC-MS.

We aimed to develop an easy, low-cost and versatile mass spectrometric method for the bioanalysis of a therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) in human serum that employs peptide adsorption-controlled (PAC)-LC/MS using selected reaction monitoring mode (LC-MS/MS-SRM). Rituximab was used as a model mAb. To apply the method to human serum samples, a peptide of the complementarity-determining region was selected as the surrogate peptide.

Intradiploic Epidermoid Cyst Causing Otitis Media with Effusion: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Epidermoid cysts are rare, slow-growing, benign tumors. They commonly occur at the cerebellopontine angle or the suprasellar region, and they can also occur in the skull. Intradiploic epidermoid cysts are often detected incidentally, but their progression can cause various symptoms.

Frequency-Dependent Squeezed Vacuum Source for Broadband Quantum Noise Reduction in Advanced Gravitational-Wave Detectors.

The astrophysical reach of current and future ground-based gravitational-wave detectors is mostly limited by quantum noise, induced by vacuum fluctuations entering the detector output port. The replacement of this ordinary vacuum field with a squeezed vacuum field has proven to be an effective strategy to mitigate such quantum noise and it is currently used in advanced detectors. However, current squeezing cannot improve the noise across the whole spectrum because of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle: when shot noise at high frequencies is reduced, radiation pressure at low frequencies is increased.

Treatment of a Scalp Arteriovenous Malformation by a Combination of Embolization and Surgical Removal.

Background: Scalp arteriovenous malformation is a rare disease. In terms of treatment, surgical removal is often effective and performed. With the development of endovascular treatments, a combination of surgical removal and embolization is now often performed.

Generic MS-based method for the bioanalysis of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies in nonclinical studies.

A generic bioanalytical method was developed to quantify therapeutic IgG1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in mouse sera by combining an easy sample preparation method with LC/MS using selected reaction monitoring. Rituximab and trastuzumab were used as model mAbs. A synthetic stable isotope-labeled peptide or a stable isotope-labeled mAb was used as an internal standard.

A Case of Infratentorial Meningioma Causing Spontaneous Downbeat Nystagmus: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Spontaneous downbeat nystagmus is a finding that raises suspicions of a central nervous system disorder. Vermis and lower brainstem lesions are considered to be responsible, but the exact mechanism is still controversial. We observed a rare case of spontaneous downbeat nystagmus caused by an infratentorial meningioma.

Overall Similarities and a Possible Factor Affecting Plasma Metabolome Profiles Between Venous and Capillary Blood Samples From 20 Healthy Human Males.

Amino acids and lipids are biomarkers used to assess the presence and severity of disease, as well as the toxicological response to drugs. Although upper-extremity venipuncture is a well-used standard technique, fingertip capillary sampling is a more convenient procedure. Delineating the global differences in amino acid and lipid levels in capillary and venous blood samples is paramount for expanding the application of capillary blood tests in biomarker assays.

External quantum efficiency enhancement by photon recycling with backscatter evasion.

The nonunity quantum efficiency (QE) in photodiodes (PD) causes deterioration of signal quality in quantum optical experiments due to photocurrent loss as well as the introduction of vacuum fluctuations into the measurement. In this paper, we report that the external QE enhancement of a PD was demonstrated by recycling the reflected photons. The external QE for an InGaAs PD was increased by 0.

Guided lock of a suspended optical cavity enhanced by a higher-order extrapolation.

Lock acquisition of a suspended optical cavity can be a highly stochastic process and is therefore nontrivial. Guided lock is a method to make lock acquisition less stochastic by decelerating the motion of the cavity length based on an extrapolation of the motion from an instantaneous velocity measurement. We propose an improved scheme that is less susceptible to seismic disturbances by incorporating the acceleration as a higher-order correction in the extrapolation.

Achilles Tendon Ultrasonography for Diagnosis of Familial Hypercholesterolemia Among Japanese Subjects.

Background: Difficulty in detecting and measuring Achilles tendon (AT) xanthomas may be responsible for underdiagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). We aimed to determine a cutoff value for AT thickness (AT-T) using ultrasonography to diagnose FH, and to investigate the relationship between AT-T and atherosclerosis.

Methods and results: Ultrasonographic AT-T and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were evaluated in 130 genetically diagnosed FH patients and 155 non-FH patients.

Postnatal changes and sexual dimorphism in collagen expression in mouse skin.

To investigate sexual dimorphism and postnatal changes in skin collagen expression, mRNA levels of collagens and their regulatory factors in male and female skin were examined during the first 120 days of age by quantitative realtime PCR. Levels of mRNAs encoding extracellular matrices did not show any differences between male and female mice until day 15. Col1a1 and Col1a2 mRNAs noticeably increased at day 30 and remained at high levels until day 120 in male mice, while those in female mice remained at low levels during the period.

Type IV collagen aggregates promote keratinocyte proliferation and formation of epidermal layer in human skin equivalents.

Type IV collagen isolated from lens capsule without enzymatic treatment is known to form a gel under physiological condition and influences cellular activities. In case of human keratinocytes, the suppression of proliferation on reconstituted type IV collagen gels was reported in monolayer culture. In this study, we examined effects of type IV collagen isolated from porcine lens capsule on epidermal formation in human skin equivalents (HSEs).

Recovery of extracellular matrix components by enalapril maleate during the repair process of ultraviolet B-induced wrinkles in mouse skin.

The renin-angiotensin system is known to be involved in skin remodeling and inflammation. Previously, we reported that ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation enhanced angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) expression and angiotensin II levels in hairless mouse skin, and an ACE inhibitor, enalapril maleate (EM), accelerated repair of UVB-induced wrinkles. In this study, we analyzed gene expression profiles by DNA microarray and protein distribution patterns using an immunofluorescence method to clarify the process of EM-accelerated wrinkle repair in UVB-irradiated hairless mouse skin.

Observation of Parametric Instability in Advanced LIGO.

Parametric instabilities have long been studied as a potentially limiting effect in high-power interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Until now, however, these instabilities have never been observed in a kilometer-scale interferometer. In this Letter, we describe the first observation of parametric instability in a gravitational wave detector, and the means by which it has been removed as a barrier to progress.