Verification of different Fizeau fringe analysis algorithms based on airborne wind lidar data in support of ESA's Aeolus mission.

The Aeolus mission by the European Space Agency was launched in August 2018 and stopped operations in April 2023. Aeolus carried the direct-detection Atmospheric LAser Doppler INstrument (ALADIN). To support the preparation of Aeolus, the ALADIN Airborne Demonstrator (A2D) instrument was developed and applied in several field campaigns.

Airborne temperature profiling in the troposphere during daytime by lidar utilizing Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering.

The airborne measurement of a temperature profile from 10.5 km down towards ground (≈1.4 above sea level) during daytime by means of a lidar utilizing Rayleigh-Brillouin (RB) scattering is demonstrated for the first time, to our knowledge.

High-power and frequency-stable ultraviolet laser performance in space for the wind lidar on Aeolus.

Global acquisition of atmospheric wind profiles using a spaceborne direct-detection Doppler wind lidar is being accomplished following the launch of European Space Agency's Aeolus mission. One key part of the instrument is a single-frequency, ultraviolet laser that emits nanosecond pulses into the atmosphere. High output energy and frequency stability ensure a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio of the backscatter return and an accurate determination of the Doppler frequency shift induced by the wind.

Frequency and timing stability of an airborne injection-seeded Nd:YAG laser system for direct-detection wind lidar.

We report on the design and performance of the laser deployed in the airborne demonstrator Doppler wind lidar for the Aeolus mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). The all-solid-state, diode-pumped and frequency-tripled Nd:YAG laser is realized as a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system, generating 60 mJ of single-frequency pulses at 355 nm wavelength, 50 Hz repetition rate and 20 ns pulse duration. For the measurement of the Doppler frequency shift over several accumulated laser shots, the frequency stability of the laser is of crucial importance.

High-power continuous-wave Raman frequency conversion from 1.06 µm to 1.49 µm in diamond.

We report continuous-wave beam conversion from 1.06 to 1.49 µm in a diamond Raman laser operating on the second Stokes shift.

Single longitudinal mode diamond Raman laser in the eye-safe spectral region for water vapor detection.

We report a narrowband and tunable diamond Raman laser generating eye-safe radiation suitable for water vapor detection. Frequency conversion of a tunable pump laser operating from 1063 to 1066 nm to the second order Stokes component in an external standing-wave cavity yielded 7 W of multimode output power in the wavelength range from 1483 to 1488 nm at a conversion efficiency of 21%. Stable single longitudinal mode operation was achieved over the whole tuning range at low power (0.

High-gain 87 cm Raman line of KYW and its impact on continuous-wave Raman laser operation.

We report a quasi-continuous-wave external cavity Raman laser based on potassium yttrium tungstate (KYW). Laser output efficiency and spectrum are severely affected by the presence of high gain Raman modes of low frequency (< 250 cm) that are characteristic of this crystal class. Output spectra contained frequency combs spaced by the low frequency modes but with the overall pump-to-Stokes conversion efficiency at least an order of magnitude lower than that typically obtained in other crystal Raman lasers.

Metabolic Burden and Disease and Mortality Risk Associated with Impaired Fasting Glucose in Elderly Adults.

Objectives: To examine whether impaired fasting glucose (IFG) represents an intermediary condition between normal fasting glucose and diabetes mellitus and, specifically, whether elderly adults with IFG have higher disease burden, cardiovascular risk, and systemic inflammation and higher 2-year mortality and incident disease.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Population-derived cohort.

Preliminary Results of a Multicentre Study of the UBC Rapid Test for Detection of Urinary Bladder Cancer.

Background/aim: UBC Rapid is a test detecting fragments of cytokeratins 8 and 18 in urine. These are cytokeratins frequently overexpressed in tumor cells. We present the first results of a multi-centre study using UBC Rapid in patients with bladder cancer and healthy controls.

Risk factors for late-life cognitive decline and variation with age and sex in the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study.

Introduction: An aging population brings increasing burdens and costs to individuals and society arising from late-life cognitive decline, the causes of which are unclear. We aimed to identify factors predicting late-life cognitive decline.

Methods: Participants were 889 community-dwelling 70-90-year-olds from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study with comprehensive neuropsychological assessments at baseline and a 2-year follow-up and initially without dementia.

Oxidative stress is closely associated with insulin resistance in genotypes 1 and 3 chronic hepatitis C.

Background: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection is associated with insulin resistance and with oxidative stress, but the relationship between the two has not been thoroughly examined.

Purpose: To evaluate the association between insulin resistance and oxidative stress in CHC patients.

Method: In 115 CHC patients (68 with genotype 1 and 47 with genotype 3), the relationship between the serum concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of oxidative stress and insulin resistance as defined by the homeostasis model (HOMA-IR) was examined.

Factors predicting reversion from mild cognitive impairment to normal cognitive functioning: a population-based study.

Introduction: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia. However, many individuals diagnosed with MCI are found to have reverted to normal cognition on follow-up. This study investigated factors predicting or associated with reversion from MCI to normal cognition.

The value of the metabolic syndrome concept in elderly adults: is it worth less than the sum of its parts?

Objectives: To determine whether the metabolic syndrome (MetS) or its components were more closely associated with disease states and inflammation in elderly adults.

Design: Sydney Memory and Ageing Study. Cross-sectional, observational cohort.

Plasma apolipoprotein levels are associated with cognitive status and decline in a community cohort of older individuals.

Objectives: Apolipoproteins have recently been implicated in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In particular, Apolipoprotein J (ApoJ or clusterin) has been proposed as a biomarker of the disease at the pre-dementia stage. We examined a group of apolipoproteins, including ApoA1, ApoA2, ApoB, ApoC3, ApoE, ApoH and ApoJ, in the plasma of a longitudinal community based cohort.

Risk profiles for mild cognitive impairment vary by age and sex: the Sydney Memory and Ageing study.

Objectives: : To examine age- and sex-related differences in risk and protective factors for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in community-based elderly individuals.

Design: : Cross-sectional study.

Setting: : The population-based Sydney Memory and Ageing Study.

Inflammatory biomarkers predict depressive, but not anxiety symptoms during aging: the prospective Sydney Memory and Aging Study.

This study addresses the paucity of research on the prospective relationship between a range of inflammatory markers and symptoms of depression and anxiety during aging. In the Sydney Memory and Aging Study, the relationships between remitted depression, current and first onset of symptoms of depression or anxiety (Geriatric Depression Scale and Goldberg Anxiety Scale (GDS, GAS), and markers of systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukins-1β, -6, -8, -10, -12, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), serum amyloid A, tumor necrosis factor-α, and vascular adhesion molecule-1) were investigated. The sample consists of N=1037 non-demented community-dwelling elderly participants aged 70-90 years assessed at baseline and after 2-years.

Risk profiles of subtypes of mild cognitive impairment: the sydney memory and ageing study.

Objectives: To compare the risk profiles of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subtypes in a population-based elderly sample.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: The population-based Sydney Memory and Ageing Study.

The association between systemic inflammation and cognitive performance in the elderly: the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study.

Inflammation may contribute to cognitive decline and dementia. This study examined the cross-sectional relationships between markers of systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein, interleukins-1β, -6, -8, -10, -12, plasminogen activator inhibitor, serum amyloid A, tumour necrosis factor-α and vascular adhesion molecule-1) and cognitive function in 873 non-demented community-dwelling elderly participants aged 70-90 years. Regression analyses were performed to determine the relationships between cognitive domains and inflammatory markers, controlling for age, sex, education, cardiovascular risk factors, obesity and other metabolic factors, smoking, alcohol consumption, depression and presence of the apolipoprotein ε4 genotype.

Operation of a Raman laser in bulk silicon.

A Raman laser based on a bulk silicon single crystal with 1.127 μm emission wavelength is demonstrated. The Si crystal with 30 mm length was placed into an external cavity and pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier system.

The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (MAS): methodology and baseline medical and neuropsychiatric characteristics of an elderly epidemiological non-demented cohort of Australians aged 70-90 years.

Background: The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (Sydney MAS) was initiated in 2005 to examine the clinical characteristics and prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and related syndromes, and to determine the rate of change in cognitive function over time.

Methods: Non-demented community-dwelling individuals (N = 1037) aged 70-90 were recruited from two areas of Sydney, following a random approach to 8914 individuals on the electoral roll. They underwent detailed neuropsychiatric and medical assessments and donated a blood sample for clinical chemistry, proteomics and genomics.

Hormone replacement therapy, brain volumes and white matter in postmenopausal women aged 60-64 years.

Research on the structural and functional effects of hormone replacement therapy on the brain has produced inconsistent results. This paper reports on cross-sectional associations between hormone replacement therapy use and volumes of brain structures measured using magnetic resonance imaging in 213 postmenopausal women aged 60-64 years recruited from a large population study. Of these, 64 were current hormone replacement therapy users, 69 previous users and 80 had never used hormone replacement therapy.

Antioxidant levels in peripheral blood, disease activity and fibrotic stage in chronic hepatitis C.

Background: This study addressed the suggested association between levels of the antioxidants glutathione (GSH), vitamin C and vitamin E in peripheral blood and the histological activity and fibrosis stage in chronic hepatitis C (CHC). We then determined whether regular antioxidant supplementation influenced these antioxidant levels or disease severity.

Methods: Clinical, biochemical, histological and demographic data were collected from 247 CHC patients at the time of liver biopsy.

Relationship of homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin B12 with depression in a middle-aged community sample.

Background: Case control studies have supported a relationship between low folic acid and vitamin B112 and high homocysteine levels as possible predictors of depression. The results from epidemiological studies are mixed and largely from elderly populations.

Method: A random subsample of 412 persons aged 60-64 years from a larger community sample underwent psychiatric and physical assessments, and brain MRI scans.

Associations between plasma antioxidants and hypertension in a community-based sample of 415 Australians aged 60-64.

It has been suggested that increased oxidative stress may be both a cause as well as a consequence of hypertension. In vivo oxidation of low-density lipoproteins by oxygen-free radicals may increase hypertension-related atherogenesis, and antioxidants may be beneficial in this regard. Previous findings concerning associations between serum measures of antioxidants and hypertension have however been inconsistent.

Homocysteine and the brain in midadult life: evidence for an increased risk of leukoaraiosis in men.

Background: High serum homocysteine (HCY) levels have been associated with thromboembolic cerebrovascular disease, but their relationship to microvascular disease is uncertain. Homocysteine also has a direct neurotoxic effect and has been linked to brain atrophy and an increased risk of Alzheimer disease.

Objective: To examine the relationship of HCY levels to brain and cognitive measures in a healthy community sample.