[en] A theoretical study of parametric amplification in magnetoinductive waveguides comprising metamaterial elements is presented. It is shown that phase-matching conditions can be satisfied in coupled waveguides by tailoring the dispersion characteristic of magnetoinductive waves. The corresponding formulation for parametric amplification is developed ab initio and analysed for a number of special cases. The problem of loss compensation in metamaterials by means of parametric amplification of magnetoinductive waves is studied in more detail

[en] We demonstrate simultaneous dual-wavelength operation in the coupled-cavity dye laser with self-seeding technique. The laser cavity can be decomposed with two grazing-incidence cavities and a standing wave cavity. The output beams are independently tunable and collinear. Operational characteristic have been investigated by changing the cavity length, incident angle, and the like. We also discuss the regenerative amplification of self-seeded dye laser.

[en] Complete text of publication follows. The presentation is focused on the global spatial (altitude and latitude) structure, seasonal and interannual variability of the ∼5-day Rossby (W1) and ∼6-day Kelvin (E1) waves derived from the SABER/TIMED temperature measurements for full 6 years (January 2002-December 2007). The latitude structure of the ∼5-day W1 wave is related to the gravest symmetric wave number 1 Rossby wave, i.e. the (1,1) mode. Its seasonal behavior is dominated by equinoctial amplifications; in the NH the wave amplifies in March-April and September, while in the SH - in March and November. The vertical structure of the ∼5-day Rossby wave amplitude revealed double-peaked maxima centered at ∼80-90 km in the mesosphere and ∼105-110 km in the lower thermosphere, as the lower thermospheric maximum is at least two times stronger than the mesospheric one. This is a vertically propagating wave from the stratosphere up to 120 km altitude with a mean vertical wavelength of ∼50-60 km. The ∼5-day Rossby wave at middle latitudes (40 deg) revealed some interannual variability and at least part of it is connected with the effect of QBO. The ∼6-day E1 wave is equatorially trapped wave located between 20 deg N and 20 deg S. Its seasonal behavior indicated some equinoctial and June solstice amplifications. The altitude structure of the ∼6-day Kelvin wave phase indicated that this is a vertically propagating wave up to 110 km altitude. The mean vertical wavelength in the stratosphere and mesosphere is ∼25 km, however above 95 km altitude the vertical wavelength shortened to 15 km. The ∼6-day Kelvin wave indicated significant SAO and QBO variability.

[en] After publication the authors realized that the first sentence after eq. (13) had not been corrected. Here we present the correction.

[en] Complete test of publication follows. In the quest for a way to generate ultrashort, high-power, few-cycle laser pulses the discovery of optical parametric amplification (OPA) has opened up to the path towards a completely new regime, well beyond that of conventional laser amplification technology. The main advantage of this parametric amplification process is that it allows for an extremely broad amplification bandwidth compared to any known laser amplifier medium. When combined with the chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) principle (i.e. OPCPA), on one hand pulses of just 10 fs duration and 8 mJ pulse energy have been demonstrated. On the other hand, pulse energies of up to 30 J were also achieved on a different OPCPA system; the pulse duration in this case, however, was 100 fs. In order to combine ultrashort pulse durations (i.e. pulses in the few-cycle regime) with high pulse energies (i.e. in the Joule range) we propose tu pump on OPCPA chain with TW-scale short pulses (100 fs - 1 ps instead of > 100 ps of previous OPCPA systems) delivered by a conventional CPA system. This approach inherently improves the conditions for generating high-power ultrashort pulses using OPCPA in the following ways. Firstly, the short pump pulse duration reduces the necessary stretching factor for the seed pulse, thereby increasing stretching and compression fidelity. Secondly, also due to the shortened pump pulse duration, a much higher contrast is achieved. Finally, the significantly increased pump power makes the use of thinner OPCPA crystals possible, which implies an even broader amplification bandwidth, thereby allowing for even shorter pulses. We carried out theoretical investigations to show the feasibility of such a set-up. Alongside these studies we will also present preliminary experimental results of an OPCPA system pumped by the output of our Ti:Sapphire ATLAS laser, currently delivering 350 mJ in 43 fs. An insight into the planned scaling of this technique to petawatt levels (i.e. the Petawatt-Field-Synthesizer project at the MPQ) will also be given.

[en] Co-author name typo-name to be read as “Kyriazis Pitilakis” instead of “Kyriazis Pitiliakis”.

[en] The advent of chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) has greatly advanced the field of ultrafast and ultra-intense laser technology. CPA has become an indispensable platform for multidisciplinary research, such as physics, chemistry, life sciences, and precision metrology. The femtosecond laser facility at the Synergic Extreme Condition User Facility (SECUF) is a comprehensive experimental platform with an advanced femtosecond laser source for ultrafast scientific research. It will provide an ultrafast scientific research system having a few-cycle pulse duration, wide spectral range, high energy, and high repetition rate for multipurpose applications. (topical review — synergetic extreme condition user facility: breakthroughs and opportunities for the research of physical science)

[en] Mucinous ovarian tumors represent a distinct histotype of epithelial ovarian cancer. The rarest (2-4 % of ovarian carcinomas) of the five major histotypes, their genomic landscape remains poorly described. We undertook hotspot sequencing of 50 genes commonly mutated in human cancer across 69 mucinous ovarian tumors. Our goals were to establish the overall frequency of cancer-hotspot mutations across a large cohort, especially those tumors previously thought to be “RAS-pathway alteration negative”, using highly-sensitive next-generation sequencing as well as further explore a small number of cases with apparent heterogeneity in RAS-pathway activating alterations. Using the Ion Torrent PGM platform, we performed next generation sequencing analysis using the v2 Cancer Hotspot Panel. Regions of disparate ERBB2-amplification status were sequenced independently for two mucinous carcinoma (MC) cases, previously established as showing ERBB2 amplification/overexpression heterogeneity, to assess the hypothesis of subclonal populations containing either KRAS mutation or ERBB2 amplification independently or simultaneously. We detected mutations in KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A, PIK3CA, PTEN, BRAF, FGFR2, STK11, CTNNB1, SRC, SMAD4, GNA11 and ERBB2. KRAS mutations remain the most frequently observed alteration among MC (64.9 %) and mucinous borderline tumors (MBOT) (92.3 %). TP53 mutation occurred more frequently in carcinomas than borderline tumors (56.8 % and 11.5 %, respectively), and combined IHC and mutation data suggest alterations occur in approximately 68 % of MC and as many as 20 % of MBOT. Proven and potential RAS-pathway activating changes were observed in all but one MC. Concurrent ERBB2 amplification and KRAS mutation were observed in a substantial number of cases (7/63 total), as was co-occurrence of KRAS and BRAF mutations (one case). Microdissection of ERBB2-amplified regions of tumors harboring KRAS mutation suggests these alterations are occurring in the same cell populations, while consistency of KRAS allelic frequency in both ERBB2 amplified and non-amplified regions suggests this mutation occurred in advance of the amplification event. Overall, the prevalence of RAS-alteration and striking co-occurrence of pathway “double-hits” supports a critical role for tumor progression in this ovarian malignancy. Given the spectrum of RAS-activating mutations, it is clear that targeting this pathway may be a viable therapeutic option for patients with recurrent or advanced stage mucinous ovarian carcinoma, however caution should be exercised in selecting one or more personalized therapeutics given the frequency of non-redundant RAS-activating alterations. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1421-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

[en] In this paper we provide a simple, straightforward example of a specific situation in which weak-value amplification (WVA) clearly outperforms conventional measurement in determining the angular orientation of an optical component. We also offer a perspective reconciling the views of some theorists, who claim WVA to be inherently sub-optimal for parameter estimation, with the perspective of the many experimentalists and theorists who have used the procedure to successfully access otherwise elusive phenomena. (invited comment)

[en] It has been found that a triple-node feed-forward motif has a function of signal amplification, where two input nodes receive the external weak signal and jointly modulate the response of the third output node [Liang et al., Phys. Rev. E 88 (2013) 012910]. We here show that the signal amplification can be further enhanced by adding a link between the two input nodes in the feed-forward motif. We further reveal that the coupling strength of the link regulates the enhancement of signal amplification in the modified feed-forward motif. We finally analyze the mechanism of signal amplification of such simple structure. (paper)