Broadband multi-layer anti-reflection coatings with mullite and duroid for half-wave plates and alumina filters for CMB polarimetry

A broadband two-layer anti-reflection (AR) coating was developed for use on a sapphire half-wave plate (HWP) and an alumina infrared (IR) filter for cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimetry. Measuring tiny CMB B-mode signals requires maximizing the number of photons reaching the detectors and minimizing spurious polarization due to reflection with an off-axis incident angle. However, a sapphire HWP and an alumina IR filter have high refractive indices of about 3.1, and an AR coating must be applied to them. Thermally sprayed mullite and Duroid 5880LZ were selected in terms of index and coefficient of thermal expansion for use at cryogenic temperatures. With these materials, the reflectivity was reduced to about 2% at 90/150 GHz and <1% at 220/280 GHz. The design, fabrication, and optical performance evaluation of the AR coatings are described. The coatings were used in a current ground-based CMB experiment called the Simons Array. They could also be applied to next-generation CMB experiments, such as the Simons Observatory.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Increased Serum KL-6 Levels Induced by Pulmonary Mycobacterium Avium Complex Infection in a Patient with RA-associated Lung Disease

KL-6 is a glycoprotein found predominantly on type II pneumocytes and alveolar macrophages, and often shows increased serum levels in patients with interstitial pneumonia. We report a case of mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection whose disease activity was correlated with KL-6 levels in serum. During treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) with prednisolone, chest image findings improved in association with decreased KL-6 levels. Following tapering of prednisolone, chest image findings deteriorated again as levels of KL-6 increased, suggesting recurrence of RA-ILD. Bronchoscopic examination revealed active MAC infection. Treatment of MAC infection not only improved chest image findings but also decreased KL-6 levels in serum, suggesting that KL-6 was increased by active MAC infection by itself, not by recurrence of RA-ILD. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documentation of KL-6 elevation in serum in association with active MAC infection

Histomorphometric analysis of minimodeling in the vertebrae in postmenopausal patients treated with anti-osteoporotic agents

AbstractMinimodeling is a type of focal bone formation that is characterized by the lack of precedent bone erosion by osteoclasts. Although this form of bone formation has been described for more than a decade, how anti-osteoporotic agents that are currently used in clinical practice affect the kinetics of minimodeling is not fully understood. We performed a bone morphometric analysis using human vertebral specimens collected from postmenopausal patients who underwent spinal surgery. Patients were divided into three groups according to osteoporosis medication; non-treated, Eldecalcitol (ELD, a vitamin D derivative that has recently been approved to treat patients with osteoporosis in Japan)-treated, and bisphosphonate-treated groups. Five to six patients were enrolled in each group. There was a trend toward enhanced minimodeling in ELD-treated patients and suppressed of it in bisphosphonate-treated patients compared with untreated patients. The differences of minimodeling activity between ELD-treated and bisphosphonate-treated patients were statistically significant. The present study suggests that ELD and bisphosphonates have opposite effects on minimodeling from one another, and show that minimodeling also takes place in vertebrae as has been described for the ilium and femoral head in humans

ステロイド使用による下顎頭骨坏死の1例

Avascular necrosis or osteonecrosis has been discussed as a possible cause of condylar degeneration and pain. Avascular necrosis is a degenerative disease originates from diminished blood flow in the bone marrow. Avascular necrosis is seen in relationship with idiopathic, corticosteroids, alcoholism, sickle cell disease, pregnancy, and Caisson\u27s disease. Corticosteroid has been suggested to be an etiologic factor affecting bone organization, fat metabolism, and blood vessel. Indeed, corticosteroid can affect the bilateral joints of the shoulder, hip, and knee. However, the occurrence of the avascular necrosis of in the temporomandibular joint alone has not been reported. The clinical, laboratory, radiographic, and imagings features of a case of the condylar process of the mandible are presented

Design and performance of a gain calibration system for the POLARBEAR-2a receiver system at the Simons Array cosmic microwave background experiment

We present an advanced system for calibrating the detector gain responsivity with a chopped thermal source for POLARBEAR-2a, which is the first receiver system of a cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimetry experiment: the Simons Array. Intensity-to-polarization leakage due to calibration errors between detectors can be a significant source of systematic error for a polarization-sensitive experiment. To suppress this systematic uncertainty, POLARBEAR-2a calibrates the detector gain responsivities by observing a chopped thermal source before and after each period of science observations. The system includes a high-temperature ceramic heater that emits blackbody radiation covering a wide frequency range and an optical chopper to modulate the radiation signal. We discuss the experimental requirements of gain calibration and system design to calibrate POLARBEAR-2a. We evaluate the performance of our system during the early commissioning of the receiver system. This calibration system is promising for the future generation of CMB ground-based polarization observations

Anti-reflection coating with mullite and Duroid for large-diameter cryogenic sapphire and alumina optics

We developed a broadband two-layer anti-reflection (AR) coating for use on a sapphire half-wave plate (HWP) and an alumina infrared (IR) filter for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimetry. Measuring the faint CMB B-mode signals requires maximizing the number of photons reaching the detectors and minimizing spurious polarization due to reflection with an off-axis incident angle. Sapphire and alumina have high refractive indices of 3.1 and are highly reflective without an AR coating. This paper presents the design, fabrication, quality control, and measured performance of an AR coating using thermally-sprayed mullite and Duroid 5880LZ. This technology enables large optical elements with diameters of 600 mm. We also present a newly developed thermography-based nondestructive quality control technique, which is key to assuring good adhesion and preventing delamination when thermal cycling. We demonstrate the average reflectance of about 2.6% (0.9%) for two observing bands centered at 90/150 (220/280) GHz. At room temperature, the average transmittance of a 105 mm square test sample at 220/280 GHz is 83%, and it will increase to 90% at 100 K, attributed to reduced absorption losses. Therefore, our developed layering technique has proved effective for 220/280 GHz applications, particularly in addressing dielectric loss concerns. This AR coating technology has been deployed in the cryogenic HWP and IR filters of the Simons Array and the Simons observatory experiments and applies to future experiments such as CMB-S4