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Plasmonic absorbers with optical cavity are fabricated using deposition of thin gold films on both sides of nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) microcantilevers. Photothermal/optocalorimetric responses of the microcantilevers are investigated with respect to various pore sizes and gold coating thicknesses. Photothermal/opto-calorimetric response of the AAO cantilever is significantly amplified when the thickness of the gold layer is at 40 nm due to scattering and trapping of infrared (IR) radiation in the gold nanomesh/AAO nanochannels/gold layer structure. Unlike previous photothermal IR spectroscopy of adsorbed molecules with a bimetallic AAO cantilever, the reversed IR spectra are obtained due to significantly amplified baseline photothermal signal and IR absorption of free molecules. Molecular detection sensitivity is enhanced by an order of magnitude compared with the previous photothermal IR spectroscopy of adsorbed molecules on a bimetallic AAO cantilever. The acetone vapor molecules are selectively recognized using the reversed IR spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of anxiety disorders has been increasing in South Korea, with recent studies reporting anxiety disorders as the most common mental disorder among all South Korean females. Anxiety disorders, which are independent risk factors of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, are significantly correlated with productivity loss, high medical costs, impaired work performance, and frequent worker absence, and thus are potentially serious problems affecting the health of South Korean female workers. In previous studies, anxiety disorders were shown to have a significant correlation with occupational stress. This study seeks to examine the prevalence of anxiety symptoms as well as the relationship between occupational stress and anxiety symptoms among South Korean female manufacturing workers. Methods: A structured self-reported questionnaire was administered to 1,141 female workers at an electrical appliance manufacturing plant. The questionnaire collected data on general characteristics, health behaviors, sleep quality, job characteristics (shift work, shift work schedule, and job tenure), occupational stress, and anxiety symptoms. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, occupational stress with the Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form (KOSS-SF), and anxiety symptoms with the Korean version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory. A chi square test was conducted to determine the distribution differences in anxiety symptoms based on general characteristics, health behaviors, job characteristics, and sleep quality. A linear-by-linear association test was used to determine the distribution differences between anxiety symptoms and the levels of occupational stress. Last, logistic regression analysis was used in order to determine the association between occupational stress and anxiety symptoms. Results: The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 15.2 %. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis that adjusted for sleep quality and general characteristics, a significant association was found for those with anxiety disorders; the odds ratios (OR) were significantly higher the greater the total KOSS-SF score (moderate-risk group OR=2.85, 95 % CI=1.79-4.56; high-risk group OR=5.34, 95 % CI=3.59-7.96). In addition, excluding insufficient job control, all other KOSS-SF subscales were significantly associated with anxiety symptoms, and a relatively high OR was seen in the high-risk group for job demand (OR=3.19, 95 % CI=2.27-4.49), job insecurity (OR=4.52, 95 % CI=2.86-7.13), and occupational culture (OR=4.52, 95 % CI=2.90-7.04). Conclusion: There was a significant association between anxiety symptoms and occupational stress stemming from the psychosocial work environment among these South Korean female manufacturing workers. Future longitudinal studies are needed to examine the association between the occupational stress caused by the psychosocial work environment and the incidence of anxiety disorders and anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, intervention programs that aim to address the prevalence of anxiety symptoms and improve the psychosocial work environment, especially for younger female manufacturing workers, are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the measurement-induced dephasing of a qubit coupled with a single-mode cavity in the vacuum limit. Dephasing of the qubit state takes place through the entanglement of the qubit and the single probe photon sent to the cavity, while the cavity mode never occupies a photon. We find that the qubit state is dephased even if the cavity is always in the vacuum state. This dephasing is caused purely by the interaction between the qubit and the vacuum field. We also show that this vacuum-fluctuation-induced dephasing takes place much faster than the spontaneous decay of the qubit excited state, and therefore our prediction is observable in a real experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the ultimate charge detection scheme with a quantum point contact. It is shown that a superposed input state is necessary to exploit the full sensitivity of a quantum point contact detector. The coherence of the input state provides an improvement in charge sensitivity, and this improvement is a result of a fundamental property of the scattering matrix. Further, a quantum-limited (maximally efficient) detection is made possible by controlling the interference between the two output waves. Our scheme provides the ultimate sensitivity and efficiency of charge detection with a generic quantum point contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serotonin (5-HT) receptors of type 6 (5-HT6R) play important roles in mood, psychosis, and eating disorders. Recently, a growing number of studies support the use of 5-HT6R-targeting compounds as promising drug candidates for treating cognitive dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease. However, the mechanistic linkage between 5-HT6R and such functions remains poorly understood. By using yeast two-hybrid, GST pull-down, and co-immunoprecipitation assays, here we show that human 5-HT6R interacts with the light chain 1 (LC1) subunit of MAP1B protein (MAP1B-LC1), a classical microtubule-associated protein highly expressed in the brain. Functionally, we have found that expression of MAP1B-LC1 regulates serotonin signaling in a receptor subtype-specific manner, specifically controlling the activities of 5-HT6R, but not those of 5-HT4R and 5-HT7R. In addition, we have demonstrated that MAP1B-LC1 increases the surface expression of 5-HT6R and decreases its endocytosis, suggesting that MAP1B-LC1 is involved in the desensitization and trafficking of 5-HT6R via a direct interaction. Together, we suggest that signal transduction pathways downstream of 5-HT6R are regulated by MAP1B, which might play a role in 5-HT6R-mediated signaling in the brain.