Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (SLD) and alcohol-associated liver disease, but not SLD without metabolic dysfunction, are independently associated with new onset of chronic kidney disease during a 10-year follow-up period.

AIMS: The new nomenclature of steatotic liver disease (SLD) including metabolic dysfunction-associated SLD (MASLD), MASLD and increased alcohol intake (MetALD), and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) has recently been proposed. We aimed to elucidate the relationship between each category of SLD and chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: We investigated the effects of various SLDs on the development of CKD, defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 or positive for urinary protein, during a 10-year period in 12 138 Japanese subjects (men / women, 7984/4154; mean age, 48 years) who received annual health examinations including abdominal ultrasonography. RESULTS: The prevalences of SLD without metabolic dysfunction (SLD-MD[-]), MASLD, MetALD, and ALD were 1.7%, 26.3%, 4.9%, and 1.9%, respectively. During the follow-up period, 1963 subjects (16.2%) (men / women, 1374 [17.2%]/589 [14.2%]) had new onset of CKD. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard model analyses after adjustment of age, sex, eGFR, current smoking habit, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia showed that the hazard ratios (HR [95% confidence interval]) for the development of CKD in subjects with MASLD (1.20 [1.08-1.33], p = 0.001) and those with ALD (1.41 [1.05-1.88], p = 0.022), but not those with MetALD (1.11 [0.90-1.36], p = 0.332), were significantly higher than the HR in subjects with non-SLD. Interestingly, subjects with SLD-MD[-] had a significantly lower HR (0.61 [0.39-0.96], p = 0.034) than that in subjects with non-SLD. The addition of the novel classification of SLDs into traditional risk factors for the development of CKD significantly improved the discriminatory capacity. CONCLUSIONS: MASLD and ALD, but not SLD-MD[-], are independently associated with the development of CKD.

Information-theoretic secure key distribution based on common random-signal induced synchronization in unidirectionally-coupled cascades of semiconductor lasers.

It has been proposed that a secure key distribution scheme using correlated random bit sequences can be implemented using common random-signal induced synchronization of semiconductor laser systems. In this scheme it is necessary to use laser systems consisting of multiple cascaded lasers to be secure against a powerful eavesdropper. In this paper, we report the results of an experimental study that demonstrate that the common random-signal induced synchronization is possible in cascaded semiconductor laser systems. We also show that the correlated random bit sequences generated in the synchronized cascaded laser systems can be used to create an information-theoretically secure key between two legitimate users.

Experiment on synchronization of semiconductor lasers by common injection of constant-amplitude random-phase light.

We experimentally and numerically observe the synchronization between two semiconductor lasers induced by common optical injection with constant-amplitude and random-phase modulation in configurations with and without optical feedback. Large cross correlation (~0.9) between the intensity oscillations of the two response lasers can be achieved although the correlation between the drive laser and either one of the two response lasers is very small (~0.2). High quality synchronization is achieved in the presence of optical feedback in response lasers with matched feedback phase offset. We investigate the dependence of synchronization on parameter values over wide parameter ranges.

Secure key distribution using correlated randomness in lasers driven by common random light.

We propose a secure key distribution scheme based on correlated physical randomness in remote optical scramblers driven by common random light. The security of the scheme depends on the practical difficulty of completely observing random optical phenomena. We describe a particular realization using the synchronization of semiconductor lasers injected with common light of randomly varying phase. We experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of the scheme over a distance of 120 km.

Fast random bit generation with bandwidth-enhanced chaos in semiconductor lasers.

We experimentally demonstrate random bit generation using multi-bit samples of bandwidth-enhanced chaos in semiconductor lasers. Chaotic fluctuation of laser output is generated in a semiconductor laser with optical feedback and the chaotic output is injected into a second semiconductor laser to obtain a chaotic intensity signal with bandwidth enhanced up to 16 GHz. The chaotic signal is converted to an 8-bit digital signal by sampling with a digital oscilloscope at 12.5 Giga samples per second (GS/s). Random bits are generated by bitwise exclusive-OR operation on corresponding bits in samples of the chaotic signal and its time-delayed signal. Statistical tests verify the randomness of bit sequences obtained using 1 to 6 bits per sample, corresponding to fast random bit generation rates from 12.5 to 75 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) ( = 6 bit x 12.5 GS/s).