Analytic plenoptic camera diffraction model and radial distortion analysis due to vignetting

Using a mathematical approach, this paper presents a generalization of semi-analytical expressions for the point spread function (PSF) of plenoptic cameras. The model is applicable in the standard regime of the scalar diffraction theory while the extension to arbitrary main lens transmission functions generalizes a priori formalism. The accuracy and applicability of the model is well verified against the exact Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral and a rigorous proof of convergence for the PSF series expression is made. Since vignetting can never be fully eliminated, it is critical to inspect the image degradation it poses through distortions. For what we believe is the first time, diffractive distortions in the diffraction-limited plenoptic camera are closely examined and demonstrated to exceed those that would otherwise be estimated by a geometrical optics formalism, further justifying the necessity of an approach based on wave optics. Microlenses subject to the edge diffraction effects of the main lens vignetting are shown to translate into radial distortions of increasing severity and instability with defocus. The distortions due to vignetting are found to be typically bound by the radius of the geometrical defocus in the image plane, while objects confined to the depth of field give rise to merely subpixel distortions.

Practical guide for setting up a Fourier light-field microscope

A practical guide for the easy implementation of a Fourier light-field microscope is reported. The Fourier light-field concept applied to microscopy allows the capture in real time of a series of 2D orthographic images of microscopic thick dynamic samples. Such perspective images contain spatial and angular information of the light-field emitted by the sample. A feature of this technology is the tight requirement of a double optical conjugation relationship, and also the requirement of NA matching. For these reasons, the Fourier light-field microscope being a non-complex optical system, a clear protocol on how to set up the optical elements accurately is needed. In this sense, this guide is aimed to simplify the implementation process, with an optical bench and off-the-shelf components. This will help the widespread use of this recent technology.

DNA methylation regulates TIGIT expression within the melanoma microenvironment, is prognostic for overall survival, and predicts progression-free survival in patients treated with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy

BACKGROUND

TIGIT is an immune checkpoint under investigation as therapeutic target. Understanding the regulation of TIGIT on an epigenetic level might support the development of companion biomarkers.

METHODS

We correlated TIGIT DNA methylation of single CpG sites with gene expression, signatures of immune infiltrates and interferon-γ, and survival in melanoma. We further analyzed methylation levels in immune cell subsets, melanocyte and melanoma cell lines. TIGIT expression patterns within components of the melanoma microenvironment were analyzed by single cell sequencing. We used quantitative methylation-specific PCR, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry for correlations between expression and methylation and to assess the effect of pharmacological demethylation of melanoma cells treated with 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (decitabine). Finally, we investigated the association of patients' survival with TIGIT mRNA and methylation.

RESULTS

Depending on the sequence context of the analyzed CpG site, we found a cell type-specific TIGIT gene locus methylation pattern and significant correlations of TIGIT methylation with mRNA expression, an interferon γ signature, and distinct immune cell infiltrates, including TIGIT⁺ lymphocytes. We detected a melanoma cell-intrinsic TIGIT protein expression. Pharmacological demethylation of the A375 melanoma cell line led to a constitutive TIGIT expression. Low promoter flank methylation and high mRNA expression was associated with patients' prognosis and predicted progression-free survival in patients treated with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. A high TIGIT⁺ lymphocyte score was associated with better progression-free survival under anti-PD-1 immunotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data demonstrate an epigenetic regulation of TIGIT expression via DNA methylation within the melanoma microenvironment. TIGIT DNA methylation and expression may serve as predictive biomarkers in the context of immunotherapies in melanoma.

Three-dimensional imaging through patterned type-1 microscopy

We report a scanning non-confocal fluorescence microscopy scheme that provides images with optical sectioning and with a lateral resolution that surpasses by a factor of two the diffraction resolution limit. This technique is based on the type-1 microscopy concept combined with patterned illumination. The method does not require the application of phase-shifting or post-processing algorithms and provides artifact-free superresolved 3D images. We have validated the theory by means of experimental data.

Examining the utility of pinhole-type screens for lightfield display

The use of microlens arrays for lightfield display has the drawback of providing images with strong chromatic aliasing. To overcome this problem, pinhole-type lightfield monitors are proposed. This paper is devoted to evaluating the capability for such lightfield monitors to offer the user a convincing 3D experience with images with enough brightness and continuous aspect. Thus, we have designed a psychophysical test specifically adapted for lightfield monitors, which allowed us to confirm the usability of pinhole-type monitors.

POS0501 SUSTAINED 2-YEAR REMISSION OF THE DISEASE IN A CLINIC OF EXCELLENCE IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. EXPERIENCE OF THE CLINICAL REGISTRY IN COLOMBIA

Background:

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with no cure, characterized by episodes of exacerbation and remission, which requires permanent use of medications. Clinics of excellence are multidisciplinary and centralized programs that improve adherence to treatments. Information on the benefits of these models of care has been published but is not definitive. In Colombia, the clinical registry of patients with RA is kept in the Cuenta de Alto Costo (CAC).

Objectives:

To demonstrate the difference in the percentages of sustained remission at 2 years, between an institution with non-centralized management or standard of care (Hospital Militar Central-HMC) compared to another institution with centralized management or clinic of excellence (BIOMAB-IPS) and determine if the results are determined by any of the intervention variables or by the program.

Methods:

The 2-year clinical records for the CAC were compared between an institution with non-centralized management (HMC) in comparison with another institution with centralized management (BIOMAB-IPS), performing a sociodemographic description, measuring control of the disease DAS28 clinimetry, Fisher’s test non-parametric bivariate analysis, multiple regression model, and population matching with Propensity score Matching (PSM).

Results:

Complete information was obtained from 2 years of follow-up, in centralized management 3457 patients and for the non-centralized unit 114 patients. Most of them corresponded to 2962 women (82%), with time of illness of 9.5 years and 10.2 years, respectively, without statistically significant differences. A difference was observed in the 2 programs to maintain remission at 2 years, in favor of the centralized program 54.7% vs 28.6.2% (p <0.00). With the binomial generalized linear regression model, it was confirmed that this difference was not explained by variables such as the use of biological therapy (RR = 0.77; 95% CI 0.69-0.86), use of DMARDs (RR = 0.71; 95% CI 0.62-0.82) and number of rheumatology consultations (RR = 0.97; 95% CI 0.92-1.02) in comparison with the centralized care model (RR = 2.32; 95% CI 1.58-3.35). Due to the biases between the groups due to the non-probability sampling, a PSM was performed, with a 1: 1 match, caliper of 0.065, obtaining a pseudo population with well-balanced covariates (see table 1). In the common support area, statistically significant differences were documented in sustained remission over 2 years, in favor of the centralized care group 45 vs 17.9% (p = 0.001).

Conclusion:

With the information from the clinical records, statistical strategies can be used to evaluate important differences in centralized care programs, observing favorable results of these types of care that are not related to isolated elements of the program, but to the overall effect of the program.

References:

[1]Austin PC. Double propensity-score adjustment: A solution to design bias or bias due to incomplete matching. Stat Methods Med Res. 2017;26(1):201–22.33333

Disclosure of Interests:

Juan Manuel Bello-Gualtero: None declared, Esperanza Peña: None declared, Pedro Iván Santos Moreno: None declared, Jasmin Vesga Gualdrón Employee of: Baxter, Ginna Saavedra: None declared, Clara Perez: None declared

Distributed abstraction and verification of an installed optical fibre network

The management of wavelength routed optical mesh networks is complex with many potential light path routes and numerous physical layer impairments to transmission performance. This complexity can be reduced by applying the ideas of abstraction from computer science where different equipment is described in the same basic terms. The noise-to-signal ratio can be used as a metric to describe the quality of transmission performance of a signal propagated through a network element and accumulates additively through a sequence of such elements allowing the estimation of end-to-end performance. This study aims to explore the robustness of the noise-to-signal ratio metric in an installed fibre infrastructure. We show that the abstracted noise-to-signal ratio is independent of the observers and their location. We confirm that the abstracted noise-to-signal ratio can reasonably predict the performance of light-paths subsequently set in our network. Having a robust network element abstraction that can be incorporated into routeing engines allows the network management controller to make decisions on the most effective way to use the network resources in terms of the routeing and data coding format.

Molecular, clinicopathological, and immune correlates of LAG3 promoter DNA methylation in melanoma

Background

The co-receptor lymphocyte-activation gene-3 (LAG3, LAG-3, CD223) is a potential target for immune checkpoint inhibition immunotherapies. However, little is known about the biological and clinical significance of LAG3 DNA methylation in melanoma and its microenvironment.

Methods

We evaluated LAG3 promoter and gene body methylation in a cohort of N = 470 melanoma patients obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA cohort), an independent cohort of N = 120 patients from the University Hospital Bonn, and in subsets of peripheral blood leukocytes, melanocytes, and melanoma cell lines. We validated the association of LAG3 methylation with mRNA expression in vitro in the melanoma cell line A375 treated with the hypomethylating agent 5-azacytidine and stimulated with interferon-γ. Finally, we investigated correlations between LAG3 methylation and progression-free survival in patients treated with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB cohort, N = 118).

Findings

Depending on the analysed locus (promoter, gene body) we found region-dependent significant LAG3 methylation differences between monocytes, B cells, CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells, regulatory T cells, melanocytes, and melanoma cell lines. In tumor tissues, methylation correlated significantly with LAG3 mRNA expression, immune cell infiltrates (histopathologic lymphocyte score and RNA-Seq signatures of distinct immune infiltrates), and an interferon-γ signature. Finally, LAG3 methylation was associated with overall survival in the TCGA cohort and progression-free survival in the ICB cohort. We detected basal LAG3 mRNA expression in the melanoma cell A375 and an interferon-γ inducible expression after demethylation with 5-azacytidine.

Interpretation

Our study points towards an epigenetic regulation of LAG3 via promoter methylation and suggests a prognostic and predictive significance of LAG3 methylation in melanoma. Our results give insight in the tumor cell-intrinsic transcriptional regulation of LAG3 in melanoma. In perspective, our results might pave the way for investigating LAG3 methylation as a predictive biomarker for response to anti-LAG3 immune checkpoint blockage.

Funding

A full list of funding bodies that contributed to this study can be found in the Acknowledgements section.

Prognostic and predictive value of PD-L2 DNA methylation and mRNA expression in melanoma

BACKGROUND

PD-L1 (programmed cell death 1 ligand 1) expression in melanoma has been associated with a better response to anti-PD-1 (programmed cell death 1) therapy. However, patients with PD-L1-negative melanomas can respond to anti-PD-1 blockade, suggesting that the other PD-1 ligand, PD-L2 (programmed cell death 1 ligand 2), might also be relevant for efficacy of PD-1 inhibition. We investigated PD-L2 expression and methylation as a prognostic and predictive biomarker in melanoma.

METHODS

DNA methylation at five CpG loci and gene expression of PD-L2 were evaluated with regard to survival in 470 melanomas from The Cancer Genome Atlas. PD-L2 promoter methylation in correlation with PD-L2 mRNA and protein expression was analyzed in human melanoma cell lines. Prognostic and predictive value of PD-L2 methylation was validated using quantitative methylation-specific PCR in a multicenter cohort of 129 melanoma patients receiving anti-PD-1 therapy. mRNA sequencing data of 121 melanoma patients receiving anti-PD-1 therapy provided by Liu et al. were analyzed for PD-L2 mRNA expression.

RESULTS

We found significant correlations between PD-L2 methylation and mRNA expression levels in melanoma tissues and cell lines. Interferon-γ inducible PD-L2 protein expression correlated with PD-L2 promoter methylation in melanoma cells. PD-L2 DNA promoter hypomethylation and high mRNA expression were found to be strong predictors of prolonged overall survival. In pre-treatment melanoma samples from patients receiving anti-PD-1 therapy, low PD-L2 DNA methylation and high PD-L2 mRNA expression predicted longer progression-free survival.

CONCLUSION

PD-L2 expression seems to be regulated via DNA promoter methylation. PD-L2 DNA methylation and mRNA expression may predict progression-free survival in melanoma patients receiving anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Assessment of PD-L2 should be included in further clinical trials with anti-PD-1 antibodies.

AB0634 BUDGET IMPACT ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL THERAPY COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS TREATMENT, IN A FOURTH LEVEL HOSPITAL IN BOGOTA COLOMBIA

Background:

Spondyloarthritis refers to a family of diseases, of which ankylosing spondylitis and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis are responsible for axial impairment. Previously, the only treatment available were NSAIDs, which control activity and stop radiological progression, but at the expense of increased adverse effects, such as cardiovascular risk, dyspepsia and chronic renal failure. For the past 2 decades, biological therapy has been available, which means an increase in care costs.

Objectives:

The objective of this study is to perform a budget impact analysis of biologic therapy.

Methods:

To do a budget impact analysis from the perspective of the payer, comparing biological therapy with coventional therapy for the treatment of spondyloarthritis. Demographic characterization of the population attended at the Central Military Hospital. Time horizon from 2012 to 2018, taking the activity count according to the hospital’s billing and the prices of the activities of the state body SISMED. Exchange rates at the end of 2018.

Results:

The patients attended were 117, mostly men (63, 25%), average age 46, 4 years (SD 13), with disease diagnosis time of 9, 8 years (SD 9, 6). In the budget impact analysis, it is observed that 25% of patients were on DMARDs therapy, 22% with NSAIDs and 96% with biologic therapy. The average year/patient cost with NSAIDs alone would be EUR 381, with DMARDs only EUR 9,318 and, if only biological therapy was used, EUR 423. Within the total number of patients, the average annual cost, including the possibility of combining these drugs, amounted to EUR 5,403

Conclusion:

Including biological therapy in the care of patients with spondyloarthritis can increase up to 24 times the annual cost per patient. This increase is not only due to higher market value, it also relates to the need for more medical procedures and diagnostic follow-up tests.

References:

[1]Strömbeck, et al. Cost of Illness from the Public Payers’ Perspective in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis in Rheumatological Care. J Rheumatol 2010;37;2348-2355.

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

FIMic: design for ultimate 3D-integral microscopy of in-vivo biological samples

In this work, Fourier integral microscope (FIMic), an ultimate design of 3D-integral microscopy, is presented. By placing a multiplexing microlens array at the aperture stop of the microscope objective of the host microscope, FIMic shows extended depth of field and enhanced lateral resolution in comparison with regular integral microscopy. As FIMic directly produces a set of orthographic views of the 3D-micrometer-sized sample, it is suitable for real-time imaging. Following regular integral-imaging reconstruction algorithms, a 2.75-fold enhanced depth of field and [Formula: see text]-time better spatial resolution in comparison with conventional integral microscopy is reported. Our claims are supported by theoretical analysis and experimental images of a resolution test target, cotton fibers, and in-vivo 3D-imaging of biological specimens.

Resolution improvements in integral microscopy with Fourier plane recording

Integral microscopes (IMic) have been recently developed in order to capture the spatial and the angular information of 3D microscopic samples with a single exposure. Computational post-processing of this information permits to carry out a 3D reconstruction of the sample. By applying conventional algorithms, both depth and also view reconstructions are possible. However, the main drawback of IMic is that the resolution of the reconstructed images is low and axially heterogeneous. In this paper, we propose a new configuration of the IMic by placing the lens array not at the image plane, but at the pupil (or Fourier) plane of the microscope objective. With this novel system, the spatial resolution is increased by factor 1.4, and the depth of field is substantially enlarged. Our experiments show the feasibility of the proposed method.

The influence of elastic modulus of inlay materials on stress distribution and fracture of premolars

SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence the width of the occlusal isthmus and inlay material had on the stress distribution, displacement, and fracture resistance of upper human premolars. For this in vitro test, 35 intact upper premolars (UPM) were selected and five were kept intact for the control group (group I). The remaining 30 were divided into two experimental groups (n=15) according to the width of isthmus: conservative (CP) and extensive preparation (EP), one third and more than two thirds of cuspal distance, respectively. Five teeth from each experimental group were left without restoration for negative controls (CPnc and EPnc), and the remaining 10 in each group were subdivided according to the inlay material (resin or ceramic): group CPr, CP + indirect resin; group CPc, CP + ceramic; group EPr, EP + indirect resin; and group EPc, EP + ceramic. The cemented inlays were loaded in a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min until fracture. The fractured specimens were analyzed with stereomicroscopy, and the values of the fracture resistance evaluated by analysis of variance and Tukey test. For the finite element analyses, an average UPM for each group was modeled in Rhinoceros CAD software and imported to Ansys 13.0. An average of 320,000 tetrahedral elements and 540,000 nodes for the seven models were performed using the same experimental simulation setup for each. The models were constrained on the base, and a displacement of 0.02 mm was applied to keep a linear behavior for the analysis. A von Mises stress and total displacement fields were used for the coherence test and the maximum principal stress fields were used for mechanical behavior comparisons. Group I (161.73 ± 22.94) showed a significantly higher mean value than the other experimental groups (EPc: 103.55 ± 15.84; CPc: 94.38 ± 12.35; CPr: 90.31 ± 6.10; EPr: 65.42 ± 10.15; CPnc: 65.46 ± 5.37; EPnc: 58.08 ± 9.62). The stress distribution was different in all of the groups. EPnc showed a higher concentration of tensile stress on the cervical region of the proximal box. CPc and EPc provided a lower tensile stress and a smaller cuspal displacement. Within the limits of this study, the configuration of the inlay preparation is a significant factor in the fracture resistance of premolars: the smaller the amount of remaining tooth, the lower the fracture resistance. In addition, the teeth restored with ceramic materials showed a higher fracture resistance than those restored with composite resin.

Diabetes screening by telecentric digital holographic microscopy

Diabetes is currently the world's fastest growing chronic disease and it is caused by deficient production of insulin by the endocrine pancreas or by abnormal insulin action in peripheral tissues. This results in persistent hyperglycaemia that over time may produce chronic diabetic complications. Determination of glycated haemoglobin level is currently the gold standard method to evaluate and control sustained hyperglycaemia in diabetic people. This measurement is currently made by high-performance liquid chromatography, which is a complex chemical process that requires the extraction of blood from the antecubital vein. To reduce the complexity of that measurement, we propose a fully-optical technique that is based in the fact that there are changes in the optical properties of erythrocytes due to the presence of glucose-derived adducts in the haemoglobin molecule. To evaluate these changes, we propose to perform quantitative phase maps of erythrocytes by using telecentric digital holographic microscopy. Our experiments show that telecentric digital holographic microscopy allows detecting, almost in real time and from a single drop of blood, significant differences between erythrocytes of diabetic patients and healthy patients. Besides, our phase measurements are well correlated with the values of glycated haemoglobin and the blood glucose values.

The Influence of Elastic Modulus of Inlay Materials on Stress Distribution and Fracture of Premolars

SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence the width of the occlusal isthmus and inlay material had on the stress distribution, displacement, and fracture resistance of upper human premolars. For this in vitro test, 35 intact upper premolars (UPM) were selected and five were kept intact for the control group (group I). The remaining 30 were divided into two experimental groups (n=15) according to the width of isthmus: conservative (CP) and extensive preparation (EP), one third and more than two thirds of cuspal distance, respectively. Five teeth from each experimental group were left without restoration for negative controls (CPnc and EPnc), and the remaining 10 in each group were subdivided according to the inlay material (resin or ceramic): group CPr, CP + indirect resin; group CPc, CP + ceramic; group EPr, EP + indirect resin; and group EPc, EP + ceramic. The cemented inlays were loaded in a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min until fracture. The fractured specimens were analyzed with stereomicroscopy, and the values of the fracture resistance evaluated by analysis of variance and Tukey test. For the finite element analyses, an average UPM for each group was modeled in Rhinoceros CAD software and imported to Ansys 13.0. An average of 320,000 tetrahedral elements and 540,000 nodes for the seven models were performed using the same experimental simulation setup for each. The models were constrained on the base, and a displacement of 0.02 mm was applied to keep a linear behavior for the analysis. A von Mises stress and total displacement fields were used for the coherence test and the maximum principal stress fields were used for mechanical behavior comparisons. Group I (161.73 ± 22.94) showed a significantly higher mean value than the other experimental groups (EPc: 103.55 ± 15.84; CPc: 94.38 ± 12.35; CPr: 90.31 ± 6.10; EPr: 65.42 ± 10.15; CPnc: 65.46 ± 5.37; EPnc: 58.08 ± 9.62). The stress distribution was different in all of the groups. EPnc showed a higher concentration of tensile stress on the cervical region of the proximal box. CPc and EPc provided a lower tensile stress and a smaller cuspal displacement. Within the limits of this study, the configuration of the inlay preparation is a significant factor in the fracture resistance of premolars: the smaller the amount of remaining tooth, the lower the fracture resistance. In addition, the teeth restored with ceramic materials showed a higher fracture resistance than those restored with composite resin.

Long-distance distribution of genuine energy-time entanglement

Any practical realization of entanglement-based quantum communication must be intrinsically secure and able to span long distances avoiding the need of a straight line between the communicating parties. The violation of Bell's inequality offers a method for the certification of quantum links without knowing the inner workings of the devices. Energy-time entanglement quantum communication satisfies all these requirements. However, currently there is a fundamental obstacle with the standard configuration adopted: an intrinsic geometrical loophole that can be exploited to break the security of the communication, in addition to other loopholes. Here we show the first experimental Bell violation with energy-time entanglement distributed over 1 km of optical fibres that is free of this geometrical loophole. This is achieved by adopting a new experimental design, and by using an actively stabilized fibre-based long interferometer. Our results represent an important step towards long-distance secure quantum communication in optical fibres.

High-resolution far-field integral-imaging camera by double snapshot

In multi-view three-dimensional imaging, to capture the elemental images of distant objects, the use of a field-like lens that projects the reference plane onto the microlens array is necessary. In this case, the spatial resolution of reconstructed images is equal to the spatial density of microlenses in the array. In this paper we report a simple method, based on the realization of double snapshots, to double the 2D pixel density of reconstructed scenes. Experiments are reported to support the proposed approach.

3D integral imaging display by smart pseudoscopic-to-orthoscopic conversion (SPOC)

Previously, we reported a digital technique for formation of real, non-distorted, orthoscopic integral images by direct pickup. However the technique was constrained to the case of symmetric image capture and display systems. Here, we report a more general algorithm which allows the pseudoscopic to orthoscopic transformation with full control over the display parameters so that one can generate a set of synthetic elemental images that suits the characteristics of the Integral-Imaging monitor and permits control over the depth and size of the reconstructed 3D scene.

Optical implementation of micro-zoom arrays for parallel focusing in integral imaging

We report 3D integral imaging with an electronically tunable-focal-length lens for improved depth of field. The micro-zoom arrays are generated and implemented based on the concept of parallel apodization. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of parallel dynamic focusing in integral imaging based on the use of micro-zoom arrays.

Reduction of spherical-aberration impact in microscopy by wavefront coding

In modern high-NA optical scanning instruments, like scanning microscopes, the refractive-index mismatch between the sample and the immersion medium introduces a significant amount of spherical aberration when imaging deep inside the specimen, spreading out the impulse response. Since such aberration depends on the focalization depth, it is not possible to achieve a static global compensation for the whole 3D sample in scanning microscopy. Therefore a depth-variant impulse response is generated. Consequently, the design of pupil elements that increase the tolerance to this aberration is of great interest. In this paper we report a hybrid technique that provides a focal spot that remains almost invariant in the depth-scanning processing of thick samples. This invariance allows the application of 3D deconvolution techniques to that provide an improved recovery of the specimen structure when imaging thick samples.

Effect of Acid Neutralization and Mechanical Cycling on the Microtensile Bond Strength of Glass-ceramic Inlays

Acid neutralization of the ceramic surface etched with hydrofluoric acid appears to be unnecessary.

Digital slicing of 3D scenes by Fourier filtering of integral images

We present a novel technique to extract depth information from 3D scenes recorded using an Integral Imaging system. The technique exploits the periodic structure of the recorded integral image to implement a Fourier-domain filtering algorithm. A proper projection of the filtered integral image permits reconstruction of different planes that constitute the 3D scene. The main feature of our method is that the Fourier-domain filtering allows the reduction of out-of-focus information, providing the InI system with real optical sectioning capacity.

Enhanced viewing-angle integral imaging by multiple-axis telecentric relay system

One of the main limitations of integral imaging is the narrow viewing angle. This drawback comes from the limited field of view of microlenses during the pickup and display. We propose a novel all-optical technique which allows the substantial increase of the field of view of any microlens and therefore of the viewing angle of integral-imaging displays.

Facet braiding: a fundamental problem in integral imaging

A rigorous explanation of a phenomenon that produces significant distortions in the three-dimensional images produced by integral imaging systems is provided. The phenomenon, which we refer to as the facet-braiding effect, has been recognized in some previous publications, but to our knowledge its nature has never been analyzed. We propose a technique for attenuating the facet-braiding effect. We have conducted experiments to illustrate the consequences of the facet-braiding effect on three-dimensional integral images, and we show the usefulness of the proposed technique in eliminating this effect.

Axial gain resolution in optical sectioning fluorescence microscopy by shaded-ring filters

We present a new family of pupil masks to control the axial component of the intensity distribution in the focal region of tightly focused light fields. The filters, which consist of a circular clear pupil with a single shaded ring, allow to control the width of the central lobe of the axial spot together with the residual sidelobes energy. The filters can be applied to improve the optical sectioning capacity of different scanning microscopes.

Antioxidant activity of Paraguayan plant extracts

The antioxidant properties of six medical herbs used in the traditional Paraguayan medicine were studied using free radical-generating systems. The methanol extracts from Aristolochia giberti, Cecropia pachystachya, Eugenia uniflora, Piper fulvescens, Schinus weinmannifolia and Schinus terebinthifolia protected against enzymatic and non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation in microsomal membranes of rat. C. pachystachya, E. uniflora, S. weinmannifolia and S. terebinthifolia showed the highest scavenging activity on the superoxide and DPPH radicals.

White-light optical implementation of the fractional fourier transform with adjustable order control

An optical implementation of the fractional Fourier transform (FRT) with broadband illumination is proposed by use of a single imaging element, namely, a blazed diffractive lens. The setup displays an achromatized version of the FRT of order P of any two-dimensional input function. This fractional order can be tuned continuously by shifting of the input along the optical axis. Our compact and flexible configuration is tested with a chirplike input signal, and the good experimental results obtained support the theory.

Polychromatic axial behavior of aberrated optical systems: Wigner distribution function approach

We propose a new method for the computation of the tristimuli values that correspond to the impulse response along the optical axis provided by an imaging optical system working under polychromatic illumination. We show that all the monochromatic irradiance distributions needed for this calculation can be obtained from the Wigner distribution function associated with a certain version of the pupil function of the system. The use of this single phase-space representation allows us to obtain the above merit function for aberrated systems with longitudinal chromatic aberration and primary spherical aberration. Some numerical examples are given to verify the accuracy of our proposal.

Radon-Wigner display: a compact optical implementation with a single varifocal lens

A new optical implementation of the Radon-Wigner display for one-dimensional objects is presented, making use of the fractional Fourier transform approach. The proposed setup makes use of only two conventional refractive elements: a cylindrical lens and a varifocal lens. Although the exact magnifications cannot be achieved simultaneously for all the fractional transforms, an optimum design can be obtained through balancing the conflicting magnification requirements. Experimental results are obtained with a commercially available progressive addition lens. For comparison, computer simulations are also provided.

Hybrid optical-digital method for local-displacement analysis by use of a phase-space representation

A method for evaluating the local deformation or displacement of an object in speckle metrology is described. The local displacements of the object in one direction are digitally coded in a one-dimensional specklegram. By optically performing the local spectrum of this pattern, one simultaneously achieves information about the local displacement and its spatial position. The good performance of this technique is demonstrated with computer-generated test signals.