Stigmatic aspherical refracting surfaces from Cartesian ovoids.

A theory for Descartes ovoids has been developed in terms of four form parameters, (GOTS). This theory allows the design of optical imaging systems that, in addition to a rigorous stigmatism, exhibit the property of aplanatism, necessary for the proper imaging of extended objects. As a decisive step for the production of these systems, in this work, we propose a formulation of Descartes ovoids in the form of standard aspherical surfaces (ISO 10110-12: 2019), by means of explicit formulas for the corresponding aspheric coefficients. Thus, with these results, the designs developed with Descartes ovoids are finally translated into the language of aspherical surfaces for their production, inheriting the aspherical surfaces of all optical properties of Cartesian surfaces. Consequently, these results make this optical design methodology viable for the development of technological solutions using the current optical fabrication capabilities of the industry.

Tunable birefringence and elliptical polarization eigenmodes in a biplate of two quarter-wave plates.

Birefringence of elliptical polarization eigenmodes can be conceptualized as a composite system comprising two distinct media: one with linear polarization eigenmodes and the other with circular polarization eigenmodes. However, the practical realization of such a system often involves the combination of two birefringent quarter-wave plates (QWPs). In this study, our objective is to characterize the variable retardation and variable elliptical polarization eigenmodes exhibited by a biplate consisting of two quarter-wave plates. Additionally, we aim to analyze the geometric properties of the transformation of one state of polarization on the Poincaré sphere, employing the emerging state's curve. This curve corresponds to the intersection between the Poincaré sphere and a cone. The outcomes of our study are presented as a function of the angle between the fast axes of the two QWPs. The findings have the potential to contribute to the configuration of q-plates and facilitate the development of quantum communication protocols.

Definition of a second-order degree of polarization in terms of the complex degree of coherence.

The classical theory of random electric fields and polarization formalism has been formulated considering the Stokes parameters' auto-correlations. However, in this work, the need to consider the Stokes parameters' cross-correlations to obtain a complete description of the polarization dynamics of a light source is explained. We propose a general expression for the Stokes parameters' degree of correlation using both auto-correlations and cross-correlations, which we derive from the application of Kent's distribution in the statistical study of Stokes parameter dynamics on Poincaré's sphere. Additionally, from the proposed degree of correlation, we obtain a new expression for the degree of polarization (DOP) in terms of the complex degree of coherence, which is a generalization of the well-known Wolf's DOP. The new DOP is tested using a depolarization experiment in which partially coherent light sources propagate through a liquid crystal variable retarder. The experimental results show that our generalization for the DOP improves the theoretical description of a new depolarization phenomenon that Wolf's DOP cannot describe.

Hyperspectral camera as a compact payload architecture for remote sensing applications.

Monitoring and observation over the surface of the Earth have been a matter of global interest. In this path, recent efforts aim to develop a spatial mission to perform remote sensing applications. Mainly, CubeSat nanosatellites have emerged as a standard for developing low-weight and small-sized instruments. In terms of payloads, state-of-the-art optical systems for CubeSats are expensive and designed to work in general use cases. To overcome these limitations, this paper presents a 1.4 U compact optical system to acquire spectral images from a CubeSat standard satellite at the height of 550 km. To validate the proposed architecture, optical simulations using ray tracing simulation software are presented. Because the performance of computer vision tasks is highly related to data quality, we compared the optical system in terms of the classification performance on a real remote sensing application. The performances of the optical characterization and land cover classification show that the proposed optical system achieves a compact instrument, operating at a spectral range from 450 nm to 900 nm discretized on 35 spectral bands. The optical system has an overall f-number of 3.41 with a ground sampling distance of 52.8 m and a swath of 40 km. Additionally, the design parameters for each optical element are publicly available for validation, repeatability, and reproducibility of the results.

FDA-approved carbonic anhydrase inhibitors reduce amyloid ß pathology and improve cognition, by ameliorating cerebrovascular health and glial fitness.

INTRODUCTION: Cerebrovascular pathology is an early and causal hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), in need of effective therapies. METHODS: Based on the success of our previous in vitro studies, we tested for the first time in a model of AD and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), the carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs) methazolamide and acetazolamide, Food and Drug Administration-approved against glaucoma and high-altitude sickness. RESULTS: Both CAIs reduced cerebral, vascular, and glial amyloid beta (Aß) accumulation and caspase activation, diminished gliosis, and ameliorated cognition in TgSwDI mice. The CAIs also improved microvascular fitness and induced protective glial pro-clearance pathways, resulting in the reduction of Aß deposition. Notably, we unveiled that the mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase-VB (CA-VB) is upregulated in TgSwDI brains, CAA and AD+CAA human subjects, and in endothelial cells upon Aß treatment. Strikingly, CA-VB silencing specifically reduces Aß-mediated endothelial apoptosis. DISCUSSION: This work substantiates the potential application of CAIs in clinical trials for AD and CAA.

Prevalence and Clinical Factors Associated With Pes Planus Among Children and Adults: A Population-Based Synthesis and Systematic Review.

Estimates of pes planus ("flatfoot") prevalence vary considerably across studies. Moreover, there is uncertainty over which factors are associated with the pes planus prevalence. We aimed to systematically review the prevalence and clinical factors associated with flatfoot among children and adults. We searched Web of Science, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Google Scholar databases reporting population-based flatfoot prevalence. Two reviewers independently extracted the data and assessed the qualities of the studies. Subgroup analysis was conducted to analyze the associated factors on flatfoot prevalence. Frequencies, odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were performed using descriptive analysis and chi-square test accounting for heterogeneity. Any conflict in the data analysis was discussed by all the reviewers. Twelve studies including 2509 flatfoot cases were analyzed (overall prevalence 15.6%, n = 16,000). The subgroup analysis indicated that male gender (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.15-1.37), age groups 3 to 5 years (OR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.78-2.30) and 11 to 17 years (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.64-2.22), Asian race (OR = 2.34, 95% CI: 2.10-2.60), and obesity (OR = 2.62, 95% CI: 2.06-3.32) were more associated with flatfoot (p < .001). Conversely, female gender (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.40-0.48) and White race (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.47-0.57) were less associated with flatfoot (p < .001). Our findings may be valuable for clinical/surgical settings, particularly, for those modifiable findings and targeted populations. However, we suggest that future studies estimating flatfoot should consider prospective/multicenter designs using a common screening methods in random samples populations.

Inflammatory Cytokine Patterns Associated with Neurological Diseases in Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can present with distinct neurological manifestations. This study shows that inflammatory neurological diseases were associated with increased levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 8 (CXCL8), and CXCL10 in the cerebrospinal fluid. Conversely, encephalopathy was associated with high serum levels of IL-6, CXCL8, and active tumor growth factor ß1. Inflammatory syndromes of the central nervous system in COVID-19 can appear early, as a parainfectious process without significant systemic involvement, or without direct evidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 neuroinvasion. At the same time, encephalopathy is mainly influenced by peripheral events, including inflammatory cytokines. ANN NEUROL 2021;89:1041-1045.

Achromatic stigmatism: achromatic Cartesian ovoid.

Monochromatic and chromatic aberrations are imaging defects mainly studied from a geometrical optics point of view. These defects are treated through optimization and minimization methods to achieve acceptable performance in optical imaging systems, where the correct choice of glass materials is one of the main challenges. The selection of glass materials is a complex issue that requires a large amount of computing power within sophisticated computational algorithms and enough professional experience in the area. However, in this work, we propose a new methodology to treat the chromatic and geometrical aberrations simultaneously by taking advantage of the relationship between form parameters of Cartesian surfaces and wavelength in the material. From this relationship, we obtain an achromatism principle that establishes the conditions for refracting systems to present a strictly achromatic stigmatism.

Rigorously aplanatic Descartes ovoids.

It is known that, besides being stigmatic, spherical refracting surfaces are aplanatic at their Young points since they satisfy the Abbe sine condition rigorously. The Abbe sine condition is commonly applied to different optical systems using numerical methods or optimization processes, obtaining a design of approximately aplanatic systems. Here, we found several families of Cartesian surfaces, whose sets of each of these families constitute exactly aplanatic systems free of spherical aberration and coma. So, studying the different types of systems, it is found that rigorous aplanatism occurs for objects and images on curved surfaces.

Characterization method of the effective phase retardation in linear birefringent thin sheets.

Characterization of the birefringence of materials offers the opportunity to develop applications and elements to manipulate the polarization of light. We propose a new method for characterizing the effective phase retardation based on the linear birefringent law. The proposed method is flexible and easy to implement; it also determines the retardation introduced by a linear birefringent as from an input polarization state and a specific output state generated by the rotated material. The method is evaluated experimentally by characterizing the birefringence of cellophane samples.

Use of the Donabedian Model as a Framework for COVID-19 Response at a Hospital in Suburban Westchester County, New York: A Facility-Level Case Report.

The purpose of this facility-level case report was to describe our facility's leadership process of applying the Donabedian model to structure an early response to the coronavirus disease pandemic relative to emergency care. Using the Donabedian model as a guide, both structure and process changes were implemented to maintain high-quality clinical outcomes as well as ED staff safety and engagement. Rapid changes to the model of care, both architecturally and through the expansion of universal precautions through personal protective equipment, created the foundation for what was to follow. Clinical, service quality, and staff safety outcomes were evaluated to demonstrate that the collaborative changes that follow a known process improvement model can be used to address the coronavirus disease pandemic. Further study is needed to compare the outcomes of this facility-level case study with those of others to evaluate the success of the measures outlined.

Insect flight velocity measurement with a CW near-IR Scheimpflug lidar system.

Flight velocity measurement is an important aspect of insect research that can aid insect identification and facilitate studies and monitoring of insect movements. We propose a novel scheme for the 1-D flight velocity measurement of insects, based on a near-IR Scheimpflug lidar system. We implement this new technique and apply it to study insects at the Salter Research Farm, Robertson County, Texas. The resolution property perpendicular to the probing direction of the Scheimpflug lidar system is explored and reveals the capability of retrieving the velocity component normal to the probing direction of insects passing through the field of view of our system. We observe a shift in wingbeat frequency, which indicates the presence of new insect species during the multi-day measurement. The study on 1-D flight velocity reveals a net directional movement of insects, providing supportive evidence of the arrival of a new species.

Aplanatism in stigmatic optical systems.

The minimization of spherical and coma aberrations in optical imaging systems is currently accomplished through the use of corrective aspheric optical surfaces. In this work, we develop a new, to the best of our knowledge, theory for the design of rigorously aplanatic optical systems, considering as a starting point the rigorous stigmatism theory of optical systems composed of Cartesian surfaces. The main characteristic of these surfaces is their, a priori, zero spherical aberration. In a general parametric formulation for systems made up of a set of these surfaces, the Abbe sine condition is adapted to simultaneously obtain the stigmatism and aplanatism conditions. Thus, we achieved the design of optical systems that in theory are immune to both coma and spherical aberrations.

Superconical aplanatic ovoid singlet lenses.

In this work, we return to Descartes's idea to develop a formalism to construct rigorously stigmatic singlet lenses comprising two Cartesian surfaces. Optical systems are built using a considerable number of spherical surfaces, presenting in most cases spherical aberration. Wasermann and Wolf proposed eliminating spherical aberration and minimizing third-order coma by using two adjacent aspherical surfaces. That is why, using a parametric formulation for Cartesian ovals, we propose the design of singlet lenses where the condition of rigorous stigmatism is guaranteed for each surface, and therefore, strictly speaking, in the pair of stigmatic points, the lens becomes an optical system free of spherical aberration. This formulation is unified to both refractive and reflective optical surfaces. Therefore, within the framework of the theory of rigorously stigmatic optical systems, making use of Cartesian surfaces for the construction of stigmatic ovoid singlet lenses, we achieve the same functionality of optical systems involving a set of spherical lenses. These lenses have the advantage of being formulated according to a generalized shape factor associated with the Coddington shape factor, allowing an easy classification of these stigmatic lenses. The ideal imaging is carried out by applying an exact ray-tracing method through these ovoid singlet lenses.

Economic analysis of the adoption of capsule endoscopy within the British NHS.

OBJECTIVE: Identification of a cost-effective treatment strategy is an unmet need in Crohn's disease (CD). Here we consider the patient outcomes and cost impact of pan-intestinal video capsule endoscopy (PVCE) in the English National Health Service (NHS). DESIGN: An analysis of a protocolized CD care pathway, informed by guidelines and expert consensus, was performed in Microsoft Excel. Population, efficacy and safety data of treatments and monitoring modalities were identified using a structured PubMed review with English data prioritized. Costs were taken from the NHS and Payer Provided Services (PSS) 2016-17 tariffs for England and otherwise literature. Analysis was via a discrete-individual simulation with discounting at 3.5% per annum. SETTING: NHS provider and PSS perspective. PARTICIPANTS: 4000 simulated CD patients. INTERVENTIONS: PVCE versus colonoscopy ± magnetic resonance enterography (MRE). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Costs in 2017 GBP and quality-adjusted life years (QALY). RESULTS: The mean, total 20-year cost per patient was £42 266 with colonoscopy ± MRE and £38 043 with PVCE. PVCE incurred higher costs during the first 2 years due to higher treatment uptake. From year 3 onwards, costs were reduced due to fewer surgeries. Patients accrued 10.67 QALY with colonoscopy ± MRE and 10.96 with PVCE. PVCE dominated (less cost and higher QALY) colonoscopy ± MRE and was likely (>74%) to be considered cost-effective by the NHS. Results were similar if a lifetime time horizon was used. CONCLUSIONS: PVCE is likely to be a cost-effective alternative to colonoscopy ± MRE for CD surveillance. Switching to PVCE resulted in lower treatment costs and gave patients better quality of life.

Alpha-1 Adrenergic Receptors Modulate Glutamate and GABA Neurotransmission onto Ventral Tegmental Dopamine Neurons during Cocaine Sensitization.

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) plays an important role in the reward and motivational processes that facilitate the development of drug addiction. Presynaptic α1-AR activation modulates glutamate and Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release. This work elucidates the role of VTA presynaptic α1-ARs and their modulation on glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmission during cocaine sensitization. Excitatory and inhibitory currents (EPSCs and IPSCs) measured by a whole cell voltage clamp show that α1-ARs activation increases EPSCs amplitude after 1 day of cocaine treatment but not after 5 days of cocaine injections. The absence of a pharmacological response to an α1-ARs agonist highlights the desensitization of the receptor after repeated cocaine administration. The desensitization of α1-ARs persists after a 7-day withdrawal period. In contrast, the modulation of α1-ARs on GABA neurotransmission, shown by decreases in IPSCs' amplitude, is not affected by acute or chronic cocaine injections. Taken together, these data suggest that α1-ARs may enhance DA neuronal excitability after repeated cocaine administration through the reduction of GABA inhibition onto VTA dopamine (DA) neurons even in the absence of α1-ARs' function on glutamate release and protein kinase C (PKC) activation. α1-AR modulatory changes in cocaine sensitization increase our knowledge of the role of the noradrenergic system in cocaine addiction and may provide possible avenues for therapeutics.

Statistical theory of the polarization on the Poincaré sphere.

The random nature of light emitters requires that the theory to study polarization must adopt a statistical approach. Although the Stokes parameters are proposed in this sense, these are implemented as temporal averages, appealing to an ergodic hypothesis, without discussing which probability distributions are treated. Therefore, here the polarization dynamics on the Poincaré sphere of random light sources, whose phases and amplitudes of the electric fields are statistically independent, is described through the von Mises-Fisher distribution. This allows us to relate the degree of polarization and the normalized Stokes parameters with the concentration parameter and the mean direction of the von Mises-Fisher distribution. Also, it is found that their marginal distributions have the same statistical behavior as the Eliyahu-Brosseau distribution.

A Spatio-Temporal Approach to Individual Mobility Modeling in On-Device Cognitive Computing Platforms.

The increased availability of GPS-enabled devices makes possible to collect location data for mining purposes and to develop mobility-based services (MBS). For most of the MBSs, determining interesting locations and frequent Points of Interest (POIs) is of paramount importance to study the semantic of places visited by an individual and the mobility patterns as a spatio-temporal phenomenon. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that uses mobility-based services for on-device and individual-centered mobility understanding. Unlike existing approaches that use crowd data for cloud-assisted POI extraction, the proposed solution autonomously detects POIs and mobility events to incrementally construct a cognitive map (spatio-temporal model) of individual mobility suitable to constrained mobile platforms. In particular, we focus on detecting POIs and enter-exits events as the key to derive statistical properties for characterizing the dynamics of an individual's mobility. We show that the proposed spatio-temporal map effectively extracts core features from the user-POI interaction that are relevant for analytics such as mobility prediction. We also demonstrate how the obtained spatio-temporal model can be exploited to assess the relevance of daily mobility routines. This novel cognitive and on-line mobility modeling contributes toward the distributed intelligence of IoT connected devices without strongly compromising energy.

A Cognitive-Inspired Event-Based Control for Power-Aware Human Mobility Analysis in IoT Devices.

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) relates to the deployment of decision-making processes at the network edge or mobile devices rather than in a centralized network entity like the cloud. This paradigm shift is acknowledged as one key pillar to enable autonomous operation and self-awareness in mobile devices in IoT. Under this paradigm, we focus on mobility-based services (MBSs), where mobile devices are expected to perform energy-efficient GPS data acquisition while also providing location accuracy. We rely on a fully on-device Cognitive Dynamic Systems (CDS) platform to propose and evaluate a cognitive controller aimed at both tackling the presence of uncertainties and exploiting the mobility information learned by such CDS toward energy-efficient and accurate location tracking via mobility-aware sampling policies. We performed a set of experiments and validated that the proposed control strategy outperformed similar approaches in terms of energy savings and spatio-temporal accuracy in LBS and MBS for smartphone devices.

Bioinformatic Analysis of Gene Variants from Gastroschisis Recurrence Identifies Multiple Novel Pathogenetic Pathways: Implication for the Closure of the Ventral Body Wall.

We investigated whether likely pathogenic variants co-segregating with gastroschisis through a family-based approach using bioinformatic analyses were implicated in body wall closure. Gene Ontology (GO)/Panther functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction analysis by String identified several biological networks of highly connected genes in UGT1A3, UGT1A4, UGT1A5, UGT1A6, UGT1A7, UGT1A8, UGT1A9, UGT1A10, AOX1, NOTCH1, HIST1H2BB, RPS3, THBS1, ADCY9, and FGFR4. SVS-PhoRank identified a dominant model in OR10G4 (also as heterozygous de novo), ITIH3, PLEKHG4B, SLC9A3, ITGA2, AOX1, and ALPP, including a recessive model in UGT1A7, UGT1A6, PER2, PTPRD, and UGT1A3. A heterozygous compound model was observed in CDYL, KDM5A, RASGRP1, MYBPC2, PDE4DIP, F5, OBSCN, and UGT1A. These genes were implicated in pathogenetic pathways involving the following GO related categories: xenobiotic, regulation of metabolic process, regulation of cell adhesion, regulation of gene expression, inflammatory response, regulation of vascular development, keratinization, left-right symmetry, epigenetic, ubiquitination, and regulation of protein synthesis. Multiple background modifiers interacting with disease-relevant pathways may regulate gastroschisis susceptibility. Based in our findings and considering the plausibility of the biological pattern of mechanisms and gene network modeling, we suggest that the gastroschisis developmental process may be the consequence of several well-orchestrated biological and molecular mechanisms which could be interacting with gastroschisis predispositions within the first ten weeks of development.