Analysis of the performance of a polarized LiDAR imager in fog.

This paper focuses on exploring ways to improve the performance of LiDAR imagers through fog. One of the known weaknesses of LiDAR technology is the lack of tolerance to adverse environmental conditions, such as the presence of fog, which hampers the future development of LiDAR in several markets. Within this paper, a LiDAR unit is designed and constructed to be able to apply temporal and polarimetric discrimination for detecting the number of signal photons received with detailed control of its temporal and spatial distribution under co-polarized and cross-polarized configurations. The system is evaluated using different experiments in a macro-scale fog chamber under controlled fog conditions. Using the complete digitization of the acquired signals, we analyze the natural light media response, to see that due to its characteristics it could be directly filtered out. Moreover, we confirm that there exists a polarization memory effect, which, by using a polarimetric cross-configuration detector, allows improvement of object detection in point clouds. These results are useful for applications related to computer vision, in fields like autonomous vehicles or outdoor surveillance where many variable types of environmental conditions may be present.

Whole anterior segment and retinal swept source OCT for comprehensive ocular screening.

Whole eye visualization and morphometry are of high relevance in clinical practice. However, most standard ophthalmic OCT instruments are dedicated either to retinal or to anterior segment imaging. We demonstrate a swept source optical coherence tomography system (SS-OCT) that images both the whole anterior segment and the retina alternately using a single source and detector. A pilot population was imaged with the proof of concept prototype. We demonstrate the clinical potential of whole eye OCT screening for the description and early detection of relevant clinical features in the anterior segment and retina of several patients.

Experimental test of photonic entanglement in accelerated reference frames.

The unification of the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics is a long-standing challenge in contemporary physics. Experimental techniques in quantum optics have only recently reached the maturity required for the investigation of quantum systems under the influence of non-inertial motion, such as being held at rest in gravitational fields, or subjected to uniform accelerations. Here, we report on experiments in which a genuine quantum state of an entangled photon pair is exposed to a series of different accelerations. We measure an entanglement witness for g-values ranging from 30 mg to up to 30 g-under free-fall as well on a spinning centrifuge-and have thus derived an upper bound on the effects of uniform acceleration on photonic entanglement.

CDH22 hypermethylation is an independent prognostic biomarker in breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Cadherin-like protein 22 (CDH22) is a transmembrane glycoprotein involved in cell-cell adhesion and metastasis. Its role in cancer is controversial because it has been described as being upregulated in colorectal cancer, whereas it is downregulated in metastatic melanoma. However, its status in breast cancer (BC) is unknown. The purpose of our study was to determine the molecular status and clinical value of CDH22 in BC. RESULTS: We observed by immunohistochemistry that the level of CDH22 expression was lower in BC tissues than in their matched adjacent-to-tumour and non-neoplastic tissues from reduction mammoplasties. Since epigenetic alteration is one of the main causes of gene silencing, we analysed the hypermethylation of 3 CpG sites in the CDH22 promoter by pyrosequencing in a series of 142 infiltrating duct BC cases. CDH22 was found to be hypermethylated in tumoral tissues relative to non-neoplastic mammary tissues. Importantly, this epigenetic alteration was already present in adjacent-to-tumour tissues, although to a lesser extent than in tumoral samples. Furthermore, CDH22 gene regulation was dynamically modulated in vitro by epigenetic drugs. Interestingly, CDH22 hypermethylation in all 3 CpG sites simultaneously, but not expression, was significantly associated with shorter progression-free survival (p = 0.015) and overall survival (p = 0.021) in our patient series. Importantly, CDH22 hypermethylation was an independent factor that predicts poor progression-free survival regardless of age and stage (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Our results are the first evidence that CDH22 is hypermethylated in BC and that this alteration is an independent prognostic factor in BC. Thus, CDH22 hypermethylation could be a potential biomarker of poor prognosis in BC.