Interpersonal differences in stress, coping, and satisfaction with life in the context of individual profiles of satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs.

BACKGROUND: Basic psychological need theory has identified three basic needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Need satisfaction is necessary for development and well-being, while need frustration can lead to maladaptive functioning. The study investigated the significance of individual profiles of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration in experiencing stress, coping, and satisfaction with life. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: Participants (N = 622, Mage = 22.22 ± 4.30) completed the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Stress Appraisal Questionnaire, COPE Inventory, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. We performed exploratory factor analysis to identify coping styles, latent profile analysis to distinguish groups with specific need profiles, and MANOVA to demonstrate differences between these groups. RESULTS: Five coping styles were identified: (1) problem-focused, (2) emotion-focused, (3) meaning-focused, (4) escape-avoidance, and (5) religious. The following groups of individuals characterized by specific profiles of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration were distinguished: (1) mainly low satisfaction and high frustration of relatedness; (2) high satisfaction and low frustration of all basic needs; (3) low satisfaction and high frustration of all basic needs; (4) average satisfaction and frustration of all basic needs; (5) mainly low satisfaction and high frustration of competence. These groups significantly differ in perceived stress, coping styles, and life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with profile 3 were the most stressed and tend to use escape-avoidance coping style. Participants with profile 2 coped using a problem-focused style and had higher life satisfaction. These findings indicate that a person-centered approach leads to a better understanding of experiencing stress and coping.

A Pre-Clinical Animal Study for Zonal Articular Cartilage Regeneration Using Stratified Implantation of Microcarrier Expanded Zonal Chondrocytes.

OBJECTIVE: The zonal properties of articular cartilage critically contribute to the mechanical support and lubrication of the tissue. Current treatments for articular cartilage have yet to regenerate this zonal architecture, thus compromising the functional efficacy of the repaired tissue and leading to tissue degeneration in the long term. In this study, the efficacy of zonal cartilage regeneration through bilayered implantation of expanded autologous zonal chondrocytes was investigated in a porcine chondral defect model. DESIGN: Autologous chondrocytes extracted from articular cartilage in the non-weight bearing trochlea region of the knee were subjected to an expansion-sorting strategy, integrating dynamic microcarrier (dMC) culture, and spiral microchannel size-based zonal chondrocyte separation. Zonal chondrocytes were then implanted as bilayered fibrin hydrogel construct in a porcine knee chondral defect model. Repair efficacy was compared with implantation with cell-free fibrin hydrogel and full thickness (FT) cartilage-derived heterogenous chondrocytes. Cartilage repair was evaluated 6 months after implantation. RESULTS: Sufficient numbers of zonal chondrocytes for implantation were generated from the non-weight bearing cartilage. Six-month repair outcomes showed that bilayered implantation of dMC-expanded zonal chondrocytes resulted in substantial recapitulation of zonal architecture, including chondrocyte arrangement, specific Proteoglycan 4 distribution, and collagen alignment, that was accompanied by healthier underlying subchondral bone. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that with appropriate expansion and isolation of zonal chondrocytes, the strategy of stratified zonal chondrocyte implantation represents a significant advancement to Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation-based cartilage regeneration, with the potential to improve the long-term integrity of the regenerated tissues.

The Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale. Adaptation and associations with well-being and mental health disorders in a Polish sample.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to validate a Polish adaptation of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNS&FS) and determine the significance of need satisfaction and frustration for mental health. The scale measures satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness. The measurement of these needs has an important role in the explanation of psychological well-being and risk of disorders. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The study involved 792 participants (50% woman) and 60 (67% men) alcohol addicted patients. We obtained a Polish translation equivalent to the original tool. Three theoretical models were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA, N = 736). Reliability was tested using test-retest reliability, item-total correlation, and internal consistency. Criterion validity was evaluated based on the correlation with happiness resources, symptoms of mental health disorders, psychache, and risk of alcoholism. RESULTS: CFA confirmed the validity of measurement for two independent dimensions: satisfaction and frustration of each need. The BPNS&FS is characterized by good reliability parameters. Criterion validity was confirmed by significantly positive relations of needs satisfaction with happiness resources, and negative relations with symptoms of mental health disorders, psychache, and the risk of alcoholism. Need frustration has opposite relations with the above variables. The validity was also supported by significantly higher need frustration among alcoholics, compared to a normative sample. Women differed significantly from men in lower autonomy and competence satisfaction and higher relatedness satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the BPNS&FS is a valuable and reliable measurement tool. It has been confirmed that both the satisfaction and frustration of needs have important consequences for well-being and mental health.

Microfabrication of axicons by glass blowing at a wafer-level.

This Letter reports on the generation of glass-based axicons realized at the wafer level by means of microfabrication. The technique is based on micro glass blowing allowing parallel fabrication of numerous components at a time. Blowing is achieved due to cavities containing a gas that expands when the wafer stack is introduced in a furnace. Such cavities, generated in a silicon wafer and sealed by a bonded glass wafer, act as pistons pushing locally the other side of the glass wafer where the micro-optical component profile emerges. After cavities' removal by polishing, it is shown that such a component produces nondiffracting Bessel beams.

Technological Platform for Vertical Multi-Wafer Integration of Microscanners and Micro-Optical Components.

We describe an original integration technological platform for the miniaturization of micromachined on-chip optical microscopes, such as the laser scanning confocal microscope. The platform employs the multi-wafer vertical integration approach, combined with integrated glass-based micro-optics as well as micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) components, where the assembly uses the heterogeneous bonding and interconnecting technologies. Various heterogeneous components are disposed in vertically stacked building blocks (glass microlens, MEMS actuator, beamsplitter, etc.) in a minimum space. The platform offers the integrity and potential of MEMS microactuators integrated with micro-optics, providing miniaturized and low cost solutions to create micromachined on-chip optical microscopes.

MEMS Tunable Diffraction Grating for Spaceborne Imaging Spectroscopic Applications.

Diffraction gratings are among the most commonly used optical elements in applications ranging from spectroscopy and metrology to lasers. Numerous methods have been adopted for the fabrication of gratings, including microelectromechanical system (MEMS) fabrication which is by now mature and presents opportunities for tunable gratings through inclusion of an actuation mechanism. We have designed, modeled, fabricated and tested a silicon based pitch tunable diffraction grating (PTG) with relatively large resolving power that could be deployed in a spaceborne imaging spectrometer, for example in a picosatellite. We have carried out a detailed analytical modeling of PTG, based on a mass spring system. The device has an effective fill factor of 52% and resolving power of 84. Tuning provided by electrostatic actuation results in a displacement of 2.7 µ m at 40 V . Further, we have carried out vibration testing of the fabricated structure to evaluate its feasibility for spaceborne instruments.

Computational integral field spectroscopy with diverse imaging.

Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) is a well-established method for measuring spectral intensity data of the form s(x,y,λ), where x, y are spatial coordinates and λ is the wavelength. In most flavors of IFS, there is a trade-off between sampling (x,y) and the measured wavelength band Δλ. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, attempt to overcome this trade-off by use of computational imaging and measurement diversity. We implement diversity by including a grating in our design, which allows rotation of the dispersed spectra between measurements. The raw intensity data captured from the rotated grating positions are then processed by an inverse algorithm that utilizes sparsity in the data. We present simulated results from spatial-spectral data in the experimental dataset. We used non-overlapping portions of the dataset to train our sparsity priors in the form of the dictionary, and to test the reconstruction quality. We found that, depending on the level of noise in the measurement, diversity up to a maximum number of measurements is beneficial in terms of reducing error, and yields diminishing returns if even more measurements are taken.

Miniature Schwarzschild objective as a micro-optical component free of main aberrations: concept, design, and first realization with silicon-glass micromachining.

This paper presents the conception of a new micro-optical component fabricated within the wafer-level approach: a micromachined reflective objective, the so-called micro-Schwarzschild objective, characterized by superior optical performances than widespread microlenses. The system, made of two vertically integrated mirrors, works in transmission similarly as microlenses. While the specific geometric configuration of the two-mirrors allows elimination of most common optical aberrations, the reflective architecture provides inherent achromaticity. This paper presents in detail the optical design and analyzes fabrication tolerances. It also describes a fabrication flow chart based on silicon micromachining done at the wafer level that could allow production of thousands of such micro-optical devices within a single fabrication run. The realized prototype employs the two-step KOH etching process to generate the micromirror pairs followed by glass reflow for the secondary mirror generation and selective metallic deposition. Despite an insufficient mirror quality attributed to this specific silicon etching technique and highlighted by the reflective configuration, the objective fabrication in terms of alignment, bonding, and coating is shown as feasible.

Simple method based on intensity measurements for characterization of aberrations from micro-optical components.

We report a simple method, based on intensity measurements, for the characterization of the wavefront and aberrations produced by micro-optical focusing elements. This method employs the setup presented earlier in [Opt. Express 22, 13202 (2014)] for measurements of the 3D point spread function, on which a basic phase-retrieval algorithm is applied. This combination allows for retrieval of the wavefront generated by the micro-optical element and, in addition, quantification of the optical aberrations through the wavefront decomposition with Zernike polynomials. The optical setup requires only an in-motion imaging system. The technique, adapted for the optimization of micro-optical component fabrication, is demonstrated by characterizing a planoconvex microlens.

Micro-optical design of a three-dimensional microlens scanner for vertically integrated micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems.

This paper presents the optical design of a miniature 3D scanning system, which is fully compatible with the vertical integration technology of micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems (MOEMS). The constraints related to this integration strategy are considered, resulting in a simple three-element micro-optical setup based on an afocal scanning microlens doublet and a focusing microlens, which is tolerant to axial position inaccuracy. The 3D scanning is achieved by axial and lateral displacement of microlenses of the scanning doublet, realized by micro-electro-mechanical systems microactuators (the transmission scanning approach). Optical scanning performance of the system is determined analytically by use of the extended ray transfer matrix method, leading to two different optical configurations, relying either on a ball lens or plano-convex microlenses. The presented system is aimed to be a core component of miniature MOEMS-based optical devices, which require a 3D optical scanning function, e.g., miniature imaging systems (confocal or optical coherence microscopes) or optical tweezers.

Impact of mirror spider legs on imaging quality in Mirau micro-interferometry.

We report the impact on imaging quality of mirror suspensions, referred to as spider legs, used to support the reference mirror in a Mirau micro-interferometer that requires the vertical alignment of lens, mirror, and beamsplitter. Because the light goes from the microlens to the beamsplitter through the mirror plane, the spider legs are a source of diffraction. This impact is studied as a function of different parameters of the spider legs design. Imaging criteria, such as the resolution as well as the symmetry of the imaging system, are determined using the point spread function and the modulation transfer function of the pupil. These imaging criteria are used to determine the optimum radius of curvature, thickness, and number of legs of the spider structure. We show that 3 curved legs give performances, with specific radius of curvature and thickness, similar to a suspension-free mirror.

Dense arrays of millimeter-sized glass lenses fabricated at wafer-level.

This paper presents the study of a fabrication technique of lenses arrays based on the reflow of glass inside cylindrical silicon cavities. Lenses whose sizes are out of the microfabrication standards are considered. In particular, the case of high fill factor arrays is discussed in detail since the proximity between lenses generates undesired effects. These effects, not experienced when lenses are sufficiently separated so that they can be considered as single items, are corrected by properly designing the silicon cavities. Complete topographic as well as optical characterizations are reported. The compatibility of materials with Micro-Opto-Electromechanical Systems (MOEMS) integration processes makes this technology attractive for the miniaturization of inspection systems, especially those devoted to imaging.

A simple method for quality evaluation of micro-optical components based on 3D IPSF measurement.

This paper presents a simple method based on the measurement of the 3D intensity point spread function for the quality evaluation of high numerical aperture micro-optical components. The different slices of the focal volume are imaged thanks to a microscope objective and a standard camera. Depending on the optical architecture, it allows characterizing both transmissive and reflective components, for which either the imaging part or the component itself are moved along the optical axis, respectively. This method can be used to measure focal length, Strehl ratio, resolution and overall wavefront RMS and to estimate optical aberrations. The measurement setup and its implementation are detailed and its advantages are demonstrated with micro-ball lenses and micro-mirrors. This intuitive method is adapted for optimization of micro-optical components fabrication processes, especially because heavy equipments and/or data analysis are not required.