3D imaging through a highly heterogeneous double-composite random medium by common-path phase-shift digital holography.

A method is proposed for 3D imaging through a highly heterogeneous double-composite random medium made of a thick mildly inhomogeneous medium followed by a thin strongly scattering layer. To realize the immunity to the heterogeneous random medium, a system of common-path phase-shift digital holography is designed in such a manner that the wavefront distortion caused by the first inhomogeneous medium is canceled out by the common-path geometry, and the influence of the random phase introduced by the second scattering layer is removed by the intensity-based recording of the digital hologram on the thin scattering layer. The validity of the method was confirmed by experiments.

Electronic interactions between a quaternary pyridyl-ß-diketonate and anionic clay nanosheets facilitate intense photoluminescence.

Electrostatic interactions between a quaternary pyridyl-ß-diketonate and anionic charged nanosheets were observed to produce a highly emissive dispersion in a rich water solution. A greater fluorescence quantum yield of approximately 50% was obtained when a luminogenic ß-diketonate, 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-(3-hydroxyethyl-pyridinium bromide)-1,3-propandione (prepared by the Claisen condensation reaction and subsequent quaternization), was molecularly dispersed and enclosed by a couple of atomically flat ultrathin (approximately 1.0 nm) silicate sheets of anionic layered clay. By accommodating ß-diketonate into a narrow interlamellar space (approximately 0.4 nm distance), the molecular motion was suppressed, as confirmed by a smaller non-radiative relaxation rate constant, which was obtained by time-resolved luminescence and quantum yield measurements. Because the dense packing of ß-diketonate quenched the excited state, the isolation of luminogens by the co-adsorption of photochemical inert cations (tetramethylammonium and benzylammonium) was prevented by concentration quenching. A lower quantum yield was obtained by expanding the interlayer distance above 1.0 nm by co-adsorbing a photo-inactive water-soluble polymer, poly(vinylpyrrolidone). Therefore, the fixation and spatial separation of ß-diketonate in the narrow interlayer space was determined to be essential for obtaining strong emission.

Hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma in a Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata).

Primary neuroendocrine neoplasm of the liver is extremely rare in both humans and non-human primates. The present report describes the clinical and pathological findings of an aged Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) with hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first report of hepatic neuroendocrine neoplasm in macaques.

Three-dimensional microscopic imaging through scattering media based on in-line phase-shift digital holography.

Microscopic three-dimensional imaging and phase quantification for objects hidden behind a scattering medium by using in-line phase-shift digital holography are proposed. A spatial resolution of 1.81 µm and highly accurate quantitative phase imaging are demonstrated for objects behind a scatter plate. Three-dimensional imaging was confirmed using objects with a depth difference of 1.32 mm. Further, imaging was performed using rat skin as a demonstration for imaging through a complex multilayer scattering medium, where a spatial resolution close to the theoretically predicted value was achieved by experiment.

Measurement of the radial mode spectrum of photons through a phase-retrieval method.

We propose and demonstrate a simple and easy-to-implement projective-measurement protocol to determine the radial index p of a Laguerre-Gaussian (LGpl) mode. Our method entails converting any specified high-order LGp0 mode into a near-Gaussian distribution that matches the fundamental mode of a single-mode fiber (SMF) through the use of two phase screens (unitary transforms) obtained by applying a phase-retrieval algorithm. The unitary transforms preserve the orthogonality of modes before the SMF and guarantee that our protocol can, in principle, be free of crosstalk. We measure the coupling efficiency of the transformed radial modes to the SMF for different pairs of phase screens. Because of the universality of phase-retrieval methods, we believe that our protocol provides an efficient way of fully characterizing the radial spatial profile of an optical field.

Scattering of Poincaré beams: polarization speckles.

Polarization speckle is a fine granular light pattern having spatially varying random polarization profile. We generate these speckle patterns by using the scattering of Poincaré beams, a special class of vector vortex beams, through a ground glass plate. Here, the Poincaré beams are generated using a polarization sensitive spatial light modulator displaying an on-axis hologram corresponding to an optical vortex phase profile. The different inhomogeneities of the rough surface experience different polarizations, which control the ability for scattered waves to interfere at the detection plane and causes a spatially varying polarization profile. We experimentally determined the spatial variation of local degree of polarization and orientation of the polarization ellipse for these speckle patterns from the Stokes analysis. We also determined the size of scalar speckles using the auto-correlation function of Stokes parameter S0 and the size of polarization speckles using the sum of auto-correlation functions of remaining three Stokes parameters. We found that the change in scalar speckle size with the index of the vector beam is very small and of the order of 1 pixel size of the camera but the size of polarization speckles decreases with the increase in index of the vector beam.

Hepatocellular carcinoma with intracranial metastasis in a Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata).

BACKGROUND: A 23-year-old male Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) showed left ptosis, which progressed to exophthalmos. METHODS: The macaque underwent a clinical examination, CT and MRI, and was euthanized. Necropsy and histopathological examination were performed after euthanasia. RESULTS: The CT revealed and MRI confirmed an intracranial mass at the skull base with orbital extension. At necropsy, there were a large hepatic mass and an intracranial mass compressing the left temporal lobe of the brain. Histopathological and immunohistological examinations revealed that the masses were hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and a metastatic lesion. In both the primary and metastatic lesions, neoplastic hepatocytes were arranged mainly in a trabecular pattern. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for cytokeratin (AE1/AE3 and CAM5.2) and hepatocyte paraffin 1 and negative for cytokeratin 7 and 20 and vimentin. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first case report of HCC with intracranial metastasis in a macaque.

Highly uniform holographic microtrap arrays for single atom trapping using a feedback optimization of in-trap fluorescence measurements.

We report on the novel optimization method to realize highly uniform microtrap arrays for single atom trapping with a spatial light modulator (SLM). This method consists of two iterative feedback loops with the measurements of both diffracted light intensities and in-trap fluorescence intensities from each microtrap. By applying this method to the single 87Rb atom trapping, we can reduce the variance of trap depths from 20.8% to 1.7% for 4 × 4 square arrays and less than 4% for various arrays with up to 62 sites. The detection error of individual single atoms is also reduced from 1.7% to 0.0054% on average.

Enhanced super resolution using Fresnel incoherent correlation holography with structured illumination.

The structured illumination (SI) technique has already been well established as a resolution enhancer in many studies and well demonstrated in many optical imaging systems during the past decade. The ability to use the SI in incoherent imaging systems was also introduced, especially in fluorescence microscopy. In this Letter, we propose and demonstrate a new approach to combine the SI technique with the recently innovated motionless incoherent holographic system, called Fresnel incoherent correlation holography (FINCH), in order to enhance the resolution beyond the limits achieved in regular imaging with SI. The results obtained by use of SI-FINCH were compared against regular imaging, regular FINCH and SI-imaging.

Changing image of correlation optics: introduction.

This feature issue of Applied Optics contains a series of selected papers reflecting recent progress of correlation optics and illustrating current trends in vector singular optics, internal energy flows at light fields, optical science of materials, and new biomedical applications of lasers.

Creation of polarization gradients from superposition of counter propagating vector LG beams.

We present a detailed theoretical analysis of the formation of standing waves using cylindrically polarized vector Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams. It is shown that complex interplay between the radial and azimuthal polarization state can be used to realize different kinds of polarization gradients with cylindrically symmetric polarization distribution. Expressions for four different cases are presented and local dynamics of spatial polarization distribution is studied. We show cylindrically symmetric Sisyphus and corkscrew type polarization gradients can be obtained from vector LG beams. The optical landscape presented here with spatially periodic polarization patterns may find important applications in the field of atom optics, atom interferometry, atom lithography, and optical trapping.

Correlation optics in progress: introduction to the feature issue.

This feature issue of Applied Optics contains a series of selected papers reflecting recent progress of correlation optics and showing, in part, the trend from micro-optics to nano-optics.

A zinc-binding citrus protein metallothionein can act as a plant defense factor by controlling host-selective ACR-toxin production.

Metallothionein is a small cysteine-rich protein known to have a metal-binding function. We isolated three different lengths of rough lemon cDNAs encoding a metallothionein (RlemMT1, RlemMT2 and RlemMT3), and only RlemMT1-recombinant protein had zinc-binding activity. Appropriate concentration of zinc is an essential micronutrient for living organisms, while excess zinc is toxic. Zinc also stimulates the production of host-selective ACR-toxin for citrus leaf spot pathogen of Alternaria alternata rough lemon pathotype. Trapping of zinc by RlemMT1-recombinant protein or by a zinc-scavenging agent in the culture medium caused suppression of ACR-toxin production by the fungus. Since ACR-toxin is the disease determinant for A. alternata rough lemon pathotype, addition of RlemMT1 to the inoculum suspension led to a significant decrease in symptoms on rough lemon leaves as a result of reduced ACR-toxin production from the zinc trap around infection sites. RlemMT1-overexpression mutant of A. alternata rough lemon pathotype also produced less ACR-toxin and reduced virulence on rough lemon. This suppression was caused by an interruption of zinc absorption by cells from the trapping of the mineral by RlemMT1 and an excess supplement of ZnSO(4) restored toxin production and pathogenicity. Based on these results, we propose that zinc adsorbents including metallothionein likely can act as a plant defense factor by controlling toxin biosynthesis via inhibition of zinc absorption by the pathogen.

Vectorial van Cittert-Zernike theorem based on spatial averaging: experimental demonstrations.

The van Cittert-Zernike theorem is extended to the vectorial regime based on spatial averaging over the observation plane, and experimental demonstrations are presented. The theorem connects complex vectorial source structure to the degree of coherence and polarization of the spatially fluctuating vectorial field in the far field. Experimentation is carried out by making use of the space averages as a replacement of ensemble averages for the Gaussian stochastic field. For quantitative comparison with the theorem, analytical and experimental results are presented for a rectangular aperture with different vectorial source structures.

Interferometer setup for the observation of polarization structure near the unfolding point of an optical vortex beam in a birefringent crystal.

We propose a novel birefringent interferometer setup for the study of unfolding points, and obtain for the first time to our knowledge the spatial polarization structure very near the unfolding point of a uniformly polarized optical vortex beam propagating in a birefringent crystal. The unfolding point is reconstructed by folding back the two separated eigen-beams at the output of the birefringent crystal into a single beam using another identical birefringent crystal, resulting in a birefringent interferometer of Mach-Zehnder type. We also demonstrate that the separation near the unfolding point can be varied by a small rotation of the second crystal.

Coherence holography by achromatic 3-D field correlation of generic thermal light with an imaging Sagnac shearing interferometer.

We propose a new technique for achromatic 3-D field correlation that makes use of the characteristics of both axial and lateral magnifications of imaging through a common-path Sagnac shearing interferometer. With this technique, we experimentally demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, 3-D image reconstruction of coherence holography with generic thermal light. By virtue of the achromatic axial shearing implemented by the difference in axial magnifications in imaging, the technique enables coherence holography to reconstruct a 3-D object with an axial depth beyond the short coherence length of the thermal light.

Single-shot full-field interferometric polarimeter with an integrated calibration scheme.

A simple interferometric polarimeter with an integrated calibration scheme is proposed for accurate and fast mapping of the state of polarization (SOP). Conventional single-shot polarimeters that detect the amplitude and phase of orthogonally polarized field components by interferometry using Fourier fringe analysis suffers from errors caused by the imperfect reference beam and ambiguity in the spatial carrier frequency in the fringe pattern. In the proposed system, the integrated calibration scheme eliminates those error sources and enables accurate measurement of SOP without prior knowledge of the reference beam and the spatial carrier frequency.

Stokes holography.

A new technique, referred to as Stokes holography, is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for controlled synthesis of generalized Stokes parameters in 3D space using Stokes fringes. Stokes fringes are polarization fringes which permit to record and reconstruct complete wavefront. Full use of Stokes fringes in a single step is realized by scattering complex field and subsequently reconstructing using spatial averaging of the randomly scattered field. Mathematical formulations are derived and supported by experimental results of 3D object reconstruction in generalized Stokes parameters.

Role of the pathotype-specific ACRTS1 gene encoding a hydroxylase involved in the biosynthesis of host-selective ACR-toxin in the rough lemon pathotype of Alternaria alternata.

The rough lemon pathotype of Alternaria alternata produces host-selective ACR-toxin and causes Alternaria leaf spot disease of the rootstock species rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri) and Rangpur lime (C. limonia). Genes controlling toxin production were localized to a 1.5-Mb chromosome carrying the ACR-toxin biosynthesis gene cluster (ACRT) in the genome of the rough lemon pathotype. A genomic BAC clone containing a portion of the ACRT cluster was sequenced which allowed identification of three open reading frames present only in the genomes of ACR-toxin producing isolates. We studied the functional role of one of these open reading frames, ACRTS1 encoding a putative hydroxylase, in ACR-toxin production by homologous recombination-mediated gene disruption. There are at least three copies of ACRTS1 gene in the genome and disruption of two copies of this gene significantly reduced ACR-toxin production as well as pathogenicity; however, transcription of ACRTS1 and production of ACR-toxin were not completely eliminated due to remaining functional copies of the gene. RNA-silencing was used to knock down the remaining ACRTS1 transcripts to levels undetectable by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The silenced transformants did not produce detectable ACR-toxin and were not pathogenic. These results indicate that ACRTS1 is an essential gene in ACR-toxin biosynthesis in the rough lemon pathotype of A. alternata and is required for full virulence of this fungus.

Photon correlation holography.

Unconventional holography called photon correlation holography is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Using photon correlation, i.e. intensity correlation or fourth order correlation of optical field, a 3-D image of the object recorded in a hologram is reconstructed stochastically with illumination through a random phase screen. Two different schemes for realizing photon correlation holography are examined by numerical simulations, and the experiment was performed for one of the reconstruction schemes suitable for the experimental proof of the principle. The technique of photon correlation holography provides a new insight into how the information is embedded in the spatial as well as temporal correlation of photons in the stochastic pseudo thermal light.