Dynamic lens and monovision 3D displays to improve viewer comfort.

Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) displays provide an additional sense of depth compared to non-stereoscopic displays by sending slightly different images to the two eyes. But conventional S3D displays do not reproduce all natural depth cues. In particular, focus cues are incorrect causing mismatches between accommodation and vergence: The eyes must accommodate to the display screen to create sharp retinal images even when binocular disparity drives the eyes to converge to other distances. This mismatch causes visual discomfort and reduces visual performance. We propose and assess two new techniques that are designed to reduce the vergence-accommodation conflict and thereby decrease discomfort and increase visual performance. These techniques are much simpler to implement than previous conflict-reducing techniques. The first proposed technique uses variable-focus lenses between the display and the viewer's eyes. The power of the lenses is yoked to the expected vergence distance thereby reducing the mismatch between vergence and accommodation. The second proposed technique uses a fixed lens in front of one eye and relies on the binocularly fused percept being determined by one eye and then the other, depending on simulated distance. We conducted performance tests and discomfort assessments with both techniques and compared the results to those of a conventional S3D display. The first proposed technique, but not the second, yielded clear improvements in performance and reductions in discomfort. This dynamic-lens technique therefore offers an easily implemented technique for reducing the vergence-accommodation conflict and thereby improving viewer experience.

Stereoscopic 3D display technique using spatiotemporal interlacing has improved spatial and temporal properties.

Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) displays use spatial or temporal interlacing to send different images to the two eyes. Temporal interlacing delivers images to the left and right eyes alternately in time; it has high effective spatial resolution but is prone to temporal artifacts. Spatial interlacing delivers even pixel rows to one eye and odd rows to the other eye simultaneously; it is subject to spatial limitations such as reduced spatial resolution. We propose a spatiotemporal-interlacing protocol that interlaces the left- and right-eye views spatially, but with the rows being delivered to each eye alternating with each frame. We performed psychophysical experiments and found that flicker, motion artifacts, and depth distortion are substantially reduced relative to the temporal-interlacing protocol, and spatial resolution is better than in the spatial-interlacing protocol. Thus, the spatiotemporal-interlacing protocol retains the benefits of spatial and temporal interlacing while minimizing or even eliminating the drawbacks.

Stereoscopic 3D display with color interlacing improves perceived depth.

Temporal interlacing is a method for presenting stereoscopic 3D content whereby the two eyes' views are presented at different times and optical filtering selectively delivers the appropriate view to each eye. This approach is prone to distortions in perceived depth because the visual system can interpret the temporal delay between binocular views as spatial disparity. We propose a novel color-interlacing display protocol that reverses the order of binocular presentation for the green primary but maintains the order for the red and blue primaries: During the first sub-frame, the left eye sees the green component of the left-eye view and the right eye sees the red and blue components of the right-eye view, and vice versa during the second sub-frame. The proposed method distributes the luminance of each eye's view more evenly over time. Because disparity estimation is based primarily on luminance information, a more even distribution of luminance over time should reduce depth distortion. We conducted a psychophysical experiment to test these expectations and indeed found that less depth distortion occurs with color interlacing than temporal interlacing.

The visibility of color breakup and a means to reduce it.

Color breakup is an artifact seen on displays that present colors sequentially. When the eye tracks a moving object on such a display, different colors land on different places on the retina, and this gives rise to visible color fringes at the object's leading and trailing edges. Interestingly, color breakup is also observed when the eye is stationary and an object moves by. Using a novel psychophysical procedure, we measured breakup both when viewers tracked and did not track a moving object. Breakup was somewhat more visible in the tracking than in the non-tracking condition. The video frames contained three subframes, one each for red, green, and blue. We spatially offset the green and blue stimuli in the second and third subframes, respectively, to find the values that minimized breakup. In the tracking and non-tracking conditions, spatial offsets of Δx/3 in the second subframe (where Δx is the displacement of the object in one frame) and 2Δx/3 in the third eliminated breakup. Thus, this method offers a way to minimize or even eliminate breakup whether the viewer is tracking or not. We suggest ways to implement the method with real video content. We also developed a color-breakup model based on spatiotemporal filtering in color-opponent pathways in early vision. We found close agreement between the model's predictions and the experimental results. The model can be used to predict breakup for a wide variety of conditions.

Attenuated Listeria monocytogenes vaccine vectors expressing influenza A nucleoprotein: preclinical evaluation and oral inoculation of volunteers.

Listeria monocytogenes vectors have shown promise for delivery of viral and tumor antigens in animals. We used two mutant vector strains deleted for actA/plcB (BMB72) and actA/inlB (BMB54), and engineered both strains to secrete a heterologous nucleoprotein antigen from the Influenza A virus. Strains were evaluated in vitro and in mice. Twenty-two healthy volunteers received single oral doses of either strain in a physiological study of safety, shedding, and immunogenicity. Volunteers were observed in the hospital for seven days and had daily blood cultures, routine safety blood tests (complete blood count with differential; hepatic and renal function), and fecal cultures; none had fever, positive blood cultures, prolonged shedding, or serious or unexpected events. Four of 12 volunteers who received the actA/plcB-deleted strain had minor, transient, asymptomatic serum transaminase elevations (maximum increase 1.4× upper normal). Six of six volunteers who received ≥4 × 10(9) colony forming units had detectable mucosal immune responses to listerial antigens, but not to the vectored influenza antigen. Approximately half the volunteers had modest interferon-γ ELISpot responses to a complex listerial antigen, but none had increases over their baseline responses to the influenza antigen. Comparison with prior work suggests that foreign antigen expression, and perhaps also freezing, may adversely affect the organisms' immunogenicity.

Viability of Bacillus subtilis Spores Exposed to Ultraviolet Light at Ocean World Surface Temperatures.

This work investigated microorganism survival under temperature and ultraviolet (UV) radiation conditions found at the surface of ice-covered ocean worlds. These studies were motivated by a desire to understand the ability of resilient forms of life to survive under such conditions as a proxy for potential endogenic life and to inform planetary protection protocols for future missions. To accomplish this, we irradiated Bacillus subtilis spores with solar-like UV photons at temperatures ranging from room temperature down to 11 K and reported survival fractions with respect to fluence. We observed an increase in survival at low temperatures and found that the inactivation rate follows an Arrhenius-type behavior above 60 K. For solar-photon fluxes and surface temperatures at Europa and Enceladus, we found that Bacillus subtilis spores would be inactivated in less than an hour when in direct sunlight.

Spectroscopy and viability of Bacillus subtilis spores after ultraviolet irradiation: implications for the detection of potential bacterial life on Europa.

One of the most habitable environments in the Solar System outside of Earth may exist underneath the ice on Europa. In the near future, our best chance to look for chemical signatures of a habitable environment (or life itself) will likely be at the inhospitable icy surface. Therefore, it is important to understand the ability of organic signatures of life and life itself to persist under simulated europan surface conditions. Toward that end, this work examined the UV photolysis of Bacillus subtilis spores and their chemical marker dipicolinic acid (DPA) at temperatures and pressures relevant to Europa. In addition, inactivation curves for the spores at 100 K, 100 K covered in one micron of ice, and 298 K were measured to determine the probability for spore survival at the surface. Fourier transform infrared spectra of irradiated DPA showed a loss of carboxyl groups to CO2 as expected but unexpectedly showed significant opening of the heterocyclic ring, even for wavelengths>200 nm. Both DPA and B. subtilis spores showed identical unknown spectral bands of photoproducts after irradiation, further highlighting the importance of DPA in the photochemistry of spores. Spore survival was enhanced at 100 K by ∼5× relative to 298 K, but 99.9% of spores were still inactivated after the equivalent of ∼25 h of exposure on the europan surface.

Ion funnel augmented Mars atmospheric pressure photoionization mass spectrometry for in situ detection of organic molecules.

Laser desorption is an attractive technique for in situ sampling of organics on Mars given its relative simplicity. We demonstrate that under simulated Martian conditions (~2.5 Torr CO(2)) laser desorption of neutral species (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), followed by ionization with a simple ultraviolet light source such as a discharge lamp, offers an effective means of sampling organics for detection and identification with a mass spectrometer. An electrodynamic ion funnel is employed to provide efficient ion collection in the ambient Martian environment. This experimental methodology enables in situ sampling of Martian organics with minimal complexity and maximum flexibility.

Transcutaneous immunization of healthy volunteers with an attenuated Listeria monocytogenes vaccine strain and cholera toxin adjuvant.

BACKGROUND: Attenuated Listeria monocytogenes vaccine strains have been administered intravenously (Le et al., Maciag et al.) and orally (Angelakopoulos et al., Johnson et al.) to humans. Here, one was given transcutaneously with cholera toxin adjuvant. METHODS: Eight healthy volunteers were studied (5 active, 3 placebo). Safety was assessed by physical exam and labs. Systemic immunological responses were measured by ELISA and IFN-gamma ELISpot. RESULTS: 4/5 active volunteers had cellular responses to listerial antigens. 5/5 active volunteers showed humoral responses to cholera toxin. CONCLUSIONS: An attenuated L. monocytogenes vector was safely administered transcutaneously. Topical administration appeared at least as immunogenic as previously studied oral delivery.

Ultraviolet-stimulated fluorescence and phosphorescence of aromatic hydrocarbons in water ice.

A principal goal of astrobiology is to detect and inventory the population of organic compounds on extraterrestrial bodies. Targets of specific interest include the wealth of icy worlds that populate our Solar System. One potential technique for in situ detection of organics trapped in water ice matrices involves ultraviolet-stimulated emission from these compounds. Here, we report a preliminary investigation into the feasibility of this concept. Specifically, fluorescence and phosphorescence of pure benzene ice and 1% mixtures of benzene, toluene, p-xylene, m-xylene, and o-xylene in water ice, respectively, were studied at temperatures ranging from ∼17 K up to 160 K. Spectra were measured from 200-500 nm (50,000-20,000 cm(-1)) while ice mixtures were excited at 248.6 nm. The temperature dependence of the fluorescence and phosphorescence intensities was found to be independent of the thermal history and phase of the ice matrix in all cases examined. All phosphorescent emissions were found to decrease in intensity with increasing temperature. Similar behavior was observed for fluorescence in pure benzene, while the observed fluorescence intensity in water ices was independent of temperature.

Experimental and theoretical investigation into the correlation between mass and ion mobility for choline and other ammonium cations in N2.

A number of tertiary amine and quaternary ammonium cations spanning a mass range of 60-146 amu (trimethylamine, tetramethylammonium, trimethylethylammonium, N,N-dimethylaminoethanol, choline, N,N-dimethylglycine, betaine, acetylcholine, (3-carboxypropyl)trimethylammonium) were investigated using electrospray ionization ion mobility spectrometry. Measured ion mobilities demonstrate a high correlation between mass and mobility in N(2). In addition, identical mobilities within experimental uncertainties are observed for structurally dissimilar ions with similar ion masses. For example, dimethylethylammonium (88 amu) cations and protonated N,N-dimethylaminoethanol cations (90 amu) show identical mobilities (1.93 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) though N,N-dimethylaminoethanol contains a hydroxyl functional group while dimethylethylammonium only contains alkyl groups. Computational analysis was performed using the modified trajectory (TJ) method with nonspherical N(2) molecules as the drift gas. The sensitivity of the ammonium cation collision cross sections to the details of the ion-neutral interactions was investigated and compared to other classes of organic molecules (carboxylic acids and abiotic amino acids). The specific charge distribution of the molecular ions in the investigated mass range has an insignificant affect on the collision cross section.

Electrospray ionization ion mobility spectrometry of carboxylate anions: ion mobilities and a mass-mobility correlation.

A number of carboxylate anions spanning a mass range of 87-253 amu (pyruvate, oxalate, malonate, maleate, succinate, malate, tartarate, glutarate, adipate, phthalate, citrate, gluconate, 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylate, and 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylate) were investigated using electrospray ionization ion mobility spectrometry. Measured ion mobilities demonstrated a high correlation between mass and mobility in both N2 and CO2 drift gases. Such a strong mass-mobility correlation among structurally dissimilar ions suggests that the carboxylate functional group that these ions have in common is the source of the correlation. Computational analysis was performed to determine the most stable conformation of the studied carboxylate anions in the gas phase under the current experimental conditions. This analysis indicated that the most stable conformations for multicarboxylate anions included intramolecular hydrogen-bonded ring structures formed between the carboxylate group and the neutral carboxyl group. The carboxylate anions that form ring confirmations generally show higher ion mobility values than those that form extended conformations. This is the first observation of intramolecular hydrogen-bonded ring conformation of carboxylate anions in the gas phase at atmospheric pressure.