Diffraction field computation from arbitrarily distributed data points in space

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Computation of the diffraction field from a given set of arbitrarily distributed data points in space is an important signal processing problem arising in digital holographic 3D displays. The field arising from such distributed data points has to be solved simultaneously by considering all mutual couplings to get correct results. In our approach, the discrete form of the plane wave decomposition is used to calculate the diffraction field. Two approaches, based on matrix inversion and on projections on to convex sets (POCS), are studied. Both approaches are able to obtain the desired field when the number of given data points is larger than the number of data points on a transverse cross-section of the space. The POCS-based algorithm outperforms the matrix-inversion-based algorithm when the number of known data points is large. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Efecto del consumo de harina de maíz fortificada con ácido fólico sobre los niveles de folatos sanguíneos en mujeres de edad fértil

Fortification of foods is now widely used to prevent folate deficiency. Folic acid has been added to corn flour and its efficacy in the prevention of NTD has been proved. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of the intake of fortified corn-flour versus non fortified flour and to folic acid supplement, on blood folate levels in women of childbearing age. Forty-five women were randomized into three groups according to: (A) use of fortified flour (n=18), (B) non-fortified flour (n=17); (C) supplementation with 5 mg of oral folic acid (n=10). All females answer a dietary and anthropometric questionnaire applied once a month during three months. Blood red cell (IE) and plasmatic (P) folate were measured at the beginning and at the end of the study; also the DNA analysis for the 677T mutation was performed. The corn flour was provided to groups A and B during three months, to be consumed as eight tortillas daily. Group C received 5.0 mg tablet of folic acid (Valdecasas®), once per week, during three months. IE and P folate and hematocrito were significantly increased in women from group C (p<0.05) ). Only plasmatic folic acid levels were significantly increased in women from groups A and B. Genotype distribution was: 15.6% homozygous TT, 42.2% C/C and 42.2% CT. Weekly administration of 5.0 mg of folic acid is an effective way to increase blood folate levels and shows to be more efficient than fortified corn flour

Can we rate public support for democracy in a comparable way? Cross-national equivalence of democratic attitudes in the World Value Survey

In this study we examine the cross-cultural equivalence of two scales that measure attitudes toward democracy across 36 countries in the World Value Survey (WVS) 2000. We examine the equivalence of these scales in order to explore if we can meaningfully compare democratic attitudes across countries. Multiple group confirmatory factor analyses (MGCFA) is applied to answer this question. The analyses indicate that the scales may be compared but only to a certain extent and not across all the countries. We close this article by discussing the implications of the findings

Transits of Known Planets Orbiting a Naked-Eye Star

© 2020 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Some of the most scientifically valuable transiting planets are those that were already known from radial velocity (RV) surveys. This is primarily because their orbits are well characterized and they preferentially orbit bright stars that are the targets of RV surveys. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) provides an opportunity to survey most of the known exoplanet systems in a systematic fashion to detect possible transits of their planets. HD 136352 (Nu2 Lupi) is a naked-eye (V = 5.78) G-type main-sequence star that was discovered to host three planets with orbital periods of 11.6, 27.6, and 108.1 days via RV monitoring with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph. We present the detection and characterization of transits for the two inner planets of the HD 136352 system, revealing radii of 1.482-0.056+0.058 R ⊕ and 2.608-0.077+0.078 R ⊕ for planets b and c, respectively. We combine new HARPS observations with RV data from the Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer and the Anglo-Australian Telescope, along with TESS photometry from Sector 12, to perform a complete analysis of the system parameters. The combined data analysis results in extracted bulk density values of ρb = 7.8-1.1+1.2 g cm-3 and ρc = 3.50-0.36+0.41 g cm-3 for planets b and c, respectively, thus placing them on either side of the radius valley. The combination of the multitransiting planet system, the bright host star, and the diversity of planetary interiors and atmospheres means this will likely become a cornerstone system for atmospheric and orbital characterization of small worlds.Peer reviewe

An algorithm for resolution enhancement of low-resolution patterns captured by a sensor array

In digital holography, diffraction fields of 3D objects can be captured by sensor arrays. Although, capturing high resolution diffraction field paves the way to reconstruct objects with sharper edges and wider viewing angles, there are some imposed limitations on the capturing devices. For instance, when the size of the sensors are decreased, power of the captured light will drop, conversely power of the shot noise will increase. Hence, the quality of the captured pattern may be plummeted. As a solution to capture high resolution diffraction fields, we propose a super-resolution method which is based on capturing multiple low resolution patterns. First, the relation between high and low resolution patterns are described by a system matrix. Special ordering is used on the pixels of the low resolution patterns, thus system matrix is formed as a square and band matrix. Then, inverse of the system matrix provided to calculate high resolution diffraction. Performance of the algorithm is observed by using noisy low-resolution patterns, imprecise shifts of the sensor array along the transversal axes. The proposed algorithm provides robust results and pave the way to recover some of the high frequency components. Also, the simplicity of the algorithm makes it easy to implement. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserve