Angular dependence of the intensity of light beams diffracted by colloidal crystals

An experimental and theoretical analysis of the angular dependence of the diffracted light beams emerging from three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystals is herein presented. Diffracted beams are identified according to their associated reciprocal-lattice vectors, and their intensities are obtained as a function of the zenithal and azimuthal incidence angles. Significant changes in the beam intensities are observed for large zenithal incidence angles as the azimuthal angle is varied. This phenomenon is related to the excitation of new resonant modes inside the photonic crystal which cannot be observed under normal incidence conditions. © 2010 Optical Society of America.Peer Reviewe

High depth of focus by combining annular lenses

In some technological applications, optical systems that produce a high depth of focus and superresolving transversal responses are required. In this paper we present a pupil design consisting in a phase pupil with binary amplitude, that added to a conventional optical system, can accomplish these goals. The pupil function is characterized by a complex amplitude that consists basically in combining two annular lenses with different focal length. Meanwhile the central portion of the pupil has an amplitude equal to 0, the external portion is modulated with two quadratic phases each one covering an annular zone. One of the phases corresponds to a convergent lens and the other to a divergent lens. The effect on the incident wavefront is to redirect the light in front of and behind the best image plane (BIP) producing a widened focus. The evolution of the transverse gain for the extended focus is also studied. Experimental results are given, and they confirm the extended focus and the superresolving behavior of the proposed pupil function.Fil: Ledesma, Silvia Adriana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Escalera, J. C.. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Campos, Juan. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Mazzaferri, Javier E.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Yzuel, María J.. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona; Españ

Angular dependence of the intensity of light beams diffracted by colloidal crystals

An experimental and theoretical analysis of the angular dependence of the diffracted light beams emerging from three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystals is herein presented. Diffracted beams are identified according to their associated reciprocal-lattice vectors, and their intensities are obtained as a function of the zenithal and azimuthal incidence angles. Significant changes in the beam intensities are observed for large zenithal incidence angles as the azimuthal angle is varied. This phenomenon is related to the excitation of new resonant modes inside the photonic crystal which cannot be observed under normal incidence conditions.Fil: Lozano, Gabriel. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas; EspañaFil: Mazzaferri, Javier E.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Procesado de Imágenes; ArgentinaFil: Dorado, Luis Antonio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Grupo de Electromagnetismo Aplicado; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ledesma, Silvia Adriana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Procesado de Imágenes; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Depine, Ricardo Angel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Grupo de Electromagnetismo Aplicado; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Míguez, Hernán. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas; Españ

Efficacy and safety of baricitinib in hospitalized adults with severe or critical COVID-19 (Bari-SolidAct): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial

International audienceAbstract Background Baricitinib has shown efficacy in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, but no placebo-controlled trials have focused specifically on severe/critical COVID, including vaccinated participants. Methods Bari-SolidAct is a phase-3, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, enrolling participants from June 3, 2021 to March 7, 2022, stopped prematurely for external evidence. Patients with severe/critical COVID-19 were randomised to Baricitinib 4 mg once daily or placebo, added to standard of care. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality within 60 days. Participants were remotely followed to day 90 for safety and patient related outcome measures. Results Two hundred ninety-nine patients were screened, 284 randomised, and 275 received study drug or placebo and were included in the modified intent-to-treat analyses (139 receiving baricitinib and 136 placebo). Median age was 60 (IQR 49–69) years, 77% were male and 35% had received at least one dose of SARS-CoV2 vaccine. There were 21 deaths at day 60 in each group, 15.1% in the baricitinib group and 15.4% in the placebo group (adjusted absolute difference and 95% CI − 0.1% [− 8·3 to 8·0]). In sensitivity analysis censoring observations after drug discontinuation or rescue therapy (tocilizumab/increased steroid dose), proportions of death were 5.8% versus 8.8% (− 3.2% [− 9.0 to 2.7]), respectively. There were 148 serious adverse events in 46 participants (33.1%) receiving baricitinib and 155 in 51 participants (37.5%) receiving placebo. In subgroup analyses, there was a potential interaction between vaccination status and treatment allocation on 60-day mortality. In a subsequent post hoc analysis there was a significant interaction between vaccination status and treatment allocation on the occurrence of serious adverse events, with more respiratory complications and severe infections in vaccinated participants treated with baricitinib. Vaccinated participants were on average 11 years older, with more comorbidities. Conclusion This clinical trial was prematurely stopped for external evidence and therefore underpowered to conclude on a potential survival benefit of baricitinib in severe/critical COVID-19. We observed a possible safety signal in vaccinated participants, who were older with more comorbidities. Although based on a post-hoc analysis, these findings warrant further investigation in other trials and real-world studies. Trial registration Bari-SolidAct is registered at NCT04891133 (registered May 18, 2021) and EUClinicalTrials.eu ( 2022-500385-99-00 )