Observations of Parametric Fluorescence and Oscillation in the Infrared

Measurements of infrared optical parametric fluorescence are reported for the first time. Using a pump wavelength of 1.064 µ in LiNbO_3 , observations of the fluorescence power, bandwidth, and angular dependence at 1.63 µ are in good agreement with a plane-wave theory. The operating characteristics of two pulsed, internal, doubly resonant parametric oscillators are also reported and compared with predictions of the fluorescence measurements. With measured thresholds on the order of 400–700 W, the two oscillators provided nearly continuous tuning from 1.51 µ to 3.55 µ with average powers of 6 mW and peak powers of 600 W. These powers represent available pump conversion efficiencies of 10% and 50%, respectively. Oscillating bandwidths were only 10% of the fluorescence bandwidth and ranged from 1.7 cm^(-1) to 45 cm^(-1), depending on the output wavelength. Longitudinal mode structure and multiple pulsing of the oscillators were observed

3D Image Acquisition System for Facial Recognition

Identification of an individual has been a long standing problem in human existence. It is clear from the rising rates of identity theft and misappropriation of services that current methods employed to identify individuals is ineffectual. The most common way people identify other individuals is via recognition of the subjects face. The speed and accuracy with which one person can identify another person is uncanny leading to the development automated facial recognition systems. The vast majority of these systems use two-dimensional (2D) images imagery to perform facial recognition with limited success. The use of 2D imagery has limitations which cannot be overcome therefore three-dimensional (3D) facial recognition systems have become the focus of study. The imaging systems used to capture 3D facial imagery is complex, expensive and requires a degree of cooperation from the subject. This paper proposes the use of older photogrammetry techniques to capture 3D facial imagery thereby eliminating the need for specialized 3D imaging equipment. In addition the camera system, once configured, does not require an operator nor does it require undo cooperation of the subject

Equine Infectious Anemia Diagnosis and Prevention

Equine infectous anemia (EIA) was first reported in 1843 and Valle and Carre demonstrated in 1904 that the causative agent was a filterable virus. It is an acute, subacute or chronic disease of Equidae characterized by fever, anemia, depression, edema, and emaciation

Thermal blooming compensation using coherent optical adaptive techniques (COAT)

Real-time compensation for thermally induced beam distortion has been demonstrated using a phase-adaptive aperture subdivided into 18 elements coupled with an 18-channel multidither servo system. The results were obtained using an argon ion laser and a nonlinear liquid cell placed in the near field of the transmitted beam. The system increased the peak beam irradiance by more than a factor of 4 at the highest power used and reduced the beamwidth by a factor of 5.4 from the uncorrected bloomed case. A comparison with predictions from existing theory is given

Deep Learning for Galaxy Mergers in the Galaxy Main Sequence

Starburst galaxies are often found to be the result of galaxy mergers. As a result, galaxy mergers are often believed to lie above the galaxy main sequence: the tight correlation between stellar mass and star formation rate. Here, we aim to test this claim. Deep learning techniques are applied to images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to provide visual-like classifications for over 340 000 objects between redshifts of 0.005 and 0.1. The aim of this classification is to split the galaxy population into merger and non-merger systems and we are currently achieving an accuracy of 91.5%. Stellar masses and star formation rates are also estimated using panchromatic data for the entire galaxy population. With these preliminary data, the mergers are placed onto the full galaxy main sequence, where we find that merging systems lie across the entire star formation rate - stellar mass plane.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. For Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 34

Reviews

The 1991 J.R.R Tolkien Calendar. Illus. by John Howe. Reviewed by Paula DiSante. The Land of Narnia. Brian Sibley, Illus. by Pauline Baynes. Reviewed by Nancy-Lou Patterson. The Tale of the Rings of Power. Thomas Peterson. Reviewed by David Bratman. The Cosmic Trilogy. C.S. Lewis. Reviewed by Nancy-Lou Patterson. The Passionate Intellect: Dorothy L. Sayers\u27 Encounter with Dante. Barbara Reynolds. Reviewed by James E. Pearson Jr.

Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol-Related Problems Among College Students: A Moderated-Mediated Model of Mindfulness and Drinking to Cope

Objective: In college student samples, the association between depressive symptoms and alcohol-related problems has been found to be mediated by drinking-to-cope motives. Mindfulness-based interventions suggest that mindfulness may attenuate the conditioned response of using substances in response to negative emotional states, and trait mindfulness has been shown to be a protective factor associated with experiencing fewer alcohol-related problems. In the present study, we examined trait mindfulness as a moderator of the indirect associations of depressive symptoms on alcohol-related problems via drinking-to-cope motives. Method: Participants were undergraduate students at a large, southeastern university in the United States who drank at least once in the previous month (n = 448). Participants completed an online survey regarding their personal mental health, coping strategies, trait mindfulness, and alcohol use behaviors. The majority of participants were female (n = 302; 67.4%), identified as being either White non Hispanic (n = 213; 47.5%) or African American (n = 119; 26.6%), and reported a mean age of 22.74 (SD = 6.81) years. Further, 110 (25%) participants reported having a previous and/or current experience with mindfulness mediation. Results: As hypothesized, the indirect effects from depressive symptoms to alcohol-related problems via drinking-to-cope motives were weaker among individuals reporting higher levels of mindfulness than among individuals reporting lower and average levels of mindfulness. Conclusions: The present study suggests a possible mechanism through which mindfulness-based interventions may be efficacious among college students: decoupling the associations between depressive symptoms and drinking-to-cope motives

Dietary patterns are associated with cognitive function in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort.

Identifying factors that contribute to the preservation of cognitive function is imperative to maintaining quality of life in advanced years. Of modifiable risk factors, diet quality has emerged as a promising candidate to make an impact on cognition. The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between empirically derived dietary patterns and cognitive function. This study included 18 080 black and white participants aged 45 years and older from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort. Principal component analysis on data from the Block98 FFQ yielded five dietary patterns: convenience, plant-based, sweets/fats, Southern, and alcohol/salads. Incident cognitive impairment was defined as shifting from intact cognitive status (score >4) at first assessment to impaired cognitive status (score ≤4) at latest assessment, measured by the Six-Item Screener. Learning, memory and executive function were evaluated with the Word List Learning, Word List Delayed Recall, and animal fluency assessments. In fully adjusted models, greater consumption of the alcohol/salads pattern was associated with lower odds of incident cognitive impairment (highest quintile (Q5) v. lowest quintile (Q1): OR 0·68; 95 % CI 0·56, 0·84; P for trend 0·0005). Greater consumption of the alcohol/salads pattern was associated with higher scores on all domain-specific assessments and greater consumption of the plant-based pattern was associated with higher scores in learning and memory. Greater consumption of the Southern pattern was associated with lower scores on each domain-specific assessment (all P < 0·05). In conclusion, dietary patterns including plant-based foods and alcohol intake were associated with higher cognitive scores, and a pattern including fried food and processed meat typical of a Southern diet was associated with lower scores