Common-path multimodal optical microscopy

We have developed a common-path multimodal optical microscopy system that is capable of using a single optical source and a single camera to image amplitude, phase, and fluorescence features of a biological specimen. This is achieved by varying either contrast enhancement filters at the Fourier plane and/or neutral density/fluorescence filters in front of the CCD camera. The feasibility of the technique is demonstrated by obtaining brightfield, fluorescence, phase-contrast, spatially filtered, brightfield + fluorescence, phase +fluorescence, and edge-enhanced+fluorescence images of the same Drosophila embryo without the need for image registration and fusion. This comprehensive microscope has the capability of providing both structural and functional information and may be used for applications such as studying live-cell dynamics and in high throughput microscopy and automated microscopy

Nonlinear photoacoustics for measuring the nonlinear optical absorption coefficient

We report a novel photoacoustic Z-scan (PAZ-scan) technique that combines the advantages offered by the conventional Z-scan method and the sensitivity of the photoacoustic detection. The sample is scanned through the focused laser beam and the generated photoacoustic signal is recorded using a 10 MHz focused ultrasound transducer. Since the signal strength is directly proportional to the optical absorption, PAZ-scan displays nonlinear behavior depicting the nonlinear optical absorption of the material. Among many advantages, our experiments on mouse blood show that PAZ-scan can potentially be used as a standard technique to calibrate contrast agents used in theranostics in general and photoacoustics in particular

Mixing Optimization in Grooved Serpentine Microchannels

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Computational fluid dynamics modeling at Reynolds numbers ranging from 10 to 100 was used to characterize the performance of a new type of micromixer employing a serpentine channel with a grooved surface. The new topology exploits the overlap between the typical Dean flows present in curved channels due to the centrifugal forces experienced by the fluids, and the helical flows induced by slanted groove-ridge patterns with respect to the direction of the flow. The resulting flows are complex, with multiple vortices and saddle points, leading to enhanced mixing across the section of the channel. The optimization of the mixers with respect to the inner radius of curvature (Rin) of the serpentine channel identifies the designs in which the mixing index quality is both high (M \u3e 0.95) and independent of the Reynolds number across all the values investigated

Medical image processing using transient Fourier holography in bacteriorhodopsin films

Real time image processing is demonstrated by recording and reconstructing the transient photoisomerizative grating formed in the bR film using Fourier holography. Desired spatial frequencies including both high and low band in the object beam are reconstructed by controlling the reference beam intensity. The results are in agreement with a theoretical model based on photoisomerization grating. We exploit this technique to process mammograms in real-time for identification of microcalcifications buried in the soft tissue for early detection of breast cancer. A feature of the technique is the ability to transient display of selected spatial frequencies in the reconstructing process which enables the radiologists to study the features of interest

Unusual signatures of the ferromagnetic transition in the heavy Fermion compound UMn2_2Al20_{20}

Magnetic susceptibility results for single crystals of the new cubic compounds UT$_2$Al$_{20}$ (T=Mn, V, and Mo) are reported. Magnetization, specific heat, resistivity, and neutron diffraction results for a single crystal and neutron diffraction and inelastic spectra for a powder sample are reported for UMn$_2$Al$_{20}$. For T = V and Mo, temperature independent Pauli paramagnetism is observed. For UMn$_2$Al$_{20}$, a ferromagnetic transition is observed in the magnetic susceptibility at $T_c$ = 20 K. The specific heat anomaly at $T_c$ is very weak while no anomaly in the resistivity is seen at $T_c$. We discuss two possible origins for this behavior of UMn$_2$Al$_{20}$: moderately small moment itinerant ferromagnetism, or induced local moment ferromagnetism.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. rev.

Distributed Community Detection in Dynamic Graphs

Inspired by the increasing interest in self-organizing social opportunistic networks, we investigate the problem of distributed detection of unknown communities in dynamic random graphs. As a formal framework, we consider the dynamic version of the well-studied \emph{Planted Bisection Model} \sdG(n,p,q) where the node set $[n]$ of the network is partitioned into two unknown communities and, at every time step, each possible edge $(u,v)$ is active with probability $p$ if both nodes belong to the same community, while it is active with probability $q$ (with $q<<p$) otherwise. We also consider a time-Markovian generalization of this model. We propose a distributed protocol based on the popular \emph{Label Propagation Algorithm} and prove that, when the ratio $p/q$ is larger than $n^{b}$ (for an arbitrarily small constant $b>0$), the protocol finds the right "planted" partition in $O(\log n)$ time even when the snapshots of the dynamic graph are sparse and disconnected (i.e. in the case $p=\Theta(1/n)$).Comment: Version I

Optimal placement of distributed energy storage systems in distribution networks using artificial bee colony algorithm

The deployment of utility-scale energy storage systems (ESSs) can be a significant avenue for improving the performance of distribution networks. An optimally placed ESS can reduce power losses and line loading, mitigate peak network demand, improve voltage profile, and in some cases contribute to the network fault level diagnosis. This paper proposes a strategy for optimal placement of distributed ESSs in distribution networks to minimize voltage deviation, line loading, and power losses. The optimal placement of distributed ESSs is investigated in a medium voltage IEEE-33 bus distribution system, which is influenced by a high penetration of renewable (solar and wind) distributed generation, for two scenarios: (1) with a uniform ESS size and (2) with non-uniform ESS sizes. System models for the proposed implementations are developed, analyzed, and tested using DIgSILENT PowerFactory. The artificial bee colony optimization approach is employed to optimize the objective function parameters through a Python script automating simulation events in PowerFactory. The optimization results, obtained from the artificial bee colony approach, are also compared with the use of a particle swarm optimization algorithm. The simulation results suggest that the proposed ESS placement approach can successfully achieve the objectives of voltage profile improvement, line loading minimization, and power loss reduction, and thereby significantly improve distribution network performance

Phase contrast imaging using photothermally induced phase transitions in liquid crystals

Phase contrast imaging is performed for live biological species using photothermal induced birefringence in dye doped liquid crystals. Using typical 4-f configuration, when liquid crystal cell is at back focal plane of Fourier lens, low spatial frequencies at center of Fourier spectrum are intense enough to induce local liquid crystal molecules into isotropic phase, whereas high spatial frequencies on the edges are not intense enough and remain in anisotropic phase. This results in π/2 phase difference between high and low spatial frequencies. This simple, inexpensive, all-optical, user-friendly, self-adaptive phase contrast imaging technique using low-power laser offers several distinct advantages