Defocus test and defocus correction in full-field optical coherence tomography

We report experimental evidence and correction of defocus in full-field OCT of biological samples due to mismatch of the refractive index of biological tissues and water. Via a metric based on the image quality, we demonstrate that we are able to compensate this index-induced defocus and to recover a sharp image in depth.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, minor changes, 1 figure adde

Effects of Minijets on Hadronic Spectra and Azimuthal Harmonics in Au-Au Collisions at 200 GeV

The production of hadrons in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC in the low transverse-momentum ($p_T$) region is investigated in the recombination model with emphasis on the effects of minijets on the azimuthal anisotropy. Since the study is mainly on the hadronization of partons at late time, the fluid picture is not used to trace the evolution of the system. The inclusive distributions at low $p_T$ are determined as the recombination products of thermal partons. The $p_T$ dependencies of both pion and proton have a common exponential factor apart from other dissimilar kinematic and resonance factors, because they are inherited from the same pool of thermal partons. Instead of the usual description based on hydrodynamics, the azimuthal anisotropy of the produced hadrons is explained as the consequence of the effects of minijets, either indirectly through the recombination of enhanced thermal partons in the vicinity of the trajectories of the semihard partons, or directly through thermal-shower recombination. Although our investigation is focussed on the single-particle distribution at midrapidity, we give reasons why a component in that distribution can be identified with the ridge, which together with the second harmonic $v_2$ is due to the semihard partons created near the medium surface that lead to calculable anisotropy in $\phi$. It is shown that the higher azimuthal harmonics, $v_n$, can also be well reproduced without reference to flow. The $p_T$ and centrality dependencies of the higher harmonics are prescribed by the interplay between TT and TS recombination components. The implication of the success of this drastic departure from the conventional approach is discussed.Comment: 28 pages and 8 figures, more discussions and references adde

Phase Modulation at 125 kHz in a Michelson Interferometer Using an Inexpensive Piezoelectric Stack Driven at Resonance

Fast phase modulation has been achieved in a Michelson interferometer by attaching a lightweight reference mirror to a piezoelectric stack and driving the stack at a resonance frequency of about 125 kHz. The electrical behavior of the piezo stack and the mechanical properties of the piezo-mirror arrangement are described. A displacement amplitude at resonance of about 350 nm was achieved using a standard function generator. Phase drift in the interferometer and piezo wobble were readily circumvented. This approach to phase modulation is less expensive by a factor of roughly 50 than one based on an electro-optic effect

Paclitaxel Drug-Coated Balloon Angioplasty Suppresses Progression and Inflammation of Experimental Atherosclerosis in Rabbits

Paclitaxel drug-coated balloons (DCBs) reduce restenosis, but their overall safety has recently raised concerns. This study hypothesized that DCBs could lessen inflammation and reduce plaque progression. Using 25 rabbits with cholesterol feeding- and balloon injury-induced lesions, DCB-percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), plain PTA, or sham-PTA (balloon insertion without inflation) was investigated using serial intravascular near-infrared fluorescence−optical coherence tomography and serial intravascular ultrasound. In these experiments, DCB-PTA reduced inflammation and plaque burden in nonobstructive lesions compared with PTA or sham-PTA. These findings indicated the potential for DCBs to serve safely as regional anti-atherosclerosis therapy

Distensibility of Small Pulmonary Blood Vessels 1

Although vasomotor activity in small pulmonary vessels has been studied extensively in the past, using the concept of resistance to flow, information on the distensibility of these vessels is very sparse. In Introduction The concept of resistance to flow has been extensively used in the past to study vasomotion in the pulmonary vascular bed of man and animals. These previous studies have provided useful information on the responses of the small pulmonary vessels (i.e., pulmonary "resistance" vessels) in various disease states and/or during administration of various drug