A no-reference metric for demosaicing artifacts that fits psycho-visual experiments

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Improved implementation of nonclassicality test for a single particle

Recently a test of nonclassicality for a single qubit was proposed [R. Alicki and N. Van Ryn, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 41, 062001 (2008)]. We present an optimized experimental realization of this test leading to a 46 standard deviation violation of classicality. This factor of 5 improvement over our previous result was achieved by moving from the infrared to the visible where we can take advantage of higher efficiency and lower noise photon detectors.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Radiation-Enhancement Properties of an X-Band Woodpile EBG and Its Application to a Planar Antenna

A woodpile Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG) material has been designed, by using an in-house code that implements the Fourier Modal Method (FMM). A couple of alumina-woodpile samples have been fabricated. Several results have been collected for the transmission behaviour of the woodpile and of resonators with woodpile mirrors, in a shielded anechoic chamber, by using a vector network analyzer, in the 8–12 GHz range. These new experimental data highlight interesting properties of 3D EBG resonators and suggest possible innovative applications. Comparisons of the collected results with FMM show a satisfactory agreement. An application of the EBG resonator has been considered, for gain enhancement of a microstrip antenna: an increase of about 10 dB in the broadside gain has been measured; experimental data and numerical results obtained with the commercial software HFSS show a good agreement. A comparison is presented between EBG resonator antennas and two-dimensional uniform arrays. Finally, HFSS results are provided for EBG resonator antennas working at higher frequencies or with a more selective superstrate: a gain enhancement of more than 18 dB is achieved by such antennas

Exploiting Genetic and Genomic Resources to Enhance Heat-Tolerance in Tomatoes

High temperature is one of the most detrimental abiotic stresses in tomatoes. Many studies highlighted that even small increases in temperature can alter the plant reproductive system, causing a significant reduction in tomato yield. The aim of this study was to exploit the phenotypic and genomic variations of a tomato landrace collection grown at high temperatures. Fifteen genotypes were selected as the best performing in two experimental fields. The selection was based on six yield-related traits, including flower earliness, number of flowers per inflorescence, fruit set, number of fruit per plant, fruit weight and yield per plant. In order to identify markers targeting traits that could be highly influenced by adverse climate conditions, such as flowering and fruit setting, an association mapping approach was undertaken exploiting a tomato high-throughput genomic array. The phenotypic variability observed allowed us to identify a total of 15 common markers associated with the studied traits. In particular, the most relevant associations co-localized with genes involved in the floral structure development, such as the style2.1 gene, or with genes directly involved in the response to abiotic stresses. These promising candidate genes will be functionally validated and transferred to a cultivated tomato to improve its performance under high temperatures

CD99 Expression and Prognostic Impact in Glioblastoma: A Single-Center Cohort Study

Glioblastoma is the most frequent and aggressive brain tumor in adults. This study aims to evaluate the expression and prognostic impact of CD99, a membrane glycoprotein involved in cellular migration and invasion. In a cohort of patients with glioblastoma treated with surgery, radiotherapy and temozolomide, we retrospectively analyzed tumor expression of CD99 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for both the wild type (CD99wt) and the truncated (CD99sh) isoforms. The impact on overall survival (OS) was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test and by multivariable Cox regression. Forty-six patients with glioblastoma entered this study. Immunohistochemical expression of CD99 was present in 83%. Only the CD99wt isoform was detected by qRT-PCR and was significantly correlated with CD99 expression evaluated by IHC (rho = 0.309, p = 0.037). CD99 expression was not associated with OS, regardless of the assessment methodology used (p = 0.61 for qRT-PCR and p = 0.73 for IHC). In an exploratory analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas, casuistry of glioblastomas CD99 expression was not associated with OS nor with progression-free survival. This study confirms a high expression of CD99 in glioblastoma but does not show any significant impact on survival. Further preclinical studies are needed to define its role as a therapeutic target in glioblastoma

Polarization changes produced by diffractive optical microstructures

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Plane-wave expansion of cylindrical functions in lossy media

Cylindrical waves, expressed as the product of a Hankel function of integer order times a sinusoidal angular factor, are often employed in the solution of two-dimensional scattering problems. In this paper, a general closed-form expression for the angular spectrum of a cylindrical wave in a lossy medium is derived