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At least 235 records · Page 13

Objective lens

An objective lens and a method for using same. The objective lens has a first end, a second end, and a plurality of optical elements. The optical elements are positioned between the first end and the second end and are at least substantially symmetric about a plane centered between the first end and the second end.

Olczak, Eugene G.↗

NO PLIF Visualizations of the Orion Capsule in LENS-I

Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of nitric oxide (NO) was used to visualize the interaction of reaction-control-system (RCS) jet flows in the wake of a hypersonic capsule reentry vehicle. The tests were performed at the Calspan University at Buffalo Research Center's (CUBRC) LENS-I reflected shock tunnel facility. This was the first application of PLIF to study RCS jets in a large-scale pulsed hypersonic facility. The LENS-I facility allowed RCS jet flows to be studied while varying the flow enthalpy, Reynolds number, angle of attack and jet configuration. The interaction of pitch and roll jets with the flowfield was investigated. Additionally, thin film sensors were used to monitor heat transfer on the surface of the model to detect any localized heating resulting from the firing of the RCS jets. Tests were conducted with the model held at angles of attack of 18deg and 22deg. The nominal Mach number in all tests was 8, while Reynolds number based on model diameter ranged from 2.2x10(exp 6) - 1.5x10(exp 7). Images were processed using the Virtual Diagnostics Interface (ViDI) system developed at NASA Langley Research Center to provide a three-dimensional display of the experimental data.

Combs, C.↗

3D Imaging with a Single-Aperture 3-mm Objective Lens: Concept, Fabrication and Test

There are many advantages to minimally invasive surgery (MIS). An endoscope is the optical system of choice by the surgeon for MIS. The smaller the incision or opening made to perform the surgery, the smaller the optical system needed. For minimally invasive neurological and skull base surgeries the openings are typically 10-mm in diameter (dime sized) or less. The largest outside diameter (OD) endoscope used is 4mm. A significant drawback to endoscopic MIS is that it only provides a monocular view of the surgical site thereby lacking depth information for the surgeon. A stereo view would provide the surgeon instantaneous depth information of the surroundings within the field of view, a significant advantage especially during brain surgery. Providing 3D imaging in an endoscopic objective lens system presents significant challenges because of the tight packaging constraints. This paper presents a promising new technique for endoscopic 3D imaging that uses a single lens system with complementary multi-bandpass filters (CMBFs), and describes the proof-of-concept demonstrations performed to date validating the technique. These demonstrations of the technique have utilized many commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components including the ones used in the endoscope objective.

surgery↗

Development and Optical Testing of the Camera, Hand Lens, and Microscope Probe with Scannable Laser Spectroscopy (CHAMP-SLS)

Conducting high resolution field microscopy with coupled laser spectroscopy that can be used to selectively analyze the surface chemistry of individual pixels in a scene is an enabling capability for next generation robotic and manned spaceflight missions, civil, and military applications. In the laboratory, we use a range of imaging and surface preparation tools that provide us with in-focus images, context imaging for identifying features that we want to investigate at high magnification, and surface-optical coupling that allows us to apply optical spectroscopic analysis techniques for analyzing surface chemistry particularly at high magnifications. The camera, hand lens, and microscope probe with scannable laser spectroscopy (CHAMP-SLS) is an imaging/spectroscopy instrument capable of imaging continuously from infinity down to high resolution microscopy (resolution of approx. 1 micron/pixel in a final camera format), the closer CHAMP-SLS is placed to a feature, the higher the resultant magnification. At hand lens to microscopic magnifications, the imaged scene can be selectively interrogated with point spectroscopic techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, microscopic Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (micro-LIBS), laser ablation mass-spectrometry, Fluorescence spectroscopy, and/or Reflectance spectroscopy. This paper summarizes the optical design, development, and testing of the CHAMP-SLS optics.

Fluorescence↗

Pathway to the Galactic Distribution of Planets: Combined Spitzer and Ground-Based Microlens Parallax Measurements of 21 Single-Lens Events

We present microlens parallax measurements for 21 (apparently) isolated lenses observed toward the Galactic bulge that were imaged simultaneously from Earth and Spitzer, which was approximately 1 Astronomical Unit west of Earth in projection. We combine these measurements with a kinematic model of the Galaxy to derive distance estimates for each lens, with error bars that are small compared to the Sun's galactocentric distance. The ensemble therefore yields a well-defined cumulative distribution of lens distances. In principle, it is possible to compare this distribution against a set of planets detected in the same experiment in order to measure the Galactic distribution of planets. Since these Spitzer observations yielded only one planet, this is not yet possible in practice. However, it will become possible as larger samples are accumulated.

microlens parallax measurements↗

Time-lens photon Doppler velocimetry (TL-PDV)

Here, we describe a time lens (TL) to expand the dynamic range of photon Doppler velocimetry (PDV) systems. The principle and preliminary design of a TL-PDV system are explained and shown to be feasible through simulations. In a PDV system, an interferometer is used for measuring frequency shifts due to the Doppler effect from the target motion. However, the sampling rate of the electronics could limit the velocity range of a PDV system. A four-wave-mixing (FWM) TL applies a quadratic temporal phase to an optical signal within a nonlinear FWM medium (such as an integrated photonic waveguide or a highly nonlinear optical fiber). By spectrally isolating the mixing product, termed the idler, and with appropriate lengths of dispersion prior to and after this FWM TL, a temporally magnified version of the input signal is generated. Therefore, the frequency shifts of PDV can be “slowed down” with the magnification factor M of the TL. M = 1 corresponds to a regular PDV system without a TL. M = 10 has been shown to be feasible for a TL-PDV system. The use of this effect for PDV can expand the velocity measurement range and allow for the use of lower bandwidth electronics. TL-PDV will open up new avenues for various dynamic material experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Molecular chaperone properties of the high molecular weight aggregate from aged lens

The high molecular weight aggregate (HMWA) fraction was isolated from the water soluble proteins of aged bovine lenses. Its composition and ability to inhibit heat-induced denaturation and aggregation were compared with the lower molecular weight, oligomeric fraction of alpha isolated from the same lens. Although the major components of both fractions were the alpha-A and alpha-B chains, the HMWA fraction possessed a decreased ability to protect other proteins against heat-induced denaturation and aggregation. Immunoelectron microscopy of both fractions demonstrated that alpha particles from the HMWA fraction contained increased amounts of beta and gamma crystallins, bound to a central region of the supramolecular complex. Together, these results demonstrate that alpha crystallins found in the HMWA fraction possess a decreased ability to protect against heat-induced denaturation and aggregation, and suggest that at least part of this decrease could be due to the increased presence of beta and gamma crystallins complexed to the putative chaperone receptor site of the alpha particles.

NASA Discipline Developmental Biology↗

Oxidation of the N-terminal methionine of lens alpha-A crystallin

Antiserum against the N-terminal peptide of bovine alpha-A crystallin has been used to monitor purification of two different seropositive peptides (i.e. T1a and T1b) from a tryptic digest of bovine lens proteins. Both these peptides have similar amino acid compositions, but peptide T1b has a molecular weight 16 atomic mass units larger than T1a, suggesting posttranslational modification. Analysis of ionization fragments of the T1b peptide by mass spectrometry demonstrates that this difference in molecular weight is due to the in vivo oxidation of the N-terminal met residue of the alpha-A crystallin molecule.

NASA Discipline Cell Biology↗

Absorption Lines in the Gravitational Lens Systems MG 0414+0534

Spectra of components A1+A2 and B of the gravitational lens system MG0414+0534 taken with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (LRIS) on the Keck 10 m telescope show that the strong absorption feature seen in a low resoluation spectrum is due to a complex of FeII lines at redshifts near that of the lensed quasar.

Gravitational Lens Systems↗

MG0414+0534: A Dusty Gravitational Lens

The gravitational lens system MG0414+0534 has an unexceptional four-image lensing geometry; however, the optical counterparts of the radio images are exceedingly red, with spectra unlike that of any previously observed active nucleus.

Gravitational Lens System↗

Single Crystals of Vanadium Oxides as a Lens for Understanding Structural and Electronic Phase Transformations, Ion Transport, Chemo-Mechanical Coupling, and Electrothermal Neuronal Emulation

Vanadium oxides cystallize in a diverse array of structures and compositions arising from the redox versatility of vanadium, variable covalency of V−O bonds, and myriad coordination geometries. Their open frameworks present abundant interstitial sites that enable insertion of guest-ions. In such compounds, V3d electron and spin localization and disorder couple strongly to structural preferences. The rich structural diversity manifests as a “rugged” free energy landscape with multiple interconvertible polymorphs. Such a landscape sets up structural, electronic, and magnetic transitions that underpin the promise of these materials as ion-insertion battery electrodes; compact primitives for brain-inspired computing, and heterogeneous catalysts. Here, we examine the structural and compositional diversity, electronic instabilities, defect dynamics, structure transformations, mechanical properties, and surface structure of vanadium oxides using single crystals as a distinctive lens. Single crystals enable the measurement of structure−function correlations without the ensemble and orientational averaging inevitable in polycrystalline materials. Their well-defined surfaces further enable examination of facet-dependent reactivity toward molecular adsorbates, ion fluxes, and lattice (mis)matched solids. We provide a comprehensive account of vanadium-oxide single-crystal studies, from delineation of common structural motifs to single-crystal growth techniques, topochemical modification strategies, mechanisms underpinning electronic instabilities, and implementation as electrothermal neurons and battery electrode materials.

Ponis, John [Texas A&M University, College Station↗

The evolution dynamical processes of Ural blocking through the lens of local finite-amplitude wave activity budget analysis

Understanding the formation and evolution mechanisms of Ural blocking (UB) is of great importance for the prediction of UB and relevant extremes in east Asia. Using the 6-hourly ERA-Interim reanalysis data, this study quantifies the conservative and nonconservative processes in the lifecycle of UB through the lens of the hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian local finite-amplitude wave activity (LWA) diagnostics. It is found that (i) as a wave activity source, eddy heat flux works to not only initiate the UB, but also prevent the wave activity of the blocking from dispersing downstream---the key characteristic of blocking; (ii) both the wave propagation and wave advection mechanisms are indispensable for the evolution of UB, playing a tug-of-war on the downstream development of wave activity; (iii) Throughout the lifespan of UB, diabatic heating provides the most important damping mechanism for the wave activity both upstream and downstream; and (IV) irreversible PV mixing appears to compensate the eddy PV flux during the wave breaking stage of blocking.

Blocking, wave activity, eddy-mean flow interactio↗