We present a method for reducing the phase flicker originated by the pulsed modulation of a Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) Spatial Light Modulator (SLM). It consists in reducing the temperature of the LCoS in a controlled way, in order to increase the viscosity of the liquid crystal. By doing this, we increase the time response of the liquid crystal, and thus reduce the amplitude of phase fluctuations. We evaluate the efficacy of this method quantifying the temporal evolution of phase shift using an experiment that is insensitive to optical polarization fluctuations. Additionally, we determine the effect of the temperature reduction on the effective phase modulation capability of the LCoS. We demonstrate that a reduction of up to 80% of the flicker initial value can be achieved when the LCoS is brought to -8 °C.

Antes de ser utilizados para tomar decisiones, los mapas temáticos, las bases de datos cartográficos y las imágenes clasificadas, deben ser evaluados para conocer su confiabilidad. Este artículo presenta una revisión de la literatura especializada sobre el proceso de evaluación de la confiabilidad temática y puede ser utilizado como guía práctica para llevar a cabo este tipo de evaluaciones.

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A photoacoustic model with one degree of freedom in the spatial coordinates for a plane sample is studied. The model proposed considers a sample with Beer's law absorption immersed in a fluid with different acoustical impedance. An analytical solution for this problem is given. It is shown that the generated PA wave is composed of a pressure peak followed by a reflected and inverted pulse with diminished magnitude. It is also remarked that the form described for the pulse has a periodicity related to the sample's width and attenuated by the reflection coefficient. It is noted that, due to this attenuation, information about the sample's width is more easily detected at the irradiation side. Border cases are taken for equal impedances and infinite sample width.

Hypomyelination with atrophy of the basal ganglia and cerebellum (H-ABC) is a central neurodegenerative disease due to mutations in the tubulin beta-4A (TUBB4A) gene, characterized by motor development delay, abnormal movements, ataxia, spasticity, dysarthria, and cognitive deficits. Diagnosis is made by integrating clinical data and radiological signs. Differences in MRIs have been reported in patients that carry the same mutation; however, a quantitative study has not been performed so far. Our study aimed to provide a longitudinal analysis of the changes in the cerebellum (Cb), corpus callosum (CC), ventricular system, and striatum in a patient suffering from H-ABC and in the taiep rat. We correlated the MRI signs of the patient with the results of immunofluorescence, gait analysis, segmentation of cerebellum, CC, and ventricular system, performed in the taiep rat. We found that cerebellar and callosal changes, suggesting a potential hypomyelination, worsened with age, in concomitance with the emergence of ataxic gait. We also observed a progressive lateral ventriculomegaly in both patient and taiep, possibly secondary to the atrophy of the white matter. These white matter changes are progressive and can be involved in the clinical deterioration. Hypomyelination with atrophy of the basal ganglia and cerebellum (H-ABC) gives rise to a spectrum of clinical signs whose pathophysiology still needs to be understood.

High resolution fluorescence microscopy requires optimization of the protocols for biological sample preparation. The optical and chemical characteristics of mounting media are among the things that could be modified to achieve optimal image formation. In our search for chemical substances that could perform as mounting media, 3,3′-thiodipropanol (TDP) emerged as a sulfide with potentially interesting characteristics. In this work, several tests of its performance as a mounting medium for fluorescence microscopy of biological samples were performed, including the labeling of filamentous actin with fluorescent phalloidins. The refractive index dispersion curve of pH-adjusted TDP was experimentally obtained in the visible range and compared to the dispersion curves of commercial and labmade mounting media. The effects on the fluorescence of commonly used dyes were tested by using TDP as a solvent and measuring the relative fluorescence quantum yield of the dyes. By being able to mix TDP in any concentration with water and 2,2′-thiodiethanol (TDE), it was possible not only to fine-tune the refractive index of the resulting solution, but also to preserve the compatibility of TDP with the most popular and efficient fluorescent actin staining used in biological microscopy.

La reserva de la biosfera de la Sierra Gorda de Guanajuato (RBSGG) constituye, por su riqueza biológica, el área natural más importante del estado. Mediante interpretación visual de ortofotos y procesamiento de imágenes SPOT 5, se determinó el cambio de uso y cubierta del suelo. Se calculó el grado de degradación forestal (DF) por medio de la correlación del grado de conservación del arbolado y la información de biomasa aérea obtenida de lospuntos del Inventario Nacional Forestal y de Suelos, así como determinación de los cambios surgidos durante 2004-2011 e información de erosión del suelo. Para el total de las cubiertas vegetales naturales se observó que el 45% presenta una DF de moderada a muy alta, el 16% presenta un nivel bajo de DF y el 13% no presenta ninguna DF. El área de estudio cuenta con la categoría más alta en el Sistema de Áreas Naturales Protegidas del país, por lo que los resultados sugieren un muy deficiente uso y manejo de los recursos naturales en su interior.

ABSTRACT:In order to identify drivers of land use / land cover change (LUCC), the rate of change is often compared with environmental and socio-economic variables such as slope, soil suitability or population density. Socio-economic information is obtained from census data which are collected for individual households but are commonly presented in aggregate on the basis of geographical units as municipalities. However, a common problem, known as the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), is that the results of statistical analysis are not independent of the scale and the spatial configuration of the units used to aggregate the information. In this article, we evaluate how strong MAUP effects are for a study on the deforestation drivers in Mexico at municipality level. This was done by taking socio-economic variables from the 2010 Census of Mexico along with environmental variables and the rate of deforestation. As population census is given for each human settlement and environmental variables are obtained from high resolution spatial database, it was possible to aggregate the information using spatial units ("pseudo municipalities") with different sizes in order to observe the effect of scale and aggregation on the values of bivariate correlations (Pearsons r) between pairs of variables. We found that MAUP produces variations in the results, and we observed some variable pairs and some configurations of the spatial units where the effect was substantial.