Nanophotonic three-dimensional microscope.

Three-dimensional (3D) optical microscopy based on integral imaging techniques is limited mainly by diffraction effects and the pitch of the microlens array used to sample the specimen. We integrate nanotechnology to the integral imaging technique and demonstrate a nanophotonic 3D microscope, where a nanophotonic lens array is used to finely sample the specimen. The resolution limitation due to diffraction is reduced by capturing images before the diffraction effects predominate and hence overcomes the bottleneck of achieving high resolution in an integral imaging 3D microscope.

Three-dimensional ultrasound imaging.

This review is about the development of three-dimensional (3D) ultrasonic medical imaging, how it works, and where its future lies. It assumes knowledge of two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound, which is covered elsewhere in this issue. The three main ways in which 3D ultrasound may be acquired are described: the mechanically swept 3D probe, the 2D transducer array that can acquire intrinsically 3D data, and the freehand 3D ultrasound. This provides an appreciation of the constraints implicit in each of these approaches together with their strengths and weaknesses. Then some of the techniques that are used for processing the 3D data and the way this can lead to information of clinical value are discussed. A table is provided to show the range of clinical applications reported in the literature. Finally, the discussion relating to the technology and its clinical applications to explain why 3D ultrasound has been relatively slow to be adopted in routine clinics is drawn together and the issues that will govern its development in the future explored.

Three decades of U.S. Gulf of Mexico white shrimp, Litopenaeus setiferus, commercial catch statistics

Gulf of Mexico, white shrimp, Litopenaeus setiferus, catch statistics have been collected by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service for over 50 years. Recent occurrences such as natural and manmade disasters have raised awareness for the need to publish these types of data. Here we report shrimp data collected from 1984 to 2011. These 28 years of catch history are the time series used in the most recent Gulf of Mexico white shrimp stock assessment. Fishing effort for this stock has fluctuated over the period reported, ranging from 54,675 to 162,952 days fished. Catch averaged 55.7 million pounds per year, increasing significantly over the times series. In addition, catch rates have been increasing in recent years, with CPUE levels ranging from 315 lb/day fished in 2002, to 1,175 lb/ day fished in 2008. The high CPUE’s we have measured is one indication that the stock was not in decline during this time period. Consequently, we believe the decline in effort levels is due purely to economic factors. Current stock assessments are now using these baseline data to provide managers with further insights into the Gulf L. setiferus stocks.