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THIS WEEK, President Joe Biden met with leaders from five major American Jewish organizations in response to a letter expressing concerns about a “surge in antisemitic attacks,” which the groups connect to popular discourse and protest surrounding Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Mitch McConnell announced their intention to introduce a bill combatting antisemitic hate crimes. On social media, antisemitism became a trending topic, with users posting blue squares on their Instagram feeds in support of Jews.
Most of the news stories on recent antisemitism cite the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which, in a May 20th press release, reported an “uptick in antisemitic incidents linked to recent Mideast violence.” But what does an “uptick in antisemitic incidents” really mean? How do we measure a “surge”? These past few months, I’ve been immersed in researching hate crimes and hate crime legislation in the United States, and I’ve learned that it is notoriously challenging to actually identify a spike in incidents. As ProPublica has meticulously documented, the US government’s methodology for reporting on hate crimes is incomplete and inaccurate, as it relies on reports from local police departments, many of which opt out of providing such data. (The majority of departments that do participate in the FBI’s program to track hate crimes typically report zero incidents—evidence that police do not view documenting hate crimes as a priority.) Private advocacy organizations like the ADL that track hate crimes against specific communities use a broad range of criteria and collection methods, making it difficult to get a full picture. All in all, in moments of greater vigilance, like this week, experts say it’s possible that statistics like the ADL’s are recording an uptick in attention to a particular group, rather than an upswing in violence: When a certain topic is prominent in the media, victims may be more likely to report or share information about violent incidents, and advocacy organizations and law enforcement may be more motivated to track those reports, skewing the data. “We’re actually measuring spikes in media attention to these crimes more than we’re actually measuring crimes,” Mike German, a fellow at the liberal think tank Brennan Center for Justice, with expertise in hate crimes and domestic terrorism, told me recently. “Law enforcement responds to the political attention of the day rather than objective collection and enforcement on a continuous basis.”
As evidence of the “uptick” in antisemitism, the ADL says it has documented more than 17,000 tweets containing variations of the phrase “Hitler was right” between May 7th and May 14th, the week when violence broke out in Israel/Palestine. The organization also said it had received 193 reports of “possible antisemitic incidents . . . in the week after the crisis began, up from 131 the previous week.” But a closer look at these statements yields a number of follow-up questions. Online abuse by purported neo-Nazis or those adopting their rhetoric is unfortunately common; has the ADL tracked tweets glorifying Hitler for other weeks, in order to provide a baseline for comparison to the number of tweets it found in recent weeks? And had the organization yet reviewed reports of the 193 “possible incidents” to determine their legitimacy? What kinds of incidents were they? Assault? Harassment? Vandalism? How did the organization decide when to add an incident to its “tracker of antisemitic incidents,” which does not yet contain 193 reports for that week? Meanwhile, a May 24th ADL blog post, cited in The New York Times, used an entirely different set of numbers, reporting an increase from 68 the week before Israel and Hamas began exchanging fire to an eventual 124 the week of May 17th. What accounts for these competing datasets? The ADL did not respond to my requests for comment by press time.
In the absence of further insight into the ADL’s methods, I did my own analysis of the incidents it has added to the aforementioned tracker. The tracker, which the organization notes is “nonexhaustive,” draws from a variety of sources, including news articles as well as direct reports to the ADL. While the incidents are aggregated in a single list, they vary widely by type, including everything from anti-Zionist protest chants to vitriolic Facebook comments to swastika graffiti to assault. I analyzed the 43 incidents in the tracker that occurred between May 7th, when Israeli police fired flashbangs and rubber bullets at Palestinian worshippers in the Al Aqsa compound in Jersualem, and May 24th. (Some incidents may since have been added retroactively, since the ADL updates this list continuously.) Of those 43 incidents, seven were cases of violent assault related to Israel/Palestine, including several that have circulated on social media, such as a reported attack on Jews dining at a kosher restaurant in Los Angeles by a group of men who had driven by waving Palestinian flags, and an incident in New York City’s Times Square in which a group of men holding Palestinian flags appeared to beat a Jewish man with a crutch. At least one of the listed incidents, in which a Jewish couple at a Westlake, Ohio pro-Palestine rally were allegedly attacked by protestors, has been disputed online: A Twitter user said they attended the rally in question and that the couple actually showed up to attack protestors with a flagpole. In addition to those seven incidents, one incident of violent assault had no documented connection to the situation in Israel/Palestine.
These violent occurrences are presented in the tracker alongside a range of nonviolent ones. Four entries record verbal Israel-related harassment of a Jewish individual; one notes verbal harassment not related to Israel. Eight entries are cases of vandalism with no explicit connection to Israel/Palestine (like swastikas drawn on a synagogue or building, one of the most common types of incident reported by the ADL); three record vandalism with a connection to Israel/Palestine. (One of those incidents of vandalism was the phrase “Fuck Zionist Israel” written on a building at Bates College; the ADL counts speech targeting Zionists in general as antisemitic.) Another two were phone threats against synagogues—one related to Israel, one not—and three were reports of abusive online messages, like Facebook comments and emails, related to Israel. (For example, one synagogue in Redondo, California received an email that said “Die fucking jew cockroaches! Israel = racism, apartheid, genocide.”)
Finally, 14 of the incidents stemmed from pro-Palestine rallies, and focused particularly on certain chants or signs. Three entries recorded explicitly anti-Jewish signs or chants, like a sign in Miami that read “Jesus was Palestinian and you killed him too!” But five were signs or chants that might be more accurately described as anti-Zionist, like the message “Zionism is racism. Abolish Israel.” The ADL has long considered such statements antisemitic: On its website, it says that criticism of Israel crosses into antisemitism when “Israel is denied the right to exist as a Jewish state and equal member of the global community,” and it describes anti-Zionism as “a prejudice against the Jewish movement for self-determination and the right of the Jewish people to a homeland in the State of Israel.” But other commentators argue that Zionism is a political ideology—and the state of Israel a political formation—that is fair game for harsh criticism, the same way that people might refer to the United States of America as a racist state or call for its abolition. (One entry described protest chants taking place across from a synagogue in Skokie, IL; the ADL defines anti-Israel content directed at Jewish buildings as antisemitic, but the tracker does not say if the protest was targeting the synagogue or simply passing by.) An additional five incidents culled from pro-Palestinian protests were chants and signs which included comparisons of Zionism or Israel to Nazism. This rhetoric can be uncomfortable for Jews but is not universally considered antisemitic—some Israeli officials have criticized political tendencies and military actions in the country as reminiscent of certain policies from Nazi Germany.
To consider whether the two weeks of conflict in Israel/Palestine caused a major spike in antisemitic incidents in the US, I compared the events the ADL tracked in that period to the data it collected the week before May 7th, when the situation began to receive widespread attention. I counted seven total incidents for the previous seven days, beginning on April 30th; 14 total incidents for the next seven days, beginning on May 7th; and 23 incidents for the following seven days, beginning on May 14th. If I removed incidents in which the ADL’s determination of antisemitism is controversial, including protest signs with anti-Zionist content or Holocaust comparisons—as well as the “Fuck Zionist Israel” graffiti at Bates College, which did not target a Jewish institution—the increase was more modest: from seven entries the week before the crisis, to ten between May 7th and May 13th, and 16 between May 14th and May 21st. More than a doubling, to be sure, but given an American Jewish population of 7.6 million, hardly an epidemic, especially given that all but eight of the incidents were nonviolent.
The prominent reports of antisemitic violent assaults included in the tracker, and making the rounds on social media, are certainly concerning. “To my knowledge, we haven’t seen these attacks on Jews before during moments of mass protests on the street,” said Ben Lorber, a research analyst at Political Research Associates who studies far-right antisemitism and white nationalism. But the significance of these attacks is obscured when they are lumped in with other incidents of a far less severe nature, like Facebook comments, and incidents in which the antisemitic content is arguable, like anti-Zionist protest chants. It is also suspect to base claims of an uptick on incidents that have not yet been fully investigated. Yet news outlets like MSBNC have already created maps of the antisemitic surge compiling incidents from the tracker without disambiguating their categories, and reports in outlets like NPR and NBC cite the ADL number of 193 reported incidents without specifying which kinds of incidents make up this number.
By conflating weighty incidents with trivial ones—and encouraging others to do the same—the ADL only makes it more difficult to measure antisemitism in American life. Jerome Chanes, a writer on Jewish public affairs who has done extensive research on antisemitism, said that “very few serious social scientists” take the ADL’s yearly audit of antisemitic incidents seriously. “We don’t have a handle on what many of these incidents are. Some of them might be serious—I’m sure they are,” he said. “Some of them are on the level of ‘My neighbor said she heard something on the radio last night,’ and it’s all lumped together. It’s very hard to evaluate the numbers.”
However incomplete the evidence for a spike in antisemitism related to Palestine solidarity protests, fears of such an uptick are already threatening to redirect attention away from continued lsraeli injustices in Gaza or East Jerusalem. The ADL’s narrative also serves to reinforce lurking anxieties that advocacy for Palestinian rights is inherently antisemitic—even as Palestinian leaders have condemned antisemitism publicly and repeatedly. Cynical advocates for the Israeli state are already using these reports as justification for keeping Palestinian territory occupied—and the Palestine solidarity movement marginalized—in the name of “security.” When reports of antisemitism are so easily weaponized, claims of an uptick—and the data behind them—merit caution and careful scrutiny.
A previous version of this article stated that the ADL did not respond to requests for comment. In fact, a spokesperson for the ADL did respond, but did not provide answers to questions by press time. The article has been updated to reflect this.


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[A Man and a Woman of Oonalashka]
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This is a guest-post by Grolltex – producing graphene biosensors on silicon chips today shows low yields, high cost and restrictive packaging options, limiting scalability and market penetration. But optimization may be here.
Monolayer, electronics grade graphene is propelling advanced biosensing in many key areas. Google the search term, ‘graphene biosensor’, and one will see thousands of next-generation, life enhancing applications being refined in research labs worldwide. This one atom thick material is creating biosensing and detection performance in speed and sensitivity not possible before. Areas such as cancer and virus detection, new drug discovery, genomics, allergens, glucose and many more are starting to see unimagined advances. By far, the number 1 use case for monolayer graphene films today is atomic level biosensing.
Read More | Graphene-Info
Graphene Sensors, Grolltex, Market updates, CVD


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We have developed a full-field high resolution quantitative phase imaging technique for observing dynamics of transparent biological samples. By using a harmonically matched diffraction grating pair (600 and 1200 lines/mm), we were able to obtain non-trivial phase difference (other than 0° or 180°) between the output ports of the gratings. Improving upon our previous design, our current system mitigates astigmatism artifacts and is capable of high resolution imaging. This system also employs an improved phase extraction algorithm. The system has a lateral resolution of 1.6 µm and a phase sensitivity of 62 mrad. We employed the system to acquire high resolution phase images of onion skin cells and a phase movie of amoeba proteus in motion.
© 2007 Optical Society of America
Observing unstained transparent biological samples with sufficiently high resolution is important for a wide range of biomedical studies. Besides conventional qualitative techniques such as Zernike phase contrast [1,2] and Nomarski differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy , various full-field quantitative phase imaging techniques [4–13] have been developed recently that are well suited for this purpose. Most of these methods involve the use of interferometry in one form or another. Some of the prominent techniques are: 1) Phase shifting interferometry schemes [4–6] – where two or more interferograms with different phase shifts are acquired sequentially and a phase image is generated from them. 2) Digital holography [7–9] or Hilbert phase microscopy [10, 11] – where high frequency spatial fringes encoded in the interferogram are demodulated to generate the phase image. 3) Swept-source phase microscopy  – where modulation in the interferogram generated by a wavelength sweep can be processed to create a phase image. 4) Polarization quadrature microscopy  – where phase images are generated by a polarization based quadrature interferometer.
Recently, our group demonstrated a full-field phase imaging technique based on the substitution of a beamsplitter with a harmonically matched diffraction grating pair (G1G2 grating) [14, 15] in an interferometer – we named the technique G1G2 interferometry. With this optical element substitution, we were able to create a non-trivial phase relationship between the different output ports of the interferometer. Conceptually, the operating principle shares many similarities to the multiport fiber coupler based interferometry method [16, 17]. As G1G2 interferometry involves a minimal change of optical elements – replacement of a beamsplitter, it can be potentially adapted into a wide range of interferometer systems. Phase imaging based on this technique involves simultaneously acquiring images from two or more of the output ports; the imaging speed of this technique is limited only by the cameras’ speed. This is an advantage over phase shifting interferometry methods, where the imaging speed is additionally limited by the speed of the phase shifting process. Another appealing aspect of this technique is that data processing is relatively simple. Yet another advantage of this technique is that, unlike some of the other phase techniques, its phase imaging capability does not require a tradeoff in field of view (see discussion in Ref. 5). Specifically, methods such as digital holography and Hilbert phase microscopy perform phase measurements by implementing a spatial sinusoidal interference – each resolvable point on the image is limited by the interference fringe and is by necessity several sensor pixels wide. In comparison, each resolvable point in G1G2 interferometry imaging can be as small as a single sensor pixel.
Our previous implementation of the G1G2 interferometer has a couple of design issues that limit this technique when it is applied for high resolution imaging. Specifically, there were significant aberrations in the raw data image from the output ports when high resolution (1.6 µm) and moderate field of view (400 µm×300 µm) were required. As a consequence, the coincidence mapping of raw data images is difficult beyond a certain resolution limit. Second, the phase computation algorithm previously employed required either the reference or sample beam to be much weaker than the other. This limitation can significantly impact on the achievable dynamic range.
This paper reports on our recent progress. We have addressed the two abovementioned design issues and have developed a more robust G1G2 interferometer system. Using this system, we were able to acquire our first high resolution phase images of biological samples based on the G1G2 interferometry principle. The rest of this paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, we summarize the concept of G1G2 interferometry. In Section 3, we present our current experimental setup and discuss the means by which we reduced aberrations. In Section 4, we present our modified phase extraction algorithm that can accommodate the usage of reference and sample beams of comparable strength in the interferometer. In Section 5, we show phase images and videos acquired with our system – this illustrates the capability of the G1G2 interferometer method for biological studies. Finally, we summarize our work in Section 6.
2. G1G2 interferometery concept
This section briefly summarizes the G1G2 interferometry concept. Interested readers are invited to read Ref. 14 and 15 for more in depth explanations.
First, let us consider a simple interferometer, such as the one shown in Fig. 1(a). The detected signals at the output ports can be expressed as:
where Pr and Ps are the reference power and sample power, respectively; ψr and ψs are the phase of the reference beam and sample beam before incident on the beamsplitter; θ is the common phase shift. We note that the interference terms are 180° out of phase with each other. As such, it is generally impossible to extract phase information from this system without resorting to some form of phase encoding. An often cited reason to explain this trivial interference phase relationship is that the power influx and outflux from this optical system must be conserved – conservation requires the interference terms to be equal and opposite.
However, power conservation does not intrinsically limit the interference terms to be trivially related. Multiport optical fiber coupler based interferometry methods [16, 17] clearly illustrate that the existence of multiple output ports allows non-trivial interference phase relationship to exist between output ports without violating power conservation. These methods indicate the possibility of using diffraction gratings in place of beamsplitters as a means for achieving non-trivial interference phase relationship in a full-field interferometer, as a diffraction grating can diffract light in more than two directions.
Now let us consider the shallow diffraction grating based interferometer scheme in Fig. 1(b). As is well known, a grating can confer additional phase shifts to the diffracted beams. For a shallow grating, the phase shifts can be written as
where m is the diffracted order, x 0 is the displacement of the grating and Λ is the grating period; sgn() is the sign function. This implies that the detected signals are given by:
where Pr1 (Ps1) and Pr2 (Ps2) are the reference (sample) powers at port 1 and port 2, respectively; θ is the common phase shift. The phase relationship between the interference terms remains trivial. However, the presence of a phase shift term that is intrinsically related to the diffraction grating is encouraging. As we shall soon see, the G1G2 interferometer makes creative use of this phase shift term to achieve non-trivial phase relationship between interferometer output ports.
The G1G2 interferometer replaces the simple diffraction grating in the previous example with a harmonically matched grating pair (G1G2 grating). The grating pair consists of two gratings with periods Λ1, Λ2 that satisfy Λ1=2Λ2. If the G1G2 grating is used as a beam splitter/combiner in an interferometer setup, as shown in Fig. 1(c), the additional phase of the diffracted beams ϕk,n (k=R, S represent the reference or sample beam; n=1, 2 is the port number) can be written as, according to Eq. (3),
where ϕm,Gn is the additional phase shift of the m th diffracted order of the grating Gn; x 1, x 2 are the displacements of G1, G2, respectively. Thus the phases of interference signals and their difference are
As long as , we will have a non-trivial phase shift between the output ports of the interferometer. By adjusting the relative displacement between G1 and G2 grating during fabrication, we can set the phase shift Δϕ. The grating pair employed in our current experiment was fabricated by using three-beam interference on a holographic plate as detailed in Ref. .
3. Experiment method
Our improved experimental setup is shown in Fig. 2. A HeNe laser (Thorlabs HRP120, wavelength of 632.8 nm) was split into reference beam and sample beam. In the reference arm, the laser was spatial filtered and expanded by objective 1 (Newport M-10X), a pinhole (diameter of 25µm) and lens 1 (focal length of 200 mm). The transmitted and diffracted reference beams were then collimated by lens 3 and 4, respectively. The focal lengths of lenses 2, 3, 4 were all equal to 200 mm. In the sample arm, objective 2 (Olympus UPlanFl 10X) and lens 3 (lens 4) made up the microscope system that imaged the sample onto the CCDs (The Imaging Source DMK 31BF03, 1024×768 pixels). The harmonically matched grating pair (G1G2 grating) served as the beam splitter/combiner. The G1G2 grating pair contains gratings of density 600 lines/mm and 1200 lines/mm. We measured Δϕ to be equal to 92°±8°. More details about the grating pair can be found in Ref. 14.
In this system, the geometric aberration introduced by the grating pair in the previous system was corrected. The imaging system in previous setup  is shown in Fig. 3(a); in that setup, the imaging lenses were placed before the grating. The inherent distortion that such geometry introduced can be appreciated by considering the following example. Suppose we are to image a point source using the scheme in Fig. 3(a). We can see that the beam will converge prior to transmission through the grating. As the angle of diffraction associated with the grating does not linearly depend on the incident angle, we can expect to observe geometric aberration in the image. To determine the extent of distortion, we used ZEMAX (ZEMAX development corp.) to simulate this scenario. In the simulation, we assumed the objective and the lens were perfect paraxial lens so that the aberration observed could be solely attributed to the diffraction grating. As shown in Fig. 3(b), when we increase the distance between the imaging plane and the lens, we can observe the image transit from a vertical focus (left) to a horizontal focus (right). This phenomenon is similar to astigmatism. Figure 3(e) shows the transmission image of a letter “C” pattern acquired using the system shown in Fig. 3(a), where the location of the imaging plane was selected to give us vertical focus. The blur in the horizontal direction is readily observable.
To correct this astigmatic aberration, we employed the imaging setup shown in Fig. 3(c), where the grating was put between the objective and the lens. In this case, the incident light associated with each point on the object plane was transformed into a collimated beam at the grating. The collimated beams would diffract from the grating as collimated beams. These would then transform back to point objects in the image plane by passage through the lens. Our Zemax simulations confirmed this fact [see Fig. 3(d)]. Figure 3(f) shows the image of the same letter “C” acquired using this setup, with which we can easily see that the obvious astigmatism aberration had been removed.
We experimentally determined the resolution of this imaging system to be equal to 1.6 µm (Sparrow’s criterion) by measuring the image profile of an effective point source (a hole of diameter 150 nm). The measured resolution agreed well with the theoretically calculated value of 1.2 µm based on the imaging system parameters.
This updated setup confers aberrations onto the input collimated light that is used to illuminate the sample [see Fig. 3(g)]. This is because the collimated light will be focused by the objective and will diverge when it enters the grating. The aberration of background beam will introduce unwanted pattern in the interferograms and unwanted phase aberration in the final phase image. Fortunately, we can measure and characterize this phase aberration during initial system calibration by removing the sample. This systematic error can then be removed from actual sample image measurements during data processing.
One final aberration issue that we need to be concerned about is the spatial “stretch” and “compression” distortion on the off-axis diffracted raw data image due to the diffraction process. As shown in Fig. 4, the image will be stretched in one direction and compressed in the other direction, and this effect is opposite for +1 and -1 order diffraction of the grating. This distortion in principle will affect the matching of the two CCD images. However, the following calculation shows that the effect is small enough and can be neglected. The distortion is due to the fact that the angle of diffraction associated with the grating does not linearly depend on the incident angle. Mathematically, a point that is x 1 away from the center of object field will be mapped to a point x 2 from the image field’s center where x 2 is given by this expression:
where f1, f2 are the focal length of the objective and the lens, respectively; λ is the wavelength of the laser; d is the grating period. Here we assume that both the objective and the lens are perfect paraxial lens. As x 2 is not linearly dependent on x 1, the resulting image will appear distorted. When x 1 is small, Eq. (9) can be simplified as
where x 2 is proportional to x 1 and there is no distortion. In our setup, f 1=16.5 mm, f 2=200 mm, λ=632.8 nm, d=1/600 mm. For the field of view with a maximum offset, x 1=0.16 mm, the difference between the two x 2 calculated by (9) and (10) is 4.5 µm, which is smaller than the size of a pixel on the CCDs (pixel size =4.7 µm). Beyond this field of view, the distortion does cause a slight deterioration in resolution. This problem can be resolved by appropriate spatial rescaling of the raw data images.
4. Improved processing algorithm
In the previous experiment , we required the reference power to be much greater than the sample power; this allowed us to neglect the sample power term in the detected signal and simplify image processing. However, this requirement necessarily restricted the dynamic range of our system. By requiring high reference power and low sample power, the ratio of the interference term magnitude to the DC term magnitude was small. This implies that the useful data occupied only a relatively narrow dynamic range of the CCD cameras.
In the current experiment, we removed this restriction and performed imaging processing without simplifying the involved equations. This section details the processing involved.
The detected signal in the corresponding pixels with pixel index (i,j) of the CCDs can be written as
where Pr1(i, j)and Pr2(i, j)are the reference powers at the pixels of CCD1 and CCD2, respectively; Ps1(i, j) and Ps2(i, j) are the sample powers at corresponding pixels of the CCDs; η(i, j)=Ps2(i, j)/Ps1(i, j) is the relative diffraction efficiency of the grating for the sample beam; A is the interference factor determined by the coherence of the laser, ideally A=2, in practice, the measured A is 1.9; Δψ (i, j)=ψobj(i, j) +ψabe(i, j)+θran, where ψobj(i, j) is the optical phase change associated with presence of the sample, ψabe(i, j) is the phase aberration introduced by the grating as mentioned in the previous section, θran is some random phase attributable to environment fluctuation and independent of pixel index (i, j); Δϕ is the nontrivial phase shift between the interference signals caused by the G1G2 grating and is independent on the pixel index (i, j).
The experiment procedure for phase extraction can be summarized as follows:
1) Determine the relative diffraction efficiency η(i, j).
2) Determine the phase aberration ψabe(i, j) and the nontrivial phase shift Δϕ. This involves acquiring N (we use N=100) frame pairs of the interferograms in the absence of the sample. For pixel (i,j) (i=1…1024, j=1…768) of the CCD k (k=1,2), we can get a time series yi,j,k(n), n=1…N. For different n, there is a different random phase introduced by environmental disturbance. Since the time series for any of the two pixels have a phase difference between them, if we plot one time series versus another, we will get an elliptical profile. For the time series from the same CCD, we can let the first pixel (i=1,j=1) be the reference point and compute the phase difference for each CCD pixel with respect to the reference point by performing elliptic fitting  between yi,j,k(n) and y1,1,k(n). This computed phase difference is equal to the phase aberration ψabe. Similarly, by performing elliptic fitting between the corresponding pixels from the two CCDs, yi,j,1(n) and yi,j,2(n), we can get the phase shift Δϕ.
3) Determine the reference power Pr1(i, j) and Pr2(i, j).
4) Acquire phase image of the sample. This involves placing the sample into the system and acquiring a frame pair from the two CCDs. The detected signals of corresponding pixels must satisfy Eqs. (11) and (12). The only remaining unknowns are Ps1(i, j) and Δψ(i, j).
For clarity, we omitted the functional dependency on (i, j) in the expression. This equation yields two solutions for Ps1. In order to find the right solution, the sample power Ps1 need to satisfy some condition. As shown in the appendix A, if the real Ps1 satisfies the following condition, we can always use the smaller solution of Eq. (13) as our solution:
For the ideal quadrature phase shift, Δϕ=90° and ideal coherence, A=2, the above condition becomes
This condition still requires smaller sample powers compared with the reference powers. However the condition is much less restricted than the requirement of previous system. Having obtained the solution for the sample power Ps1, we can then calculate the phase term Δψ by substituting Ps1 in Eqs. (11) and (12). The phase of the sample plus some uniform random phase is then given by ψabj+θran=Δψ-ψabe.
The term θran tends to be constant over the entire image but it can vary in time. One approach to remove it from a time sequence of phase images is to look at the variation of ψabj+θran at a location in the image where it is known that ψobj is not varying. The time dependent variations can then be wholly attributed to θran. We can then subtract this value from each image at each time point. This is the approach we employed when we generated phase image movie sequences.
We note that step 1 through 3 need only be done once during calibration.
As phase images are intrinsically wrapped beyond the phase range of [0, 2π], we generally need to unwrap the acquired images when dealing with samples beyond a certain thickness. Due to the presence of noise in the phase image, simple unwrap algorithm generally does not work well. For our experiment, we instead chose to use the Flynn’s minimum discontinuity algorithm  to unwrap the image. Flynn’s algorithm operates by identifying the lines of discontinuities and joining them into loops. Appropriate multiples of 2π are then added to each pixel enclosed by the loops to remove the phase wrap discontinuities. This unwrap algorithm worked well for our data. Figure 5 shows an example of the application of unwrap algorithms to our data. Figure 5(a) shows the wrapped phase image acquired by our system. Figure 5(b) shows an unwrapped phase image as generated by the simple unwrap algorithm. Figure 5(c) shows that the Flynn’s algorithm is capable of better phase unwrap performance.
To characterize the phase stability of our system, we used a cover glass as our sample and measured the phase difference between two different spots on the cover glass. The phase of the spots is the average of the pixels in the spots with corresponding object size of 1.2 µm×1.2 µm, matching the diffraction limit of the objective lens. The sample power incident on each spot was 1.6 nW (port 1) and 1.5 nW (port 2). The reference power incident on each spot was 7.6 nW (port 1) and 3.1 nW (port 2). The exposure time per image frame was 100 µs. The experiment results are shown in Fig. 6. The phase image is shown in Fig. 6(a), and the fluctuation of the phase difference versus time is shown in Fig. 6(b). The phase stability of our system is characterized by the standard deviation of the fluctuation which equals to 62 mrad (corresponding to 6.24 nm optical path length).
We can also estimate the shot noise limited phase noise of our system theoretically, as shown in appendix B. The estimated shot noise limit is 2 mrad, which is much smaller than the experimental measurement. The experimentally measured phase error can be largely attributed to the spatially uncorrelated power fluctuation observed in the experiment. We measured this power fluctuation to be ~3% for each pixel. Substituting this noise factor into our calculation yields a phase noise of ~80 mrad, which is comparable to our experimentally measured phase error.
In addition to the phase stability characterization, this set of experiments revealed another aspect of this experimental scheme – we can see some dim fringes in the phase image in Fig. 6(a). These fringes were caused by the relative larger phase noise near some special phase locations. For a simple explanation, consider the quadratic Eq. (13), aP 2 s1+bPs1+c=0, where a, b, c are the coefficients shown in the equation, the solutions are
The error of the solutions can be written as the function of the measured error of P1, P2:
Thus, when Δ is small, the error of the solution will be large. The fringes in Fig. 6(a) correspond to locations where this effect occurred. Fortunately, in our experiments, this additional phase noise was relatively small (~0.2 rad) and showed up in only a small region of the image.
5. Imaging results
As an initial demonstration of our system, we performed phase imaging of a phase object, which consisted of a “CIT” logo written on a 100 nm thick polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). As expected, the intensity image shown in Fig. 7(a) had little contrast. In comparison, the phase image [Fig. 7(b)] had excellent contrast. Figure 7(c) shows the 3D reconstruction of the phase image. The measured height of a step is shown in Fig. 7(d); the thickness of the logo was measured to be 114±12 nm, which agreed well with the thickness measurement performed with a standard profilometer.
We next used our system to image onion skin cell (Fig. 8). The intensity and phase images are shown in Figs. 8(a), 8(b), respectively. Figure 8(c) shows the 3D reconstruction of the phase image. Again, the phase image had much better contrast than the intensity image and the optical thickness of the cell can be quantitatively measured from the phase image. The nuclei can be seen clearly in the phase image.
To demonstrate the capability of our system to study biological movements and dynamics, we applied our system to observe the movement of an amoeba proteus. In the phase movie [Fig. 9(a)], we can clearly see the nucleus and contractile vacuole of the amoeba. The frame rate of the movie is 10 frames/second. The movement of the food vacuoles can be seen in the movie. Figure 9(b) shows the corresponding intensity movie, which had much poorer contrast.
We have developed an improved full-field quantitative phase imaging microscope system based on the use of a harmonically matched grating pair (G1G2 grating). This new system design significantly corrected the astigmatic aberration which had restricted the original interferometer design. The system also employed a new phase image processing algorithm which enabled a wide range of sample power to be used in the interferometer.
With these improvements, we were able to demonstrate high resolution phase imaging with a measured resolution of 1.6 µm and a phase sensitivity of 62 mrad (or an equivalent optical path length difference of 6.24 nm). We demonstrate the utility of this interferometer by imaging onion samples and rendering a movie of a moving amoeba proteus.
This phase imaging method is applicable for observing fast dynamics in biological samples as the image acquisition speed is only limited by the frame rate of the cameras. Another appealing aspect of this system is that the heart of the interferometer – the G1G2 grating is a planar device that can be easily designed and fabricated. The feasibility of creating G1G2 grating lithographically or by e-beam etching, also allows for more complicated G1G2 grating designs. For example, it may be interesting to combine Fresnel zone plate and G1G2 grating designs to implement flat phase imaging schemes. In addition, the concept of G1G2 interferometry can be applied to imaging at other wavelengths, such as X-ray or terahertz.
Appendix A: derivation of equation (14)
The derivation for the condition where we can choose one solution out of the two solutions that we get from the quadratic Eq. (13) is as follows. To begin, assume the sample power solution is s 0 and the other solution of Eq. (13) is s 1, then we have
If we always have s 1>s 0, then we can choose the smaller solution of the equation and get s 0 that we want. So we should have
Without loss of generality, we can let sin(Δϕ)>0, thus
If for all Δψ, the above equation is satisfied, we must have
where Ps1=s 0 and Ps2=ηs 0. This is the Eq. (14).
Appendix B: noise assessment based on system’s shot noise
In this appendix we estimate the phase noise associated with the system in the situation where shot noise is the only major noise source. To simplify the problem, we assume that the reference powers and sample powers are the same for the two output ports. We also assume the interference factor A=2 and the nontrivial phase shift Δϕ=-90°. Now the power detected in the two output ports can be written as
We shall assume the detected power P1 and P2 contain additive Gaussian white-noise terms x 1, x 2 with zero mean, respectively. For shot noise, the standard deviation of x 1, x 2 should be20
where h is the Planck’s constant, ν is the light frequency, η is the quantum efficiency of the CCD, and τ is the exposure time. Thus as shown in Fig. B1, the phase noise can be approximately expressed as:
For a typical set of numbers for our system, Pr=5 nW, Ps=1.5 nW, η=0.9, τ=100 µs, we have δψ≤2 mrad.
We note that the phase noise in shot noise limited detection is more than an order of magnitude smaller than the phase noise (62 mrad) observed in the experiment. This observation indicates that phase noise in our system is dominated by other sources. One probable source is the amount of spatially uncorrelated laser power fluctuations that are observed in our system. We measured the power fluctuation to be approximately equal 3% of the mean. If we substitute
to model this power fluctuation, we see that the phase noise can be expressed as:
Substituting the typical powers employed in the experiment, we find that δψ≤80 mrad. This corresponds well with the phase error measured in the experiment.
This work is supported by NSF career award BES-0547657.
References and links
1. F. Zernike, “Phase contrast, a new method for the microscopic observation of transparent objects,” Physica 9, 686–698 (1942). [CrossRef]
2. F. Zernike, “Phase contrast, a new method for the microscopic observation of transparent objects Part II,” Physica 9, 974–986 (1942). [CrossRef]
3. R. D. Allen, G. B. David, and G. Nomarski, “The Zeiss-Nomarski differential interference equipment for transmitted light microscopy,” Z. wiss. Mikr. 69, 193–221 (1969). [PubMed]
4. K. Creath, “Phase-measurement interferometry techniques,” Prog. Opt. 26, 349–393 (1988). [CrossRef]
5. K. J. Chalut, W. J. Brown, and A. Wax, “Quantitative phase microscopy with asynchronous digital holography,” Opt. Lett. 15, 3047–3052 (2007).
7. P. Marquet, B. Rappaz, P. J. Magistretti, E. Cuche, Y. Emery, T. Colomb, and C. Depeursinge, “Digital holographic microscopy: a noninvasive contrast imaging technique allowing quantitative visualization of living cells with subwavelength axial accuracy,” Opt. Lett. 30, 468–470 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
8. B. Rappaz, P. Marquet, E. Cuche, Y. Emery, C. Depeursinge, and P. J. Magistretti, “Measurement of the integral refractive index and dynamic cell morphometry of living cells with digital holographic microscopy,” Opt. Express 13, 9361–9373 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
9. J. Kuhn, T. Colomb, F. Montfort, F. Charriere, Y. Emery, E. Cuche, P. Marquet, and C. Depeursinge, “Real-time dual-wavelength digital holographic microscopy with a single hologram acquisition,” Opt. Express 15, 7231–7242 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
11. G. Popescu, T. Ikeda, K. Goda, C. A. Best-Popescu, M. Laposata, S. Manley, R. R. Dasari, K. Badizadegan, and M. S. Feld, “Optical measurement of cell membrane tension,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 218101 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
13. D. O. Hogenboom, C. A. DiMarzio, T. J. Gaudette, A. J. Devaney, and S. C. Lindberg, “Three-dimensional images generated by quadrature interferometry,” Opt. Lett. 23, 783–785 (1998). [CrossRef]
14. J. Wu, Z. Yaqoob, X. Heng, L. M. Lee, X. Cui, and C. Yang, “Full field phase imaging using a harmonically matched diffraction grating pair based homodyne quadrature interferometer,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 151123 (2007). [CrossRef]
15. Z. Yaqoob, J. Wu, X. Cui, X. Heng, and C. Yang, “Harmonically-related diffraction gratings-based interferometer for quadrature phase measurements,” Opt. Express 14, 8127–8137 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
18. M. Pilu, A. W. Fitzgibbon, and R. B. Fisher, “Ellipse-specific direct least-square fitting,” in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (Lausanne, 1998), vol. 3, pp. 599–602.
19. D. G. Ghiglia and M. D. Pritt, Two-Dimensional Phase Unwrapping: Theory, Algorithms, and Software (John Wiley & Sons, 1998), Section 4.5.
20. C. Yang, “Molecular Contrast Optical Coherence Tomography: A Review,” Photochemistry and Photobiology 81, 215–237 (2005) [CrossRef]


NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) — A pedestrian was struck and killed on Erie Ave. in North Tonawanda Monday night.
North Tonawanda police say the person was hit by a vehicle in the street’s 900 block just before 10:30 p.m. It is not clear if he was hit by a second vehicle.
Around Noon on Tuesday, the pedestrian was identified as 53-year-old North Tonawanda resident James Edel.
Police ask anyone with information on the incident to call their Detective Bureau at 692-4312.


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Steve founded the band in 2017 with guitarist Don Miller and plays/sings Randy Meisner/Timothy B Schmitt in this production
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Don plays most of the guitar stylings of Don Felder in Winslow
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Apparently not wanting to wade into problems of BJP,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday that what was happening in that party was not good and felt the controversies over Kandahar and Pokhran-II were needless.
In his first comments on the turmoil in BJP,he told reporters in Barmer that infighting in that party was “not good”. “It (infighting in BJP) is not good. In a democracy,stability in political parties is necessary. If there is instability,it will have an impact on the country,” he said when asked about the crisis in BJP.
Asked whether there was instability in BJP,Singh,who was in Ramsar,about 60 km from Barmer,to see progress of NREGA projects,said there should be stability in all parties.
To questions on the raging controversy over the Kandahar hijack episode arising out of differences among BJP leaders — L K Advani,Jaswant Singh,Yashwant Sinha besides former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra,he said,”what can I say about it. I was not there.”
“It is not correct,” he said in reply to a question about the atmosphere created by the bad blood between the BJP leaders.
When specifically asked about BJP leaders insisting that Advani was present at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Jaswant Singh going to Kandahar in a plane with three terrorists,the Prime Minister said “I was not not there. Yaswant and Jaswant were there.”
On the controversy triggered by former DRDO scientist K Santhanam on Pokhran-II tests,Singh said,”a wrong impression has been given by some scientists which is needless.”
The Prime Minister noted that the then Scientific Advisor A P J Abdul Kalam has stated in public that all the tests conducted in 1998 were successful.
“So there is nothing in this (Santhanam’s contention),” Singh said adding,”there is no need to create misgivings on this. We have full confidence in Dr Kalam,Dr Chidambaram and other scientists.”
Santhanam,the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) representative for the tests,had claimed that the thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb was of low yield and not the one that would meet the country’s strategic objectives. He said India needed to conduct more atomic tests and should not sign CTBT.
On the drought situation,the Prime Minister said the situation was “serious” “It has affected prices but there is enough foodgrain stocks and efforts will be made to ensure that people below poverty line are not hit,” he said.
Singh said the government would increase the number of existing 100 working days,if needed,under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.


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BOSTON (CBS) — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported 4,376 new confirmed COVID cases on Thursday. There were 13 additional deaths reported.
The seven-day weighted average of positive tests in Massachusetts has now jumped to 6.17%. Thursday marks the first time the positivity rate is over 6% since early February.
Currently, there are 547 people in the hospital with COVID. There are also 45 patients currently in intensive care.
Health officials said the total number of confirmed cases in the state is now 1,634,308. The total number of confirmed deaths in the state is now 19,181.
There were 61,006 total new tests reported.
Massachusetts schools are reporting a big jump in cases. The Department of Education says more than 8,000 students tested positive in the last week along with 2,600 staff members.
Those numbers do cover the week after April vacation, which could explain the spike.


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PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Pittsburgh Pirates recalled right-handed reliever Evan Meek from Triple-A Indianapolis and placed righty Juan Cruz on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. The move was retroactive to July 18.
Meek posted a 2.21 ERA over 27 appearances at Triple-A with 23 walks and 30 strikeouts over 36.2 innings. Meek appeared in 10 games with Pittsburgh this season and posted a 7.59 ERA.
Cruz posted a 2.61 ERA over 31.0 innings with Pittsburgh this season. In his last appearance on the 17th, Cruz tossed 0.2 scoreless frames with two walks....
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The Smyles Comm-biner is a quality stereo audio interface developed by sound mixer Tony Smyles that combines production audio and walkie-talkie audio so both can be monitored via headphones. It is particularly suited to the world of reality and documentary production, but is useful in any situation where walkie-talkies must be monitored as well as production audio.
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Project co-financed within the framework of the Operational Programme Intelligent Development 2014-2020 by the European Regional Development Fund.
We are currently undergoing R&D phase on a cuffless blood pressure monitor, allowing constant imaging of the results (Microwave + PPG)
The project aims to create a method for continuous blood pressure monitoring in hypertensive patients, however, completely bypassing traditional, cumbersome testing methods such as a pumped cuff or sensing nodes placed on the subject’s body.
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In each of these cases, wireless devices that are able to perform measurement data transmission in addition to the diagnostic function are particularly desirable on the market. This is due to the fact, that many patients with cardiac conditions are advised to exercise at home, e.g. treadmill, or bicycle.
The aim of the project is to market an innovative method and device for continuous measurement of human blood pressure without the use of a sleeve.
EU funding for the project: 8 875 633,71 PLN


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Deadpool 3 Is Reportedly In Development At Marvel Studios
Deadpool 3 has been in a state of flux ever since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, and people have been a bit worried about what was going to happen to the Ryan Reynolds lead superhero (or anti-hero) movie.
Deadpool and Deadpool 2 were very successful, and until recently, Deadpool held the title for the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, and Deadpool 2 was in second place.
However, they’ve both been overtaken by DC Films and Warner Bros. Pictures’ recent movie, Joker, which has now grossed over £900 million at the box office.
Ryan Reynolds wasn’t too happy about his movie being surpassed at the box office by Joker, and he’ll be hoping that Deadpool 3 will be able to reclaim the Merc With A Mouth’s R-rated movie box office crown.
Well, it’s now rumoured that Deadpool 3 is already in production after it was spotted by HN Entertainment that a new shell company has been set up by Disney and Marvel for an up and coming feature film.
Disney and Marvel are getting ready to make Deadpool 3
The company’s called Finger Gun Productions LLC, which seems to be a big clue.
It’s the kind of joker that Deadpool would make, and it’s lead to a lot of outlets, Small Screen included, to think that this production company is working on Deadpool 3.
We don’t know much about the movie, but we do know that Deadpool and Deadpool 2’s co-writer Paul Wernick, recently confirmed that he had a meeting with Marvel Studios to discuss an upcoming R-rated movie.
It’s pretty safe to assume that they were discussing the third Deadpool film, so if you put two and two together, you get Deadpool 3.
What do you think? Are Disney and Marvel Studios getting ready to start production on Deadpool 3? Let us know in the comments below.
And if you enjoy listening to film podcasts, why not check out Small Screen Radio wherever you get your podcasts!


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Asked & Answered - The Chronicle Herald
In Nova Scotia, everyone operating a motor vehicle is required by law to have a valid policy of insurance. The standard auto insurance policy in this province has a number of coverage sections. The most important ones in terms of an accident are those involving liability coverage (for whoever is at fault for the accident) and accident benefits coverage. Accident Benefits assist you (and others in your vehicle) with the cost of medical treatment, disability benefits for income loss and reimbursement for other incidental costs arising from injuries even if you were totally responsible for the accident. Asked & Answered - The Chronicle Herald
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Our Reference: J63343
Job Terms: Hourly Rate
Job Category: Automotive
As a trusted recruitment partner for some of the world’s most innovative automotive manufacturers, Expleo currently have an opportunity for Composite Technicians with demonstrable experience to work for a Motorsport Team based in the Surrey area. Working on the latest Formula 1 team race cars, you'll discover a whole new approach to automotive innovation with our client who is recognised for their unique vehicle design and use of cutting-edge technology.
We require candidates to have experience within a motorsport environment and proven skills in Laminating or Trimming / Fitting / Assembling of composite components. Experience working with a Formula 1 team or sub contract supplier would also be beneficial.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
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Trimming & Fitting of composite parts
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(Peacock in the Park by Lauren Palmer)
This Pride marks 53 years since the pivotal Stonewall Riots. Here’s how communities across the state are commemorating the LGBTQ liberation movement.
Second only to San Francisco in the percentage of LGBTQ residents, Portland has steadily developed into one of the nation’s most inclusive destinations. The City of Roses draws thousands to its pride parade each June, but the celebration doesn’t end at city limits. Communities all around the state honor the queer liberation movement’s history and progress with festivals that draw participants from near and far. Here’s everything you need to know about pride in Oregon, from Portland’s year-round queer offerings to LGBTQ festivities in cities from Astoria to Bend and beyond.
(Kevin Cook, aka Poison Waters, performing at Darcelle XV Showplace by H2Meyer Photography)
Keep Portland Queer
Portland draws LGBTQ travelers year-round due to its progressive culture and mix of queer-friendly clubs and attractions. Here’s what you need to know, whether your visit coincides with pride festivities or not.
The city has no specific “gay district” — folks live, work and play in virtually every neighborhood, although the West End (sometimes referred to as the “Pink Triangle”), Old Town, North Portland, Hawthorne/Belmont and the Central Eastside have a particularly pronounced LGBTQ presence.
It’s no surprise that you’ll find a diverse and vibrant queer-nightlife scene, including nearly a dozen gay bars and dance clubs (Stag, Scandals, Crush Bar, CC Slaughters and Eagle Portland are among the favorites), many monthly dance events (Slay, Blow Pony, Lez Do It, Bridge Club and CAKE, just to name a few) and a slew of queer-friendly venues that draw mixed crowds. The city is even home to the oldest drag revue on the West Coast, named for America’s oldest and longest-performing drag queen: Darcelle XV Showplace.
The city is also home to dozens of businesses owned or heavily staffed by members of the LGBTQ community, from spots like tomboy-chic clothier Wildfang, underwear shop UnderU4Men and urban winemaking operation Hip Chicks Do Wine to numerous restaurants, including Irving Street Kitchen, Saucebox, Little T Baker and Departure.
Portland has long cultivated an inclusive and progressive artistic and political scene. You see this when considering a few of the LGBTQ notables who have called the city home, such as filmmaker Gus Van Sant, transgender writer Carter Sickels, indie rocker Beth Ditto, novelist Chuck Palahniuk, songstress k.d. lang, Pink Martini co-band leader Thomas Lauderdale, former mayor Sam Adams and “Portlandia” co-creator Carrie Brownstein.(Wildfang by NashCO Photography)
(NE Portland bar by NashCO Photography)
PDX Pride Events
Scheduled for June 18-19, 2022, the Portland Waterfront LGBTQ Pride Festival and Parade draws thousands to the festival grounds at leafy Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Over the course of the festival, local and national musicians entertain the crowds, a number of artisan food and craft-beverage vendors provide tasty snacks and drinks, and dozens of supportive businesses, organizations and resources dispense information. On Sunday the Portland LGBTQ Pride Parade snakes through downtown, the Pearl District and Old Town.
Other key events throughout Pride Weekend include the Portland Trans Pride March; the Portland Dyke March; a rollicking block party on Southwest Stark Street outside Scandals gay bar on both Saturday and Sunday; and the hugely popular Gaylabration party on Saturday night. Usually on or near Pride Weekend, there’s also traditionally a special installment of Blow Pony, the city’s sassy and spirited monthly queer dance party at Bossanova Ballroom.
Later in the summer, the PDX Latinx Pride comprises several days of cultural and social programming — from poetry readings to a salsa dance party. This jubilant celebration typically takes place in July or August.
Other annual events in the city well worth checking out include the Portland Queer Film Festival in mid-September, with most showings at the indie-spirited Cinema 21, and QDoc, the world’s only film festival dedicated to LGBTQ documentaries, which is held in May at the historic Hollywood Theatre. Also in May, people of all genders and orientations don red dresses — often highly glamorous ones — to attend an annual fundraising gala, the aptly named Red Dress Party, proceeds of which benefit the Bradley Angle House and Q Center. And in June, Peacock in the Park is a joyful, family-friendly dance and drag extravaganza and scholarship fundraiser held in the open-air Washington Park Amphitheater.(Courtesy of Pride Glow Run)
(Courtesy of Central Oregon Pride)
Oregon’s True Colors
Oregon’s reputation as a diverse and LGBTQ-friendly state extends to many communities outside Portland, from the Coast to the Cascades. Held throughout the year, smaller pride festivals provide a terrific opportunity to visit different parts of the state.
Head to the outdoorsy city of Bend on June 25, 2022, to attend the Central Oregon Pride festival. This laid-back and friendly festival features an afternoon of music, food and mingling at downtown’s verdant Drake Park, which fringes the Deschutes River. This year brings the addition of an inaugural 5K fun run/walk on June 25 to celebrate pride and inclusivity.
Astoria Pride comprises three days of gatherings in June throughout this historic and picturesque small city at the confluence of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. Festivities typically include a parade along Astoria’s scenic river walk, an art show, a special LGBT Astoria Riverfront Trolley tour, an art show, dance parties and more.
On the Central Coast, Yachats Pride in June includes three days of food, drink, live music, games, drag performances and a puppy parade. Members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians will also discuss Native traditions around gender diversity and sexuality in Indian Country.
On the Southern Oregon Coast, a Pride flag is flying over the city all month long and the community is celebrating two years of advocacy, growth and visibility.
The state’s third-largest city plays host to the Eugene/Springfield Pride Festival on August 13, 2022. After Portland, Eugene has the largest and most visible LGBTQ community in the state. It’s also home to one of the state’s only gay bars outside of Portland, Spectrum, which is a welcoming spot for drinks or a meal anytime — but especially during pride. The Eugene/Springfield Pride Festival takes place at the scenic Alton Baker Park along the banks of the Willamette River. Watch a diverse mix of bands and performers, chat with local LGBTQ-supportive businesses and organizations at a vendor expo, and sip craft brews in the beer garden.
Also held along the Willamette River, typically in early August, Capitol Pride draws locals and visitors to the state’s capital and second-largest city, Salem, for a lively day of entertainment at Riverfront Park.
New for 2022, what’s billed as the world’s first Queer Wine Fest will be held at Remy Wines in Dayton (June 24, 2022). The outdoor festival will include wine and food tasting with live music, featuring queer-owned, -made and -grown wines.
This year is also the area’s first large-scale Pride event, the 2022 Street Fair (June 25 in McMinnville), involving speakers, performers and food and drink vendors.
Throughout the month of June, the public is invited to enjoy Rainbow Quest, with 53 local coffee shops, wineries, restaurants, bars and retailers in Yamhill County that will be offering Pride-inspired drinks, food and products.
The wine fest, street fair and Rainbow Quest are all part of Wine Country Pride, an inclusive celebration of the LGBTQ+ community in the Willamette Valley. Wine Country Pride seeks to be a visible celebration of the queer community and to educate all people while connecting through community building and economic activity. Check the website for the full lineup of events, involving yoga, drag shows, a car parade and picnic, brunch, dinner and of course wine.
Wine Country Pride was founded in 2020 by a group of friends and business owners including Remy Drabkin, owner of Remy Wines and newly elected as the first queer mayor of McMinnville.
If you’re up for an all-inclusive adventure, sign up to join the Pride Outdoors Regenerative Tour (June 18-19, 2022) hosted by First Nature Tours, the only LGBTQ+ owned outdoor tour company in Oregon. This safe, welcoming and sustainable event will include a tree-planting and biodiversity tour at Left Coast Estates; a guided kayak tour along the Willamette River with eNRG Kayaking; a dinner at Left Coast that supports Wine Country Pride; and lodging at the Independence Hotel.
In Southern Oregon, Medford Pride 2022 welcomes members and allies to a celebration at Pear Blossom Park on June 11, 2022, and the city of Ashland celebrates with a Southern Oregon Pride Parade in October.


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