Robust Parameter Control based on Selecting Online Controllable Variables

AbstractRobust parameter design (RPD) is considered as a cost effective tool for reducing process variability. Robust parameter control, integrating RPD with automatic process control, will performance better than the traditional RPD approach. This paper proposed a strategy of robust process control based on selecting online controllable variables with consideration of generalized quality cost, which includes quality loss and manufacturing cost. Firstly, online controllable variables were selected and offline controllable variables were optimized in the design stage by minimizing the expectation of quality loss. Then, online controllable variables were adjusted during production according to the measurement of noise variables. Finally, the illustrative example showed that the proposed approach achieved lower quality cost

Chalcogenide Glass-on-Graphene Photonics

Two-dimensional (2-D) materials are of tremendous interest to integrated photonics given their singular optical characteristics spanning light emission, modulation, saturable absorption, and nonlinear optics. To harness their optical properties, these atomically thin materials are usually attached onto prefabricated devices via a transfer process. In this paper, we present a new route for 2-D material integration with planar photonics. Central to this approach is the use of chalcogenide glass, a multifunctional material which can be directly deposited and patterned on a wide variety of 2-D materials and can simultaneously function as the light guiding medium, a gate dielectric, and a passivation layer for 2-D materials. Besides claiming improved fabrication yield and throughput compared to the traditional transfer process, our technique also enables unconventional multilayer device geometries optimally designed for enhancing light-matter interactions in the 2-D layers. Capitalizing on this facile integration method, we demonstrate a series of high-performance glass-on-graphene devices including ultra-broadband on-chip polarizers, energy-efficient thermo-optic switches, as well as graphene-based mid-infrared (mid-IR) waveguide-integrated photodetectors and modulators

The Myth of Voluntary Death: The Representation of Sacrifice and Martyrdom in the Maoist Films (1949-1976)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2017-06The dissertation investigates into the layered narratives of sacrifice and revolutionary martyrdom in Maoist films. Martyr’s death is abstracted and elevated from unpredictable personal event to be a collectively controllable and foreseeable public event. I refer to such ideological control over citizen’s death necropolitics. Maoist necropower interpellates revolutionary subjects, justifies the nation’s secular necropower transmitted from the transcendental ideals, surrogates martyrs bodies and minds to speak for them, and conceals martyr’s marginalized position as the sacrificial object and martyr’s dead body as disposable abject. I argue that the key mechanism of the Maoist necropolitics lies in the absent causes that originate from the transcendental revolutionary ideals. These socialist ideals can never be realized completely and are catachresis that lack sufficient referents. In other words, any socialist ideal essentially stands for a collective historical experience that cannot be fully presented but must be presupposed to regulate personal lived experience. Respectively, these three absent causes are: the future ideal of perfection, the ideal socialist female type, and “the absolute spirit of selflessness.” Chapter 2 argues for the homogeneity of the onscreen Maoist male martyrdom, which follows a constant formula both in theme and in style. Although the orthodox representation of male sacrifice looks formulaic and stiff, I argue that the flawless sublime heroic figure is exactly the embodiment of the communist ideal of the future perfection. Its impossibility of being sufficiently represented opens up the room for audience’s unlimited imagination of the future totality. During the process of fantasy construction, the future ideal of perfection is implanted into the present reality. Chapter 3 argues that the onscreen female martyrdom is far more complicated than the simple generalization of the “erasure of femininity.” The Maoist ideology requires femininity to be emphasized when women are called to die for the nation, to show that the communist revolution is inclusive and universal regardless of any gender difference. However, sexuality needs to be concealed when the libidinal force is uncontrollable and runs the risk of threatening male authority and revolutionary purity. By a close reading of the film Dr.Bethune, Chapter 4 unveils the entangled implications of foreignness and selflessness in constructing and keeping the sameness of the revolutionary individual and collective identity. By the representation of an influential foreign martyr, the revolutionary narrative and the cinematic strategies cooperate to minimize the potential threats of disintegration of the local solidarity from the benevolent foreignness, while maximizing the validity of transnational communism. I argue that the ideal revolutionary individual identity, “the spirit of absolute selflessness” as Mao called for, is a void. But it is exactly such a void that keeps the homogeneity and sameness of the individual identity which defies any change occurred in time and becomes permanent. Chapter 5 investigates the rarity of the Maoist films where unconventional martyrdom is represented through genre twists. These film genres include comedy, suspense thriller, and children’s films. The genre twists potentially expose the original paradox and the inherent problems of martyrdom. Being subjects, objects and abjects at the same time, martyrs are at once celebrated and marginalized

Direct interactions of AT1G75060 (AFR1) and AT1G19330 (AFR2) with AtSAP18 and HDA19 proteins.

<p>(A) Interactions of AtSAP18 with AT1G75060 and AT1G19330 in yeast. The indicated proteins of full-length were fused with the GAL4-BD or AD domain. Yeast cells harboring the fusion proteins, BD and/or AD (as indicated), were grown on selective synthetic defined media lacking of Trp, Leu, and His. (B) BiFC analysis of the interactions of AtSAP18 with AT1G75060 and AT1G19330 in onion epidermal cells. Onion epidermal cells were co-transformed transiently by a pair of plasmid, as indicated, via biolistic gene bombardment. Yellowish-green signals indicate physical associations of paired proteins in the nuclei. Blue fluorescence from a DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining indicates a nucleus. Bar = 20 µm. (C) Interactions of HDA19 with AT1G75060 and AT1G19330 in yeast. The indicated full-length proteins were fused with the GAL4-BD or AD domain. Yeast cells were grown on selective synthetic defined media lacking of Trp, Leu, and His. (D) BiFC analysis of the interactions of HDA19 with AT1G75060 and AT1G19330 in onion epidermal cells. Bar = 20 µm.</p

ChIP analysis of levels of acetylated histone H3 in Col and <i>afr1 afr2</i> rosette leaves.

<p>Amounts of the immunoprecipitated genomic fragments were quantified by qPCR. The fold enrichments were calculated as follows: for each examined <i>FT</i> region, the amount of DNA fragments from WT or <i>afr1 afr2</i> at each time point (ZT8 or ZT16) was first normalized to the constitutively expressed <i>TUBULIN2</i> (<i>TUB2</i>) in each sample, and subsequently, the <i>TUB2</i>-normalized values for the <i>afr1 afr2</i> at ZT8, the <i>afr1 afr2</i> at ZT16, or the WT at ZT16 were divided by the value for the WT at ZT8 to obtain fold enrichments. Shown are the means and SD of two ChIP experiments. An analysis of H3 acetylation on <i>FT</i> chromatin in Col and <i>afr1 afr2</i> seedlings is presented in <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001649#pbio.1001649.s011" target="_blank">Figure S11</a>.</p

AFR1 binding to <i>FT</i> chromatin at the end of LDs requires <i>CO</i>, <i>AGL15</i>, and <i>AGL18</i>.

<p>Seedlings of <i>afr1 AFR1:HA</i>, <i>agl15 agl18 afr1 AFR1:HA</i>, <i>co afr1 AFR1:HA</i>, and WT (negative CK) were harvested at ZT16 and subjected to ChIP assays with anti-HA. The fold enrichments of AFR1:HA in <i>FT-P</i> (a proximal promoter region) in the AFR1:HA-expressing lines over CK, are presented. Error bars indicate SD of triplicate measurements. A biological repeat of this analysis is presented as <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001649#pbio.1001649.s010" target="_blank">Figure S10C</a>.</p

A working model for control of <i>FT</i> expression by the dynamic cycles of histone acetylation and deacetylation at the end of LDs.

<p>The coincidence of high <i>CO</i> mRNA expression with light exposure at the day's end leads to the CO protein accumulation towards dusk. CO directly binds to the <i>FT</i> proximal promoter, and CO activity at the <i>FT</i> locus may change the chromatin state and enables/gates AGL18 (and presumably AGL15) binding to the <i>FT</i> proximal promoter. AGL18 recruits AFR1/AFR2-HDAC to <i>FT</i> chromatin at dusk. In addition, the CO activity may also enable the recruitment of a HAT to <i>FT</i> chromatin. The opposing activities of HAT and AFR-HDAC on <i>FT</i> chromatin at the end of LDs conceivably modulate the acetylation dynamics of <i>FT</i> chromatin and set <i>FT</i> expression at an adequate level at dusk. At night, CO is rapidly degraded by proteasomes, which prevents the actions of HAT and AFR-HDAC on <i>FT</i> chromatin, resulting in a “silent” chromatin state. In early day, <i>FT</i> chromatin remains ‘silent’ due to lack of the CO protein. Day and night are indicated with white and gray shadings, respectively.</p

Analyses of AFR1 and AFR2 expression patterns and their bindings to <i>FT</i> chromatin.

<p>(A) Spatial expression patterns of <i>AFR1-GUS</i>, <i>AFR2-GUS</i>, and <i>FT-GUS</i>. LD-grown Col seedlings or rosette leaves were stained for 6 h except for <i>AFR1-GUS</i> staining with 8.5 h. Arrows indicate stained veins. (B) Nuclear localization of the AFR1:GFP and AFR2:GFP fusion proteins in <i>Arabidopsis</i> root cells. Scale bars are 50 µm. The blue DAPI staining indicates nuclei. (C) <i>AFR1</i> and <i>AFR2</i> mRNA levels in Col (WT) seedlings over a 24-h LD cycle. The mRNA levels were normalized to <i>UBQ10</i>; bars indicate SD of triplicate measurements. A biological repeat of this analysis is included as <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001649#pbio.1001649.s008" target="_blank">Figure S8B</a>. White and dark bars below the x-axis indicate light and dark periods, respectively. (D) AFR1:HA and AFR2:FLAG protein levels in Col seedlings over a 24-h LD cycle. Total proteins loaded in a duplicated SDS-PAGE gel were stained with Coomassie Blue, serving as loading controls. (E) ChIP analysis of AFR1:HA enrichment at the <i>FT</i> locus. Amounts of the immunoprecipitated genomic fragments were measured by qPCR, and normalized first to the endogenous control <i>TUBULIN8</i> (<i>TUB8</i>). The fold enrichment of AFR1:HA in each examined region (at each time point) was calculated by dividing the <i>TUB8</i>-normalized amount of examined region from the AFR1:HA-expressing line, by that of WT (without <i>AFR1:HA</i>) at each time point. Error bars indicate SD of triplicate quantifications (technical replicates). A biological repeat of this analysis is presented as <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001649#pbio.1001649.s010" target="_blank">Figure S10A</a>. (F) ChIP analysis of AFR2:FLAG enrichment at the <i>FT</i> locus. The fold enrichments of AFR2:FLAG were calculated in a way similar to those of AFR1:HA. Error bars indicate SD of triplicate quantifications. A biological repeat of this analysis is presented as <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001649#pbio.1001649.s010" target="_blank">Figure S10B</a>.</p

Phenotypes of <i>afr1</i>, <i>afr2</i>, and <i>afr1 afr2</i> mutants.

<p>(A) <i>AFR1</i> and <i>AFR2</i> gene structures. Exons are represented by black boxes, and arrows indicate transcription start sites (TSS); triangles for <i>T-DNA</i> insertion sites. (B) <i>afr1</i>, <i>afr2</i>, and <i>afr1 afr2</i> mutants grown in LDs. The arrow indicates a main bolt with flowers. (C) Flowering times of the indicated genotypes grown in LDs. 19–23 plants were scored for each line. Double asterisks indicate statistically significant differences in the means between Col (WT) and the indicated mutants, as revealed by two-tailed Student's <i>t</i> test (**, <i>p</i><0.01). Bars indicate SD (for standard deviation). (D) Flowering times of the indicated genotypes grown in short days. 11–15 plants were scored for each line. Double asterisks indicate statistically significant differences in the means between Col and the indicated mutants. (E) Leaf phenotype of the <i>afr1 afr2</i> double mutant grown in LDs.</p