Enablers for embedding big data solutions in smart factories: an empirical investigation

This study provides insight into the enablers that assist organizations in implementing big data solutions in their smart factory development, as well as the interrelationships between these enablers from an information system (IS) perspective. The research followed an inductive qualitative approach. Twenty-two in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced consultants and IT managers from SAP Consultancy Company, and general managers and engineers from Xiamen Intretech Inc., a leading manufacturing company in adopting big data solutions in smart factory. Following thematic analysis approach, three sets of enablers including organization, technology and external environment were identified together with the interrelationships between them. This paper extends the current understanding of smart factory and big data solutions in information system research through offering an empirical investigation of different enablers in this context. The findings also provide recommendations for practitioners to increase the possibilities of success when implementing big data solutions in smart factory context

Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Catalytic Properties, and Luminescent of a Novel Eu(III) Complex Material with 4-Imidazolecarboxaldehyde-pyridine-2-carbohydrazone

A novel Eu(III) complex, [Eu(L)2(H2O)4]·(NO3)·(H2O)4 (1) (H2L = 4-imidazolecarboxaldehyde-pyridine-2-carbohydrazide), was synthesized. Its structure has been characterized by elemental analysis, IR, and X-ray single crystal diffraction analysis. Complex 1 is of orthorhombic, space group Fdd2 with a = 29.471(6) A˚, b = 10.287(2) A˚, c = 24.340(5) A˚, V = 7379(3) A˚3, Z = 8, Mr = 902.58, Dc = 1.625 µg·m-3, µ = 1.789 mm-1, F(000) = 3656, GOOF = 1.099, the final R= 0.0517, ωR= 0.1292 for 3043 observed reflections with I > 2σ(I).  The A3 coupling reaction has been investigated using the complex 1 as catalyst. The luminescent spectrum of the complex 1 gives two weak peaks (448 nm and 491 nm) and two strong peaks (596 nm and 620 nm) from excitation at 279 nm.

Discovery of gamma-ray emission from a strongly lobe-dominated quasar 3C 275.1

We systematically analyze the 6-year {\it Fermi}/LAT data of the lobe-dominated quasars (LDQs) in the complete LDQ sample from 3CRR survey and report the discovery of high-energy $\gamma$-ray emission from 3C 275.1. The $\gamma$-ray emission of 3C 207 is confirmed and significant variability of the lightcurve is identified. We do not find statistically significant $\gamma$-ray emission from other LDQs. 3C 275.1 is the known $\gamma$-ray quasar with the lowest core dominance parameter (i.e., $R=0.11$). We also show that both the northern radio hotspot and parsec jet models can reasonably reproduce the $\gamma$-ray data. The parsec jet model, however, is favored by the potential $\gamma$-ray variability at the timescale of months. We suggest that some dimmer $\gamma$-ray LDQs will be detected in the future and LDQs could contribute non-negligibly to the extragalactic $\gamma$-ray background.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables; ApJ in pres

Genomics-assisted breeding - A revolutionary strategy for crop improvement

Food shortages arise more frequently owing to unpredictable crop yield losses caused by biotic and abiotic stresses. With advances in molecular biology and marker technology, a new era of molecular breeding has emerged that has greatly accelerated the pace of plant breeding. High-throughput genotyping technology and phenotyping platforms have enabled large-scale marker-trait association analysis, such as genome-wide association studies, to precisely dissect the genetic architecture of plant traits. Large-scale mapping of agronomically important quantitative trait loci, gene cloning and characterization, mining of elite alleles/haplotypes, exploitation of natural variations, and genomic selection have paved the way towards genomics-assisted breeding (GAB). With the availability of more and more informative genomic datasets, GAB would become a promising technique to expedite the breeding cycle for crop improvement

Far-Field Tunable Nano-focusing Based on Metallic Slits Surrounded with Nonlinear-Variant Widths and Linear-Variant Depths of Circular Dielectric Grating

In this work, we design a new tunable nanofocusing lens by the linear-variant depths and nonlinear-variant widths of circular grating for far field practical applications. The constructively interference of cylindrical surface plasmon launched by the subwavelength metallic structure can form a subdiffraction-limited focus, and the focal length of the this structures can be adjusted if the each groove depth and width of circular grating are arranged in traced profile. According to the numerical calculation, the range of focusing points shift is much more than other plasmonic lens, and the relative phase of emitting light scattered by surface plasmon coupling circular grating can be modulated by the nonlinear-variant width and linear-variant depth. The simulation result indicates that the different relative phase of emitting light lead to variant focal length. We firstly show a unique phenomenon for the linear-variant depths and nonlinear-variant widths of circular grating that the positive change and negative change of the depths and widths of grooves can result in different of variation trend between relative phases and focal lengths. These results paved the road for utilizing the plasmonic lens in high-density optical storage, nanolithography, superresolution optical microscopic imaging, optical trapping, and sensing.Comment: 14pages,9figure

The prediction of protein-protein interaction networks in rice blast fungus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein-protein interaction (PPI) maps are useful tools for investigating the cellular functions of genes. Thus far, large-scale PPI mapping projects have not been implemented for the rice blast fungus <it>Magnaporthe grisea</it>, which is responsible for the most severe rice disease. Inspired by recent advances in PPI prediction, we constructed a PPI map of this important fungus.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using a well-recognized interolog approach, we have predicted 11,674 interactions among 3,017 <it>M. grisea </it>proteins. Although the scale of the constructed map covers approximately only one-fourth of the <it>M. grisea</it>'s proteome, it is the first PPI map for this crucial organism and will therefore provide new insights into the functional genomics of the rice blast fungus. Focusing on the network topology of proteins encoded by known pathogenicity genes, we have found that pathogenicity proteins tend to interact with higher numbers of proteins. The pathogenicity proteins and their interacting partners in the entire network were then used to construct a subnet called a pathogenicity network. These data may provide further clues for the study of these pathogenicity proteins. Finally, it has been established that secreted proteins in <it>M. grisea </it>interact with fewer proteins. These secreted proteins and their interacting partners were also compiled into a network of secreted proteins, which may be helpful in constructing an interactome between the rice blast fungus and rice.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We predicted the PPIs of <it>M. grisea </it>and compiled them into a database server called MPID. It is hoped that MPID will provide new hints as to the functional genomics of this fungus. MPID is available at <url>http://bioinformatics.cau.edu.cn/zzd_lab/MPID.html</url>.</p

Mid-infrared computational temporal ghost imaging

Ghost imaging in the time domain allows for reconstructing fast temporal objects using a slow photodetector. The technique involves correlating random or pre-programmed probing temporal intensity patterns with the integrated signal measured after modulation by the temporal object. However, the implementation of temporal ghost imaging necessitates ultrafast detectors or modulators for measuring or pre-programming the probing intensity patterns, which is not universally available in all spectral regions especially in the mid-infrared range. Here, we demonstrate a frequency downconversion temporal ghost imaging scheme that enables to extend the operation regime to arbitrary wavelengths regions where fast modulators and detectors are not available. The approach modulates a signal with temporal intensity patterns in the near-infrared and transfers the patterns to an idler via difference-frequency generation at the wavelength of the temporal object to be retrieved. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate temporal ghost imaging in the mid-infrared. The scheme is flexible and introduces new possibilities for scan-free pump-probe imaging and the study of ultrafast dynamics in spectral regions where ultrafast modulation or detection is challenging such as the mid-infrared and THz regions