Reconfigurable Optical Interconnections Via Dynamic Computer-Generated Holograms

A system is presented for optically providing one-to-many irregular interconnections, and strength-adjustable many-to-many irregular interconnections which may be provided with strengths (weights) w(sub ij) using multiple laser beams which address multiple holograms and means for combining the beams modified by the holograms to form multiple interconnections, such as a cross-bar switching network. The optical means for interconnection is based on entering a series of complex computer-generated holograms on an electrically addressed spatial light modulator for real-time reconfigurations, thus providing flexibility for interconnection networks for large-scale practical use. By employing multiple sources and holograms, the number of interconnection patterns achieved is increased greatly

The State-of-the-Art Practices of the Internet Banking in Taiwan

This paper reports an investigation into the state-of-the-art practices of Internet banking in Taiwan. Emphasis is focused on the adoption of security technology. Three kinds of security utilities—SSL, SET, and Non-SET—are compared in terms of risks and supported functions. The author also analyzes factors that influence the development of Internet banking. The Ministry of Finance of the Taiwanese government has adopted a policy that fosters the development of Internet banking. However, understanding security technologies demands in-depth expert knowledge, and goes beyond the capacity of general citizens. The authors suggest that the first priority is given to the authority’s promulgation of laws and guidelines. Second, the banking industry needs to integrate the security mechanisms of Internet banking services with the existing environment. Finally, a risk allotment policy would help to remove fear and doubt from customer’s minds

Biphenyl-3,3′-dicarb­oxy­lic acid

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C14H10O4, contains one half mol­ecule, the complete mol­ecule being generated by a twofold axis. The two benzene rings form a dihedral angle of 43.11 (5)°. Inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into one-dimensional zigzag chains. These chains are further connected into two-dimensional supra­molecular layers by weak π–π stacking inter­actions between neighbouring benzene rings, with centroid–centroid distances of 3.7648 (8) Å

Tetra­kis­(μ-benzoato-κ2 O:O′)bis{[4-(di­methyl­amino)­pyridine-κN 1]zinc(II)}

In the centrosymmetric binuclear title complex, [Zn2(C7H5O2)4(C7H10N2)2], the Zn atoms [Zn⋯Zn = 3.0037 (6) Å] are bridged by four benzoate ligands. Each of the Zn atoms assumes an approximately square-pyramidal environment, with four O atoms in a plane and the pyridine N atom at the apical site

A Robust Gene Expression Prognostic Signature for Overall Survival in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer.

The objective of this research was to develop a robust gene expression-based prognostic signature and scoring system for predicting overall survival (OS) of patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). Transcriptomic data of HGSOC patients were obtained from six independent studies in the NCBI GEO database. Genes significantly deregulated and associated with OS in HGSOCs were selected using GEO2R and Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank testing, respectively. Enrichment analysis for biological processes and pathways was performed using Gene Ontology analysis. A resampling/cross-validation method with Cox regression analysis was used to identify a novel gene expression-based signature associated with OS, and a prognostic scoring system was developed and further validated in nine independent HGSOC datasets. We first identified 488 significantly deregulated genes in HGSOC patients, of which 232 were found to be significantly associated with their OS. These genes were significantly enriched for cell cycle division, epithelial cell differentiation, p53 signaling pathway, vasculature development, and other processes. A novel 11-gene prognostic signature was identified and a prognostic scoring system was developed, which robustly predicted OS in HGSOC patients in 100 sampling test sets. The scoring system was further validated successfully in nine additional HGSOC public datasets. In conclusion, our integrative bioinformatics study combining transcriptomic and clinical data established an 11-gene prognostic signature for robust and reproducible prediction of OS in HGSOC patients. This signature could be of clinical value for guiding therapeutic selection and individualized treatment

A clinical trial on Conbercept for macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion

AIM: To investigate the effect and safety of intravitreous injection of conbercept(0.5mg)on macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion(CRVO). METHODS: According to the selective criteria, from October 2014 to October 2015, 48 cases(48 eyes)of patients with macular edema secondary to CRVO were collected, which were divided randomly into conbercept group(24 cases, 24 eyes)and control group(triamcinolone acetonide 4mg/0.1mL, 24 cases,24 eyes). The best-corrected visual acuity(BCVA), intraocular pressure, intravitreous injection, fundus oculi, central macular thickness(CMT)and related complications were observed before and 1wk, 1, 3, 6 and 12mo after intravitreous injection. RESULTS: There was no difference on BCVA, intraocular pressure, intravitreous injection, fundus oculi and CMT between the two groups before operations(P>0.05). There were no significant differences(P>0.05)of the BCVA between two groups after treatment for 1wk, 1, 3, 6 and 12mo. Before and after treatment, the decrease of CMT in conbercept group was respectively 130.17±1.72μm, 253.33 ±3.14μm, 318.00±1.41μm, 20.01±1.21μm and 15.09±1.41μm, and no related complications. The decrease of CMT in control group was respectively 132.5±2.07μm, 249.67±1.21μm, 317.50±4.23μm, 18.01±1.41μm and 16.09±1.31μm, and no related complications. There were no significant differences(F=6.882, P=0.663>0.05)of CMT between two groups after treatment for 1wk, 1, 3, 6 and 12mo. Injection times were respectively 2.83±0.72 and 3.17±0.71 in control group and conbercept group, and the difference between two groups has no statistical significance(P>0.05). There were 4 cases(17%)of paracentesis of anterior chamber, 3 cases(13%)of intraocular hypertension and 1 case(4%)of complicated cataract in control group. There was no related complications in conbercept group.CONCLUSION: Intravitreous injection of conbercept for macular edema secondary to CRVO is effective, safe and less complications

Discriminating bipartite mixed states by local operations

Unambiguous state discrimination of two mixed bipartite states via local operations and classical communications (LOCC) is studied and compared with the result of a scheme realized via global measurement. We show that the success probability of a global scheme for mixed-state discrimination can be achieved perfectly by the local scheme. In addition, we simulate this discrimination via a pair of pure entangled bipartite states. This simulation is perfect for local rather than global schemes due to the existence of entanglement and global coherence in the pure states. We also prove that LOCC protocol and the sequential state discrimination (SSD) can be interpreted in a unified view. We then hybridize the LOCC protocol with three protocols (SSD, reproducing and broadcasting) relying on classical communications. Such hybridizations extend the gaps between the optimal success probability of global and local schemes, which can be eliminated only for the SSD rather than the other two protocols

A Force Sensorless Method for CFRP/Ti Stack Interface Detection during Robotic Orbital Drilling Operations

Drilling carbon fiber reinforced plastics and titanium (CFRP/Ti) stacks is one of the most important activities in aircraft assembly. It is favorable to use different drilling parameters for each layer due to their dissimilar machining properties. However, large aircraft parts with changing profiles lead to variation of thickness along the profiles, which makes it challenging to adapt the cutting parameters for different materials being drilled. This paper proposes a force sensorless method based on cutting force observer for monitoring the thrust force and identifying the drilling material during the drilling process. The cutting force observer, which is the combination of an adaptive disturbance observer and friction force model, is used to estimate the thrust force. An in-process algorithm is developed to monitor the variation of the thrust force for detecting the stack interface between the CFRP and titanium materials. Robotic orbital drilling experiments have been conducted on CFRP/Ti stacks. The estimate error of the cutting force observer was less than 13%, and the stack interface was detected in 0.25 s (or 0.05 mm) before or after the tool transited it. The results show that the proposed method can successfully detect the CFRP/Ti stack interface for the cutting parameters adaptation

Twofold Structured Features-Based Siamese Network for Infrared Target Tracking

Nowadays, infrared target tracking has been a critical technology in the field of computer vision and has many applications, such as motion analysis, pedestrian surveillance, intelligent detection, and so forth. Unfortunately, due to the lack of color, texture and other detailed information, tracking drift often occurs when the tracker encounters infrared targets that vary in size or shape. To address this issue, we present a twofold structured features-based Siamese network for infrared target tracking. First of all, in order to improve the discriminative capacity for infrared targets, a novel feature fusion network is proposed to fuse both shallow spatial information and deep semantic information into the extracted features in a comprehensive manner. Then, a multi-template update module based on template update mechanism is designed to effectively deal with interferences from target appearance changes which are prone to cause early tracking failures. Finally, both qualitative and quantitative experiments are carried out on VOT-TIR 2016 dataset, which demonstrates that our method achieves the balance of promising tracking performance and real-time tracking speed against other out-of-the-art trackers.Comment: 13 pages,9 figures,references adde