Structure–Function Relationship of Retinal Ganglion Cells in Multiple Sclerosis

The retinal ganglion cells (RGC) may be considered an easily accessible pathophysiological site of degenerative processes in neurological diseases, such as the RGC damage detectable in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with (HON) and without a history of optic neuritis (NON). We aimed to assess and interrelate RGC functional and structural damage in different retinal layers and retinal sites. We included 12 NON patients, 11 HON patients and 14 healthy controls for cross-sectional multifocal pattern electroretinography (mfPERG) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurements. Amplitude and peak times of the mfPERG were assessed. Macula and disc OCT scans were acquired to determine macular retinal layer and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness. In both HON and NON patients the foveal N2 amplitude of the mfPERG was reduced compared to controls. The parafoveal P1 peak time was significantly reduced in HON only. For OCT, parafoveal (pfGCL) and perifoveal (pGCL) ganglion cell layer thicknesses were decreased in HON vs. controls, while pRNFL in the papillomacular bundle sector (PMB) showed reductions in both NON and HON. As the mfPERG derived N2 originates from RGC axons, these findings suggest foveal axonal dysfunction not only in HON, but also in NON patients.     

Development of surface reconstruction algorithms for optical interferometric measurement

Optical interferometry is a powerful tool for measuring and characterizing areal surface topography in precision manufacturing. A variety of instruments based on optical interferometry have been developed to meet the measurement needs in various applications, but the existing techniques are simply not enough to meet the ever-increasing requirements in terms of accuracy, speed, robustness, and dynamic range, especially in on-line or on-machine conditions. This paper provides an in-depth perspective of surface topography reconstruction for optical interferometric measurements. Principles, configurations, and applications of typical optical interferometers with different capabilities and limitations are presented. Theoretical background and recent advances of fringe analysis algorithms, including coherence peak sensing and phase-shifting algorithm, are summarized. The new developments in measurement accuracy and repeatability, noise resistance, self-calibration ability, and computational efficiency are discussed. This paper also presents the new challenges that optical interferometry techniques are facing in surface topography measurement. To address these challenges, advanced techniques in image stitching, on-machine measurement, intelligent sampling, parallel computing, and deep learning are explored to improve the functional performance of optical interferometry in future manufacturing metrology.     

Clinical significance of contact lens related changes of ocular surface tissue observed on optical coherence images

PurposeTo investigate the relationship between the real contact lens imprint into the conjunctival tissue, observed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and conjunctival staining and contact lens wearing comfort.Methods17 participants (mean age = 26.6 SD ± 3.6 years; 7 females) were fitted with three different contact lenses base curves of the same silicone hydrogel custom lens type (Visell 50; Hecht Contactlinsen, Au, Germany) in a randomised order. One lens was optimally fitted according to the manufacturer's recommendation, one fitted 0.4 mm flatter and one fitted 0.4 mm steeper. After 4 h of lens wear the contact lens edge in the area of the conjunctiva was imaged nasally and temporally using OCT (Optovue iVue SD-OCT). To correct the artefact due to optical distortion with OCT, the imprint of all worn lenses was measured on a glass plate afterwards. Conjunctival staining in the limbal region after 4 h of lens wear was classified using the CCLRU Grading Scale. Comfort scoring was based on visual analog scales from 0 (very poor) to 100 (excellent).ResultsThe mean conjunctival imprint of all contact lens edges was 32.0 ± 8.1 μm before and 7.3 ± 6.5 μm after distortion correction of the OCT images. The distortion corrected conjunctival imprint with the 0.4 mm steeper lens (11.5 ± 6.2 μm) was statistically significantly greater compared to the optimally fitted lens (6.5 ± 5.9 μm) (One-way ANOVA followed Tukey-test; p = 0.017) and greater compared to the 0.4 mm flatter lens (3.9 ± 5.3 μm) (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the optimally fitted lens and the 0.4 mm flatter lens (p = 0.209). The nasally measured imprint (11.4 ± 9.0 μm) was significantly greater than the temporally measured (3.3 ± 7.6 μm) (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant correlation between the amount of conjunctival imprint and the graded conjunctival staining (p = 0.346) or the wearer’s comfort (p = 0.735).ConclusionsContact lens edges imaged by OCT exhibited displacement artefacts. The observed conjunctival imprints are a combination of real conjunctival compression and artefacts. A deeper imprint of the contact lens into the conjunctiva caused by a steeper base curve was not related to clinically significant staining or changes in comfort after 4 h of lens wear. The observed differences between nasal and temporal imprint are likely to be caused by variations of conjunctival thickness and the shape of the underlying sclera.     

四川省植被覆盖时空演变及未来变化趋势分析

四川省地处长江上游,是长江流域重要的生态屏障;解析该区域植被覆盖的时空演变特征,对长江上游的生态环境修护与治理具有重要意义。基于长时间序列的MODIS NDVI数据,解析2000~2016年间四川省植被的空间分布格局与时间变化特征;采用趋势分析法和Hurst指数,预测未来植被的变化趋势及持续性。结果表明:(1)四川省NDVI多年平均值为0.50,植被覆盖整体上呈现川东高于川西的空间分布特征;(2)2000~2016年间,四川省的NDVI值在0.48至0.53之间波动,整体呈上升趋势,增长率为0.002 5/a;(3)植被覆盖度在未来变化将呈现改善大于退化的趋势;植被持续性改善的面积大于持续性退化的面积。     

微地震事件解释实例

微地震事件是储层对水力压裂的响应，其分布特征与压裂工艺、储层性质、区域构造应力等密切相关。因此，微地震事件解释须结合地质、油藏、工程等信息才能全面、准确地理解水力压裂裂缝延伸过程，提高压裂改造效果评价的可靠性及对储层和压裂工艺的认识，以指导井位部署和压裂设计。针对辽河探区Q1块和S268块三个微地震事件监测实例，利用微地震联合测井岩性分层、三维地震剖面以及三维地震数据相干体属性，探讨了影响微地震事件分布特征的因素，得到以下认识：1天然裂隙是影响微地震事件分布的重要地质因素，储层天然裂隙发育表现为微地震事件重叠，易于形成复杂的裂缝网络，储层天然裂隙不发育表现为微地震事件不重叠且集中分布，也可实现造长裂缝的目的，形成对称缝网；2对致密砂岩储层进行水力压裂时可将在全区稳定分布的煤层作为稳定隔挡层，控制缝高，提高改造效果；3进行井位部署时，要考虑邻近井的影响，采用合理的井间距和压裂工艺，最大限度地降低邻近井对压裂造成的影响；4地层变形形成的局部高应力区域可对水力压裂裂缝形成阻挡，影响改造效果，结合地震资料综合解释有助于微地震监测识别地层变形对压裂的影响。     

Unraveling the film-formation kinetics of interfacial polymerization via low coherence interferometry

Interfacial polymerization (IP) is one of the most important methods for fabricating thin film composite (TFC) membranes. Understanding the film-formation mechanisms is of great value for developing membranes with enhanced performance. This work proposed a novel method to in situ characterize the film-formation kinetics via low coherence interferometry (LCI). The polyamide film formed at the liquid–substrate interface was scanned in real time; the polymerization induced significant variations in the optical properties around the reaction zone. After mitigating the effects of the perturbed interface, the surface-averaged intensity profiles provide a solid basis for analyzing the film-formation kinetics at various depths. In particular, the effects of the monomer concentrations were investigated to reveal the asymmetric growth and development of irregular substructures. All the characterization results confirm that the LCI-based characterization is a powerful tool for studying the structural evolution of the IP layer and thereby providing deeper insights for optimizing TFC membranes.     

基于LSTM-RF模型的城市道路交通流预测

交通流预测作为信号协调和出行时间预测等任务的基础,成为了交通领域的研究点。对于交通流预测问题,研究人员提出了多种方法,但这些方法大多只使用交通流数据的时域信息进行交通流预测,忽略了空间相关性对于预测目标路段流的影响,导致预测精度不理想。基于组合模型的思想提出了一种称为LSTM-RF的交通流预测模型。在交通流预测过程中,首先使用LSTM模型提取预测目标路段的时序特征,再将其预测值与采集的相邻上下游路段信息同时作为随机森林模型的输入特征,进行交通流时空相关性分析,获得最终的预测结果。并通过贵阳市车牌识别系统采集的城区132条路段的交通流数据进行实验验证。结果表明:该方法在预测精度上优于单一模型,并且预测误差相比单一模型有明显减少。     

网络化雷达现状及技术发展趋势

随着新的作战对象和作战样式的出现,以及作战环境更加复杂,仅依靠单个雷达节点的能力已经越来越难以满足新的作战需求。文中针对网络化雷达这一新体制雷达开展研究,通过分析国外网络化雷达系统发展现状、趋势及关键技术,总结对我国网络化雷达技术发展的经验启示,为我国网络化雷达系统发展提供技术参考。     

共享交通的时空轨迹检索与群体发现

为解决共享交通下的共乘用户群体发现效率低、准确率不高问题，依据R-树原理建立GeoOD-Tree索引，并在此基础上提出以最大化共乘率为目标的群体发现策略。首先，对原始时空轨迹数据进行特征提取与标定处理，挖掘有效出行起讫点（OD）轨迹；其次，针对用户起讫点轨迹的特征，建立GeoOD-Tree索引进行有效的存储管理；最后，给出以最大化共乘行程为目标的群体发现模型，并运用K最近邻（KNN）查询对搜索空间剪枝压缩，提高群体发现效率。采用西安市近12000辆出租车营运轨迹数据，选取动态时间规整（DTW）等典型算法与所提算法在查询效率与准确率上进行性能对比分析。与DTW算法相比，所提算法的准确率提高了10.12%，查询效率提高了约15倍。实验结果表明提出的群体发现策略能有效提高共乘用户群体发现的准确率和效率，可有效提升共乘出行方式的出行率。     

基于冗余字典的联合稀疏同步迭代硬阈值算法

为了改进基于压缩感知(CS)的欠Nyquist采样系统在冗余字典条件下信号重构的效果,研究了基于ε-闭包的分块联合稀疏模型的同步迭代硬阈值(SIHT)算法。分析了采样系统基于多测量向量(MMV)的CS合成模型,提出了ε-闭包的分块相干性和约束等距特性(RIP)概念;在迭代过程中根据冗余字典分块相干性,对更新支撑集进行优选从而完成算法改进;给出了迭代收敛常数,并分析了改进型算法的收敛特性。仿真实验结果表明,相比传统算法,改进型算法在采样系统足够的通道数条件下重构成功率可达到100%,噪声抑制能力能够提高7 dB~9 dB,总运算时间可以降低至少37.9%,信号重构收敛速度更快。